The princesses at 10 months

Mary Austin and I went to Denver last week and I am behind on my postings and picture uploads! We had a blast with our cousins and cannot wait to go back!

Until I get caught up here is a look at the princesses both at the age of 10 months! Each picture is one of my favorites of them! I am trying to locate pictures of them at 1 year and 2 years and will post them as well.

Jane Harris

10 months

June 2006

Mary Austin

10 months

October 2004

Wow, 3 posts in one day

Yes, I have finally caught up on some of my blogging. Easy to do when one has been up since 5:45 am on a SATURDAY no less! Why have I been up since the ass-crack of dawn??? Because I am a sucker. I am a sucker for my daughter and her happiness.

We are going to Disney World in January of 2008. It is going to be our journey to her perceived Mecca land. The place where all princesses (with the exception of herself and Jane) live.

Her dream day would include seeing as many of her beloved princesses as she could. Cinderella, Mulan, Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora, Belle and the others and meeting fun friends like Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the gang from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
So you ask, why were you up so early? Because, evidently, to eat lunch with Cinderella and her friends in THE PLACE (as pictured below). You must call Disney dining at the exact moment they open 180 days from the date you would like to dine. For us this was today. Perhaps, you do not really have to do this but all my books said to do it and I am a SUCKER. I buy into all of this and I am happy to say that on January 17th Princess Mae will be eating lunch with Cinderella and her friends in Cinderella's Royal Castle. On a side note, because I am such a SUCKER we are also eating breakfast with the Storybook princesses one morning and with Mary Poppins and friends on another morning. Yes, I am sure we will have some princess overlap and see some twice but I am her mother and I am trying to maximize the princess experience for her. After all, soon she will no longer want to dress up, twirl around, sing "For this is love.." and marry her Daddy and I want to capture the magic!And now I am going back to bed!

And, no, Jane is not going. She will be too young and still unpredictable in her many moods!

How do you know if you are a country girl?

You know what a shotgun shell is and your hunting vest is Day-glo Pink!

Just kidding, she does not have a hunting vest although her Daddy may rectify that situation at some point. She does, however, have a pink and green John Deer Country Girl t-shirt.

DISCLAIMER:

Please know that the only guns Tripp owns are hunting rifles and they are stored properly with shells in a separate container and a different location. Jane found these while I was cleaning out a closet. After pictures were snapped, we promptly removed them from her hand and put them back in their safe place.

Godsisters

My best friend and I have known each other since we were 3 years old (that would be just over 30 years). We are lifetime friends and even if we do not speak to each other for weeks its like we go right back to where we were. I am her daughter's Godmother and she is Jane's. Yesterday she and Lily came over to help me hang pictures in my house (yes, that's right. we have been here almost a year and I have yet to hang one picture but that is a different story). While we decided where to put things and Jane napped, Mary Austin and Lily had fun playing.

Glamour girls!

Strike a pose!

Vogue!

Jeckyll and Hyde

Jane has a Jekyll and Hyde personality. One minute she is happy dancing and the next it is full on tantrum! Most of the time she is pretty sweet and many people do not believe that she is "capable" of throwing a fit. Now I have proof!

"Once there was a girl with a curl in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good she was very, very good and when she was bad she was horrid."

And it begins with some mild crying

then we start to scream while throwing ourselves on the floor

on the floor kicking and screaming

the bucking starts up

The End.

"Hold you Mommy please"

One last look at 3 years ago.........

Top pictures are referral pictures

Bottom pictures from left to right

Typical Mary Austin smile - home 1 week July 2004

Visit to Qingyuan SWI July 2004

There's no place like HOME!

Now we have been home 3 years today, July 20, 2007

I still remember the HUGE group of people waiting on us when we arrived home and how I made everyone wait while I changed her into her tiny "homecoming dress". How everyone was standing at the railing in the airport as we went down the escalator. How everyone ahead of us from the plane were saying how precious she was. We must have been in the baggage claim for 45 minutes or longer but it seemed like just 10. I remember everyone that was there - our families, friends our FCC friends - like the Henderson who were still waiting for Lily and the Hatches who had just come home!. (Thanks Margaret for letting us borrow that purple backpack! It has been to China more than any of us)

I remember getting in the car and sitting in the backseat while Laurie, my SIL, drove. And even though she was driving perfectly I remember thinking "Oh please do not let us wreck with MA in the car"! I remember how all of our neighbors and even more friends were outside in the street cheering when we drove up. . All the balloons and the precious Welcome Home Mary Austin sign.

I remember how thankful I was to be home. To drink water from the tap, take a shower without having to worry about getting water in my mouth, to eat veggies (yummy green bean bundles and Ceasar salads with home grown tomato sandwiches.

I remember bathing MA and putting her in her tiny pjs from the Gap - they had laundry hanging on them.

I remember (and continue to feel) how blessed I was, how alive I felt even though I had not slept in over 48 hours and how happy I was to be a mother.

Jane's namesake

Looking at my calender today I realized that Jane's namesake, my mother's sister, would have had a birthday this week. I am so happy that she was able to see Mary Austin and know that she knew Jane Harris before any of us did. (Click to read the story of why we named Jane after her). Jane Harris certainly looks like her father but she acts like myself and an "Austin". One good example is that she calls Mary Austin "tit-ta". Now, I am sure many toddlers learning to speak say "tit-ta" for sister but the first time I heard Jane Harris say it I nearly fainted. You see, "tit-ta" was what my Aunt Jane called my mother. Aunt Jane was the baby with my mother being about 12 years older than her. One of my most favorite stories of the two of them happened when Jane was a toddler and calling my mother "tit-ta". My mother was in junior high. Remember that stage of trying to be cool and impress everyone? The paperboy had come to collect his money from their mother, aka Great-Mimi. Mom thought she would be "cool" and back the car up "just a little" with Jane in the backseat. Unfortunately she somehow mistook the gas and brake pedals and shot off towards the street. The car landed in a ditch; Great-Mimi skinned her knees from hanging on to the door handle and subsequent dragging, and the paperboy decided that his money was not that important and ran away. From then on whenever they were going anywhere, Jane would ask "oh, is tit-ta goin' drive". I am not sure why but every time I hear or even think about this story I cannot control the laughter. So, Happy Birthday Aunt Jane and "no, tit-ta is not driving!"