The Great Flood!

Wow, what a week for Georgians!! Sunday evening the bottom positively dropped out of the sky and our area got between 10-15 inches of rain, essentially over night, after about a week of steady rainfall. If you've ever been around Georgia clay, you know that once its saturated, there is just simply no where for the water to go and by Monday morning, most of the metro area was on its way to being underwater. My drive to work is normally about 1 1/2 - 2 hours..... Monday morning it took us THREE hours. There was much talk in the carpool about turning around and calling it quits, but we had court that day and it is a cardinal sin to miss work on a court day so we soldiered on! It rained ALL day and by the time I drove home from work that night the sweet little creek that runs along the road to our house was swollen and angry, crossing the road in several places and encroaching on some of our neighbor's front porches! I have always cursed the two large drainage ditches that run down the length of our property..... but on that day, they earned a place in our hearts! The road in front of our house literally looked like a muddy little river! All in all, we were very lucky.....10 people in Georgia lost their lives and countless hundreds lost their homes, belongings, cars, etc. We've had a few days of sunshine now, but are expecting more rain as we go into the weekend. Please pray that we are able to stay high and dry this time!

Chuck E.Cheese

So. We had a couple of REALLY rough weeks at the babysitters. It does NOT make your day, when after an already long day you hear "He was AW-FUL". In fact, our dear, sweet Kate actually resorted to spanking him...... twice (yes, we asked her to if the need arose). You see, he decided at some point that HE should be in charge and that he could spank other kids who were not following the rules. Some of the rules he was enforcing were Kate's.... some where his own. At around this same time, he started to really demonstrate some Smith behavior and began to just swing on however was closest any time he fell down or was otherwise embarrassed. So I resorted to bribes. I read somewhere that "we bribe them cuz we love them" so I figure this doesn't make me a terrible mom..... or if it does, at least I'm not alone! We told him that if went a whole week without getting a spaking at school we would take him to Chuck E. Cheese. Well, judge me if you must but IT WORKED!
This was the first time we'd been to CEC for a good while. We were gonna go when Granny was here, but that didn't pan out (LONG, heartbreaking story..... for Granny and I at least). It was a VERY different experience this time. Jaydan freaked out when I would try to put him in the toddler rides.... you know the ones with Chuck E. or Barney, or whoever. I thought "Oh, great.... here we go with this stage" but soon discovered that his only real issue was the he wanted to ride the big kid rides...... you know the ones that make your mother hold you by the back of the shirt and cover her mouth in horror. This is what he likes, apparently.

Note the full size horse that actually "jumps" and the mud bog thing (I don't even know what to call it) but I'm pretty sure I saw it in the Dukes of Hazzard when I was little. My little thrill seeker is growing up.... no more baby rides for this kid!
As a side note: I am actually writing this blog some time later..... STILL no more spankings at Kates! BRIBE YOUR KIDS.... it works. I'm starting to think that the "anti-bribing" people are part of a large conspiracy to make you AND your children miserable!

Jaydan-isms, Part II

"Binosaur" = Dinosaur

"Mickey Monkey" = Mikey Mouse

"Pickabus" (as is "I wike pickabus") = asparagus

"I wanna wop the yoop" = I wan to walk the loop.

"No talk Me" - when he is getting in trouble. This can also be altered to "No talk Mama" or "No talk Daddy" if he thinks we are arguing.

And this is more of a short story but sooooo sweet. The other night when I got home from work he ran up and said "I give Mama hug and kiss" and then he did. Then he stepped back and said, "Now Daddy give Mama hug and kiss", so Jeff did. Jaydan gave a nod of approval and said "Good Job". Geez, who's child is this?!?

He also this week ventured out of his bed at midnight and into our room where he proceeded tap my should and ask "Mama...... what doon-in?"! Well, son I WAS sleeping! And so the fun begins.... I'm thinking baby gate or possibly a dead bolt?!?

Labor Day

Labor Day this year brought a much needed long weekend for all of the Littles! We spent the weekend at Nana and Pop's lake house, enjoying fantastic weather! The kids all swam and fished and the adults ate and drank and fun was had by all. Of course, another thing that comes with Labor Day every year is the kick off of college football, so a good bit of time was spend in front of the Florida and Georgia football games (don't worry Pop, that is ALL I'm going to say about that)! Jaydan and cousin Lindsey played particularly well and Jaydan loves his Aunts and all of the attention that they direct his way and of course, he strives to imitate the big boys. These pics are courtesy of my sister-in-law Burgundy, who was the ONLY one who remembered her camera!

Fall is in the Air!

I want to start by saying that I have no idea how the summer got by us so fast!!! We've been super busy and it seems like we've just turned around and here we are closing in on the Holiday's again.
Our biggest event in August was a 10 day visit from Granny! Jaydan was able to anticipate it this time, so that was fun. We all acquired webcams and have been enjoying chatting via Skype, so when we picked her up at the airport he ran to meet her with hugs and flowers and no reservations! God bless technology! I was able to get a few days off, which we packed full of visits to the Children's Museum of Atlanta, Helen, GA and the winery and pottery shops and lots of shopping. If you have a children's museum in your area, I HIGHLY recommend it..... for two hours Jaydan was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted without once hearing the word "NO"! I'm pretty sure it was his idea of heaven (and maybe mine too). The rest of the time, Granny was in charge while Daddy and I worked...... who knows what kind of mischief the two of them got into with no supervision! I essentially held Mom hostage until my birthday had passed, so we had an extra special celebration before she had to return home to get ready for school. We enjoyed having her so much as as per usual, lots of tears were shed when the time came to say goodbye (OK, so it usually is just me and her). It always helps to have the plans for the next trip on the books, so I've already booked flights for Jaydan and I to come home just after Christmas..... maybe we'll see some of you then?!?
Pictures of our summer adventures to follow soon!!

Welcome Friends and Family

Hopefully some of you are seeing this for the first time, as a result of the email I sent out from the Baby Website! All of this media stuff just got to be too much and I enjoy the blog the most, so I decided it would be the thing that I do! So Welcome.... and I hope you enjoy!
For those of you who have been following all along, I promise to update very soon! As you can imagine, our lives are pretty crazy these days! The good news is, there is LOTS to blog about.... now if I can just find them time ;) "See" you soon!