The Restaurant in the Sky

Two weekends ago, the girls and I were able to go with John and Laura to Atlanta to meet my extended family on the Dent side for my Aunt's birthday.  We ate at the Westin's Restaurant on the 72nd floor for lunch.  This restaurant rotates, so you get a 360* view of Atlanta.  The girls thought it was pretty cool.  Caileigh kept telling everyone we were going to eat at the "restaurant in the sky!" I think one of her favorite parts was the glass elevator ride up and down - unlike most of the adults.  Her other favorite part was sitting with and playing with my cousins Baxter and Virginia, whom are 10 and 8.  (Pictures are from my Grandpa - thanks Grandpa!)

Most of the "Dents" - missing Stephen and Katie

Great-Grandma and Emma sharing dessert

Great Grandpa and the girls

After enjoy a delicious meal and an incredible view we went back down to earth with somewhat "sea legs" and enjoyed a couple hours at Centennial Park playing in the cold fountain with cousins and watching the water show put to music.

We always enjoy time with Baxter and Virginia!

We spent the night with my parents and enjoyed some swim time with my dad in the neighborhood pool.  Caileigh had been dying to show him how she has learned to swim under water and for him to teach her how to use her snorkeling set and flippers they gave her almost a year ago.

Another highlight was being able to see some friends at KCP on Sunday morning.  Caileigh still talks about playing with her Carrollton friends after church.

May Update

May 1st was the Hope for Augusta Banquet.  It was a great dinner and $16,000 was raised for Hope for Augusta's programs.  Here is the link to a video slideshow from the past year that was shown at the banquet.

http://firstpresaugusta.org/hfa-update

We found time one weekend to go hiking as a family.  It was so good to be outdoors and to spend that time together!

Emma says, "Picnic is over, let's go!"

After-school tutoring ended for the year.  Celebrated Mother's Day with a day of rest and lunch at John and Laura's.

So thankful to be the mom to these two cuties!

We all had the stomach bug at some point during 48 hours!  Thankfully it was short-lived!

The middle of May we started watching a very sweet 3 month old baby girl in the mornings during the week.  The girls both love her and look forward to every morning when she comes!  Caileigh likes to help feed her her bottles and Emma is most concerned if the baby doesn't have her "papi."  We are often rewarded with very sweet smiles and coos.  I thought Emma might get jealous - but so far she seems to love having the sweet baby here!  We're are so thankful for this opportunity to help another family out and to love on another little one! :-)

We enjoyed a trip to the Columbia Riverbanks Zoo with Stephen's brother, Jason and his family and we were able to celebrate our nephew, Thad's 7th birthday with him!  We always have a good time with them and the girls absolutely LOVE playing with their cousins.  We are thankful we are just an hour away from them now!

Picnic at the Zoo by the river with cousins!

John Carter, Caileigh and Emma (asleep in stroller)

Caileigh and her buddy, John Carter

May 21st the Summer Reading Program - Reaching Higher started.

Over Memorial Day weekend we camped near Charlotte with Stephen's parents and enjoyed a weekend by the lake, in the lake and on the lake!  Jason and Lori and kids joined us Saturday.  We all enjoyed turns on the jet ski.  I thought Caileigh would like it but I was wrong - she LOVED it!!!  If only I had a picture of her face to share with you.  She rode in between Stephen and I and she would yell - "Faster Daddy, faster! Go as fast as you want Daddy!  Make it bump us up high!  Make it splash us again!  Go faster Daddy! This is fun!"  I have the bruises to prove that we were bounced around a lot and were only staying on by my knees gripping the sides of the seat!  :-) Emma woke up from her nap in time to have a turn.  I was nervous about her going as she isn't known to sit still nor to really like "rides."  She seemed to like it - maybe not quite as much as her big sister.  She would smile at times and when we would ask her if she liked it she would nod her head with absolutely no expression on her face.  When her turn was over and her Papa asked her if she liked it she yelled - "Yeah!"

Another highlight of the weekend was a visit with our dear friend, Blair and her two girls!  We were sad to miss Micah, as he was out of the country but hopefully we'll get to see them again before the summer is over!  It has been a little over a year since we last saw them and all 4 girls have changed so much!  They thoroughly enjoyed each other and spend over 3 hours swimming together in the pool!  I'm glad Stephen had his phone so we could snap a picture of these sweet friends!

The warmer weather has brought lots of fun activities like swimming, playing with the water table, picnics outside along the Riverwalk and lots of time indoors! :-)  We have lots of fun things and trips planned for the rest of our summer so I apologize but it may be awhile before I get back on and update. Maybe I will try to at least do it once a month instead of three months at a time!  Hope everyone enjoys a safe and fun summer!

April Update

April started with us at Disney.  We had left our SUV at an auto repair shop, rented a van and were more than ready for some rest!  Our nephew who is Emma's age had broken his arm on their trip down to Disney.  So the Pittman family had had quite the adventures before vacation had really even started!  We had a great week playing and swimming and visiting "Mickey's house" as Caileigh called it.  She got to see "Tangled" from a distance - which she still talks about.  She rode her first roller coaster and loved every minute with her cousins!  Emma was a trooper - she slept in a tent like a pro and decided she did like swimming after all but still hates baths!  She enjoyed a few rides but seemed to prefer watching the others enjoy them from a distance.  For someone who is typically a little daredevil she sure was timid about rides.  I think its because she couldn't control them and how they moved.  Despite the rocky start - I believe we are all in agreement that that was the best trip yet!

It's A Small World ride at Magic Kingdom

We came back to Augusta in time to celebrate Easter and my dad's birthday.

Easter 2012

The second weekend Stephen and Rick and two other guys took the Junior High and Hgh school guys who are in mentoring groups with Hope for Augusta to the Man Up! Conference in Atlanta.  It sounds like it was a great conference!

Some of the guys Stephen disciples at Man Up!

Emma had her 6 month follow up ENT appointment.  Everything looked great and her hearing was still good.  She did scare as at first as they thought there was a foreign object in her ear - which with her - there's no telling what it could have been.  Thankfully it turned out to be just some dried blood.  We will go back in 6 months for another check up.  Since the tubes last September, we have yet to have an ear infection - so I would say that it is working!

The third weekend God provided us with a van!  It was what we were looking for and more and for what we could afford!  Never thought we would fight over who gets to drive a van - but it is pretty nice!  Definitely the nicest vehicle either of us have ever owned! :-)  Stephen would even offer to go to the store after the girls were in bed just so he could drive it!  The newness has worn of some but it sure has been a welcomed addition and come in handy quite a bit!

We celebrated Caileigh's 4th birthday with birthday ice cream with Grandpa and Grandma, a "Tangled" themed party with friends, a 4 year check up at the doctor's office and shots (not a fun experience for sure!), a date with Daddy, homemade pizza (her favorite), playtime at Chuck E Cheese, dessert at Tutti Fruitti, an evening with Uncle John and Aunt Laura, and lunch with Papa and Nana.  I'd say this little 4 year old knows how to party all week long!

Our personal "Tangled" and her cake.

Caileigh is growing up way too fast!  She has turned my life into a living musical.  She sings all day long.  Loves to sing any song she knows as well as make up songs and often words.  She loves to "read." Has an incredible memory - which can be both good and bad! :-)  She is a super-sweet and loving big sister!  She loves to help with laundry from sorting to loading to folding and putting away of the clothes.  She does a great job and as Stephen told her, she folds way better than him!  She has learned to snap her fingers and to swim under the water.  She is my little craft buddy and has recently amazed me at her coloring skills!  She LOVED planning her party and helping me with all of the decorations and food!  Thanks to Pinterest we were able to make her ideas a reality! :-) FYI she already has plans for her 5th birthday and 8th birthday, and my guess all the ones in between - I just haven't been told yet! :-)  I think I might see party planning in her future.

At Caileigh's 4 year check up she weighed 31 lbs, was 42 inches tall and had to get 4 shots! :-( As soon as I said that it wasn't just Emma seeing the doctor but her as well, she burst into tears and became very over dramatic about everything from getting weighed to answering questions to getting the shots. The nurses and doctor were all great and very patient with her.  Our doctor even prayed with her before she had to get the shots.  However, she holds no hard feelings towards the nurse who gave her the shots as we see her every week at New Town and she LOVES Mrs. Karissa, our doctor, who also happens to be our neighbor.  

Some recent Caileigh funnies and favorites...

• headfore - (forehead)
• Kenya-garden - (kindergarten)
• One day she said, "Mommy, look how big Emma is, she's all the way up to her head!"
• She is learning to write all the letters in her name.  (It is kind of long - we didn't think about that when naming her, that and how close it sounds to Aunt Katie.)
• She has surprised me with how well she can cut around pictures.  We're still working on holding the scissors the right way. :-)
• She loves to put together puzzles!
• She is a logo reader - recognizes Disney, Kroger, Moe's and several others.
• She dreams of painting our house purple because of the big purple house on the corner and of being an octopus when she grows up so she can swim away from the sharks or maybe just a mom.
• ... and she will make sure you know that she remembers seeing the elephants holding trunks at the circus back in February.

Caileigh - almost 4 - Easter 2012

Emma's 18 month check up was at the same time as Caileigh's.  Which was both good and bad - she was very eager to step on the scale just like big sister etc and was for the first time unfazed by them checking her ears.  She too did not like her 2 shots but was nowhere near as dramatic about it.  Emma weighed 27 lbs and was 32 inches tall.  

Emma is growing way too fast as well!  She does everything down to the way she crosses her legs and holds her baby dolls just like Caileigh!  If Caileigh goes potty - Emma has to go potty.  If Caileigh puts on a article of dress up - Emma has to put on the exact same article of dress up.  When Caileigh sings - Emma sings too - unfortunately right now it sounds like two completely different songs. :-( If Caileigh's baby is crying - so is Emma's!  They play so well together.  I love watching their relationship grow.  They have conversations where Emma will respond - typically with a "yeah" or a "no-ah!"  Emma LOVES to fix my hair or Caileigh's - if she'll let her.  She likes to read books too, but not quite like Caileigh did at her age.  She's finally getting hair and wants us to fix it but that lasts for about 10 minutes before she pulls it out!

Some recent Emma funnies and favorites...

• She loves to yell out "purple how" when we get to our block - this is what Caileigh does, as she's excited to see our purple landmark.  I'm still not sure if Emma knows she's talking about the purple house or if she just knows that this is the spot Caileigh likes to yell out "purple house"...?
• She says "notta baby" - apparently she's a BIG girl now - sadly her hair has taken awhile to come in so she still gets called a baby a lot.
• She "fixes" your hair than turns your head towards her to ask, "K?"- meaning do you like it?
• She says "cry" - telling us her baby is crying.
• She'll say "happy" - her baby is now happy or sometimes we've learned it means 'help me'
• "Potty" - she really wants to go - but this often means it's too late.
• She loves to play hide -n- seek and will stay really still and quiet until Stephen cheats and calls her name :-)
• Her favorite books are Llama, Llama, Red Pajama and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
• Her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider and Happy Birthday.

A very sleepy Emma - 18 months - Easter 2012

"Kenya-garden"

"Mommy, when I go to Kenya-garden I think I'll like it because I'll know how to read and I can climb really good now but I will climb even better in Kenya-garden and I'll be 5, that's how old I can be when I can go to Kenya-garden!"  ~ Caileigh, sometime in March.

It's been awhile since I've sat down to write so we'll start with March and hopefully bring you up to date.

The first week of March was our church's Mission's Conference Service Project week.  It was super busy with a lot of extra events.  Stephen had two groups of church members who came to serve at tutoring both days and then as a family we went to a local housing project and played with the kids who live there and painted their faces while sharing the gospel.  My non-artistic husband even painted faces and did quite well - I was impressed! :-)

We celebrated Stephen's birthday with a date night out.  Uncle John and Aunt Laura kept the girls for us.

The second week was the actual Mission's Conference.  It was so good to hear from other missionaries of how God is at work all around the world and to worship with the body of Christ.  It was such an encouraging week and weekend!

The same week we were able to visit with my childhood friend, Hannah.  The last time I saw her was in Kenya, the summer after 5th grade.  We got to meet with Hannah, her husband and two little boys.  Caileigh was fascinated with the fact that she was my friend from when I was a little girl and that we used to live in Kenya!  She asked a lot of questions.  I think partly because we had just had our Mission's Conference at church and met lots of missionaries serving all over the world.  Anyway, it was a good visit and so much fun to catch up!  The kids enjoyed playing together on a local playground.

Here Hannah (in red) and I (in blue/purple) are with our friends from 5th grade in Kenya.
 Please excuse the bad taste in style on my part and yes at that time I was much taller than everyone else!

The girls and I with Hannah and her two boys - March 2012

I really want my girls to know about Africa since that is such a huge part of my life and who I am.  When Caileigh was one, I started writing a children's book about it.  Maybe it's time to pull that back out and finish it - even if it's just for her! :-)

The third weekend in March I was able to go with some other young moms on a weekend getaway near Asheville.  Our husbands decided to send us all away for some time of un-interrupted fellowship.  They planned it all which was nice, yet funny as we were all a little nervous about what it would be like.  We were able to rest, hike, eat out, shop and overall get to know each other better.  It was what I needed!  I am very thankful for these women and for our husbands who knew we needed the time!  I think for the most part the dads enjoyed the time with their kids as well - but I know Stephen was glad for me to be back.  One of the only texts he sent me while I was gone was, "Does she ever stop talking?"  :-)  I think the constant chatter and singing was a little too much at times.

The next two weeks were pretty normal as far as normal around here goes.  The last weekend in March we loaded up our SUV to head to Carrollton for KCP's Mission's Conference and then on to Disney to camp and spend a week with Stephen's family for Spring Break/Master's week.  About an hour and a half into a 3 hour trip our SUV started smoking.  We got off at an exit and after what seemed like a long time finally found a place to look at it.  Long story short the transmission was toast....  We were able to rent a van and made it just in time to Carrollton for us to join our dear friends for a pizza dinner and worship and for Stephen to share what God is doing in Augusta.  The next morning we drove to the Disney Campground.