Alabama Gymnastics

Jamie surprised Jill and me by getting us tickets to Alabama's last home gymnastics meet. He got us four tickets so we were able to take some friends with us. Mrs. Kimberly and Carsyn, who by the way are HUGE Auburn & UAB fans, were nice enough to go with us. Jill and Carsyn take gymnastics together so this was a fun experience for our two future gymnasts! Mrs. Kimberly was such a good sport and was able to look past the fact that she was at an Alabama event and even cheered for the home team. We had a great time and Jill and I were so thankful we had company on that late drive back home. It's not everday that Jill gets to stay up until 11pm but for Bama gymnastics we will make an exception!

Jill & Mom enjoying the meet!

Carsyn & Jill posing with Big Al...This was a HUGE step for Mrs. Kimberly - we were so proud! Now I guess Jill has to pose with Aubie :-( Good luck getting HER to agree!

The girls with former Bama gymnast Ashley Miles

Ashley Priuss

Now with the crowd favorite Morgan Dennis!

Thanks Dad for the tickets! We had a great time and hope to attend many more of these events. One day maybe we will be there to cheer on these two little girls!

The Flu & Jamie's Birthday

Well, we thought we had escaped the flu this year but unfortunately all of us did not. Last week Luke was one sick little man! His temp went up to 103.7 under his arm so if you add the .5 to 1.0 degrees that you are supposed to add his temp was actually over 104!!! We went to the pediatrician and they tested him for the flu and it came back positive. Even with the Tamiflu he ran a fever for 6 days and was pitiful!

On top of the fact that he had the flu he was coughing his head off and wheezing so we also had to endure breathing treatments three times a day. Big sister was a big help and would keep him company while he did his treatments.
During this time came Jamie's birthday. I had made reservations to take him to dinner on his birthday as a special treat because all day on his birthday he coached the first practice of Eli's soccer season. Well, needless to say, we could not leave Luke with a sitter so our plans had to be put on hold! (We did make it to dinner - just a week late!) Instead we bought a cute little cake and celebrated at home.

The frog eyes on Dad's cake were a big hit!

My Silly Kiddos...

With three children there is never a dull moment in the Alexander house! Ask any of my family and friends who call throughout any given day and they will testify! Luke is growing so fast that I think if I watched him sleep I could see him growing and this first picture proves that whether we saw him growing or not, we would definitely see him moving while he sleeps!
Luke has been potty trained since November, yes - we are a diaper free house, however he has been wearing underwear with characters on them or firetrucks or footballs. Anyway, he and I went to buy him some new underwear and he asked for some "big boy" underwear, which to him meant no pictures, like Eli and Daddy so...

Here are Luke's Calvin Klein's. Who knew they made size 4 Calvins - ADORABLE & COOL at the same time!

We have been very excited about the Olympics here as well. Our favorite event is short track speed skating. We are all HUGE Apolo fans! To show their support Eli and Luke have added a new fashion to their wardrobe...

The Apolo bandanna!

In other news, my kiddos love music, not only listening to music but creating it. With three it is easy to form your own band and here they are making their debut,

The Alexander Crew

Eli on lead guitar

Jill on keyboard

Luke - vocals

What a crew! I am a fan!

American Girl Trip & SNOW!!!

On Friday, Feb.12, two determined Moms (Donna & I) and three very excited little girls (Jill, Anna Beth & Katie) set out for the American Girl store in Atlanta. Now if you think back for a minute you will remember that on Friday, it was snowing like crazy here in Birmingham and the snow storm was headed toward Atlanta! But as I said we Mom's were determined not to disappoint our three excited daughters. We loaded up and headed to Atlanta about 1:30pm. Here are a few pictures out the window of the Suburban as Jill and I made our way to meet The Giles crew.

Once we picked up Donna, Anna Beth, and Katie the weather just continued to deteriorate. We had to drive very slowly and follow the tracks of the car in front of us so as to be sure we did not slide off the interstate, as did several cars ahead of us. My friend in Alpharetta called at about 4pm to inform us that they had 3-4 inches of snow on the ground already and that it was still coming down. She advised us to turn around and go back home, but we were DETERMINED - crazy some might say...so we slid on!

Now mind you, all this time we did not have reservations to eat at the American Girl Bistro. We had tried for 2 weeks to get reservations but they were completely booked. Knowing the weather might keep some travelers away we called and they told us they had one opening at 9:30am - woohoo, we took it! We made it to the hotel after about a 5 hour trip that should have taken about 3 - but we made it! We checked in, had dinner, and let the girls swim in the indoor heated pool. Then back to the room to get cleaned up and in bed to get our beauty sleep before our big day! Saturday morning arrived and Donna and I turned on the news to see how bad the roads were. The first thing we hear was, "The Georgia Department of Transportation is advising everyone to stay off the roads - they are a solid sheet of ice." Sorry Georgia DOT but we were DETERMINED to make it to brunch with our three little American Girls and ice or no ice we were going to be there!!! And we did just that. Fortunately our hotel was only about half a mile from the mall so we easily slid there. The walk across the mall parking lot was actually the hardest part but we made it inside with no falls! And guess what, we had the Bistro almost to ourselves! There were only two other families who were as determined as we were. Our American Girls with their dolls in front of the fountain at our hotel before leaving for brunch.
Finally at the Bistro!
Jill feeding Bailey a muffin for brunch.
Katie and Kit
Anna Beth and Riley Kate
Jill had to talk to her Dad and tell him all about the Bistro and the ham and cheese omelet she ordered.
The salon - waiting on their dolls to get all pampered. All three dolls got their ears pierced and hair styled.


On the playground in the Alpharetta mall.
Our friends Tiffany and Macy finally made it out of their driveway and neighborhood around lunch time and we were so excited to get to eat lunch with them and visit! Jill and I miss the Bennetts so much and are glad they are only a few hours away - well unless it is snowing and then they are about 5 hours away! Here are the girls enjoying some lunch in the food court.
Macy (Jill's "adopted cousin") and Jill
All our American Girls! Watch out Chicago and New York - we will be there soon to check out your American Girl stores!

Sneaky Little Luke

Sorry, no picutres for this post but I promise you will LAUGH!

Last week, Luke's new favorite hiding place became his bedroom closet. Not only would he close himself in the closet but he would first lock his bedroom and bathroom (he and Eli share a Jack & Jill bath) door. After noticing that Luke was "missing" I got the key and unlocked his room door and found him in his closet. He promptly jumped up and told me to "go" because the "bad guys" were coming! So being a good Mommy and wanting to foster his imagination, I locked his door back and closed the door behind me. I knew he wouldn't stay in there very long without needing company, after all my children can't go more than 20 minutes without NEEDING me!!! True to my prediction, after about 20 to 30 minutes, Luke would exit the closet and find his way back downstairs and under my feet. Well, this went on for a couple more days and then on the night of the third day, Jamie went into Luke's closet for something and when he came out he said, "Look at what I found in Luke's closet." He held up one of Luke's bapi's (pacifiers) that we had taken away from him about a week ago. That little stinker had found one and was hiding his contra ban in his closet. He would go in each day and get his bapi "fix" and would then leave it there until he returned!!! What a sneaky little one, and he is only 2! Boy are we in trouble when he is 15!!!!

Luke's Surgery...& A funny

On Tuesday, Jan. 19th, Luke had to have a little surgery. He was such a trooper and never shed a single tear...well, at least while we were at Children's Outpatient Surgery Center. While waiting to go back, he rode up and down the halls on all the different cars and watched a little TV. We were so thankful that Grammy was able to go with us since Daddy had a meeting he could not miss. (Mom forgot to check with him when she scheduled the surgery.)We also owe Poppa a big thank you. He took Eli to school and then he took Jill to breakfast at McDonalds and then to school. It was a treat for them to get that time with Poppa! The recovery has had its highs and lows. The day after the surgery, Luke felt great - running around the house being his usual wild self. Day THREE however was a completely different story! Luke woke us at about 5 am screaming and crying that he was hurting. We did not miss a dose of pain medication that day and he laid in Mommy and Daddy's bed all day watching TV. Day four was better and so far today has been good. He is napping now with only a dose of Motrin. Hopefully tonight will be a better night than last night and tomorrow a better day than today. He is definetly on the mend and we are all ready for him to be completely back to normal!

Riding in the car while waiting to go back to surgery.

Mommy's Little Man

Thank you, Grammy!

The sign on my door.

Just waiting...


Now, for a FUNNY. Thursday was PJ day at Jill's school. She wore her new fleece gown with some leggings. It just so happened to get up to about 65 on Thursday so by the time Jill got home she was HOT. She immediatly changed into cooler clothing and we got her situated with a snack and a short show. I went downstairs to check email and within a couple of minutes I hear her rummaging through my cabinets upstairs. I quickly finish my email and head up to find a very funny sight. Jill was sitting in her pottery barn chair in front of the TV soaking her feet...in a boiler of water. Apparently her feet were hot and the only way she could think of to cool them off was to soak them in cold water and the only thing she could think to soak them in, was a boiler (pot). I wish that I had thought to make a picture of her before I gave her a better basin to soak in. The boiler she had selected was one of the smallest pots we have. She couldn't even put her feet completely in it. She is creative!!!

National Champions - Roll, Tide, Roll!!!

We are so excited here in the Alexander house about Alabama's 13th National Championship! We watched the game from beginning to end, of course, and with about 40 seconds left in the game Jamie and Eli headed out to Academy to purchase our National Championship attire! The kiddos couldn't wait to put on their shirts this morning and Mom will no doubt have her's on soon too!

Don't know if you can tell but in the outside picture it is actually snowing - two days in a row with flurries here in Chelsea!