John & The Girls

D-Worl

2010-05-03T21:04:00.001-07:00

This trip we got FREE tickets!! Thanks to my dear cousin Alanna who works for Disney, plus "Give a Day, Get a Day" promo (we made blankets for the homeless), we simply had to pay for food, gas, hotel, and Disney treats!
Most of you know, i'm kind of a Disney parks fan. I like the movies, the stuff, but it's the parks that really get me. Luckily I can live vicariously through my 2 and 4 year old girls and pretend it's all for them.

February

2010-02-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

I can't stand January - it's seriously the most boring (no holidays), coldest, ugliest month in Georgia where I've been stuck inside my house trying to find ways to entertain my children without having to spend money or bundle them up to go outside.
On a happier note, FEBRUARY is so much better. We had a fun Valentine's Playschool day where Brooklyn got to dress up like Cupid and shoot a bow and arrow. She said this was the most awesome playschool day ever. We had 3.5 inches of snow one weekend and made a Brooklyn-sized snowman. The day after it snowed we all went to Ringling Bros. circus for free, but spent a ridonkulous $12 on cotton candy. John leaves for his golf trip this week, which he can't stop dreaming/talking/thinking about. Brooklyn and her BFF Abby went to the Disney Store together for a special Perfect Princess party where they dressed up like their fav. princess and learned all about manners! It was so cute and Lexi was in heaven looking at all of the Toy Story toys (her favorite movie right now). Oh, and John took me to a fabulous Thai restaurant and to the mall afterward the Monday after V-day since we got back late from the circus. Here's some pictures of our Fabulous February!

Which girl is which?

2009-10-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

So one of these I took when Brooklyn was 16months old, the other was taken when Lexi was about 15 months old. I never thought they looked alike before, but now I see the similarities! Fun!

Gymnastics!

2009-10-12T19:18:00.001-07:00

Brooklyn LOVE LOVES LOVES Gymnastics!! She's always been very athletic - she doesn't walk to where she wants to go - she jumps and hops. I've wanted this for her for a long time and now we've been blessed to have the opportunity!
Here's some pictures of the girls!

1st Trip to the Dentist

2009-09-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Wow - blogging has really gone back-burner. At least let me post these really OLDpictures about Brooklyn's first dentist experience. It was so cute! She was really excited and very mature. Normally they don't do X-rays or flouride on 1st timers b/c they are too scared or fidgety. Not Brooklyn! She got mad that they mentioned holding off and so her very sweet hygienist Brandy went ahead and did the whole Sha-Bang. With all of the candy, juice, and general lack of brushing I was sure Brooklyn would have at least one cavity. I think I even convinced her she had one before we went - bad mom! She has...NO cavities! I think I was more relieved than she was. She had such a good time she wanted to come back the next day.

P.S. Brooklyn ALWAYS picks out her own outfits - I thought this one was...well, creative since she pulled the yellow from Sleeping Beauty's hair to match the skirt and wore her pink jellies to match the stripes in the shirt. She needs to give me some tips!

Nashville

2009-07-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

If you're Mormon - especially a Utah Mormon, you've got to read this blog!

2009-07-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Cami introduced me to this hilarious blog. Check it out:
www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

You have to read the explanation on the bottom left of the site where it says "Are you new to my blog? Click here for a bit o background." It's just above her playlist. TAMN rocks!

Cake!

2009-07-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Cami and I were asked to make the cake for Katie and Annie's baby shower. Originally I planned to do Katie's "boy" cake while Cami was going to make Annie's "girl" cake. Instead we collaborated and worked many long hours together making this topsy turvy fondant boy and girl cake.
Details: We learned just about everything we know from watching silly You Tube tutorials. It may have been more helpful to take a real cake decorating class. Anyway, Cami baked 6 layers of both chocolate and yellow cake. Plus, she made chocolate buttercream frosting and assembled the cakes, creating the "topsy-turvy" effect. I made and colored all of the fondant, rolled it out, cut out some of the designs, and made the little balls. Top layer - chocolate cake inside with baby pink fondant on the outside. Middle layer - also chocolate cake, but with white fondant. Bottom layer - yellow cake for Katie and baby blue fondant. We brushed the cake with gold sparkle powder to match the gold sparkle booties Cami made the day before.
Oops: The buttercream was delish, but wouldn't stick to the cake without pulling it apart. Weird!! It took us forever to do the "crumb coat" that goes on before the fondant. When I put the fondant on the middle cake, it ripped, so I had to rip it off and start completely over again with new fondant. Arghh!!!! Also, the fondant wrinkled at the bottom of the layers so we had to make the balls really big to cover. There were other little things that went wrong - like we planned to have a fondant bow around the center of the cake but had way too many problems withe the bow. Luckily it turned out well enough that we got a few compliments. I feel like Cami did most of the hard labor, but she kept giving me lots of credit tonight. It was fun to do!

American Adventures

2009-06-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

(This is a lame pic I stole from google images since I never took a picture of the entrance or sign. I have NO idea who these people? are.)
It takes me forever to post things - LAST Friday Kelly and I decided to take the girls to American Adventures! I haven't been there since I worked there as a freshman in highschool (for 3 days, then I QUIT it was so horrible). Well, let me tell all you native GA's who grew up with AA and Whitewater - it hasn't changed! Maybe it was better for us because they didn't charge very much, parking was free, and parents were free! Brooklyn and Elle LOVED the park. They were just the right age for the rides.

Where's your NOSE??

2009-06-20T18:40:00.001-07:00

So...for a little while now Lexi has been able to point to her belly, mouth, nose, toes, and sometimes eyes. This was a goofy night at the Dabney house and Lexi made a HUGE mess with her yogurt. Instead of pointing TO her nose, unfortunately, she's started pointing IN her nose. Too cute!! Also, she just started saying "toes" and "belly" a little bit the past couple of days. Yay for early talkers!

Happy 72nd Birthday Daddy!

2009-06-13T18:50:00.000-07:00

Dad decided he wanted to take a trip up to Helen, GA again since it had been about 10 years since he'd been. I requested a little side trip for Brooklyn to the Cabbage Patch Baby General Hospital in Cleveland close by. Unfortunately I think Brooklyn didn't get enough sleep last night because she was GRUMPY!! Which made me GRUMPY!! I'm sorry Dad. I tried not to ruin your birthday. Hopefully with all of the Alpine fudge and German chocolate Mom let you buy, you'll forget how I nearly killed both of my kids today. Love you! Here's some favorite pics:

So..Tellus about it!

2009-05-23T20:04:00.000-07:00

John had the great idea to gather the family for a fun day at the new Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville. We were all really impressed by the neat exhibits, including 2 big kid sections. Even Lexi enjoyed "digging" for fossils. She stayed in there for probably half an hour! John and Brooklyn spent a lot of time panning for jems in another fun exhibit. The museum really had something for all of us - Dad loves jems, cars, and space. Mom liked the gift shop (tee hee!). Corbin loved digging for fossils and both of the girls liked the kid section a LOT. I highly recommend this museum. We spent the entire day there

!

12 months

2009-05-09T13:40:00.001-07:00

First Days

4-5 weeks old

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old

7 months old

8 months old

9 months old

10 months old

11 months old

Today - 12 months old!!

Lexi turned 11 months at the beach!

2009-04-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

This is way overdue, but here's the latest on Lexi:

1. She can stand for long periods of time without falling
2. She says, "yum yum" when she's hungry/eating something she likes
3. She's taken a step or two, but always tumbles
4. Says ball, balloon, dog, kitty (kkkiii) pretty clearly
5. Climbs up stairs

Best Friends at the Beach

2009-04-18T20:02:00.001-07:00

Brooklyn and Abby have been Best Buds since Brooklyn was about 18months old. They fight like sisters but LOVE being with eachother - especially at the beach! Here's a few cute shots of what GIRLFRIENDS like to do: Go for a cool swim in the resort pool: Gather seashells in coordinating swimsuits: Create fun Easter Art projects inside when it's too cold to go the beach outside: Play in the toddler area of a Ghetto jumpy place that had mostly old mattresses instead of inflatables to jump on (long story, but they still had a lot of fun there): Get mani's, pedi's and makeovers together when it's STILL too cold to go outside to the beach: Share tooth brushing secrets/techniques: Make and eat Easter cookies!: Goof around together in the boat that no one had arms to actually carry down to the beach: Brave the frigid temperatures in order to make sand castles: Relax on the back deck watchin' the waves: Share new puppies:

I'll miss you all! (maybe)

2009-04-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I'll be leaving the blogging/facebook/email world for the next 7 days. Try not to miss me too much, and I'll try not to miss you while I'm here:

And Here:

David Archuleta!

2009-03-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't get to go the concert, but since I've had nothing interesting to post for the past month, I thought I'd talk about my mom's trip. She's a HUGE David Archuleta fan. HUGE. So, when she found out he was going to play at a medium-sized venue near where my sister Shannon lives in Arizona, she dragged my dad on a plane and went! My sister Heather drove down from LA to join Mom, Shannon, and two of my neices Brooke and Riley. They weren't nearly as excited as my mom was to be there, but they said they had a lot of fun being together. Wish I could have been there with 'ya girls!!! Miss you all!

Oh, and here is a picture of my sister's gorgeous family! She doesn't look nearly old enough to have a 21 year old daughter! I haven't seen them in so long it makes me sad :(.

Lexi is 10 months old today!

2009-03-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

It shows how busy this little rugrat keeps me, since I nearly forgot to take her picture today. Stats: 1. She can pull up onto things and cruise 2. She crawls really fast and can walk if we're holding onto her hands 3. Today she stood up ALONE for a few seconds - TWICE! 4. Her favorite things are babies, kitties, and especially balloons! I now she's spotted one because she'll say, "Doooo!!! Dooo!!" 5. She likes to pat her fist on her open mouth (does that make sense? I don't know how else to describe it - like she's doing an Indian call?) 6. She throws tantrums! Ah! She's too young! She does NOT like having her clothes/diaper changed.

Fancy Nancy

2009-03-08T19:50:00.001-07:00

I think we're the last people on earth to find out about the Fancy Nancy craze - but now we've been indoctrinated (that's a fancy word for taught) all about how to be FANCY and FABULOUS!! Brooklyn made her own body glitter, got dressed up in princess clothes and makeup for a runway show! A truly girlie girl kind of day. It's so fun to be (and have) a girl!
*Photos courtesy of Theresa Burt - fabulous photographer!

Brooklyn's first boyfriend - and love from Lexi

2009-03-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

I admit it - I Love Little Girls!!

2009-02-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen...!

2009-02-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Once again good ol' HD Supply "supplied" us with some suite tickets - this time for the Greatest Show on Earth (well, I wouldn't go that far, but it was pretty good). I love free shows at Phillips! The elephants and tigers were amazing. The motorcycles in the cage were phenomenal, and only a few parts were cheesy (the Ringmaster especially). *Side note: the red and white giraffes were a gift for the girls and they fit neatly on the glass wall in front of them so that they, too could enjoy the show.

Happy V-Day!

2009-02-13T19:45:00.001-08:00

We had Playgroup at Kelly's house and it was so fun! I brought sugar cookies and frosting to decorate, and Kelly had a headband craft for the kids to make. At the end they passed out Valentine's and had snacks. Brooklyn loves her girlfriends! Happy Valentine's Day!

Elle Owen, Ella Bushman, Addison Johnston, Brooklyn Dabney! LOVE those girls!!

So you think YOU can dance??

2009-02-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

I know I already proved Ms. Alexis Rae could be the next American Idol, but I think with this audition tape she'd at least make the top 2 on SYTYCD. Don't you agree?

Lexi is 9 months old today!

2009-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Not only did our precious baby turn 9 months today, she also crawled for the first time today (finally!!!). Here's her specs: 1. She waves "Bye Bye" to Dada when I take her in the room for bed. 2. She can CRAWL!! And go from laying to sitting up and can stand holding on to something for a long time. 3. Height - 28 1/4 inches (75%) 4. Weight - 21lbs 2oz. (75-90%, but I think they must have mis-read the scale because she's a HOUSE!!) 5. Head 45.5cm (90%) She loves to clap and wave her little hands when she's excited: Lots of serious poses tonight folks... You think I'm always this serious? Fagitaboutit! We Love You Miss Lexi Rae!

Lexi

2009-02-05T19:12:00.001-08:00

American Idol Baby

2009-02-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Please Add your COMMENTS!!!

2009-01-26T19:05:00.001-08:00

A couple of people finally told me they weren't able to leave comments on my blog and now I know WHY!!! It was disabled on my comments settings and I didn't realize it (I thought no one was reading my little ol' blog). So, I think I fixed it. Please let me know if it works. Thanks!

Dancing with Lilo

2009-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:00

Disney Heaven!

2009-01-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

Some of you may know, I kind of like Disney. Just a little bit ;). So, when we found out people in the military could get HUGE discounts for friends and family, we decided to go down for a few days (to celebrate Corbin and Ella's birthday too). We survived a flat tire, speeding ticket, and Corbin throwing up in the car - and still had a great time!

Lexi is 8 months old today!!

2009-01-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Lexi hasn't changed much since last month in her appearance, but she's starting to do a lot of new things! 1. Her two maxillary incisors have come through 2. She can roll over!! Yay!! (yes, she did this before, but only once or twice by accident) 3. She automatically gets on her belly when you set her down and tries to crawl. She can scoot backwards! 4. She FINALLY eats baby food. I never thought she would. She still won't finish even the smallest jar, but at least she'll take a few bites several times throughout a day. 5. She sticks out her tongue and says a sort of "La la la la" which she never did before. 6. She LOVES balls and she LOVES our cate Zoey (she wiggles her whole body trying to get as close as possible to these things as soon as she seems them). 7. She can make it all the way from 7:30PM to 7:30AM without waking up to be fed (last month she still needed a feeding about the time I went to bed in order to make it that far. 8. She can CLAP! First time was tonight and we were all a happy little clapping family.

Christmas and Fernbank

2008-12-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Since my sister Heather flew into town, we celebrated at my house opening presents and had dinner at Mom's. Brooklyn got spoiled of course (her auntie and Grandma had a lot to do with that!). She'd been asking Santa for weeks for only 2 things - "That little balls thing" (pixos) and "Littlest Pet Shop". Luckily Santa remembered to look at the Target at Atlantic Station, because everywhere else it had been sold out! I guess there aren't to many families with children who shop at that Target. I should have looked for Bakugon (sp?) there that night too. I heard they kept getting sold out! Christmas shopping can be so crazy.
Anyway, Brooklyn loved her gifts. She was sad to see Krispie the Elf on the Shelf go home back to Santa. He was the cause of many little laughs and surprises over the past couple of weeks. Brooklyn caught him eating some crackers one time, and reading on of her favorite books, and even in the bathroom brushing his teeth with Mommy's toothbrush! What a perfect age she is for that...

Today we spent Heather's last day at Fernbank to see the Polar Exhibit. Brooklyn loved the kids play areas. I've included some pics where she got to dress up like a penguin and slide on her belly down the "ice" like they do. After a couple of hours there we drove to the airport, dropped Heather off, and went to Chili's for dinner.
We'll miss you Heather!! Thanks for coming!

Hockey Game

2008-12-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

Just some cute shots from our Monday night trip to Phillip's Arena to watch the Thrashers. The best part was the huge slices of cake we bought. Lexi was such a good girl that night too.

Birthday Fun

2008-12-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

Since we had planned to pick up my sister Heather from the airport on my birthday, we decided to kill some time and go to Atlantic Station. We ate at Rosa Mexicana's and then went shopping (I got a giftcard for my birthday to GAP). It was fun for Brooklyn too, since everything was decked out for Christmas. She and John rode the little train and at 6PM it started to "snow" in the square. It was a magical night!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

We did this a week ago, and it was not a particularly fun experience; however, I toughed it out convincing myself I MUST get professional pictures of my girls before Lexi gets any older!! Here's some of the really cute shots:

Lexi is 7 months old today!

2008-12-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to do this today! I'm trying to make it a ritual that on the 9th of each month I dress up my baby, set her by the couch and take some cute smiley shots of her. I was doing it with a sign, but she kept trying to eat it. Here's the latest of the greatest little baby around!

Milestones:
1. She can wave bye bye at herself
2. She can get from sitting to laying down
3. She screams/squeals a LOT more
4. She can pick up Gerber puffs and eventually make them go in her mouth

Thanksgiving '08

2008-12-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

Just got back from our trip to Warner Robins where John's parents hosted Thanksgiving. We got to meet our new 1 week old nephew Ian Michael Thomas. So tiny!!! Lexi looks absolutely gigantic next to him (He's just over 6lbs, she's nearly 20lbs!). He seems to be healthy and strong which is so wonderful since we lost his brother Jacob about 2 years ago to SIDS.
Brooklyn LOVED having so many cousins to play with. It's nice that we have so much family in Georgia.
a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Sk-9aDQ3yks/STSkFiQtz7I/AAAAAAAAAzA/PxJTtszgRDI/s1600-h/Ian1.jpg">

My Quest - not a minivan!!!

2008-11-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

So...John convinced me we needed a new car. I remember a car show we went to about 4 years ago when the Quest first came out. The one spinning around with a girl next to it was actually pretty awesome with features I had never seen before. I casually mentioned to John, "If I ever had to get a minivan, this would be the only one I'd settle for." Well...here we are 4 years later and what did I get myself into? Cons: a car payment for the next 5 years. Pros: We got an awesome deal on it, it's FULLY loaded, and it's so much easier and more comfortable to travel in and carry people around. Brooklyn likes the dual DVD screens and I like the Skyview glass panels all along the ceiling. John likes the rear backup sensors since I (cough) have had a few problems with previous cars.
Btw - it's a 2004 SE model with a little dent on the rear driver panel with 67k miles on it, hence the "good deal".

Lexi is 6 months old today!

2008-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Today Lexi is offically 6 months, which I swear I just gave birth to her! She's gotten 2 teeth and is so good at reaching for things and putting them in her mouth. I started feeding her rice cereal on a more regular basis. I think 6 months is my favorite age!

I <3 IKEA!!

2008-11-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

My friend Cami called me up last night to invite me to Ikea which she has always raved about and I've always been very curious. So...I took my mom and the girls and met Cami there. Being an Ikea virgin, I had no idea it was an all day event. That place really sucks you in!
I'm still recovering from the wonder, amazement, and thrill! I felt like I was back in Germany (not that I ever went to an Ikea there, but it's just so European). It's like a modern art museum or just a shopping dream come true.
When it comes to families - they thought of everything! I could buy a jar of baby food at the cafeteria, or warm up a bottle, or use provided colorful kid plates and cups for Brooklyn's lunch. There was family parking for people with strollers close to the entrance and a family bathroom with an area for your toddler to play while you nurse your baby in a comfy Ikea leather chair. Best part? (And I didn't even notice it until we were almost done) - free babysitting while you shop at an amazing indoor play area. Wow! They really did think of everything! Brooklyn didn't want to leave she was having so much fun.
We ooohed and ahhhed at the different showrooms. Brooklyn liked to jump onto the beds and pretend to sleep or to read. I took lots of pictures I'll post later.
I need to go back. I NEED to go back! So anyone who wants to come with me, let's plan a date and go! It was so overwhelming I couldn't see it all. Plus, I promised Brooklyn she could go back and play in the "forest" with the nice ladies and watch movies and color like she did today.
Thanks Cami for introducing me to the phenom that is...Ikea!

Happy 3rd Birthday Brooklyn!!

2008-11-02T19:22:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Brooklyn's 3rd birthday. I invited all of her friends and they ALL came!! We had a houseful, but I was prepared and I think everything went rather smoothly. The weather was so nice a lot of the older kids played outside in the cul-de-sac and in our bounce house so it wasn't always crazy inside. Mom made the Barbie cake and it turned out so cute! Cami the professional balloon artist even made the kids balloon animals (thanks Cami!). I think Brooklyn had a wonderful birthday. Thanks to all who came and brought Brooklyn such nice gifts! I can't believe my baby is such a big girl now!

Disney on Ice

2008-10-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

John got us tickets to through work again and this time we got to take Ella, Katie, and Lauren (Sissy) Messick. The girls were so adorable together. When Mickey and Minnie first came out they yelled, "Whoooo!!! Mickey! Hi Mickey!" and waved their little hands. They were so incredibly excited every time a new Disney character skated out onto the ice. There was Mickey, Cars, Ariel, Lion King, and a VERY long Tinkerbell segment. I think the only thing that could have ruined the night were the $10 snow cones we refused to buy for them. I know our tickets were free, but the cups really weren't that great and Brooklyn especially wouldn't stop whining about them! Whining = automatic no rewards. I'm such a mean mom! I think she had a lot of fun anyway with her little "girlfriends". Thanks John!

I forgot to post this one - I thought it was so funny! I guess Sissy was trying to do bunny ears on Brooklyn but...

Airshow and Trunk or Treat

2008-10-19T20:06:00.000-07:00

Mom and I hit the garage sales this weekend and found a few fun items for the kids, while John took Brooklyn and my Dad to the Dobbins airshow. They said it was awesome although Dad and John got some pretty bad sunburns and Brooklyn said it was "too loud". Here's some pics John took of the show:
That night we drove down the street to the new Mars Hill church bldg. for some trunk or treatin'. Lexi was sooo snuggly in her Dalmations costume! But John definitely got the most attention! All the little ninjas and star wars kids with swords kept trying to attack him! And no, I was not a redneck! Just a native :)

Berry Patch Farms

2008-10-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

John and I picked up Katie and her family and followed Kelly and her family over to the Berry Patch Farms in Woodstock. We had fun taking pictures of the girls. I love when Brooklyn gets a break from playing with her boring ol' mom and gets some time with her buddies Elle and Ella. Notice the girls' unplanned coordinating outfits. So cute!

5 months old

2008-10-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

Lexi can:
1. Sit up completely by herself
2. Hold a sippy cup and drink it (sort of)
3. Make 2 vowel "noises" (ah ah ba ah...)
4. Sleep through the night in her big girl crib (no more bassinett!)

My Baby's First Haircut

2008-10-02T12:52:00.001-07:00

Tuesday I went to Shari's to get some major hair help (since I'm balding). Brooklyn insisted on going with me so I made her promise to let me get her hair cut too.
She watched me first, very impatiently I might add. "Are you done yet? Are you done yet, Mama? Are you done yet?" And so on...until finally it was her turn and she got a little scared. Luckily Shari is an expert at 1st haircuts. She had a booster seat and a doggie apron and promised her candy if she sat really still and was a good girl. Boy that worked! Candy ALWAYS works. She was a perfect little angel sitting up there. We weren't ready for a real haircut - just a little trim of the stringy ends and it looks a lot better.
Oh, one other thing. We were trying to explain to Brooklyn that only Shari can cut hair because she went to a special school and learned how and if anyone else cuts Brooklyn's hair (like Brooklyn) that would be very BAD. We weren't sure if she understood until a couple of minutes later she started singing to herself because she was getting bored. This was the song: "I'm going to cut hair...I'm going to cut hair...because I'm going to school and cut my hair...cut hair...When I go to school...I'm going to cut hair..."

So...I'm not perfect

2008-09-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not crafty (painting, sewing, what's that?), my kids don't wear Gymboree or Gap unless it came from a garage sale, my house is tidy but dirty most of the time. I can't do hair (i'm balding, remember?)or makeup or put together a cute outfit. I'm no social butterfly. My cooking skills are just so-so. We don't get to go to Hawaii or Europe or on a cruise whenever we feel like it. I can't make a kids room look like it came out of a magazine. I'm definitely not losing this baby fat the 2nd time around. Forget food storage! What a bummer, right?
Wrong! I have a college degree! I'm pretty book smart and I played flute in college - even went to Carnegie Hall to play - twice! I can play piano and teach music. I am the queen of garage sale finds. I have a great relationship with my parents, my in-laws, my husband. My kids are smart and beautiful (ok, I'm a little biased, but people tell me all the time). None of us have any health problems and both John and I got to travel the world - Japan, Turkey, Germany, France and a couple cruises BEFORE we had kids. I can sing alto pretty well and scream as well as anyone in a horror movie (ask Katie or Joe). I'm a pretty consistent journal writer. I have pretty, straight teeth and good skin, long legs and blue eyes. Most importantly, I know who I am, where I've come from and where I'm going.
I know, I know...you thought I was perfect, didn't you? :)

Round round - get around - I get around!!!

2008-09-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn is on the move! She's finally learned how to ride her tricycle and she loves her Barbie Jeep (so does Ella!). Here's some pictures of the cutest girls around!

The guys really "get around" too since John got his midget bike (what I call it).

John gets al the hook-ups

2008-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

So, anyone who knows us really well knows John gets all the deals and all the fun toys just because he gets it from work or he just "knows somebody". Well...the latest toys are:
1. Pocket bike

2. iPhone

The bike - not so fond of myself, but John and Brooklyn seem to love it. The iPhone, however...is the future! I was playing around with it - listening to music, surfing the net, looking at my blog, checking the weather, and finding our house on the map - and WOW! I felt like I was in the future. It's all touch screen and you can move things around by either pinching your fingertips together or spreading them apart or sliding them around the screen like a magician! Wow. I think I want one now...

Marvelous Milestones!

2008-09-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday I swore Lexi rolled over, but she wouldn't really do it again. Well, today she did it 3 times so she is now an official roller.

I wanted her to wait until 6 months to start cereal but, long story short, Lexi ate 3 bowls of Rice cereal today! I guess she was ready! Hopefully this will also help with her Reflux since I only have about 17 more days of medicine before I have to spend another $70 for more.

Oh, also, just so all of you aren't wondering why my hair looks especially bad lately - I've lost about 50% of it the past month or so. I'm not exaggerating and it's been AWFUL!!! I never lost this much after having Brooklyn. I don't know what to do besides wait it out and go buy some hair thickening shampoo I guess. You can literally see scalp above my temples (you can kind of tell in that picture of me at the Sesame Street Live night, only now it's even worse). Should I cut my hair shorter? Get bangs to cover the bald spots? HELP!!!

Sunny Days...Sweepin' the Clouds Away!

2008-09-13T19:35:00.001-07:00

Friday night we took Brooklyn, Ella and Katie to Phillips Arena for some good ol' Elmo Fever! The girls had a BLAST - except they couldn't understand why we couldn't just go down to the stage so they could give Elmo a "hug and a kiss" or why Mommy wouldn't buy them an $8 Elmo balloon (yikes!). Instead we bought them M&Ms and a huge bag of pink and blue cotton candy which Ella and Katie devoured (sorry Katie). The girls were so full of sugar and tired they got slap happy in the car on the way home.

4 months old - Lexi and Brookyn comparisons

2008-09-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Lexi is 4 months old today! I cared so much about milestones with Brooklyn, but now I just want Lexi to stay my tiny tiny baby who just lies there and coos. Unfortunately, she is reaching the same milestones Brooklyn did at that age. Darn her! Here are some reflections on the 2 girls at 4 months.
Here's Lexi:

Here's Brooklyn:

Here's Lexi with her chubby chubby legs!

Here's Brooklyn with her somewhat chubby legs:

Here's Brooklyn sitting up:

Here's sweet Lexi sitting up:

Most people tell me Lexi looks "just like Brooklyn", but I have to disagree. I mean, there are some similarities - hair, skin, and eye color - but that's about it. Lexi is definately a Dabney.

Here are a few more pictures I took today of my little Lexi Rae. Isn't she so cute?! Ok...maybe I'm a little biased.

"Ooooo I'm cute!"

Heather's Visit and GA Aquarium

2008-09-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

My beautiful sister Heather came from LA to visit us for Labor Day weekend. It had been exactly 2 years since we'd been to the Aquarium, so we decided to take the family on Friday. It was so much better this time - no crowds and a cool new Manta Ray named Mandi. Here's the highlights:

Jessica's reception!

2008-08-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday night, we had the priviledge of attending Jessica Wallace's wedding reception. It was so cool to see her all grown up and happy with her prince charming, Alan. I've known Jessica since she was probably 3 or 4 years old. I played flute in school, and she played flute...following in my footsteps! Now she's getting married the same month (almost the same day) I did to a man the same age John was and she's 19 1/2 just like I was. Crazy! Anyway, I told Brooklyn we were going to a Princess party. Well, she believed me and wanted to wear her Princess Cinderella costume. I also told her there would be dancing - just like at Cinderella's ball. When we walked in there was a piano player and a dance floor. She said, "do you wanna dance?" I said, "Right now?" She looked at me like, "well, you were the one who said there'd be dancing!" It was the cutest thing. The "Princess" arrived late - about 45 minutes after we got there, which also confused her. But, once she saw Jessica she was so excited she forgot everything. She was nearly beside herself getting to say hi to the Princess. She got to hug and kiss the Princess and even dance with the Princess! Wow I've got to take this girl to Disney World, except that she might pass out from the excitement of meeting so many characters she loves. Daddy and I each danced with her. She was my little princess! I just hope her special day isn't for a loooooooooong time. I've got to start saving now!

Home Video

2008-08-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

This is really random, but she wanted a video of herself and we had just talked again about how you ONLY need band-aids when you're bleeding. This girl LOVES band-aids. We bought her $4 Princess Band-Aids one time and we'll never do it again. There were only 20 in the box, and I swear 11 of them ended up on her legs that night...while we weren't paying attention. She still bugs me to buy her more.
I like how she nods her head when she speaks. Gotta love this girl!

Sucking her thumb/Rock Band

2008-08-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Two quick things -
1. Lexi sucks her thumb which is incredibly adorable since she'll also do it while holding her blankie next to her cheek. Brooklyn used a binkie forever so I didn't want to introduce one to Lexi. I guess both of my daughters not only have reflux, but also an oral fixation. I'm not worried about Lexi...yet. Should I be?

2. Our friends Joelle and Stephen officially moved away to Utah. Before they left, we got to play their "Rock Band". Drums were a lot harder than I thought (I'm much better at guitar). Of course Brooklyn wasn't the biggest help and here she is without pants...as usual...

New Dog Park

2008-08-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

For Family Night we went to the new Dog Park on Pitner Road (about 2 miles away). It's cute - small but has a decent playground with picnic tables and bathrooms and it's the closest park to our house. There's a "big dog" and "small dog" area. We didn't bring either of our dogs (we have to find Rocko's collar somewhere in the woods). It will be really nice when it's cooler outside with less mosquitoes!!

Our 8 Year Anniversary

2008-08-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

John and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday! I can't believe we've known eachother for about 9 years. We were soooo young then and I was so immature (it's good we waited so long to have kids).

My Family who came. The reception was at the Magnolia House in Powder Springs. We didn't have digital cameras back then :)

John surprised me with a dozen beautiful roses. That night we went to Stoney River for some yummy Filets and then saw Batman which was awesome! I caved and brought Lexi with us which was slightly a mistake since she was fussy through a lot of dinner. I guess Stoney River isn't used to having babies, so as soon as she let out a real cry they rushed us out of there! Well, the head waiter guy said, "Oh! It's time for her to go, isn't it? Let me get you your check!" And with that I walked out to the car and John paid for everything in about 2 minutes. It was ok though. The food was excellent.

Where were we 8 years ago? Let's see...
1. I was just starting my 2nd year at college as a flute major.
2. We moved into Poplar Place apartments so I could be close to school and he could be close to the freeway to get to work.
3. We were in the Kennesaw Ward at the Acworth bldg.
4. I was working pretty much full time at Dr. Depew's orthodontics and trying to balance night and weekend classes.
5. We had no thoughts of having kids - or any desire to have any. Boomer the dog and then Mili the cat were our children for awhile. Most of our furniture was from John's parents (thank you thank you thank you!).
6. I was a nursery leader and the primary chorister in the ward and John was young men's president? Gosh...it's hard to remember that far back!
7. I was skinny and a lot blonder with no stretch marks.
8. I drove a stick shift Saturn SL1 and John had recently bought a red Mitzubishi Galant that I thought was so totally cool and fast.
9. I still listened to a lot of Dave Matthews Band and classical music (NERD!!). I even had a DMB sticker on the back of my car.
10. John (the animal lover ) always bugged me about getting another dog or more cats and a fishtank and a lizard. Ugh! Luckily I've changed him for the most part. Now he only really likes saltwater fish.

I'm just so glad we were able to marry in the temple 8 years ago! John is truly my soulmate and I look forward to spending eternity with him and our family!

Nothing New or Exciting

2008-08-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

She smiles a LOT! I love it!

Brooklyn was the artist who composed this photograph. Lovely, isn't it? She's quite good.

Wow - I keep reading all of my friend's blogs and feeling like my life is pretty boring right now. Still, I must post some of the latest pictures of Lexi who, by the way, weighs just over 15lbs (97 percentile). Why do they have to grow up so fast? It's awful!!

Despite Lexi's perfections, we have discovered that she has GERD just like her sister did. Basically this means she has a hard time eating. The acid from her stomach shoots up into her throat once she starts sucking, so it makes her pull away and arch her back and SCREAM!! It's so sad. She's on medicine but she throws it up before it has a chance to work. Fun stuff!! I've been through this all before (with Brooklyn) and we survived.

I Love Lexi

2008-07-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm just feeling a little emotional about Lexi right now and had to share the latest pictures we took of her. It took a lot of courage for me to have a 2nd child and I only really did it because I wanted to give John a boy. When I found out it wasn't, I cried.
Looking back, I realize now that God really does have a plan for me. I can't imagine my life without Alexis. She is so good and so sweet and her smile melts me every time and that girl smiles A LOT! Because I have another girl, our life works so well. I didn't have to redo the nursery and I haven't had to buy very many new clothes. Brooklyn loves her so much and I'm excited for the time when they can start playing together as friends.
So, here are the latest pictures of me and my girl at 10 weeks. I love you Lexi Rae!!

John's Totally Awesome 30th Birthday Party

2008-07-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

Since 30 is a big milestone, I wanted to make John's birthday memorable. So...even though he was born in '78, I threw him an 80's party. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun! I hung pictures of 80's stars and ads from an old Rolling Stone magazine. He-Man was playing on the TV and 80's music in the background. We never got to play the Nintendo games we had, but we did have time for 80's trivia. Of course Joe knew all the answers, but I was surprised Mandy (born in like 1985)knew as much as she did.
Thanks to all our friends who came to support John, dressed up and who brought yummy food! It was totally awesome, dude! Here's some pics we took.

Family pics on the beach

2008-07-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a whole year since we did this. Lexi wasn't around last year and Brooklyn has gotten so much bigger. The picture at the top of my blog was from last year.

Ft. Walton Beach Baby!

2008-07-14T19:48:00.001-07:00

We're back from our 2nd annual trip to Ft. Walton Beach, FL. It was great weather again and lots of good times with our friends the Schaumleffels (thanks Leigh Anne's mom!). We stayed at the lovely Island Princess for almost a week. Though it was a lot more work this year since I had two monkeys to deal with, we still found time to relax and have fun. We took family pics the last day, so I'll post those soon.

Eeyore is my daughter

2008-07-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn is just now starting to get into "dress up". She found this costume in her closet I have saved for halloween and decided she would be "Ee-war". For about 15 minutes she ran circles around the house and threw herself on the couch and laughed and laughed like a nut. Sometimes we go a little stir crazy at the Dabney house.

We had the Hulls over to help us try out the new BBQ I got John for Father's Day. Too bad it rained the MINUTE John went to put the food on. Luckily he has a giant golf umbrella. We like the Hulls - they have a son a month younger than Brookyn and a daughter 4 days younger than Lexi. Brooklyn decided to give Allison just about as many kisses as she did her sister. Poor Allison!

Margaritaville!!!

2008-06-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend John and I went to "dinner theatre" at the Johnston's house for Megan's birthday. It really turned out well and we all had a lot of fun (even though I had to take Lexi and she was fussy most of the time wanting to be fed). We had to figure out who the murderer was and turns out...it was my brother in law. What a good actor you are Joe! I'm still waiting for Tiffany or Marni to e-mail me the pictures they took for me, until then check out
www.shoresivfamily.blogspot.com
to see some of the fun (all pictures of John and none of me, unfortunately!!).

Happy Birthday & Father's Day Dad!

2008-06-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

Pardon my lack of blogging, but you can see we've been very busy! My sister flew into town from California for my Dad's birthday, Father's Day and Lexi's blessing at church. Amazingly, John figured out a way to get my handicap dad on our boat. He was nervous, but ended up LOVING it. What a birthday treat for him - 71 years old. We're so glad he's made it this long! That night we went to Chili's (his request).

Another treat was that John, my Dad, John's Dad, and Lexi's uncle Joe and Uncle Marc got to bless Lexi on Father's Day. John gave a great talk in church dedicated to his Dad was was sitting in the front row beaming. Most of John's family came up for the big day, so we had a big lunch at our house to feed everyone. My sister Heather was so nice to buy the food and made a wonderful beef stew. Yum! I wish she could have stayed longer. I think she'd move here if she could :).

Bunco

2008-06-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun Saturday night with Lexi. Bunco was as good as ever and all the girls were so nice - holding Lexi for me and offering to carry my things. This group may be a bunch of pretty faces, but they are so much more than that!

You have to have groups of 4 to play Bunco and the numbers got pretty messed up, so there were no real winners or losers but I think that was kind of nice. No money involved but lots and lots of FUN!

Week 3

2008-06-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Lexi's 3rd week of life. Brooklyn just adores her (well...we all do). I'm finally feeling like myself again and enjoying the fact that my husband works from home 90% of the time. Mom and Dad have moved in their house - although not completely settled - they missed the cable guy and have to wait another week for him to come (can you imagine 2 weeks without TV? Ha!). Brooklyn got a Step 2 rollercoaster from our neighborhood garage sale on Saturday. It's at "Grandma's house" and she has probably ridden it 100 times since she got it. I highly recommend this toy, btw. I think I paid $25 for it, but it's closer to $100 at the store - if they even still make them. It's so much fun!

Oh, I can't forget to mention that Brooklyn is officially a big girl now. We gathered all of her binkies, hung them in the tree, and said GOODBYE!!! The "Binkie Fairy" came and picked them up to give them to new little babies who need them. She left a pink present in the tree after she picked them up. It's been a little hard for Brooklyn, but we're so GLAD to have those binkies gone. She told a lady at GAP today about it, it was so cute. John's sister Melissa was the "Binkie Fairy". She called Brooklyn to personally thank her for the binkies and said she'll be sending her something in the mail. Hmmmm...what could it be?

Alexis "Lexi" Rae Dabney is here!!!! Happy Mother's Day to ME!

2008-05-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

I was induced at 10:15AM Friday morning and delivered a perfect little 8lbs 4oz. girl at 5:08PM. We told everyone she was going to be London Elise and then changed it to Alexis Rae at the last minute. We love her so much!!!!

I admit, having 2 girls is a lot different than 1, but I've been so lucky to have so much help already. Thanks to my family for watching Brooklyn for me and to all my friends for the phone calls and meals! Wow! You sometimes forget how much you're loved. My heart grew a size bigger when I held Lexi. She's such a good baby! Brooklyn was (and still is) quite a challenge from birth since she had GERD right away and cried ALL the time and we never got any sleep or any break. Lexi hardly ever cries and her digestive system seems to be working QUITE well. I want her to stay this little forever, which is interesting since I was in such a hurry for Brooklyn to grow up and start talking, walking, etc...now I know better!

Here's some pictures. I forgot my camera battery left charging in our room, so these were taken with my video camera. I'll post better ones when I get them and have time!

Baby Coming!!!!

2008-05-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

I went to my appointment today without any hopes up. I was thinking I'd talk to Dr. Windom about inducing this weekend since John's Dad is having surgery on my due date and they wouldn't be able to come up for the baby. Well...he told me that I was already 2cm dialated, he stripped my membranes, and he'd like to induce this Friday if I don't have her before then! Dr. Windom is on call this weekend so it would be perfect and John's mom and dad could come up for the big day!

So...I'll have a little baby girl by this Friday! Yea! I can't wait to meet her. I was supposed to give a talk at church for Mother's Day. I unfortunately won't be able to do that. Ha ha!

Super Garage Sale Finds!

2008-05-04T19:27:00.001-07:00

This weekend I took my mom (who just moved here, by the way) to some pretty awesome garage sales. Brookstone and Bentwater were the best. We were in competition for finding the best deals. I thought I won...but it might be a toss up. Here are some of the best deals we found:
1. Britax roundabout carseat...$5 No, not $50 or $15. Only $5! And in excellent condition.
2. Mom got a real wood dollhouse for $10. The lady said she spent $150 on the kit (it's huge) and hours putting it together.
3. Pottery Barn crib bumper that matches sheets I already have...$10
4. Mom got a Pottery Barn kitchen dining set with 4 chairs...$50
5. Peg Perego letherette high chair...$20
6. GAP and Old Navy clothes for Brooklyn and London that were 25cents each piece
7. Lilo and Stitch DVD and music CD...$2 total
8. Like-new bath time Ariel doll for Brooklyn that she LOVES and carries around with her...$1

Ok, so there were more little things, but those were the outstanding deals. I'm such a silly little garage saler!

Side note: It's really interesting to see how people value their things. I got really discouraged when sale after sale people wanted $4-$10 for their kid clothes. Then I got to this lady who just didn't care and wanted to get rid of things so she wanted a quarter. Garage sales can be a real study in human behavior and psychology.

Carnival!

2008-04-29T18:37:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we went to Russom Elementary's Spring Carnival. Of course Brooklyn loves to ride horsies so this was well worth the 30minute wait I stood in for her.

The Dallas Ward Pregos

2008-04-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we're missing a couple girls, but here we are at Cami's baby shower in order of due date. Tiffanie is a cheater though - she's standing with her belly straight on so she doesn't even look pregnant! The race is on to see who's baby comes first - Tiffannie's, Mine, or Cami's! We could all be at the hospital together in a couple weeks!

Less than a month to go!

2008-04-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dream Backyard

2008-04-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

If Ty Pennington came to you offering an extreme home makeover to your backyard, what would dream up? Well, my sister in Mesa AZ has been dreaming this up for a while now and finally it's done and beautiful and amazing! She loves Italy and gardening, and spending time with her family. Take a look at what she's done. I had to share (hope you don't mind, Shannon :) )

I have to copy my friends and do this

2008-04-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Dynasty - Free family tree template

John my movie star husband!

2008-04-18T19:36:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

This is really funny - especially for fellow music nerds

2008-04-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

A-Z Tag

2008-04-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is for you, Becky!
A- ATTACHED OR SINGLE: Attached, for 8 years this August
B- BEST FRIEND: John, and my girls - Gina, Audrey and Brenna who I unfortunately rarely talk to anymore :(. But that's my fault. I don't call people.
C-CAKE OR PIE: Both? I really love frosting, so I guess any kind of cake
D- DAY OF CHOICE: Saturday
E- ESSENTIAL ITEM: i don't know...my contacts? Because i HATE wearing my glasses!
F- FAVORITE COLOR: green
G- GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: college degree
H- HOMETOWN: Acworth, GA
I- INDULGENCES: Cadbury eggs, white chocolate, cupcakes, Blizzards, anything that's sugar OVERLOAD. They used to make these white chocolate M&Ms that I ate every day for like a month.
J- JANUARY OR JULY: July!
K- KIDS: Brooklyn and Makenna? London?
L- LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT: Our Eternal family
M- MARRIAGE DATE: August 12, 2000
N- NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 2 sisters and I had a brother
O- ORANGES OR APPLES: Mmm...I love fruit! probably apples
P- PHOBIAS OR FEARS: Does talking on the phone count? I have really poor phone skills. But, of course, death of a loved one is my biggest fear.
Q- QUOTES: You're special and unique...just like everyone else!
R- REASON TO SMILE: I have a husband who loves me despite my quirks, and both of my babies girls are healthy.
S- SEASON: Early fall
T- TAG two FRIENDS: Katie and Kelly
U- UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I never wanted kids, but of course I wouldn't trade them for anything now.
V- VERY FAVORITE STORE: GAP Outlet
W- WORST HABIT: Not calling people back - or at all, really.
X- X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND: ultrasound. That's a weird one...
Y- YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: Mediterranean
Z- ZODIAC: Sagittarius

DAC Kids

2008-04-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take my friend Leigh Anne and her her kids with me to check out this new jumping place on Cobb parkway. It's a little pricier than other places, but they have a really neat/different setup. It's pirate themed and has a HUGE sandbox in the middle of the room with jump castles around it. One of the best parts was the air guns that shoot foam balls. You can grab a yellow bag and gather balls and then take them to any one of 10 or so "cannons". At first it was a little overwhelming for Brooklyn, but she liked digging in the sand with shovels and buckets and throwing foam balls. We stayed there about 1hr 1/2until Brooklyn threw one of her famous fits and we had to leave kicking and screaming. The "pirate" employees were really nice and helpful though.

Ducks!

2008-04-07T19:41:00.001-07:00

We like to brag about our "lake view" (it's really a mud pond across the street). A lot of times ducks and geese make their way over to our yard and Brooklyn loves it! Just the other day, after a tornado siren went off, these ducks came right up to our front steps so I grabbed Brooklyn and some bread to seize the opportunity. They stayed for awhile, until I went back in to get more bread and I heard them take off back to the lake. Brooklyn (pouting) said, "Mommy - I scared dem. I scared dem away to da water." It was so sad. Maybe they'll come again!

Jamiee tagged me

2008-04-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

10 years ago...
I was 17, about to finish my junior year and I think I had just started working for Dr. Depew.

5 things on my to do list today....(actually tomorrow since it's late)
1. Clean the carseat Brooklyn peed in
2. Go see my parent's new house
3. Dinner
4. Go to the park if it's not raining
5. Take the cat back to the Dr.

What would you do if you had a million dollars? Pay off debt, go on a killer vacation, invest the rest for savings/Brooklyn's college fund

Three bad habits.....
1. Not calling people back or answering the phone if I just don't feel like talking (I HATE the phone!!!)
2. Getting on the computer when I should be cleaning my house
3. Giving in to Brooklyn too often probably

4 places I have lived......
Quartz Hill, California; Granada Hills, California; Lompoc, California; Kennesaw, GA

5 jobs I have had.....
1. White Water - for only one day b/c I hated it
2. American Adventures - for two days b/c it was awful too
3. A Music Store - demonstrating and selling flutes
4. Dr. Depew Orthodontics
5. Does Mom count?

5 things people don't know about me......
1. I've been to Japan
2. I REALLY love frosting. I like to make a little bowl of some and dip graham crackers in it.
3. I took jazz and tap when I was little, but I have NO athletic abilities or gracefulness whatsoever
4. I used to win really high scores in piano competitions
5. I've played in an orchestra which played in Carnegie Hall two years in a row

What is your hubby's name? John Hilton Dabney

How long have you been married?
8 years in August

How long did you date?
1 year

How old is he?
29

Who eats more?
John

Who said I Love You first?
I don't remember

Who is taller?
John

Who sings better?
John

Who is smarter?
I went to college, but John's still smarter dang it!

Whose temper is worse?
John, I guess. But he doesn't really ever lose his cool

Who does the laundry?
Me, but John helps fold

Who does the dishes?
Me. Sometimes he dries.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Looking at the bed, I do.

Who pays the bills?
John

Who mows the lawn?
John

Who cooks dinner?
Me everynight, but he's good at warming things up and putting things together like a burrito

Who drives when you are together?
John

Who is more stubborn?
Brooklyn!

Who is the first to admit they are wrong?
Me - I was born with a guilty conscience.

Who's parents do you visit the most?
His, but not for long. My parents are moving here in a month - about 6 minutes away

Who proposed?
John in Cinderella's castle

Who has more friends? hmmm...I guess I keep in touch more with my high school friends than he does.

Toddler Tantrums

2008-04-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

This is really MY daughter. About 2 weeks ago she changed into a little devil child and it's been really fun trying to deal with her since I'm pregnant and tired and can't really pick her up to move her to a "time out" spot. Any tips? I thought this was pretty funny and it made me feel better:

Kalysta's baptism

2008-04-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went back down to Warner Robins to visit family, and most importantly so that John could baptize his neice, Kalysta. She was brave enough to ask him to do it, and brave to ask me to give the talk on baptism, so we couldn't refuse! It was an honor and a privilege Kalysta! We love you!

Close call

2008-04-01T10:07:00.001-07:00

My last Dr.'s appointment was a little scary! When she measured my belly, it was actually 4 cm smaller than 2 weeks before! I was sent to get an "emergency" sonogram at Northside hospital about 3 days later. I didn't know what to think - everything felt fine! The night before I got a blessing from John and Joe that was really special. I knew everything was going to be ok - although I think I kind of freaked out my and John's mom a little.

Well, the worst part was the traffic and the $40 copay, because everything WAS fine! (whew!). It was funny because the OBGYN said she thought the baby wasn't even 4lbs based on how she measured things. When I got my ultrasound, they found out she was actually around 5.8lbs! She was measuring more like she is due May 6th instead of May 15th. So, I'm not getting smaller at all!

The best part was getting to see my little girl. It was so awesome. They must have really high-tech systems at Northside, because everything was so clear. I got to see her face - it looked 3D. She blinked for us and opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue a few times. If you know me very well, I LOVE little baby feet and toes. I just want to eat them! (ok, not really). So one of the best parts was when they showed me her feet and I got to see all 10 chubby little oinkers! I really fell in love with her that day. I'm so excited to meet her and hold her. It was such a relief to see that she's going to be ok.

Easter fun

2008-03-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

This year I wasn't feeling the Easter spirit I guess (we've had a lot of bad things happen to us the past couple of weeks...but I won't go into boring details). We'd already done an egg hunt at Nana's the week before and I never got around to bringing out the bunny and egg decor. I honestly thought an actual Easter celebration/dinner would be foregone this year. Luckily our friend Kelly called me on one of my down days and invited us to her Mom's house for dinner and an egg hunt! It was like a prayer was answered! Thank you Kelly! We had a lot of fun and ate some yummy food.

Me and my girl at church.
Brooklyn and her buddy Elle
Me and my girl at the egg hunt
Let's find some more eggs!
Here's one Mommy!

The cutest video you'll ever see

2008-03-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

The Husband Quiz

2008-03-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

What is his name? John Hilton Dabney

How long did you date? 6 months dating + 6 months engagement = 1 year

Who eats more sweets? Ha ha...that's funny. Everyone knows it's Brooklyn - ok, I guess it's me.

Who is taller? He's like 5'11. I'm near 5'7 and NEVER went for short guys. I used to like Tom Cruise until I found it he's a shorty (plus he's a WEIRDO) and it totally turned me off.

Who is the better singer? John for sure. He sang at his high school graduation. He can harmonize with anything. I think he has perfect pitch.

Who does the laundry? Me, but he helps me fold.

Who pays the bills? John

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I used to sleep on the edge of the right side of my bed, until I married John and he stole the right side!

Who mows the lawn? John Dabney

Who cooks dinner? Me - but sometimes he heats up the frozen pizza!

Who drives when you're together? He will never let me drive unless he's paralyzed and it's probably a good thing since I'm pretty awful.

Who is more stubborn? He'll say I am. He's super easy going which makes us a perfect match.

Who kissed who first? I think I was about to kiss his cheek and he turned his face. Sneeky sneeky!

Who asked who out? That's hard to say...I might have been the one to ask him to come with me to go get a cell phone at the mall (as friends) and we ended up getting lunch there at Ruby Tuesdays and he paid for it which signifies date to me.

Who proposed? He did at Cinderella's castle, Disney World

Who is more sensitive? I used to be really sarcastic and he was the first person who didn't appreciate it, so I used to think he was more sensitive. But, i guess I am since I can get offended more easily.

Who has more siblings? He does - 5 sisters. I only have 2

Who wears the pants? We are a team!

A Proud Riley on St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

I just want to say how proud I am of my heritage! No, I'm not really very Irish - my maiden name is Riley, but it's English not Irish. Still, I have an awesome Riley heritage I wanted to brag about.

If you visit http://www.rileysfarm.com/, you'll see why I like to brag. It all started with my Dad's first cousin and now this place is a real tourist attraction! All of my Dad's cousins and Good 'Ol Aunt Bea Riley are fabulous people. Most of them run this farm. I got to visit last Thanksgiving and we actually called the airlines to extend our trip so we could stay just a little longer. They host living history field trips, church pioneer treks, and even were the backdrop for a scene in a Spielberg movie.

I'm jealous because most of my family (parents, 2 sisters, my Aunt) got to spend the weekend here without me. There was a special St. Patty's day celebration I'm sure was awesome. They really go all out with food and entertainment and treat you like royalty when you're there.

If you ever go out to Southern California, you've got to visit the Riley Farm! Don't forget to wear your Colonial or Pioneer clothes, though.

Last-minute day at Nana's

2008-03-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Papa (John's dad), Steve (Jenn's husband), John and Brooklyn hanging out after the egg hunt

I found one, Mom!

Do the ones in the tree count??

I'm 32 weeks and counting! I guess it's pretty obvious I'm pregnant, huh?

Handing me her wrappers

Let's go find those eggs!

John's sister Tiffany came from Texas to visit John's mom, so we decided to go Sunday for a day visit down to Warner Robins to see her and her family. Mom made a yummy roast, then Easter eggs were hidden in her backyard for the kids to find. Brooklyn had a lot of fun playing with her cousins. Everyone in John's immediate family - except one sister - was there with their families so it made for a great family reunion. It's nice when I'm not the only one who has to entertain Brooklyn.

Practice as a Big Sister

2008-03-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

We got to watch my friend's baby yesterday and Brooklyn loved it! It got me a little more excited about her being a big sister soon. She was so good and so helpful and loving. We think she even dreamed about the event that night because first thing the next morning she told Daddy all about it. He said, "Did you dream about her?" She said, "Yes I dream her." Of course, who knows if she understands dreaming, but it was still cute.

Give me a break!!!!

2008-03-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

I just had to vent about the Paulding county library. First of all, I heard some lady spent 6 days in jail for not returning books that were severly past due. That's ridiculous. I, on the other hand, failed to return 5 videos I forgot I even had to the PC library. When I tried logging into my account to renew, the password they gave me wouldn't work. I thought "Oh, no big deal, I'll just go in next story time and tell them I had problems". Well, we didn't go to story time for a week, then I went out of town to my in-laws. Finally, I tried again to log into my account with that password. Of course now I had no problems getting in and seeing that I owed $20 in library fines!!!!!!! Holy crap! I went in Tuesday to return them and plead my case. I had $10 in my wallet which I already thought was pretty generous to offer since I did fail to call them when I couldn't log in. The mean witch manager at the library wouldn't budge! I don't think she believed my story about not being able to log in. She kept saying, "you should have called us. You are responsible for the entire fine. I can't just give you a break - it wouldn't be fair to other people." I wanted to say, "Look lady. This isn't Blockbuster where I rented a new release and didn't return it for months! They were a bunch of 25cent stupid Barney videos! Even Blockbuster just charges you what the movies are worth if you don't return them on time!" I gave her the $10, but she said "she'd think about it and give me a call" but I couldn't check anything else out. Poor Brooklyn - we always check out a Barney movie after story time. She was so confused. I just hope I don't go to jail!

Oh, and the day before Brooklyn handed me my glasses and they were completely broken. For most of the week I've had lovely electrical tape holding them together. I went today to try to get them fixed, but there was no way it could be done. I got to buy - completely out of pocket - a new pair of glasses today!

Hey - but things could be worse, right?

Dancin' Girls

2008-03-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

So...I stole this picture from Jaimee's blog (although I was the one who grabbed her camera and took this). From left to right: Elle, Abby, and my sweet little monster Brooklyn shaking their booties on the coffee table after dinner at Jaimee's. Can you believe Elle just turned 2, Abby will be 3 soon and Brooklyn is right in the middle yet they are all about the same size? I took some video - maybe if Jaimee sends it to me, I'll post it (it was pretty darn cute!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T12:20:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn believes "best friends" "kids" and "my cousins" are interchangeable phrases, so as you can imagine, Ella is one confusing mix of all three. All she knows is she LOVES her Ella who doesn't always get to come over like this and play in her room. The girls had a blast pretending to go night-night, hugging and dancing with bears, brushing and curling hair, and giving hugs.
Cousins just don't come any cuter than this.

This was right before we left for aThai restaurant on Valentine's Day. It's so sad - there's really no baby left in that face anymore. I guess that makes me glad I'll have another one soon. She's licking the sweet tart hearts she got. That girl loves candy...more than me sometimes!
Using chopstix

This is yummy rice - but I think I'll use my hands, thanks. Library Valentine's Party. This is Ms. Shauna doing some of her "moves". Brooklyn loves going to the library for story time and to get a new Barney video.
She looks so small at the table.
She ate waaay too much candy - I ate the cupcake. Yum!

Movies for Mom...

2008-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad are really moving back to Georgia! It's all happening so fast now that they made the decision so I played realtor and finally found them a place to live. It will be built by May (probably the same time Baby #2 is due), is about 5-6 miles from my house and will have lots of handicap modifications that will greatly help my dad. Am I good or what? I should get some sort of commision for this, right? I guess free babysitting will be good enough.

I took a bunch of video and photos for my family to see.

2008-02-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

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Inside the pearson

2008-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

2008-02-10T09:47:00.001-08:00