Happy Memorial Day!!

First off, I hope everyone had a great holiday and remembered to take a moment to take a moment to thank those that have served in the military, as well as taken time to think about those that sacrificed their lives so that we could live in "the land of the free and the brave". It is definitely good timing on the holiday front as folks need a break for work, but I think it is also important to remember what the holiday is all about! OK - now that I am off my soapbox {smile}, I wanted to recall our day!

First, we all got up for breakfast. Last night, Brad and I changed around the furniture in our kitchen, den, and sunroom. Since we decided we wanted to move our real kitchen table back into the kitchen, Katie is now sitting in a booster seat at the real table! (we just took the back off her highchair so that it is now a booster seat)
She thought it was hot stuff sitting at the table! She loved looking at her Elmo book!

Cee Cee came over and showed Katie how to use her easel! I bought some washable dry erase markers, so that is what they used!

Katie loved doing art with Cee Cee!!

She was quite impressed with the new markers!

Such a cutie (and, of course, she knows it)!!

Cee Cee also showed Katie the chalkboard side of the easel!!

And then this evening we went over to some friends' house for a cookout! Katie was definitely looking like a cool dude on the way over there.

Katie also loved sitting in their office chair!

We were playing the "Happy, Sad" game - where we make happy faces and then sad faces so that Katie learns the difference. This was her transition into her happy face!

And then our friend pushed Katie all over their house in the chair. And of course Katie loved every minute of it! I really have never heard her laugh that hard!And I tried to take a self-portrait, but Katie would have none of it! I went to the pool with some friends while Katie napped (Brad was at home with her) and think I got a good bit of sun!

HELLO, SUMMER!! :)

Ninety Years Young

A little over a week ago, we got together with Brad's Mom and Grandmother to celebrate his Grandmother's 90th birthday! Wow - 90 years. Pretty amazing, isn't it! We had a great time eating dinner and visiting. We also got together again to celebrate the weekend afterwards when Brad's aunt and uncle came to town. I think two celebrations for a 90th birthday is just fitting! Here are a few pictures from the dinner on her actual birthday - I actually forgot to take pictures during the 2nd dinner!

The birthday girl!
Brad's mom and Grandmother - think they're related?? :)

A girl picture!

Four generations! (silly Grandma - you had your eyes closed!!)

Mother Daughter Tea

Earlier this week, Katie and I went to our first tea together! My neighbor asked if I wanted to go to the Mother Daughter Tea at a Chick Fil A not far from our house and it sounded like fun! So the 4 of us (me, Katie, Jill, & Stella) made a night of it. And it was so fun! They had a lady from Michael's there doing a craft (making a fan). There was a buffet of yummy food. And the Chick Fil A cow was there! I think the girls had a good time. Maybe last year their table manners will be a bit improved - Stella was dancing and dumped ice cream on her head, and then when we were heading out, Katie lifted her dress because she wanted to show someone her bellybutton! Here are some pictures of the fun...

I love that we both had dressed and necklaces and hats!
Jill & Stella! Stella is about 7 months younger than Katie - they are going to get into trouble together for sure!

I had no idea Katie could do so well with a regular cup! She drank lemonade at dinner and loved every minute of acting like a big girl!

CHEERS!!!!

Coloring while we waited on food!

Eating every last bit of the ice cream! That's my girl :)

And the fan we made - sitting with our hats, of course!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I decided WILW is pretty fun (and I've been seeing things over the last week that I thought would be fun to include!) - guess that means I'll be joining in for a while! If you'd like to link up, please visit this link!

I'm loving this potty treats jar I made! I do plan to do a tutorial, so stay tuned for that! I actually made two of them - one for Katie's bathroom and one for the bathroom downstairs!
I'm loving the tornado relief t-shirt I ordered and got in the mail this week! 100% of the cost was going to tornado relief in Alabama.

I'm loving my new Scentsy pot! Isn't it cool? And I love that there's no flame - just a light bulb! And the fragrance choices are amazing!

I'm loving that we are going to a concert. It isn't until August, but I can't wait! It is Maroon 5, Train, and Gavin DeGraw! That fun night out can't get here soon enough!

I'm loving this neat contraption called a Light Scoop! You put it on your camera and it makes the flash bouce off the ceiling and walls and makes the photo look more natural. It is only like $30, too! More to come on that - I really want to buy it! (and no, they didn't ask me to include this!)

I'm loving this neat tulle wreath! I definitely seem to be on a wreath kick these days. Not sure I will try to make a patriotic one, but I definitely want to try this kind of style!

I'm loving this {adorable} baby girl gown! I think it is so net that the appliqued name is down the side! It is from SheSheMade!

I'm loving this adorable baby girl outfit. I had never even heard of a brand called Mooncakes until last week. And I really need to stop looking at baby clothes. But I just can't help myself!!

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Zoo Trip

As I may have mentioned before, we got a membership to the zoo in our local city so that we could go whenever we wanted and not feel pressured to stay the whole day to get our money's worth. Katie loves it! The monkeys were very active and loud and the elephants were SO close to the area where you stop to look at them! I took the stroller with us on this particular adventure, but I think next time, we will be taking the wagon - she may be more likely to want to sit in there for longer! We went early in the day so we could beat the heat - thank goodness we did - it ended up being a scorcher!

Here is one of the elephants!
Katie looking at the ducks swimming

Katie loves the flamingos!

And of course the petting zoo - she loves brushing the goats!

I just love this picture! So glad she loves the zoo!

And we had to stop for a pretzel and juice box break - so cute.

On our way out, we saw a mommy and daddy goose with all their babies! Katie thought that was so neat - maybe she liked it because they were out walking around instead of behind a fence or gate!

And lastly, a mommy-daughter picture when we got home and were about to eat lunch! What a fun day!

Mother's Day!!

Sooooooo.....I just realized I never did a recap on Mother's Day this year! OOPS!! But better late than never, right?! Oh my - I may just be losing my mind! It was a great day - we went to church and relaxed and then went to the park with both of the grandmoms and my brother and ate dinner and let Katie play! What fun! I love that it was relaxed and informal - we didn't have to make reservations anywhere and get dressed up and eat at a loud restaurant where we wouldn't be able to hear eachother well enough for a conversation. This was the same way we celebrated last year and decided it was just perfect! Also, thanks to my great hubby and sweet little girl, I get to get a massage at my favorite spa - AND I have most of the money in a gift card to buy a Kindle! I have been wanting one for some time, but I have so many paper books that I want to read. So I am hoping I can get through some of my books and then be ready to purchase a Kindle when they go down in price. Sounds like a good plan, right? Here we are with some of the pics from Mother's Day!

Me with my little Sweet Pea - she is a nut!
Sitting on the picnic blanket at the park. Cee Cee was blowing bubbles and she thought it was great fun for sure!

Sadie even went to the park with us!

Hilarious! She is so funny - I think this is the perfect caption for this picture: "Have your people call my people."

A good picture of my brother!

Brad with his sweet momma!

Will and me with our sweet momma!!

And of course Katie wanted to jump in a picture too!! I think she was starting to get tired here - looks like she's zoning out!

2 Year Appointment

We went to Katie's 2 year appointment this past Wednesday. She did great! And she's HUGE! And there no shots - I think that is a win-win for everybody involved!! :) Isn't she adorable in that picture? She loved sitting in all the chairs while we were waiting to be called back. Yes, we used hand sanitizer afterwards!

And now that she is 2, she weighs in on the big girl scales! Doesn't she look so grown up?! She tipped the scales at a whopping 33.5 pounds. But she had a very soggy diaper. And she proceeded to fill the ole diaper up even more after she weighed in. So I am going with around 33 pounds.
She was so impressed with herself for doing a good job on the scales - such a big girl!

And then the nurse measured her height like a big girl - exactly 3 feet tall! WHOA! She is 36 inches tall! I have heard that the height children are at 2 is half the height they will be when they are grown adults. If that is true, Katie will be GINORMOUS at 6 feet tall!

The rest of the appointment went well - Katie is right on track! The only thing I was slightly concerned with is Katie's speech. She has an extensive vocabulary - she says lots of words! But she only has a few "phrases" - as in, she is only putting 2 or more words together every so often. She understands everything we say to her or ask her to do. And she talks up a storm - it is just not words that we as adults understand. It is "Katie speak", if you will. The doctor didn't seem too concerned and suggested that her language should take off within the next 3 or so months. I know once she starts talking, there will be no stopping her. So for now, I will enjoy her words and few phrases and just try not to worry!