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We had Macey’s 5th birthday party at BounceU and it was a huge success. BounceU is what we call a “bouncy place” and offers a climate-controlled indoor play place just FULL of fun activities for the kids. For Macey’s party, we got to go to two rooms full of amazing giant inflatables. There were slides, climbing structures, obstacle courses and MORE. The kids had a ball and so did those of us adults that participated. It was just SO much fun!

I wanted to take a few minutes to share my appreciation for the BounceU staff as well. Everyone was super friendly and I felt they went above and beyond in making Macey’s party a success. From my first call to book the party until we walked out the door at the end, we were met with courtesy, genuine kindness, enthusiasm and smiles. Costumer service is clearly the name of the game at BounceU and they have it down pat!! We had one party “captain” with us the whole time and he facilitated getting the kids going on the activities, kept things moving along and played with the kids the whole time. He also set up the party room for us. He helped serve cake and drinks as well. When it was time for Macey to open her gifts, he gave each one to her and wrote down who gave her what gift. He also loaded our van at the conclusion of the party. Mickey and I were free to enjoy Macey’s party without having to do much of anything except have fun. How great is that?!

If you are looking for a great birthday party spot and you have a BounceU location near you, I highly recommend checking them out. The prices are really reasonable and the costumer service is second to none. Kudos to BounceU!!!

Our church’s second VBS session is going this week. This time Macey is attending and I am the Crew Leader for her class. It’s so much fun!!

I have some book reviews and posts to catch up on and I will do that soon. But, for now I’m going to go enjoy some quiet time.

Peace,
Kelly

Today is our oldest daughter Macey’s birthday. She turned five today and it was such an all around amazing day. The weather was terrific and we just had the best day celebrating Macey. Mickey went out bright and early this morning to Dunkin Donuts and got some donuts for us and a coffee for me. We put a candle in a donut for Macey at breakfast this morning. Macey chose her favorite breakfast which is scrambled eggs and cheese grits. My friend Renee and her two kids had invited us to go to the movies with them, so Macey and I went to see “Alvin & the Chipmunks” this morning and had a great time. We came home, had lunch and had some downtime before her party. Then our whole family went to Bounce U for Macey’s party. Even though it’s a holiday week and busy for travel, we still had a nice gathering of Macey’s friends at the party. It was SO much fun!! After the party, we came home for a bit and then went out to Moe’s with our friends Daniel, Shannon and Eden. Macey loves Moe’s and had gotten an email for a free birthday meal, so we cashed that in tonight. We came home, got the girls bathed and watched a bit of “Enchanted” on dvd which was one of Macey’s gifts. The girls are now in bed. When Macey said her prayers tonight, she was thankful for her birthday which was so sweet. It really was a wonderful day all around.

Five years ago, God entrusted Macey to Mickey and me. Our dream of becoming parents had come true. She was simply the most beautiful baby girl either of us had ever seen. We were head over heels in love with her right from the start. It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since our sunshine girl was born. These five year have been nothing short of amazingly blessed. We are so very grateful for Macey, Mariana and the awesome joy of parenthood.

Today Papa and MiMi (aka: my Dad and Stepmom) took Mickey, the girls and I to the Georgia Aquarium. For Mickey, Macey and me, this was a second visit and for Mariana it was a first. Mickey and I took Macey for the first time back in February (I believe) of 2006 before Mariana was born that May. We’ve been wanting to go back, but haven’t seemed to find the time. Papa and MiMi offered us this chance today and we had a fantastic family outing at the Aquarium. The crowd was pretty big, but it was still a whole lot of fun. There is just something so amazing about seeing all those fish - especially the whale sharks and the beluga whales! The girls were both in awe!!

We started out our visit to the Aquarium by going to the The 4D Theater and Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow which was fantastic!! Mariana wouldn’t wear her 3-D glasses, but the rest of us did and it was quite a show!! Macey didn’t quite seem to know what to make of it at first, but she loved it! We then went to the rest of the exhibits. One of the first things that caught the girls’ attention was the exhibit of jellies. Those are so cool even though I always dislike seeing them when we’re at the beach. I think my favorite part was going through the tunnel with the whale sharks and other fish swimming over us the whole time. Like I said, the whole experience was wonderful!!

After the Aquarium, we went out to dinner at Willy’s which was super delicious!! It was just a great afternoon and evening to spend with family. Thank you, Papa & Mimi, for a wonderful time!!

As I stated in yesterday’s post, Macey is going to afternoon VBS at our church this week. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the kids are encouraged to bring in various donated items for several charitable organizations in our area. On Tuesday they brought in hygiene products, Wednesday was non-perishable grocery goods and today is baby related items. Well, if you’ve ever read my blog or know me, you know I love a bargain. I definitely wanted to send Macey in with donations every day because this is a great way for her to learn about giving to others, etc. So, I clipped coupons, shopped sales and went to a wholesale club for our donated items. Check this out…

For right around $30, these are the items we donated this week:

3 tubes of toothpaste
3 toothbrushes (2 of them were in with the toothpaste tubes)
1 bottle of men’s hair and body wash
2 regular size bottles of shampoo
3 cans spaghetti sauce
2 boxes spaghetti noodles
1 bag rice
2 bags instant mashed potatoes
1 big box that contained several packages of baby wipes

Isn’t that cool?! Please understand that I am not posting this to brag in any way about our giving. Not at all. What I want to show is that giving can be done on any budget. There is so much good that can be done without breaking the bank. Clipping and using coupons plus shopping sales is a great way to make grocery dollars go a longer way. Shopping wholesale clubs is a great way to stock up on various items that are commonly used around the house as well. Remember, too, that there are always organizations that could use donations. If you ever run across great deals and you feel like donating, there is always a need. You don’t have to have big bucks to do good things, just a big heart. We can all do something and I feel blessed that we have been able to help in some small way through VBS this week.

When I say that I have gotten into CDs again, I don’t mean music. This time I mean cloth diapers. I started using cloth diapers for Mariana last summer and really liked it. Somehow I got away from it and started using disposables through the fall and winter. Well, I hate buying disposable diapers for a number of reasons and I had a whole stash of cloth diapers here at home, so I decided to get back to cloth diapering and it’s been great again!

I’m willing to bet that some of you reading this are wrinkling your nose and thinking “cloth diapers…ewww”, but it’s really not nasty at all. Long gone are the days when all there was to cloth diapering were white cotton diapers and safety pins. Well, it’s not actually long gone, you can still do that if you like, I suppose, because the option does exist, but there are other solutions. My favorite diapers are called Fuzzi Bunz and they are pocket diapers. What that means is that the diaper has a “pocket” in which to insert a liner for wetness protection. Fuzzi Bunz come in several sizes and colors. They fasten and are adjustable with snaps. Easy and cute. What more could you want in a diaper? The others I often use are called Bum Genius and I have version 2.0 which is last year’s version. This is a one size diaper and also has a pocket for a liner. I don’t like them quite as much as I like Fuzzi Bunz, but they pull up a close second. I’m also looking into other brands and kinds of diapers. A boutique near us just started carrying cloth and I got an email with a $5 off coupon, so I’ll be taking that in soon to see what they have. We have several diapers in Mariana’s “stash” right now - enough to keep her in two days worth of diapers between washes if need be, so that’s nice too. I’d love to have more, so I’m always looking around. It’s hard to believe that diapering can be fun, but with all the options available out there, it really IS a lot of fun. No, really…it is!

There are many benefits to cloth diapering and these are the things that I appreciate most about doing it.

• It’s environmentally friendly. We only use a disposable on Mariana at night right now, so that is far less junk that we are contributing to the landfills.
• Less diaper rash. Cloth is friendlier to little bottoms than plastic and chemicals.
• More cost efficient. Sure, there are start-up costs to getting a cloth diaper supply established, but they are washable and can be used for such a long time. No running to the store every week for a pack of diapers. It’s great!
• They’re cuter than ’sposies. There is nothing cuter than cloth diapers on a little one’s bum. Seriously.

Another reason we decided to go back to cloth is to hopefully help with Mariana’s potty-training. We discovered back when Macey was this age that disposables aren’t the greatest for potty-training at all.  Toddlers can’t feel wetness in the disposables, so it’s hard to teach them about not wetting. With cloth, they can feel the wetness so that can help alert them better to when they need to go. While cloth does wick away the moisture, it’s not the same as disposables. No chemicals to harbor all the wetness. Mariana has shown some potty interest, so maybe (JUST MAYBE) cloth diapering will help guide us in that direction.

So, yea…I’m excited about our re-entry into cloth diapering. If anyone has any diaper recommendations, please let me know. I’d love to know more. And, if anyone has any questions about cloth diapering, please let me know that too. I didn’t go into specifics about diapering, but I’d be happy to share if anyone is interested.

Macey graduated preschool last night. They had a ceremony at the church where they wore little caps with tassels, marched in to “Pomp & Circumstance” and even received little diplomas. They also sang some really cute songs. It was such a sweet event. I can’t even begin to describe how emotional I was seeing my girl up there though. My firstborn, my motherhood dream first fulfilled, is growing up so quickly. It’s hard to realize sometimes how fast it all goes, but in just a blink I realize it full-force at times.

We have been so blessed to have Macey in our church’s preschool since she was two. She has had the best teachers and has loved every single moment she has spent there. We love that she has not only gotten a great academic foundation, but has also gotten to explore creativity, learned to socialize and has also learned more about Christian faith and values. It’s a great school and I’m so glad we’ll be aruond another three years as Mariana goes through. Next thing you know, she’ll be graduating and moving up to kindergarten, but I am NOT ready to think about that yet.

The last official day of preschool was today for both girls. They each had parties in their class. When I picked Mariana up, her teachers told me the cutest story that she was watching herself in the full-length mirror in the classroom and singing the clean-up song to herself. When we went to get Macey, one of her friends named Grace came out to give her a hug and said she’d miss her.  How sweet! We will definitely have to have many play dates over the summer to keep these girls in touch.

It’s hard to believe that preschool is now over for Macey. She was a touch emotional last night about missing her friends, but she knows we’ll have the summer to play and that she is going to make new friends in elementary school. Still, this is a big step for her. A big milestone in her life. And, when I saw her march in last night, my heart just overflowed. Macey makes us proud in so many ways. She’s so sweet, smart, gentle, creative and loving. She’s one amazing little lady. It’s hard to let go sometimes and let her grow up, but we know that with God’s guidance, she’ll be fully ready to face the world and make a positive impact wherever she may go.

Today our baby girl, Mariana Grace, turns two. Labor had started and stalled for several days, but she finally made her grand entry into the world on Mother’s Day 2006 at 2:15 PM. She weighed 8lbs 7oz and was 20.5″ long. She was such a peaceful and laid back infant. Macey loved to hold Mariana every chance she got and Mariana took it all in stride. She fit right into our family just like she had always been there. It was like God had made a placeholder in our hearts to save room just for her.

Two years ago Mickey and I learned just how much love grows. We knew, of course, that we would love Mariana, but we couldn’t fathom just how much love could and would grow for both girls and for each other. There is something beautiful and blessed about how parents can love each child equally, but at the same time differently for each different child.

Today Mariana is a full-fledged two year old. When you ask her how old she is, she proudly says TWO and, trust me, there are days when she is “sooooooo two” ;). She is such a sweet little bundle of energy. If this girl is awake, she is on the move. She loves to climb and explore. She loves to play and seek out treasures in whatever forms she can find them. She loves to talk and laugh and is learning to sing. She could live on chicken nuggets and ketchup. Or, maybe just ketchup. She adores Macey and is often hot on Macey’s heels where ever Macey goes. She loves hugs and will sometimes give us kisses although she tells us she saves them for friends at school. Mariana is a joy. She is just chock-full of sass, spunk and determination that brighten all our days. And, we’re so blessed that God entrusted her to our family on this day two years ago.

Poor Mariana is sick. She caught a cold while we were away a couple of weekends ago. We thought it was nipped in the bud, but it wasn’t. She has RAD (reactive airway disease) and whenever she gets colds, she always winds up with terrible bouts of coughing, etc. And, she typically develops sinus infections secondary to colds too. The poor girl can’t ever have “just” a cold. So, we’re in the throws of a cold/RAD flare/sinus infection these days. She’s going to the pediatrician tomorrow. I have to hand it to Mariana, she’s being quite a little trooper. Kids are so resilient, aren’t they? I always think that I have so much to teach the girls, but I could really learn from them a lot of times too. Anyway, I just pray that our girl is all better soon. And, if you care to join me in that prayer, we’d greatly appreciate it.

We were away over the weekend, so I didn’t get to post. So, I’m here now waking up my sleepy blog. :p

I hope it was a great weekend all around. We were in South Georgia over the weekend. It was a really nice family weekend. We got lots of Nana time in which is always nice. Mickey and I even got to have a dinner date on Saturday which was great for us. The weather was incredible all weekend too and we just had a really great family weekend.

The reason we went down for the weekend was for our nephew Jackson’s baptism which was on Sunday. Jackson did great for the whole ceremony. He fell asleep in his mommy’s arms (is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping baby?!) and stayed asleep through most everything. He almost woke up when Liz leaned his head down to get his water and oil, but he went right back out. We had the honor and privilege of being included in the ceremony as Jackson’s Godparents and we take that vow very seriously and right to heart. We love that little boy so much and we feel so blessed that he has come into our family.

I will post more later. I need to catch up with a book review and deals. I’m also reading an incredibly powerful book that I can’t wait to post more about. It’s called The Shack and as soon as I’m done reading it, I’m going to post more.

Happy Monday!