What a difference two years makes!

Lola's first-birthday portrait

Lola's third-birthday portrait

Thirteen years

See those fresh-faced, naive kids right there? Those kids are today marking 13 years of marriage. This photo was taken in December of 1988 less than a year after Jeff and I started dating. I knew way back then that he was a very special person with whom I could see myself spending my life; however, it was 10 years after this photo was made before those ideas became reality. I cannot imagine having undertaken this journey with anyone else. I have said it before, but it bears repeating: Jeff truly is the yin to my yang. We really complete each other. I adore him in so many ways even though I don't always tell him. We have a very special bond that I hope only gets stronger in the years to come. Happy Anniversary, my love!

We had a very special visitor this week

Princess Your Majesty popped in for a quick visit on Sunday. It was so nice getting to enjoy her company. She's such a typical princess - very refined and elegant. However, she needs a bit of work on her manners since she can be a tad bit demanding and tends to fly off the handle over the smallest annoyance. I think I see a couple of semesters of charm school in her future.

Happy Father's Day, my love!

Jeff with Amelia on April 20, 2004. The first time he became a father.

Jeff with Lola on June 13, 2008. His second foray into fatherhood.

He's been rockin' at being a father ever since!

This is the way to celebrate a birthday

To get the most enjoyment out of cake one must eat it as well as wear it.

Look who's three today!

Lola is celebrating her third birthday today. She's going to have a photo session at the local photography studio to mark the occasion followed by a trip to the bakery to pick out a cake to enjoy after supper. Additionally, she will get to pick out a cake for her party that will be held at a local bounce house establishment on Sunday.

This little lady has brought so much joy to my life and has been an amazing addition to our family. I always knew I wanted more than one child and was hopeful I would be able to mother two girls. My wishes came true big time as I have been blessed with two precious lasses around whom my life revolves.

Lola is the child who completed my family unit and proved to me that I am stronger than I ever realized, more patient than I ever imagined I could be and a better mother than I thought I was. I am grateful every day for this precious miracle and so excited to see what the future holds for her and for us.

Now, please enjoy this pictorial trip down memory lane as I revisit Lola's past birthdays. Excuse me for a moment, though, while I first get a tissue as the girls' birthdays tend to make me a little weepy.

YUM! Enjoying chocolate cake for her second birthday.

Getting a big bite of cake on her first birthday. She's still a little swollen around her eyes and across her forehead because of the cranial surgery she had in April of 2009.

Welcome to the world little one! This is the first time I held my wee angel. I was thrilled to get my hands on her because I'd waited for what seemed like an eternity for Jeff to wheel her into my room from the nursery where she'd been taken after my c-section.

Sleepy heads

I think these two exemplify the definition of what it means to be "tuckered out."

It was a great little get-away

Way back on May 27th, Jeff and I gathered the girls and all their stuff, loaded up the van and headed north to Chattanooga, TN where we enjoyed four days of fun, fun, fun.

We first hit the Tennessee Aquarium where Amelia and Lola got to meet some friends from the South Pole.

Lola couldn't stop watching the penguins swim long enough to pose for a photo. 

I was hoping these little guys would break into a dance routine like the penguins in "Happy Feet."

In another part of the aquarium Amelia buddied up to a huge catfish that was resting at the bottom of its habitat.

We were told this is one of the smaller catfish in the habitat. The largest weighs 90 pounds and is aptly named Fat Cat.

Our next day was spent at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum where we got to ride on a 1906 refurbished steam train, witness the engine being turned on a turntable and visit the train shop where several other engines are being renovated and see where Thomas the Tank Engine lives.

I'd love to share some photos of this outing, but I forgot my camera. I can, however, share that this is an honest-to-goodness, hands-on museum in that they let volunteers come spend a weekend at the shop - in which sleeping quarters are available - to work with the master mechanics and craftsmen who are trying so hard to salvage this part of American history. How great would that be for someone who has loved trains their entire life?

Our third day in Chattanooga was devoted entirely to having tons 'o fun at Lake Winnepesaukah. We had a blast our first time at this family-friendly amusement park and definitely intend on going back.

The girls loved the multitude of kiddie rides. The motorcycles and boats were a huge hit for them.

"Get your motor runnin'! Head out on the highway!"

Lola intended to be captain, but Amelia opted to ride with her thus snatching the captain's seat from her and demoting her to first mate.

A quick trip to the gift shop resulted in new hats and sunglasses for the girls, who garnered lots of attention from their stylish pieces.

Jeff and Amelia ended the day with a wet, yet, refreshing ride on the Pipeline Plunge after which they were in serious need of towels.

Lola and I closed out the day with a ride on the Ferris wheel from which we were able to survey the beauty of the park and watch the fish and geese in the lake. I also got a kick out of watching the people who over-estimated their ability to handle a paddle boat desperately try to get back to dock before having a coronary.

It was an amazing day, and we all had so much fun. I do have to say, though, that Amelia and I do not recommend riding the Wild Lightin' roller coaster. That thing jerked us around so much I thought afterward we were both going to need to see a chiropractor to have our spines realigned.

For our final day in Chattanooga we took the girls for a tour of the river on the Southern Belle riverboat. The ride was lovely, relaxing and informative - thanks to our knowledgeable tour guide; but I wouldn't take the girls again. The tour lasts about an hour and a half. Their attention spans are good for about 15 minutes. So, for an hour and 15 minutes Jeff and I had to contend with two very bored little girls who couldn't grasp that they were stuck on the boat whether they wanted to be there or not.

I did, though, manage to catch some snazzy photos between dealing with my whining children.

Here the Hunter Museum of American Art is pictured. Jeff and I intend to visit here on a trip without the girls, who likely wouldn't appreciate such an outing and would drive us mad with more whining.

I love this fountain and mural that pay tribute to the Native American tribes that once occupied this land.

Chattanooga is one of our favorite vacation towns for so many reasons not the least of which is the fact it's less than two hours from our home. But even if you live on the other side of the world - as do the tourists from Germany who were on the river cruise with us - it's still a great city to visit.

We plan to visit many more times in the future. In fact, I'll be returning there tomorrow, but this visit won't be for pleasure. I am going to retrieve the Amelia's digital camera that I lost when visiting Walmart. Thank goodness a Good Samaritan turned it in to store personnel, which, come to think of it, is another great reason to visit this city - the people are really nice and you might just get back something you lose while visiting there.

Nice fat lip, huh?

Almost two weeks ago Lola gave Jeff and I a bog scare when she fell while running from me, tripped on a chair leg and face-planted right smack onto the top of her table. I thought for sure she'd need stitches since there appeared to be a gaping hole inside her lip and there was copious amounts of blood flowing from her mouth.

We rushed her to the pediatrician's office, and after the examination filled with much protesting from Lola, Dr. Packard announced stitches would not be necessary. Thank goodness! We brought her home with the advice to ply her with lots 'o cold food and drink to help reduce the swelling.

She handled this mishap rather well and told anyone who noticed her fat lip that she had a "very bad boo boo." I joked she was attempting to emulate Angelina Jolie since it looked as though she'd had collagen injections in her lips.

Miss Thang is doing a-okay now and seems no worse for wear. However, she didn't learn her lesson about not running from me when she doesn't want to do what I am asking of her. I've got to try to break her of this bad habit or else the next collision with furniture (and I expect there'll be a next one) possibly won't have such a happy ending.

Friday fashion moment

I'm telling 'ya folks, I really believe Lola has a gift when it comes to styling outfits. Rachel Zoe better watch out 'cause it appears she's got some competition!

Just taking a moment to pat myself on the back

At the end of each school year I try to give Amelia's teacher a small gift in gratitude for the hard work she has put into my daughter. I always attempt to present her teacher with a gift of appreciation that's unique, practical and, if possible, can function in the classroom.

For Amelia's preschool teacher I purchased a photograph in which the word teach was spelled out using items found in nature. I scanned items Amelia had colored throughout the year and mounted those pictures on a matboard around the photo and let Amelia sign her name for her teacher - something she'd worked hard to master that year since that danged letter "e" can be so tricky.

I wish I'd gotten a better photo of the gift, but this one shows it well enough to get the idea of what we did for Mrs. Brooks. It also gives me a big ol' slap in the face reminder of how much Amelia has changed in the two years since this photo was taken!

Mrs. Brooks loved her personalized gift and promised to hang it in her school room and remember Amelia fondly each time she looked upon it. I like the notion that future students can see in this piece of artwork the efforts of another student's first year of school and, hopefully, get a glimpse into what they can accomplish in their first year.

Kindergarten was when Amelia really discovered her love for drawing and coloring so for her teacher's end-of-the-year gift I stuck with the theme of using a photo frame to encase our gift, but went in a slightly different direction. Instead of scanning Amelia's work from throughout the year, I instead found an autographable photo frame to use. I put a photo of Amelia with her teacher in the frame and allowed Amelia to draw pictures and write a message to Mrs. Callahan on the frame.

Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of our gift to Mrs. Callahan; but I do have this fantastic one of her with Amelia on the last day of kindergarten. Again, I am shocked to see how much Amelia has changed. Her growth isn't apparent to me until I see photographic evidence, which always makes me misty-eyed.

This gift was a big hit with her teacher who proudly hung it in her classroom. In fact, when Amelia earned the right this year to read books to a kindergarten class and chose to visit Mrs. Callahan's room, she was able to see her gift and beam with pride when the class was told that she was the little girl in the photo they'd been looking at for so many months.

This year I decided to do something a little different. I'd already given Mrs. Blackmon, a photo of her with Amelia so I opted instead to make something she could use in her classroom. Since I personally sent about half a dozen boxes of tissue to school with Amelia, I figured a personalized tissue box would be a good practical and useful gift.

I picked up the unfinished box, school-themed scrap book paper and 3-D stickers at Hobby Lobby for under $10. The rest of the supplies I already had at home. Amelia helped me complete this project, which I think makes it extra-special.

I am very proud of the finished product as was Mrs. Blackmon, who immediately put it to use in her classroom. Check out these photos to see if you like it too:

I love the personalized message Amelia wrote on the bottom. I imagine one day she will revisit this class just as she did her kindergarten room and be able to proudly share that she is the student who gave Mrs. Blackmon the fancy tissue box.

Another year of gymnastics under her belt

The last day of school for Amelia coincided with the last day of gymnastics class for her as well. She has worked very hard this year at perfecting her cartwheels, forward rolls, kick-overs and hand-changes and has done an amazing job at overcoming her fear of performing on the balance beam - the height of which has been an issue for her since her very first class.

Performing some excellent hand-changes while receiving encouragement from Miss Laura and Miss Taylor.

Miss Laura offering a bit of support as Amelia gets ready to dismount.

Amelia looks very pleased with her dismount from the uneven bars.

Showing off her split-jumps on the Air Trac.

Getting a helping hand from Ms. Debby in executing a back bend.

Look at my confident girl performing on the balance beam! If there was a prettier arabesque performed on the beam, I didn't see it.

You'd never know from watching her now that she used to be terrified of doing any skills on the balance beam. How far she has come!

Ms. Debby, the school owner, and her assistants Miss Laura and Miss Taylor did a wonderful job helping Amelia to learn so many new skills and master others this year. I couldn't have hand-picked a better group of instructors! Amelia loves them all and hopes to be under their tutelage for many years to come.

In fact, both my girls will benefit from their instruction as Lola is preparing to undertake her very first gymnastics class starting next week. She has waited as patiently as possible during the last two years for the day she would get to do her thing on all the gymnastics apparatuses. That day will come Monday, and she's as happy as can be about this new adventure.

I am just a bit flummoxed and somewhat misty-eyed and sentimental over the fact she's big enough to join the gymnastics school. When I took Amelia for her first day of class, Lola wasn't even walking yet. She spent the four days of camp crawling around the gymnasium getting her little knees so dirty that I made her wear socks over them so it wouldn't be so hard to get them clean at the end of the day.

Now, she's running all over the place and telling me things that cause me to look at her with an open-mouthed expression of bewilderment. For example: Just this morning, Lola trotted into the bathroom where I was brushing my teeth to let me know that, "Everyone has a tibia." How is it that my baby has gotten so big and so "growny" in such a seemingly sudden manner and where in the world did she learn about the bones of the lower leg!?!

It's just the cycle of life, I suppose. I guess since I can't stop it, or even slow it down, I might as well sit back and enjoy it while pondering all the people I know who also have a tibia.

Now she's winking!?! Lord only knows what skills she'll be mastering next!