Mary Lee "Mimi" Heap

Early on the morning of Saturday, December 10, 2011, Mom called to tell Sally & me that Mimi had suddenly passed away during the night.  She had come down with pneumonia the day before and died at the Scott & White Emergency Room.  I am not even sure where to begin as far as all the memories in my life that Mimi is in...I was so blessed to have her as my grandmother.  We had two of the most wonderful grandmothers that two girls could have ever dreamed of!  I know she loved me and I loved her, too.  It is so strange to think that she is gone from this Earth, but I am so happy for her that she is no longer suffering.  What a party she is having in Heaven...dancing with Jesus.

"Meem", Me & Jenna on Thanksgiving Day

Mimi & me in May of 2010 after her bronze statue dedication

I am so thankful that she had the opportunity to meet and get to know Carter over the past 10 months.  He always enjoyed being around her.  He usually lit up when she was there.  He liked to "talk" to her on the phone and would always smile when he saw her.  In fact, we saw her for the last time just a few days before she passed away.  We were in Temple for Kim's annual Cinnamon Roll Bake-Off and we dropped by The Meridian to take Mimi a cinnamon roll the next morning (December 6th) on our way to see Dad at the hospital after his 2nd knee replacement.  I felt bad because we went pretty early - and anyone who knew Meem knew that she was NOT a morning person - but am I so glad that we went!  All three of us were able to visit with her for a little while.  She watched Carter play with her magazines on the floor and talk to her in person.  In true Mimi fashion, she even agreed with me when I told her that I wasn't "all together" that day.  We had thrown all of our stuff in the car, put on some workout clothes & headed out the door.  My makeup was not the best and my hair was in a pony tail, but I had missed a little piece and it was hanging down on my neck.  She had been hurrying around getting dressed & eating her breakfast before we got there, so she told us that she wasn't all together either :)

The Meridian's Halloween Party 2011

Mimi & Carter in August 2011 (6 months)

Mimi & Carter meeting for the first time (March 2011)

Such a proud moment!

We were able to have a private family burial on Monday, December 12th at Hillcrest Cemetery.  However, due to both Melissa & Caroline being pregnant and almost ready to have their babies and Uncle Tom being scheduled for surgery the next day, the Hartley family could not make it to Texas until this past weekend.  Therefore, we celebrated Mimi's life with a beautiful memorial service at Christ Episcopal Church among many of her family and friends from near & far on Saturday morning.  Afterwards, we headed over to Mom & Dad's house for lunch with all of the out-of-town attendees.  Everyone had a great time going over memories of Mimi & Biggie and looking through old pictures.

Mom & ZTA girlfriend Sharon Crowder

UT Zeta Tau Alphas - They called Mimi "The Old Bag"

Hook 'Em - Mimi would love this picture!

Sisters

Cindy Palla with Carter & me

Cousin Nicole & Carter

Jenna & Maggie

Dinner with the Hartleys at Schoepfs Barbecue in Belton
(Please note Carter throwing the container of puffs in the air!)

Jenna, Lee & Carter ready to head home for bedtime

Silly Cousins

Thank you, Mimi, for being such a wonderful grandmother and great grandmother.  We already miss you like crazy, but can't wait to see you again one day in Heaven.  Please give Biggie a big hug for me!

First Trip to the Dallas Zoo

This afternoon we decided to make a last-minute trip to the Dallas Zoo!  Tyler had the day off (he is using a few days of his paternity leave before they expire next Friday), so he stayed home with Carter this morning while I went to MOPS.  It was such a beautiful day when I was driving home that we decided to get out and do something as a family!  I had bought a few zoo tickets for $1 through Google deals a few months ago and since today felt like a lovely Spring day, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce Carter to the Zoo and all its fun animal friends...

Welcome to the Dallas Zoo!

Saying "hi" to the Penguins

Riding on an Elephant

We got to watch the Elephants eat hay!

Carter LOVED the Giraffes!  And so did we!

We even got to feed the Giraffes lettuce leaves!  It was so much FUN!!!  They got so close that they licked both Tyler & me.  Carter was mesmerized!

More food please!

If you look in the background, you can see Jamie the baby Giraffe.

She is only 6 months old and was absolutely precious!

Aren't they beautiful?

Waving to the Giraffes

You can see us in the shadows here...

Trying to grab a quick drink of water...

He had a great time riding around on Daddy's shoulders all throughout the park...

We took a break to sit down and watch the camels & llamas

Bye, bye, animals!

It was such a fun afternoon for all three of us!  I think we will be going back sometime very soon...

Happy Birthday, Grams!

Happy Birthday, Grams!!!

We did a little photo shoot last night, hoping that we would be able to get a good enough shot to frame for Kim for her birthday.  We thought she would enjoy looking at it at her office during the workday!  Below is how it played out...

He would much rather eat the paper than hold it.  The red chair didn't work out, so we moved to his rocking chair...

And then to the baseball chair...

And we finally have a WINNER!!!

We love you, Grams!  Thanks for being such a wonderful mom, mother-in-law and grandmother!  Here's to many more wonderful years!

"The Termite"

Today I got a big surprise when I walked in Carter's room to get him when he woke up from his morning nap.  I quickly noticed that he had some dark specs all around his mouth.  My first thought was that he had spit up a little bit while he was sleeping and maybe had blueberries all over his face.  Then I realized that he hadn't eaten blueberries for breakfast!  I looked down to see if he had a dirty diaper that had overflowed, but no, not that either.  Then I looked over and saw this...

Oh, yes - he had CHEWED HIS CRIB!!!  The left side on either side of his fishies and most of the front side, too.  He only started pulling up to standing when he woke up a few days ago and I guess he got bored today after he woke up and decided to chew away on the wood.  I did not see him doing it on the video monitor, but he has also been very quiet when he wakes up from naps these days.  Quite a few times I have gone to check the monitor and he is already sitting up just looking around.


That means in the pictures below...those are wood chips all over his face...

Oh the adventures of having a little boy!  I guess he is teething and needed something to chew on :)  Needless to say, I immediately began brainstorming what we could do to make sure this didn't happen again.  We made a trip IN THE RAIN to BuyBuyBaby and Babies R Us this afternoon and found a few options.  However, when Tyler & Mom got home tonight (she is in town to help me for a few days), they came up with the ideo to re-purpose his crib bumper that we were no longer using.  Below is our end result:

I actually think it looks pretty cute!  Especially with the cutie pie in the middle :)  Here's to no more chewing on wood!