1st trip to the Aquarium

Last week, my mother and I took Rhiannon to the Georgia Aquarium. It was both her and my mother's first time!

Here she is at the first tank and with a new friend.

Rhiannon enjoyed it. . . well she enjoyed a few of the fish. . . however, she really enjoyed the moving sidewalk in the tunnel. A lot. 2 years olds. They keep you on your toes.

One minute, she loves the fish. . .

The next minute, we have meltdown (I think because she couldn't buckle the belt on her stoller)

The next minute, she's fine again. . .

We finished our morning with lunch at the Varsity, of course. I know a girl who is a big fan of hot dogs and frosted orandes. And my mom and Rhiannon are too.

Big girl bed

Okay, this is night two of Rhiannon in her big girl bed. We painted and set up her bed weeks ago but we have waited to actually let her sleep in it. Why? We were waiting on the bed rails, a bookcase, a sign from God? Not sure what we were waiting on.

Getting her room ready!

This was Rhiannon playing in her bed. No sheets on at this point.

After Rhiannon hung out with Isabella and Huddy on Saturday and saw their big beds, we decided it was perfect timing. The next night she spent the night with my dad and stepmother (who Rhiannon calls Papa Sweet Pea and YaYa. . . isn't that cute?). I took that time to move her clothes and decor and books to her big girl room. So last night, she went to bed and slept all night with no issues. And she didn't get up and destroy her room like I feared.

Her are pictures of the finished room.

However, she refused to nap there today. Let me first explain that my girl LOVES to sleep. She tells you when she's ready for a nap, never complains at nap time, and usually sleeps 3 hours a day. She was one tired girl when I got home from work.

There was some hesitation tonight at bed time. The first time I left the room there were tears. I came back and crawled into bed and we talked and sang for a while. And then when I left again, there were more tears. And then, I pulled out the solution. Jessica, your Mom would be proud, I reminder her of Isabella and Huddy's big beds, and she stopped crying. And I left the room, and she went to sleep.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Play dates and UGA games

We have had a busy couple of weekends. Two weekends ago we went to the Spector's home and enjoyed an afternoon at the pool with their family and the Bermans. Amanda and Hilary are friends of mine from college, our husbands are huge soccer (okay and any other type of sport) fans and get along famously, and our kids just all happen to be 2. After pool time, we cooked out back at the house and then stuck all 3 of the kids in a bubble bath. I unfortunately did not get pictures of bath time but got a cute one of them eating dinner. Rhiannon chose to lounge and eat. Funny girl. Hailey belongs to Hilary and Jimmy and Ethan belongs to Amanda and Marc. Aren't they all adorable?

This past weekend, we went to the Garrish home to watch the Georgia game. Jessica is my oldest friend. . . since the 4th grade!! Her little girl, Isabella, is 5 and her son, Hudson, is 3 months older than Rhiannon and we have serious plans for them to be married one day. However, we know what will probably happen is that they will be in the same class and probably think of each more as brother and sister. Jessica will call me to find out dirt on Hudson's girlfriends from Rhiannon . And Hudson will get mad at Rhiannon for telling her Mama too much. We really think to much into this relationship. Anyway, Rhiannon was so excited to go to Huddy's house. She told us like 50+ times on the way there that she wanted to go to Huddy's house. She cried when we stopped at the gas station because we weren't there yet. The game didn't go so well but the kids had a blast. And I got some cute pics.

Our UGA babies in Huddy's big boy bed!

That's Huddy in the middle.

The cheerleaders!

Rock Star

So, Rhiannon enjoys playing Russ' guitar and singing. This evening, she ran in to the living room and grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to the guitar. She then asked me to take a picture. So, she wanted me to film her. Nevermind, that when I got home from work she had taken off her dress and was only wearing bloomers.
Anyways, here is her topless (oops) music video.

One last beach trip

I think I've been procrastinating in posting the last few weeks because talking about the summer's last beach trip truly means that the summer is almost over. It's time to face the music though, the weather is getting cooler and football season is starting. Summer is over. No more cute sun dresses and bare chubby little Rhiannon legs. It's just sad!

So, for our last beach trip, we traveled to Destin, FL with Uncle Stephen. We rented a house just across the road from the beach and had a fantastic time.

Stephen was a great babysitter. And he was good with Rhiannon too.

The vacationers:

Rhiannon really enjoyed the gulf, I think far better than the Atlantic. I can't say that I blame her. The water was like a warm swimming pool. Clear, calm and gorgeous.

Look at this water! And the white sand! Paradise.

Rhiannon spent the day swimming in the ocean:

Or chasing birds. She would run down the beach (all the way down the beach in fact, the three of us took turns chasing her and bringing her back) screaming, "Oh dear! I lost my birds! I love them soooo much." She didn't quite understand why they kept flying away. She was carrying a sandy cheerio in her hand. I don't know why they would fly away from a screaming 2 year old running torwards them? Hmmm.

Daddy's turn to fetch her.

All that running and swimming can really wear a girl out. I don't think she ever made it through lunch. . .

The weather was fantastic. Our last day, we had a late morning rain shower so we packed up and left the beach and went back to our house. So what do you do at the beach when it rains? You dance in it! Why not? Now everytime it rains since we've returned home, Rhiannon asks to go outside and play in the rain.

A wonderful trip. It was a pefect way to end the summer and to enjoy one last vacation with only one child.

Although, I really need to work on my packing skills if we're going to take one more person with us. We truly are a family of over packers!

I end with one last picture and ask you, Can this child look anymore like her Daddy?

Every girl needs to be able to walk in heels. . .

Rhiannon LOVES shoes. When I get home from work, she asks me to take off my heels so that she can wear them. She gets shoes out of our closet and puts them on. Flip flops, daddy's shoes, heels, it doesn't matter. This is a video I took of her after she comes out of our room with a pair of heels.



Listen for her to also tell you who the president is. Hee hee.

2 years ago. . .

Rhiannon two years ago. She was two weeks old here. And Rhiannon the morning of her 2nd birthday.

Just over 2 years ago, I moved away from this blog to create Rhiannon's own website. http://www.babysites.com/sites/rhiannonjames/ While, I still plan to keep up with it and maintain updates and photo albums for Rhiannon, I have decided to move back to the blog world for a few reasons. First, I have been inspired by the blogs of friends; stay tuned for a more "jazzy" blog. I've lost my mind and am thinking of getting the help of a blog designer. Second, we are expecting our second child in February so I thought it was time that I start documenting our new journey and growing family. So, the name has changed. . . to "Growing Crains". I thought it was fitting as our family grows, our children grow and Russ and I grow.

So, where are we these days? Well, I'm 11 weeks pregnant and can't wait to get out of my first trimester. I suffer from night sickness that begins after 4. It was the same with Rhiannon but more severe this time. I usually do not have the luxury of keeping my dinner. However, I have been lucky in that I haven't had the exhaustion that I remembered when pregnant the first time. I'm not sure if it's not there or if I just haven't noticed it due to keeping up with a 2 year old. I haven't really had time for exhaustion anyway. Russ had class 3 nights a week this semester (that thankfully ended last week) so I have felt like a single parent. I rush home from work each night to rescue my wonderful in-laws from Rhiannon. Then we have 1 1/2 hours to cook dinner, clean up the kitchen, bathe and PJ Rhiannon, read books and then tuck into bed. I'll be glad to have my cook return this week! I love you Russ.

Rhiannon just celebrated her 2nd birthday. This is a huge milestone for a preemie and one that we thankfully have passed with no issues. We had a fun little party with family and a couple of local friends. I have an entire album at Rhiannon's babysite.

Rhiannon is almost potty trained. She now only wears pull-ups when she leaves the house and when she sleeps. This has happened in the last 3 weeks and I'm sure I'll have many more blogs on this process. Stay tuned.

Check out the big girl Elmo panties. Okay, with a tiara and heels. A girl has to have accessories right? We're also planning on moving Rhiannon into her big girl bed and new room this weekend. When it's finished, I'll show more pictures.

So, welcome to my updated blog. My goal is to at least post something every week.