Easter Egg Hunt

We went to Hope's first Easter Egg Hunt of 2007 today (at least 2 more to follow!) It was at our favorite park here in our little town. She loved finding the eggs and the candy and putting it in her basket! After she was finished, she had to go show the Easter Bunny all the eggs she had found! He was very impressed!

New Blog

All of the entries after this are old entries from Hope's Babysite. I am going to try blogging for a while, to see which site is easier to do...I transferred all of her old entries so I could have everything together! I will work on adding more pictures to the old entries...I just wanted to get them all on here first! Hope is doing good. She is excited her daddy is home this weekend. We are going to have a fun weekend with 2 Easter Egg Hunts!

Nenny Gives Me Dr. Pepper

Nenny gives me Dr. Pepper
Date: 3/28/2007
Yes, it's true. Nenny lets Hope have lots of things her mommy doesn't let her have. Nenny actually has a long standing tradition of giving Hope things that I wouldn't. It started long before Hope could tell on her. I can't say it began when she was about 13 months old, but that is about the time I became aware of the situation. Jenn had picked up Hope from school, and I had gone to get her afterwards. Hope started reaching for a bowl of M & M's. I was reaching for her trying to prevent my child from getting the kind of sugar I had so far been able to avoid her having, when Jennifer slips and says "Hope LOVES M&M's!" She saw the look on my face, and started laughing. I guess she figured she might as well confess at that point and said something like "She really has a sweet tooth, she loves suckers too!" Shocked and Appalled! Since then, it has been no secret that Nenny has different rules for Hope. Hope gets her fair share of coke icees with Nenny, she can roam pretty much wherever she wants when she is with Nenny, she can play on big kid slides with Nenny, and now, apparently, Nenny gives her Dr. Pepper! She does love her Nenny, though (and I am pretty sure it is mutual!) We had a great visit with her, Mimi, Julia, Riley and Clara this week while they were on Spring Break. We went to the Ft. Worth Zoo, the Park, Justice for Girls, Just about every Half Price Books in the Dallas area, Joes, Chik-A-Lay, Sam Moon...all the favorite places. I think the only ones we missed were the aquarium and Uncle Julios!

Chocolate SandalsDate:
3/24/2007
I took Hope to the mall yesterday to find some new play sandals. We tried on several pairs of white ones, then I picked up a pair of brown sandals. She said "Chocolate Shoes!"

We Miss Daddy!
Date: 3/19/2007
I am reminding myself right now that this new job is a good thing. It will lead to good things. It will! It will!This is the first day of John traveling, and Hope and I are trying to keep it together. We were only about an hour late this morning, and I forgot only about 25% of the things I needed to take with us. I managed to make a fairly decent dinner for the two of us, gave her a bath, read stories, said our prayers. Then, it really hit her (and me) that it is very hard not to have daddy here with us. Especially at night. She is in her bed crying right now "I want my Daddy." Breaking my heart. His too, I assure you!

We have almost made it...
Date: 3/21/2007
Through the first week of John traveling. Almost. He will back home tomorrow night. Woo Hoo! Hope is really missing him. I said "Thank you for Daddy" while saying our prayers tonight, and she broke down. Possibly the saddest thing I have ever seen. The dang dog is even depressed. She knows I am not a dog fan, and she is stuck with me.She had a good day at school today, of course. She cried during chapel (because I lead chapel for the preschool, so she has to sit in her pew with her class while I am up at the front talking) She hasn't cried during chapel in a long time. I am sure it is because she is still not sure what is going on with John. Pastor Mike gave her a ring pop before we left the church today. It was blue, and she looked like a smurf by the time we made it out of there! 24 hours, and Daddy will be home! (I am trying to forget he will leave again on Monday!)

Happy Birthday Julia!
Date: 3/18/2007
How is it that my 1st born niece is 10 years old today?! Crazy! I am so proud of her! I hope that Hope grows up to be like her.We went to Little Rock for a few days to see Julia and her family. I think we got to see the whole family except for Wade-a-roo. Uncle Ross even made a rare appearance. He is moving to NW Arkansas soon for a new job. One more of Mimi's chickens is leaving the Little Rock area...at least we know the other two will probably hang around for a while! We got Julia some "Heelies" for her birthday. We tried to suprise her, but she is too smart for us!!! She knew what we were up to. She got used to them pretty quickly and skated all around the mall. I was very impressed!When Hope woke up one morning at the Sullivans, she started asking to go see everyone (Go see Nenny? Go See Boo Boo? Go see Clara? Go see Riley K?) Then she said "Go see Octopus? No...Octa-Wes!" She loves her Uncle Wes!She was not thrilled about the car ride there or back, of course. It might take me a few months to forget how bad of an idea it is to travel 6 hours alone in the car with Hope.

A Girl After My Own Heart!Date: 3/12/2007
Here is a conversation that occured over the weekend:
Mommy:"Hope, where do you want to go?"
Hope:"Shopping!"
M: "What do you want to buy?"
H: "Shoes!"
We went to the mall, a place where Hope is always on her best behavior! She loves to try on shoes, and touch the clothes and talk to anyone who will listen! She really, really wants some red crocs right now, so maybe we will spring for those soon. Here's some great news...John started his new job today! He is officially a Consultant for D*******! Woo Hoo! We could not be any happier about this! It is such a great opportunity for him!

Future Astronaut?
Date: 3/4/2007
Is it normal for a 2 year old to know what an astronaut is?! She likes astronauts, and is stuck on one episode of Blue's Room with Astronauts (Actually they are "Mathstronauts!!!!" But, they fly to space in space suits, so I guess they count.) She also likes a "Go Baby" episode where baby goes to space. She loves when the space ship comes on.Come to think of it, she has had a fasination with the moon for sometime as well. She looks for the moon all the time, day or night. If she can't find it, she says "The moon is hiding." If she can see it, she says the little poem "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me." Or at least, she says most of that. She also loves the books "Goodnight Moon" and "Goodnight BOZ" which has a big silver moon that she likes too. Oh, and she wears diapers too! I think she's ready!

Mommy's Back!!
Date: 3/1/2007
And if you are wondering who was more excited, it was me. I got a big hug from Hope, but then we went to the Cracker Barrel, and she asked if she could go to April's House. At least we know she had a good time with April! I think she and her daddy had a pretty good time too. John was sick part of the time, and Hope took good care of him while he wasn't feeling well. Thankfully, she didn't get sick too. I promised to bring her a monkey home, but she decided she needed a pig instead, so we have a new pig, named Sooie! Sooie adds to her collection of friends she sleeps with every night. 2 Ooo Ooos (the original from Clay), Little Pink Ooo Ooo (from Mimi), Honey, Big Pink Bear (from Oprah via Austin), Dora, and puppy (also from Clay) I have no idea how she sleeps with all of those things, but she does, and she knows if someone is missing! I enjoyed my trip with my mom, but I will not be leaving Hope again any time soon. She does fine without me, but I am not fine without her!

slideshow
Date: 2/24/2007

Here's a Slideshow I just made...some new pics and some old ones too! Hope has had a great February! She has had her school pictures made, had her first haircut (by her good friend Ms. Susan!), spent LOTS of time with her April and Susan and Paul, had a visit from her Mimi, Nenny and Clara...She will get to spend lots more time with her April, Susan and Paul this week, as they are helping John with her while I am out of town to a Children's Ministry Conference in Birmingham. We are so lucky that the Walkers are here to help us. We don't know what we would do with out them! Oh, one more piece of info: John has a new job! Still in the Dallas area, but with a new company. We are very excited about this new opportunity for our family. God is Good!

An Interview with Hope
Date: 2/20/2007
Mommy: Hope, what's your name?
Hope: Hope Wheeze
M: How old are you?
H: 2,3,4,5!
M: What show do you like to watch?
H: Blue's Clues, Joe, no Steebs (She likes Joe, not Steve)
M: Where's Daddy?
H: Daddy go work
M: What's your favorite color
H: Blue! Yellow! Red! Purple!
M: What do you want to eat?
H: I go Chik-A-Lay, eat chickens and french fries and go slide!
M: It's too early for Chik-A-Lay, what else do you want to eat?
H: Faffles and cookies
M: Who came to your house this weekend
H: Clara, and Mimi and Nenny!
M:Where did they go?
H: Oh no! I don't know! They go Awkensaw!
M: Do you want to go to church?
H: Yes! I see Pastor Mike and April and Susan and Zanne! And Knox, and Max! No no Max, that's Hope's Applesauce! (I'm not sure about that one, apparently Max tried to eat her applesauce once?!)
M: Can you sing me a song?
H: Baby Bawooooga, baby bawooooga (repeat about 10 times!
M: can you sing me a song about Mommy?
H: Mommy song te do la song Mommy
M: Aww, that's so sweet
H: Awww

In my Daughter's Eyes
Date: 1/25/2007
In My Daughter's Eyes

In my daughter's eyes
I am a hero
I am strong and wise
and I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me.
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes.
In my daughter's eyes
everyone is equal.
Darkness turns to light
and the world is at peace.
This miracle God gave to me
gives me strength when I am weak.
I find reason to believe
In my daughter's eyes.
And when she wraps her hand
around my finger,
Oh it puts a smile in my heart!
Everything becomes a little clearer.
I realize what life is all about.
It's hangin' on when your heart
has had enough.
It's giving more when you feel like giving up.
I've seen the light.
It's in my daugter's eyes .
In my daughter's eyes
I can see the future .
A reflection of who I am
and what will be.
Though she'll grow and someday leave
Maybe raise a family.
When I'm gone
I hope you see

how happy she made me.
For I'll be there
In my daughter's eyes.
--Martina McBride

Doodlebops
Date: 1/20/2007
We had a great time at the Doodlebops. John and Hope have been watching this show since before she was able to pick a show. He would feed her a bottle and watch the Doodlebops in the morning. Now, she loves them too, of course. (It's not a show I would have picked, but it is special to them!) We all know John likes it because of his secret (Well, not so secret anymore!) crush on Dee Dee Doodle. I think it's the pink hair. Hope was pretty mesmorized at the concert. I would ask her if she liked the Doodlebops, and she would say "I like Moe." She didn't want them to go bye bye at the end of the show, but she was happy to get to go over to Ms. April's house for a post Doodlebop party. She had a lot of fun playing with April's niece and nephews, and of course the kitty cats!

It Snowed!
Date: 1/17/2007
We finally got the snow! It wasn't much, but Hope loved it. She loved marching all around in her lady bug boots! When she saw these pictures of us out in the snow, she said "My Snow!" We posted some pictures from Heather's Wedding! Happy Birthday Aunt Nenny!

Gymnastics and Choking Hazards
Date: 1/16/2007
I forgot to update a few days ago when Hope tried her first real Gymnastics class. She looked oh so cute in her pink leotard, but that was about as fun as it got. Let's just say Hope is not ready for that. My child was the child who runs away, doesn't listen, and cries when it isn't her turn. I was so stressed out by the time we left...I think we will wait another year or so...I had been eating pistachios the other evening, and Hope reached over and grabbed some empty shells. I told her no no, moved them away and explained that they were choking hazards. Since then, she has been asking for "Choking Hazards." "Mommy, I want some choking hazards" and "Have some choking hazards?" My sister says I need to add another dollar to Hope's Therapy Jar for that one.

Update
Date: 1/15/2007
We have had an intersting few days around the our home.John flew to Tulsa on Friday for the day...or so we thought. He ended up getting snowed in. Thankfully, he did make it home safely on Saturday.Sunday night, Hope broke my nose. Yes, it hurts, no I haven't been to the Dr., and yes, my mom does think it's hilarious (I broke hers when I was about Hope's age...payback or something.) Hope was sitting on my lap, and John and I were teasing her. She was being silly and threw her head back ond hit my nose. It made a pretty fun cracking noise...yuck.

Where's AnnieDate:
1/10/2007
This will only be funny if you too watch Annie over and over again like we do!When we got in the car yesterday after leaving the church, I put Annie back in the DVD player in the car. Hope was very fussy after our "Take daddy to the E.R. in the Middle of the Night" fiasco. She was fussing and whining (You might think those two things are the same, but they are not!) so, trying to get her to stop and watch the movie I said "Hope, where's Annie?" She said "She hadda go baffroom!" (For those of you who DON'T have to watch Annie on a daily basis, there is a line where Ms. Hannigan says "Where's Annie" and the orphan Molly says "She had to go Baffroom")
I realize that if I have to explain it, it's not funny anymore!

"Girlfriend"
Date: 1/3/2007
Having Julia with us last week was a lot of fun...however, she has rubbed off on Hope some. I picked out a shirt from her closet this morning, and she held it up and said "That is sooo cute girlfriend." Thank you, Boo Boo for adding that phrase to her 2 year old vocabulary!

"Hope" according to Julia (AKA Boo Boo)
Date: 12/30/2006
I finally found out how hard it is to handle Hope. But by the end of the day you can easly tell.The hardest thing to do is get her out of Chic-fil-a (Chick-a-la). She will always take the longest way possible on the playground. At every stopping point she has to play for a while. We finally get to the slide and it shocks us all the way down. My hair was sticking up. Jill told her "one more time". In Hope's world that means 100. She cryed for a little bit.Then Jill, Hope, and I went to the mall. Hope had to have a icy. She had to sit in the stroller while Jill and I went to every store to find a dress to wear to Heather's (B.F.L's) wedding.When we got home Hope and I play forever we had so much fun! We jumped on the frog trampaline. Hide-and-seek did not work out. Hope hid under the bed every time.I had so much fun with Hope.By Julia (Age 9)