Big Brother! Big Sister! Sibling Class

March 31, 2008

Max graduated from his sibling class. He was very excited and full of energy during the session!He eagerly fed his baby with the bottle they provided.
He made Maddy a birthday card.
And learned how to change a diaper and swaddle.
He was the youngest student of the class, I think the oldest was eight. The instructors were very patient with all of the class.
Max got very excited about the real babies in the nursery.

Holli's Baby Shower (An All Purple Affair)

March 31, 2008

That Sunday was a busy day for us. We had a baby shower and a sibling class for Max. No, not another baby shower for me, but for one of my belly buddies. Holli is one of Rodney's long time buddy's (Ron) wife. She is super nice, I like her a lot. I didn't get to stay at the shower long because of the sibling class, but I am glad we got a chance to stop by. Below are a few pictures that Rodney took while we were there.

Holli, proud mother to be. I can't wait to meet Baby Sydney!

Lots of gifts - mine was the only one in the non-shower bag! I am doing the best I can.
Mrs. Karen (Ron's mom) and Wendy (Ron's sister) hosted the shower.
Emma Lee (Ron's daughter) and Max playing in the back room during the shower.

Family Fish Fry

Some of Rodney's family from Chicago was in town and they came by for a visit. We spread out the Southern hospitality and had an impromptu fish fry.

Below are his three aunts - Mae Lee, Geneva, and Emma. Shana came over to help us get things together at the last minute. She also played the role of bartender. SMILE!!!
Rodney originally told me we were expecting three people - Aunt Emma, Cousin Larry, and Cousin Hugh. As you can see from the picture below the crowd was much bigger. We added Uncle Fred, Aunt Mae Lee, and Cousin Larry's girlfriend. I really enjoyed having everyone over. It's always nice for Rodney to see his folks!

Easter 2008

Easter Sunday, the Blockers did our traditional thing. We went down to the river for the annual sunrise service sponsored by the First United Methodist Church in Little Rock. It's always a nice moving event that really gets to the essence of what Easter is all about.

Because of Max's high energy and loud voice we sat back from the main crowd. It was a very chilly morning, so we didn't wear our Easter outfits - yea right!

Max and Rodney during the service.

This is the bunny statue in the River Market area. The closet Max is going to get to an Easter Bunny, at least for now. He was very fascinated by the abstract bronze image of the rabbit.
Mama left for New York around 4 Pm that day, so Easter dinner was modified and kept simple. I made fried chicken, mac and cheese, and greens - forgot the cornbread though. I am doing the best I can!
We didn't have our traditional egg hunt either, so Max didn't get to wear his outfit that day. The other grands didn't come out this time around because of Mama's travel schedule, but I heard they did great on their speeches and that they looked good in their new outfits. Max had a big day anyway. He put himself down for a nap right before Mama left to go to the airport. He spent the rest of the evening and all of the next week looking for her.

Eggscellent Extravaganza!

Easter Eve, Aryshona came over for Max's annual egg dying event. It seems that we can never get it done before 10 PM. We ended up shopping at Babies R Us and JC Penney's before we got started.

They had a great time though. Kisha was on spring break in Galveston, TX, so she missed out this year. Max was more interactive this year. He helped a lot. I am glad we were able to get the green off the front of the cabinets! SMILE!! The reaction on Shona's face is priceless! Slam dunk for Max!
The stickers, well, Max decided they were better on him than the eggs. Some battles aren't worth the fight!

Baby Shower for Two

Friday, March 21, 2008

My bestest friends from work hosted a baby shower for me and Juanenna. Below are a few pictures from that shower. I really appreciated all they did for us. I hate that I had to be late for the shower and leave early because of work responsibilities. I was the only one in the office that day and we had unusual circumstances going on.

The cake was very pretty and oh, so tasty! Juanenna and I.
Cassie and Juanenna. Juanenna's due date has been moved from May 8 to April 24. My due date is April 29, and Cassie's due date is in mid May. Stay away from the City Hall water!
Shower guests and hostess Starla as they wait for me to arrive. I sent the camera ahead.
The gift table. We got twinkie gifts and gift cards except for what we got each other. I thought it was super cute!

Us opening gifts! How cute is that little dress.
Me receiving the phone call that called me out early. Right in the middle of opening gifts, dang!! Stacia should have pretended she didn't know where I was. SMILE!!
Hostess Anita! (KJ's Mom)
Hostess, and frappe specialist, Tasha! (Kiara and Bryce's mom)
Shantea and Stacia are missing from the photos, but they were the other two hostess. Stacia helped set up, but could not make it to the shower because of work responsibilities or inconsideration, which ever you want to call it. Shantea works at the county now and I thought I had a picture of her. I will have to look for it!

Work Randomness

March 21, 2008

Just another Friday at work. I had the camera because I was having a shower later that day so I snapped a few shots that morning. Below is Laurie having her morning coffee. Luke was at the office with his father that morning. We don't get to see him that often, so it's always a treat. Dad is great, he gave us yesterday's birthday cake -- for breakfast!
Toya was off work, but she came to pick up another co-workers son so that he could hang with her and her crew. I had never seen them all together before, they are just adorable! They spent most of the day together at the Animal Village trying to pick a new pet.

Which one of these kids is doing his own thing - that would be Colby. Other than tangling himself up in the seat belt of Toya's new car, he had a great day. They had to cut him out of the belt with a utility knife! My kid would probably have managed the same thing.

Senior Recital

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Parkview had it's annual Senior Recital. All of the senior music students did a solo performance of something they had studied all year and then a winner is chosen. Below are some of the music teachers (two are Mama's best friends). I missed Markisha's performance because she was number 20 out of 23 and Max was in a special kind of mood that night. I spent most of my time out in the church courtyard. Her Dad was able to see the performance and got plenty of pictures.
Below are a few of her friends Isaiah and Gianna, who both sang.

My Rock

Shana was present for the shower. She rarely makes the blog because she is always making faces or looking scary when Rodney snaps her. so these are being posted to teach her a lesson.

Aunt Shanie and Max sharing a Happy Meal before the shower.

Looking ugly in the kitchen! Smoochies!
Escorting me to the shower after helping me get dressed. Thank you for being a friend!

Shower Outtakes (The Other Grands)

My boy, Kamron, wowed us all with his little diddy in the middle of the shower. The lyrics were "Cake, cake, I want cake" He chanted this for about 5 minutes while I opened gifts.

Kam and Gigi, she eventually got him the cake and all was well with the world!

My children, Max and Markisha, were inseparable at some points of the shower. This picture is almost like they were feeling sorry for themselves because the attention was on the new baby. Poor kids!
Mrs and Ms. Ellis and Mama Rita were thinking about Max and they sent him a little Easter present early, so he ended up with a gift to open and he was super psyched. More train pieces for me to pick up, but he loves it! Hours of enjoyment every night.
Kobi Janai, with her cute little mean self was also present. She and her Dad below going on a food mission. Her favorite thing to do is eat!

Also present, but not pictured was Javon my older nephew - he's 10.

Fun and Games (More Shower)

Like I said previously, my cousin Chandra led the games! And boy were they challenging. I think everyone was scratching their heads with that candy bar game.
Holli, my belly buddy, and Rodney's best friend Ron's wife, won the first prize. It was a bag full of goodies, most original - it included spicy chicken wing sauce, gourmet preserves, and some Hershey's chocolate sauce. Hmmmmmm!
I got to open lots of great gifts. Girl clothes are fabulous, Lil Mama is going to be cute as a button everyday! Look at that cute little eyelet lace dress.
I got the awesome diaper bag from Crissy, my cousin from Nashville who sent her gift via her mother Andrea. It had a cute little outfit and bibs in it!