Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day with the Yates, some of our most favorite friends. Allen made yummy burgers and the kids had a fun time in playing in the sprinkler. Thank you to all of our soldiers!!

"Gynastics"

For the last 6 weeks or so Mary Selwyn and I have been doing a Mommy and Me gymnastics class at The Little Gym in Providence. We absolutely love it and we are REALLY going to miss it when we move. This week was show week and Goon and Aunt Daphna were here to watch MSN show off and get her end of the year medal.Wheelbarrows. So fun.Forward rolls...I'm really good at these.The balance beam. I used to be scared but not anymore...see me walking. Next challenge is the big beam.Adeline isn't scared.Swinging from them rings, another fave. ( I realize that I wrote them instead of the rings. It was a typo but it sounded funny when I was proof-reading so I left it just to crack myself up.)Monkey ClimbAdeline enjoyed show week too.

Getting my medal.So proud.

Done taking pictures.Shay and I had our own little in-town getaway this weekend. For Shay's birthday I got him tickets to the Alabama Vipers Arena League Football game. We used to watch it on TV all the time(sports junkies, right?) and Shay had mentioned he would like to go. I figured now was our chance since we live where they have an AFL team. It was a lot of fun and we got these cool free visors. I'm thinking about making it an addition to my daily wardrobe. What do you think? We also got a room at the Westin and enjoyed 2 kid-free dinners and lots of sleep. It was a nice way to celebrate Shay's birthday.

Kinley's Christening

This weekend we traveled to Georgia for our niece, Kinley's, christening. It was such a quick trip with a pretty terrible car ride but the pain and screaming was worth it to be with our family for this special moment. Mary Selwyn and Kate LOVE each other. They are always excited to see each other.

Kate loves Adeline too.

Kinley

Adeline and PapaTrying to get pictures of everyone together it tough!

Adeline loving on Kinley....she loves a baby.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Daddy! Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday to the best daddy in the world.... we love you oh so much!

Mother's Day and 12 month Stats

What a lucky mom I am... Sunday morning my family let me sleep in. Then they made me breakfast, gave me a gift certificate to the spa, took me shopping and took me to dinner. It was a lovely and relaxing Mother's Day. I have a pretty great family. I'm so blessed to be the mom of these two beautiful, smart and silly little girls. Of course we missed spending the day with our moms but we will get to see them this weekend.

Monday we took Adeline to the doctor for her 12 month appointment. She weighted 22 pounds, 75%, and I can't remember exactly how long she was, but she was 80% in height. I forgot her stat sticker at the office, I have to go back and pick it up. Liney did not handle her shots very well. She was extremely upset. Mary Selwyn used to cry when she got shots but if you picked her up she was easily consoled, not Adeline. She wasn't happy until....I let her have a sucker. That makes everything better, temporarily at least. She has been out of sorts since her shots. Hopefully today will be back to normal.

Dr. Meadows said Adeline is right on track for development and that she is super smart...which I already knew. Adeline is very vocal these days. She "talks" and "sings" all the time. Real words she does say are mama, dada, mum-mum, bye, uh-oh, light, book(gook) and poop (always a good word to know right?) Also, hard to believe but I promise she said Grampaka. She can show you her nose and her foot. She can tell you what the puppy dog and the duck say. She can also shake her head yes and no and she knows exactly what she is saying. It is funny that she knows how to appropriately use them. She definitely doesn't say as many actual words as MSN did at this age but sometimes I think she is even smarter than Mary Selwyn was, if that is possible. She also has quite the little temper, which she totally gets from daddy, ha ha. Adeline definitely keeps us on our toes. I just wish she wasn't growing so fast!!

Once Upon a Dream....

Mary Selwyn singing her favorite song, from Sleeping Beauty.

Now for little sister's version. Adeline usually sings much better and much longer than this... she was distracted by the camera. It is too funny.

Wishing on Stars

A few nights ago Mary Selwyn demanded that we open the door to the porch and push the ottoman close to it so that she could sit there and wish on a star. We agreed, of course. She plopped down, looked up in the sky and said, "I wish I would live happily ever after.....and for some candy," a girl after my own heart. I would wish for the same thing except I'd wish that I would be incredibly skinny despite eating all the candy I just wished for. I guess therein lies proof that wishing on stars doesn't always work, but wouldn't it be nice if it did. Instead of wishing on stars we have to rely on prayer and faith. We don't always get what we "wish" for with God either. And if you are anything like me, understanding why God works the way he does rarely happens either.

When we moved from Dothan I was so confused as to why we were having to leave a place that felt so perfect for our family. We were so established there. We had made it our home. After a short while I was able to see where Madison could be a town that we would be happy in. We have enjoyed exploring the town and the fun things to do. Maybe it wasn't so bad here after all.

Last Thursday Shay received word that his account here would be closing June 1st. That means we will be moving, AGAIN! Any guesses as to where we might be moving??? DOTHAN!! Have you ever had one of those, "Seriously God?" moments? Just utter confusion. Thats how I would describe my feelings toward this situation. Confused. Don't get me wrong I'm thrilled to be heading back to Dothan. Dreading moving but if I have to move, again, I'm thankful it is back to Dothan. It is frustrating that exactly 29 days after I sold my house we found out we are moving back. It just doesn't make much sense to me that we would move here for just 4 months to turn around an move back. I will say that moving here has been a financial blessing and maybe that was the purpose for this little whirlwind. At any rate the Nichols family will be on the move again, very soon.

As you can imagine our current situation has my little girls out of sorts. It is obvious to them that things are very unsettled so I am anxious to get this problem resolved. Mary Selwyn has struggled the most with all the transitions, so while it is clear that we watch entirely too many fairy tale princess movies, it is sweet that she wants to wish on stars. Oh to be young again and believe that things are just that easy. Us grown-ups will just continue to trust in the Lord, even when we don't understand.

MSN has been asking regularly to wish on a star before bed. Once she wished, "for my heart to be happy." That is not only my wish but my prayer for both of my girls no matter where we are.