Good Times

Karson and I were able to have a baby-free shopping day at Canton on Friday! Thank you grandmothers!! We hit the ground running at 6 am and we were shopping before we knew it. Although, we may have been a little too eager because we had to wait a few minutes for all of the booths to open. I was on the hunt for a kid-sized dining set among other things. By the look on Annalee's face below I think she approves! I plan on sanding it down and re-painting it...I just haven't decided what color yet. I also found a super cute night stand for her big girl room, it's pink and was only $35.00!




At dinner with Mama Jo, Caleb and Papa.


Sweet cousins


Keep scrolling down to see our fun day at the circus.

The Greatest Show on Earth

We recently went to the circus with Kandi, Jack, and Katie. Kandi scored some awesome front row tickets, so we were right in the middle of the action!!! Literally. The ring master talked to Kandi, the main clown handed Annalee a hat, and we were on the jumbo-tron during one of the death-defying acrobat acts. (which took place directly above our heads, yikes) It was so much fun even if I was a nervous wreck the whole time! Thanks for inviting us Kandi. Annalee loved her first visit to the circus. She sat so still in my lap for the majority of the show and just watched and pointed.

Before the show


Watching the clowns


The hat that the clown gave us (it supposed to look like his crazy hair)



The circus wore us out!

What to do with babies?

Last night I was trying to find a website that has a list of activities to do with babies. You know, places to go, things to do with kids under 2.

I wasn't very successful.

Karson and I wanted to take the girls to do something baby-friendly that didn't involve them being in their strollers. We ended up going to our church and playing in the toddler play area, which turned out to be really fun for them.

What do you do in our area that is fun for your little ones? I need some suggestions because Annalee is starting to get really bored with me this summer! Thanks!

Seriously???

I've been on the hunt for a new shower curtain for my bathroom.

A. I was tired of my decor

and

B. I accidentally shrank the existing one in the dryer-big time!

So after searching for one for about 6 months, I thought the search was over. I was flipping through the new Pottery Barn catalog and found this wonderful creation.

I fell in love with it because the tile in my bathroom is the original chicken wire tile (from 1922) with a light blue border around the edge. I love the tile and don't want to get rid of it, but that means that I have to work around the light blue.

I was so excited, so I hopped in the car and headed up to the local PB only to find out that they don't have it in their store yet. No problem, right, just order it online....wrong! I went home, got online, and discovered that this item won't be available for shipping until the end of August!

Why on earth would you put something in a catalog that isn't available to buy yet? This really frustrated me! I was looking forward to redecorating my bathroom this weekend, I guess I'll have to wait another month.

Just had to vent, thanks!

Here are some more 4th of July pictures. Thanks Aunt Ray Ray for sending them my way!

I love this one of Annalee loving on her baby doll. Also, please note her red sparkly flip-flops that I found at a resale shop for $2!


My sweet girl just being happy!


If you can't eat a cookie with Papa, who can you eat one with? :)


Nice group shot, but did you notice the bunny ears on Rachel's head. Thanks complete stranger!!

Yankee Doodle

We had a great 4th of July celebration this year. We started off the day with a cookout and swimming at a friend's house. The guys even made a gigantic slip and slide down a huge hill. It was pretty entertaining to watch. Sorry, no pictures of that. Later in the evening we went to the Botanic Gardens to hear the symphony play patriotic music. It seemed like about half of the entire city was there. I've never seen so many people in one yard like that before! The fireworks show was amazing!! They were firing them off directly behind the stage (so it seemed). A red hot ember landed on the blanket in front of us and a lady had to pour a glass of water on it to put it out!! I was a little terrified of catching on fire, but we survived. Here are some pics of the concert and picnic. Rachel took some really cute ones on her camera that I'm still waiting to receive, so I'll have to post them later-hint, hint! :)

Dress Up Time

This is what Annalee did when I told her it was time to get dressed! Not exactly what I had in mind. :)




Trying to fill her daddy's shoes!

Annalee's Day Day

For several months we thought that Annalee called all babies 'day day'. Then one day she started saying 'baby', so we just assumed that she figured it out. Well, Yvette and I have realized that she stills calls David 'day day' and in the same moment will point to other babies and say 'baby'. Could it be that one of her first words was David (or day day)! It's precious! Here's a pic and a video of Annalee's day day!

A Water Table, or a Teeny Tiny Swimming Pool??

I think we need to go to Target and get a baby swimming pool!

(Of course, she climbed in here on her own!)

1,100 Mile Callused Feet Vs The Ped Egg

***Warning***


If you are disgusted by feet-DO NOT SCROLL DOWN!! May be inappropriate for small children. (Annalee literally wept when she saw these feet!)
































Uncle Josie recently returned from hiking 1,100 miles on the Appalachian Trail for the last 3 months. His feet took quite a beating. After asking how his feet felt, he took off his shoes and showed us. It was at this point that Annalee started screaming and crying at the sight. Seriously. He was curious about my Ped Egg after seeing it on my blog. Conveniently, I had an extra one that I sold him. (Don't worry Karson, I bought you another one!) Then he got to work. Here are some before and after shots of the atrociousness.









Before



After



About the Ped Egg, Josiah was quoted saying, "Before I used the Ped Egg all I had was club feet, now I can soar like an eagle!"

Hello Ped Egg, Goodbye Calluses!

Umm, have you heard of the Ped Egg yet? I definitely hadn't until my super cool friend Karson let me in on the newest craze! Remember the "slicer" they used to use at pedicure places that are now outlawed, well, this is it's replacement!! You yourself can own your very own Ped Egg for only $9.99. Just stop on by your local CVS, Walgreens, or any other place they sell "As Seen On TV" products. I just used it and I am way impressed. I felt very safe using it (if you follow the directions) and at no point was I endanger of slicing my foot off. I kinda have a collection of pedicure type products and this one is legit people! No more excuses for nasty dry feet in this house anymore! :)

The Life of a 17 Month Old

I haven't done a thorough update on Annalee's "tricks" lately and I wanted a list for her baby book, so here goes! Sorry if it's long and boring to you...I'll add pictures later.

Words she can say: hi, bye, Mama, Dada, Papa, Ray Ray, Mammy (Grammy), Mimi, nana (banana), sh (fish), ball, by (butterfly), baby, Mal (Mallory), No, ju (juice), shoe, shoowee (when something's yucky!), mouth, nose, eye, ear, knee, b b (belly button), mean mean (green bean), B (for any letter of the alphabet!), bee, dide (outside), woof, meow, moo, hot, bubble, night-night, Bobo (a character in one of her books), bite, bow, weee, I know there are more, but these are all that come to mind. She also babbles constantly, it's so fun to watch and wonder what she is saying to herself.

She can pretty much point to anything when we ask her where something is in a book. She can go and get lots of things that we ask her to get...like the remote, lots of her toys, and other random things.

She will run to her high chair when I say the words breakfast, lunch or dinner. She'll also run to the bathroom when I ask her if she wants a bath.

She's a climber! Her new favorite place to be is on top of our coffee table! She loves to sit up there and play. I'm cool with that (I can't stop her from climbing on it) until she stands up and literally walks off the edge expecting you to catch her! This girl is fearless.


She's obsessed with shoes! She loves putting her shoes on and taking them off. She will point out people's shoes in books and in real life. I guess we better increase our closet space!


She wakes up talking to the things in her room! She loves the pictures on her walls and I'll hear her saying Mama, Dada, Baby to the picture of our family. It's so sweet to hear first thing in the morning. She also loves to carry around pictures of people from around our house. She also takes great care of her baby dolls by feeding them, wrapping them in blankets and taking them on strolls in her doll stroller.


She still says Hi to most people that we pass when we're out in public or on a walk. One day we had just opened the front door right when someone was jogging by and she belted out a loud Hi and waved. The person looked so shocked and waved back. She's our little greeter!

She gives the best hugs and kisses!! I love it when she wraps her sweet little arms around my neck and gives me a big squeeze.

It's amazing how much energy she has. She wakes up raring to go and is that exact way until her head hits the pillow. She's not much of a snuggler and rarely sits still for more than 3 seconds.

This girl loves all things summer. Popsicles (or Papa sicles as we call them now since every time I ask her if she wants a popsicle she says Papa!), swimming, water in general, being barefoot, being outside as much as possible, playing in the dirt and picking up sticks. We're going to have one sad chicka when it gets cold outside.

She definitely has her opinion and lets you know what it is!! Goodness. I know this will be a great character trait one day, but right now it's a bit of a whip. :)

Born to be a Wildcat and a New Uncle (To-Be)!

I finally got around to taking Annalee's picture in her "Born to be a Wildcat" t-shirt. Look for it in your next issue of ACU Today!






Also, a big congrats to Rachel (Micah's sister) and Blaine on their engagement today!! We're looking forward to your wedding this summer and the addition of a new Uncle for Annalee! Rachel's ring is gorgeous. I tried to get a picture of it, but it was so bling bling, that my camera wouldn't focus!

My Little Fish

**thanks for the comments on napping, if anyone else has advice, I'm still interested in hearing it!

Last week Annalee started swim lessons!! Summer told me about a great place to go and Karson decided to bring Mallory too because it was so close to her house. So far, so good. Today we "dunked" the kids for the first time. They were a bit surprised, but no one cried. The mommies get in the pool with their babies and we all sing songs and do fun swimming activities. After lessons today we headed up to a different pool to practice our skills. It's definately summer time!


"Hey, it's my friend Annalee," says Mallory.



"Yippee, we get to go swimming!!"

Naptime Question

Ok, I need some motherly advice! Annalee has been refusing to take her second nap of the day since last Sunday. When did your kids transition to only one nap a day? When is a good time for that nap? I know each kid is unique, but I need somewhere to start. Help!!

Caleb's Birthday Party

We had a great time on Saturday at Caleb's 2nd birthday party. Somehow I didn't get any pictures of Annalee and Caleb together! Oops! Happy B-day Caleb!

Annalee with her Aunt Ray Ray (which she can say now!!)
Trying out Caleb's new bike...maybe this needs to be on our Christmas list this year. :)
Thanks for the push Uncle Jeremy!
Swing that bat girl!
This girl sure does love her daddy!
Weeeee!

Taking a reading break. Seriously, she had so much fun playing with all of Caleb's new toys.

2nd Post of the Day!

I never wrote about Mother's Day, so here goes! (mainly for my own memory record) Annalee decided she wanted to wish me a Happy Mother's Day at 6 am!! She was so excited about the day! :) Micah graciously took her for me and they had a special daddy/daughter pancake breakfast at Ole South Pancake House while mommy slept in! Don't worry, they brought me some pancakes too. I was awoken by the sound of my present being ooched across the bedroom floor. Micah had hidden it in his shower all week because he knew that was the one place in the house that I would never look!! (I hate cleaning showers and his is the worst of all!!) The funniest thing is that I actually cleaned his entire bathroom that week and skipped the shower! He and Annalee put a custom basket together from Williams Sonoma filled with baking stuff! I love it. He even went with a color scheme! Thanks hun. That evening we cooked out and had my mom over for dinner. It was a very relaxing day!

We had to celebrate early with Micah's mom. We all traveled to Arkansas for Rachel's college graduation. We were barely there for 24 hours, but it was fun to be part of the festivities. It was fun hanging out in Rachel's front yard before we had to catch our flight! (You find all kinds of things while packing up a college student!)

New Favorite Pastime

Well, it's official, Annalee has a new favorite pastime. My mom bought her a sand and water table as a Mother's Day present to me! (I was really wanting one for Annalee.) We put it together a few days ago and it was an instant hit, but today we reached another level of excitement when we actually filled it with water! She was soaked from front to back and head to toe by the time we went inside. Thanks Grammy for the fun new toy.

A Day in Grammy's Garden

I have been waiting to post these pictures of Annalee and her cousins, Jack and Katie. Kandi and I snuck out to my mom's house a few weeks ago to take some pictures of the grandkids. Kandi made them into an awesome shutterfly photo album for her for mother's day. We had fun on our secret mission!! There were lots more than these, but these are some of my favorites.

I've been tagged

It's a good thing too, because I have had nothing to blog about lately. Actually, I do, but it has to wait a few more days. This isn't going to be that exciting, but I needed to write about something!!

What Was I Doing Ten Years Ago:
May, 1998 Seriously one of the most glorious times of my life. I was a senior in high school, dating Micah, getting ready to do all of the fun graduation stuff and packing for college. I was carefree, giddy and hanging out with my friends 24/7!

5 Things On My To-Do List Today:
1. go to the bank
2. finish laundry
3. shop for May b-days and showers
4. take dinner to the Snelsons
5. wrap graduation presents

5 Places I Have Traveled:

• Trinidad and Mexico-mission trips
• Maui-honeymoon
• Greece-class for ACU
• a bunch of the states for random reasons

5 Snacks Or Treats I Enjoy:

• Dr. Pepper
• cherry slush from Sonic
• hot tamales
• chocolate chip cookies
• pizza

What Would I Do If I Were A Billionaire:
hire a masseuse to give me a massage everyday, shop for other people, and build a playroom for Annalee's toys

Places I've Lived:
no where exciting-all in Texas

Jobs I've Had:
summertime nanny
fundraiser for ACU (not fun!!)
phone answerer for the financial aide dep. at ACU
Old Navy cashier
1st and 2nd grade teacher
soon-to-be pre-k teacher!!

People I'm Tagging:
Karson and Leah!