July, 2012 - Birthday Month!!

We celebrated Georgia-Kate's 2nd birthday in July! What??!! My baby is 2? July 20th, 2010 was a very exciting day, when we welcomed baby sis into the world! She is such a blessing in so many ways - it's really hard to put it into words. I know all parents feel the same way about their babies! Georgia-Kate has so many adjectives - lively, funny, friendly, VERY active, sweet, loving, fisty, and did I mention active? I could go on and on! Right now, she is going through the stage of not wanting to wear what I get out to put on her in the mornings - no matter where we are going. This causes a problem since most mornings, I am in a hurry to get out the door by a certain time. I just have to wrestle with her kicking and screaming until it's done! I don't fuss back - I just do it! I remember going through that with Mary-Evelyn, so I know she'll come out of it. She is loving Dora right now, which is funny because I never have liked Dora - at all. The only time of the day that she actually sits down is if Dora is on - and we always find her sitting in her chair glued to the TV. It's so funny because she interacts with the show. Dora will say, "say backpack" and we'll hear GK say "backpack." Then, Dora will say, "say it louder" and we'll hear her SCREAM "backpack!" It's hillarious! GK loves going to see her friends at church. She has the most precious Sunday School class at HBC! I love seeing them gathered around their little table just working away! Her favorite songs are Jesus Loves the Little Children and Jesus Loves Me. We were in Walmart the other day, and she just busted out in a really loud rendition of Jesus Loves the Little Children. We got lots of smiles and giggles from other people. I didn't try to quiet her - I just let her do it! Anyway, it really is hard to believe that we're already 2 years in to her little life. We had her bday party at the Fairpark splash pad. The kids had a blast! Here are some pics...

GK got a little bike from us on the day of her bday.

Mary-Evelyn was so excited to give it to her!

Eating her bday donut! Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Ready to party - waiting for her friends to arrive

GK had a blast splashing in the fountain and in the baby pools with beach balls and water guns!

Even Nanny and Dada (my grandparents) came out in the heat to celebrate!

Blowing out her candles - she practiced this at home over and over so she was well-prepared!

Family photo

Cousins watching over her - Caroline, Mia Catherine, Emma, and sis Mary-Evelyn

Sisters, Caroline and Mia Catherine - brother Parker was too busy for the pic!

Ellie Rose getting serious about her cake!

Addie Mae enjoying her snacks!

Mary-Evelyn getting Max good with the water gun!

Tearing into presents!

Her favorite part!

Sweet friends, Carter Cate and GK! Precious girls!

Cousins and best friends, Mia Catherine and GK

Mia Catherine has no fear of the water!

My precious 4 year old! I love you, Mary-Evelyn!

                                                        And finally, to reminisce a little...

Here is a picture of Georgia-Kate in the hospital. One day old.

                                          

                                             

And here she is at her first birthday party! Loving the cake!

                                               

August, 2012

August was a month full of firsts! Mary-Evelyn, like I said before, is at the Early Childhood Education Center (ECEC) this year. It is an amazing 4-year-old program that is part of the Tupelo Public School District. I had heard so many great things about ECEC from friends. I wanted Mary-Evelyn to be able to experience it! She loves her teacher, Mrs. Katie Pannell. She is so nurturing and structured, two characteristic that Mary-Evelyn needs. Parents get to participate in "a day in Pre-K" once a month, where you go and work along side your child to see what their days consist of. They are learning to read, the basics of math, and many other everyday life skills. She brings home a new book about every 2-3 weeks to read to us. They read the book and disect its components at school, and we reinforce what she is learning at home. They really stress following up at home on what they are learning during the day at school. I love it! Everything they do is in groups, so she is learning a lot from the other little children also. So precious! Mary-Evelyn also started ballet  and tap this year at North Mississippi Dance Centre, which is where I took for 14 years! Mrs. Sarah Karrant was my teacher, and now her daughters, Beth and Mary Frances are teaching my child! Such tradition! Mary-Evelyn takes it so seriously and loves going every week. I love seeing those sweet girls in their little leotards and tights! Georgia-Kate goes to my mom's house on the days that I work. She and Mia Catherine (my sister's 3rd child) are best friends and get to be there together. GK is only 8 weeks older, so they will get to grow up together! My mom has them learning so much - preparing them for preschool! The highlight of GK's week is going to church on Sundays and Wednesday nights. She loves all of her teachers and friends at "chuch." We are trying to get her interested in pottying, but aren't having much luck. She's just not interested, although her teachers at church say that she goes for them! Maybe she'll come around for us sometime soon! Take a look at these pics from August.

 Mary-Evelyn with Mrs. Pannell - her sweet teacher. They did a stagger entry the first week. 4 kids came each day of the first week. This was Mary-Evelyn's first day during the stagger entry week.

 This was her technical first day of school with all the kids there. Jon takes her in the morning since it's on his way to work. I went with them the first couple of days and quickly realized that I couldn't handle seeing her walk away from the car into the building. It just breaks my heart, and I guess it will be that way til she finishes   college!

 They had a Trike-a-Thon for St. Jude. Mary-Evelyn was able to raise $75 all by herself, and this is a picture of her on the day they rode the trikes.

 ECEC fall festival. Mary-Evelyn gets a little bit sad when I come to things at her school because all she can think about it when I have to leave. That makes her sad!

 Leaf tracing with two good friends, Lily and Stella

 I think these girls stick together!

 First day of ballet

 Ready to go, Mama!

 Walking gracefully across the room

 We carpool with Ella Catherine every week. GK can't wait til it's her turn!

September/October 2012

We have had lots of fun dressing up, trick or treating, carving pumpkins, hunting, and everything else that comes the cooler fall weather! This is definitely one of my favorite times of year, but I say that a lot throughout the year :) 

Hunting is always a big deal for the Maynard family. Mary-Evelyn went dove hunting with Daddy for the first time this year. I think she complained about being hot the whole time, but she was a trooper. GK is always more excited to see what gets brought home as you can see in these next few pics...

This is one of their favorite things to do - going for a spin on the 4-wheeler. Jon has embraced having girls and loves to get them out in nature, since he is such an outdoorsman. 

We carved a couple of pumkins at home. We carved a Jesus fish and a cross in one of them only to find the next morning that a squirrel or some animal demolished it! :( 

The final product...GK would rather go with no clothes on all the time. This will probably be a theme in a lot of the pictures.

GK painting a pumpkin at a fall themed bday party.

ME doing the same...

Love these girls!!!

For Halloween, we had tinkerbelle and a flower.

Ella Catherine and Mary-Evelyn at our church's fall festival. Black cat and tink.

GK on the jumpies and the HBC fall fest

Us with Jon's sister and her family

On the actual day of Halloween, I decided to dress GK as lala loopsy. We had the cutest costume and I was afraid it might be too small next year. Jon's dad (Grandaddy) with all the kiddos!

Trick-or-treating

GK ate candy just about the whole night, bless her heart. We ended up having to distance her from it!

Walking the streets of our neighborhood