THE BEST PIGGY RIDE EVER!!!!

The Pink Pig at Macy's Lenox Square

I have always heard about the Pink Pig and never been. I talked about taking Erin last year but didn't make it. This year, I talked about it with Melissa when we get together to go to Stone Mountain and we made a plan to go! At the time we talked about it, it was 2 days away and might as well have been a life time for her. Once she understood that something fun was coming she wanted to go right then-no matter that we talked about it 10 o'clock on a Monday night! Tuesday morning she asked if we were going to the piggy bank today. That is not a typo-she called it a piggy bank before the piggy ride!

This was a cool family experience because it was a first for all of us. It is rare that all three of us are doing something for the first time. I know that it is a really small train on a really small track in a tent in a parking lot but it really was a magical experience!

Erin was so excited about her ticket that she felt it was more important than showing her beautiful smile!


Paige and Erin-she really wanted to ride with Paige but the little seats would not fit 2 adults so we switched around after the picture was taken!I can't believe this picture-it is a fabulous one with Erin and myself! A very, very rare sight indeed! For those on Facebook, you have seen this picture because I was so excited to have one of myself where I was smiling but that Erin was smiling too, is absolutely unbelievable!

Erin summed up the experience when she said THE BEST PIGGY RIDE EVER!

Melissa and Paige
So, the next one, really is Melissa and Paige-like mother like daughter!

Of course, Erin and I don't know much about that!

Oh yes we did! Posing with the pink piggy ears was a must, well except for Shane who thought taking a picture of us was a better idea!

Erin and Paige

Erin-on the best piggy ride ever-did I already mention that?

So, Erin can be a daddy's girl with the best of them! She was more excited about looking around the scenery than looking at me for a picture though!

So this is obvious happiness! Daddy is carrying a pink piggy backpack and Erin is smiling-what more can you expect from an outing than that!

New Year's Eve!

These New Year's pictures are unlike any other that I have taken! There is not a single picture of the actual party. Betsy wanted a picture with Laurie and Randy's santa in their yard. So when we arrived, we just made ourselves a menace at their house!



The New Year's party really was spent playing play doh with ChipEEE! She has become far more pronounced with the EE on the end than she did when she first started calling him that. Since I stay far behind on life much as I try, I didn't think of bringing play doh to see Chipee. That is Erin's favorite thing to do with her favorite person right now! The rest of us are anxiously awaiting when Chipee is no longer the favored one!

So, we made a quick trip to Target where Erin picked out play doh for Chipee. We started off explaining that it was Erin's play doh but we would leave it at Chip and Betsy's house. We gave up on that after several times of hearing that we were buying Chipee play doh. I do imagine that Chipee working on creations without Erin there, though...

There was not a picture where Erin would look at her mother! Shocking as that may be...

The octopus is really quite cool! All of the arms are different tools and there are lots of crevices for Chipee to clean out!

The entire evening was a success. Erin truly loves going to a party and I do wish that I had a picture in her Party clothes. Once we mentioned changing clothes, she loved the idea! She wore her sparkle shirt from her preschool event and jeans that had sparkle on them. Of course, she was the life of the party! Oh how wonderful and different things are!

Stone Mountain Lights

A really long time ago, well just when I was pregnant... Melissa and Paige came to see me and Paige was thinking she would like a baby sister. Melissa and I thought we had a great solution-Paige would be Erin's big sister! Well, it is a great plan but the logistics of getting together has been tough. After way too long, we were able to get together. Luckily, Erin only needed a few minutes around Paige to become fast friends. We went to the lights at Stone Mountain because I am not sure what else to call it. The lights were absolutely beautiful. I remember going to Stone Mountain like it was a neighborhood park-not the destination with attractions that it is today. The beautifully paved sidewalks with well groomed trees and shrubs is not the park of old, but it was beautiful. The train depot now has a village with it and every building was completely decorated in lights. Melissa and I decided that we were glad that we were not in charge of putting the lights on!


Paige was able to get Erin to pose for a picture in the very beginning! Lots of positive big sister experience so far!

So it is true that your children make you become a liar! Erin kept telling me she was hungry and pointing at the funnel cake place. I didn't believe her. Steve got one for everyone to share and I was thinking that Erin would have a bite and be done with it. I THOUGHT she was like her momma and didn't really like the sweet like she liked the salty! Well, she fell in love with the American junk food staple of a funnel cake. She couldn't eat it fast enough! It was quite a site. Now I know to avoid any funnel cake booths unless Paige is around to help run off the sugar! Melissa has a picture on Facebook of Erin double fisting it to eat it!

Paige and Erin in front of Frosty the Snowman!

Christmas Day!

Christmas Morning

Erin's first look after Santa came!


Before the unwrapping...

Santa was very good to Erin. He brought her the pink Barbie vanity and the cash register that you see unwrapped. He wrapped a Disney princess memory game and puzzle. He brought her Candy Land and a pink robe with pink camo boot slippers. Scroll down and you will see the rubber girls as Erin calls them. They are the Disney pricesses and are made of something like rubber. There clothes are made of the same thing, quite an experience.

Her hands in this picture are what I love and why you see it here. She just couldn't unwrap fast enough. It was just so much fun to make the paper fly. It wasn't so much what the present as was as long as it was wrapped!

Chipee is playing with the rubber girls AKA Disney princesses!

After the commotion, she returned to all of her toys and played with them all for a few seconds before moving on to the next one.

I had to take this picture of her at her vanity quick because she was not in the mood to pose so I didn't even take the time to zoom in. She likes to sit with me at my vanity so now she has her own!

Chipee and jammies...

As some of you might remember, Chipee and Betsy came to keep Erin while Shane and I went to his Christmas party at work. They spent the night with Erin and Erin was very worried that Chipee did NOT have his jammies. He said that he forgot them and Erin was worried that he would leave to go and get them. She told me first thing the next morning that Chipee forgot his jammies. Naturally, we all took it upon ourselves to ask Chipee about his jammies. Since they were once again coming to spend the night, we reminded Chipee to pack his jammies. The above photo was a picture of them both in their jammies! Erin did remember that he forgot them last night but he had them this time!

Of course everyone is shocked that we would be playing play doh on Christmas morning. Santa listened and brought her new play doh after she had mixed hers together. That drove her mother crazy but Erin was unfazed. She just had brown play doh for a while.

Chipee looks much better with lipstick on doesn't he?

The aftermath, a small section...

Christmas Favorites!

Erin really thought that Christmas was perfect. She loved having everyone at her house where she could show everyone her toys. Sometimes when she is at home, she warms up to everyone quicker since the surroundings are familiar, so her personality really comes out. She flits about and I just love watching it all!
These pictures are actually as everyone is getting ready to leave and Mawmaw asked if she could take pictures. Erin loved sitting on her stool so it worked out nicely.

Mommy, Erin and Daddy

Chipee, Betsy and Erin
They were actually the first ones and Erin invited herself in the picture so we didn't have a chance for Chipee and Betsy to pose with her-sometimes you gotta take what you can get!

Mawmaw, Erin and Pawpaw

Gramma, Erin and Pops, with the addition of Santa!

It's wonderful to have a everyone that spent Christmas with Erin have a picture with her in front of her Christmas tree. These will always make me smile!

Christmas Eve!

The question of the day: How long could we wait to open presents...


The answer came after the cars were unloaded! Chipee couldn't say no!
This might be a good time to mention that no one besides her mother tells her no so we have a spoiled one in the making!

Chipee and Erin started fixin' things with the first present of the day, tools with a tool box. So, the funniest part has to be the orange skull cap, on Chipee. Just not a sight you see everyday!

Erin waiting patiently... well waiting at least.

This is also a good time to mention that toy companies hate parents-that is the only reason that they would pack things the way that they do. So it is only appropriate that if you give her something, you should also get to experience the opening of it! Erin is a really good helper!

I do love the fact that Erin loves her tools, but as Shane has pointed out about many of her toys-there are a lot of parts! I am getting very good at packing all the tools in her box since they come out frequently!

No sooner had the dust on the first present settled until Erin was asking to open another one! Gramma decided that one that used tools should be next. I think now is a good time to remember that this is Christmas Eve and these are the presents Gramma & Pops and Chipee and Betsy. They all decided that Erin would enjoy it more if she was able to open some before.... Mhmm.... Was that Erin or others would enjoy it more?

Erin is now the proud owner of a choo choo train table. She so lovinly adored the one at Barnes & Noble that she needed her very own!

With Erin leading the way, Chipee and Gramma put the table together. Shane decided watching someone else put together a table that comes in a flat box wasn't such a bad set up...

This one even called for a review of the directions. Erin was not the typical girl and thought she knew how it went without reading any directions. Don't worry-I will be teaching her!
The play table is the way to go for all the parts that go with a train-at least the mat makes it look like it is always a train. Erin has left the tracks together but the people, trees, buildings, cones, and signs are completely movable. I keep waiting for her to use them as cookies because she is a cooking baking fool. Ever since we made cookies for Santa and he ate them, she makes him cookies daily. You never quite know what shape they will come to you in!

Gramma helped put it all together! She probably doesn't want me to mention the big pack of pieces that the crane was in that she passed over...

So smiles make it all worth it!

Erin's coloring book holder. She really loved helping put it together. Again, I was amused by Gramma reading instructions and Erin just putting it together. I am not sure if I should be worried yet or not...

A Disney Princess scooter! What fun! She knew how to ride it so I really got a kick of it when she asked where the seat was! She may be more like her mother than anyone wanted!!!!

Again-happiness in smiles makes it all worth it! While there is not a picture of these, Aunt Betsy was a very good shopper with princesses. Cinderella panties are a big hit now that Christmas is over and I am posting this, I know that those are a big hit!

Cookies for Santa!

Since we have discovered the fact that rolling out and decorating cookies are the important parts, we got right to the fun stuff! Patting the cookies to leave fingerprints is a must and something that I have learned from Erin baking cookies. I always thought preserving the cookie cutter shape was important before-look what being a mom teaches you about important things!

Check out the amount of sprinkles-perhaps they should be called coverings when Erin uses them!

Betsy took the lead role in making sure that cookies were ready for Santa but that really meant she had to keep an eye on Erin.

The finished product. Erin is putting the last one she choose on the plate. It's almost time...

Christmas in Rome

Erin sees presents and immediately starts asking about opening them. I was really amused because it never really occured to her that the pile of presents under the Christmas tree at Mawmaw's house was not entirely for her! Aunt Carolyn let her open one since she was so excited. It is the cutest remote control bus ever. It's made for a toddler so Erin can make it move but the simple controls don't stop all of the older kids from trying it out as well. Erin really likes her school bus!
In Erin's world, we all have our roles. When Pawpaw is around, he is the one you turn to for things that need to be opened or fixed. Erin would call him from another room so that he could open it for her. I'm wondering if the rest of us need to be offended that we can't open and fix things...

Mawmaw bought Erin her first camera-no one is surprised by that! Erin loves to take pictures. Her favorite target right now is whatever is on TV. There are a lot of random Tinkerbell pictures on there now. She also is fabulous at getting arm and leg parts of people that are not otherwise identifiable. Perhaps on the day she took the picture you might guess that the blue shirt on that arm belonged to whoever was wearing a blue shirt but I would not want to say it is a sure thing. It's quite entertaining to look through her pictures and also to watch her take them. She really loves having a button to push that is her own and actually does take a picture. Now she doesn't want my camera but she still doesn't really want to pose for me to take her picture either!

Once again, Pawpaw had to open a doll. This time it was an Ariel Little Mermaid that changes color in the bath. Erin immediately started to take off her clothes so she could have a bath. She only stopped when we explained she could play with it in the sink. You have to look behind the smile to see a small glimpse of Ariel!