Nikki's 4th birthday

She is growing up so fast. Where does time go. We spent a little over a month going back and forth on what kind of party she wanted to have. First it was Hannah Montana of course then she went into the Princess Party. After that she decided she would just have a "mixed up" party. That would include a princess birthday cake and Hannah Montana balloons. Well, then we went to Disney and after we came home she changed her mind again. She finally decided on an Enchanted Tea Party. I thought this was a great idea.

We ordered all of the Enchanted Disney party things from the web and sent Nanny for lots of balloons. Brian cleaned and polished the tea set and Mammaw made the birthday cake and some special sugar cubes. Nikki was so excited. She wanted me to put the decorations up a week before the party.

The day before Nanny came up to spend her birthday with us and help set up for the party. Mammaw also came by and gave Nikki a special gift for the party. She had made her the Wedding dress from the movie to wear at her tea party. She was so happy. Nikki went to bed that night and could hardly fall asleep. We set up for the party and Daddy put together her dress up wardrobe. We got in bed shortly before midnight. Nikki was awake and heading down stairs at 4:30 that morning. I heard a "hey mommy. I saw my door." in my ear. What in the world are you doing awake at 4:30am. I finally got her back to sleep about 5am.

Everyone showed up for the party at 11:00. The girls sat and had tea at the tables. They thought they were so grown up. She got tons of great gifts from new dress up clothes and accessories, new books, new babies, new clothes, a art set for the computer and much more.

After the party we set up the water slide out back and all the kids had a great time going down the icy water. Nikki and all her friends had a blast. It was a great birthday.

Gwinnett County Pageant 2008

Wow, what a week. This was the week for the Miss Gwinett County Pageant. All of the girls were involved in the pageant this year. We have been rehearsing for about a month now. Mamaw has been working on the dresses for a while and man are they beautiful.

Thursday evening started the events. Emma was in the baby pageant at 6:30 on the 11th. What a time for a baby pageant. All the kids are hungry and getting tired. They really should rethink that. Emma did a wonderful job. She was gorgeous in her dress. She won miss photogenic and got a crown and a trophy for her work. She was so grateful to get out of the blazing hot building and was so happy when she got outside.

On Sunday at 1pm, also a horrible time for a pageant no church that day, the girls took the stage competing for Wee Miss Gwinnett County. Their were 16 girls in the 3-4 year olds. Nikki was number 2 in the line up. She did a wonderful job. She walked all the x's and did all the turns by herself while keeping her pretty feet and hands even her smile in tacked. She was beautiful. I was so proud of her and she was excited. She loved the whole thing. Victoria was number 11 so she had a little wait before going on stage. She was so pretty in her bright pink dress and beautiful smile. The girls had such a good time showing off their pretty dresses and acting like princesses on the stage. It was just to cute for words.

Nikki won Miss Photogenic for her age group. She got her very first crown and trophy. She was so ecstatic as soon as we got back to the dressing room she asked if she could do another pageant. Oh no, I think I'm in trouble. So anyway here we go into the pageant scene. I vow to keep it to small local pageants and only a couple a year. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Disney

Oh my gosh, we had the best dang time at Disney World. We stayed at Fort Wilderness Resort in Orlando. It was absolutely great. We did not have to drive anywhere. Saturday we took the boat over to the magic kingdom. Nikki was soooo excited. The look on her face paid for the whole trip and that is asking a lot. Everyone told me that my children were to young to enjoy themselves and it would just be a hastle. Give me a break people. It was the best vacation. We went at the right time of year and the weather was not to bad. Yes, lots of rain but that kept us cool. Everyone at the Magic Kingdom was so nice. Nikki got to ride a lot of the rides and saw Minnie's house. She adored the castle and all the princesses. She even got a princess kiss. Parker also enjoyed the trip. He got to ride several things and loved all the characters.

On Sunday we took a trip to Blizzard Beach. It is a great water park in Disney. Both kids had the best time. Parker even went down a water slide by himself. That was all daddy I was busy having a heart attack at the bottom of the slide waiting on him to come down safely. Brian had to leave that night for work in Brazil. I could not believe he had to leave our trip. That part was not fun.

Sea World was a whole different story. That place was awful. It was so hot and everyone there had a horrible attitude. Parker loved seeing all the animals and really enjoyed the dolphin show. Which by the way was much better than Shamu. I really could have left 10min after we got there.

Tuesday we left for the beach, St. Augustine. It is absolutely beautiful. The old buildings are great. The kids loved the beach. The first day was so peaceful. The kids were able to play in the water, build sand castles with Papaw and search for shells with Nanny. We had a great all you can eat crab legs dinner by the pier and the kids really enjoyed the atmosphere. After the first day the water got really choppy due to the storms. It was great for the adults who love to play in the waves but not so much for the children. They learned to "stand tough" so the waves did not knock them down. Brian got to rejoin us there. Parker was so glad to see him back with us. That day he fell asleep on Daddy at the beach with the waves and the wind blowing. I was so jealous. We came back with so many sea shells I have no idea what to do with them all.

All in all it was a great vacation and I would love to go back next year.

One Hot Mess

Ok, this is what I mean. Brian and I have a trip planned to Fl he is going on business and me just to relax. First trip since Parker has joined us. The Thursday before we leave little Parker gets sick and starts to run a fever. Yeah for me! This will pass before we leave on Tuesday, I tell myself. Then on Sunday Nikki wakes me up with a "mommy I think I am going to throw up" I reach for her head and she is burning up. YEAH! Ok; it still might be alright just go with it and maybe it will pass quickly.
Hey, it's Tuesday everyone is now well and we are on a plane to FL. Man that first night was hard. All I could think of was my children and how much I miss them. I got over it by Wednesday. Blissful day spent by the pool and beach from 10am to 7pm I had such a great time by myself. Call to check in with the kids and everything is just fine other than a couple of new bruises on Parker's head but we all know how accident prone that child is. Where does he get it from?
Phone rings (oh no) Nikki is sick. She will not eat her dinner and says her throat is hurting. My mother makes her a doctors apt. for the next morning and wants to know how she did on Sunday so she can tell the doctor. Just a virus is what he said. Where do my children get all this stuff. We did not go anywhere for almost a week. What the hay!!!!! Ok, give her some Motrin and Popsicles and she will be fine. All is well.

Thursday evening went by with out any more bad news. It is now Friday and we are sitting at the airport waiting for our flight when the phone rings again. Oh no, it's my mom. How much Motrin do you give Parker. "What?" Mom responds with "well, your grandmother says he had been throwing up all day and now he is running a fever but she did not want to worry you."

AHHHHHH! What is wrong with my kids! We are just ONE HOT MESS!!!!!!!!
So I am here waiting on my flight to get back to my sickly children just so I can be throwing up by Sunday. Isn't motherhood grand!