September 21...

2 Years Old!!!

Happy Second Birthday, sweetheart. Your mom and sister and I love you very much...

Simpsonize Me

Oh yeah, if you go to www.simpsonizeme.com you can make your whole family fit right in in Springfield. Here we are - absolutely hilarious!

More still!

We are going to jump around a bit, so just hang on for the ride!

Here are a few more pictures from the hospital. We had lots of people come welcome Soah. Believe me, it was greatly appreciated. She is very loved and all the folks who came to the hospital proved it!

 

Soah and Petrea's cousin Ava Grace came to stay with them not long ago. They all had a great time together. Soah and Ava were very excited to hit the town!

Petrea got a piano. I could leave it at that, but it has been way to fun watching her perform for people. She really enjoyed having a captive audience in Ava and Soah.

Of course, Nealy has been over to help get Petrea through this "tough" time. Learning to share time and attention has been a new experience, but PT is adjusting well. Nealy and PT have this thing where they will climb over the back of the couch and "fall" over. Usually, there are cries of "help me" or "ooohhhh nooooo" as they crash down over the back of the couch. It really looks like fun...

Adjusting is just part of it, but PT has taken to Soah very well. She loves her sister very much - sometimes, too much. PT loves to give her hugs and kisses and squeeze her real tight but she doesn't know how to be soft so we have to help Petrea with loving her sis.

You can see from this picture that Petrea is happy - and she knows it (clap your hands *clap*clap*).

Here is her July 4th outfit...

Kevin came over while Ava was here (told you I was jumping around a bit) and took some pictures. You can see his stuff here. While he was taking pics, so was I and I just happened to snap this one of the prettiest blue eyes I know!

Just the beginning...

Yes, this is just the beginning of a number of posts to get everyone caught up on what has/is happening at the Chastain house. Way too many things have happened here and yes, we should have been posting. The biggest thing... Soah Hayes Chastain! She was born on June 16 at 9:53 am. She was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and 21 inches long. Here is the very first picture of the baby girl.

Yeah, it is gross and she is covered in yuck, so we have another one that is much prettier... This was taken the day that we were going home.

Here is  the first picture of Mom and Soah together...

When we did get home, there were lots of pics of the two girls - but it was mostly about Soah and all her new "firsts." This is her first night home pic.

Speaking of first nights, Petrea got into her "big girl bed" during this whole thing. I snuck upstairs to get a picture of her before she woke up.

Alright, that should hold you over for a few days - if anyone still checks this!

Easter and Beyond...

No, I haven't posted from Easter or even one earlier picture that I said I would. Lots has happened in dad's life in the last month - take that as my excuse... So without further adieu, here is the four generations picture from Fairhope that is like four months overdue! Sorry Aunt Gwynn, Grandma, Mom, Autumn and Petrea. Hopefully won't take me as long next time.

And, to add to it, all the pics from Easter. They really don't need much explanation, do they? But, I will give you a little narrative, just in case. Plus, I had two big margaritas with dinner and figure my "witty" comments won't be so "witty" in the morning...

Candy!
Me and my sisters...
The Easter Bunny at church on Saturday.

Find em and Get em...
Hunting eggs with Mrs. Kara in Olive Branch! We found lots of 'em!
Keep lookin'.
Petrea's egg hunting friends from church.
Bubba and the Easter Basket
Four outta five ain't bad...
Pops helpin' Petee find the eggs!

Speaking of Nealy...

Joe sent me some pics from a few weeks ago when they watched Petrea one night. I have been meaning to get them up and David's comment reminded me. I also have been meaning to get pictures of Autumn's visit to Fairhope on here... I will, I promise!

So without further adieu, here are some really great shots of the girls watching Dr. Seuss on the computer at Uncle Joe and Aunt Shirley's.

Comin' Home

Mom gets home today! Yippee! Autumn has been in Tampa coaching the Rhodes Mock Trial team to an 11th place finish at the National Gold Medal Tournament. That is 11th in the entire country. I couldn't be more proud... That being said, she did call a time or two to tell me how nice the weather was and that they had dinner on the beach. This was during our 40 degree, rainy weekend. I am thinking of a sarcastic comment, but don't want to include it here! I did get to attend Brooks Uncorked Friday night. It was a blast - Jordan Barre did a fantastic job pulling this event off. I can see why it is always one of the Top Ten parties of the year. Kudos to you, Mrs. Barre, for a kickbooty event!

SO, during the weekend, we played, "Where's Petrea!" in the Dora tent. She will climb in and stand there for quite a while before you start the whole, "Wheeerrrrreeee's Petrea?" bit. Then, you get this!

Hours and hours fun for both of us!
We have also started, again, trying to get her to eat with a spoon. According to the books and all the experts, I understand we might be a little "late" with this. Whatever. Turns out, she likes the artistic side of yogurt, as evidenced by her shirt, and her hair, and the floor, and the wall behind her...

We also spent some time, as Dave likes to say, "Under the Table and Dreaming." She got a Dora book package at Target and read all four of them to herself under the table. She loves Dora, starting to get who Boots is, and loves the intro to "Jack's Big Music Show." Awesome.

And, I just had to include this one. Autumn and I both hope that when, and if, Petrea remembers this age, she can remember how much we smiled and laughed and played. The look in her eyes makes me feel like we are doing something right, even if we haven't mastered the spoon, yet!

Easter 2007

So we had a great Easter last weekend. We travelled to Little Rock to see everyone over there. It was a blast! We don't really know how it happened, but Petrea had some hilarious hair. Gran and Pops didn't mind - she was giving sugar away like crazy...

We also got to see Ashton, who lost her two front teeth!

Oh yeah, we thought we saw the Easter Bunny. Turns out it was just a squirrel...

At day care, she made some bunny ears and actually wore them around. She was way too darn cute!

Hmm, in other news, Petrea found out that she loves Nutella. She likes it this much...

Then, I found Petrea's 13 month picture! I thought it was lost, but no, here it is!

Happy Easter!

Petrea is growing up so fast. I can't believe we already have artwork to hang on the fridge. She made this at school and showed up at my office Tuesday afternoon, with mom's help, of course, to give it to me so I could hang it on my wall.

Speaking of Easter and renewal... I went to movie night at our church last night. We watched Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." I went in with a healthy bit of skepticism, but, and my dad may write me out the will for saying this, Al's message makes sense. Now, I am not saying that we all have to become environmental activists - neither is Al. Just that maybe we should do our part. Turn a light off, open a window, drink out of a coffee mug instead of always getting a cup to throw away...

Many of those reading this blog grew up right here in God's country (the South) or in rural areas of the United States. Wouldn't it be a shame if we couldn't take our children and grandchildren to the river and go fishing with them because there was no fish - or no river! Or take them duck hunting or on a long walk through the woods in the Ozark mountains... I don't know if global warming is happening for sure or not. The data that Al puts out there seems to point in that direction. I don't know for certain (and I am not sure ANYONE knows) the exact consequences of what might happen if global warming is, in fact, occurring. But, as Marty said last night, I do know how many trash bags I take out to the curb every week, and there is another kid on the way. That only means more diapers in those trash bags.

I understand that everything is political these days, and, unfortunately, that leads to a lot of mistrust. I wish that it would have been someone else to share that message. How many people do I know that won't go see the movie only because it is Al Gore? What if it was Dick Cheney up there giving the powerpoint? How many people would/wouldn't go see it then? What if it was Lance Armstrong? What if it was President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Politically motivated message or not, why not be a little less wasteful? To me, this is one of those situations where it couldn't hurt to err on the side of being safe. (I know some that use that theory about God, but that is a whole other post...) Yes, we drive a big SUV and a truck. Again, I am not saying that I will be trading those in for a Prius anytime soon. But, I will be looking a little harder for energy efficient appliances and putting more thought into what I use and what I can be more responsible about. None of this is for me or for Al Gore or for George W., it is for Petrea and her baby sister. Fault me for many things, but know that most of what I do revolves around my family and will be fiercely protective of all three of my girls.

Are humans supposed to be on this Earth forever? I don't believe we are. We haven't been here all that long as it is and I don't think we will be around for all that much longer. It is a scientific fact that Earth does go through cycles and that not that long ago, where I sit was covered by not quite a mile of ice. One day, the sun will burn out. No law we can pass will stop that. But there is no reason I can't live a bit more responsibly and teach my children to not be wasteful.

Wow, all that off my chest... We are going to Little Rock this weekend for Easter with the family. Pics to follow soon!

Spring is here!!

We got out this weekend. It was B-E-A-YOOTIFUL. I even got sunburned... Big surprise, there.  We worked in the yard as Petrea directed us to where the most work was needed. I grew up in a rural town where most of the orders were given from someone sitting on the tractor. This day was no different.

We also got into the flower beds. Petrea saw that there were worms wiggling around in there but didn't know what to think. Once they disappeared back into the ground, she decided she wanted them back so she started digging for them. I thought that was pretty intuitive, but I am impressed with the little things. She struck gold and did a good job holding on to the slimy little sucker!

On a side note, we had the Lausanne Auction Saturday night. It was a good time and the LPA made the gym look like, well, not a gym. I was completely impressed by all their hard work and that they were nice enough to not charge for liquor...

Sunday was spectacular, too! Again, we spent the day outside. Petrea got some finger paint and bubbles. She completed her first work of art and it is on the refrigerator (where else would it be until it is framed and hung on the wall in a very prominent place).