Big Girl

While I don't have any pictures of this yet, Meredith if getting to be a big girl. She now rides facing forward in her car seat, which she loves, and she is no longer on the bottle. She still struggles with some things, but she is learning!

A Little Creepy

Yesterday we went to my Aunt Sharon's house for a Labor Day get together. To get there from our house you have to go through a little town named Hoschton (pronounced like Shooston without the S). Normally this is a very cute town, but not now. When last my mom was here we went through the town to go to the outlet mall and noticed a lot of scarecrows. We had no camera to take pictures but it was all we could talk about, the scary scarecrows. I thought it was creepy.

Well they have taken the creepy to a whole new level. The town is trying to get into the Guisness Book of World Records with 4000 scarecrows. I am not sure how many they have now, but here is a sample of what you will see.

You should go see the creepy for yourself!

For more info:

http://www.scarecrowstampede.com/

http://www.hoschtonfallfestival.com/

Wordless Wednesday

I LOVE PUDDING!!!

10 years ago...

I was moving into my college dorm. Not that 10 years ago is that long, I just can't believe it has been 10 years. Now that I am a mother I can no longer so those were the best years of my life because I wouldn't trade anything in the world for my husband and daughter, but they were definitely some of the best years of my life.

I loved college! I think a lot of that was because I chose to go to a small school and was able to get involved in many things. I joined a sorority, was on the activities board, became a tour guide, an orientation leader, and worked on campus. I met some of my very best friends and still talk to them to this day. I had a lot of fun, and I was smart enough to know how not to get into trouble.

My freshmen year I lived in 3 different rooms and after the Fall semester landed in a room with not just one roommate, but 3. One did move out in February or so, but everyone always laughed that I couldn't make it work with one roommate and now I had 2, but these girls were awesome and I think it was mainly because we liked each other but did our own thing as well.

I guess one of the things that sticks out the most about that year was that was the year that Columbine happened. I remember staying glued to the TV and was in shock that such a thing could happen. It is hard to believe that things have gotten worse in violence since then.

Unfortunately 9/11 happened during my senior year and I went to a military college, which made my experience a little different. I was at work in the Admissions Office and one of the counselors had just heard it on the radio. We didn't have a TV and of course you couldn't get on the CNN website because it was flooded. I finally took a break and went to the Student Center to sit in front of the TV with many other students and witnessed people jumping from windows just before the second tower fell. It was all very surreal. Friends were gone the day after because they were called up from their Guard units. It was scary to think that you might not see some of your friends again.

But college was filled with so many good memories that they outweigh the bad. I am in my career field because of my college experience. I just love college and I while I may not be a student anymore, I never left college.

As my students come back to class tomorrow, my mission begins to make their college experience mean as much to them as mine meant to me.

Baby Changing Stations

I said a long time ago that I should keep a log of baby friendly places, especially those that have spaces for breastfeeding mothers. I had a very difficult time when breastfeeding Meredith out in public. Of course after about 4 months you get to where you just don't care who sees your boobs. But anyway, I digress., I am going to start blogging about places that are baby friendly and more importantly those that are not. I am blogging from the Saturn of Gwinnett waiting area as we get Bill's oil changed. We have not been here for an hour and have changed Meredith twice. But this place is baby and kid friendly. Each restroom has a station in it and they have a play room for kids. Thank you Saturn of Gwinnett!

Now some places that I can remember that are not baby friendly, Fatz Cafe in Winder, GA. They say they are a family restaurant but have no changing stations! I changed Meredith on the table. For those of you who know me, know that if you piss me off I do things like that. Yes, we had finished eating dinner and we getting ready to leave. That is the only one that is jumping out at me right now, but I will blog as the arise.

Another friendly place is the Chick-Fil-A on Epps Bridge Rd in Athens. They give you free cheerios!

Please feel free to let me know places you love and hate so we can let all the moms know out there, I don't care where you live.

Wordless Wednesday-Our Family

Swim Lessons

Meredith started swim lessons yesterday. Well you know, more like water acclimation, but who cares, she is learning. I searched online to find something relatively close. We live in the middle of nowhere so nothing is real close. Our YMCA doesn't do infants and I found a place called Aqua Tots. They are based out of AZ (we like AZ) and they just got started here. Currently they contract out the use of other facilities pools rather than have their own. They have strict standards so I felt very comfortable. Meredith's lessons are for 4 weeks and the price was $59, others wanted $85 or more.

The instructors name was Kimberly and she was great. There was only one other baby girl in the class and she is older than Meredith. Meredith did AWESOME. She was a little scared in the beginning, but she warmed right up to it. Of course she doesn't want to move her legs, which follows all her stiffness problems.

Swimming may be something we pursue further as she grows.