Playdate with Remi

On Saturday, the 21st, we went over to Remi's (Tatum's best friend) house for a playdate. The kids had so much fun!! They picked up right where they left off and you would never know that they weren't going to school together anymore. Here are a few pictures of them.

Playdate with Remi

Surprise

Mike called me on his way home from work on Friday with a lovely surprise...for us. Unfortunate for them, his parents were stuck at the Atlanta airport. They were on their way to our newphew, Kameron's, 2nd birthday party, but due to the storms on Friday afternoon, they were unable to make their connecting flight. So that meant we got to spend the evening with them. Tatum was so excited to go to the airport to pick them up. It's not often anyone would fly from Birmingham to Atlanta to visit. We had a great time!

First Visit to Dentist

On Friday morning, Tatum had his first dentist visit. It was a great experience! He hopped right into the chair and for x-rays and the cleaning. Dr. Andy was wonderful with Tatum and Tatum really liked him. I couldn't ask for anything more!

Pre-K....and parenting....it's so confusing!

Tatum received a letter today from his Pre-K school and we have orientation next Wednesday. I'm pretty excited to meet his teacher, see his classroom and meet all the other kids. I feel a bit odd that I am this excited about this new chapter - I wonder how I will feel when he starts kindergarten? To be honest, I'm already excited about that too! This summer, he has been struggling with a few of the boys in his current classroom. We have never run into these kinds of problems with Tatum at school so it's a new challenge and hope that we are dealing with it correctly. I just hope that the change of scenery helps the situation. Probably wishful thinking. I hate to be "that" parent that thinks their kid doesn't do anything wrong, but I have think that Tatum can't be the one causing all the problems, right? We actually got a note sent home from the teacher! Mike thinks I'm over thinking this; that they are only 4 years old and this is what kids do, but my mind is already thinking about all the problems he could have in middle/high school if we don't solve everything today! (Okay...so I'm willing to admit that it's possible that I'm over reacting.) Tatum is very honest about what happened during the day - if he was mean to another classmate he immediately tells me when I pick him up. And the issues seem so trivial to me...a classmate cut in the line for hand washing or went down the slide when it was his turn or picked the book he wanted. How do you communicate to a 4 year old that those things aren't nice, but it's not okay to push someone? I want him to stand up for himself and not be a tattletale...but again, does a 4 year old comprehend that? I'm just at a loss. Sorry for the rambling on, but I just needed to get that off my chest.

On a side note, as I talk to Tatum about these things, it makes me think about all the stuff I get upset about during a day that are trivial. Of course, I don't walk around physically pushing people when I get upset with them, but how does my opinion of them and the way I treat them change because of things that are not imporant. I have to ponder this one a bit more. Just some food for thought.

Jackson Update

Jackson has fully recovered from his sprain and is back in full force! Time in the kennel (while we were working) gave him the opportunity to get better. We are glad it was nothing more than that and an easy recovery for him.

Trip to the Zoo

Today we all went to the Atlanta Zoo. It was our first visit and we had a phenomenal time! We saw so many animals. I'm not sure what Tatum's favorite is because he enjoyed it all. I would have to say the Giant Pandas were a big hit and the Orangutans too.

I took a ton of pictures...seriously, it was about 100, but unfortuntely, my disk is not working so all the pictures are gone! I'm hoping the disk magically works again! The good thing is we can always go back to take more pics!

Have you ever...

been stuck in a dressing room?!? Lisa needed to go to Old Navy so I went along. She had finished trying on her clothes and tried to open the dressing room door, but it wouldn't budge! She tried again to no avail. We got the dressing room attendent to try to open the door and it didn't budge for her either. Several more people came and went. This process went on for approximately 10 minutes and then we were finally released! I guess that is what I get for shopping on my lunch break!

Check back for pictures!

Normal Life

So things are back to normal for us. Tatum is home and is enjoying being back at his 'school'. In just a few weeks, he will start Pre-K. I'm interested to see what that entails. Will they have homework? How much like 'real' school is it? Pre-K is from 8 - 2:30, but he will still go all day. We are so lucky because he really loves his school and enjoys being there.

The school's director is pregnant and Tatum has just discovered this. Ever since he found out a baby was in her 'belly' he has been obsessed with it. He told me he had food in his belly and that made it big, but Ms. Melanie's belly is big with a baby. He told me "the belly will pop when it's big enough and then we will see the baby." Very cute!

a busy weekend

Yesterday morning, Jackson hurt his leg so Mike took him to the vet while I took my test. It seems that he has sprained his elbow. The vet gave us a copy of his x-rays.

We also installed our new floor downstairs. (For those who don't know - we had our plumbling back up into our downstairs bathroom and had water damage on the floor in the kitchen. We had to replace the floor in the kitchen so we re-did the whole downstairs.)

My dad came up to help us with the floors and brought Tatum home. Tatum had a great time with Gigi and Guppaw and we are so glad that he is back home with us. Our home is just not 'right' without him - it's just too quiet. He talked for a solid hour and was very excited to home too.

Videos of Pool School

Pool School Graduation

On Friday, Tatum had his final swimming lesson. They allowed pictures and these are a few my mother took. Tatum had a great time and his teacher said he did really good. YEA!

Two Down...

...Two to go! I have now completed two of my exams and the waiting contines....

One Down....

...Three to go. This morning, I took the first test (out of four) as I hope to conquer the CPA exam! I won't get my grades until September so now I will just focus on the remaining three tests. I take the second test on Saturday, another at the end of July and the final one at the end of August. A boring summer for me, but hopefully a fruitful one!

More 4th of July Pictures

Sparklers at Gigi & Guppaw's House before fireworks.

Tatum playing with Stephanie and Jeremiah before fireworks.

Stephanie and Tatum watching fireworks!!

Chef Tatum

Making brownies with Gigi.

4th of July Parade

Tatum experienced his first parade today. He went with Gigi & Guppaw and he said his favorite part was the candy and SpiderMan. :) They met up with their friends, Dotti and Don, and their grandkids, Titus, Stephanie and Jeremiah.


Titus and Tatum



Dora was even there!


Gigi & Tatum


I hope he liked the band!


It looks like Tatum was

going to make a run

for the balloons.


Stephanie, Tatum & Titus

Tatum Update - Monday

So I called to talk to my precious boy tonight, but he had already fallen asleep. :( Good for my parents, but sad for me. Here is his quote of the day:

Scene: My mom (Gigi) and Tatum are home alone. Tatum has strung yarn all over my parents kitchen to create a spider web (a common activity at my parents house). My mother took the yarn off the pantry door so she could open it. Tatum walks in and to his dismay, the web is ruined!

Tatum: WHAT happened in here?
Gigi: I don't know. I guess someone took your yarn down.
Tatum: WHO would do something like THAT?!?

Okay - I miss his silly sense of humor and it's a large possibility that I'm the only one who finds that funny, but it makes me feel good to tell others anyway. :)



It seems that he was quickly over the ruined web and started the 4th of July festivities early.

Life is Good

I just received word that my friend and college roommate, Jenny, had a baby - a little girl named Chloe. I am so excited for their family. Caleb is their son and isn't he so adorable too!!!

(Jenny - just in case you see this - I hope you don't mind that I posted this picture. You look beautiful - don't worry!)

He's gone again

So Tatum is back at my parent's house for week 2. My dad will bring him home to us on Saturday afternoon so I am going to try to embrace my freedom and not think about his absence so much. He is having a blast and really couldn't care less that he is not with us. He loved the Bible school video so much that my mom borrowed it from the church and when she showed him, he was ready for me to leave so he could watch it. Why is this stuff so much harder on the parents than the kid?!? It's all good though. Mike and I enjoyed a mid-week date last week and I have to admit it was quite nice. We are planning another date this week to take full advantage of this time apart.

I haven't written in a couple days so I have a few thoughts to share so on a different note, I was blessed to be able to visit my friend Andreja after she gave birth to her beautiful baby girl, Emma Grace. I have to admit that seeing and holding a 1 day old baby is just magical! It was just beautiful to watch Andreja and Emma bond. I loved every second of it! I always seem to pretend that I am indifferent regarding these precious moments because I had forgotten the beauty of being a new mother and a new life in our world, but I was very touched. I am so happy for Andreja and her husband, Chris.

We also played a little Wii this weekend. Tatum really likes it and it's so funny to watch him play. There is absolutely no skill involved so it's just random movements - and he does well. It just goes to show that we all just need to relax a little more and be a little more child-like!

Nothing much else is going on these days. I'm back to studying. My first test is Thursday and then another on Saturday. I have a break until the end of the month and then the final test is at the end of August. Please continue praying and I will continue studying.