the trash collector

Ok, so you can officially call me the trash collector. Look at my new find on someone else's trash pile. This is just what Sallie has been wanting and we had been looking at these for her birthday that just passed. Guess we do not have to look any further....

Nana's 60th Birthday weekend

We went to Anderson this weekend to celebrate Nana's 60th birthday and had lots of fun. We went to the Upper state fair in Greenville on Sunday before leaving. It was some good people watching...and Sallie enjoyed the rides and the petting zoo and I almost forgot about Pickles the clown! I felt like I needed a really good shower when I left. It was really nice to get away and enjoy time with Nana, Ward's brothers and their families. Anna got tubes in her ears on Thursday before we left and so far so good. We really hope that this will help with all her ear infections as she has had 5 in the course of her short little 12 month life. Sallie's tubes worked wonders so we are praying for the same thing for Anna. We got to stop through Easley on the way back to Columbia to visit with Grammy, Ward's grandmother who is in a nursing home with Alzheimers. Grammy looks great and seems to still know who we are. She smiled as soon as we walked in the door and really enjoyed watching Anna play with her wheelchair. Anna was named after Grammy, whose name is Ann, as well as my Mom who is Peggy Ann. Grammy has only met Anna two times so we try to get her by there as often as possible. Anna got her first pair of walking shoes while we were in Anderson. Nana likes to get the girls their first pair of shoes at the same store that she got Ward and his brother's first pair of shoes. They are precious and she has really been getting around well in them. She gets frustrated at times but I give it about another week before she is taking off. She wears a size 3 1/2. We've enjoyed a little break since Sunday as Sallie stayed in Anderson until tomorrow with Nana. The house has been really quiet and I really miss her. It has been a nice break but two nights is all I can do right now. I miss her laugh and her little sweet voice already! I am attaching many pictures from our weekend as well as from Anna trying to figure out this walking stuff. It was a great weekend had by all. Happy 60th Mary Carter aka"Nana".

Happy 1st birthday Sweet Anna

Seems like a lot of happy birthday posts lately doesn't it? Well with two August birthdays 5 days apart, that is what we do in August. I have had a lot of fun planning and doing, but am really glad that we have another year before doing it again. Happy 1st Birthday Anna! Today was all your day and you had a blast. Your ice cream party was so much fun. You especially loved your cake. You ate and ate and ate and loved every bite. You got icing all in your hair and we had to give you a bath because you were a mess. Anna, I honestly can not believe that you are 1. How did this day get here so fast. This day a year ago, we were at baptist hospital loving on you and your little 6 pound 15 ounce self. You personality is still in the works but what I can see, at one, it is going to be so much fun. You love your sister and you love Jack. You do not like loud noises and you really don't like to be put down. You like to be held most of the time and you really like for me to be in the room at all times. You have not mastered playing on your own yet but I guess that will come with time. At walmart or the grocery store you do not want to ride in the cart but you want me to hold you and push the cart. Even though this is kind of hard, I do love that you want your Mama. You laugh a lot and are really close to learning to walk. I think about a week or two and you will be all over the house. You will eat anything and you understand everything I say. When I say "Do you want a bottle?", you start to fuss and point toward the kitchen. When I say "Are you ready for bed, you start to fuss and I know that this means yes. You love to play on my bed and "roughhouse" as Sallie calls it. Your sister refers to you as Anna Banana and even told your sister that this is her name. I am sure that you will not like this name later on in life but for now it is kind of cute. You are a true joy Anna. Your first year of life has been filled with little sleep, laughter, learning, juggling, and lots of smiles. I can not wait to see your little personality continue to develop. Youaare a true blessing to me and your Daddy as well as your sister and I am so honored and lucky to be your Mama!! Happy Birthday baby girl......

A recap of our busy birthday

Wow! Today was a really busy and fun day. Sallie has literally celebrated her birthday from the time that her feet hit the floor this morning until tonight at 9 pm. She has milked this day for all it is worth. Here are some pictures to show you what she has done. We started with gift opening, then went to her first day at school, then came home and ate the last cupcake from school for lunch. this is cupcake #2 for the day. Woke up from nap and went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream with Peppy and Pops, answered lots of birthday phone calls in between, had a watermelon birthday celebration with Daddy with sparklers, played with Ella and got to open presents from Peppy, Pops and Ella and Sam, hopped on my bouncy ball all day long, and finally went to bed with no supper and a belly full of junk. Now how could anyone ask for a better day? She is now asleep with a new watch on and a bouncy ball on the edge of her bed waiting for her in the morning.

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Look at me, I am 3

Well, Sallie is officially three. It is late on her birthday night and I was just thinking back to that day three years ago when Sallie was born. It was about 5:20 pm and our lives changed (for the better) and Sallie Celess Warren was born. I can not believe that she is three tomorrow. I know that we always say this every year for whatever age she turns however 3 just sounds so grown and not my baby anymore. Sallie, you can do so much at three that I am seriously in awe everyday. Your vocabulary has blossomed and continues to blossom daily. You are saying things that I really have no idea where they came from. You were watching Anna eat yesterday and said "slow down tiger". Not sure where this came from but you make me laugh outloud daily. You threw Jack some bread on the floor last night and said "there it is ding dong". I know that this is not nice but I could not control my laughter. I am sure that you heard someone say this (may have been me, sorry Jack). You are a sponge. You have really gotten into facial expressions lately and ask me a lot "Mama, why do you have those lines on your face". You are referring to a look on my face where my forehead and in between my eyebrows are squinched up. I may be thinking or worried ect... however half the time not even realizing that I am making this face. You are really into telling me about things that you did "last week" or last year". You love to say "when I was a baby....I.....". You also love to talk about "when I am a mommy, I can drink diet coke, or chew gum, or ect". You love your sister and when I am not right there, I catch you being sweet to her and giving her all kinds of love. When I am around and giving her attention, you like to do otherwise. You can go potty by yourself, dress yourself put on your shoes, brush your teeth, and you are such a good helper with Jack. You love to let him outside in the mornings and feed him in the afternoon. You love your Daddy and love to help him work on special projects. You love your friends, school, and your grandparents. You love to come in our room in the mornings and climb in bed for a little snuggle time (which I love). You always offer up kisses just because. You are a passy lover and you love your tv time. You are the most brave and mischievous child I have ever known. The mischievous side gets you in trouble. I have to remove myself many times to laugh at the things that you get into. You think of everything and nothing gets past you. I always find my stool in the most odd places where you have seen something that you need a little height to get to. You are the happiest, cutest, sweetest little girl and we are so proud of you. Happy 3rd Birthday Sallie. I am the luckiest Mama ever and can not imagine my life without you.

Birthday parties and more..

We celebrated Sallie's 3rd birthday a little early this year. We had a Thursday night party at leapin Lizards on July 30th. She turns 3 on August 10th. We had a joint party with Sallie's cousin, Ella and it worked out great. They have a lot of mutual friends due to being in the same class at school last year. Sallie loves Leapin Lizards and the party was a hit. She played her heart out. We brought presents home to open and let her stay up late to open her gifts. We will do a little candle in her muffin for breakfast on her real birthday as it is on a Monday which is also her first day of her new class at school so it will be really busy. She got all kinds of fun birthday gifts. We did not let her open gifts from us yet as she will get to open those on her real birthday as well.

The summer is flying by. We got out teacher assignments for Sallie and Anna's new classes starting on August 10th. Sallie's new teacher is Mrs. Vickie and Anna's new teacher is Mrs. Stepahine. We can not wait to get to know them. Sallie had Mrs. Stephanie so I am familiar with her classroom however do not know anything about Sallie's new teacher. We are excited about school starting but nervous about the adjustments that we will make with new teachers and new classrooms. Can you believe that Anna will be sitting at a big girl table and not in a high chair at school. She will also be taking a nap on a cot....I must get pictures of this. I know that Sallie adjusted just fine and she will too. We are going to try and make one last beach trip before the school year starts back up. We have all next week off so it will be nice to spend lots of time doing fun summer things before we go back to school.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Ok so this post is a little late but we celebrated Ward's birthday July 19th in Charleston. Happy Birthday Ward!!! Just the two of us and no kids. It was really nice to get away and be kidfree for the entire weekend. We went out to eat, shopped a lot and went out on the boat. My parents kept the girls at our house and they had a great time. It was nice to get away but I missed them and was glad to get back home on Sunday. Of course by Sunday night I was ready to go again. Just kidding!! Right before we got home, Sallie fell over a pair of shoes and into a plastic toy that we have and she busted her lip. We ended up taking her to the ER to make sure that she did not need stitches. After about 2 hours and who knows how much money, they let us come home stitch free. I was very relived that she did not need stitches and surprised at how quickly her lip has healed. I must brag on her though because she was so brave the entire time. I could not believe it. While driving to the ER she said that she was going to let the Dr stitch up her lip. She let the doctor look at her lip, take her temp, and weigh her with no problems at all. She was talking the entire time and did not even come close to tears. I was so proud of her. She really has NO FEAR. I think that I was more afraid than she was. Anyway, after many surprises for being so brave, we came home and all is well. I tried to get a close up of her lip but did not get a really good one. I will post it along with a picture of Ward blowing out his candles on his homemade ice cream cookie sandwich. Mind you, this picture was taken after the emergency room Sunday night so we were all a little tired and Anna is not in the picture because I had already put her to bed.