Ch...ch...ch...ch...ch...ch... changes!

There have been so many great changes in our lives and we are please to present you with a picture synopsis.

We are so excited to announce that Aunt Leesee and Uncle Porter have moved to North Carolina just to be with us.  They lived with us for three and a half weeks in August, but now they are in their own house just .8 miles down the road.  We see Aunt Leesee every day (which you wouldn't know by the pictures we have taken- somehow she isn't in any of them).  Every time Leesee walks into the room James says, "Eesee Eesee" and Porter gets an even bigger welcome that includes hands and feet waving and kicking with excitement.  Kids just love that guy.  We think it has something to do with his height.

Leesee and mom agreed to have Elena over for a play date one evening.  With Leesee here, the kid-to-adult ratio works out better for everyone.  We had a great time.  Mom realized that Elena and I have the same dress so when she arrived, she immediately had me change into the matching watermelon dress and hair bow.

We love to get silly together!

One of the biggest and most exciting new changes in our lives is our new cousin Mabel.  She's very sweet and we think she has a personality a lot like my sister's... poor Aunt Mimi.  Lucky Mabel!

James was happy to try out Mabel's high chair... she won't be using it for a while anyway.

My sister learned the art of picture posing... she's a natural.

I sure do love babies!

Elena and I had our first day of ballet and tap two weeks ago.  It was great!  We get to wear tapping shoes, do shuffle steps, and flamingo kicks.  Tapping is our favorite.

Come on Elena, let's go teach those other kids how to dance!

I love love love my tapping shoes.  I wish I could wear them all the time!

Dad decided it's about time I earned my own keep around here... so I had to make my own breakfast.

Mom and her friend Kelly ran the Warrior Dash together.  It's a three mile race with several obstacles including jumping into and out of several dumpsters, crawling through mud pits and even 

JUMPING THROUGH FIRE!  

Kelly has a new baby Jack who is super cute and mellow.  He didn't even mind sitting in the shade on a hot day while his mommy had a great time getting messy.

Before

After

The posters say "2 Hot Mamas" and "Mud Shmud"

With the entry fee Mom and Dad got these great warrior hats.  Leesee taught me to say, "I'm a warrior, I'm a tough guy."  I've worn it to every public place we've gone to since the race. 

Daddy also did the race later that afternoon.  He convinced his friends from work to do it too.  Daddy came back decidedly more muddy than mom did.  I wouldn't have anything to do with him.  Gross!

Warrior Hats.... little baby Jack is a tired warrior in his stroller.  It takes a lot to be a tough guy.

A big hurricane hit the Outer Banks and Granna, Susi and Cam evacuated to Durham.  We decided to meet them one day at the zoo.  What a fun time!

Best Buds

Watching the chimpanzees... they actually touched Elena's hand through the glass!

We had our second dance class last week and it went a little differently than last time.  When mom picked me up, the teacher let her know that I had been very difficult.  Words like "unfocused" "disruptive" and "instigator" were used.  Mom is definitely not used to getting reports like this so her reaction was probably a little shocking to the teacher.  First, she giggled a bit.  Then she told the teacher she was a little proud of me for being a leader.  Finally, she high-fived Emily because she was so excited to see me come out of my shell a bit.  After the drive home, she realized her reaction was probably very inappropriate and off-putting to the teacher.  We have had a talk or two about listening to the teacher and following directions.  Woops.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you, is this the face of an instigator?

I also had my first day of preschool on Tuesday.  This was a very hard day for my mom.  She literally didn't remember what it was like to only have one child at home and had to rack her brain for something to do with Jamie.  Eventually they went to the children's museum.  They missed me terribly and mom was pacing the floor for thirty minutes before it was time to pick me up.  They said I had a great day and described me as "sweet" so mom was pretty relieved.  I talked and talked about my day and was very excited which also made mom pretty happy.  When mom asked me who my friends were I said, "Ms. Betty and Ms. Kim."   

Those are Caroline's teachers... like mother like daughter.

 I was very excited to go back for a second day and was even more talkative today!

Ready to leave for school about 30 minutes early.

Outside her classroom