The Hottest Baby Names

According to Yahoo!, the #1 Hottest Baby Boy Name for 2008 was "Aidan" once again. This is two years in a row for "Aidan". "Isabella" was it for girls followed by "Ava". Now, let me remind you that I picked out Aidan for our child before I was even pregnant with Anniston and I NEVER have seen an episode of Sex and the City so I have no connection with the character named Aidan on that show. I saw it in a Parents magazine back in 2002 and knew I had to have an Aidan! We named Anniston and held out on our Aidan name for the son we would surely (mathematically speaking) have later on down the road. When we found out baby #3 was a girl, I didn't have a girl name- it figures, right? I like Addison but we have a Madison in the family already. I liked Adelynn but Kendra swears shes naming her daughter Madelyn. And of course, we had to have an "A" name- I'm very type A at times! So we said, "Lets name her Ayden and call her Ayden Claire" and that's what we did. By the way, Aidan/Ayden/Aiden/Aden/Aydan/Aden means "little fire". As she grows each month, I am begining to think her name suits her just perfectly! She is wonderful but she is "the baby"... Now you know how our "little fire" became Ayden Claire. And I'm thinking its very likely she will grow up and marry an Aidan/Aiden/Ayden/Aden...

Christmas Party- 2nd Grade Style

Yesterday was Alyssa's class Christmas party. It started at 1:00 with Mrs. Hurst opening her gifts. She too, like Ms. Brandi, racked up with all kinds of goodies! She deserves it, she is an excellent teacher and works hard. I would have a hard enough time keeping up with 18 second graders let alone actually teaching them! We had doughnuts, cookies, chips, dip, crackers and Cheez Whiz. Anniston and Ayden Claire enjoyed hanging out with the big kids, too. Now schools out for 2 weeks. I am so looking forward to not having to get up and get everyone ready and not having to study for a couple of weeks. I'm sure we'll all be ready for school to start back though come January!

Alyssa in her classroom waiting on the party to start.




Getting a hug from Mrs. Hurst after she opened her gift from Alyssa

Alyssa and Jordan sitting in the dugout, Mrs. Hurst has a "Baseball stadium" themed room- its very cute!

Can we say SUGAR?

Sarah, Alyssa, Carley and Sara Grace

Friends...

Anniston and her friend Jerrica both have siblings in Mrs. Hurst's class

Class of 2019!

Feeling Froggy? Be Crafty!

Tonight we decided to get messy! Wes is working on the helicopter so its just me and the girls. So why not get crafty and make handprints of all the girls? My neighbor Lisa, brought over some extra "Grandparent" crafts she had bought for her kids to make. So, SPOILER ALERT******Picture of our crafts below***** Grandparents (that would be you, Nanny) may not want to look at the following picture! :)


Ayden Claire's handprints are the ones in the last row. They aren't that much smaller than Annistons!

Christmas Party- 4 Year Old Style

Today was the highly anticipated, long awaited preschool Christmas party! There was excitment in the air at Coosada Baptist Preschool, especially in Ms. Brandi's class! The kids ate- several varieties of cookies and cupcakes, just to make sure they had enough sugar to get them through the party- and then exchanged books with one another. I say "exchanged" but actually, Anniston picked the book she had brought when it was her turn. She wanted that Disney Princess ABC 123 book with read along CD so bad she couldn't stand it! Next it was Ms. Brandi's turn to open all of her goodies- I may look into teaching for the sheer fact of the awesome "Christmas Bonus"! Just kidding, but Ms. Brandi racked up! Finally, we collected all of the kids lovely artwork and headed home for a nap!

Hard at work...

Welcome to my class, Ayden Claire!

Ayden Claire making herself at home...

Anniston is so excited about her book!

"Don't even think about taking my sippy cup, Mister!"

Anniston and Ms. Brandi

Too much sugar, there Ayden Claire?

Group Hug!

Breakfast With Santa

We went to Applebee's this morning to have breakfast with Santa. We got there at 8 and were served pancakes while Santa walked around and visited with the tables. After we ate Alyssa and Anniston sat with him- Ayden Claire said "No, thanks!" We then went to Bass Pro Shops where low and behold, we saw Santa AGAIN! He is a super busy guy this time of the year!

A Poem For Mothers....

I saw this on a friends refrigerator the other day while at her house. It was quite a humbling experience...she is really living this way! I wish I'd read it 8 years ago, but better late than never, right?


If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I'd finger-paint more, and point the fingers less.
I would do less correcting and more connecting.
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.
I would care to know less and know to care more.
I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.
I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.
I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later.
I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.
I'd teach less about the love of power, And more about the power of love.

by Diane Loomans

My favorite line is "I'd build self-esteem first, and the house later." I often think how nice it would be to have a "bigger" or "nicer" house when in reality our house is plenty big for us and only as "nice" as we make it. As a mother of daughters, I desperately want them to value themselves and know their worth- so my new years resolution is to let go of the "perfect house" ideals I struggle with and concentrate on my daughters!

What a Difference A Year Makes!

Last years Christmas card photo....
2007


And this year...
2008

Catching Up!

Well, its been a while! I must admit, I've been caught up in the hustle and bustle that comes along with Christmas time. Trying to make sure 3 girls are all "fairly" visited by Santa is a job in itself. I am officially finished with everyone on our list, the cards are mailed, and the house is decorated so I plan to enjoy the next couple of weeks without the stress of last minute shopping! We've been busy going to the parade, Christmas tree lighting, Christmas choir concert, Polar Express PJ party and we have a couple of Haynes Christmas Parties to attend next week. I also want to squeeze in a trip to the Zoo to see the lights there (although I don't know if I can handle the cold out at night!), a tour of Christmas lights around town with the girls, and we really want to have a Christmas party next Saturday for the girls and their friends- I'll let you know how that turns out if we do! Enjoy your family this Christmas and make it super special for the little ones! Til next time....

Giving Thanks

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Its a bittersweet holiday for me. I am so thankful for many things, which I'll get to momentarily, but it reminds me of the Thanksgivings I used to enjoy with my Granny and how much I miss that. She loved to cook for the people she loved and she fed us well! This was our 3rd Thanksgiving without her and I still miss her just as much as I did that first year. I was so blessed to have had such a wonderful, inspiring Granny, and for that I will always be extremely thankful! Also topping my list for things to give thanks for is, obvisouly my 3 healthy daughters. We could never thank God enough for placing these girls in our arms to raise and love. I know I have never done anything worthy of such wonderful gifts and I will always be so thankful for our girls. My wonderful husband deserves a million thanks! He puts up with so much- he lives with 4 females, can you imagine? He wipes tears (all of ours), rubs necks and legs and arms(all of ours), cooks a good bit of the time, bathes, prays and works a job and a half outside of all that! He is such a Godsend and he does all that he does with a positive attitude. I am so blessed to have sisters I can call on anytime to share stories with, gripe to, and count on. I also have a little brother that I am so thankful is in our lives- he is an amazing young man and I can't wait to see what he is going to do in life- I have a feeling its going to be great. I'm thankful for my mom- who I've learned so much from. I'm grateful for the "Nanny" that she is to our girls. I'm thankful for friends- the true few who know probably more than they really want to know about me! So those are the biggies, but I'm also thankful for some of lifes simple pleasures. Like, big red gum, summertime, cuddling, neckrubs, flipflops, Target, hairbows and ribbon, my favorite blue jeans, being from Alabama, pepper, mashed potatoes and macaroni, the E! channel, hot baths, good books....the list goes on!

Letter

To the THIEF who took OUR stuff,

Well, you got me! I learned a very expensive lesson yesterday. One I was so naive and thought I would be spared from learning I suppose. What in your head (obviously you have no heart) told you it was OKAY for you to come into someone else's home and take things that do NOT belong to you? I guess you didn't think that my CHILDREN would be the ones to notice things were missing before me. That they would be coming in the house before I did. My poor 8 year olds face was so startled and confused- I'll never forget it. It gives me chills to think what would have happened had you still been here when they ran into their safe haven- their HOME! You have completely rocked their innocent little world. You not only took something physical from us- you took something psychological too and from my BABIES. I think I am more disgusted by you for this. I can replace a TV and computer- but I can not give my children their feeling of confidence and trust that they are okay in their own HOME. Maybe you didn't think that someone worked very hard to purchase those two items. I'm sure you have no regard for the fact that my husband's laptop was in the living room because after WORKING one of his TWO jobs, he sat down to relax in HIS HOME and watch HIS television and check the weather on HIS computer to see if he would be able to fly at his SECOND job on Wednesday. You see, he risks HIS life every week to help other people, even people like you. Ironic, don't you think? If you or someone you love were to need medical attention quickly, it would be the very person you stole from -or his friends- that would be there to help your sorry ass. Did it make you feel big to take something that you didn't earn? I give my kids allowance every week- they have to do chores to EARN it and they would never take something that didn't belong to them. Did I mention they are 8 and 4. Maybe your mother never taught you that....sadly. My 8 year old suggested we find you and "go steal our stuff back" but I told her we couldn't "steal" anything. If the police found it then we could have it back, otherwise, it isn't ours anymore. Then my 4 year old said "The bad man (she just assumes you are a man) should have asked nicely. He should have asked to BORROW our TV. And he should have said PLEASE." Wow! If only you had some of my 4 year olds knowledge and honesty and integrity and kindness. I hope that you needed that TV and laptop so desperately it was a live or die situation for you. In that case, I'm so glad we could help. I'm sure that wasn't the case though. I don't know what you did with it. I don't care. We are looking forward to picking out our new TV. We have decided it is going to be bigger- so big it won't fit so easily out the front door for you next time. I always thought that wall was too big not to have a bigger TV on it, what did you think? I also am further convinced amidst this that we have the absolute best neighbors ever. You see, before the police cars had turned off our street, two of my neighbors were already bringing over an extra TV for us to use. That's what people do. They do unto others... Maybe today you will be back in school (I can't help but think you were a kid out of school on Veterans Day- did you know my husband is a VETERAN? Yep, that's right, he is a man of service- even for people like you- and that is how you say "Thanks"....) or maybe, here's an idea, you will go get a JOB and make your own money so you can buy your own things. At the end of the day, my family is safe and those "things" you took can be replaced. We will be okay, my girls are shaken up and will probably be in our bed for a few nights. I sure did treasure cuddling with them last night and watching them as they slept. I can't help but think if you knew them at least, you would never have wanted them to feel afraid in their HOME. But then again, I would think you would have never taken something that wasn't yours....

Sincerely,
the woman of the house who may have left the front door unlocked and wasn't home because I was taking my 3 precious girls to lunch at McDonald's and shopping for my sisters new baby something special on their day out of school

P.S. I REALLY wish you would have grabbed the digital camera. It quit working this past weekend and we have been shopping for a new one. Of course you wouldn't have known that til you were long gone. Then I could have filed that too on my claim- we're just too honest to do that, though.