Her new bed

When Sydney was born my sister bought her a 4-1 crib - ya know it changes into a toddler bed, day bed, and then a full-size headboard. Anyway, we decided to give the toddler bed a whirl.

Yesterday while she took a nap in our bed, I converted her crib into a "new bed" for Sydney. When she woke up and went into her room she was so excited! She ran to her bed and giggled. There was just one problem: she couldn't climb up into it by herself.

I tried to show her how to do it, but nothing seemed to work.

Finally, Donnie had an idea. We bribed her with a cookie.


So it's only been one night, but she stayed in bed all night and this morning she woke up, got out of bed, and came in to my room to tell me it was morning.

Last night we closed her door so she couldn't come out of her room. This morning Donnie closed the bathroom door, blocked off the other part of our apartment with a baby gate, and cracked her door before he left so she could get out when she woke up. It worked wonderfully!

It was nice to let Sydney dictate her own schedule. Plus, I enjoyed waking up to a smile and a "Hi Mama." Instead of the usual screaming, "Amy! Mama! Amy! Mama!"

Hunger pains....

Yes, the pains of encouraging a 20-month-old to eat her dinner - that's what I am experiencing.

Sydney has decided that she will only eat enough to keep an ant alive. She went from eating everything you put in front of her to eating noodles, salmon, shrimp, and cookies. The problem is I would rather die than touch seafood so she only gets that when we go out to eat (which is about once a month - if we're lucky).

She used to love chicken and rice and so I am trying to get her back into that. We have had some form of chicken and rice for dinner every night for the last week (except when we went out and she had seafood with her Dad). After three nights of semi-adequate eating, we decided to pull out the camera.

Lo and behold our child knows how to perform. As soon as Donnie started taking pictures Sydney dropped her spoon and used her hands to shovel food into her mouth. It turned out to be extremely messy, but she ate all of her food, so it was worth it.

Hi grandma!

For the last six months Sydney and I have been with my side of the family (Donnie was there for 4 1/2 months). Sydney grew close to her grandparents (her great grandma too), but now we are back on the other side of the country. It was sad to say goodbye to our family, but its nice to know it will only be for a little while too!

I think out of everyone, my mom was hit the hardest, so just for you mom, here is Sydney:


PLease disregard the mess in the background - we're still in the process of unpacking!

Summer of fun!

This summer has been a great experience for us. Donnie interned with a firm in Atlanta and so we were able to stay with my family and spend time with them. It was especially wonderful for Sydney as she was able to play with her cousins and grandparents on my side.

Here's a look at some of the fun things we did (that haven't already been mentioned!)

Daddy left to go back to school and so Sydney wanted to send him a kiss


In the kiddie pool at the Labor Day party

Hanging out with Grandma



At a fundraiser at The Varsity for Mitt Romney


At The Coca-Cola Museum: & Centennial Olympic Park:

And many other things, but I can't find where I stored the pictures!

I'm A Big Girl Now

Sydney has hit the stage where she feels she is big enough to do everything on her own - yes, she's only 20 months old, so she is most definitely wrong!

She tries to change her own diaper - with disastrous consequences I might add. She tries to comb her own hair too. At least she's not cutting it, so that I can work with.

Another way she tries to be a "big girl" is the way she acts. After she gets dressed for the day, she picks up her purse and (toy) keys, and she walks to the door. She turns around blows me a kiss and says, "Bye mama! See later!"

It's really kind of cute, but she even opens the doors now and walks out, so that's a problem. The oher day we went to the store and she grabbed a pair of sunglasses and wouldn't let go, so we bought them. Now she walks around with those on her face.



I thought we were safe from all of this until she turns 12...guess not!

Animal House

Sydney really loves animals. She gets so excited everytime she sees one - live or on television. It's too bad we will never own a pet. We bought her a toy puppy dog and she walks around the house all day petting it and saying, "Soft, soft." It is really cute! She also likes to kiss its nose.

She has a book with pictures of animals and their names and she loves to look at it and try to make the sounds. She is quite good with a few of the animals.

Fourth of July

For the Fourth of July we went to my parents' house for a barbecue. My dad made ribs and his famous pulled pork sandwiches. Aside from eating a lot of food, we were able to spend time with family.

My parents put up a couple of kiddie pools in their backyard, and my brother brought over a waterslide. All of the kids stayed outside playing for the majority of the afternoon - only taking small breaks to quickly eat.

Two of my brothers and one sister were out of town with their families (not together though). Donnie's sister and her family came and so we still had about 30 people.

Sydney had a great time in the water, as did my other nieces and nephews. Sydney's favorite part was definitely the slide. She didn't want to get off!



Here are some other shots from the day:

Two moves, a wedding, a funeral, and family gatherings galore!

The moves
Two of my sisters shared a house for about two years, but as both were planning to get married soon, they decided it was time to part ways. Donnie and I spent about two weeks helping pack, move, and clean.

Angela moved into a condo, but Al was moving into a new house and it wasn't ready yet, so we helped move all of her stuff into a storage unit - actually it took three by the time everything was done! She has a lot of stuff...

The wedding
In addition to her big move, Al was preparing for her wedding, June 2. Yeah, I would not recommend scheduling a wedding and a move at the same time, but sometimes that's what you're handed.

Anyway, Al and her fiance Ura were married in an outdoor ceremony. It was nice, and thankfully the weather stayed cool..er. An outdoor wedding in Georgia in June could be disastrously hot, but everything seemed to work out perfectly that day.

I was the matron of honor, which meant Donnie was on baby duty all day. I try to explain that it is not babysitting when you take care of your own child, but that concept still eludes him. Anyway, the hotel was crazy that morning and Sydney did not get a nap, so at about 7:30 she was screaming and ready for bed. We left before the bouquet toss or their grand exit, but at least we were there for the important stuff. Overall, Sydney did really well and had lots of cousins to play with.

Here are a few pictures we took with our camera:

And here is a link to the photographer

The Funeral

After the excitement of the wedding and moves faded away, we learned that a family friend passed away. She had been battling breast cancer for a few years. She had four children and 8 grandchildren. She was a very special person. She was very sweet and caring and it is sad to think she is no longer around. Granted, I have only had limited contact with her over the last 10 years or so, but she was my mom's friend and we all grew up with her children.

I attended the funeral with my parents and my sister Jana. It was a nice service - as far as funerals go. It was also good to see people I haven't seen in like 15 years.

Family Gatherings

Well, my family has never had a problem coming up with an excuse for a get together, but we may have outdone ourselves this month. Even if you take out everything wedding, moving, and funeral related, we still had birthdays and holidays to spend together.

For Memorial Day my parents had a barbecue at their house. It was nice to get together and we had the chance to finally meet Angela's boyfriend and his son. We're Southern, so naturally we are nosy and couldn't wait to meet them!

My Dad turned 61 in June and so we planned a party for him, but then had to postpone it because one of my sisters was in the hospital with pneumonia. We got together (well half of us)that night and had a birthday dinner anyway though.

The next week we got together for Father's Day and to celebrate my Dad's birthday with everyone. Donnie's sister and her family just moved to Atlanta and they were able to come also. It was fun to be together, but two of my brothers were missing. One is in Guam for two years working and the other went to play golf (it was his father's day too). Those of us there had a good time.

I know Donnie is happy to have family around. He loves my family, but its always nice to have your side around too. We're happy that they decided to move here.

We are spending the summer with my grandmother. Sydney has made herself right at home too! She loves the freedom she is enjoying, now that she can walk around with confidence and carry things with her.

Donnie bought her a purse after she kept trying to carry the diaper bag around everywhere - unsuccessfully I might add. She also likes to carry my wallet and cell phone around with her. She pulls out my cards and holds the phone to her ear and "talks." It is so cute...but kind of scarry too. I hope this isn't a glimpse into our future!

On the other hand, she is finally starting to enjoy playing with her toys by herself. She no longer needs me to press buttons or tickle Elmo for her. Most of the time, she gets mad at me if I do it - she's a big girl now ya know.