Off track

I feel like I've gotten off track a little with this blog. It began as a place to track what was going on with this little Davis family, and I've strayed from that. I'm going to get back on track with the day to day.

This past weekend was a busy one. (aren't they all?) Saturday morning was spent getting some work done around the house, picking up football tickets, and walking around Perimeter Mall. Judd left in the late afternoon to head up to Athens with some friends to watch the game.

I hosted a little get togther here at the house with Allison, Marshall, Erin, Ella and Emma. Here are Charlotte and Marshall showing off their "MeeMicks" (Charlotte's name for Mickey Mouse).

(If you want to see more pictures of Ella and Emma - head over to the photography blog - I had a session with the Himes family yesterday.)

The get together was a little hectic - 3 toddlers and an infant is a lot of work - even with 3 adults! But, it was a ton of fun - all these little people growing and doing is amazing. It is even more amazing to see how my friends have turned into such awesome moms.

Sunday was spent enjoying time with Judd since he left for a business trip in the afternoon. His first official trip as a manager. And where did he go? CANCUN! WHAT?? Seriously not fair. He called a little while ago and said he was looking out the window of his hotel looking at beautiful infinity pools.

You know what I got to do today? Have my teeth drilled. He's in Cancun "working" and I'm in the dentist chair with a drill in my mouth. 2 cavities.

I also got to pick my daughter up from daycare to find a large bite mark on her arm. Seems she was on the business end of another toddler's mouth today. Not sure what to do about it- just happens I guess. The teachers can't watch all of them constantly, I understand that. The kicker is, they don't tell you what child bit your child. Some kind of weird rule. I understand that they don't want parents duking it out in the parking lot, or having parents pull kids out of classes with known "biters" - but I think you have a right to know who's biting your kid - don't you? This is her 3rd bite, is it common to have that many?

Good

I think it is easy to forget the good in the world. There are so many bad/stressful things to concentrate on - flooding, the economy, the war, health care, the list goes on.

I was checking out at the grocery store today. I was rushing. I needed to get home so Judd could head to the UGA game. I was in the "10 items or less" aisle looking at the headlines of the magazines lining the aisle. I turned just in time to see the lady in front of me pay for her groceries. She handed the cashier a $10 bill for a total of $8.13. She said, "Keep the change" and took off.

The cashier said, "Wait, you have change - don't you want it?" She looked very puzzled, I'm sure I did too. The woman looked back and said, "No, keep it."

My first thought was, "Oh geez, do I have to tip the cashier now??"

I looked at the much-younger-than-me cashier and saw for the first time that she was pregnant. Did the woman intend to help out this pregnant girl by leaving behind her $1.87 worth of change? But, rather than just pocketing the change, the cashier took out one of the Benefit of the Week slips and filled it out in the amount of $1.87 and rang up the change towards the benefit.

I'm not sure why these two acts struck me - the donation and the way the donation was received. But it did. It made me remember that there is lots of good stuff out there - you just have to stop reading the headlines and pay attention. What good have you seen lately?

(The picture has nothing to do with the post - but I was going through some old pictures tonight and was remembering how much fun this summer was.)

That's my girl

She already had the guys doing whatever she wants.

Charlotte LOVES the next door neighbor, Kaya. This past week she has gone to the door to the garage and asks, "Kaya? Kaya?". Two nights this week we have spent some time out in the col-de-sac so Charlotte can see Kaya. She knows how to work it. She sits in the wagon and just waits for Kaya to pull her around. It works out for everyone - he gets to prented he's pulling a train, she gets to be the princess riding in her carriage, and the parents get to stand around talking.







I love her face in the background :)






Then everyone went inside to eat dinner, so she decided she'd pull it herself

Holiday Card Templates

I posted this over at the photography blog, but I'm posting it here too. I apologize to those of you that could care less about the photography business, but unfortunately this is the blog that has the most followers - so you'll be seeing some double posting for a little while.

Here are the holiday card templates that I am offering with the Holiday Mini Sessions. Everything - colors, text is customizable, so if you are intersted in the Holiday Mini Sessions but want the card to say something different - that is easily done.

Also, if you are just interested in using one of the cards for our own photo, send me an email at carrieedavis at gmail dot com and I can hook you up.

Fun

Charlotte and I are getting an unplanned day together today. Dekalb county schools are closed due to the flooding, so day care closed. I had my rain jacked on yesterday when I picked her up from school, and since then she's been slightly obsessed with her "jacket" (pictured above). She wore it all morning - nothing else, just a diaper and her jacket.

When she's playing I like to have some music playing and will put the TV to Kids Tunes on Dish Network. She stood up and wanted to dance, so I picked her up and we danced for a while. She wants to hold your hand while your dancing - like we were really dancing the waltz or something. While we were dancing jumping up and down she looked at me and said "FUN!". The first time she's expressed something is fun to me without being promped. I gave her a big fat kiss on the cheek and said "This IS fun."

It's the little things that mean the most.

The Retreat

I got together with a group of my college girlfriends this past weekend. We were all Delta Gamma's in college (hence the sorority-type pose featured above). We stayed at Drena's parent's Myrtle Beach condo. (Thanks Hollingsworths!) We didn't even step foot on the beach - yes, you read that correctly - I went to the BEACH and didn't walk on the sand. But, I'm totally OK with that.

You know what I did do? Whatever the heck I wanted to do. And it just so happened that's what everyone else wanted to do. We just laid around, talked (a lot), did various crafts or read, shopped, and ate.

There were lots of old stories rehashed - which meant lots of laughs. There was a lot of discussion about what our kids were eating, how they were sleeping, how are husbands were doing holding down the fort.

I learned a few things as well. I learned that I need to let more things go - I found that I worry a lot more than most. I learned that I need to let a lot of the guilt I feel go. I learned that I need to find more happiness in the place I'm in NOW rather than constantly thinking about what I WANT to be doing. All things that a couple of my friends to really well that I need to work on.

While I was gone, Judd took Charlotte to his parent's house. From the sounds of it, they had a wonderful time. Charlotte did her usual stuff there - took boat rides, golf cart rides, ate pancakes - except this time she ate alligator?? Glad I wasn't there for that.

One of the best things about being away is coming home. I think it is imperative that Moms get a break - you need that away time to regroup. But, I missed my little family. I had 2 sets of blue eyes greeting me at the door when I got home yesterday - and I looked at them and felt so, so lucky.

B is for Box

This makes me want to start another alphabet book. However, I think one is enough.

The Red Door

Our new red door:

Some Randomness

• Our house is being painted this week. I'm so happy that I now have a RED door rather than a boring white one. It looks fabulous. I'll get a picture up this weekend.
• The painters are going to redo our garage floor next week - I'm BEYOND happy that we will no longer have peeling, cracked, ugly paint on our garage floor.
• I watched GLEE this week - hands down, my new favorite show.
• I have been working really hard on the holiday card templates for the mini sessions I'm offering. I decided to create my own rather than buying some - I just really love to create. Here's a sneak peak - what do you think?

• Judd and I are on week 2 of our new budget. A couple of weeks ago we sat down and really mapped out what we should be spending, rather than what we can spend. We have done really well so far - we have an eating out budget of $100/week. We are actually sticking to it - even under it last week! We have done other things like cutting the data plan from our cell phones, stopping the dish network in our bedroom - we only have one TV now in the living room, and watching what we buy at the grocery store.
• Judd officially starts his new job on Monday. He is pretty pumped and so am I.
• Anytime you ask Charlotte, "Where is Daddy?" - she says, "Work". He's really not at work all of the time - even when he's gone to the grocery store, that's what she replies with.
• Charlotte is starting to put multiple words together. She is also able to walk down the stairs unassisted.
• Judd and I are going to the Georgia game tomorrow while the Wonderful Jen watches Charlotte - she's even keeping her over night so Judd and I can sleep in on Sunday. She's a Saint!
• Work has calmed down for me - I'm not working weekends anymore.
• Charlotte was sad this morning that she had to stay here with me rather than going to school - talk about what a couple weeks can do! A couple of weeks ago she was crying at drop off.
• Here's a video of Charlotte. It is pretty random - it is just her jibber jabbering. But this isa typical weeknight dinner scene. She eats at her table, and I keep her company. It will be boring for most of you - but to me, it really capture her personality right now. She is definately telling me a story at the beginning - I just have no idea what it is. Then she gives poor Jody a piece of her mind.

• And because I can't help it, here's a picture from Wednesday night. Judd brought Charlotte a balloon home from work.

Have a great weekend!

Labor Day Weekend - Part 2

We spent last weekend down at Lake Blackshear to celebrate Judd's parent's 40th wedding anniversary. It was a weekend filled with family, bar-be-que, homemade ice cream, boat rides, and swimming - a great way to say good bye to the summer.

Judd's grandfather in the new fishing boat.


Charlotte went for a ride in 3 different water craft this past weekend - the jet ski, pontoon boat, and fishing boat - she LOVED every single ride.

Charlotte LOVES her cousin Lilly. She missed her other cousin, though.

Aren't grandparents the best?

Frank sporting his new do.

Labor Day

We got back from the lake last night. It was a beautiful weekend. I haven't had a chance to go through all of the pictures just yet - but I'll leave you with one of my favorites so far.

One More?

I came home from the Volkswagen dealership ready to write a big post about how never to buy a Volkswagen. They lure you in with their German engineering. They show you good looking, comfortable, peppy cars. They fail to tell you that you won't really have major things wrong with your car, but you'll constantly have little things wrong that will drive you crazy. These little things will keep you in their dealership once every couple of weeks.

Since this morning, I've calmed down. Instead, I have decided to write a little shout out to my dad. While he and my mom kept Charlotte a few weeks ago, while Judd and I were laying by the pool at the Ritz, he taught Charlotte how to say "one more" complete with her little finger sticking up to indicate the number 1. I'm sure that my parents thought this was soooo cute, and that she was soooo clever for having learned it - so every time she stuck up her pudgy finger and said "One More?", they would give in.

So, thank you, Dad. You have made it super easy for me to limit the number of peanut butter crackers this child consumes. She just doesn't understand why this cute act won't always get her what she wants. And, when it doesn't, there is a melt down. She's stubborn though, it doesn't deter her - she just keeps asking.

Holiday Mini Sessions

I have some exciting news - well it is exciting for me, I hope all of you find it exciting too. After much thought, I am starting C. Davis Photography. I have decided to focus on natural light custom photography for newborns, children, and families.


For the past year, I have wanted the courage to start something of my own. I have had a few different ideas over that time, and have even tried to implement some. But each time I started something, photography always brought me back.

The kick I needed came last night. Judd and I were talking about the portrait session I did for my boss' daughter in July. While I was proofing the images at that time, Judd said they were good like the dutiful husband that he is. Last night, out of the blue, he asked me if I ever heard whether my boss' daughter liked the images or not. I said that I hadn't really heard anything about it (my boss has been out of the office for a month). Then he added, "They were really good." He said it in a way that I really believed that he thought they were good - he wasn't just saying it because it was my latest project. If he believes in me, then I believe in me too.

So, to get started, I'd like to offer Holiday Mini Sessions. This is an awesome way to get your family's holiday picture and Christmas cards ready. (Did you know Christmas is only 3.5 months away?!) Once I have a few takers (just email me: carrieedavis at gmail.com), I will decide on a location that is somewhat central to everyone.



I hope to have cdavisphotography.blogspot.com up next week with a couple of sessions that I have done. Also, I will post the holiday card templates next week.

A Thank You Note to Piglet

Dear Piglet, I can't thank you enough for the support you have provided to Charlotte over the past few weeks as she has transitioned to the Toddler 2 room. You have escorted her in every morning and faithfully stood by her side throughout the day. She has gone from a scared, teary eyed girl clinging to my neck to a confident girl that walks right into the room. I do apologize for the toll this has taken on you, though. I understand that you have been found abandoned on the playground, shoved in a cubby, and thrown over the side of the crib - but all the time a smile on your face! You have so patiently sat at the table with Charlotte as she tried to feed you things like yogurt and applesauce - even though it just ends up matted in your fur. I will do my part to see that from here on out you are given a bath more often - so you don't look quite so dirty loved. Thanks again, Piglet - I find so much comfort knowing that Charlotte has you to hug throughout her day.