Chiquita Banana

I just had to do it

Cody

The Big 2-9

I had my birthday this week. I think this one was quite possibly...the best...ever! My family is amazing. They had a birthday-eve breakfast dinner (which was SOOO GOOOD), Joey treated me to Mexican (minus the sombrero), and Eileen treated me to Atlanta Bread (yum). Beth got me some socks because she knows that once winter comes my feet stay cold. My mom gave me some money and watched the kids for us so that Rusty and I could have a date night.

I couldn't believe it, but my friends from work got me a CAMERA!! YAY!!! I haven't had a camera since Susie died back in February. The best part?! It's PINK!! WOO HOO!!

So, the girls from work take me to a little "posh" french restaurant for lunch. Angelyn showed up in a bright blonde wig, bright red lipstick, draw on mole, fake cigarette, polka dot dress & heels....SITS ON MY LAP, and sings "Marilyn Monroe's version" of Happy Birthday! Did I mention the 4 inch long eye lashes?! Oh. My. God! It was the BEST birthday surprise EVER!! I guess I deserved it from when I got her with the Little Mermaid performance at her wedding!

I've got a mini countdown going on in my head for the Big 3-0, but that's okay! I don't really mind it! If anything, I'm excited to see what Marilyn will do next year!

The Pointer Sister

Emmy has started pointing to things that she wants to investigate. We're turning that year old corner here shortly, and I can't wait for her to have her very first "Publix Butter Cream Birthday Cake"! She's still got no teeth, but we're optimistic. She's had fevers, crying, and drool the last few days, and there is definitely a little white toofer peeking our of her gums this morning.

Rachel Bo Bachel

Little turkey...I was finally able to get some shots of Rachel where she was just being herself! It's been an ongoing battle to get her to smile, but to smile for REAL. And then, of course, there's her oh-so-silly self giving me "the look".

Name Meanings

I was curious what the new baby's name meant, so I started to play on the Baby Names Database to see what all of our names meant. Some are quite interesting.

Henry - Ruler of the Home, Murray - From the Sea Town

Rebekah - Snare (What?), Anne - Gracious, Merciful (My other middle name was not listed)

Cody - Descendant of Oda (Hahahaha), Ray - (short form of Murray)

Rachel - Sheep (Baaa!), Anne - Gracious, Merciful

Samuel - His Name is God, James - Supplanter (to move or replace)

Emily - To Strive, or Excel, or Rival, Faith - Faith

Sarah - Princess, Angelie - Messenger of God

Quite the Surprise

Sarah Angelie

Everyone said otherwise, and I even started to believe it, but we all thought that this one was gonna be a boy! At first, and even up until a few weeks ago, I said that this one was gonna be a girl, but even I changed my mind! I should have stuck with my instinct, but oh well!

We had initially decided on Sarah Angelique as her name, but I think we're gonna go with Sarah Angelie! I think it's so much cuter!

Emmy - 11 Months Old

Emmy's hair is getting longer and longer each day. She successfully walks around the living room (if she's holding on to something), and talks non stop! She still uses her screaming voice in her talking sometimes, but other times, she has a normal little deep voice like the rest of the Corleys. I've been threatening teeth for months now, but she is still all slobber!! There was a time last week that I thought for sure we'd get to see some teeth, but still no luck. I have stopped nursing Emmy, which was a bittersweet experience. I surely miss our time together, but she was ready to move on. She has several words in her vocabulary arsenal. Some of them are "Dada", "Mama", "Uh oh", "Bye Bye", "Night Night", "Baba" (which means bottle), and she has even said "Sissy" once (for Rachel). Rachel, by the way, can not wait for Emmy's hair to get longer so that she can start putting little ribbons in her hair. Just the other day, Rachel grabbed a patch of longer hair in the back of Emmy's head, and said, "Look Mama! It's long enough!"

Emmy laughs almost as much as she talks, and looks more and more like her Daddy on a daily basis. She even has his dimple in her right cheek! I have gotten her into a cackling laugh from tickling her several times over the last few days, so let the fun begin!

It's hard to believe that she will 1 year old this time next month! What an amazing year it has been!

Out With the Old

Rusty and I built a deck for our back porch several years ago. It served it's purpose, and had seen it's last day. I'd love to say that I helped him rebuild it, but mainly, I was the gopher due to being pregnant this go around. We still want to put the sealant down on it, but that will have to be another weekend. We just ran out of sunlight and muscles on this shot! I do have to say, however, that it does look fantastic!

Hallelujah Harvest, 2009

Hallelujah Harvest this year was really fun for the kids, but I think I may have enjoyed it more than they did this year! Rachel went as an Asian Princess again, and Sam, of course, went as Batman (the costume that Cole gave him). He actually has been practicing his "Batman techniques" for months now, but that's another blog entry.

Rachel and Katie got into the boxing ring this year, which had me laughing hysterically! Neither of them were strong enough to hold the 400 pound, over sized boxing gloves up to do any damage, so they both ended up just bouncing around and falling into each other for the entire time. Rachel also ended up winning a CD for answering a question correctly! She is very proud of her winnings!

Sam got into his own bounce house as well. I mean, Batman. He was one of the smaller kids in the bounce house, so all of the larger kids kept cheering him on. At one point, he got up his nerve, and actually used his "powers" on the entire group of kids! They all played along, and fell down dead! It was so insanely funny!

After the Hallelujah Harvest, I took Rachel and Sam over to Angelyn's to go trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. This was Sam's first ever experience at trick-or-treating, and Rachel hadn't been in so long! They both had the times of their lives! At one point, all I could see of the kids were their silhouettes running through the air. Sam's Batman ears and cape just made me chuckle nearly every time!

This Halloween was so much fun! I can only hope that next year, we get to have as much fun with family and friends!!