Claire-bear

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Maggie

Make a Smilebox photobook

Rodney and Maggie

This has to be one of the cutest pictures ever!

Another random thought

Before I had kids I use to wonder why every baby doll i saw whether it be at the thrift store or at a person's house never had any clothes on. Since Claire-bear has come along I have laughed at how so many of her dolls dont have any clothes on anymore. Yesterday afternoon she played in her room for several hours for room time. That night I went in to change Maggie's diaper and I found her dora doll on the bed with her clothes taken off and put in the closet. The really funny part about this is that Brook posted a blog about Chesney and her dolls she put to bed and the exact same dora doll was laying there with no clothes on. So now we are the people that have all the dolls with no clothes on.

My big sister

Today I have had Leanne on my mind all day. So I think I will write about her. She currently lives in Prattville but she is about to move back to Birmingham. YIPPEE!! She works for State Farm insurance. Guess she really wants to carry out the "legacy" that mom had working for John Hill there at the farm. She started off lowest man on totem pole (can tell you about that one... providing insurance and financial services this is melinda how can i help you. um yes, do you have a claim number-great! let me transfer you. you dont have a claim number, let me give it to you and now i will transfer you, but remember whenever you call (for goodness sakes) can you please have your claim number, in fact dont call us at all if you dont have your claim number!) and am so proud to say that she will soon be an agent- the top man. WHAHOOOOOOOOO!! Look out world because here comes Leanne Dickinson. I am smart enough to know that I have not always been Leanne's favorite person. When I was the youngin and Leanne had all of her friends over then I got to be the bratty sister that annoyed the heck out of her. But I will never forget all the bathroom trips that she got to take me on as soon as we would walk into a store, or the year she had to drive to roebuck to pick me up from school at Parkway(can we say fatty patty with the dorky glasses.. who was that kid and why would her mother let her do that :) ). BUT, those things were not going through her little mind when on that summer day she was talking to the big man Himself and prayed for a little sister. And here I am. Mom and dad had me 7 years after Leanne. I guess you could say that I was the big surprise. Doctors told mom and dad they probaby would not have kids. When Leanne came along they were so excited and felt like having baby #2 would not happen. Needless to say I came along and brought nothing but joy with me. :) Leanne always told me I was adopted. Maybe so but so sorry sis, you and me got the nose to prove we are related. Remember when you would tell me that when I was little a fat man sat on my nose and that is why it looks the way it does. I guess since Leanne asked for me she got to raise me. She was always so much fun. She took me and Cassie and Carman to the beach (but of course the dickinson luck kicked in and we went right in the middle of a hurricane and had to come back.) Really funny memories on that trip home. My senior year she let Sasha drive her blazer to prom. That was pretty cool. I even remember calling her crying because i had spilt tomatoe soup all over moms new beige carpet. She came home and helped me clean it up. She has worked so hard over the past 10 years to get to where she is now. I know looking back some things were harder to go through than others but isnt it nice to know that God is in control of our footsteps. It has been a very amazing experience for me to be a part of her life and to see how God is molding her and making way for what is to come. Its amazing how different Leanne and I are. We joke about how we are like mom and dad. We are both like mom in so many ways and BOTH like dad in so many ways. At the end of the day we are so much alike. I am proud of my childhood and very proud of my parents. I am proud that God placed me to grow up with each of you.
So Leanne, Aunt Leigh, Sis,
You are an amazing person. You put your mind to something and you do it. You care about others around you and you care that much more about your family. You are beautiful from your inside out and yes God has a purpose for your life and a plan before you. I am so excited to see the future before you. I pray that as the next few months of a "new beginning" come that you follow your heart, lean on the ones who love you the most, and allow God to take hold of your hand and guide you as He has already done in this past year. You have a very special place in my heart. I love you very much and I am very proud and honored to call you sister.

Annie Entrekin

Annie Entrekin is mama Mitzi's mama. She passed away on Feb. 14. Yesterday we had the pleasure of going to Gadsden to be at the funeral. Rodney sang with Micah (you guys will always be my favorite pair) three beautiful songs. Mama Mitzi is one of 11 kids. We found out that she grew up in a house with one bathroom. One bathroom and 11kids. And I thought me and Leanne had it pretty rough. God knows us best doesn't He. He knew that people like me and Leanne could not live "back in the day". Claire enjoyed it as we sat in the side room and drank sunkist and a bag of cookies. I think she had two bags of M&Ms on the way there, a bag of cookies, some cake at lunch, and cookies for dinner, oh and sweet tea. She wasnt bouncing off the walls like I thought she would be but on the way home she fell in a hard sleep. She sat in Mama Mitzi's lap during the graveside service and did great. Daddy Jeff was looking all good in his "dress up clothes" as claire put it. Maggie did pretty good. She was exhausted and it took a little TLC to get her to sleep but thank you God for rolls. She chewed on it for most of lunch and she was a happy little pudgeball. I on the other hand was not feeling the best. On the way up there I had this splitting headache and then started feeling really sick to my stomach. I felt really rough the entire day. For lunch I had a little bit of chicken (here is a random thought-why do you always find fried chicken at funeral lunches) and felt a little better but I am pretty sure it was a 24 hour bug. Hope none of you guys that were around me get it! My head still hurts a little this morning but all in all I am feeling much better. (by the way dad, you cant get my germs from reading this blog... :) )

My birthday

So I woke up early (thank you maggie) and got my shower and when I came out of the room I had a surprise waiting on me. Rodney, Claire and Maggie sitting all together wishing me a "Happy Birthday). I of course got the surprise card that Claire had made me (but talked about everyday leading up to my birthday). We met Rodney around lunch and headed to the zoo. We had such a great time and what a beautiful day it was. I was of course reminded by mama that for lunch she had liver and onions on the day I was born (no wonder I came on this day!!). The day was wonderful. I received so many happy birthday's and the coolest part of all is that my sweet Claire bear could tell me Happy birthday and she really knew what she was talking about! Thank you everyone for making it such a special day and thank you mom, dad, and Leanne for saying a little prayer so that God placed me into this world to be with all of you and grow up to pray for God to give me my own little blessings! I love you!

Claire reads to Maggie

This afternoon I was cleaning out the closet in our room (trying to find more space in these tight quarters). I had Maggie sitting on the bed and Claire came in and said "I am going to play with Maggie". I told her that was a wonderful idea. She went back and forth from her room back to our room carrying all the night nights that she has and that Maggie has. She brought her blanket to her and she also brought her favorite book- Brown Bear Brown Bear. I was focused on the closet but I stopped for a moment to see Claire reading her book to Maggie. It was the sweetest thing. Claire, you love your baby sister!

Claire quoting scripture verses

We have been working on memory verses with Claire. She has about 10 memorized. This morning Rodney worked on a couple of newer ones with her. I was able to get her on camera. We are so proud of you Claire-bear!

Making progress

I went to kmart the other day and went to the bottles. Its amazing how much time you can spend on this isle. Its like you are in some transe or something. I stood there examining each nipple, sippy cups, pacis and found myself starting to drool. I ended up going with this little sippy cup that has a nipple and a sippy cup top. It also has handles. Maggie of course just chewed on it when I gave it to her and gave me a "yeah right if you think i am going to take that" smile. Once she realized she could put her hands around it then she started to put it towards her mouth. I think she has yet to actually suck the thing but she is really enjoying "chewing" on it. One day at a time!