The Mardis Family

Christmas Pics and misc.

2009-07-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

You have to love getting a good Christmas picture for your cards...I think we dressed up at least four or five days before getting one this year.

We went through all kinds of scenarios...horizontal vs. vertical? One photo or two since they weren't cooperating together? Fruit chews for bribery...a promised trip to WalMart- there is not much I'm not willing to consider. But getting two small children to be happy at the same time is not an easy feat!

(Notice the one of Hannah at her breaking point! The last pic was the keeper.)

The next pic is just a sweet one of Caroline right before she got her big haircut for Christmas...can't believe how much it had grown!

The last pic is pure Hannah...she decided that her favorite new accessory is her 'crown'....aka mommy's headband.

Birthdays, Christening and Vacation!!

2009-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, November is a busy month! First of all, there are five family birthdays this month (mine, John Clay, Mr. Johnny, Memaw and Papaw)...add into that Webber's christening this year, a trip to Disney and Thanksgiving and we were going all month long! It has been so much fun though.

John Clay had a Cars birthday party at the park in Collierville...it was very windy (and a little cold) but the kids had a blast. They had a really nice playground- and of course the car pinata was great....although Clay finally had to break it. I think those things are made of concrete!
Then the next day we all went to church together for Webber's christening. He looked so sweet...afterwards we attempted pics with all the grandkids. Can't say we were really successful, but it is highly entertaining to watch! John Clay had gotten a wooden playset in their backyard for his birthday so the only thing on their minds really was "When do we get to slide?!"

After coming home for about a week or so, we dropped Hannah off with my parents (and then Chris's parents) and headed to Disney World with Caroline. Her first time- we were all so excited. I was a little nervous about driving, but she is a great traveler. We were kind of shocked though...she normally sleeps in the car for hours on a long trip and I think she only slept maybe one either way! On the way down, we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for dinner and as her dessert she got to pick out one of those enormous lollipops that she has always asked for...and we had always said no. So loaded up on sugar and watching her 'little tv' as she calls it, we were good to go. We spent the night at a Hampton Inn in Lake City, FL...about and hour and a half away from Disney. We got to our resort, All Star Movies, around lunch the next day and after checking in and grabbing a bite to eat, we hit Magic Kingdom.
The first hour really described the theme of our entire trip...we immediately caught a parade which Caroline loved, but freaked out if any character other than a princess came within 50 feet of her...and then we took her to the Barnstormer roller coaster, not really sure what to expect, and she loved it! She rode every ride she was tall enough to ride at every park...but never warmed up to any characters. We went back to Magic Kingdom the next day. Then spent a day at Epcot- we felt really cool there because we got to be VIP at the Spaceship Earth exhibit since it is sponsored by Siemens. We got to go up into a special lounge area where they had a couple of cool things like a picture wall where they uploaded a pic from my camera card that will stay there showing our visit and a floor that would change colors based off of what color you selected off of a laptop...Caroline thought that was really cool.
Then they took us through this door and we got to ride the ride with no wait..we were even in front of the FastPass people. The next day was MGM- not quite as much to do there, but loved the Beauty and the Beast show and I loved the Areosmith roller coaster. Caroline had so much fun and as we were driving home on Sunday she was already asking how much longer before we got to come back?!

Something from Labor Day I forgot...

2009-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Well, since I still haven't figured out how to go back and reassign an order (or old dates to an entry) I am just going to go ahead and throw this in...I remembered two events we really enjoyed around Labor Day when Jennifer, John Clay and Webber came for a visit. Actually John Clay came down first by himself to spend a few days with Nana and Poppy. And we all went to the zoo. It was fun, Caroline had been once before with school, but Hannah had never been. They all had a great time watching the animals, but the otters were by far the biggest hit. They were very cute and highly entertaining! The other thing they seemed to think was hilarious that I must admit went over my head was to lean over these large rocks and yell at the fish in the fish pond. I guess whatever works...I did get some cute pictures out of it!

A couple of days later after Jennifer came down, she and I took just Caroline and John Clay to the water park. They had such and good time and COMPLETELY wore themselves out! Caroline has really turned a corner this year with swimming. I think something just finally clicked. Last summer she wouldn't really put her head down to swim and she kept sinking. But this year, we found a pair of goggles that she likes and that seems to have made a huge difference. We took lessons from Ms. Alicia both years, but at the end of the session this summer she was jumping off the diving board into the water by herself and swimming to the side...we were SO impressed! Yeah Caroline!!

Fall is here- kind of...

2009-01-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

The weather here never ceases to amaze me...the temperature changes are enough to do anybody in! Regardless, we have enjoyed September and October with all that the season brings.

Caroline got to experience her first State football game. She had a blast, waving her pompoms almost the entire time...she was going strong through tailgating, walking around and getting ice cream, (did NOT want her face painted- even by Anna Crain, her cousin) and through the first three quarters of the game.
By the fourth quarter though she was about done for (and so was our team) so she and I headed to the car to wait for Daddy.

October was filled with a trip to the pumpkin patch for Caroline and trick-or-treating for both of the girls. Caroline had fun picking out the largest pumpkin she could find- and I think she succeeded! Then her class had a chance to play on the rope swings and go through the hay maze. She was worn out- I love the pic of her drinking her pumpkin juice (AKA orange Kool-Aid) and her friend James looking at her in amazement.

For Halloween, we recycled the ballet recital costume we wore in May for Caroline and managed to convince her that she was Princess Jasmine. So glad we got a little more out of that $50 or $60. Hannah wore the costume Caroline has worn for the last two years (a fairy) so we were really doing good budget wise then! Both of them looked sweet though and really got into the whole candy thing. Halloween night it was freezing though, so we tried to make it as short and sweet as we could... we went to Memaw and Papaw's house, Nana and Poppy and then the culdesac behind our house. Wow, people give out way more candy per house than when I used to trick or treat! Their bags were bulging from just that- and Hannah wanted NO help with her bag...would carry it all by herself, thank you very much! Two Miss Independents!

Back to School

2009-01-12T11:56:00.000-08:00

Both of the girls started a new school this year. I was a little anxious, about Caroline making new friends- and about Hannah going three days a week. I really wanted Hannah to only go on Tuesdays and Thursdays her first year, but we couldn't get in that session.

Anyway, Caroline loves Ms. Paige and Hannah has done great too- after her initial terror of the carpool line. I can imagine for a 20-month of it is a little traumatic to have someone come and take you out of your mommy's car and walk off into a building with you! But after a week or so, she became an old pro!

Hannah loves trying to carry her backpack like her big sister... in the pic of her first day she is actually wearing the same outfit that Caroline wore on her first day of MMO several years ago... poor Caroline's cute little backpack was done at the monogrammer's in time, so she carried her one from a couple of years ago that is SO stained from spilled sippee cups, but my sweet girl didn't even notice...how many times do I need a little of her perspective?

Summer Fun

2008-11-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

We took a Saturday in June to head to the lake for a family picnic. Hannah's first. It was hot, but we had a great time. I cheated a little and we picked up sandwiches at Subway and then hit the road. While we were there, Chris and Caroline walked down to watch the boats while Hannah and I guarded the food- her favorite past time! We even took Sadie so that she could enjoy the sun.

I was a little worried the summer might drag being just the three of us day after day during the week- I was so wrong. It flew. The girls really have so much fun together now. They love to sing and play 'chase' with each other. I am so blessed. Although both can be a little stubborn, they have such sweet, loving spirits.

The first recital and a few other miscellaneous events...

2008-10-10T11:08:00.000-07:00

My little ballerina! Caroline had a lot of fun taking ballet with Ms. Jessica thru Ballet Magnificant. They came to actually do the class at Pinelake which made things easy....
Her recital was in May, and it was definitely the highlight of the year. I was kind of wondering if she would get into it because she can be pretty shy and not really girly-girly. She proved me wrong (one day I'll learn to quit predicting)! Putting on the makeup was definitely at the top of her list, but she also became this different little person out on stage. Jumping and twisting and laughing with all of her friends, it was so much fun to watch. Not to mention hysterical...I think we all had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.
The theme of the recital was Celebrating Jesus around the World. Caroline's class were representative of the Middle East. That sort of went over their heads though....they were just excited because they got to dress up like Princess Jasmine. Her little friend that she is standing next to in the group shot is Hadley.

The next pic cracks me up...I took it at Caroline's class picnic in May. All the moms were sitting around talking and I looked up and had to laugh- Look, my daughter is riding in a car with a boy! I had to capture the moment for her daddy to enjoy.

The next couple of shots are just everyday recent life with my sweet girls...Caroline has started 'reading' to Hannah (who actually sits and listens for the most part). The only problem is that Hannah likes to speed the story up every now and then.....
and then we have Caroline with one of her favorite gifts she got from a friend at her birthday party- a pair of Princess skates....

We had a new addition to our extended family in May. Jennifer had her second little boy, Webber. This is a pic of Caroline holding him- it's kind of funny, I think she is really going to be great with kids. Almost all babies really seem to respond to her (positively). They were carrying on their own little conversation....

whenever we go over to Chris's parents (Nana & Poppy) the girls have their own mini toy chest under TV in the living room. The other day they got really enthusiastic and decided to forgo pulling the toys out of the cabinet, and just join them instead!

The next pic is of Caroline with her cousin Matt, who at age 6, appears to be teaching her how to hold and shoot a gun!

And last, I think this is such a sweet image of my girls. They fuss and steal each others toys, but at the end of the day, they love each other so much. I am so thankful to God for the miracles of these babies. My life is so richly blessed by them.

Christmas time....

2008-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

The holiday season was so much fun this year! It was technically Hannah's second Christmas, but since she was just a couple of weeks old the year before she wasn't really in any pictures and it didn't really feel like she was a part of it. That was not the case this time- both girls were all about the wrapping paper and decorations.
It is so much fun to see their awe...Caroline constantly squealed "There is a tree in our house!" We had a great time spending days with family- first opening presents with Chris's family on Christmas Eve, going home and having Santa at our house Christmas morning, and then heading to Kosciusko to spend the day with my mom, dad and grandfather.
The girls got enough loot to last them for several years, rather off just one. And I got a wonderful Christmas to treasure. It just gets better and better every year. I am so thankful for my sweet babies...their joy in life keeps me daily reminded of my joy in Christ.

Hannah's First Birthday....

2008-10-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

It was so hard to believe when December 2007 rolled around so quickly. Caroline's first year definitely went by fast, but I felt like I had missed half of Hannah's it was over so quickly.
We had a great party with our family. And Hannah had great fun with her cake! Such a contrast from her big sister...she was fascinated by all that purple and yellow icing and really dug in! Then mom forgot to bring her a change of clothes to the party so she just spent the rest of the day playing with her new gifts in a diaper cover!
We weren't walking yet...she would be a lot like her sister in that respect...she wouldn't take her first steps until she was 17 months old! She was a cute crawler though- she did this kind of crab walk wherever she went that was hysterical.

Time for K3...

2008-10-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Caroline started K3 at in the fall of 2007. She was in Ms. Lana's room. She loved every day of it! And quite often at home I would hear "But Ms. Lana says you need to do it this way..." She looked so big in her uniform...compliments of Nana and Parker. Some of her best friends were Harlee Grace and Mollee. They took a field trip in the fall to the pumpkin patch where they went on a hay ride before picking their pumpkin. And then in the spring they went to the Jackson Zoo. That was our first time to go. All of the kids enjoyed seeing the animals, but I think their favorite part was the playground!

Headed to the beach...

2008-10-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Our first vacation as a family of four came at the end of May 2007. We joined Chris's parents in Orange Beach, AL.
It was actually the first time at the beach for either Caroline or Hannah. Caroline had a blast making sandcastles, jumping waves with Poppy, swimming in the pool- Hannah slept a lot, wanted nothing to do with the sand...and generally saw little reason to leave her bouncy seat on the balcony where she had a great view of the action!

Oh Sadie Say....

2008-10-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, there is technically one more member of our family who deserves a mention...our West Highland White Terrier, Sadie.
She really is the sweetest dog. It's just her story that makes my husband groan (or rather his pocketbook). Chris and I decided before we had children we needed to practice our parenting skills on a family pet. So we decided to be 'good citizens' and adopt a dog instead of paying all that money for a fancy pedigree.
Wow, God really does have a sense of humor. I found a rescue in Nashville that specialized in terriers since we knew we wanted a small dog we could keep indoors. Sadie was only 9 months old and had just been turned in because the family that bought her from a breeder said she snapped at their small child. The rescue explained to us that snapping is common among this breed as puppies but she should soon outgrow it. We loved her at first sight and decided to take a chance. Well, the rescue was right about the snapping. She has never done it the first time to any of us. But what none of us realized was that Sadie had some SERIOUS allergy issues. After much expensive testing, we were set up on a regime of once a week allergy shots (Chris does that), special order food b/c the main thing she is allergic to is wheat which is in just about any edible animal product there is and special order shampoo for soaking her feet once a week.
We've determined over the years that we have spent more on medical bills for our dog than we have our children. But what do you do? We love her and she has been such a good sport with the addition of Caroline and Hannah....my only advice for anyone seeking a pet? Stay away from white haired dogs and check to see if the parents had allergy conditions!

Caroline's 3-year Pictures....

2008-10-09T12:02:00.001-07:00

Caroline and I went out to take some shots of her at three. It was actually a lot of fun. She had reached an age where she really enjoyed the garden and didn't care that I was trailing behind her (or in front of her) with a camera. (The fact that I had a bag of M&Ms with me for persuasion did hurt either! Although I did learn a valuable lesson...take fruit chews in the future...by the end of the time we spent I could only do head shots because she got chocolate on the bottom of that pretty white dress!)

And then came Hannah...

2008-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday of 2006 we were excited to find out we were expecting our second child! We had been prayerfully considering names and I really felt like the Lord had led me to the book of 1 Samuel and the story of Hannah. In June we found out it was indeed a girl, and really felt the Lord's confirmation that this is what we should call the sweet baby girl. She arrived on December 11th...thank goodness a few weeks of ahead of her due date, which was December 24th! We were smitten at first sight. With her big blue eyes, she looked a lot like her big sister- and her daddy- but we knew there were going to be many things that were uniquely Hannah. We were right! Totally opposite of our calm, shy Caroline...she was (and still is) a little firecracker almost right from the start. So affectionate and loving, but then giving you that impish grin that just begged you to laugh as she attempted something she knew good and well was off limits.

Oh how she loves her sister! This went both ways equally. Caroline wanted to hold Hannah every chance she got....and on the rare occasions that Hannah was crying uncontrollably, Caroline was the one who could make her smile before anyone. Hearing her big sister sing "Jesus Loves Me" was what worked every time. (As you can tell by the pic below, Caroline also had a good time taking 'care' of the baby...afterall it was just one more to add to her collection!)

In the Beginning....

2008-10-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I was enticed to join the cyberspace age by some friends via Facebook. Now I think I'm finally ready to venture to the world of blogging. Actually, I knew about blogs before Facebook- I just wasn't really willing to commit the time. I either wanted to do it well- or not at all. What finally convinced me? A book our church has started a study on called One Month to Live- 30 Days to a No-Regrets Life by Kerry and Chris Shook. Now I can't give out a recommendation on the book yet because I am only on day two. But I have definitely been convicted of one thing...I often lament the fact that I am not recording things for my girls to appreciate/see one day- why I am not doing something about it today? So here goes...

**As a side note: Since this is primarily for my girls, I am going to go back a little (actually several years) to some of my first digital pictures and hit a couple of highpoints from when Caroline was born forward rather than starting with today....just wanted anyone who decided to read backwards to understand I'm not crazy.

Sweet Caroline...how long we awaited her arrival! The excitement that comes with knowing you are pregnant is something that every mom experiences (hopefully)...but after having seeking fertility treatments and facing all the uncertainty of whether a baby will ever come or not, there is just a different kind of joy that is shared with the knowledge that the Lord has blessed you with a child. Although those couple of years of trying to conceive were difficult at times, I am so grateful for the way that God used this situation to draw Chris and I not only closer to each other, but also to Him.

She got so big so fast! She looked so much like her daddy...we had so much fun watching her learn to roll over (went from back to tummy first- opposite of most) and then get mad about it because she didn't like being on her stomach! Then she was crawling and pulling up...but walking was NOT on her list of priorities. My sweet girl was so content, she didn't see the point of getting around. (At least not until she was over 16 months old.) She was perfectly happy wherever you put her- provided her beloved pacy was close by! She wasn't attached to a lovee, blankie or stuffed animal...but she HAD to have that pacy! It's actually amazing I have as many pics as I do w/out it.

And speaking of pictures...that was a hobby I discovered that I truly loved after Caroline was born that I never had considered before. (I had definitely had a lot of hands on experience going on photo shoots w/ work, but never really thought about trying it myself.) I could-and still do- spend hours tracking after her trying to capture every expression or thought.

The pic to the right is Caroline's first birthday...to her daddy's great joy, she was not all about getting messy. One finger into her cake- that's the most we could get out of her. She partied all day and had a blast. No nap, but no bad mood. She was such an easy, happy baby we were scared to have another!

Moving back home after Caroline was born was an easy decision and a hard one at the same time....easy because we both felt like God was leading us back home to our families during this time. Not only for the assistance they could provide us, but the opportunity we also knew it would provide them to love on their grandchildren on a more regular basis. The decision was hard because of some dear friends we had made...who had essentially become our family away from home although we didn't realize it at the time....Brentwood was a place where the Lord had worked in our lives as a couple and where He helped us lay the foundation of our marriage by providing us with Godly role models and instruction. How I grieved for them after we moved! But God had a plan. And He led us to a new place- and new friends who would continue to help us grow.

My sweet little girl has always loved the water... in fact shortly after this picture was taken she and I did a swim class together at Swim School. It was so much fun for the two of us!

This is Caroline's first day of Mother's Morning Out. We decided even though we were not attending church there, it was our best bet for a MMO since it was so close to our house. And wow, the Lord really blessed that decision! I could never say enough good things about our experience there. Truly wonderful teachers and quite obviously people who love children and love the Lord. She was always so ready to go every day.

When Caroline was twenty-one months, our family took a vacation to Vail, Colorado. I had never been to that area before- or snow skiing. It was an adventure to say the least. Even more of an adventure though is the actual trip. Our family tries to do this together every other year...we are able to because Chris's parents and one of his aunts and uncles (Pat & Buddy) all own timeshares. So we put them all together and go...all 18 of us and growing. Being an only child, I have to admit I love all the chaos and confusion and love that abounds. Although packing for a weeklong ski trip was a challenge.
That January they had had record snow fall amounts in that area...so much fun! Caroline was a little unsure at first- it was so deep! But she finally got used to making snowballs...we never could get her to go down the hill with us on an inner tube. She started screaming at the top of her lungs as soon as you sat down. We did go on a snow plough type thing up the mountain though which was pretty neat.
On a personal note, I discovered that skiing is NOT my forte. People tried to be nice and tell me that it is a lot harder to learn when you are over 30 the first time you go...but I really don't think that age would make any difference to me. I remember going down a blue (the easiest one) by myself on the second day and seeing drop offs on my left side (which my skis kept wanting to go towards) and thinking "I am going to seriously injure myself...this is absolutely pertrifying!" My vote will be to return to Hilton Head next trip (where we went in 2004).

Next, we come to Caroline's second birthday...she had a circus themed party and cake because that is what I had when I turned two. Unfortunately, in the excitement I never got a picture of her in front of the cake. (What I had intended was to have them framed side by side- hers and mine. Sweet, huh? Oh well, the best laid plans....be assured we never forget the cake shot any more.) You can also see from the pics that a new baby has been added to mix....Jennifer (Chris's sister) had John Clay on November 7, 2005. Such a pretty baby- and typical boy, he got the beautiful curly hair and long eyelashes! One of the favorite gifts from this year were colored bath tablets- compliments of Aunt Jen- big hit!

Caroline loves being outside! Playing in the flower bed 'helping' Daddy weed is definitely at the top of her list. She also was obsessed with blowing bubbles at this age (and I guess still kind of is!) I can't believe how quickly those first few years flew by...that is definitely a piece of advice I have come to appreciate more over the years. (About how to cherish the moment, time flies by before you know it.) Her little personality at some point just exploded- along with her vocabulary. She was a little slow to talk...she understood everything. We just did a lot of Ugh! and pointing. But not any more...my sweet baby is growing up!