Mimi & Dora

On Tuesday my Mom came down for a visit and stayed until Saturday. Since we are moving in a week it was wonderful to have her help me with the kids, run errands, pack, clean and watch the kids while Spencer and I went driving across creation looking for a new couch. Ella Ann would ask me every single day, multiple times, last week when "my" Mimi would get here. Oh she was so excited to see her! I got her up from rest time on Tuesday when my Mom arrived and Ella Ann started running in circles and was squealing with glee when she saw her. It was so cute! After Rane woke up he was pretty happy to see his Mimi as well! We just played around the house on Tuesday and I, note I said myself, grilled burgers for dinner. According to my guinea pigs I did a pretty good job! On Wednesday we drove up to our new home and unloaded a few boxes and I showed Mom the new place. After that we went to Fox Brother's barbecue for lunch, which was fannnnntastic! We made our usual trips to Trader Joes during week as well, made a couple more trips to the new house, went to the DeKalb World Market to pick up some unusual produce, breads and spices for dirt cheap and ate at Mellow Mushroom for dinner on Friday night. Just as the waiter sat our yummy pizza on our table and we were all about to dig in I felt something very wet and hot on my feet. I looked to Rane who was sitting in a high chair beside me and he was emptying his stomach all over himself, the floor, table, my feet and Ella Ann's dress. I mean he threw up his entire bottle and jar of (orange, mind you) baby food. Being the well-prepared mother that I am I did not have a change of clothes for him because I used that card last week when he pooped on his clothes while at church. After lots of tears on Rane's behalf and a flurry of waiters cleaning up our area, Spencer swallowed one piece of pizza whole and took both kids home while Mom and I quickly polished off some more food before we left. I had taken Rane to the doctor on Thursday because he had ran a fever over 101 for 3 consecutive days only to be told that nothing was wrong and it was probably a combination of a virus and his two top front teeth pushing down in the gums. He was fine on Friday until he vomited. He has been fine since so hopefully it was just because he was bouncing around like crazy in his high chair and shook up his food in his stomach. We had such high hopes for our dinner out as a family, but such is life with kids. Plans change and hopes are dashed in the blink of an eye!

While my Mom was packing up her car Saturday morning we had a little visitor mosey into our house. I hear Ella Ann screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! Come here, come here!" I go into the living room and a cute, very skinny, very malnourished kitty is walking around! She was so friendly and Ella Ann, of course, fell in love with her and had already named her Lucy and she WAS going to be HER cat, no ifs, ands, buts about it. My Mom has a heart for animals so she loaded up Lucy into her Mini Cooper to take home with her but she turned around after about 1 minute and dropped her back off at the house because she was climbing her neck and there was absolutely no way she could've made it all the way to Kentucky. So Lucy has become a regular at our house. She was waiting for us in the front window when we woke up this morning. Poor thing. She is so sweet and loving but there is no way we can take her for two big reasons, one being we cannot have pets in the house we are moving to next week and two is that as soon as Ella Ann was done petting Lucy her eczema was extremely bad and it hasn't let up much since. I feel so bad for this sweet little kitty so if YOU want this kitten please come and get her so I can sleep at night! I don't know what to do...she is "precious," as Ella Ann would say.

Last night, though, Ella Ann had the time of her life. Spencer took her downtown to the Fox Theater to see Dora the Explorer Live. Going to the Fox is something of an event in itself because of the grandeur of the place and the history behind it, but of course a three year old could care less about that stuff. She was beyond excited to see Dora that I thought she was going to wet her pants while I was trying to put her dress on. Spencer said it was obnoxious....that's just Dora, you know...but he did it for Ella Ann and she couldn't have been happier when she came bursting through the front door last night when they got home. She talked and talked and talked about it for a good hour before bed. I know she will remember her Daddy taking her on a date to see Dora when she is older. So sweet! Rane and I went for a jog while they were gone but it was strange to just have him all by myself. He actually got ALL of my attention for a change!

In Rane's room there is a square of chalkboard paint so we draw and write letters on that all the time. I write the letters and Ella Ann copies them.




Rane playing with Mimi.

They loved playing in Mimi's covers in the morning.

We did some Christmas shopping at Atlantic Station one morning. Ella Ann and Mimi were dressed alike!

Little brother kicked back in the stroller at West Elm. He loves the stroller, hates the car. Not good.

Mom had to squeeze in between the car seats on the way home to keep Rane from falling asleep before nap time.

Mom giving Rane sugar. Ella Ann kept asking her about every half hour, "Mimi, will you please give me some sugar?"

So cute!

This is a photo pre-vomit at Mellow Mushroom.

Rane was so excited to have an animal in the house too.

Little Lucy.

Headed out to see Dora.