Christmas 2009

Our first stop during the Christmas season was to Morton, MS. The kids love to visit the country to see Nana and Peepaw and to enjoy time on the farm.

How cute, my little cowboy and cowgirl.

My other cowboy, look at him go!

Time for riding lessons....

Bodi's turn...

After all the fun, the kids were put to work. They

helped Nana sift stalls. Oddly enough, the enjoyed it!

Our next stop was to Memphis to visit with the rest of the family.

My boys and Nanaw

Bodi Turns 3!

Bodi celebrated his 3rd Birthday on October 20. This year we decided to do his birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. I can't believe how fast he's grown up. It seems like yesterday we were racing to the hospital, in anticipation of his arrival. After 7 hours of labor, my doctor came in to give me the news of a c-section. I had not made any progress and Bodi's heart rate was dropping. Of course I was devastated but was ready. I asked the doctor if he could check me one more time and to his and our surprise, I was fully dilated! I went from 3 to 10 in 30 minutes. After a couple pushes, Bodi entered the world. He has been such a joy. He and his big sissy get a long so well and play all the time. He's so spunky and people tell us all the time "he's ALL BOY".

Our Prince

Bodi and his Sissy and favorite cousin, Natalie

Cake time - Bodi loves cowboys so he had to have a cowboy cake

Enjoying his cake

Opening presents with his friends Charlie and Jake

Pumpkin Patch

We went to McGarrah's Farm in Pea Ridge on Saturday, which was only a short 20 minute drive from the house. We rode hay rides, went through the corn maze, and picked pumpkins. We ended up getting a couple carving pumpkins and a gigantic one, I think it is around 80 lbs! We absolutely love this time of year, Emma and Bodi have already picked out their Halloween costumes. Emma will be a witch (a mean one) and Bodi will be a cowboy. Actually, Bodi says he wants to be a cowboy all the time like his Pepaw and wore his cowboy boots to school today... too cute!

Bodi, Emma, and Natalie posing

Emma on the hayride. I was so happy that it had the tall sides, otherwise, Bodi may have bailed on us!

Bodi and Natalie. Yes, Bodi's hair is long. We went for a hair cut that afternoon.

Bodi LOVED the pumpkins!

Bodi pulling the wagon, he's always showing off his muscles

Bodi taking a break after pulling the wagon

My beautiful model

Of course, you can't go to a pumpkin patch without taking some pictures with the cute cut outs!

The Latest Addition to the Gist Family

Please welcome Layla. My mom is so sweet, she got Layla for the kids after we had to put Abby down a few months ago. The vet thinks she's a Chihuahua/Rat Terrier mix. Bodi and Emma named her Layla, after one of the characters from their favorite movie, Sky High. Thank you Mom!

Layla is so smart. She sits on command and does a great job going potty outside. She weighed 2 lbs 8 oz when we brought her home and weighs around 4 lbs now. The vet thinks she'll stay under 10 lbs.

Emma and Layla, the day we brought her home.

She's definitely a Daddy's girl

The kids just love her and are very gentle with her

Tonsillectomy

Emma had her tonsils removed 2 weeks ago, on September 18, 2009. This was something we should have done a few years ago but we wanted to wait until she was a little older. The ENT said age 5 was a great age to do the surgery. Emma was excited to have the surgery and kept saying "Yeah, no more strep throat!" but the day before the surgery, she said she was nervous. After talking through it, her fear was going under the anesthesia. I told her it was just "goofy" medicine that helps her not remember the surgery. It seemed to calm her fears.

We got to the hospital at 7:15 a.m. to check in. Emma's nurse, Sue, was phenomenal. She was so sweet and eased Emma's fears. She went back at 9:30, the surgery lasted 30 minutes, and she was in recovery for another 30 minutes. When she came out, she was very groggy but that only lasted for about 15 minutes. The nurses said she did so awesome and was so brave. Emma did great taking in her liquids and eating the Popsicles. She was discharged at 1:30 p.m.

Emma before the surgery, she's so brave! The nurses said she was the best patient they've ever had.

Bye bye tonsils!

Emma missed school for a week and was very happy to start back this week. She did great during her recovery, although she grew tired of Popsicles, ice cream, and sherbet after a day. She lost some weight but we hope she gains it back as her diet gets back to normal. We're happy Emma did so well and hope she'll have fewer illnesses from now on. Now she says, "Yeah, no more swabs!" She hated getting her throat swabbed for strep and loves that she won't have to do it again... hopefully.

Destin 2009

We had so much fun in Destin this summer. This was our first "official" family vacation and it was well worth it. The kids did great during the 14 hour drive and we were lucky to have Mom and Dad, the Craigs, and the Starrs join us.

Our first night at the beach

Dinner at Pompano Joe's

Natalie, Emma, Kennedi, Bodi, and McKenzie

Natalie, Emma, and Bodi

Emma and Bodi (Emma says Bodi's hair looks like Dora's)

Ba with Bodi, Emma, and McKenzie

Me and Ba enjoying the beach

Ba on the boogie board, he turns 70 in October but that didn't slow him down

Holding the alligator at Fudpuckers

A Quick Stop at Nana and Pepaw's

We stopped at Nana and Pepaw's on our way home from Destin. It was a quick visit, but the kids got a chance to spend some time with them and ride horses.

Emma with Bodi holding on tight

Emma on Leroy, she is a natural!

I'm not quite ready for Bodi to ride solo just yet

Kindergarten, here we come!!!

The time has finally come..... the first day of Kindergarten!!!! Emma was excited all Summer about this huge milestone but last night, she was unusually quiet. I asked her if she was excited and she said yes, but she was a little nervous. It broke my heart when she told me she was nervous about a new teacher, new friends, and a new school. Many of her friends from Pine Crest Private School will attend Central Park but only 2 of them will be in her class. We talked about how fun school was going to be and how to make new friends.

Emma hopped out of bed at 6:15 this morning. Usually, it's a fight to get her up at 6:45 but she was ready to go. She said she was still a little nervous but excited too. I fixed her favorite breakfast(pancakes) and off we went. She was so cute! Bryan and I were the crazy parents, capturing every minute with our camcorder and taking tons of pictures.

Leaving the house, she's ready to go!

Arrival - the school had a photographer up front so Bryan and I were able to get a picture with Emma.

Right outside her classroom and looking for her cubby.

Getting settled.

Emma was a little clingy and having a tough time. As we left, Emma ran up to us and wrapped her arms around me and wouldn't let go. Her teacher, Mrs. Stamps, stepped in and told her how much fun they were going to have but she wouldn't budge. Mrs. Stamps then leaned down and gave Emma a big hug and that was all it took! Emma looked at us and said "bye". That was all she needed, I can't believe the power of a hug.

I was able to cut out of work early and pick her up at school. We went for ice cream and just talked about all the new things she experienced. Her favorite part of the day was recess. I'm so proud of her and how she handled such a big step in her life. I'm so happy we survived the first day of Kindergarten and did it without a shedding a tear, including me and Bryan. I look forward to hearing all about her days and can't wait to do it again in three years when Bodi heads off to school.

P.S. I plan to get caught up on my blogs soon. We got back from Destin over a week ago and I have lots to post... stay tuned!