WOW! Has it really been 2 months since we blogged?! I wanted to just give everyone a quick update while I have a few seconds :) There are so many pictures we need to post and birthdays I forgot to post about that I feel bad. As soon as I have some free time (which may be never) I plan on posting all of those pictures. Things are going really good right now for us, the girls are happy its summer and are ready for the pool. They went last weekend for the first time with John and Kathy (I had class). Abbi will be starting Pre-K in 2 months and she is so ready!! My little girl is so big! I cannot believe I have a 4 year old. Jenna is doing good, she has a little habit she has developed that has been causing her some pain and mommy and daddy some worry.. She bites her toenails, in particular her big toe nails. She has bitten off both toenails! Its kinda strange and I think she does it in the middle of the night because I never see her do it until her toenail is bleeding. I have no idea how to fix this? Does anyone have any ideas/advice? Claire is almost 7 months and is sprouting up :) She is having a hard time with balance and still is not sitting up on her own (a little concerning) but she is healthy so hopefully its no big deal. She is eating baby foods and LOVES them, she really does not want the bottle as much now because she loves them so much. Her favorite is bananas and oatmeal for breakfast and sweet peas and rice for dinner. I just gave her her first haircut, I just trimmed the rat tail off, lol!

John and I are doing good, we are just adjusting to our new schedule. I have been getting used to going to school Mon and Wed, one day class and then 2 night classes. John has been getting used to doing things with the kids on his own without me all night 2 days a week. Its been a bit challenging but we will be used to it soon I am sure. My classes are super challenging (which I like). I am learning so much in my Anatomy class and lab I just love it, even though by the time I leave class my brain is fried, lol :)

My younger sister Ashley and her family just moved to St. Louis, Missouri and are getting settled. She is happy to be away from the Florida heat and humidity, and she lives in the same area as my aunt and uncle and only about 4 hours away from my older sister Tracy so she has family close again.

John is still looking for another job in human resources. He has graduated with his MBA now and is ready for bigger and better things, so if anyone knows of any jobs out there (does not have to necessarily be here in GA) he will be all over it.

Anyway, I think that is it for now. I plan on updating with pictures and trying to be a more consistent blogger (no promises!) :)

Asleep at the wheel

We know it's been far too long since we posted but I'm sure both of you reading our blog have found other things to do to occupy your time. :)

Tea time and fairy princesses..

My parents and older sister Tracy bought Jenna a playhouse for her birthday and the girls love it! They play tea party in it all the time. They also love the fairy princess outfits they got for Christmas. We have a fairy princess tea party almost everyday here in the shores home, and it's so much fun! I love my girls!!

Jenna's Birthday

Jenna turned 2 on March 8th. We had a small family party for her over last weekend. she had so much fun eating her favorite food spaghetti and garlic bread. She loves to get attention and was thrilled that it was all about her that night. She got alot of great presents and has been enjoying them all week. Here are a few pics from the party.

Happy (belated) 2nd Birthday Jenna Boo!

Jenna's birthday and party (pictures to come) was this past weekend. She is 2!! Wow where does time go? I seriously was looking at pictures of her a few days ago from when she was just born and it feels like it just happened yesterday. She is growing up and starting to get very chatty and even has a little tude' on her but what do you expect, look at her parents.. lol. She is such a helpful little girl and is so cuddly. She gives hugs and kisses to me and her sisters all the time... so sweet. I love you so much Jenna, you will always be my boo bear!

My Birthday

Well since Jamiee did such a wonderful job helping me celebrate my birthday, I probably better give her some credit and blog about it to the world. I took a vacation day from work on the Friday before my birthday because Jamiee had the day planned out. We started by dropping the kids off at her parents' house (Thanks Maryann!). Just a day without the kids would have been great but she then informed me we were off to...

Andretti Karting was voted the #1 adrenaline rush in Atlanta. It was tons of fun and I had the track to myself pretty much. The karts are really fun and move almost 40 mph. I didn't set any records with my times but I wasn't the slowest one of the day either. So if anyone wants to go back with me and have a go, just gimme a call.

After racing we ate the best lunch we've had in a long time. We ate at...

Ethyl's Diner is really good food. I highly recommend it. It's inside Andretti Karting.


When we got done at Andretti's Jamiee instructed me to head downtown to the Georgia Aquarium so I can keep my date with the whale sharks. We love the aquarium. We have annual passes and I work just a few blocks from it and will sometimes spend my lunch hour there. Jamiee was thoughtful enough to provide me the opportunity to scuba dive with the whale sharks in the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the aquarium. It had been a while since I've been diving but it's like riding a bike, you don't forget how to do it. Here are a few pics that Jamiee took from the other side of the glass.

You can't really tell in the picture above but at one point, this big Humphead Wrasse was less than a foot away from me. I had to stop and wait for him to swim past me. You can't touch any of the animals while in the tank and you're supposed to stay at least 5 feet from them at all times. The animals have no such restrictions though and will get as close to you as they want.

It was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. I can now say I dove with hammerhead sharks, blacktip sharks, sand tiger sharks, a manta ray, and whale sharks. Truely awesome! Thank you Jamiee!!

Updates

So lately we have been MIA on the blog scene...but we're back! We have had alot going on lately, it's birthday season (for us)! It was John's birthday and then it is Jenna's next weekend. We have like 5 more between both of our families from now Until June.

John's birthday went good, could have been better (ask John for more info on that). Last Friday John took the day off and we went and dropped off the girls at grandparents. I had the whole day planned out for months.. I wanted him to have an unforgettable 30th! We headed for Andretti Speedlabs first for some racing and food. It was tons of fun and the food was REALLY good. We then headed off for the GA Aquarium where John had an appointment to DIVE with the Whale sharks! Yes you can dive in the Ocean Voyager tank or even just swim around in there, so cool. After that we finished off the night by going to Imperial Fez. It's a Moroccan restaurant in Buckhead, he had never been and we wanted to try something different and fun. Overall it was a great day but he spent like 2 days recovering :)

On another note, John is about to GRADUATE with his MASTERS!!! It's so close we can taste it, lol! He is done in May. I am so ready for him to be done with school and he is too. Poor guy is so burnt out, he has been in school since shortly after we got married. It has been 6 years this year. I am so proud of him!

I also made a pretty big decision, I am going back to school in June after John graduates (online and night school). I have 2 years done and have always wanted to complete my degree just never had the opportunity because John has been doing the school thing for years. I have decided to go out and pursue my dream of being a nurse, I have alot of my prerequisites done already and I am planning on applying for nursing school in December. We will see how it goes, my main goal is to complete school and work once the girls are in school during the day (they will always be my top priority) a couple of days a week. Being a full time mommy and a part time student is gonna be crazy, but I am very excited and feel blessed to have the opportunity to do this.

2 Months!!

My baby is already 2 months old! She is getting so big! Her stats are:

Weight: 11lbs 6 oz (75th percentile)
Height: not sure b/c I don't have the sheet on me but she is 80th percentile
Head circumference: 80th percentile

GA Aquarium visit

John had off work on Mt. Luther King day so we went to the aquarium with the crew and had a blast. It was surprisingly pretty easy and everything went smoothly. There were not alot of people there so we got to get up to all of the exhibits pretty easy without having to fight our way through. Abbi still is talking about the Beluga whales...also mommy's favorite.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

we have an offical....



THUMBSUCKER!!

Whenever Claire gets really super hungry and no bottle is in sight yet she simply finds something else to suck on, lol!