Mommy Days

Helen Grace distinguishes week days as either Grandma days (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday) or Mommy days (Wednesday and Friday). Because I’ve been off of work this week, most all days have been Mommy days (with the exception of a few grandparent times here and there), Wednesday was still technically a Mommy day. After a romp through my jewelry box, we headed to the Booksellers at Laurelwood to meet Ms. Hope and Baby Emily for lunch and then stopped by Grandma’s office on the way home. It was great to put on make up and real clothes and get OUT of the house!

She thought it was super cool that Ms. Hope let her feed Baby Emily some bread.

On Thursday, we met Spiffer and Bubba for lunch at BYB. As usual these days, Helen Grace conked out on the way there, and while she slept in my arms for the first few minutes, she soon warmed up and wanted to sit with Bubba and Spiffer- and she gave out some super sweet cuddles and kisses! HG and I spent the afternoon in her play room, playing with all her new toys, and I watched in amazement as she started laying out and covering up all of her baby dolls…just like my mom tells me that I did as a little girl. It was an eerie (but cool) glance back in time!

Oh, No She Didn’t!

Tuesday was another lazy day for HG and me, but John went on into work. Late in the morning, I headed for the shower. HG was content to play with her new toys and watch her cartoons at first, but soon, she came knocking on my shower door, wanting to get in. She had just had a bath the night before, so I put her off. She was obviously not happy with my response. When I got out of the shower, she was standing at the columns around our bathtub with a green bath crayon in hand. {Brandy had given her Barbie dolls for the tub with bath crayons, and we had tried them out the night before.} When she heard me scream, she immediately burst into tears and realized she had done something wrong. She was NOT happy when I put a washcloth in her hand and put her to work scrubbing the columns. BIG crocodile tears. At one point while I was taking pics and texting them to her daddy, she turned to me and said, “You bad. You teasing me.” She thought I was laughing at her. I assured her that I was NOT laughing. Later, after she had made good progress (and I helped a little bit), she said, “Shew! This is real hard!” I think we have now effectively driven home the lesson that bath crayons are only to be used in the bathtub, and the stupid crayons have now been hidden away from little hands.

Holiday Hangover

The day after Christmas was majorly low key for us. After Helen Grace finally woke up around 9:00, we stayed in our pajamas all day, and HG opened round three of presents (from Nini, Teddy, CB, Emmy, Bubba, and Rod & Sharon). She had a BLAST with the vacuum, microphone, vet kit complete with kitty and puppy, and the princess and the pea doll and bed. We only left the house to drive through Backyard Burger and stop by Nini and Teddy’s to eat and say thank you. We all enjoyed a nice, lazy day together! {Again, please forgive the diaper. Like I said, it was a laidback day.}

Oooooh, a vacuum! (Now if only it were a functioning one…) A microphone!!!!!!We have laughed and laughed at her with this microphone- she sings “Like a Rock Star” by Fresh Beat Band constantly. When it came on tv as she was playing with the microphone, she almost hurt herself trying to get to the tv in time to dance and sing along.

The vet kit from Bubba was a big hit too. She told me she was Dr. Ann, our vet, and has been doctoring on all her stuffed animals. Our vacuuming vet- quite the multi-tasker.Mommy’s favorite present of all Taking a walk in Mama’s shoes

Christmas Evening

We officially celebrated Christmas over dinner at our house on Christmas night. I am blessed with a family of matriarchs who pitch in to throw a fabulous party. Spiffer, Grandma, Bubba, Sharon, and Meredith each brought a dish (or two or three) and/or dessert (Spiffer even decorated my tables), and all I had to do was provide the ‘atmosphere,’ appetizers, and drinks. Pretty good deal if you ask me! We really enjoyed hosting so that Helen Grace could be comfortable in her own place and play with all her new toys too. For the first time in quite a while, ALL of the Moore family was together, as well as Jeanne and Peggy, of course. Rod and Sharon came in from Florida, Amy and Chad drove in from Louisiana, Meredith from Oxford, Ryves from Jackson- we came from all corners of the South! We had a great, laidback night and enjoyed watching HG and Selena Kate play together. HG was fascinated with her and was in SK’s face all night. Good thing SK is so good natured! We were so grateful to spend some real quality time with our family, and I was even more grateful when Helen Grace slept until 9 a.m. the next morning. Santa came a day late to Mama!

Selena Kate and Amy The Junior Kids table (Since our youngest generation is now two strong, we aren’t really the ‘kids’ anymore.) The Grown Ups table The Grandmas table”Here’s your lovey, Selena Kate!” Love this. Such a big helper. ;) Selena Kate, a snake, and her daddy, ChadThe Moore cousins- William, Amy, Meredith, Ryves, Sha Again, such a big helper! EVERYONE- Bubba, the three sons (Rod, Ben, Bill), and their children and grandchildren Peg, Jeanne, and usToward the end of the night, HG and I retired to our bedroom for her nightly milk and Nick Jr. shows. Mere Mere came to join us too.My Christmas snuggle bunny

Bubba blessing us with a prayer

Santa’s Anti-Climatic Arrival

Helen Grace woke up at 4:30 a.m. on Christmas morning wanting to open presents, but I somehow got her to sleep until 6:30; however, by that point, she only wanted to sit on the couch and have more milk and wouldn’t even let me change her clothes. She didn’t want to have anything to do with opening presents. Lawdy! Finally, an hour or so later, she caught sight of the gifts around the tree and decided to investigate. She was super excited about the train, fire truck, Melissa & Doug ice cream set, and cash register. Now she can *really* play Gracie Bleu! She also got a doll high chair, the Leap Frog Tag Jr. reader and books,  and a giraffe pillow pet. She has played with her gifts endlessly and really seems to be enjoying them. I keep trying to move them upstairs to her play room, but they slowly seem to reappear downstairs in the den…

While John went on to mass at 10:00, we all decided it was best for HG and me to stay at home with her not being in the best mood. We snuggled on the couch and watched Brian Boitano’s skating special and cartoons. So glad my girl loves some ice skating!

During HG’s *short* nap, Granddaddy and Spiffer arrived to help us get ready for the Christmas evening soiree at our house! More to come about that in the next post.