under the magnolia tree: April 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

We had a lovely Easter morning finding baskets, eating a lot of candy, playing with new toys, and having a small fire. I made cinnamon rolls and then we headed over to Nana and Papa's house.

The sun came out just in time for an Easter Egg Hunt. There were a lot of eggs to be found and these eggs were filled with money!

George and Magnolia with cousins, Margaret, Lilah, and Sophia.

Sadly, the day after Easter, George's grandmother, Bobby, died. Luckily we just had a very nice visit with her on our recent trip to St. Louis, where we got to celebrate her 91st birthday with her. George went to visit her almost every morning and took Magnolia with him. Magnolia connected with Bobby as soon as she first met her. She always loved seeing her and chatting away with her. Here they are last Easter at the family farm and Bobby's 90th Birthday. She will be dearly missed.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Just after George's 2nd Birthday, we headed down to St. Louis for a visit. It was such a shot in the arm to see things in bloom and feel warmer temperatures. It was nearly 90 degrees by the time we arrived! First piece of business was to visit the firehouse where Uncle Rob works. George was timid at first,

Magnolia not at all!

I found the whole experience fascinating, loved seeing everything in the truck and ambulance and loved seeing all of the fire hats, coats, and boots lined up.

I love this shot. Finally George warmed up and loved sitting up in the big truck.

And here's little Miss Madeline, daughter of the firefighter and cousin to Magnolia and George.

Uncle Rob shows us how he slides down the fire pole.

It was such a beautiful day that we headed to a park afterwards.

This was George's favorite part. Even now when he sees this picture he yells "wet!" He remembers how wet he got in this fountain.

Back at Nani's Magnolia had the treat of having no quiet time during naptime but "daddy time." They would walk to the coffee shop at the end of the street so she could pick out a root beer with a straw. (I got to go shopping!)

The next day we went to Papaw's Birthday Party at a park.

George's Aunt Ann and Uncle Tim drove in from Tennessee to surprise him!

It was so much fun to see everyone! Happy Birthday Papaw!

Fried chicken, birthday cake, and lots of playing in the sand...

It was a great party!

It also happened to be Bobby's Birthday (Magnolia and George's great grandmother). We brought homemade pizzas and Nani's famous caramel cake to her to celebrate. Magnolia loved the caramel cake but really loved Bobby's cat named Sugar.

After some rain, the temperatures dropped and our final two days in St. Louis were absolutely perfect. So far from the spring we are having here. The kids hardly wanted to come inside. I couldn't blame them. George walks down Nani's street holding his "baby."

I love this of Magnolia holding the dandelion.

The blooming dogwood was beautiful!

In an attempt to try new things on our visit, we went to the new City Park downtown.

It was spectacular. Can you find Magnolia?

These bunnies were the favorite.

It was a great trip and we were all sad to leave such a gorgeous spring. The night before we were to come home, we told Magnolia that we would be leaving the next day. She became very sad and finally said: "I don't want to go home, it's SO cold there!" and burst into tears.

Happy Easter! Hope it's warm and sunny where you are!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

We celebrated George's 2nd Birthday last week!

What a big boy you are George! You make me laugh a hundred times a day. You are SUCH a little boy with your love for all things trucks, fire engines, and balls. I love how you had to wear your football jammies all winter and you'd have us digging through the dryer for them just so you could wear them. I love how I caught you throwing a tennis ball against the wall in the tub and laughing when it splashed back in the water and you did this over and over again. I love how you can differentiate all types of balls: soccer, football, basketball etc. I love how you demand to watch ball on t.v. and when we finally find a game, you settle back and say "there."

You have gotten me so excited for all things firetrucks, when we saw our local firefighters in the grocery, I thought I was seeing rock stars! We walk almost every day to the fire house just to see if the fire trucks are out. When they are I swear your heart stops, I never see you so excited and for the rest of the day I have to relive the sighting to you over and over again.

You love to wrestle which you have taught Magnolia to love too. I love hearing you two giggle and seeing you roll around the floor. You have the best sense of humor, you see something in a book that is funny long before I do. Magnolia quickly learned that the quickest way to get a laugh out of you is make a toy fall down or run into something. You two will giggle endlessly over that. Just when I think you are all boy I realize you've had a bow in your hair all day (because Magnolia wears one, we happily oblige and put one on you). You can also walk in Magnolia's play high heels better than she can! Such balance you are learning! ;)

You too have a love for books and you will sit on my lap forever reading them. Go Dog Go was a favorite this winter and one day shopping we crossed the parking lot hand in hand and you put out your hand to an oncoming car and said "stop." Just like the bird does in the book! And, I never you knew how to say stop or what it meant!

At 18 months your doctor wanted you to get speech therapy but I knew you'd come around and you did! Your vocabulary exploded and soon after you turned two you started to put together phrases. You are smart cookie George, I know that for sure. Your head is proof of that as it's nearly always off the charts for size. So big that taking off your shirts is a bit traumatic!

You couldn't say "Magnolia" for the longest time, you didn't even try. One day I told you that you could call her "Maggie." Immediately you called her Maggie and it's stuck. I even find myself calling her Maggie now. It's as if you were so relieved to finally have something to call her. She has so many nicknames for you and they are all ones she has come up with on her own; Georgie, Georgia, Georgie the Fourthie, and Baybay.

You love your "babies" which are all of your blankies. Every morning when we get you out of your crib you want to bring all of them with you. You have a such a routine around bedtime that we bring them all downstairs every morning while you have your juice and SLOWLY wake up. I do say that I sometimes dread the wakeup process as it's very difficult for you to transition and there's lots of crying and fussing. Your Nani told me your daddy was the same way!

You are also the sweetest little boy. Very shy and very much a Mama's boy. You never leave my side, never run off from me, you will happily sit in my lap for a long time. When I say something hurts, you offer me your "baby" and hug and kiss me. I love you George, I'm so proud to be your Mama!

I decorated for his birthday during nap time. When he woke up and saw everything, including 12 helium balloons, he said "wow!"

He wanted a truck on his cake with dirt, rocks and sticks.

I used pretzel sticks for the sticks, bridge mix for the rocks. and ground thin mint cookies for the dirt. All piled on a chocolate cake with chocolate glaze. I filled the dump truck with chocolate frosting and topped it with the dirt, rocks, and sticks. I added the worker and this cake was a hit!