6-7-8

6-7-08 is today's date and also 4 years after our sweet Delainey Jayne was born. That's right, DJ is 4 years old today. Where do all the days go? When we moved here she was only 2 1/2. How quickly the sand runs through the parenting hour glass.

Yesterday I kept recounting the day as it was 4 years ago. I would recall what we were doing and what stage we were in the labor at that hour. Funny how a mom never forgets the details of child labor. I was induced and ended up with a 23-hour labor. Thankfully, it wasn't hard labor, just starting and stopping with contractions and LOTS of walking down the hospital halls.

I remember toward the very end of the labor I was so excited that I began laughing out loud. Maybe it was because I was tired and delirious or maybe it was because knew I was minutes away from holding our second child, our first girl. Everything I anticipated in her was changed the moment I set eyes on her. I pictured a blond, curly headed little girl. Instead she had dark black hair and one darling dimple. Her dimple was the very first thing I noticed after I said, "she has black hair!" I assumed she would be a shy and quiet little child and I couldn't have been more wrong about that either.

DJ's life has been such a wonderful adventure. In four years she has lived in 3 states and experienced 5 moves. To say she has adjusted well would be an understatement. Somehow, each new turn has been just another place to see and new people to meet in her mind. She never meets a stranger and thinks everyone should know who she is, who her siblings are and the date of her birthday. She thinks everyone should be invited over to play, young and old. She just loves people even if she's only known them for a moment. Recently someone told me they would describe Delainey in one word: Delightful. I would agree.

Happy Birthday DJ! What a joy you have been. In some ways I can't believe you're already 4. In other ways, I can't believe you haven't always been in our lives. You truly are a delight!

Bummer Stuff

Sometimes it seems that every little thing goes wrong! Why is that? When it rains, it pours, right? Here are some bummer things going on with us right now:

The zipper on my camera back pack busted and my camera tumbled out onto our driveway on Saturday. Needless to say, it is not working properly. It's in the shop for 4-6 weeks. I don't know how much it is going to cost to fix it but I'm bumming in the meantime!

Elle girl is sick. She's had a fever for 3 days. I thought it was chicken pox because of a small rash on her lower back but that's already healing up and doesn't really look like chicken pox anymore. Having is sick baby is worse than being sick yourself because you worry about them more. Also, they can't really tell you what they're feeling and you just want to fix it for them.

We showed our house for the second time to a guy this week only to find that he's not quite ready to buy. What a waste of time!

Our computer isn't operating properly and is running a little slugglish. This is very frustrating!

Okay, I know none of this stuff is THAT big of a deal. In fact, our life is incredibly good and God continues to bless us beyond more than we could ever deserve. So, I need to get out of this pity party mode and think on things that are true, good, and praiseworthy. I think I'll start now.

The Sorriest Excuse for a Toothfairy ... EVER!

Bryant lost another tooth today. Being a part of this generation that always uses debit cards, Cal & I scrambled around looking for a couple of bucks to give to our little toothless boy. We didn't succeed. So I heard Caleb going through his coin cup to see if he could find some quarters and round up a decent reward for our son's pearly white ...nothing.

Finally I hear Cal coming out of Bry's room saying, "This was the lamest tooth fairy night ever!" He took money out of Bry's wallet to put under his own pillow. Now, if you know Caleb, you know he's good for it and he'll replace the singles before Bry even notices they're missing. Thankfully, Bry isn't really very good at money management yet and probably doesn't even know what is in his wallet. Nevertheless, as a parent/toothfairy, borrowing from your 8 year old doesn't feel quite right.

Caleb shook his head as he turned in for the night saying, "This is an all-time low for me." I cracked up! This definitely wasn't in the parenting manual! Who knew we were supposed to keep money around in case one of our kids decides to loose a tooth? Poor first child!

Moonlight on the Pier

Last night Cal and I went with 3 other couples down to Folley Beach to a Shaggin' event on the pier. Now, if you're like me before I moved to SC, you're wondering what on earth Shaggin' is (Austin Powers ruined that word for me). Shag is a dance that started in Charleston years ago and it's similar to the Jitterbug and to Swing dancing.

So our friends wanted to invite us to do something truly Southern while we were still in the South. None of us had any idea what to expect and we just showed up at the beach, ready for whatever. I think sometimes having no expectation is the best because you're more apt to go with the flow. It was one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time!
We danced over the Atlantic Ocean out on a pier from sunset until long after the stars speckled the dark sky. It was cool to watch the waves between the boards under our feet. We danced, laughed and just had a better time than we had even hoped. Then we drove through the little beach town with the music way louder than we'd want our kids' to know about, singing and dancing so much the shocks on the Odessy are probably shot. We headed over to the Kickin' Chicken and ended the night with wings and more laughs. It was a wild group and we had such uninhibited fun! You would have thought we were a bunch of caged parents who never get out and take a break from our toddlers... oh, wait.


Here are some of my favorite quotes for the night (read them in your best Southern accent):

"I don't know if this is right, but that tastes like my great aunt smells!" -BC

"I don't know any of these songs like ya'll. All's I know is my praise and worship music." -KC

"You know what the first 3 letters in funeral are, right?" -BC

"Which member of Destiny's Child is your favorite?"

"When I was in Jr. High, I had a thing for Boy George." (how gross is that?)

"I know in marching band everybody always thinks the quads are the best, but the cymbals are the coolest."

"I'm used to germs, I wipe rear-ends for a living." -TT

"We're cruisin' in a mini-van!"- BM

"WE HAVE SITTERS!"


Here are some pics in very random order:

Magnificent Magnolias

The girls and I were out in the yard a couple of days ago enjoying this fabulous weather. Our magnolia trees are in bloom and to say they're gorgeous is an understatement. The gorgeous and fragrant things that grow effortlessly in this part of the country amaze me. I had to take pictures of one we picked because if I told you they were bigger than Delainey's head, you would think I was exaggerating. I wish so bad that scratch and sniff computers were available because even as beautiful as these flowers are, they smell even more heavenly! They have a fragrance similar to that of a lemon, almost like lemon cookies. I love springtime!

Elle-girl was not up for picture posing so I only got one with her and it didn't even include her face! DJ is rarely not in the mood to do pictures which is why there is a bazillion of her.

Capital Fruit

Today while DJ was eating grapes, she held up a small one and a big one. She said to Caleb, "Look Daddy! An upper-case grape and a lower-case grape!" She kept gushing about how "cuuuute" the little grape was. It cracked me up that she thought to describe the size of grapes as upper and lower case.

I've been trying to teach her upper and lower case letters but I thought it was going in one ear and out the other. Apparently she did pick up on some of it.

Smartest Gull in the Wuld

Thankfully, DJ is still in that phase of thinking I know everything as a parent. Just now her and I were talking about how she's older and a little bit bigger than Elle, so she gets a little more yogurt for a snack. This is how the conversation went after that...

DJ: "You are so smart, Mommy!! How did you get so smart?"
Me: "I listened to my mommy."
DJ: "WHO?" (surprised because she forgot I have a mom too)
Me: "Momo"
DJ: "(gasp) You are the smartest gull (girl) in my whole wide wuld (world)".

If she's anything like me, in about 10 years, she'll think I know absolutely nothing until she has children of her own. Then, she'll be wondering how on earth I pulled this parenting thing off so well. I know that's how it was for me. I never fully appreciated my parents until I was responsible to raise my own children. "You mean they don't just automatically have good manners and always tell the truth?" I was so naive when I began this parenting journey! Now I think my parents are some of the most patient and dedicated people I've ever known. So for now, I'm going to enjoy my daughter's adoration and thinking that I know so much.