Pumpkin Patch

Rebecca and I took a trip today to the Berry Pumpkin Patch in Woodstock, Georgia with Joshua, Ari, and their moms. It was super cold, and since it was so close to Halloween, there were not many pumpkins.

But Rebecca had fun being outside and being with her friends.

The tractor pulling the hay ride cranked up just as I was taking this picture. It gave Rebecca a big scare.

Using what her Pop Pop taught her, and driving a tractor.

Rebecca and Joshua

Rebecca and a scarecrow

School Days

Today was Rebecca's first day of Mother's Morning Out. She was a little unsure of it when I left her there, but she quickly recovered. I handed her off to her teacher, Ms. Stacy, and Rebecca started to cry. I stood outside the door until another parent checked in on her and told me she was happy and playing. It only took 60 seconds for her to get over the fact that I was leaving her with strangers.

Ms. Stacy called me about an hour after I left Rebecca with her. She said that Rebecca was having a great time. I even got pictures sent to me over the phone of Rebecca playing and smiling.

I wanted to come back home and nap for three hours since I had the house to myself. Instead, I ran, cleaned bathrooms, vacuumed, made ASP phone calls, got dressed, made Rebecca's lunch, and went to the post office. I even showed up a little early to get my baby.

She had so much fun at MMO. Her teachers said that she had a blast on the playground, and she was showing all her classmates how to climb. (Imagine that, Rebecca climbing.) She was the only one who did not fuss during arts and crafts. She made the cutest footprint ghost. I can't wait for her to bring it home to hang on the fridge.

MMO was a huge success. Hopefully next week will be more of the same.

In other news, Rebecca is talking so much. She can almost repeat anything you say. She loves to point out Mommy's ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. She can also say apple, milk, juice, LaLa (Laura), Josh, choo choo (train), pane (airplane), bath, book, park, dog, cat, and Kato (Nannie and Papa's cat).

I think she is super smart, but I am biased.

Sweetest Thing

Tonight Rebecca did the sweetest thing, and I do not want to forget it. I was cradling her in my arms as she drank her bottle. I leaned over to kiss her forehead. As I did, she reached behind my head to my neck and held my head there. She hugged so tight. I tried to lean up several times to look at her, but each time I did, she pulled my head down again. She can be such a snuggle bug. She is the sweetest thing.

Her new favorite word this week is Mommy. She says it over and over and over again. She likes to repeat it especially when we are in the car. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Sometimes I throw a Rebecca in there, but she just keeps going. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy.

She is a Mommy's girl, which makes me feel bad because I am about to put her in a Mother's Morning Out program at a nearby church. It will two days a week for 3 hours each day. I think Rebecca will love it. She loves being around other babies. We went on a tour today, and I had a hard time getting her to leave. She especially loved the playground.

When it comes time for me to drop her off, I think I will have a harder time than she will. Even though it is me who is pushing for MMO. Rebecca is such a Mommy's girl, that I have a hard time getting things done. She wants me to be right there with her at all times. She has the coolest toys in her very own playroom, but unless Mommy is there, she wants nothing to do with them.

I am hoping to use my 6 hours a week to keep the house clean, run errands, and help John with the pool business, (No, I will not be cleaning pools, but bookkeeping.), and maybe a little relaxing. I do deserve that, right?

I am not on my computer, so I do not have any pictures to post. Maybe Rebecca will let me blog some tomorrow, but I doubt it.

Farm Girl

Growing up cotton was king, at least in Shelby, Mississippi. It was everywhere, and come fall you could smell the gins running. It was the best smell! My sisters and I have the fondest memories of jumping in the cotton trailers full of cotton. We would each take a corner of the trailer and make houses. Some days, when Daddy was bringing in a trailer from the field to the gin, he would stop by our house to pick us up. We would ride in the cotton trailer, with Momma following close behind. We loved going to the gin and watching them suck up the cotton. We even got a chance to suck up cotton from the small "sucker-upper" inside the gin.

Through the years, things changed. Cotton trailers are a thing of the past. Now they have module makers and trucks come to pick up the modules from the fields. Then the modules ride on a conveyor belt into the gin. The wonderful smell of the gin is gone too; it was not environmentally friendly to burn the gin waste. And soon, it seems, that the Denton Gin will be gone. (Mom told us that when she moved to Shelby in the early 70's there were 5 working gins within a mile radius.) Now with the lower cost of cotton, and the rise of ethanol (corn), the Denton Gin is the only gin left in Shelby. Only a few farmers continue to grow cotton. Back in the day, the gin would run 24/7 for months. This year, it ran a couple of days.

My dad decided that this year would be his last as a farmer, and so we took Rebecca to see the farm and the gin for the last time. We have a wonderful time on the farm. Rebecca loved running around and getting dirty. She was not bothered at all from the loud sound of the gin. It is sad to think that she will not remember this trip. But we took a lot of pictures and videos to show her one day.

Maybe in years to come, cotton will be king again.

Denton Manufacturing Company

Rebecca and Pop Pop

The last cotton crop

cotton picker

module maker in the field

modules waiting to be picked up and brought to the gin

Driving the Module Mover with Nannie

Denton Gin

Rebecca and the module waiting for the gin to start running

the module heading into the gin

the cotton running through the gin

out comes a clean, soft bale of cotton

bales of cotton packaged and ready for pick up

the old "sucker-uppers"

We Heart the Beach

We just got back from St. Simons, and we had the best time. Rebecca loves, loves, loves the beach.

I was a little unsure of how she would react to the sand because she hates the sandbox at the park. But as soon as we got to the beach, she scurried to get down and took off for the water.

She did not stop until she fell down in the water. Then she got back up and tried to keep going.

She loved everything about the beach. She loved the water, she loved to pick up shells, she loved to chase the birds, she loved to talk to the dogs that walked by, she loved to dig in the sand, she loved to knock down Mommy's sand castles, and she loved to eat the sand.

Rebecca and Mimi

While we were in St. Simons we celebrated John's birthday. He got lots of great presents and a yummy cake and homemade ice cream. I think his favorite present was being able to sit on the beach and read. Mimi and Papa were wonderful to us, and gave John and I a lot of time together. Rebecca did not mind at all. She loves her Mimi and Papa.

A few morning we would wake up early enough, thanks to Rebecca, to go watch the sun rise.

John and I went to Jekyll Island one morning with Papa to check out the Jekyll Island Inn. It is a very old hotel that was once a private club for the Rockefellers and others. It was really beautiful, and the Spanish moss in the Live Oaks was my favorite thing.

Rebecca was also happy to hang out at the condo. She loved walking in and out of the sliding glass door. She would go in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out. Once she decided to stay out, she would talk and talk to anyone or no one at all.

Rebecca had her first slice of pizza. Then two more after that.

Her cousins, Matthew and Susannah, came down from Savannah on Saturday to play. Rebecca had a blast with them.

It was a wonderful vacation. We were sad to leave and are already looking forward to next October!