The last 6 months

So, as I stated in a previous blog, it has been six months since I last updated the blog. That is ridiculous!

Six months ago, Mills had just turned one and we just celebrated with a water themed birthday party. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.

During the fall, David and I attended the UGA games as we usually do. The season started off badly, but turned around quickly with a 10 game win streak. We took Mary Kate to her first game since she went at 9 months. She loved the band and would say, "Do it again," when hey quit playing. She also called the Dawgs constantly during the game. My favorite things she did, though, were to say, "hunker down you hairy dawgs" after hearing her daddy say that, and to aka to go downstairs. She wanted to go on the field! So cute. It was a great season and the Bulldog Nation has a LOT to look forward to next year.

October was a fun month for us. The school the kids attend always have a fall festival and we went. The kids dressed up as a cowboy and cowgirl and were adorable! They played games and hung out with some friends that night. It is always fun. The next week we went to Corn Dawgs Corn Maze with MK's best friend Will and his parents. The kids rode tricycles, sat in a plane, climbed all over huge bails of hay, and we all went on a hay ride. We all had a blast and can't wait to go back next year! He next day we went to the local pumpkin patch and got big one to decorate and small ones for each of the kids. Not surprisingly, Mills thought his was a ball and kept throwing it. It was busted and ruined within a few hours of buying it. About a week later we got around to carving it. We carved a super g in our pumpkin. It was a joint effort between me and David. On Halloween we went to my parent's neighborhood, after stopping by our neighbor's house. We only hit one house, but did see a skunk which was crazy. The kids had a great time dressing up and seeing Nana and Randaddy.

November was pretty calm except for the week of Thanksgiving. Luckily, I was off the entire week and got to stay home with the kids. That was nice! This year, we spent the holiday with David's family. They always get together with his Mom's cousin and their family in Pendleton, SC. It was fun to see everyone.

December was a busy and eventful month for us. We had four separate family get togethers for Christmas and we missed 2 of them because of sick kids. Mary Kate got sick at school on a Thursday afternoon, of course right before one of my chorus concerts. She kept vomiting and we eventually ended up in the ER. After a weekend of. I feeling well and sickness still, we found out her ear was severely infected and had caused her to get so sick. The following Friday, I noticed Mills had a slight fever at bedtime. I gave him Motrin and put him to bed. We really just thought he was teething. The next afternoon the fever came back. But we decided to head on to Toccoa to break up our trip to Anderson for the kids. Mills' fever got worse after He went to bed and we got worried enough that we took him to the ER. Fortunately, he doctor was great and ran a slew of test on him. Mills was severely dehydrated, probably from the fever, and had RSV. He was admitted and stayed 2 days. He was pitiful! We requested a bed, instead of a crib, and took turns sleeping with him. He only wore a diaper while there, but was super attached to a blanket his Gege let us take to the ER with us. Before we left he hospital, we were told that Mills had a strain on bacteria in his blood called strep pneumoniae and would have to have 5 more days of IV antibiotics. Fortunately, we were able to take him home and took him to Newton Medical daily for the IV until Christmas Eve.

With this sickness behind us, we had a great Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with my family and ate our traditional lasagna. He kids were spoiled with presents from the family and we watched the Grinch. We read 'twas the night before Christmas, but the kids were not into it. He next morning, the kids got up and we got them. They lived their presents. Mills got a mini 4 wheeler immediately knew how to ride it. He just wasn't good at steering and ended up driving up the wall! Mary Kate got baby doll accessories and enjoyed moving her baby from on thing to the next. She also got a leapfrog game system and particularly enjoyed the Mickey Mouse game. That afternoon we went to see David's mom and sister. We exchanged presents and enjoyed some quality time together. The next day, the entire Cleveland, Barker, Hartzog family got together. It was great to have everyone in one place at the same time and we even have a picture to prove it!

The end of the month allowed us some time to spend with friends. The Tyler's came over and grilled out with us on he Friday before new years. Will and Mary Kate loved racing on their tricycles via bonfire light. They were so fun to watch! On. We years eve, we spent time in Bishop with the Pulliam's. We also had a bonfire there and the kids were playing outside via bonfire light. It was great seeing them and catching up. On New Years Day we hung out and David cooked us up our now annual meal of collards, black eyed peas, and. Orb bread. After dinner, we headed to Chattanooga to spend some time with the Carpenters and watch the bowl game. We had a great time despite the game.

As you can see, a lot has gone on in the last six months. There is plenty more, but these are just he highlights to catch you up.

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Mary Kate Turns 3!

So it has been 6 months since my last post...wow! So many things have happened since then, but I wanted to to fill you all in on our latest celebration, Mary Kate's 3rd birthday. I just cannot believe that it has been 3 years already. I can still remember the moment she was born was put on my chest. I was in love instantly and that love has only grown stronger each day!

This year, Mary Kate's birthday was on a Monday, so we chose to have her party the Saturday before her actual birthday, January 21st. Over the past year, Mary Kate has really started to like Minnie Mouse. We watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse regularly and Minnie is most definitely her favorite! Several months ago, we decided to have Minnie Mouse be the theme for her birthday party. She was all about Minnie being the theme when we asked her and was super excited to pick out her party supplies.

This year, we had her party at a local inflatables place called Game Time. We really lucked out with the weather being beautiful, despite the cold temperatures, last year and decided not to chance that again. God knew what He was doing when he gave us that idea because not only did it rain, it poured and there were severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the area that day!

We invited all of the family, as well as some of Mary Kate's best friends from school, to celebrate her big day. Mary Kate blew out her candles and everyone ate cake before she opened her presents. After tearing through some awesome gifts, Mary Kate and her cousins and friends played for over an hour on the inflatables. Mills was probably the most fun to watch because in the course of an hour, he learned to climb up the steps and slide by himself on these huge slides and inflatables. The kids ran from one thing to the next, laughing and screaming all the while. At the end of the party, all of the kids seemed beat, but in a good way. I am so thankful that so many people came to celebrate with us!
On her actual birthday, Mary Kate woke up to a room filled with pink balloons. She loved this, and so did Mills! Unfortunately, Mary Kate was not feeling well on her birthday and had to go to the doctor with mommy and Mills, who was also sick. Even though I hated that she felt bad, I was glad to have a good reason to be home with her on her actual birthday, especially since this is the first birthday that she has had on a weekday.

After the doctor's visit was over, we went to pick up her medicine and she got to see her Randadday. She was so excited. I also let her choose somewhere special to go pick up lunch from, and she chose pizza, so we got Pizza Hut. After a dose of oral steroids and a breathing treatment, she seemed to feel much better.

Again, I just cannot believe that 3 years have gone by so quickly. Mary Kate has grown into a beautiful, loving, affectionate, and intelligent little girl. She brings us such joy with her sweet demeanor, most of the time that is. With all of the changes she has made in the past 3 years, I cannot imagine what the next 3 hold. Happy 3rd Birthday Princess!!