Welcome Judah James!!

I am so proud of Summer!!! This chic is amazing! I'll let her tell her entire labor story in her own words, but let me just say that I was so honored to be a part of Judah's birthday. I was so worried that I would be busy or unable to get a babysitter for Annalee when Summer went into labor, but everything worked out perfectly. Thanks Mama Jo for keeping Annalee all day so that I could be with Summer!! Here's a pic of the sweet baby boy and another one of Annalee at the ballpark later that evening.

Seriously, I'm impressed

Ok, so today was my first grocery shopping trip since my earth day resolution. I was a little hesitant about setting my reusable bags on the belt, but the bagger lady was up for the challenge!! She was so excited to try to get all of my groceries into my 4 bags, and she did it!!! I had to take a picture when I arrived home because I was so impressed. I know not every bagger will be that thrilled by my request, but she sure did make the first time a whole lot easier.

Going Green

In case you didn't know, Earth Day is tomorrow. Back in my teaching days I would always talk to my kids about Earth Day and how important it was to reduce, reuse, and recycle. It wasn't until last year that I decided to actually practice what I was preachin'!! Last Earth Day our family became recyclers!! I bought two matching trash cans to replace our gigantic 33 gallon trash can and labeled one for recycling. It has been so easy to make that important change.

This year, I've decided to switch to reusable grocery bags instead of paper or plastic. I'm sure it will rock the Target lady's world when I ask her to fill up my cloth bags, but I'm up for it!! We'll see how that goes.

Do you do anything to make the world a little greener??? (I'm looking for suggestions for next year!)

I love chips!

I'm pretty sure this is what Annalee would say if she could speak in sentences. I couldn't resist getting her picture with all of those chips. We love mexican food and patios in the spring!

The Duck Pond

Annalee visited her first duck pond this week. She had a blast watching all of the ducks. It took some coaching, but she finally "threw" one piece of bread to the ducks. She was definately sad when we had to go. Thanks for inviting us Summer, we had fun!

I'm Over It

Ok, I'm over being mad at my curd (see previous post if you're confused!). I think my cupcakes turned out pretty cute and yummy. I had fun baking, Karson!

I hate curd

I just have to vent. Tomorrow Karson and I are going to do some baking and so I thought I'd be smart and do a little prep work ahead of time. I decided to try a recipe from Martha (you know, Stewart) and it called for a curd filling. I've never actually made curd before, but how hard could it be right? Well, mark my word, I will never make it again!!! After one hour of stirring, I finally decided it was curd despite the fact that it didn't reach the magical 160 degree mark. However, I'm pretty sure that I reached that temperature based on the amount of sweat that I produced. These better be the best dang cupcakes that ever existed. Although they probably won't be since I didn't follow the directions exactly. I'll let you know tomorrow once the final product is complete. Argh!

Central Market Junkies

I think one of the greatest things about our neighborhood is the fact that there are so many cool places nearby. One of our favorites is Central Market. This place is genius. Every Friday and Saturday night they cook burgers on the patio and have a local band playing. The best part is the playground. Annalee is in heaven whenever we go up there. She just runs around saying hi to every kid and acting like she's part of the gang. The last pic is just a cute one of Annalee sitting in the spot where a wall furnace used to be in our house. She thought it was her own little seat!

Easter

We had a great Easter celebration yesterday. Annalee was a pro at egg hunting!! She literally picked up every single egg and put them in her basket in about 2 minutes flat! It was so fun to watch. It was a little chilly, but at least it didn't rain on us.

Ball

Couldn't resist posting this video of Annalee calling an Easter egg a ball. She calls anything round "ball." Seriously, apples, oranges, grapes, eggs, actual balls. It's cute now, but not so much as a kindergardener! We'll have to work on our vocab! A special thanks to Aunt Kandi for the super cute dress (and swimsuit and flip flops!!) Also, take note of the exaggerated l sound at the end of ball...oops, I think I caused that when I was teaching her that word.

Just some fun pictures

I finally downloaded all of my pictures onto my computer. (There were 259 of them since Christmas!!) My memory card had finally reached it's peak. Here are some of my faves that I came across.

Sittin' Pretty

I know you've all been waiting to see a pic of my big girl in her new carseat! :) Well, wait no more!

She is loving life in her new seat! What a fun new vantage point! Mommy also loves it too...I can hand her things easier, see her better, and I even discovered that I can take her out of it once I've parked while I am still sitting in my seat. (This was VERY handy in the rain storm today!)

Big Walker

It seems as though the lightbulb came on this weekend and Annalee decided that she is a walker!! It's about time girl!


I couldn't decide which video to post, so here's another.



Annalee updates:
She just turned 14 months old!! Wow!
Words she can say: Mama, Dada, hi, bye-bye, uh-oh, uh-ohs, whoa, nana (for banana), day-day(baby), ball, night-night, eye, no (nose), E-I-E-I-O

Some of her favorite things right now: Putting the lids on containers, looking out the backdoor for Sadie (our dog), opening the tupperware drawers in the kitchen and taking everything out, pretty much taking everything out of anything!, swinging in the front yard, saying hi to everyone we pass at Target, playing with her baby-feeding it and saying mmm while doing it-putting it to bed by covering it up and saying night-night, reading books.


On another random note, we had a going away party for Micah's cousin, Josiah. Check out his blog...he's about to hike the Appalachian Trail. Micah rented a monkey to come to the party. It was a big hit! I know, weird, but it made for an interesting time! I was very hesitant to have the monkey on my shoulders, but I had to get a picture with it.

Britax it is

Well, after an overwhelming consensus that Britax is the best car seat (I hadn't even heard that name until this week!!) that's what we're going with. Here's the catch, my A-Maising sister-in-law, Kandi has generously offered her old ones for us to use!! Thank you Kandi!! Good bye baby carrier, hello big-girl seat.

Car seat Help!

Ok, it's time for Annalee to move from her carrier to a front-facing big-girl seat and I have no idea where to start looking!!! Please leave a comment and let me know what your favorite car seat is and why. :) Thanks! I'll let you know which one I choose.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We hope everyone is having a great V-day! Here are some pics of today so far...The balloon and bib are from Daddy! And the day wouldn't be complete without a bath!

3rd Time's a Charm

I've been on a quest this weekend to find a new stroller for Annalee. Yes, I already have 3 strollers, but I needed another one...they each have their specific roles. Stroller #1 just a frame that her carseat fits in (which she is about to outgrow). Stroller #2 jogger, love it, but it doesn't fold and it's too big to take into stores. Stoller #3 umbrella-super cute, small, but it doesn't have a snack tray for Annalee or myself! and the basket underneath is ridiculously small.

Here was the criteria for stroller #4

• snack tray for Annalee
• cup holder for me
• cute-of course
• tall enough for husband
• large basket underneath for shopping bags!
• close to $50- that was the tough part

After three purchases and 2 returns within 3 days, I think I've found my match!! This fabulous find met all my criteria and it even has an ipod dock in the canopy! Let's go for a stroll Annalee.

Mardi Gras Day-Day

Apparently it's Mardi Gras time...I didn't realize that until I was smack in the middle of a full-fledged parade at Central Market on Saturday!! That's right, a parade. We like to go up there for a yummy Saturday afternoon lunch every now and then (they have a great patio!). The employees that weren't currently working their stations (I'd say about 75 of them) were dressed up in all kinds of crazy costumes, pushing decorated shopping carts, and throwing beads at everyone! It was a sight. Sadly, I didn't have my camera on me. :( Annalee scored several strands of beads and so did her baby (or day-day as she says).

Abilene, Abilene, Prettiest town I've ever seen

In honor of Micah's birthday, we headed to his all-time favorite restaurant, Perini Ranch. Lucky for us, they also have a ranch house that you can rent. If you are in the market for some good eatin' and a really nice place to stay, this is the spot for you! We had a great time with Trey and Brittney (also celebrating Trey's b-day) and we've decided that it needs to be a yearly tradition!

We also made our way to the Rodeo last week. Thanks to one of Micah's clients, we were able to sit on the second row!! So close, the horses were actually kicking dirt on us! I only took one picture and it didn't turn out all that great, but here it is anyway.

These are just some sweet pictures of Micah and Annalee before one of our evening walks the other day.

Watch out world!

Ok, so she may not be running marathons, but Annalee has started to take a few steps!! We were working on her walking skills this afternoon. Enjoy, and ignore my giddy laughter and excitement. :)