Robby's surgery update

Robby's surgery was today and it went really well. We got up at the crack of dawn and made it to the hospital by 6AM. I was lucky to have his dad (who works at Piedmont Hospital) giving me updates from behind the scenes. It turns out that he had lateral meniscus tears on each side, in addition to his shredded ACL. All are repaired now though, so as soon as he recovers he should be good as new!

He's feeling pretty good (as well as can be expected) and hopes that each day will get a little better. Tonight some friends came over to bring us dinner, so we enjoyed visiting with them. I think it was a good distraction for Robby and fun for all of us to just talk and laugh together. I'll be sure to keep updating about how he's doing, so check back for more info in the next few days.

Team Spirit

As the college football season quickly approaches, I've been searching for a UGA outfit for Handley to wear. Last year some of our friends gave her a the cutest little outfit that she wore every game day. We nicknamed her GA Booty!

This year I was just having a hard time finding something I liked, so I decided I'd forgo the store-bought outfit and just try to make her a red and black dress. I've been wanting to make a pillowcase dress for a while now and decided this would be the perfect occasion. I finished it last night and tried it on her this morning.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out. The only problem is that she keeps trying to untie the ribbons! Hopefully by Saturday she won't care about the ribbons. Now all she needs is a red and black bow. :-)

A Family Affair

This past weekend Robby's brother's family was in town to visit, along with his Grandmother. We had not seen Ryan, Heather and their little boy Rylan since December, so we were really looking forward to their trip. They live in Colorado and we hate not getting to see them more often. Handley and Rylan are only 4 months apart and they enjoyed playing together and kept us all entertained. We spent a few days at the lake and although the weather wasn't great, we still had a lot of fun.

Handley finally figured out how to drive her big wheels.


Relaxing with Uncle Ryan on the hammock.


Rylan is ALL boy!

Ready for the boat ride!

Having a blast on the giant tube!

Heather, CB, and Gramma relaxing on the deck.

Knee Surgery Needed...

It turns out Robby tore his ACL and will need surgery. He is scheduled for next Wednesday and is happy that he'll be able to get in so quickly. We are not looking forward to it, but thankfully we have so many great friends and family members who are WONDERFUL and are helping out in all sorts of ways.

I just love...

the fact that Handley loves Sydney as much as we do. It's always interesting to me to think about the relationship they have with one another. The only way Handley knows how to treat and care for Sydney is from seeing the way we treat her. Sydney was our first baby and although she doesn't get as much time and attention as she used to, we love her very much. One of Handley's favorite things to do is to join Sydney on her bed (either in the living room or up in our bedroom.) I'll happen to look over and see them sprawled out together. It's so cute and Sydney tolerates a lot. Handley often uses her as a pillow, but is always there to give her "nice pets," lots of hugs, and even some open mouth kisses. Tonight they were both relaxing together, so I decided to snap a few sweet pictures.

Sydney was getting tired of Handley taking all of the pillow (yes, Sydney has her own pillow that she lays her head on). Her attack is always to lick Handley. The picture below looks like Handley is screaming, but she is actually laughing hysterically. :-)

Lambie

Handley has a little blanket that she sleeps that we call Lambie and she calls "na-na." Lambie used to stay in the crib or in her room and she only had her during naps or at night. However, Handley is becoming more and more attached to her. She likes to know where Lambie is all of the time. She'll be in the middle of playing and just get up looking around and calling out "na-na, na-na." Lambie makes everything better.

Last night Handley got very upset because I wouldn't let Lambie get in the bath with her. Lambie was sitting right beside the bathtub where Handley could see her, but that wasn't good enough. I think that was the shortest bath Handley has ever taken because all she wanted to do was get out and get "na-na."

Today she was looking for her and I told her to check her room. She came back with all 3 of her clean Lambies (we have 4 total). She was SO happy and just in heaven to be surrounded by all her "na-nas."

Lake Fun

What a fun weekend! We had a great time with our friends in town. Handley and Marlee had a lot of fun playing together. Handley was so excited to have a constant friend for 5 days and I think she's a little lonely now that they are gone! It was really interesting for us to observe the personality differences between Marlee and Handley. Handley is very outgoing and is a dare-devil while Marlee is a little more shy and cautious.

Friday morning we spent the morning at Kangazoom together and headed up to the lake on Friday afternoon. The girls weren't thrilled about sitting in traffic and making the 2+ hour drive up there, but once we got them both out of the car seats when we arrived, they had a blast. I pulled out the water table and we didn't even bother changing them into their bathing suits. They were both soaked, but didn't care. They also enjoyed cocktail hour out on the deck.

Most of the day Saturday was spent on the boat. The weather was okay, but we were able to find some sun for at least part of the day. We went to the famous jumping rock so Robby and Corey to both jump.

Handley and Marlee were happy when we took a break for a snack.

Saturday afternoon we went wake-boarding with some other friends and Robby hurt his knee. We pulled back to get him and when he wasn't swimming to get in the boat we knew something was wrong. I won't go into gory details, but he said his knee did something that is not normal and no knee should ever do. His whole leg is swollen and he can't put any pressure on it. We got to see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow afternoon. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the weekend with his leg propped up and ice on it.

He was able to hobble down to the boat on Sunday to take us on a boat ride. Corey wake-boarded a little more on Sunday and I just love this picture of Kathy and Marlee watching him!

Handley showed Marlee a few things while they were here, some good, like the joy of eating a "pop-pop" (popsicle) and some not so good, like teaching her how to take off her snack-trap lid.

We had a great time and miss you guys already! Can't wait until our next visit together.

Pretty Pink Pedicure

I've been wanting to paint Handley's toenails for a while now and I'm not sure what was stopping me. I guess I thought the chemicals from the nail polish would be bad for her or something.

This afternoon I trimmed her toe nails and after I finished she was trying to trim and file them herself. It was so cute. I figured that was my cue to give her a little color!

While she was eating dinner in the highchair I painted away. They aren't perfect (because she wasn't about to sit still), but after I finished I held her leg up so she could see and the biggest grin came across her face. She loves it and I know she feels pretty. :-) What girl doesn't like pink toenails?!?!

Just in case you were wondering...

the putting everything in their mouth phase still hasn't ended for us! Yesterday our friends Erin and Ella came over to play. We tried to get a cute picture of the girls together, but both of them insisted on having something in their mouth!

Like a kid on Christmas Eve...

The bathing beauties: Marlee (5 months) and Handley (3 months) ready for a day on the lake!

That is exactly how I feel right now...just like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for tomorrow. Some of our best friends, Kathy, Corey and their little girl Marlee are coming to visit for the weekend. I haven't seen them since April, which feels like forever ago!

You know how sometimes you meet people that you just automatically connect with? That is exactly what happened with Kathy and Corey. When we moved to Orlando, we hardly knew anyone and didn't have any friends there. Then, I was hired to team-teach 1st grade and was introduced to the girl I'd be teaching with. I could have never imagined how close we would become and how much we would end up having in common. Those of you who are married know that it isn't very likely for the husbands to be just as good of friends as the wives, but that is what happened with Robby and Corey!

Corey and Robby with their baby girls...the first day Handley was home from the hospital.

Kathy and I went through a lot together...not only teaching side-by-side for two years and providing each other with much needed comic relief at times, but we were also pregnant together, went through the birth of our daughters within a few months of each other and made it through the newborn phase together. When we got word that we were moving back to Atlanta, Robby and I were thrilled, but sad at the same time to leave behind such great friends.

Kathy with Handley (1 day old) in the hospital.

The girls hanging out on the boat.

Handley (2 1/2 months) and Marlee (4 1/2 months) enjoying their first play date!

Carrie Beth and Handley, Kathy and Marlee, Kristen and Halle - 1st play date

Over the past year (gosh, I can't believe we've been back in Atlanta almost a year now) we have seen Kathy, Corey and Marlee just a few times, but every time has been so much fun. I love watch the girls together. In April we were at their house for Marlee's 1st birthday. We stayed with them for 5 days and it was amazing to see how the girls got excited to see the other in the morning.

Thanksgiving week - Marlee 7 months, Handley 5 months

Marlee (1 year) and Handley (10 months) ready to do lunch and a little shopping!

They arrive tomorrow and we plan to spend the weekend up at the lake. Robby and Corey both love to wake-board, so I'm sure that is how we'll spend most of our weekend. Check back next week for more pictures from our weekend!

Shake your booty!

We spent this past weekend up at the lake. On Saturday afternoon we met up with some friends who also have a house up there and who have a really nice wake-board boat. It is complete with ballast tanks, "fat sacs" (0nly those of you who wake-board will know or care about what these are), and enough speakers to run a nightclub with. You can seriously hear them coming from the other side of the lake. It is a bit obnoxious, but fun at the same time. Apparently, the music gives the person riding on the wake-board more courage and guts to throw some pretty big tricks. Robby attempted a flip a few times and was "this close" to landing it.



When we hopped on their boat they told me that the front would be the quietest place for me to sit with Handley. Well, um, let me just say that if the front was supposed to be the quietest place, I certainly didn't want to be in the back of the boat. The music was so loud that I couldn't even hear myself think or talk and let's just say their selection of music (rap) was not what I would have chosen for my 14 month old to be listening to. I was about to ask them to turn it down until Handley stood up and started dancing like I'd never seen her dance before. It was hilarious. Robby and I were dying laughing and could not believe our eyes. Then she kept busting out all these new moves and I don't even know where she got them. She was entertaining everyone else on the boat too and had a blast flirting with all the guys. I can't wait for the teenage years....j/k!



When the day was over and we got back onto our quiet boat, she told her Daddy that she wanted a boat like theirs. :-) I can't believe that I don't have a single picture or video of her dancing or of the amazing wake-boarding, but we're heading up again next weekend, so hopefully I'll have some to post then.

Curls

One afternoon last week we were outside on the deck and I was letting Handley splash around in some puddles created by an earlier storm. It was so muggy and humid outside, but it was the perfect conditions for curly hair. Because most of my pictures of her are of her face, I thought I would include one of her sweet little curls.

Beach Vacation

I haven't posted in over a week, so this is going to be pretty long, but there are lots of fun pictures, so read on...and on...and on!

Our week at the beach was so wonderful! We were in Wilmington, NC at Wrightsville Beach. We had a beach house rented for the week, only one house back from the beach. It had a great view and was so convenient.

I really loved being around my whole family for the week and letting my parents experience Handley's fun personality for themselves all week long.

We spent everyday on the beach, watching Handley play in the sand, splash in the water, and beg for snacks from anyone who would share with her. My mom says there must be something about being on the beach that makes kids want to snack!

I will say that during this vacation I got a lot more sand in my bathing suit than I have in a very long time. It was all worth it though to see Handley enjoying herself so much!

Most of our evenings were spent hanging out on the big porch and listening to the sounds of the ocean or to Cameron, my youngest brother, playing the guitar. Robby even gave it a try, although we all agreed he needed a lot of practice!

Stefanie and Trey looked like pros at paddle ball and every time their ball would get away from them, you can be sure Handley was all over it!

Don't they make such a cute couple?!

Handley's favorite thing about coming back up from the beach was that she got to take off her bathing suit and wash off the sand.