Mommy at Mailee's age!

I just came across this gem! I was much more of a ham at her age!

Mailee's Favorite Toy

Just a tip for Santa... No toys necessary!

Next year, just bring good little girls and boys their own stick!

Christmas Day!

What fun is Christmas with a 2 year-old! Everything was a pure delight to her.

On Christmas Eve night she went to bed at her usual 8:00 and woke up at 8:20 telling me, "I'm Done!" That started a very long and excited night, not sleeping more than 20 minutes at a time until she finally passed out at 3:00 until 6:40. At that time, I told her it was still "Night Night time" and we all went back to sleep. At 7:40, she informed me "It Cissmass. Hanta come!" That was it. The visions of sugarplums kicked into action and she was adorable to watch and to live Christmas as a child vicariously through!

Meet and Play Group Christmas Party

Santa brought Mailee a Mickey Mouse book that she LOVED! Although she wouldn't go anywhere near Santa, she enjoyed the gift she received and was happy to read it in the safety of Daddy's lap!

Cookie Day!

Mailee and I spent a day with Grandma baking and baking and baking! We made 9 (I think) kinds of cookies and treats. It was so fun to have the 3 generations together, listening to carols, and making goodies for "Christmas" weekend.

We did discover that talking and baking at the same time can lead to fudge with no butter added! Oooops! However, chocolate bricks aren't all bad... Throw one in your hot coffee for a balanced breakfast!

Visions of the Future

Here are a couple that were scary to me!


First, we have a vision of a school-age Mailee ready for school in a few short years!

Then, thanks to Mai's fashion saaviness we have a pair of tu-tu tights on our head. Does anyone else see a beautiful bride?

Ok, I am ready to cry! Don't grow up so fast, my Angel!

Lowe's Build and Grow

This was a fun morning! We went to Lowe's for their Children's Program where the kids made a cute wooden Gingerbread House. Mailee's cousins, Jackson and Jake, were there too with Uncle Dan (my brother). Mailee actually did more of the project than I expected she would, placing nails and hammering them in. The final product is an adorable little pine house with stickers hand-placed by Mini Miss.
By the way, I highly recommend the Build and Grow activity. They gave all the kids an apron, patch, and Certificate of completion. They were all so proud of their accomplishment!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

What a sight! This is what we woke up to yesterday!!! I was too much of a wuss to go outside, so this is the view out the back door!

Explanation:I watched the Weather Channel and was assured the snow would continue all day. So, I thought I could warm-up, enjoy a cup of coffee and then bundle us all up to play in the snow. WRONG!!! It turned to sleet and then rain :( Hopefully it won't be the only snow we see!

Mailee went to the window after her nap and asked me, "Where snow go?"

Mrs. Claus' Lil Helper

Mailee picks her Christmas Tree

Step aside Charlie Brown, Mailee has you beat for the "Best Christmas Tree!" She declared this one hers ("My-nee Tree") today and was all ready to bring it in the house.

Dress Up Days Have Begun

Some days she is "Erella," but most days Snow White wins out! (All Princesses are "Erella" to her anyway!) So cute... when she wakes up, she is a "Princess" within minutes over her jammies! Then when we get her dressed, the "Erella" goes right on top!

Thank you to Madison Luster for the costumes!!! We miss you!

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La

Seriously, we were singing Deck the Halls!

I think this is her favorite Christmas Carol right now!

Away in a Manger is a close second- so the real Christmas message is there too!

First Meet-Up

I am so excited! I found a local group called the Hattiesburg Meet and Play Group. It has about 65 members and is all stay and work at-home parents with children. Most of the kiddos are between 2-3 and they have group "meet-ups" many times a week. Some of the things are small like just meeting at McDonalds to let the kids play while moms get to chat over coffee, while others are big like field trips to Alabama for a Christmas show.
This week we attended our first "meet-up." It was a tour of the Sam's Club. The tour guide was so sweet. She was a happy grandma-type woman in a long burgandy velvet dress (yes, she was working in a long velvet Christmas-eve type dress) She took a group of 30 or so of us around the store, even getting the kids' picture taken for their "Cookie Club" membership cards. Now every time Mailee goes to Sam's, she can show her card for a free cookie. We also got to see how they decorate "puppy cakes" (that is what Mailee heard cupcakes). As you can see, Mailee thoroughly enjoyed her "Anta Puppy Cake."

We had fun and are really looking forward to next week's meet-ups. We have a Fairy Party to watch Abby Cadabby's movie with some group members, making Cinammon Ornaments, Delivering Cards to a Senior Home, and a Scrapbooking night (no kids at that one!) As we head toward Christmas, there are a lot of things to choose from. What a fun week we will have!

Autumn Cutie

OK, an Even Better Example!

Here She Comes... Miss America!

This was Mailee's AWESOME ensemble yesterday. Believe it or not, the outfit underneath all this is really cute (and does match)! Johnny seriously asked me when we can teach her about color coordination. Isn't he funny? In the meanwhile, we have quite the fashion plate here!

By the way, we had to go to WalMart and, picking my battles, all I could get her to change was the lavender jacket to a blue one that goes with the pants (under the skirt) Good thing most of the world thinks it is cute to be 2!

What happens when she dresses herself...

Mailee is now to the age where she has an opinion about what she wears and she changes "outfits" many times a day. Luckily, she humors me and lets me match her clothes when we go somewhere, but this is what can happen when she is home! She actually did not do too badly this time!

Yes, her "hat" is a red, heart-shaped, plastic basket!

Like Daddy, Like Daughter

OK, so Johnny's favorite past-time is playing NASCAR 09 on the X-Box. Mailee has become very familiar with the sight of Daddy with the headset and steering wheel playing "cars." Yesterday, on her own, she got her "wheel" out of her toybox and set herself up to play "cars" with Daddy. Just too dang cute!

First Football Practice

Never too early to start!

Unpacking

Yea!!!! Johnny got back for good on Friday which means our "stuff" is here too! I have to say, unpacking is WAY more fun than packing! Especially when you empty a box, go to put the things away, and when you come back, this cutie pops out of the "empty" box!

Thank you God for bringing him back safe and now we ask that you bless our home and our family as we begin a new chapter!
Amen!

Future Oak Grove Cheerleaders???

Last weekend I experienced "Southern Football." I never knew how real the movies like Friday Night Lights and Varsity Blues were. We went to Jackson's game and I found out that parents can be WAY into Pop Warner Football games. Football is Life!! (I think Johnny is going to like it here!) One woman's shirt said it all, "I BLEED BLACK AND GOLD!"

OK, so the girls were not as into the game as they were in hanging out together and eating candy, but boy were they adorable to watch. Here are Livi, Ella, and Mailee (ages 4, 2 1/2, and 2--- going on 14, 12 1/2, and 12)

Guess we didn't have rain in California!

I have never seem Miss Mailee love weather so much! We had a rain spell and, since it was still pretty warm, we went out to jump in it! She had a ball! In California, when it rains (should that be IF it rains?) it is "cold" and we keep everyone inside. Another of MANY differences...

Smooth Sailing Ahead

We hope to see "Daddy" tomorrow morning and we are all praying for some smooth waters ahead! We have been through some storms and await the dove and olive branch!

Missing Daddy

LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG story short...
Turns out the moving company that we contracted with got their California License Revoked 2 days before contracting with us. (So when I checked them out weeks ago, all was well!) Anyway, I finally got in contact with them a week after they picked up our stuff, only to get in contact with a representative who tried to engorge the estimated "guaranteed" price by another $1000.oo. Our arguments fell on deaf ears and we were given the only option to come and get our stuff. Oh yeah, by the way, it had been put in a shady storage facility somewhere in South Central LA, not shipped to Mississippi, as promised. After making this suggestion, the Rep. sarcastically said, "Oh, but you are in Mississippi already, aren't you?" (Hmmmmm.... can you smell a scam cooking here?) Well, with no other choice, and practically being dared to do so, Johnny headed back to California on Friday morning to face the beast head-on. En-route, I checked the BBB and the CPUC websites and that is when I learned of the "Cease and Desist Operations" order that they had been issued for operating with a Revoked license. Aaargh! We were working with criminals, a truth that became even more apparent as this adventure wears on! So, Johnny arrives to a friend's house in Ventura on Saturday night, spends Sunday securing a moving vehicle, and meets with the owner of the company on Monday morning at the crack of dawn. He has spared me a lot of details. All I know is that he did not see our stuff until almost 6:00pm, after paying a large "ransom." It was only after Johnny threatened to call the cops on this crook, that he was even given the option to pay through the nose to take our own stuff. So I got a call at around 7:00 that he was driving a truck-full back to his friend's house, going to get a "good" night's sleep, and he will be heading back Eastward in the morning! So, his girls miss him a lot and his quote says it all... "I have grown-up here for 32 years, and yet I feel so far from home!" (Johnny from Los Angeles to Mandy in Mississippi)


EVERYONE BEWARE OF ANYTHING ANYWHERE MOVING AND STORAGE also operating as MOVEAST

I have already filed complaints with the BBB and the FMCSA

Pics along the way and our new backyard!