What's Miriam up to?

PRESCHOOL!!!!

Miriam started preschool, well Mother's Morning Out, last week at Christ Episcopal Day School. I cannot believe that she is already going to school. There are a lot of tears by just about every child that gets dropped off, but the teachers say they do really well after a few minutes. I think that I cried more than she did the first day. There is a one way window that the parents can stay and watch as long as they want to... I was definitely there for a least 15 minutes. It was so neat to see so many kids Miriam's same age in one room together playing. Their day sounds like they have a great time. First they play in the nursery with a million different toys and books, then they play on the playground, have snack, and lastly have music time in this huge room with books, hulahoops, tunnels, etc. It is only from 9am-12 twice a week which is perfect!

Running to school!

"Yah Mimi!! Stool!"

Miriam is really starting to put her words together. Her most said phrases are

"Mama, Dada, are you?"

"Knock Knock who dere?"

"Mama, get it, peez?",

"I'm back",

"Mimi, Essie eat",

"Wha dat?"

"In dere" (It's in there)

"wha is it?"

"Hessies wake" (Essie's awake)

"Hi mama, Hi dada"

AND CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!!???

As she was leaving to go to school today (daddy takes her), she said "Byebye mama, i wuv you"

I thought I was going to burst into tears. We have been trying to get her to say it for months and she would just give us this look like she knew how but wouldn't and then just blow us a kiss or something. My precious angel!

Num Nums!

Essie started eating her oatmeal twice a day now, is only eating every 4 hours, and is down to 3 naps a day. Is it so great to have a longer period of time to do things between naps. She isn't as interested in food as Miriam was who gobbled up everything in front of her, but she still does really well. Most of the time she just wants to grab her feet.

So Much Love!

I have a feeling that these two will stick together through everything and be known not so much as Essie or Miriam, but as the beautiful Gregorie sisters. They love each other so much! Miriam is so excited when Essie wakes up from her nap. She immediately has a huge smile on her face and says "Hessies wake!" (yes, she says her name like she is two middle eastern people). All Essie wants to do is look at, grab, and play with Miriam. God has truly blessed us with these two best friends.

Dada's Shoulders

Can you believe these two beautiful yet sooo different little girls are mine! Essie is exactly 4 months old in this picture and Miriam is about 3 1/2 months in the pic below.

CUTIE PATOOTIES!!

(and my O so handsome husband too!)

Porcher's Bluff

I cannot believe that we will be in our new home (hopefully!) in only 4 short months. It is really coming along. The outside trim and siding is going up right now. The plumbing and HVAC rough-ins are complete and Monday, the electrician will start the electric rough in. I am very excited to meet with our lighting specialist to pick out the lights. I have been browsing an amazing light company... if you are in the market for lights check out Barnlight Electric. I think they are awesome!

Shay went up this morning in the plane and took this picture.

Im Back...

Every now and then, life gets too busy to keep up with a blog. Because I only have an hour or so, IF THAT, a day when I have no children to tend to, I have to prioritize my activities. Taking showers, cleaning up, or designing my new house has been coming first. Sorry to all my faithful blog followers.

SO... this summer has been quite a blur. Miriam is talking up a storm creating 3 word phrases now. She is already 20 months old and will be starting Mother's Morning Out two mornings a week (that should give me some more time to blog :) ). Essie is four months old and getting bigger. Her most recent trick is the discover of her feet (she loves thems!) and since my last post, she has started grabbing toys all the time. Essie also talks and smiles more than any baby I have ever seen; much more so than Miriam. Essie, Miriam, and I have full conversations. Haha... I laugh because I have more conversations with a baby and a toddler than I do adults.

I will write another post about the progress of our new house tomorrow. I don't have any real recent pictures so I will take some tomorrow because we are meeting with our electrician for a light/electric walk-thru. FUN!

Here are some recent pics of the girls.

Playing in the pool at Lake Lure during the Banks family vacation.

Actually the first time in a sandbox... Loved It!

Look Mama, I grabbed my toy!

Miriam is drinking from a big girl cup most meals now... hence the milk mustache.

First time in a bumbo... not quite ready. She is still a wobble head :)

Skip to My Essie Lou

Essie is now almost 3 months old and we are so much in love with her! Shay, Miriam, and I just can't keep our lips off of her with all our kisses.

She looks startled because she rolled over from her stomach to her back for the first time and wasn't quite sure what was going on. Way to go Essie!

Never thought I would have a blue eyed baby. I am in love with them!

Such a loving and happy girl!

Rock-n-Roll Miriam

My sweet Miriam has an awesome rock-n-roll mullet and I just don't have the heart to cut it off! Hopefully the front of her hair will catch up soon.

Where do I begin?

Even though it has only been about 3 weeks since I posted last, it seems like a lot has happened... so where do I begin?

I guess I will start with July 4th. We had a great weekend at Lake Lure with Shay's family. Nothing too eventful happened which is exactly how I wanted it... relaxing! Here are a few shots.

I don't know how we went through the whole weekend without getting one picture of all three cousins together, but here is my sweet nephew Palmer.

The girls in their matching 4th of July outfits. Miriam is too engrossed in her Elmo DVD to look at the camera.

Essie's 2nd boat trip... we forgot the camera the day before which was her 1st ride.

Miriam ate her weight in watermelon and then peed like a camel an hour later :)

Too young for beer, Miriam!

18 months and 8 weeks... who would have thought?

Essie is now 8 weeks old... where did those 8 weeks go? Miriam, now 18 months old, still loves her little sister... so much so that we have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't smush Essie with her hugs.

Essie is such a happy baby. She smiles all the time! I will catch her smiling just sitting by herself looking at the mobile and when we talk to her, she gives us grins so big that her whole face smiles and her body curls up in happiness!

Here is a great picture of Miriam signing "play" while Essie smiles at her big sister.

Hot Hot Hot!

Who needs a bathing suit?

Can you believe that it is 110 degrees outside with the heat index and it is only June!? Even though it is so hot we still try and get outside, but when we do, we definitely get our "pool" filled up and the hose turned on.

My Little Gym Graduate

Miriam has been going to Little Gym every week since she was 4 months old and she absolutely loves it. It is like a Gymboree type of deal where they do baby gymnastics, sing songs, play with balls and bubbles, etc. She is such a wild woman for the whole 45 minutes... good thing the whole room is padded! Last week, she "graduated" from her class. It was so cute because they all got to walk up to a platform and get a medal while everyone clapped for them. Miriam took it all in, basking in all the applause, and didn't want to leave the platform.

Miriam and her friend Sofie have been in the same class since they were both 4 months old. They are best buds!

She is a master at the balance beam

Miri Moo and Essie Lou

Our two sweet angels!

(hard to get both of them looking at the camera let alone smiling)

Smiles All Around!

This weekend we were smiling ear to ear because was smiling back at us for the first time! It is hard to catch it on film right now, but here is one pretty good shot we got this weekend.

Let the Building Begin!

We have finally broken ground on our new house! We are so excited that 7-8 months from now we will be in our new home on the Bluff. It has been a long road to get to even this point, but the Lord is good and has taught us some serious patience. There wasn't any cutting of a ribbon or golden shovels, but we did go out and take some pictures with the girls. What is the "Bluff" you might be wondering... well it is where Shay grew up, officially called "Porcher's Bluff" (and for all of you not from the area, it is pronounced "poor shays"). We are building right across the way from his childhood home. Below is a picture of the Bluff taken by Shay from his airplane. He is going to go up and take pictures every week from the air so that we can have a great record of the progress... my sweet pilot!

Our lot is the only one without a house. You can see where they have cleared the property and put down fill dirt.

Me and Essie

It was sooo good to see some construction equipment on the lot!

Shay and Miriam