A WALK THRU THE WOODS

I hope y'all had a great weekend... we sure did!  

Evie and her parents spent the weekend in the woods.  While Dadda hunted, Momma Peach and Il Bambina went on their own hunting party (on the other side of the woods, away from the range of Dadda's gun!)...

Somebody show me how to drive this thing, I'm ready to roll!

Fresh layer of leaves, ready for crunching!

We met a few friends along the way...

Some who tried to get up close and personal with us.

The Mini Horse.
Mamma Peach's camera was approximately 12 inches off the ground for this camera angle. It's a photo in "Evie Vision"!

We tried out a few saddles...

And decided we liked Western better than English...
there's a horn to hold onto!

Come here, horsey!!

Whooooah. Not that close, horsey.

We found a rabbit.

And got really, really excited about the rabbit.

So we kissed the rabbit to show our loving adoration...

And then got upset when the rabbit refused to return or even acknowledge the love.

Jilted by the rabbit, we went inside to play with toys
and build our own town.

And then demolish the town in a Godzilla-like rage. Awesome.

But all was right with the world when we found our horses again.

PS - Dadda didn't kill anything. He saw LOTS of does, but the big boy that Dadda's been stalking evaded him once again. No venison lasagna at the Yankee & Peach house yet. Stay tuned....

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Uh, I'm stuffed. No more food, please!

 I just hope the tryptophan wears off by Saturday when our two teams play. 

Some of our favorite guys will be traveling to play basketball in Auburn, Alabama. 

And at the SAME time, our Yellow Jackets will be involved in some clean old-fashioned hate-filled football up in Athens, Georgia.

Life is good when the toughest decision of your Saturday is which game to watch!!

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!!!!

IT HAS BEGUN...

Our little doll baby. The cuddly infant who snuggles so very sweetly during her last bottle of the night. The itty bitty baby that lets out a single burp, gives you a hug, and then reaches for her crib and falls asleep for 12 hours straight. The simplest, sweetest, easiest bedtime ritual ever....

Until our child turned into a maniacal, irrational, ferociously screaming, demented, raving holy terror.  HAH. yes, I just called a 14 month old irrational. I realize how irrational that is...

Evie has a textbook case of bedtime separation anxiety. She's perfectly fine if we are standing in the room with her. The minute we walk out and shut the door, the screams that emit from her room would have you think that the Boogey Monster himself was in her room, pulling out her toenails one by one.

We've kept up the bedtime ritual. Bath time. Pajamas. A book or two. Play with the puppies and say "night night" to almost everything in the house. We rock her, give her warm milk, soothe her, put her down in her crib. She gets her little dalmatian doggie/blanket that she loves to cuddle. She fusses a little. We soothe her and then walk out the door.  

And then it begins.... the screams, the tears, the anxiety. 

We aren't giving in. We practice the techniques the books/doctors/experienced parents tell us worked on their kids. Wait two minutes, then go in and check on her.  Soothe her, put her back down. Walk out. Wait four minutes, then check on her.  Wait eight minutes, and so on...

My mom's a liar, yall.
A holy nighttime terror? Moi? Certainly not!

Soothe her, put her back down, say night-night and walk out. Wait.... check... soothe...    ...   ....  .....  this goes on for at least an hour after her bedtime each night. By the time she falls asleep, it's usually because she's just tired of crying.

Oh, you think she's actually asleep for the night now? It only gets better. Somewhere between the hours of 2 and 4 AM she wakes up. And this process typically resumes ALL OVER AGAIN. 

And what's the result of that 2 AM tantrum? Apparently, Momma Peach and Dadda are now considered "co-sleepers" with Evie.  We never really planned on doing that.  We never were really for or against the co-sleeping technique.  We just never really considered doing it.

But if letting Evie sleep in our bed finally allows this family to actually get some sleep between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM, then sign us up for some t-shirts and business cards that says "PROUD TO BE A CO-SLEEPER"....  because we just joined the club!

This is supposed to be a stage that she'll outgrow shortly. Shortly, I hope meaning within the next few months. If this stage last for years, the adoption agency is sounding better and better. (kidding! kind of!)

I can hear my mother laughing from here. C'est la vie.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

We did a Fall Family photo shoot with Katy Swilley a few weeks back and just got to take a peek at the proofs from our session. Since Mamma Peach is usually behind the camera, it was about time that we got all three members of the Yankee & Peach family in a photo TOGETHER.

Momma Peach can't believe how many good shots our sweet photographer was able to get, although we were probably the most un-cooperative family she has ever taken pictures of during a 'family' shoot. 

The photo shoot was very early on a COLD Sunday morning and we really had no business dragging Evie outside without bundling her up in a snowsuit and having a bottle of hot chocolate milk to appease her.  But Evie was a trooper (and actually cheerful for about 5 minutes of the 35 minute session).  

She eventually got a cherry sucker for putting up with the horrible torture we inflicted on her and you'll see that some of the sucker ended up on Dadda's sweater -- but our photographer just laughed and said it's proof that he's a "real Dad" - and not afraid to get a little messy with his kid! 

Here's a few of the pictures... my apologies for their low resolution - I yanked 'em straight from Katy's website and don't have the original copies yet.

Evie: "You want me to do what? Smile?
Lady, you're crazy. It's cold out here!"

Mamma Peach's teeth are chattering at this point, Evie has turned into a completely frozen popsicle, and Dadda is still trying to wake up.
And yes, Momma Peach's hair is red. You're not seeing things.

Semi-fake smiles. Not bad, probably a framer!

There's the Evie we know!
"You people make my head hurt!"
Or more apropos: "What did my mom do to my hair?!"

Got my sucker. Life's good.

She shared some of her sucker with Dadda's shoulder.
Isn't that why God made PhotoShop?

"Hey, lady. Got another sucker? I'm done with this one!"

"Eh.... I think I have something in my diaper."

She got excited when we told her we were almost finished.

All right guys. I'm really done. I can no longer look at any of you.
I'm so cold, I'm starting to feel likeTed Williams head! (oh, yuck. bad joke.)

If you want to see more photos from our session, or order your own photos of the Yankee & Peach family (who doesn't want pictures of our shivering semi-smiling faces?!), you can go HERE and log in with the password Evie and order as many pictures as you want!

DISCOVERIES

The past few days have been full of discoveries for the Yankee & Peach household. 

On Friday, we took Evie out and about to visit four local schools. Her parents discovered what we like about the local educational offerings-  and almost as importantly-  we discovered what we do NOT like. We haven't pulled the trigger at enrolling her in a new school yet, but I will say that a local Montessori school has drawn our eye - so feedback would be appreciated if anyone has had experience with the Montessori educational system. (let me know your opinions, please!)

On Saturday, Momma Peach went to an marksmanship clinic and discovered that it will take a LOT more practice before she'll be qualified as an AQT-rifleman graded sharp shooter. She also discovered she's not nearly as bad as she previously thought! Hoo-rah!

Evie also discovered that a cardboard box makes for a fabulous toy...

What's this? It's just my size!

What's the secret password?
Nope, you can't come in!

Checking out her new digs..

Getting pretty excited about her new house...

She decided that the house needed some sprucing up...

Miss Priss also made a fascinating new discovery about her body: the belly button!

It's such an amazing feature- and everybody has one. Some are innie's, some are outie's- but either way, she will gladly poke yours if she happens to catch a glimpse of it.

What's this, Momma?

It moves in and out when I breathe!
I can't even see it when my tummy is really full!

We also discovered the consequences of what happens when a human skull meets a tile floor. Dadda gave us all a little scare when he passed out in the early hours of Monday morning. He smacked open his head on the bathroom floor and the Yankee & Peach family took a quick trip the Emergency Room at the Gwinnett Medical Center to get him checked out and all stitched (or actually stapled) up.

Nurse Evie taking care of Dadda.
Please note that Dadda is a nice normal tan-ish color, as opposed to his earlier appearance, which pretty much matched the whiteness of the sheets on the gurney.

 

The good news is we have discovered that this Emergency Room has topped the list as our "go-to" ER for any future Yankee & Peach accidents that require a hospital visit. The staff was great - and a big "thank you"  to the nurses and doctors who took good care of Dadda. 

Evie met lots of the medical staff as she walked up and down the halls talking to everyone at 5 AM! She even assisted one nurse in "organizing" her supply drawer (with the nurse's consent, of course). What a big helper she is!

Hugs from Evie are the best medicine. 

Warning:  Look away now if you're a bit squeemish....

We also discovered what a nice set of staples can do for a head wound.

OUCH.

Guess these shiny staples mean that Mamma Peach is going to have to lay off giving him the "Agent Gibb's head smack" that Dadda's grown used to receiving from her!

Y'all say a prayer for Evie's dadda today. He's got a pretty big headache. 

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM

It was not an easy day. Momma Peach got stuck at work. Late to leave and very tardy to pick up Evie. Had a laundry list of things to do, a million errands to run before going home. 

Got to Evie's school to pick her up and she was in a dreadful mood.

Evie at 7 AM.
How can you be upset when
you got to wear pajamas to school?
(Really, it was Pajama Day, I promise we weren't too lazy to dress her.)

Evie is always a little tired and very momma-clingy by the end of the week. But today was something else.

WHERE have you been?
I've been waiting all day!

Cue the full blown working-mom-can't-be-a-stay-at-home-mom guilt trip.

Oh, crap.

Nix the long list of errands.  Enter Peterbrooke Chocolatiers at the Forum. 

And tiramisu gelato.

One cup and spoons for two, please!

This is much better than running errands, Momma!

We won't mention that Momma Peach realized (after the fact) that the tiramisu gelato had real Kahlua in it. And that Momma Peach just unknowingly gave Evie her first taste of alcohol (teeny, minuscular trace amounts, but yes).

Fabulous mothering put into practice, I know.

Momma Peach is taking tomorrow off from work, so Evie gets a three day weekend. Just what we both need.

LIFE WITH A TODDLER

Below are two video clips of a few brief moments with Evie today.  You may laugh or cringe - but we all know that there is no rest for the weary - nor any rest whatsoever for parents of inquisitive toddlers! But we wouldn't want it any other way. =o)

Evie has a fascination with our laundry room... I wonder why?

The R2D2 trash can makes such a fantastic drum!



No, she didn't actually drink the dogs' water. But even if she did, let's face it-  their water probably won't be the worst thing she'll have put in her mouth by the time she outgrows this phase.

IT'S DEFINITELY FALL, Y'ALL! (or make that winter already?)

Brrrrrr.... did we skip straight from blistering summer to Jack Frost season ?  It's been downright COLD around here. This is supposed to be the sunny south - what is going on here?!

The cold weather kept us indoors for much of the weekend, but Little Miss Priss was fired up and running hot. (And what WERE we thinking when hoping that Evie would be a steady walker soon?) She was quite the busy girl...

Watch out, folks. Elton John is behind the wheel.
As a former British colony, we drive on the left side, right?
Or right side, right? Left, right?

Poor Violet - hanging on for the ride of her life.
(And poor Trot - you can just see his tail
at bottom left of the picture, trying to
get out of the maniacal driver's way !)

Taking the turn on Lap #4.
Oops, was that the china cabinet?
Oh, well... scratches and dents give it character!

Our skeleton is practicing her jazz hands
and preparing for her Glee tryouts.

I like it when Uncle Battle comes over.
He throws me around a lot.

Up! Up! Up!
Hiiiii- igher!

Wardrobe by Mamma Peach.
Hairstyle by Uncle B.

"Listen, horse. It's time we had a heart-to-heart.
No bucking me off like last time, ya hear?"

"Mom, horse isn't listening to me. Help."

Momma Peach attempts to push the horse's weight limit.

Hahahaha! Take that, you old mule!
Try and throw me off now!

All done. Good ride, cowgirl.

A cold drink to follow that ride.

Hmm... this water stuff is pretty good.

It's so good I want to share it!

Mom, you need to wash your pants.
Here, I'll do it for you!

Haha! It's kind of like an uncontainable bathtime!

The bottle doesn't quite float like my toy boat does.

Might I suggest a Deer Park 2010 to go with
your meal tonight?
It's light on the palate, with a very clean finish!