Acting Like a Princess....Manners!

Mary Catherine won an award at the South Carolina Walking Horse Association Banquet for her participation in the Lead line Class with her pony Prince Charming during the Summer of 2006. She received a trophy which has she and her pony's name on it. She attended the banquet with Mommy, Daddy, Ella, Gaga, Sissy, WUB, Wills, Bubba, Jenny, King and Brant. Mary Catherine selected her own dress for this event. Her selection was a Laura Ashley Black velvet and candlelight silk dress and black shoes. As you can see in the photos above, she looked so pretty.

Mary Catherine used her good manners at the banquet. Mommy was very proud. She learned about using multiple forks and knives at meal time. She also learned that she should use the silverware from the outside first and work her way in. She was fascinated with the concept that if she puts her fork and knife across her plate the waiter knew when to pick up her plate. Mary Catherine is certainly growing up and using her good princess manners. Mary Catherine is definately on her way to accomplishing her yearly goal of not just looking like a princess but acting like one too.

While at the banquet, King Arthur (Auturio Chariez) celebratated his 40th birthday with a drop in party and Mary Catherine's Uncle Bubba (Sam) received the 2006 SC Walking Horse Trainer of the Year Award. Congrats Bubba!

They Will Never Find Me In Here!

For those of you who have not had the joy of taking a four year old to the doctor for shots..JUST YOU WAIT! This was such an experience...I don't think I will ever forget it. I was soooo embarrassed that if I could have crawled into a diaper bag and let someone take me out of McLeod Pediatrics without being seen, I would have done it.

My normally very sensible and smart four year old turned into a creature from another planet. Mistake number one. . . scheduling for both kids to see the doctor for shots at the same time. BAD mistake and I will take complete credit for this! Thinking I would Multitask and do a two for one with the pediatrician office. Lesson learned . . . don't multitask kids doctors office visits. Second mistake...not telling my husband not to use the words...STICK YOU! Please tell me, who knows better than to tell a four year old..."Oh-- check your hemoglobin means they are going to stick your finger and get some blood." Oh my, from the way she screamed you would have thought he told her they were going to cut her hand off. This was so bad. I had my then naked baby on the table and could do nothing but laugh. I got so tickled. When Kevin finally catches Mary Catherine between his legs and attempts to hold her, she is screaming "NO! NO! NO! I don't want to get my blood taken out! NO! NO! NO!" She screamed this over and over and over. She then broke into I DON'T LIKE YOU! NO! NO! NO!. There was going to be no calming down and discussing this situation like we normally do. So, the poor little nurse begins to attempt to pry her hand open as Mary Catherine SCREAMS every breath at her. She is so tense that when the nurse does prick her finger that no blood comes out. They then have to squeeze her finger to get blood. I have never heard screaming like this except when Celia was a kid. When Dr. Whitehead walked in, he said "Was that Ella I heard screaming all the way down the hall?". When the finger pricks were over, they got her weight and she weighed 49 1/2 pounds and is 41 1/4 inches tall. They checked her hearing for the first time and said it is perfect. Dr. Whitehead wanted to know when we were going for another laser treatment on the birthmark. We are scheduled for February 6th. He also suggested we see Dr. Farrell and let him check the tubes in her ears. One of the tubes is out and the other one is almost out.

Once this process ended and the doctor finished checking her out, he left the room. I gave Ella to her Dad and decided that it was time to talk with Mary Catherine and reason with her about the shots she was about to get. Calmly I said "Mary Catherine come here to Mommy and lets talk about a few things." She walked over and got on my lap. I calmly explained that the nurse was going to be coming back in the room and that she was going to have to have some shots today. I explained that if she didn't get the shots she could get very sick and have to go to the hospital. She seemed to listen to what I said and she remained calm. I explained that we could do this civil like or I would hold her down. She stood up, put her hands on her hip, eyes teared up and exclaimed, "THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DO NOT LIKE TO COME TO THIS PLACE!" I about fell out! She cried but nothing like the screaming she was doing less than 5 minutes prior. She then decided she needed to go to the bathroom. Knowing they were about to come back in with the shots for Ella, I said " Kevin take her right across the hall to the bathroom and I will stay here with Ella." Kevin said when they got to the bathroom. Mary Catherine kinda looked around and said "SHE WILL NEVER FIND ME IN HERE!" Kevin then explained that she could not stay in the bathroom forever that " I would FIND her and make her get the shots. As they re-entered the room so did the nurse. I asked Mary Catherine if she would like to watch Ella get her shots. She agreed and came over to the top of the exam table. First shot and Mary Catherine was crawling down behind the exam table. By the third shot, I knew this had not worked. Mary Catherine was under neath and behind the chairs in the room. She was screaming for all she was worth. NO! NO! NO! I DO NOT WANT YOU TO DO THIS TO ME! YOU ARE BEING MEAN! I DON'T LIKE YOU! YOU ARE KILLING ME! YOU ARE KILLING ME! NO! NO! NO!" Kevin then attempted to pull her out from behind the chairs which she has a death grip on. He finally gets her on his lap and she is flapping her arms and legs so that the nurse can not get to her. She says "lets put her on the table. " They put her on the table screaming and flapping her arms and legs and physically hold her down to give her these three little shots. Kevin actually has to cover her mouth she is screaming so loud. I have never seen anything like this and I hope I never will again. I did not know my sweet little four year old had it in her. She screamed so that I know the people in Effingham had to have heard her. I apologised to the nurses profusely. They assured me that they see this all the time with 4 year old children. They said for some reason at four they become more independent and that if they act this way when they are four it usually last til they are about ten. They did say I don't have to worry about anyone hurting her because she will let everyone with in a 10 mile radius of her know it. I was sooooo embarrassed!

When I got back in the car, I called my Mother and apologized for how I acted at the doctors office as a child. Mom says I didn't act like that at the doctor ....CELIA did! I have said all along...I AM RAISING CELIA's TWIN! I don't wish this experience on my worst enemy!

On a much lighter note, Mary Catherine is glad to be back at school. the perky puppies started an alphabet unit this month and are working on two letters each week. We continue to excel in Spanish and singing. She loves "Jesus Down in My Heart" and " The whole wide world in his hands". She also has a Spanish song about Ola Amigos and Adios that she sings all the time. She is such a good singer.

Mary Catherine is somewhat of a pack rat. She doesn't like to throw away or get rid of anything. Especially toys and clothes. She even wants to keep gum wrappers, packaging for toys or anything that she thinks is hers. she doesn't like for us to leave clothes at the dry cleaners or cars at the repair shops. This is devastating to her and it drives me nuts. The most recent item we have attempted to put away is her little stove. and vacume cleaner. They are cute toys for a 1 year old. We were trying to put them in the attic and she caught us. We explained that if she wanted all the BARBIE stuff out then we had to make room by putting the stove and vacume up. We went in the den and when we looked she was sitting in the hall hugging the stove and vacume Cleaner. It was just so precious. Of course, we had to attach a photo for you all to see.

Dancing Barbie Princess Birthday Party!

Today I had a Barbie Dancing Princess Birthday party. The party was held at the Family Life Center at Effingham Presbyterian Church from 2-4pm. I had a beautiful birthday cake with the dancing princesses on it. We also had ice cream, chips, cookies, juice and cool aid. We used all of my Barbies to decorate the tables. On the main table we used my big Cinderella Castle as a center piece. Each of the other tables had a barbie or princess theme. We took all of my princess dresses, shoes and crowns to the party. We all enjoyed playing dress up. Even some of the boys played dress up with us. What good sports! We had a BIG jumpy castle. My friends and I loved playing in the jumpy castle. Mommy, Mrs. Dana Jones, Jen Jen jumped with us. All of my friends made their own crown party hat from foam stickers. We had so much fun playing lipstick pinata. We each got several cups of candy. I got so many beautiful presents. Gaga gave me a pearl for my necklace, Meme & Mel gave me some books and Pop Pop gave me a scrap book. I also got a barbie pool, a birthday barbie, a princess book, a bubble machine, a pink boa, some paint and a painting smock, a Malibu barbie, a barbie build a necklace kit, a birthday play set, pink luggage and stickers. I had made special gift bags for all of my friends with princess foam stickers. We put lots of neat stuff inside for them to enjoy when they got home. Thank you everyone for making my birthday party very special and FUN!

Hair Stylist

Today I decided I want to be a hair stylist. I am really good at hair styling. I have been practicing on Mommy and Daddy for about a year now. Brushing and styling are my specialities . I also like to wash, dry and color Mommy's hair. I tell her I am dying it pink, blue, and yellow. Some very unique and creative colors if I say so myself. Daddy likes for me to wash his hair too. Dad needs both implants and color but, he will not let me do it. I like to go with my Mommy to Mrs. Kathy's when she gets her hair done. I watch really close and I think I am as good as Mrs. Kathy already. I have some pretty high profile clients already. Sleeping Beauty, Barbie, Ariel, Cinderella and Baby Alive make up my celebrity client base. I can not disclose the identy of some of my clients, for legal reasons, but I did attach photos so that you can see my work. The style shown is only $150.00. I do allow credit for good customers. This client wrote me an IOU for $150.

Happy 4th Birthday Mary Catherine!!!

January 31st 2006 was my real 4th birthday. I woke up in the middle of the night and threw up all over my room. I then went down the hall and threw up all over Mommy while she and Daddy were sleeping. By morning I was feeling much better so Mommy and Daddy let me still go see my Meme and Mel in Charleston. We met Meme and Mel in Scranton at the school house restaurant for lunch. We had cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. I am having a birthday party for my friends next Saturday. When I got to Meme and Mel's we had another birthday cake. We had such a good time in Charleston. Meme helped me build a fort from blankets and chairs in her den. We (she and I) slept in sleeping bags on the floor for three days. We went out to the Airforce Base where I could ride my bike a few times. Meme says I am doing really good on my big girl bike. They also took me to the mall to play on the frogs. Meme and Mel gave me a pink and purple keyboard for my birthday. I love it and and I am enjoying learning to play it.