Music City Spaids

"Mommy! Look it! I made a two!!!" And sure enough, she did. No prompting from me. Maybe she learned it at Mother's Day Out, but I've never seen any papers come home with a 2 on them, but here it is. I'm glad I took a photo, because I think after I took this picture she colored over it.

Pictures first, then read the story.

Picture 1
Picture 2
Thursday I walked with Maggie and Zayli to the park by our apartments. I thought, "Oh, what a beautifully sunny Southern fall day. Let's go play!" We played with the other children at the park, we picked up acorns and threw them in the stream, and then, it happened.

We were chasing each other. I caught up to Zayli and picked her up, football style, and was running around the playground area to catch up to Maggie to pick her up, too. Well, I caught up to Maggie, we ran into each other, stumbled, and I got off balance. I knew I would crush Zayli if we fell together, so I let her go. She went flying out the side and did a belly flop on the ground, and I fell. SPECTACULARLY. Like someone should've been videotaping me I'd win the $10,000 prize on America's Funniest Home Videos spectacular fall.

In the process, my left knee bent quite oddly and in bad directions and popped a whole bunch and when I landed, I knew it as bad. I tried to get up, and my leg buckled from under me. I was totally discombobulated and it took me a couple of minutes to find my phone (I was sitting on it!) to call Tyler.

I had to have someone interrupt the Director's meeting to get him, and he had to come down to the park with a coworker to get me in the car. He even had to drive his car through the grass to the playground to get me. (see picture 1)

After much agony and crying, I was in the car with everyone. I called Dixie to explain that I nearly crushed her child & scratched her glasses, blew out my knee and we had to go to the hospital. We brought the girls to Tyler's work (they munched on ice cream sandwiches and hot chocolate while they waited for Dixie to pick them up - "Grandma Annette" is sure gracious with the snacks and ensured that those girls will love her forever!).

I never thought I would be in the ER two times in one year for my own injuries!!! I have one or several torn ligaments and get to visit an orthorpedic surgeon next week. In the meantime, I have a knee stabilizer (see picture 2) I have to wear all the time, can't walk and have to be on crutches, again. I HATE CRUTCHES! Oh boy!!!

The other nigt Maggie started counting out the things we do to get ready for bed on her fingers. It was so cute, and I asked her to do it for the camera - it was not as spontaneous as the first time, but still cute! Enjoy.

Last weekend we went to Gatlinburg with a bunch of friends - no children! Maggie stayed at Dixie's and had a wonderful time. Mommy and Daddy stayed in a 6 bedroom (all with attached bathrooms) "cabin" in the "woods".
So it was really more like a cedar mansion. The entire house was spectacular.
Our gaggle at dinner. The Brooks, Dunns, Haskins, Us, McCauleys, Talleys and Parks all made the trip this year.
This was not my steak, but a representation of the CRAZY amount and awesome quality of food that always makes its way to Gatlinburg. We go home with almost as much food as we brought. So much good food with good friends!
We played games, took a trip to the outlet mall, and had a wonderful time.

We went to Gatlinburg this weekend, but I just wanted to let you all know that I've been getting junk comments on my blog... how bizarre! That means two things: 1) my blog is read by enough people that spammers have found us. 2) I may have to tighten up security with the comments. We'll see how it goes. If I get a lot more spam, I'll have to switch commenting to only those with Google ID's.

This year Maggie really understood Halloween. And by understand, I mean, she realizes that she is going to get to wear a silly costume and get tons of candy. She was a "ballerina fairy" complete with pink hair to match her outfit. I think the fading bruise on her forehead is a nice touch, don't you?

I picked up this costume on clearance at The Children's Place outlet in Gatlinburg 2 years ago for $1.99, and Zayli used it last year. Best $2 I ever spent, except for maybe the princess costume that I got for the same price and she wore last year - which is now in her dress-up clothes and she wears it all the time... Anyway.

We took her to two events this year. Thursday our apartment complex had a "Trunk or Treat" party, where everyone brings their car to the community center and the kids can go from car to car collecting candy instead of going apartment to apartment. Tyler took Maggie, she had a great time, and got a bunch of candy. Tyler forgot the camera, so no pictures from this.

Friday CBC had their annual Fall Festival. I've never seen so many people there!!! Maggie had a great time running around with her friends. Didn't collect as much candy as I thought she would, but she had fun nonetheless. Plus, we stayed until the very end, and then just got to go around to the remaining buckets of candy and picked out a couple of our favorites.

Me and Maggie on the apartment steps. I found some awesome rub-on eyeshadow at Wal-Mart that looked kind of like a peacock, and you can't really see if in the photo but I fanned the back of my hair out like a peacock. Any excuse for crazy make-up!
Maggie and Daddy. She was NOT interested in having her picture taken again, she wanted to go to the gym and see all the fun stuff and eat dinner.
Sitting with Ellie and the other Maggie S. from church.
Here's Miss Bonnie, her Cubbies teacher at AWANA. Maggie loves Miss Bonnie, and asks each week if she will get to see Miss Bonnie at Cubbies.
Jumping in the moon walk. This one snapped right as she landed, look at her fun ribbons!
Fishing for treats.
And everyone remember this one from the past two years? Still her favorite booth. I had to escort her away before all the water was splashed out of the pool!
Maggie and Zayli.
A short video of Maggie and Zayli dancing, they were so sweet. We let them eat quite a bit of candy, so they ran around the gym nearly the entire time.


We got home pretty late, and she still needed to have a bath before bedtime to get all that pink out of her hair, but she zonked right out once she went to bed. I guess she didn't have too much candy!

I'm not talking turkey, I'm talking giant welt on the forehead. Friday night, about 10:30 as we were finishing the move to the apartment, I hear crying in Maggie's new room. Serious crying. I run in, and there she is with her hand on her head, hiding a huge pink and purple welt on her forehead. It was late and we hadn't put her bed together, so she was just going to sleep on her mattress on the floor, and we put it by the window. She had run into her room to slide on her bed to get Lambie, and whacked her noggin a good one on the sill. We put an ice pack on it and gave her some Tylenol, and she was ready at that point to go to bed, moving wasn't fun anymore. Thanks, Jen, for helping me not freak out.

The next morning it had swollen up about 1/2 inch tall, 3 inches top to bottom, and 2 - 2 1/2 inches from side to side, and it actually was an egg shape with the wide part up at the top and the narrow part going down to about the bridge of her nose. This is the next morning. She would not hold still for a good shot (she was distracted by the empty house - we finished cleaning early Saturday morning).And tonight with some real attractive green/brown bruising that goes all the way down between the sides of her nose and her eyes on both sides. You can still see some of the swelling.
Is she her mother's daughter or what! Look at her ham it up for the camera!!!

Our house closed, on time, Friday. We moved out Friday night (not sure why we always get the short end of the stick when it comes to moving - we moved in on a Sunday). A BIG HUGE THANK-YOU to everyone who helped. I did not take pictures of the move itself, I thought it would be rude to not be working, because we have TOO MUCH STUFF!!! Did you read the previoius post where I said we filled up a 14-foot moving van the prior weekend already? We filled, packed, stuffed a 24-foot van Friday. Like jammed to the gills, not getting anything else in there, please will someone put some stuff in their trunk we've got too much junk! Ok, moving on. I will not bore you with all my freaking out.

So here are some pictures from the week prior to the move. Oh the boxes EVERYWHERE.
Living room with boxes taped up and ready to be filled with stereo equipment.
The rec room piled up with our stash of liquor boxes (for packing, not from our stash), various and sundry items packed and ready to be packed. Also known as: a ginormous mess in every room.

This is photo evidence of a tradition Tyler started when he moved out of his parents house. In every place we've ever lived, once it is empty and cleaned out, we lay on the bedroom floor and stare at the ceiling. We go over the memories we made while we were there. Like the Mountlake Terrace condo: we started our newlywed life there and where the bus line was right outside our building that we caught each morning to get to work in downtown Seattle. The Everett condo that was brand-new and so nice but Tyler decided to go to Belmont 4 months after we moved in and changed our lives forever (for the good!). The Bellevue apartment that had the great kitchen, that was our introduction to Nashville. The blue rental house, the first stand-alone house we ever lived in, so much fun with friends.

And now our "red house" as Maggie calls it. I have not been real emotional about selling this house just because we always said we'd sell in 5 years, and it had been 5 years. I knew we wouldn't live there forever. When Tyler made the call to sell, I made a list of pro's and con's of the house, and I was content with his decision and looking forward to moving on. But on our way out as we went room to room reminicing, I cried in the powder room off the master bedroom. It was where we found out we were pregnant with Maggie. One of the best days of my life. Her room we can recreate and God-willing we'll always have her; but the little bathroom we won't have again. I do still have the positive pregnancy test in my sock drawer, so I'll be alright.

It was a surreal feeling Saturday morning as we drove away, knowing we won't be driving on these roads on the way to our house anymore. And I am OK with that. I am looking forward to our new adventure.