I recently penned this little letter to my new kindergarten girl. She started school late last week, but this will be her first full week as a kindergartner. It has been such a fun and exciting time in our family- buying school supplies for the first time, talking about how "big girl" elementary school would work, adjusting bed times and our daily routines, and on and on and on. In any case, I thought I would share this milestone with you all.
But honestly, I think you can substitute "Kindergarten" with any grade, or any big "first" for that matter, as you read on through these thoughts below. It is so important to encourage our little ones, even when they aren't so little anymore. And so important to lift up our teachers. They have such big and wonderful jobs to do. And I am grateful for everyone who positively impacts my little girl.
Today begins a big, new, fresh chapter in this family. Today, Lexi starts Kindergarten and we are THRILLED for her. Such a big step for such a big girl. So on this day- on this journey that begins anew for you- I wish so many things. Lexi girl, today and all throughout your years, I hope you will:
• respect,
• listen,
• play,
• volunteer,
• befriend,
• observe,
• learn,
• be kind,
• conquer,
• help,
• behave,
• relate,
• remember,
• sing,
• notice,
• include,
• think,
• congratulate,
• smile,
• inquire,
• cheer,
• be fierce,
• create,
• love,
• encourage,
• show pride,
• cooperate,
• grow,
• skip,
• thrive,
• understand,
• be thoughtful,
• sympathize,
• lead,
• follow,
(and know when to do each.)
And always remember to:
• BE YOU,
• SOAR,
• DANCE.
I hope you dance.
Now, today, every day, for all the years to come, ALWAYS.
We just returned from a long weekend in the hills and hollers of Tennessee, and it was there that I was reminded that our little one, Lexi, sure does enjoy herself some pickin' and grinnin'. Of course, she gets it honestly. I love it too! And you cannot- CANNOT- get away from any such jam session in the great state of Tennessee without hearing good ole Rocky Top somewhere on the set list. It is one of the official state songs of TN, and has become a fan favorite at all of the University of Tennessee games too.
In any case, Rocky Top has become Lexi's latest jam. Although she's heard it many times before, something just clicked this time, and now she's asking for it by name. So I play it for her over and over. And we dance, dance, dance all around the house. What fun!
Incidentally, another thing we cannot seem to get away from every time we visit the mountains of TN are the old time photos. Here we all are this most recent trip. That's the Harris Sisters' Daddy and his wife Nancy, along with my hubby John, sweet Lexi, and me. Daddy looks like he just walked out of one of his favorite westerns!
And there's little Lexi just being precious. She's so good at it. I loved her little dress, and she did a great job holding those flowers too!
And it was actually just this time last year we were in the same part of the country with John's parents for a long weekend, and we took similar pics then too. That's John's dad, Larry, his mom, Jan, and of course me and our little family. Lexi was only a year old and we were all shocked that she sat still for this picture. Larry also looks like he just walked straight out of a Western. :)
And of course, long time followers of the blog will remember these fun photos. That's all the Harris Sisters: Misty, me, and Donna, along with Misty's daughter, Charlotte. These pictures were taken a few years ago on one of our famous Girls' Weekends.
So what do all these photos have to do with Rocky Top? Well, they were all taken on trips to Gatlinburg, Tennessee over the years. And Gatlinburg is actually the birth place of the song Rocky Top! If you listen to the lyrics, you will pick up on references to the country life- "Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top. Ain't no telephone bills." And for your reference, I'm including the full lyrics below. You will need them when you start singing and tapping along to this classic.
So here's one of my favorite videos of the Osborne Brothers performing their hit. They do a great job giving a little history of the song right before they dive into it, so listen up. It's so much fun!
And here are those lyrics for you....
Wish that I was on ol' Rocky Top
Down in the Tennessee hills
Ain't no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top
Ain't no telephone bills
Once I had a girl on Rocky Top
Half bear, the other half cat
Wild as a mink, sweet as soda pop
I still dream about that
Once two strangers climbed ol' Rocky Top
Lookin' for a moonshine still
Strangers ain't come down from Rocky Top
Reckon they never will
Corn won't grow at all on Rocky Top
Dirt's too rocky by far
That's why all the folks on Rocky Top
Get their corn from a jar
I've had years of cramped up city life
Trapped like a duck in a pen
Now all I know is it's a pity life
Can't be simple again.
Rocky Top you'll always be
Home sweet home to me
Good ol' Rocky Top
Rocky Top Tennessee, Rocky Top Tennessee
And to leave you with another fun video, here's our Lexi (and me) jamming to Rocky Top from our most recent trip to the mountains.
And here she is dancing with another sweet little girl who saw Lexi dancing and decided to join in.
We had front row seats at this concert, so Lexi just made herself at home. But that's what you do in the mountains, right?
So that's a little look into what we've been up to lately, and definitely what we've been listening to lately. Never a dull moment around here!
Five years ago, on a whim, John and I decided to take a photo together on the front steps of our house at Halloween time. Since then, it has become somewhat of a tradition. It's fun to look back on these photos and see how things have changed: our family, my hair (!), the color of our fall mums, and the volume of our fall-time decorations.
Here's the run down for you....
2015: John and I have been married for four years now. Babydoll is almost 18 months old, and sweet Izzie is nearly five years old. We will always carve out time to get this photo every year from now on.
2014: Married three years. Babydoll was born in the spring of the year and joined us for this photo for the first time. Izzie, however, is now a pro at these photos.
2013: Married for two years, and just found out we were expecting Babydoll (though we had not yet announced it to anyone)!
2012: Married for one year. But this was the third year of us doing this picture. By this time, we knew it had already become an annual tradition.
2011: Just married! We married in September of 2011, and got Izzie the Wonder Pup that year too! We decided to recreate this photo with the new addition to our family.
2010: John and I met around this time of year in 2008. Two years later, we were engaged to be married. This is where these photos all began.
I can't say enough how much I love getting these annual photos. It is such fun to recreate them every year and look back at them all as the years pass. Is there a certain photo that you take every year? I would LOVE to hear all about them! Comment below or on our Facebook page!
Just in time for Halloween, wouldn't you know that Lexi has a new jam, and of course it's a Halloween favorite. I have been playing her this version of The Monster Mash on the iPad, set to scenes from the original Scooby Doo cartoon, and she LOVES it!
She bobs her little head and sways in time to the music. This babe has rhythm! Take a look for yourself and enjoy this old time Halloween tune. I bet you'll be bobbing and swaying a little too!
As always, here are the lyrics so you can follow along...
I was working in the lab late one night When my eyes beheld an eerie sight For my monster from his slab began to rise And suddenly to my surprise
He did the mash He did the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash He did the mash It caught on in a flash He did the mash He did the monster mash
From my laboratory in the castle east To the master bedroom where the vampires feast The ghouls all came from their humble abodes To get a jolt from my electrodes
They did the mash They did the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash They did the mash It caught on in a flash They did the mash They did the monster mash
The zombies were having fun The party had just begun The guests included Wolf Man Dracula and his son
The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds The coffin-bangers were about to arrive With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five"
They played the mash They played the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash They played the mash It caught on in a flash They played the mash They played the monster mash
Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring Seems he was troubled by just one thing He opened the lid and shook his fist And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist"
It's now the mash It's now the monster mash The monster mash And it's a graveyard smash It's now the mash It's caught on in a flash It's now the mash It's now the monster mash
Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band And my monster mash is the hit of the land For you, the living, this mash was meant too When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you
Then you can mash Then you can monster mash The monster mash And do my graveyard smash Then you can mash You'll catch on in a flash Then you can mash Then you can monster mash
This really is Lexi's latest jam. She picked it herself. And it's the funniest thing ever watching her when this song comes on. It is the opening/ theme song to the Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black (OITNB).
For those who aren't in the know, it's a dark comedy about life inside a women's prison. And it's in it's third season on Netflix. John and I started watching it last year, and we were hooked. When the new season went live in June, we were there again, and have watched all summer.
Whenever the opening song comes on, Lexi drops whatever she is doing and runs to the tv to watch. She is glued to it until the song ends and then she returns to whatever she was previously doing. I think it must be all the faces that she is looking at. Silly, silly girl. Here's the video. What do you think? Why else would a 15 month old be so enamored with this?
In any case, I really do also like this song. It was written specifically for the series by Regina Spektor and was even nominated for a Grammy. As always, here are the lyrics for you.
Just a few months ago at the beginning of summer, we took a little road trip down to Bell Buckle, TN to do some antiquing. You can read more about that here. One of the treasures that we brought home was an unfinished Sunbonnet Sue quilt. It was old and a little frayed. And no one had ever managed to put a back on it before it ended up in a little antique shop. When I saw it, my eyes lit up. I knew we had something good there. The shop was asking $20 for the piece, which I felt was a good deal for what we had found, so we snagged it and brought it home.
Now, I'm not a quilter, but thankfully, I have a few connections and quickly found someone to help us finish this fabulous piece. Here's a look at the finished quilt in action. Lexi seems to like it!
It is a treasure indeed. I'm so glad this beautiful quilt now has a home.
Here are a few close ups of some of the Dutch Dolls.
And I choose a small vintage looking floral pattern in a coordinating color for the backside of the quilt. When I went to capture a couple photographs of it, I suddenly had a little help.
And then next thing I knew I had a little MORE help.
But back to the quilt. It is a small size. I would say it's a twin size quilt at best. We will use it in Lexi's room once she gets old enough for a bigger bed. For now, she's content to cuddle up with it when she's playing on the floor.
I do so love vintage treasures. And this one is just about as good as it gets.
Soooo, I wouldn't exactly say this is Lexi's *latest* jam- she's been jamming to this one since she was just a babe, but we were reminded of it recently at this year's annual Bluegrass Along the Harpeth Festival.
Wagon Wheel was originally sketched by Bob Dylan, and later made popular by the Old Crow Medicine Show. It has been covered countless times, most recently- if not most famously- by Darius Rucker in 2013, who took it straight to the top of the country music charts.
As for little Lex, she started jamming to this one early on because the lyrics say: "Rock me, Mama, like a wagon wheel. Rock me, Mama, any way you feel. Hey, Mama, rock me..." I used to sing this one to her over and over as I rocked her to sleep at night. Ever since, this has officially been "our song".
Here we are dancing to it at this year's Bluegrass Festival. That's what the band behind us was playing. :)
And here's Darius Rucker's version for you. It's a good one.
And just in case you feel like rocking right along too, here are the lyrics. Enjoy!
Heading down south to the land of the pines I'm thumbing my way into North Caroline Staring up the road and pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a-hopin' for Raleigh, I can see my baby tonight
So rock me momma like a wagon wheel Rock me momma any way you feel Hey, momma rock me
Rock me momma like the wind and the rain
Rock me momma like a south bound train
Hey, momma rock me
I'm running from the cold up in New England I was born to be a fiddler in an old time string band My baby plays a guitar, I pick a banjo now Oh, north country winters keep a-getting me down Lost my money playing poker so I had to leave town But I ain't turning back to living that old life no more
So rock me momma like a wagon wheel Rock me momma any way you feel Hey, momma rock me Hey, rock me momma like the wind and the rain Rock me momma like a south bound train Hey, momma rock me
Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke Caught a trucker out of Philly had a nice long toke But he's a heading west from the Cumberland gap To Johnson City, Tennessee And I gotta get a move on before the sun I hear my baby calling my name and I know that she's the only one And if I die in Raleigh at least I will die free
So rock me momma like a wagon wheel Rock me momma any way you feel Hey, momma rock me Oh, rock me momma like the wind and the rain Rock me momma like a south bound train Hey momma rock me
Oh, so rock me momma like a wagon wheel Rock me momma any way you feel Hey, momma rock me (mama rock me, mama rock me) Rock me momma like the wind and the rain Rock me momma like a south bound train Hey, ey yeah momma rock me (you can rock me, rock me)
What a difference one year makes. Just this time last year, Lexi was only a couple months old, and enjoying her very first Fourth of July. Of course, we captured it in photos. Fast forward one year, and we recreated the same pics to mark the milestone.
Here she is last year, just an infant.
And here she is now, as a toddler on the move.
Last year, she wasn't old enough to sit in the wagon, so I held her up in the corner for a couple pictures.
This year, I joined her for a few pics in an attempt to keep her in the wagon!
And then there's Lexi's best pal and "sister", Izzie. It's always a walk on the wild side when she joins the pics, but we captured it two years in a row now. Here they are last year.
And here they are now. These girls do love each other. It's such a sweet sweet thing. Lexi was hugging Izzie in this picture.
Of course, it's the moments between the moments that always make for the best candid (and often funniest) photos. And if you have a photographer like my husband, then they just keep snapping photos constantly, leaving you with lots of "in between" moments to sort through. :) Here are the outtakes from this year (notice how they all include Izzie, the Wonder Pup)...
So that's it for this year's pics. Stay tuned for more, I'm sure, next summer!
Time will tell, I suppose. Doesn't every parent wonder at some point whether their wee one will become a righty or a lefty? I sure do. Lexi primarily sucks her right hand, but she will occasionally suck her left thumb too. She picks up toys and food pretty equally with both hands at this point.
Our pediatrician agrees that it's still too soon to know with Lexi. However both John and I are righties so we have always tended to assume she will be too. But in both cases, we both have moms who are/were lefties as well as siblings who are lefties too. So I suppose there is a family connection somewhere in there too.
With all that in mind, I decided to do a little research to see what the experts say. It is actually pretty interesting, in that handedness is in fact genetic. However, it's not as simple as right handedness being dominant and left handedness being recessive. If that were the case, then two left handed parents would always make a left handed child, and two right handed parents would never make a left handed child, but as it happens, neither is the case.
It turns out that in our case, two right handed parents still have a 1 in 10 chance of having a left handed child. The same holds true if only the dad is left handed. The odds rise to 2 in 10 if the mom is left handed, and 4 in 10 if both parents are left handed. Clearly there is something other than genetics at work here. If you look at identical twins, they start with the same DNA, however when one twin is a lefty, the other is also a lefty only 76% of the time. Hmmm, very interesting.
Experts believe that environment also plays a key role. Babies can be born genetically predispositioned to become a lefty but ultimately something needs to trigger it for that to happen. There is also some research to suggest that birth order plays a part as well. That research indicated that first borns were less likely to become lefties than children who were born later in the birth order. In both our cases, that held true. Misty is our lefty and she is the youngest of the three Harris sisters. In my husband's family, he is the first born and is a righty, but his younger brother is the lefty of their bunch.
In many ways, I think it sure would be cool for Lexi to be a lefty. But I also think it would be harder on us as parents to try to teach her to do things if she did them opposite from us. Either way, she will be perfect. And as I say, time will tell. Until then it sure is fun to try to figure it all out. :)
Now that our Lexi is teething (again- will this ever end?), I can only describe her demeanor lately as emotional. She's not a fussy baby and she literally never cries, so I have zero room to complain. She's just a little on the emotional side while these latest teeth are trying to make their way through.
And I know that as soon as they pop through, life will be back to normal once again. Until then, sing it, Whitney. You have provided us with our latest theme song. And I mean it- it's on constant rotation on the old iPad. Lexi really does like this one. :)
I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me
I keep your photo right beside my bed
Livin' in a world of fantasies
I can't get you out of my head
I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night
Why you want to make me feel so good
I got a love of my own
Shouldn't get so hung up on you
I remember the way that we touched I wish I didn't like it so much
I get so emotional, baby
Every time I think of you
I get so emotional, baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
I gotta watch you walk in the room, baby
I gotta watch you walk out
I like the animal way you move
And when you talk I just watch your mouth
I remember the way that we touched I wish I didn't like it so much
So this story began over a year ago. If you will allow me to walk down memory lane for just a moment, we were expecting Baby Lexi last spring, and we found a stash of vintage baby clothes for sale that I quickly swooped up. Here's the full story if you want to refresh your memory, or see all the details. Back then I mentioned that you might see these sweet pieces again, so I couldn't let you down.
But we did also get around to actually using those vintage baby clothes for more than just decoration. I knew once she grew into them, we would be using them for some of her milestone photographs, and that's just what we did.
This is one of her 6-month photos. She is wearing the pink 1950's bonnet in it.
Here's a closer look at the bonnet and it's detail. It is so lovely.
And here's another shot of Lexi modeling it at age 6 months.
Fast forward three months, and we have Lexi's 9 month photographs. This time the dresses fit her perfectly so we used a couple of them for these photos. I carefully pulled them down from her nursery decor and tried them all on her. They all fit, so it was decision time. I ended up choosing this light blue one with the lace collar and puff sleeves.
Here's a closer shot of this dress taken right after we first brought it home.
Add a vintage Raggedy Andy doll and you've got pure magic!
This pinafore was one that I bought in a little antique shop in Kentucky last fall on a separate antiquing adventure. It still had the original tags attached. So I slipped it right on over Lexi's vintage dress for a few more pics.
And then our photographer was patient enough with us to allow for another outfit change. So I quickly slipped her into the pink 1950's dress. This one was perfectly handmade and in excellent vintage condition. In the picture below, she is playing with her vintage Fisher Price Mother Goose pull toy from her nursery toy display.
And that pretty pink dress is pictured below from my original blog post.
And here's a closer look at the dress in action.
So there you have it. It has taken me a year to deliver on my promise of showing you how we used these vintage baby clothes. But when a Harris Sister makes you a promise, you can take it to the bank, my friends.
Lexi did have to grow into these lovelies first, so hopefully you will pardon the delay. How could you not? Just look at that face. :)
