What have we taught our kids?

With Rollins being three, she is really getting into Christmas and beginning to understand it rather well--atleast we thought. It seems like every commercial that comes on is for some toy, and every commercial just happens to be something else Rollins says she wants. At first, I started making a list of all these things, then Brother and I started to realize that all she knows about Christmas is that Santa brings her lots of gifts and all she has to do is ask him for them. Well, tonight, Brother and I got a little discouraged with all the "oh, I want that too". So, Brother explained to her that not all kids would get gifts like she does, and it would be really nice if one day she could go through her toys and pick out some to give them. Rollins happily said, "o.k., I will". Well a couple minutes later she walks back in the room with an arm full of her favorite toys, and said, "here some toys for the boys and girls". I did everything I could to hold back my tears. She could have picked out the toys she never played with anymore, but she wanted to give them her best toys. Tonight, I was humbled by my 3 year old. We are suppost to give our best not only to the needy, but also to God. I am probably the most guilty of putting everything in front of God. I say my prayers after everything else is done, I go to church if the kids wake up in time, I skip on Sunday school because I don't want Grady to cry, and I only read my bible if I have time. I think we get so caught up in everything going on around us in the world, that we fail to realize why we are even here. I am making a promise to myself and everyone reading this, to put God first and give him nothing but the best of me. Thank you Rollins for teaching me that. Your pureness is one of the many things I absolutely love about you!

Way to busy

You know, it's funny. When we sold the shop back in April, I thought I was going to have all this time on my hands and have a spotless house, empty laundry baskests and endless time for what I love most--sewing. Well, was I wrong? You bet. My house is messier, the laundry piles are higher, and I am so backed up with my sewing projects. I would have never thought that my life could possible be busier without a job, but somehow it is. I can't even tell you what consumes my day, but something does.

So, seeing as how I am way behing on posting, I thought I might try to bring everyone up to date on the Whitaker household. We have abandoned the Tigers temporarily. After the Vanderbilt game, Brother went and traded our Auburn tags in for Curing Childhood Cancer for him and Breast Cancer research for me. He said he wanted his money to go for a better cause. My poor little ones just don't understand why they aren't in auburn every weekend--rollins wants to move there. Here is a picture from her last game to attend this season.

I guess the big event of October was the birth of my brother, Jon's son, Christopher Cash LeCroy. He was born October 22 at Gadsden Regional weighing 7lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. Rollins and Grady have fallen in love with their new cousin. Rollins wants to hold him all the time and claims that he talks to her.

Also in October, we attended Carsyn's 1st Birthday. This is the daughter of Brother's cousin, Clark and his wife Cassie. They live in Birmingham and had her party at Overton Park, which Rollins and Grady loved.
Oh how I wished we had parks like this in Guntersville that you could just walk to. I have begged Brother to move to Birmingham, Huntsville or Nashville, but he just can't leave Guntersville. I love big cities and the small communities you find within them. There is such a variety of things to do and I think it would be wonderful for the children. As for now, I guess we will just stay in Guntersville.

We also took a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Rollins and Grady's nursery school. Rollins absolutely loved the pony ride, which she wouldn't do last year. Grady wouldn't even walk in the rink with the ponies. He has developed a lot of fears right now, and he has become very clingy. I am not really sure what has brought this on, but hopefully, he will grow out it. We can't even go to Sunday school because he won't stay in his class. He immediately starts crying and throwing up. It gets very frustrating, but his doctor said to make him as comfortable as possible in public places so we try to do that. However, Grady did love the petting zoo. He thought the animals were the coolest things at the farm. In fact, he was the last on out of there. I am so glad he enjoyed them.I absolutely love this picture. I have no idea what they were talking about, but knowing the two of them, I am sure it was some deep conversation. I love watching Rollins and Ann Daniel together. It's the sweetest relationship I have ever seen between two children. They genuinely love eachother and can't wait to see eachother even when they have only been apart for a few hours.
Here is another picture of Rollins and her favorite cousin. Everywhere we go, we have to pick up surprises for baby June Bug as rollins refers to him.

On November 12 I turned 30. I have to admit, that it was kind of depressing, because it's another decade passed. My 20's were fantastic. I graduated from college, worked in the corporate world, lived independently, got married, and had two children. I felt like I accomplished so much. Anyway, for my birthday, Brother and I had dinner with our dear friends Stewart and Kate White at my favorite restaurant, Polly's Chop House. We had a wonderful meal and even more wonderful conversation. I am so thankful to have a friend like Kate. We don't get to see eachother that much during the school year, but we make up for it in the summer on the lake.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Grady. It's finally getting cold here, so now the kids have to wear their warm clothes to go outside. They absolutely love being outside and the only thing Rollins wants for Christmas is a trampoline. For those of you who have never seen our backyard, you are not alone, because we haven't either. There is a nice slope all the way to the golf course. We have never even been back there. The kids just have to play in the front yard. So Rollins Christmas present is going to end up costing us a lot more than we bargained for seeing as how we are going to have to build a back yard now. We hope to get started this week. I am just as excited as the kids, because I like being outside as well.

When Rollins was born, my mom became like her second mom. I often wondered what would happen when we had a second child because I called Rollins my mom's child. Well, when Grady came along, my grandmother took him over. She would come to the shop everyday just to hold him all day long while I worked. She was the only one that could get him to sleep by holding him and he recognized her voice everytime she walked in the shop. I am so thankful I had her there to help me. For the 6 months I breast fed him, she would come to us, then she kept him at her house when he started taking a bottle. Since we sold the shop, he doesn't see her everyday, but he hasn't forgotten about here. This picture was taken at Soup day at nursery school. He just loves his grandma!

I thought this was a precious picture of Rollins, Ann Daniel and baby Cash. I think rollins and AD just adopt eachother's family. Rollins even calls AD's grandmother, MiMi.

Oh how they love eachother!

Finally, I will tell you about this picture. I enrolled Rollins in gymnastics with my old coach in Huntsville at Southern States Gymnastics. Brother thought she might be too young, and I didn't want her to feel pressured to do something she didn't want to do, so I told him we would just try it out to see how she likes it. As a former gymnast, I can see talent, and I knew Rollins had it, but I wanted her to find out on her own. I have been absolutely amazed at how well she has done. Her coach couldn't believe the upper body strength she had, which happened to be my weak spot. The gym she is at is extremely competitive, and I just hope she chooses to stick with it. Her coach has started making her do 2 boy style push ups if she falls off the beam, but I have noticed that no one else has to and they fall off everytime they walk the beam. Her coach talked to me after class one day and said she does that because she knows Rollins can do it without falling off instead of her just trying to go down the beam as fast as she could. When we got home, I told Rollins to tell daddy what she has to do when she falls off the beam, she held up 2 fingers and said, "i have to do 2 pushups". Then she showed him how she did them. He thought it was mean, but he just doesn't understand. Last week, she didn't have to do a single pushup, though. My brother, Jon, loves to do stunts with her because you can do anything with her, because she is so tight. You can do full extensions with her while she is doing a cheer and she never even falls. I have to admit that I am so proud of her. She has definitely impressed me and gone far beyond my expectations.

Last Weekend continued

So, I only got through Friday on my last blog, so I am going to wrap up the weekend.

Saturday, some Auburn friends of ours came over to watch football. They have a little girl in between Rollins and Grady and they love when Ella gets to come over and play. Rollins and G were getting a bath and Ella wanted to join in.

Rollins and Grady wore one of their fall outfits to church last Sunday. They looked too cute so I had to get a picture. They are getting much better about posing for pictures together.
After church, we went to Huntsville to get Wii. Here is Brother playing Wii Cheer that we got for Rollins. It was so funny to see him trying to be tight and do all the correct motions.

R

A nice weekend at home

It seems like we have been going and going all fall, but after Auburn's loss to Vanderbilt in Nashville last weekend, we decided not to go to Auburn this weekend, and after watching the game Saturday night, we were so glad we stayed here.

I posted a video last week of Rollins dancing and singing Bow Chick a Wow Wow. I just had to include a picture of her getup she put together for her performance. Her style just cracks me up.

We were finally able to wear some new fall clothes. They loved their new outfits!

Somehow the month of October snuck up on me and I had all these Halloween outfits for the kids and to make it worse, Fall Break is the month of October so they lose one week of getting to wear their halloween clothes to school, so Friday morning, I woke up and made Grady and outfit to match Rollins dress I made earlier. I thought they turned out pretty cute. It's amazing how much they love clothes I make for them. They are so proud of them and tell everyone, "my mommy made this." It makes me proud too!

We also attended the Guntersville versus North Jackson Football game Friday night. Guntersville played a great game, but ended up getting beat by one point. Tegan came to the game with Kate and it was really good getting to see her. Rollins and Grady absolutely love going to football games, so I don't know what we are going to do when football season is over.

I am going to post the pictures from Saturday and Sunday hopefully tomorrow because I need to get to bed. Have a great night!

What a wonderful day!

There is not really one particular event that made this day so wonderful, but, a culmination of things. I woke up this morning a bit tired, but excited to take Rollins to gymnastics--she loves going and I get to spend the rest of the day with her--it's just girls for a whole day. On the way to Huntsville, I got to talk to my dear friend Tegan about Organic Eating. With Rollins and Grady's disorders, I have been researching ways to help ease up some of the symptoms. I am willing to do whatever it takes, to make their life easier. She is such a blessing because she and her husband and her 1 year old all eat organic. This is such a source of information for me since I know nothing about cooking organic foods. We are hoping to sit down tomorrow so she can teach me everything she knows. At gymnastics, Rollins did so well. She is really progressing and I am so proud of her. Her feet are always together and toes pointed. Her coach said she is a natural and is amazed by her strength, especially in the arms. I was always stronger in my legs, so this is surprising to me. I guess it's because of the 7 gallons of milk we go through at our house a week:) Afterwards, Rollins and I went to Bridgestreet to do a little shopping and have lunch at Rollins's favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Rollins has become my best shopping buddy. She loves to pick out clothes and try them on in the dressing room. Today, I was trying on a dress, and she put her hand up and said, "oh mom, you have got to have that!" It makes me smile just thinking about it. We spent about 45 minutes in Limited Too so that she could pick out a couple necklaces and bracelets. She kept wanting "ear sticks" or what I call earrings. I told her she would have to ask her daddy for that one. Anytime we go to eat, she has to order by herself and today she ordered cheese pizza, prench pries and dip and sweet tea. Waitresses always get a kick out of her because she is so dramatic and acts like she is an adult. Last Friday night, the whole family went to Red Robin, and as we were walking back to the car, Rollins said, "wait, we have to go shopping!" It cracks me up how much she is just like me. Our final wonderful day happening was tonight at dinner. Grady has gone a couple days without vomitting, so he finally ate like he used too. I was so proud of him. He had maccaroni and cheese and corn, and Rollins put her fork in his meal to get a bite, and he picked up his plate and went to sit at the big table. It was fine with me that he didn't want to share because I wanted him to eat as much as little tummy wanted. Rollins has been doing great! She did however, have a few vomitting episodes two nights ago at my parents house. Her voice seems to be getting even scratchier, so I hope she doesn't have more acid damage. We go back to the doctor this month, so I am very anxious to ask him many questions. Mainly if this is genetic. I would love to have more children, but if this is genetic, which it seems to be, I just don't think I can go through this with another child. I am praying that it is just a fluke that they were both born this way. I also want to change Grady's medication since his spells are getting worse and he is having difficulty swallowing his food.
I feel so very blessed to have wonderful people in my life to help with Rollins and Grady and give them the same love I give them myself. My parents are wonderful to them. They love them more than they love their own children and I am so proud to say that. My grandparents have also become a very special part of Rollins and Grady's lives. It brightens the kids faces as soon as they walk through the door. I really didn't have great grandparents that I saw on a regular basis so I think it is so neat that they have developed such a close relationship with them. Also, my brother, Jon and his beautiful wife, Jackie--they have been so good to Rollins and Grady. They are so good to me and Brother and will always keep them if I am ever in a bind or they will even call up and ask if they can just come get them and take them somewhere. They are expecting their first child anyday now, and I know they will be wonderful parents because of the love they have shown for Rollins and Grady. And finally, I am so thankful for Foster, our precious babysitter and friend. She is the only person I trust to stay the weekend with my children and take care of them the way I would. People like her are a rare find. I truly do believe God is a good God, and I don't thank him enough for the wonderful people he has put in my and Brother's life.

War Eagle?

OK, so I grew up an Alabama fan, went to college in Nashville, and married an Auburn fan. I really never had a preference, but I will admit that I would take Brandy and Hillary's side when debating with Tegan and Ashley at lunch in junior high over whose stadium was bigger--I still don't know the answer, but I am sure Brandy does. So, when Brother and I got married, he left me no choice in who to pull for. He grew up a "dye hard" auburn fan. The year we got married, we went to most of the games and Auburn ended up undefeated. Every Auburn/Alabama game I have gone to, Auburn has won, so I will say, I felt like I have been on the winning team's side. However, this past weekend, really threw me for a loop. I was so excited to go to Nashville because so many of my college friends are still there. William went with us to the game, and we picked up my friend Caryn, who cheered with me in college as soon as we got to town. We met up with two of my pledge sisters, Melanie and Ashley at a neat little restaurant called Rotiers downtown. Everything was going wonderfully! We got to the game and it was a little hot so we didn't go to our seats til right before the game. Auburn gets off to a great start scoring 2 touchdowns in the first quarter. They miss the second extra point and Brother looks at me and says, "that will be the deciding factor in the game." I told him he was crazy. Well, he was right. It was like Auburn just left Nashville after that. Brother was so disgusted. He kept wanting to leave, but my naturally optimistic self kept telling him they would pull it off. We all know the ending to this story so I won't go there. We were suppose to spend the night in Nashville and meet up with my friends after the game, but instead we came home after cheese fries at Outback. Brother has said our days of attending Auburn games are over--atleast til Tony Franklin is gone or something miraculous happens. My poor little Rollins will be heartbroken seeing as how she is the biggest Auburn fan I know. Her best friend, Ann Daniel, who is also 3 called her last night and told her to wear her Auburn cheerleader uniform to school today, so ofcourse she did and so did Ann Daniel. They are both so proud to be for Auburn. Maybe by the time they are old enough to know what's going on, Auburn will be back on their feet.

Here is Kate, Langley, Grady and I at the Guntersville Homecoming parade. Langley and Grady are 2 weeks apart.

Here is what we've been doing since football season began--going to Auburn. The kids love it and Rollins truly believes she is an Auburn Cheerleader.

This video is too funny. It exemplifies Rollins perfectly. She is so much fun and she keeps us in stitches. I have no doubt she will one day be some kind of entertainer. Her imagination and love for attention amazes me.

Rollins is always dancing and here we are at the Auburn/Tennessee game with our friend the McCulley's. Julie Ann went to school with Brother and I, and now Ann Daniel and Rollins are the best of friends.

Here they are watching the parade.