FIRST DAY-LAST DAY AND A LITTLE BIT OF A MOMMY FAIL

I really enjoy seeing every one's pictures from the first day of school and then the last days of school or Parents Day Out in our case. It is amazing how much children change.  So I thought I would take a little trip down memory lane.  

It makes me kind of sad because Elle kind of had a crazy year of PDO. She wasn't walking like she should be in the summer so we enrolled her for a couple of days in a wonderful program, Special Kids for the summer hoping that having her in a play environment with other kids would get her moving.  And it did along with some wonderful help from my friend and physical therapist Morgan.

Then in August she started at this precious little PDO program at Second Baptist and it was amazing.  Gosh I loved that program so much. The children and parents were so nice.  The teachers were so kind to Elle and they did the sweetest things every day.  

Then it was time to move.  Sad face.  I hated to leave Second Baptist.  We moved to Hattiesburg and Elle went to another church PDO a couple days a week until we moved to Starkville where she started at First United Methodist (FUMC) as soon as we arrived here.  

I worked at FUMC in college for 3 years so it is funny to be walking in with my own little one now.

Sooooo anywhoooooo.....I took pictures on the main FIRST days.  But then I didn't really get a awesome picture of her last day.  To be honest I didn't really think about it being her last day because she is going this summer so it didn't really feel like her last day.  Oh well.  I vow to be better.  Luckily, I take at least 10 pictures of Elle every day anyway I have a picture of her on her last day to be able to compare.    

First day of Special Kids in May.  First day of going to any kind of "school" ever. It was so last minute I didn't even have time to order a lunch box and backpack set.  She is pictured here with a diaper bag of mine and a lunch box we had laying around. Ha! BUT she still looks a-dorable.

First day of Second Baptist Parents Day Out.  She still looks like a little baby here. 

And of course not the best picture but taken on the last day of school.  But still.  She officially turned into a little girl.  Where did my baby go?  

And what is funny is I will do this again next year, look back on these pictures and think she looks like a baby.  I swore I would never be that mom and say these cliche things.  But oh how time flies.  Especially when you move and go to 4 PDO programs in a year ha!

MAY 20TH

Happy Anniversary Kenny.  I can't believe 7 years have flown by so quickly.  It seems like yesterday that we were preparing for our wedding and I was getting ready to walk down the aisle to this studly groom.

Then at the same time I feel like we have earned these seven years.  We have fought, we have worked things out, we have cried, we have welcomed a baby into our family, we have laughed and traveled.  But we did it together and that makes it a marriage.  Thank you for always being my rock.  I love you!

And then I can't forget!

Happy Birthday Mom! This year is a big one! I won't say which one.  But I hope you have a great day and we cannot wait to celebrate with you on vacation next week.  

Thanks for always being a great mom and a great CeCe. 

MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND

It was such a wonderful weekend.  So low key and I was totally pampered because it was Mother's Day.  This was the first time we were all home in Starkville since Easter.  That is crazy!

We started off the weekend by picking up Lena at the vet. She stayed overnight after the doctor fixed her boo boo as Elle would put it.  As of today she is already doing better.  It is a big incision and a little shocking to see her so shaved but all in all she is doing well.  We just have to keep her super confined and calm which is proving to be the most difficult part of this process.

 Poor Lena.

 I was grateful to get a sweet Mother's Day card and an iTunes gift card in the mail from Kenny's parents.  It was so sweet.  This Sunday was Mrs. Ann's (Kenny's mom) birthday AND Mother's Day.  We sent her like 20 different cards. Ha!

Can't wait to use this!

Saturday morning, Kenny took Elle for donuts while I went to the gym (story of my life) and then we went to the park for some play time.  We had a great time wearing Elle out until it was time to go home for lunch and I had to shower.  Because it was time to head to the spa for my Mother's Day massage.

The massage was wonderful. This was my first time to go to Vitality Spa in Starkville and the masseuse did a great job.  I will definitely be going back.  After I stumbled out of the spa ( I always have the strangest buzz after a massage) I went and treated myself to a pedicure.  I arrived home just as Elle woke up from her nap and they surprised me with some very pretty flowers they had picked up while running errands.  We then headed to a restaurant for some drinks and appetizers while we watched the Grizzlies take home a win.

 Elle cheers-ing me.

Grateful for this little girl who made me a mommy.  Doesn't she look thrilled that 

we made her pause her cartoon for a picture.

Pretty flowers that will be blooming for two weeks. There are so many buds.  

Sunday morning we decided to stay in our pajamas and cook a big breakfast and just spend time at home as a family. Kenny and Elle both gave me sweet cards. We did get out for a little bit to go get a Starbucks at the campus Barnes and Noble and look around there.  I took a glorious nap while Elle napped and then Kenny grilled steaks for dinner.  It was such a nice Mother's Day weekend.  I am so grateful to Kenny for pampering me and I am so grateful to have Elle.

THIS AND THAT FRIDAY

Hola! So it has been just a few days since I checked in.  Things have been a little crazy in the Lacey household.  Work stuff has been crazy for Kenny and he has been traveling a lot.  Some for work and some for play.  

Then this Tuesday, I let Lena out first thing in the morning and she took off after a cat.  When she returned she was limping badly.  A few hours later she wouldn't even put weight on it so to the vet we went to find out that Lena tore her ACL and needed surgery.  Thursday morning she had surgery and we are picking her up today.  Ugg.  She will have 8 weeks of recovery.  No running, no jumping and we have to be careful with stairs which we have on both doors of our condo.  But we are glad she is okay.  

Here is a little bit of photo dump from the past couple of weeks!

While Kenny went to Nashville for a concert, Elle and I traveled to Memphis for a night.  We met our friends Lindsay and Loftin and my sister at the Children's Museum and we had so much fun.  Then my sister and I took Elle's to Muddys that afternoon and then my sister and I ordered sushi takeout and watched Twister on TV.  It was such a good weekend little trip and I liked having some one on one sister time.

Me with Loftin at CMOM.

 Me with Elle at CMOM.

 Shopping for groceries.  This was always my favorite part of any children's museum 

and I was happy to see Elle loved it too.

 Awwww. They love each other.

The boys at the concert.  It was cold, muddy and poured on them the entire time.  They had a blast.  

Elle is out of PDO for the month of May so I am working hard to keep us out and about and having fun. Once the summer kicks into gear she will will do PDO two days a week and then we finally made music classes work with our schedule. I can't wait to get her back into music class because she loves it so much. But we have been taking full advantage of Starkville's story times.  The children's librarian is a very expressive reader which makes it fun and they always do a fun craft.

This weeks story time was about elephants. Elle enjoyed the craft a lot!

 And here are some pictures of when we went to the park yesterday.  She loves this little park.  I packed her a lunch and we were there for at least two hours.

This weekend Kenny and I will both be home and we are staying home! We were tempted to travel again but with Lena and everything else we decided a weekend at home with no plans sounded good. Not to mention Kenny booked me a TWO hour massage on Saturday for Mother's Day.  TWO HOURS!! I can't wait because I have been so sore from being at the gym all the time.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Mother's Day and a great weekend!