Possibilities

It's been 15 days since I've created a scrapbook page and I've got itchy fingers. I have the last lesson from my Jessica Sprauge class to complete, all of these great TN pictures to share, not to mention Kylie's birthday celebration.

And yesterday we drove by one of my childhood homes so that I could take this picture.

Lots of great stories to share about my life in this house.

We saw my father's mother, Kylie's other great-granny yesterday. It's very bittersweet to spend time with my elderly grandmothers. It's so hard for me to drive away when I don't know if or when I'm going to see them again. It makes me appreciate today and every moment I've got.

Weekend in TN- days 10 & 11

We spent most of the weekend hanging out at Karen's parents' house. It was heart-warming to be with her entire family.

Karen's brother Ted came over with his two girls.


Here's Nanna with all her granddaughters.


And Karen's sister Amy was there loving and hugging on Kylie. She and Nanna gave my Kylie-holding arms some much needed rest.


Here are Amy's two children, Josh and Emily,


The four grandchildren would play a while and then swarm around Kylie for awhile. They all wanted to hold her and hug her and offer her toys. They all gathered around the kitchen table to watch her eat. They were just fascinated with her. Here's a picture of all the rug rats.


There were lots of hugs and smiles throughout the weekend. But if I had to pick a favorite moment it was this one:

We were all piled on Nanna's bed. One of the kids put Kylie's hat on like this and all the kids dissolved in laughter. Kylie "got it" for a moment that her smiles and giggles were making the other kids laugh. So she hammed it up for a while and was jumping up and down on my lap, laughing and pulling at her hat. All of us got so tickled that we laughed until our sides hurt. Great fun!

Fingerprints on the mirror- TN trip day 8

We spent the day with Wendy's Nanny and Mom again. And here's a sweet story for you.

When I used to visit my Nanny as a little girl, I would stand up on her couch and pat my reflection in the her mirror. My Nanny, who has always kept an extremely clean home, would leave my handprints on her mirror for days after my visit. She liked to look over and see the imprints I had left behind.

I have no doubt that she will also leave her great-granddaughter's handprints on her mirror.




It was wonderful to be at my Nanny's house for the past two days. The time went by too quickly.

It was warm enough today for us to wear shorts! I've really enjoyed seeing all the dogwoods and redbud trees in bloom around here.

In the late afternoon, Kylie and I spent some time in the grass. I love how she loves to be outside.

Wordless Wednesday- TN trip day 7

Wendy's Nanny giving Kylie "arm sugar".

TN trip- day 6

Today Karen's Mom and Dad took care of Kylie for most of the day so that Karen and I could relax and shop a bit in West Knoxville. We sat out in the sun and read for quite a while and ended up with sunburned arms. I loved it!

You know me....I had to snap a few photos. Isn't this lovely?


Kylie playing that "shy baby game" that I wrote about yesterday.


Gaining some walking confidence.

TN trip - day 5

TN trip day 5--Visit with Wendy's Dad.

After crashing last night at 9pm, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the day. I spent the day with my dad:


And his lovely partner, Margarita


We spent the day hanging around the apartment. And we had lunch at one of my all-time favorite Southern restaurants, Cracker Barrel. Then we had to go to Starbucks because I was having Starbucks withdrawal symptoms. Afterwards, we made time to hang out in the grass.


And Margarita delighted Kylie by crawling and chasing her over and over again.


One new thing I've noticed is Kylie doing the "shy baby" thing where she presses her face against my shoulder and rubs her face back and forth. Then she peeks out to see if anyone is still looking at her. It's done in part to hide (If I can't see you, surely you can't see me) and in part, to play.
Overall, she is one easy-going, fun munchkin!

TN trip-day 4

Day 1- travel
Day 2- visit with Wendy's mom
Day 3- birthday party
Day 4- visit with Karen's family

We are only four days into this trip and already my head is reeling. I'm sure all of you parents out there have had moments when you get so tired that the day feels like a blur and that you are moving on automatic. I know that I fed Kylie four meals today but I would be hard-pressed to tell you exactly what I fed her. I know she took two naps but I can't tell you when they were or how long they were. It's all just a blur.

Which is why I'm glad I take so many pictures! That way I won't miss out on the beauty of Karen and her mom:

Her mom made us a fantastic lunch of chicken and dressing, southern-style green beans, incredibly creamy potatoes, corn, cornbread and chocolate cake. My stomach was very happy!

I got this great picture of Karen and her dad:


We got to spend time with Karen's sister Amy and her husband Tony.


And their two beautiful children, Emily and Josh.


There was Karen's grandmother.


And one of Karen's aunts.


Kylie is at that age/stage where she doesn't really want to be handed to strangers. She's kept a pretty tight grip on Karen and I throughout the day. I completely understand her desire and instinct to not be separated from her parents when there are people she doesn't really know around her. And as long as she was in our arms and laps, she was a very happy and agreeable baby. We made some time to sit in the grass--something Kylie absolutely loves.


My favorite moment of the day was this one. Karen's sister, Amy, is such a wonderful and easy person to be around. I love how much she and Karen look alike. I'm so very tickled that I caught this joyful moment.


I hope to have some time tomorrow to catch up on some of my blog reading. I hope all of you are well. Thank you so much for Kylie's birthday well wishes.

Kylie's birthday party

Hello from Tennessee!

We flew to TN on Thursday which was Kylie's birthday. Kylie had healed from all of her hives by Wednesday night--thank goodness!! It was a 4 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta and then a 4 hour drive (including some stops) to Knoxville. Kylie was fussy at times but overall, she was a trooper. For the flight, I had carefully chosen some of her favorite toys and hidden them for a few days. This strategy worked but Kylie's favorite thing to play with on the plane was the barf bag--go figure.

We rested and played with Granna on Friday.


And today was Kylie's birthday party. She wore a beautiful party dress and we had a special blessing ceremony (I'll write more about that later) but then it was time for cake!




These pictures are straight from the camera and need a bit of color adjustment but I wanted to go ahead and share them with you. How cute is this!

Kylie loved her first taste of cake.

And loved rubbing it on her mommies' faces even more. (Kylie got some on Karen's face near her temple.)

There are more pictures of family and friends here.

I want to share more with you about how very special this day was but for right now, I simply must lay down and put my feet up. It's been crazy these last few days.

Hives

I went to sleep last night hoping that Kylie's rash would be all better this morning. Instead, it was much worse. I took her to the pediatrician who told me that it was hives. Apparently Kylie has broken out in hives as her body tries to fight some unknown virus or infection. She's not contagious. But the poor darling has hives on her arms, hands, stomach, back, legs, feet. And worse, all over her face and neck. This afternoon, her right eye was almost swollen shut.

It could be gone in a few days. Or the hives may continue to break out in waves for the next few weeks.

Should make for some interesting birthday pictures.

I'm glad that it isn't food related or contact related. But I have to tell you my heart aches that she might be like this for her birthday on Thursday or her party on Saturday.

She's bearing it pretty well. She's tired of me looking at her body rather than her face--she's pulling down her shirt and pants when I pull them up to get a peek (around 100 times today!). She's tiring more quickly so she actually got an extra nap in today.

Please hold her in your thoughts and prayers.

Seems kinda ludicrous to post a scrapbook page in light of Kylie's health.... but here you go. I have to tell you, when I've had a chaotic day, it helps to concentrate on that 12x12 scrapbook page on my computer. It gives me some illusion of control, I guess. It's a bit busy for my taste but I learned a lot doing the lesson. Details are here.

Just a few things

Kylie has a large rash on almost all of her body. It erupted Saturday night around 5pm. It was worse this morning but better by this afternoon. Our pediatrician recommended giving her baby liquid Claritn which seemed to help. I pray that it's better tomorrow. It didn't slow Kylie down at all; but her mommies worried about her very much.

We think she got the rash from either playing at a new friend's house (rolling around on their area rug) or from a fairly new food (I had given it to her for the second time Saturday night. There was no reaction the first time I fed it to her. Needless to say, I don't plan on offering it again anytime soon).

Here's some pictures of the sweet baby that I took on Friday.
Playing on our chair cushion obstacle course.


Hand on her hips already--heaven help me.

Part of my next lesson in the scrapbook course I'm taking will teach some creative ways to alter photos. So we were asked to take some mirror photos with us pointing at the mirror. I don't think this is the picture I'll use for the lesson, but I thought it was cool enough to share with you.

Tune in tomorrow (hopefully) to see the finished product.

Lastly, several friends of ours are going through some chaotic stuff in their lives. This quote crossed my path this weekend and I thought the timing of it was perfect. I thought I would share it with you. It's a great reminder to be kind to all and a reminder to be grateful for the relative calm in my life.

I hope your week starts off well!

Just a few pages

A few recent scrapbook pages:
Easter Pig

Tender Moments

Photo Friday 4/11

My tulips are blooming and they are pink and purple.