Our Goal For The Week:

To get this sweet girl-


To drink out of these-


I know, I know. Many of you are probably gasping. Yes, Simms is almost 15 months and still on the bottle. This Nuby brand of cups is the only brand that I haven't tried, and tomorrow is the day! At least tomorrow is the day to start trying to break her of the bottle. I KNOW (from experience) that it is going to take much more than a day. Yes, that is right. We have tried this before and I have given in. Then, the day that I was going to try again, with Dru as backup, we had to unexpectedly rush his sweet horse Preacher to the vet school, where he was later put to sleep. (That is my excuse for that attempt). Now, my incentive to MAKE her take the cup this week is that NEXT MONDAY she goes for her 15 month checkup and I really don't want to get in trouble with the peditrician. Remember, in November she told me my goal by the next visit=No Bottles! OOPS!! Say a prayer, or many, and any words of advice are GREATLY appreciated! Here are some more pictures of our sweet girl shying away from the camera before church. And an added bonus..some adorable pictures that I found on my camera of our sweet nephew (and Simms' best friend) Bennett. I am not sure when they are from..He is beautiful!!




Andrew Bennett Kirk
How his mama dresses him:


How his daddy dresses him:

Over the river and through the woods..

..to Clermont we went! Or I guess I should say, "Around the lakes and through the groves." We have returned from 5 days in Clermont, FL (20 or so miles from Orlando) visiting Dru's grandparents, aunts, uncles and ALL of his cousins! It was a wonderful trip and we are so glad we decided to brave the long drive and go! Simms was a DREAM there and back. It was almost 7 hours each way and she only cried once! Whew!! We had some wonderful visits with Dru's grandparents, Goosie and Pah, (or Martha, Simms' other namesake, and Dru, Dru's namesake.) It meant alot to us that Simms got to spend time with them! Of course we had a blast with Dru's aunts, uncles and cousins. They are ALWAYS fun! It was an added bonus that Dru's parents were in town too! Of course I took hardly any pictures and now I am kicking myself for that. But we did get the camera out one day when it was in the 60's, and from what I have heard, in the 20's and 30's back home!! Simms had a blast and hardly acted shy at all. Sometimes she tends to take a while to warm up to people, but she loved all of the attention that she got, which was alot!

These are of Simms out by Dru's Aunt Katherine and Uncle Alan's lake. The lakes down there (and there are several) are beautiful. They are much more "beachy" to me than the lakes around here! The views are gorgeous and lakes surround the town of Clermont, as do orange groves!


Playing in the front yard


The Goodwins













Simms and Alicia




Ordering her some real food at the restraunt..Yeah right..although she experimented with real food more this trip than EVER!! YAY!!

Beautiful Views:



Some fun goodies that I bought when Caroline and I went shopping:


An adorable vintage-looking Easter decoration



Some cute bins to keep all of Simms' toys in..Her window seat doesn't have a child latch so I won't use it for toys!! Finally something cute!

We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to see everyone again this summer at the lake! Thanks Smiths and Pools for being so accomodating and letting us basically rearrange your homes!!

Our sweet girl..

Our sweet girl Simms isn't feeling well! She woke up warm and stuffy on Sunday, and it continued getting worse throughout the day yesterday. Last night, her temp was around 102.5! I, being the worrier that I am, was terrified! Of course I called the doctor this morning, and by then her temp was around 100.7. They fit her in around lunch and she wasn't acting like herself at all. I had never seen her like this, because Simms has NEVER been sick before. She has had sniffles, but this was her FIRST fever and FIRST real illness. We have never had an earache, stomach virus, not even an upset stomach! Her biggest hurdle thus far was baby acne when she was 4 weeks old. Until today. The sweet little girl (and let me clarify SWEET..she was so adorable yet pitiful all day) has her 1st ear infection. Of course, to make it almost 14.5 months without an ear infection when they are so common is great, but I sure hate it for her that she is sick. We have gotten 2 rounds of antibiotics in her, and she seems to be turning the corner! We hope she is better before we leave for Florida on Wednesday. We are going to visit Dru's family that lives near Orlando. The doctor said she should be feeling better in another day or so! She wasn't really in the mood to have her picture taken, so I dug in the archives and found this one. One of my favorites. It is Simms' birth announcement picture, and was taken the day she turned 1 month old. Brings tears to my eyes!

Picture taken by Kim Foster of The Studio, www.thestudiobykimfoster.com

Another Vet in the family?

Simms LOVES her vet kit that her Papa Doc gave her. We think she wants to be a veterinarian just like him! She even puts the stethoscope around her neck on her own! But, she likes to give the poor dog shots in the heart, so we have a few things to work on!




She was feeding the dog from her blender


Putting her supplies up!

Simms other favorite thing to do~

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and 14 months

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was so much fun seeing Christmas through Simms' eyes. So much different from last year, when she was just a few weeks old! She has really enjoyed the Christmas season and had so much fun with all of her gifts. Spending time with family and friends over the holidays has been great, and we truly feel blessed! I am breaking this post up into sections; Visit with Santa, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and 14 months..Oh, and Happy New Year! We had our black eyed peas and greens today, and now we are looking forward to what 2009 has in store!

Visit with Santa
We took Simms and Bennett to see Santa at Callaway Gardens the Sunday before Christmas. They weren't too sure about the jolly ole' elf! It was very cold and we opted out of Fantasy in Lights until they are older but the Christmas Village was warm and lots of fun!





Christmas Eve
We attended the candlelight Christmas Eve service at church and then headed to Meme and Grandaddy's. (Meme is my grandmother, and one of the Martha's that Simms is named after). I have spent every Christmas Eve of my life (26 of them) at their house and they are all WONDERFUL. Many of my best childhood memories include Christmas Eve's there. Simms had a blast too!


Carrying on the tradition of wearing her pajamas over to Meme's!





Christmas Day
Simms woke up about 8:30 on Christmas morning. I couldn't wait! It was so much fun leading her into our den to see what Santa brought! We lounged around all morning, went to my grandmothers for lunch, and then spent Christmas night at Minnie and Grandanny's house. We left the next day for Montgomery for the rest of the weekend. It was a wonderful Christmas!

Looks like Santa came..he filled our stocking and ate his cookies!




Our best gift, ever...



Cooking away..


At Minnie and Grandanny's..

Can we open toys yet?






Thank you, Bennett for my Elmo!

And 14 months today...
Seriously? So hard to believe! Now that Simms walks all the time and talks constantly she seems like such a miniature person and not so much a baby anymore! Each day with her is a gift and she is at such a fun stage! Still a no-go on the sippy cup, although, with Dru being off work tomorrow, I think I might initiate a Sippy Cup Boot Camp. It will be nice to have the extra support around! He may wish he were at work. Hee Hee!

Simms is no longer "snacking" during the night, which is HUGE for us, so some progress is being made. She still prefers baby food to real food, which is ok for now according to her doctor. She is starting to become more curious about food, so hopefully we'll be eating real food soon!

I enjoy my days with her so much, and I am so blessed that I am able to be at home with her! I try to thank Dru daily for allowing me to quit teaching! She grows and changes so fast! Once again, I will say how lucky we are that she is our little girl. We love her more than anything and that love grows each day!