These Are the Days

This song describes how I feel about my life these days, soaking it all in....

These are days you’ll remember

Never before and never since, I promise

Will the whole world be warm as this

And as you feel it,

You’ll know it’s true

That you are blessed and lucky

It’s true that you

Are touched by something

That will grow and bloom in you

These are days that you’ll remember

When May is rushing over you

With desire to be part of the miracles

You see in every hour

You’ll know it’s true

That you are blessed and lucky

It’s true that you are touched

By something that will grow and bloom in you

These are the days you might fill

With laughter until you break

These days you might feel

A shaft of light

Make its way across your face

And when you do

Then you’ll know how it was meant to be

See the signs and know their meaning

It's true

Then you’ll know how it was meant to be

Hear the signs and know they’re speaking

To you, to you

Who's Ya Daddy?

This is a day late and a dollar short (like most of my attempted undertakings these days) but I wanted to take a few minutes and honor my babies' Daddy with this post.

Daniel became a Dad at the age of 25. This is the young man who, while we were dating in college, told me that he would not even consider marriage until he had finished law school. So, three happy years of marriage later, at the beginning of OUR (not his) second year of law school, two pink lines changed our lives forever. I knew he was excited when he skipped the UGA v. Clemson game to go home and tell our parents (well, our moms actually knew already because we had to call them for help in deciphering the pregnancy test - seems law school students can see everything two ways). Daniel truly did 50% of everything involving Mary Evelyne because he had no choice. We both had to go to class, both had to pass, and both had to sleep at some point. Other moms we knew (which weren't many) laughed that he knew all of Mary Evelyne's outfits including the names of the brands, the best way to clip baby nails, and how to clean the breast pump parts. Now that is hands on.

I don't have it quite so good with Maggie Beth since I work part-time and Daniel works full time, but we have the "team" approach to parenting down to an art. Sometimes we make it through picking the girls up after work, cooking dinner, feeding everyone, cleaning up, bath time, bottles, stories, with less than 100 works spoken, but everyone playing their part, carrying out this not-so-seamless dance known as evenings in the White house. Middle of the night wakings and feedings have a system all their own, with unspoken, yet perfectly understood, rules about who gets up when and for how long.

These are things you don't think of looking for in a man when you are 20, eating at Weaver D's, hanging out at the Abbey pool, and riding around in your VW Cabrio telling your roommates how much you like it when it turns from winter to Spring because you like how your boyfriend's legs look in shorts. But, it is the hundreds of little things that I didn't know about Daniel until we had children that are most precious to me. Some of them I can't even put into words. Sometimes it's just a smile in the midst of our crazy days that says, "yes we are running around like crazy, so tired we could be asleep if given 3 minutes, a floor and a pillow, but I love you more than ever and I wouldn't have it any other way".

God knew that I would enjoy life so much more with Daniel by my side. He knew that our girls needed a man who loves Georgia football, the Civil War, Jesus Christ, head scratches, Disney princesses, family, and most of all, us. When we were dating, I always felt like I was the roller coaster and Daniel was just steady and easygoing. Now that there are 3 of us emotional girls, I think we are the teacups at Disney World (see below), spinning round and round, and Daniel is holding tightly to the little silver circle in the middle so we don't make ourselves sick!

Thanks for holding onto us Daddy! We love you!

Your girls.

P.S. Maggie Beth apologizes, but as of today, there are no photos in our possession of you and her. Oops! Poor second child.

Team blogging and Deep Thoughts from Mary E

So while I was still in the process of putting the finishing touches on this here blog, it was apparently partially hi-jacked by my wife, seeing as she added her own post and unilaterally published the whole thing earlier than I had planned.
But I have to say that our working together on this is absolutely fine by me. I never could manage a sustained effort on my earlier attempts at blogging about the girls, so I imagine a team effort will work better.

Katie has been quite fascinated lately by the network of blogs that is now up and running among our many friends and family, which give us new insight into their daily lives, and I guess that's what sparked her interest in contributing here.

However, in typical Katie fashion, her involvement immediately made this site a much more intellectual and thoughtful experiment. I am much more apt to try and produce a blog with some good visuals and a little witty banter, a la the first-rate material found on the J Train blog (hard for me to admit that I'd like to model my site after an Auburn man's blog, but he is kin after all, so I'll own up to it). Katie, on the other hand, is a much deeper thinker than yours truly. She sees the big picture a lot better than me and is far better at expressing herself. If I tried to post on her level we'd probably end up with something akin to Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey.

And speaking of Deep Thoughts, here's a new recurring feature that I'm sure you will enjoy, Deep Thoughts from Mary Evelyne (sorry if some of y'all have heard some of these, but they are well worth repeating):


- from this morning, as she drank a bottled water from my bedside table: "Mommie, am I drinking your germs or Daddy's?"

- also from this morning, in response to my query as to whether she had flushed the potty after her pee-pee (keep in mind we have told her not to flush the toilet when Mommie, Daddy, or Lil Sis are in the tub/shower): "No, I didn't flush the potty because it will make the Lee's Crossing Pool too hot."

-and again from this morning (as Mommie sighs after letting Nellie out for the 3rd time this morning): "Mommie, it's hard to take care of two girls and a doggie."

- but, by far, our favorite of her recent quotes comes from a recent Sunday lunch (not long after we'd discussed God being in her heart after the prayer): "This chocolate milk is yummy...(thirty seconds later)..."God is in my heart"...(another fifteen seconds)..."I think that when I drink this chocolate milk it rains on God and Jesus in my heart"...(a few more seconds)..."and They like chocolate milk... "

That last one is an instant classic in my book.

Mary Evelyne puts on a show

Below I've posted some highlights from Mary Evelyne's "end of the year" party for her class of 2 and 3 year olds at Marietta First Methodist pre-school. This was back in May and as you can see, she really put on quite a show. I challenge you to watch this video and not break a smile (I'm fairly certain it can't be done):

Not a creature was stirring....

The house was so quiet last night. Maggie B had her bath and bottle and was in bed by 7. Mary E wanted to take a bath with her sister and help wash her, even though it was only 6:45, so we let her. We took our time reading princess stories and she got 4 instead of the usual 3. Even still, it was only 7:40 when we finished. Daniel was feeling bad with a headache and was asleep by 8pm. So, I had the house and the night to myself.

Summer TV is no good, so I watched old videos of the girls. I guess Daniel's recent YouTube kick made me want to see more. I wanted to see Mary Evelyne when she was Maggie Beth's age to remind me what she was like. How was she ever that small, not to mention so quiet?

I think the first child really does have such a different experience than those that follow. Up until watching those videos I had always sort of "felt sorry" for Maggie Beth, not getting as much undivided attention from her parents as Mary Evelyne got when she was a baby. For instance, we worked and worked with Mary Evelyne learning to sit up. Maggie Beth has just seemed to start sitting overnight. I guess we were a little distracted. I watched up quietly read her "The night before Christmas" on Christmas Eve when she was 8 months old. The whole family, including grandparents and Josh and Jen, sat watching me read it to her, every eye fixed on that little 8 month old. These days, it would have been me reading to Maggie Beth with Mary Evelyne acting it out in sequins and high heels.

Now I am starting to think that Maggie Beth is the lucky one. What she lacks in attention from us, she gets from Mary Evelyne. That child LOVES her sister. She is constantly reading to her, playing with her, this morning she was trying to teach her to say D..D...Dog and pointing to Nellie. Yes, Maggie Beth gets poked and pushed and squeezed and flashlights shined directly in her eyes, but she seems to love it all as she gazes up at her big sister in awe.

I guess the lesson I am trying to learn is to stop "feeling sorry" for any of us, and to realize that we each have a wonderful, special place in this family that God is creating every day, with every bath, every meal, every diaper changed. We are all growing up together, whether we are learning to sit, to poo-poo in the potty, or to learn to attend to so many little hearts at once.

Port Orleans Dragon Slide

Blood curdling screams are not usually the sounds you want to hear from your three year old daughter. That is, unless, she's actually having the time of her life on the Dragon Slide at the Port Orleans Resort pool. This is one of our favorite clips from the Disney trip, and trust me, if you want the full effect, you need to turn up the volume on your computer.

Meet the Whites...all over again!

Hello everyone, the White folks are back!



After a prolonged absence from the blogging world the White family has returned to these here internets. Some of you may remember Mary Evelyne's first foray into the blog-o-sphere, or Maggie Beth's shortlived debut. Some with really good memories might even recall the obscure Idlewyld blog.



So after much procrastination and some pestering by various friends and family, Daniel finally got down to the business of setting up this blog, where you can catch up with not just Mary E, and not just Maggie B, but both girls - in one spot. Heck we may even throw some news from and pictures of the parents, grandparents, etc.