Dancing Archives - Palmettos and Pigtails

Five Fabulous Years {A love story}

April 12, 2013 posted by Shara

I can’t believe we’ve been married five years! Sometimes it feels like fifty…..not in a bad way, but in a “we’ve feel like we’ve known each other for decades, our life together has grown so much” kind of way. And yet, it just seems like our wedding was a few weeks ago! We’ve come so far in just five years….two houses and two children later!Dave and I got engaged on January 20th, 2007, while on a ski vacation with our great friends, Will and Diana. After a long day of skiing, Dave and I took a walk before dinner, and overlooking Beech Mountain, he popped the question!Naturally, I said yes and immediately started Googling wedding ideas {I so wish that Pinterest was around back then!!}. And the following April, we finally tied the knot!My best girls {college roommate Diane, camp roommate Martha, back-home bestie Betsy, and sister-extraordinaire Loo Loo} were my maids of honors while Dave’s pals from home and his brother Chris, were his groomsmen.The whole weekend was a dream. And a blur. We had a great rehearsal and dinner following it, and then headed to several family and friend parties before getting to bed early. I kicked Dave out of the house and the girls invaded for my last night as a bachelorette. It was pretty uneventful…I was gung-ho on going to bed early to get as much beauty sleep as possible.On wedding day, we got married at 2pm at our church, and then had several hours before having our reception at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Our thoughts with the large gap was that it would give us lots of time for photos in the gardens, and give our guests time to change into their dancin’ shoes and to also explore the plantation and petting zoo. Too bad it rained. So we mostly just sat around and tried not to get muddy!And OH! The dancing! The party was awesome! The dance floor was filled the entire night….I should know, I was on it! And I am NOT a dancer. But I had such a poofy beautiful dress on, that I was able to just bounce to the music and somehow it looked good! What a blast! All of my favorite people in one place, having the time of their lives! We were all exhausted by the end of the night….That weekend was the first best day of my life {followed shortly by the births of my beautiful daughters!}…and the start of a beautiful marriage! I love you more than ever Dave…here’s to at least fifty more years! =)

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Filed Under: Life

Happy 3rd Birthday Jayna!

February 9, 2012 posted by Shara

Dear Jayna,

It is hard to believe that you are three years old today! I remember when you were born…you were such an easy baby! You smiled as soon as you were born, and Oh! Your hair! What beautiful hair you have always had!

You were so good to us newbie parents, sleeping through the night and eating well! I had people stop me all the time out in public to compliment you. You were the friendliest, most beautiful baby they had ever seen! (See? It wasn’t just me who thought so!)

And you have always been such a little ham! You remind me of Loo Loo when she was little. You love making faces, being silly and looking at yourself in the mirror!

Jayna, you already have such a kind soul. You make friends very easily, and have always been good at sharing your toys. You can be very sensitive though….you sometime will get upset just because someone else is crying! We still have to monitor what you see on TV very closely, because if a character is upset-you start crying too! And what a little tattle-tale you can be! You come home from school with stories of the “bad boys.” I know exactly who sat in time out, who didn’t share, and who had accidents in school each day!

I am so proud of your short little life already! You never cease to amaze me with your smart-alec comments that most would only think could come out of a 12 year old’s mouth! You are so smart, and are so independent….insisting on doing everything yourself. I can’t believe that not only do you know all of your letters, sounds and numbers…you can also copy almost all of the letters of the alphabet and write your name! And aren’t you a child of the times…you can work my smartphone better than I can!! And although we certainly have our “toddler” moments, you are truly a joy to be around (most of the time!).

I love how kind you are to your little sister….you always have her needs in mind and are quick to babysit her or help feed her. You are so gentle (most of the time) and so affectionate with her! I hope you two are always best friends and continue to help and love each other unconditionally.

Jayna, your love for God makes my soul so glad….although you may not know what it means completely, your heart is so pure! I love and admire how you crave knowledge about God and how appreciative you are already for all He has given you! I’m always so touched when I catch you praying with Elly, or when I see you helping a friend or showing your gratitude.

Long story short, I can’t believe you are already three years old….and I can’t believe you are only three years old! It has been such fun watching you grow so far, and I can’t wait to continue watching you turn into a kind, smart, beautiful little girl! Happy Birthday Buggy! I love you!

Love, Mommy

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Filed Under: Faith, Life

Ballerina Big Sister

October 11, 2011 posted by Shara

Buggy is officially a ballerina. She started ballet at the YMCA in our neighborhood and loves it. She loves a lot of things lately! We walk to class every Monday, and join the other three ballerinas in butterfly stretches, sashays and tip toes.

They are learning a little dance for a performance of Bibbity Bobbity Boo on the last day of class. Jayna loves to dance, but is quite often much more interested in comparing tutus, playing with her friends’ hair, swapping her shoes (she finds it fascinating that there is no right or left ballet shoe! They can fit either foot!), and playing on the kickboxing equipment in the corner of the room. Oh. And don’t forget the mirrors. She loves the mirrors!

But she also loves Ms. Lisa, her teacher (and also a friend from church). And let me tell you-Ms. Lisa has the patience of a Saint with this crew of active girls! But she manages to herd them each week and they all love ballet!

Jayna has proved to be an excellent Big Sister. She loves “babysitting,” which consists of her playing with Amelia while I pee. =) Amongst other things. Really, it has been my saving grace, as I am able to do many 1-2 minute activities now that I have this new-found babysitter!

I am actually so fortunate to have had soooooo much help these past few weeks with moving and settling into the new house. We have even had our first weekend visitors! My aunts and uncle and cousins came to visit and meet Amelia a couple of weeks ago. You may remember Julia and Wouter from our trip to Lancaster this summer.

It was their first time to Charleston, so we had to show them the sights. And indulge in a little fountain playing!

And last week, Mom Mom flew down for a long weekend for her share of Baby Holding.

And she taught Buggy how to drive.

And managed to catch Elly and Tippy hanging out with Amelia!

So, that’s what we have been doing the past couple of weeks. We are significantly downsizing the box situation, and our rooms are actually starting to look lived in! It’s amazing how we can move into this big house, but have somehow manage to have less storage than in our old house. But I guess it’s really a good thing as we have been forced to declutter and prioritize our “stuff.” We pretty much have downstairs under control and are now concentrating on unpacking clothes and bedrooms.

Remember this masterpiece?Dave allowed me to buy it for the loft (aka “My Craft Room”), to do my crafts and sewing on. It was beautiful. Was. It cost an arm and a leg to buy, store and deliver. Turns out, there was a reason why it was so expensive. Apparently it was actually a kitchen island, and was made of one piece of carved wood. And was extremely large. As in, larger than our doorway…let alone our staircase! So….we had to return it. Now I have a store credit to my fav furniture store, but no craft table. And subsequently, no craft room….as the loft has turned into the dumping ground for all things Wii and sorting place for the massive amount of laundry that has piled up wince we’ve moved in. So the saga continues….

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Filed Under: Life, Our Humble Abode

A Moving Poem

September 19, 2011 posted by Shara

‘Twas the night before Closing and all through the house,
Everyone was pooped…even my spouse!
Boxes were stacked in each room with such care,
Awaiting the movers who soon would be there.

The children were snuggled in a basket and mattress,
Lamps were all packed, and the rooms were in blackness.
And mama in her sweatpants, and dad in his shorts,
Had given up on organizing….everything was out of sorts!

Tomorrow we’ll wake and do one more inspection,
Before signing papers and doing key collection.
Jayna is excited, but isn’t quite sure
So we’re choosing what battles we fight with her!

(That’s right….she is eating a pop tart, in the car, after insisting that we go to the carwash!)

Sue-Sue will meet us and take J to dance
where on her first day, she’ll learn how to prance!

And then what to my tired eyes will appear?
Dave’s awesome brother, here to help (and drink beer)!

With some moving guys on Tuesday to carry the brunt,
Chris and Dave can move the smaller stuff with just a grunt.
Their goal for the week is to get everything moved,
And everything that’s left, at a yard sale removed!!

“On the truck: furniture! Clothes! Toys, and each box!
On, tv’s! On, powertools! And don’t forget Buggy’s Crocs!
To the top of the street! To the end of the road!
Now turn right! And then right again…all the way to our new home!

(as of 9-10)

And then, in a few weeks, as we unpack
A resemblance of order we soon will get back.
As I settle with new babe, and get used to our home,
I’ll finally get on schedule and get some things done!!

So please bear with me these next weeks…
Don’t give up on me!
I promise I’ll be back with more than one story!
But until the boxes aren’t anymore overwhelmingly knee-deep,
“I’ll see you all soon…..now I’ve GOTTA get some sleep!!!!”

*PS- Sorry for the crappy cell-phone pictures….like I said, all of our good cameras are packed and so are the lamps! Sorry!

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Filed Under: Life, Our Humble Abode

Ballerinatards and Baby Gear

July 28, 2011 posted by Shara

Buggy’s favorite outfit lately is a leotard, ballet slippers and a tutu. She calls her ensemble her “ballerinatard.” As in,

“Mommy, where is my ballerinatard?”

“You mean your leotard?”

“Yea, my ballerinatard.”

And then she dances. Of course she stops every time I get out the camcorder or camera, so I have no evidence of such dances. But she DOES dance. In a style that could only be fashioned after one of her parents (you know what I mean, Loo!). Lately, its been a cross between the Running Man and the Shake Your Booty dance. =) Shhh don’t tell her, but I was able to capture a quick moment of The Dance before she saw me and collapsed on to the chair!

Buggy has also been helping me nest….as best as I can, anyway, with a partially packed house. This week we got the infant carrier and bathtub out of storage to clean up. I also was sooo fortunate to score a FREE bassinet from my local Mom’s Swap. Jayna (with the help of LooLooBaby and Steelers Bear, respectively) made sure each item was in working condition for Amelia.

I was informed that the pegs in the bathtub picture are bubbles!

In other baby news, I am officially 36 weeks along and headed to my first weekly doctor’s appointment. Wish me luck, it only gets more fun from here! =)