An Awesome Weekend

Little Mama ended up leaving Wednesday late afternoon. They were predicting storms for Thursday and she didn't want to be driving home in storms......and I didn't want her driving in bad weather either if she didn't have to. She decided to go home and surprise Sonny Bono and since she was leaving Chloe with me.....she and Sonny Bono were going to have TWO nights all to themselves! I had so much fun with Chloe. She is such a good baby. She never cries unless she is hungry or when she is getting tired....she will fuss a little but not much! Thursday was such a rainy, nasty day. Chloe actually napped quite a bit! She is sleeping pretty much through the night. She went to bed between 10 and 11 p.m. and then woke up between 4 and 5 a.m. She would go right back to sleep and sleep another 2 to 3 hours. Her mommy and daddy came up Friday night and spent the weekend with us. Her mommy and I did some major shopping Saturday. Little Mama needed some clothes......we found her a nice pair of slacks with a jacket and a couple of knit tops. They look really nice on her and we also found her a pair of jeans that look good on her too! We weren't really looking for clothes for Chloe (who am I kidding.....I am always looking for clothes for Chloe) but we found several cute summer dresses, her Easter dress, and some jammies for her. She has outgrown a lot of her clothes and her little closet and dresser drawers were empty!!!!! We went to Mass Sunday morning and left Chloe with Bud. It was so windy and damp so we really didn't want to have to get her out. Bud was getting ready for another trip out of town so he stayed home with Chloe and got packed while we were at Mass. Here are some pictures from our time with Chloe last week and over the weekend.

Not sure if she was super excited to be on Little Buddy's shoulders but Sonny Bono was hoping she would grab a hand full of hair!!!

She is always smiling and so happy!

Chloe with her Mimi!

Chloe with her Poppy!



Another picture of her sweet little face!

She loves to sleep with her little arms over her head! Her daddy always did that too!

I was so lonesome Sunday night. Sonny Bono, Little Mama and Chloe went back home.....left about noon I think. Bud left for Muskogee, OK about 2:00 and Little Buddy went to a movie with a friend so was gone all afternoon and evening. I guess it was nice to have the house to myself but it was sure quiet and empty! I ended up having a good cry......after having Chloe here for 4 1/2 days and having a house full of family all weekend to having nobody here on Sunday afternoon......just felt very sad and lonely. I guess I was just having a very emotional day! During Mass I was thinking about my family.....grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, husband, kids.....granddaughter.....I am so blessed. I have such happy memories of growing up with family always being so important. I want that for Chloe. I want her to grow up with so many happy memories of spending time with us and her other grandparents, etc. And I want her to always always always feel and know how loved she is. I had that growing up and I want her to have it too. And it was so neat to have our three generations at Mass together......my parents, myself and my son and daughter-in-law. If the weather had been better, we would have had FOUR generations there!

Rhyno was sick over the weekend so he wasn't able to spend time with us. Fiance was out of town over the weekend so we kept Olive here. Rhyno just wasn't able to take her out. He at one point had a temperature of 103 and Mimi and Little Buddy took him some Motrin and ibuprofen along with chicken noodle soup, crackers and Popsicles. We kept checking on him because if his fever didn't go down asap....we were going to take him to the ER. The Motrin/ibuprofen kicked in and his fever broke. I took him a Subway sandwich Sunday afternoon and he looked better but was still weak. He went to the doctor yesterday morning and they ran the strep test and it was negative. Said it was viral and not much that they could do but let it run its course.

The girls went to groomers this morning. My helper had out of town guests so was not able to come with me. I didn't have any trouble getting the girls INTO the jeep.....had put their bed inside of the jeep earlier so just had to carry Olive and since Allie was on her leash it wasn't too difficult. Now getting OUT of the jeep.......not so easy! At this point they are both shaking and panting and scared to death. I managed to get out with Olive first and had a death grip on her, grabbed Allie and her leash which at this time is all tangled up around her legs, neck, etc. I tried to get her untangled while keeping Olive in a death grip and trying to pick up their bed and my keys which had fallen in the parking lot......I'm sitting on the ground with Olive STILL in my death grip, working with Allie and her leash, bed and keys are on the ground somewhere! I finally got her leash untangled enough, had Olive in that death grip and ended up walking to the building with the leash tangled around Allie's short little legs barely hanging on to their bed and my keys but the girls were safe and we were mobile! Roger comes out and helps me get into the building. I'm sure I provided the morning entertainment for all of the groomers whose windows face the parking lot!!!! I miss my helper!!!!!

It is supposed to be a really nice, warm day so I am planning on getting some yard work done today! I want to move my plants back outdoors. Thinking that maybe the below freezing temperatures are behind us now?! Then will be able to clean out the garage and my jeep needs a bath too!

Hugs,

Gigi

The sunshine after the snow!

This is how we welcomed Spring! Nothing says Spring like 12 inches of snow! It was pretty watching it snow though! I've never seen such huge flakes! I tried to get a picture but my camera just isn't able to do that! Or maybe it is able to do that but I'm just not able to figure out how to make it do that! That could very well be the case! It was a good weekend to stay indoors by the fireplace and watch basketball games. Little Buddy was in Little Rock visiting friends since he was officially on his Spring Break so it was very quiet around here. To be honest though, Little Buddy really is pretty quiet even when he IS home. We usually only know he is around when he is eating or asking about dinner!

Sonny Bono, Little Mama and Chloe were supposed to come up for the weekend but after I saw the forecast Friday morning, I had to make that dreaded phone call and tell them that we were under a winter storm warning. I hated that they weren't able to come up but was also relieved that they didn't because I would not have wanted them to be on the roads Sunday trying to get back home! It is all working out even better because Little Mama and Chloe are coming up early in the morning and Little Mama is leaving her with me Thursday! Little Mama has an appointment in Little Rock on Friday so I get to have Chloe even longer!!!! Little Mama and Sonny Bono will come up to get her Friday night so I really won't have her as long as I would like to!!!!! : ) Well, they will spend the weekend so I really will get to have her quite a while! I just need to not be greedy! Need to get her bottles out this evening and get them sterilized and ready for her!!!!!! Will be so good to have the baby things out again!

Last Thursday night, Travis Tritt was at the Cherokee Casino in Siloam Springs, OK so Bud was determined that we were going to go. I KNEW that it was going to be so crowded and KNEW that we would be lucky if we could get close enough to SEE him BUT thought we would at least be able to HEAR him. NOT! He wasn't even there with his band. He just had his acoustic guitar and unless you were standing right in front of the stage.....not to the left or right.....but dead center and weren't more than 20 feet from the stage.......you could hear NOTHING! Bud was so disappointed! I think a lot of fans were disappointed. I was concerned about fire code violations! There were so many people in that place and so jammed up......if there had been a fire......it would have been disastrous. They had no idea how many people were coming in that door......so I don't know, maybe they don't have fire code restrictions but they should have! I personally stayed away from the crowds and as close to the doors as possible! We did end up eating in the buffet which was very good. Here is a picture of Bud with Travis.......or as close to Travis as we could get!

This was a little sign on our buffet table! Here is a picture of my mom playing one of her favorite slot machines. They had gotten there earlier and she and Dad ended up staying at the casino ALL NIGHT LONG! I told them that Bud and I had gotten up about 7:30 a.m. and she said that was about the time that she and Dad were just going to bed! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

Can you put curfews on your parents!?! I do not think that I could have stayed awake all night long and I am 20 years younger! I'm sure that they were feeling it on Friday though!

It is a good thing that Chloe is coming tomorrow because I need new pictures to post!!!!!! I will sign off with a picture of Allie coming in after being out in the snow Sunday. She was not a happy girl!

Welcome Spring!

Gigi

Some more Chloe time!!!

I had to make a trip to Maumelle......was needing a little Chloe time!!!!! I actually had a baby shower to go to and since I was in town......decided it was a good idea to spend an extra night! I am so blessed that my son and daughter-in-love put up with me! I was able to persuade Chloe's mommy and daddy to let me get up with her the two nights that I was there! I love those 2 a.m. feedings! Such a sweet bonding and cuddle time! Sonny Bono grilled out the best pork chops Monday night. Oh.....my......word......they were so moist and had such a good flavor! Yummy! Little Mama fixed some fried potatoes which were so good. She just diced some potatoes, sprinkled with EVOO, Cavendars and Italian Seasoning! So good!!!!

I can't believe that I did not take one single picture of Chloe while I was there! I guess I just never want to put her down long enough!!!!! I did borrow a picture that shows her in her little outfit that she wore to the baby shower that Little Mama and I attended Sunday afternoon. Isn't she precious in her Spring outfit!?

The weather was perfect while I was there......we were in the upper 60s and low 70s with sunshine! AWESOME!

Friday morning Rhyno and Fiance took me to Panera Bread for breakfast. It was really good! I don't get to eat there as often as I would like! You just can't beat a good bagel and hot cup of coffee on a damp chilly morning! Here are my breakfast buddies!

I came home Tuesday late afternoon and got home about 5 p.m. We decided to pick up my parents and meet Little Buddy at US Pizza for supper. Rhyno got off work at 6:30 and met us there also. I love going to US Pizza.....good food and friendly people who work there and who treat us like family. Well, we see them about as often as we see family members so........

Chloe received the cutest little outfits from my cousin and his sweet wife over the weekend. I can't really share yet what they gave her until her mommy and daddy come up this weekend and see for themselves but I will tell you that she got the cutest, most perfect little outfits for this Gigi's granddaughter! You will understand more after I take some pictures of her this weekend!

I need to return to my basketball games......I have so far picked the first three winners of the March Madness games so I am winning in the brackets as of right now but we have a long, long way to go! They have been close and have gone into overtimes so it has been pretty stressful for me!!!!!

Wish me luck,

Gigi

A special visitor

I had a very special visitor this week! My sweet daughter-in-love brought Chloe up to see her Gigi! It was Chloe's first visit to Northwest Arkansas and our house! It was perfect!!!! Chloe was able to meet her Uncle Rhyno and Aunt Fiance for the first time and her Great-Aunt Albie who drove all the way from Branson, MO to meet little Chloe! As you can imagine.....I had a house FULL of people that I had to share Chloe with!!!! ; ) My parents were here ALL OF THE TIME !!!! haha It's all good.....I was very happy to share her because at night when everyone went to bed.......I had her all to myself!!!! I had Chloe's little pack 'n play in the living room and I slept on the couch so that I could take care of her and let her mommy get some much deserved sleep! Chloe only woke up at 2 a.m. and again at 5:30 a.m. I guess all of the visiting that she did wore her out! At 2 a.m. she barely woke up enough to have her bottle! She is such a good little baby! She is only 4 weeks and 5 days old and is already smiling and giggling! So much personality which makes me miss her all the more!!!! I really appreciated Little Mama making that three hour drive up here so that we could see Chloe! Rhyno has class 6 days a week so he hasn't even had a chance to meet her yet and Fiance works Saturdays as well so this was the only opportunity that they had to get to meet their new little niece!

My parents came by Thursday morning to see Chloe before she left for home. Little Mama and I took the opportunity to run out for a little breakfast at Susan's while they were at my house. Again.....had to do very little arm twisting! When we got back home.....my mom was sitting in the very same place and was still holding Chloe! Of course she was......did we really think that Chloe would be anywhere else!

Little Mama and Chloe left about 2 p.m. Thursday and I was so sad. I just could not bring myself to pack away her little pack 'n play or bottles or diapers.......just felt like if I had some of her stuff around......I wouldn't be quite as lonely. Didn't help much but maybe a little. I finally did pack the pack 'n play but it is still sitting in my living room! Maybe I will feel like moving it out of the living room tomorrow.....or maybe not! And something else that I discovered.......I totally love having that baby stuff out!!!! I feel all warm and fuzzy seeing the baby things laying around, the bottles in the kitchen, and even those dirty diapers are special in their own way! I miss Little Mama and Sonny Bono so much, too! I am so blessed that Sonny Bono and Rhyno both have found that special someone who give them so much happiness, joy and love. As well as bringing happiness, laughter and love into our lives as well. I love those girls so much and don't think I could love them any more if I had given birth to them myself......they have a huge part of my heart. I love the times that we are able to spend together and all of the memories that we are making! I am very very blessed!

This morning my sweet Rhyno and Fiance took me to Panera Bread for breakfast so that cheered me up a LOT! I love that place but Bud isn't really a bagel kind of guy so I don't go there as much as I would like to! I had the Everything Bagel with Fat-Free cream cheese and it was so good! Since I didn't walk this morning.......(walking buddies out of town) so thought I would be good with the Fat-Free cream cheese. Okay....the truth is......they were out of the regular stuff so I didn't have a choice! Sounded good though, didn't it!? haha

I love this picture! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Gigi

Where is the sunshine?!

We did NOT have sunshine nor did we have warmer temps today! When we left to take the girls to the groomers this morning at 7:45 a.m. it was SNOWING! Seriously? Snow in March? Just not lovin' it like I do in December or January or even in February. March, not so much ! And don't even get me started on that cold, blistery wind! Brrrrr! I always bribe my mom to go with me when it is time for the girls to go to the groomers. It is just so much easier to have the extra set of hands when I'm trying to carry in two dogs and a dog bed! I really don't HAVE to bribe her.....I know that she would go without the treat because that is just how she is. BUT I always treat her to a latte and danish at Pontiac Coffeehouse after we drop the girls off. It never disappoints! However, this morning we chose a cream cheese turnover which was fat-free. I mean, after all......we are trying to get our beach bods and are walking almost every day. And did I mention the latte with the whipped topping that we had with our turnover!? We tried to balance it out so that we wouldn't feel too guilty! Well, let me tell you this.......never, never, never again! My sweet mother complained and complained and complained about the lack of taste, didn't feel like she had even eaten, and on and on and on! haha I tried to remind her that the turnover was fat-free so really, what did she expect! I tell you what she expected......a fat-free cream cheese turnover that was yummy like the REAL ones but without the fat! Yeah, Mom, that would have been nice but it just didn't happen that way so GET OVER IT! haha I may be embellishing her whining a teeny tiny bit! We got my dad a cinnamon roll that looked really good and it was not fat-free so I'm notreally sure if my dad actually ever received that roll this morning! I'll have to ask him!

Last night, Bud, Little Buddy and I went to Louie's for dinner. Coach John Pelphrey was there doing a radio talk show. He is our Razorback basketball coach! I enjoyed listening to him and even talked Bud into sneaking a picture with his iPhone. We were trying to be discreet about it so in addition to it not being the best quality of picture do to usingBud's iPhone and not a real camera and being kinda hard to actually see Coach Pelphrey since we were sitting in a booth about midway.... I did get a picture and want to share it with you regardless! He is the guy on the far right.....he is to the right of the guy in white with head phones....can you see him? ; ) You can see a piece of his shoulder and the tip of his head!





While Little Buddy and I were in Barnes and Nobel this afternoon, I noticed Nolan Richardson's new book on display.....Forty Minutes of Hell. I picked up a copy and will go back Friday at 1 p.m. to get it autographed for Rhyno! How cool will that be!?


After our dinner at Louie's, we drove over to PetSmart to get some fish for our aquarium! It had filtered for 24 to 48 hours and was ready for fish! Unfortunately, PetSmart didn't have many to choose from. There were a lot of empty tanks! The little sales girl said that they would be getting a shipment of new fish in on Thursday. We ended up with a beta, a male and female guppy but upon looking at our sales receipt....I'm thinking we ended up with TWO males, and three of these little zippy fish. The guppies and zippy fish move too fast to get a decent picture but I did get an awesome picture of the beta. So far....so good. They are all alive 24 hours later and seem to be doing quite well! I wanted to post a picture while they are all alive!!!!



Bud, Rhyno and Little Buddy just headed to Petco to see about getting some more fish. They are wanting some neon fish and glo fish. No telling what they will be bringing home. I'm thinking now that maybe I should have gone with them! When they were walking out of the door, I heard words such as frogs, ghost shrimp, and sucker fish.......ugh! Will let you know tomorrow what they end up bringing home! Bud is going out of town tomorrow so the fish will be in my sole care! Last time that he left town, both guppies died. I may be out buying more fish before he gets home late Thursday night!

Have a great evening!

Gigi