Goofy Girl

The older she gets, the funnier she becomes. This morning, I gave her a bottle and walked into the bathroom to get a tissue. Here is where I found her when I came back.

(Yes. I know. She is WAY too old for bottles. I've been lazy about it. She currently only gets 2 - morning and night.)

Then before bed, I found her lying on the floor, peaking underneath the bathroom door. Her Papa listens to the radio during his showers. She was puzzled by the music and wanted to see what was going on behind the door.

Today's Happenings

We started this Sunday with church. Thank goodness my cousin and her two boys sat next to us and brought their super cool toy motorcylces. We may have been kicked out if it weren't for miniature Harleys. As soon as AC got her hands on them, she was totally intrigued. While they are completely unsafe for a 16 month old, I was just happy that people weren't staring at the screaming baby and her mom for a few minutes. After church, we visited my papaw. It's always good to see him. He is still going strong at 93 years old and he makes my girl laugh! We finished our morning with Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and a nap. I'm determined to change AC's eating habits. Someone told me that it takes about two dozen tries before a child will develop a taste for new or different foods. Well, today was day 2 with green beans and turkey. She adamantly rejected both, but I'm not giving up. 22 more days!! This afternoon we ran to Target and had a little visit with some of our most favorite people right before bed!

Here are few pics!

My mom has a little nook between her stove and kitchen cabinets. This has become a favorite spot for AC.

She even decided to decorate the place with a little blue crayon.

Just a little stick horse ridin'. My Gran made this stick horse when I was a kid!

Trying to hide from Mama when it's time to go to bed!

We hope you all enjoyed your Sunday!

Family Time

Thanksgiving was somewhat of a whirlwind for me and my girl. Lots of places to go and people to see! We had a great time visiting with our families, even though we were exhausted at the end of the day! I'll do just about anything to make sure my girl grows up knowing and loving her family! I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.

AC with Tyler and Carter

AC with her great aunts and cousins (minus Kael and Riley - we missed you!)

What a wild bunch they are!

AC walking in her cousin Bradley's shoes!

We are so glad we got to spend time with our families on Thanksgiving! We are truly thankful for each and every one of you! For those of you we didn't get to see, Christmas can't come soon enough!

Shutterfly!

The Daddy and I have been married for a little more than 4 1/2 years and I've never sent out Christmas cards. It's not that I didn't want to. I did. Every year I would search for really cute ones that mixed the true miracle of Christmas (Jesus' birth) with all the cutesy holiday designs. But my search would be abandoned when the countdown to Christmas break began with my students. I forgot about the cards and started dreaming of sleeping in, shopping, and time with family and friends. About a week before Christmas, just as we were getting many adorable cards in the mail, I would begin to regret my abandoned search and promise to do better next year. Well, it seems that this is the year. I planned ahead and am so excited to send out our cards!

It was a tough job, this picking of the perfect card. I started and ended my search at Shutterfly.

Here were a few of my favorite Christmas cards on Shutterfly.com!

Here's why I love these:

1) Our family celebrates Christmas. While we respect other holidays that happen during this time of year, our card will say "Merry Christmas" not "Happy Holidays". That's just one of our things, however trivial it may seem. I appreciate that Shutterfly provides cards for both preferences.

2) Each card has a religious theme or images. Again, we are celebrating one of greatest miracles in the history of Christianity. To us, it's super important that we take every chance to show our reverence.

3) AND I love that the layout allows for pictures! Our angel girl would look so precious on any of these cards!!

I just love this company. They have awesome products and are great to their costumers. I've ordered a lot from them in the past. Like AC's birthday party invitations and thank you cards. I've also ordered other greeting cards and prints of my most favorite pictures from Shutterfly.

Check out these links for more info on Christmas Cards! You won't be disappointed!

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

Perhaps the coolest thing about Shutterfly is this....Bloggers get 50 frees holiday cards from Shutterfly! Learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Now, get excited! You'll be getting a fabulous card from my little family very, very soon!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In case you've been living under a rock, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. You're welcome. This means tomorrow will be rather hectic for us. We have a lot of ground to cover in just 24 hours. So, we spent today relaxing, running last minute errands, and doing things around the house. Like washing dishes.

And eating some kiwi!

We will see most of you tomorrow, but for those we don't see, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Especially Daddy. We love you and will miss you tomorrow. We are most thankful for you and everything you do to make our lives so good.

Missing Daddy

We talked to Daddy on the web cam this afternoon. AC was thrilled to see him (and her duck, dog, bear, and furry sister)! She waved to Daddy, gave him 10 or more kisses, and told him about her day. It was the sweetest. She didn't want to end the conversation and started crying as soon as Daddy disappeared from the screen. She wanted to see more of her daddy. It was heartbreaking. We will definitely be talking to Daddy again tomorrow!

Here is the only picture I got of my girl today. We were outside, of course. She and her papa spent almost 2 hours in exploration. She soaked it up like a sponge.

We love you, Daddy. We miss you so much. And G too!

A Monday on the Farm

Life is really good if you are a certain 16 month old baby girl. It was a warm 75 degrees today and she thoroughly enjoyed it! She started off this Monday with a little lawn mower ride with Papa. It really wasn't hot enough for all the winter gear I forced on her but too much is better than too little!

Later we took off the big fluffy coat and we went to see the kitties. It seems our girl thought they were stinky.

Yippee! She found a bucket, a true treasure in the eyes of this girl. Many rocks and sticks can be found nestled inside for the night!

And we ended our day with a little souvenir - grass on the tush. A true sign of a fun Monday!

Happy 16 months, Baby Girl!!

More Outside Time

The girl can't get enough.

Playing in the leaves.

Walking the dog.

Finding a rose for Mama.

Brrrrr...It's Cold Outside!

Daddy said we have been "Floridized" meaning we are extra sensitive to the cold temperatures because we have been living in such heat for so many months now. I think it's true for me. I'm freezing!!! But Baby Girl doesn't seem to notice the colder weather. She actually likes to put on boots, a hat, and a heavy coat and spend lots of time in the chilly outdoors.
She found a caterpillar!

AC and her friend, Tucker.

Mamaw gave her an Oreo! Yummy!

Hi from Home!

Hi, everyone! Most you know that we flew home on Tuesday. We've even been able to see most of you already! I plan on continuing the blog even while we are here, so that you all and especially Daddy can see what our little squirt is getting herself into each day! I have to download some of my camera software to my parents' computer before I can add any pictures. This can't happen tonight because getting the disc could wake up a sleeping girl. After 2 restless nights, my girl is beat and I'm not taking any chances tonight. So, tomorrow I will download the software and be back to the daily blog! We are so glad to be home but are already missing Daddy terribly!

Sneak Peek

It was beautiful day here. High temps around 80 degrees and a cool breeze. I can imagine that this kind of weather is why people would want to move here. Today was also awesome because Daddy took the day off. We always love when that happens. He spent most of the day entertaining the little one, while I prepared for our trip. However, we took a little time this morning to do something fun for the upcoming holidays! The only info you will get about it is this little picture! Consider it a sneak peek of something very cute to come!

A picture of the beautiful sky!

We will see you all very soon!

Ducks Continued.

AC didn't sleep well last night. If you have kids, you know what that means for today. A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Nothing really awful happened if you don't include the constant whining, grouchiness, and tantrums. But this is how it goes. As parents, we take the good with the bad, because the good is so very, very good. And she is so very, very good on most days.

Between grouchy spells, she and Daddy feed the ducks again.

"Here, Mama. You can feed them this piece."

We are so glad Daddy is home again. We miss him so much when he is gone!

P.S. When we got home from the airport, there was a dead lizard on the living room floor! Way to go G!!!! I'm sleeping a little more peacefully tonight.

One of Those Days

Well, I was going to post a funny video, but it seems that in my attempts to upload it, I've managed to delete everything on the disc. It's been one of those days around here. First, one of my kitchen cabinet doors fell off. It didn't give any warnings. It showed no signs of distress. Just kerplunk and there you have it. A broken cabinet door that is now rigged up with a grocery sack and is extremely provoking for a toddler. It's like it is whispering to her, "Come here, little one. Look what's behind me. Stick your hand right in this crack and you will find something wonderfully exciting. I promise!" Secondly, my dog went on a lizard hunt...inside my house. Yes, that's right. We have a lizard in the house. And I'm completely obsessed with it, as is my 75 lb. dog. She was racing around the furniture, jumping over baby toys, knocking things over. Part of me wanted to beat her for acting like a rabid beast and other part hoped she would catch the nasty thing and kill it. She didn't. So tonight I will be sleeping with a sheet over my head and dreaming of this horrid little reptile crawling all over me. It gives me the creeps just thinking about it. Finally, AC and I went to PetSmart this afternoon. The furry dog doesn't have an i.d. tag, so we went to get one. It is cute...a red heart with all her info on it. Well, I get home and it is no where to be found. I remember picking it up and doing something with it before I got AC out of her car seat in the driveway. So we made it home with it, but I managed to lose it before we got inside. This is a classic move for me (and the daddy). If you're like me then you know there isn't anything more frustrating than losing something you just had in your hands!

Anyway, I only have one picture, but it is sure to make you smile. Good morning, angel girl.

Tomorrow will be better because I get to see this sweet face again! We love and miss you all!

Cool Whip

This girl kept Mama on her toes today. Note to self: Your daughter can get things that are on the edge of the counter. Like Cool Whip.

(Look at her swollen bottom gums. There is a tooth coming in on the left.)

This is HILARIOUS, Mom!!!!!!

Yesterday & Today

What started as a 10 minute break to 'rest my eyes' turned into a very long nap. Thus, the blog didn't get done last night. But here is what I intended to post.

Daddy and his girl fed the ducks yesterday evening.

And AC was just pointing that little finger and giving those ducks a good talkin' to.

Daddy says he thinks she inherited a bossy gene. I think I should be offended by this.
Then Daddy found a seashell and lots of sticks on the lake. Fun times for a little girl!

Today, we had lunch at our friend Melissa's house. AC was dying to get in the pool. So we let her stick her feet in. She L.O.V.E.D. it even though it was just a little cold!

Happy Veteran's Day to my Grandaddy, my Papaw, my Uncle Hank, my Uncle Bob, Daddy's Papaw and Pawpaw, and AC's Uncle Nathan and Uncle Judd. A most special Happy Veteran's Day goes out to Daddy. We truly appreciate what you've done for us, our country, and our God. We love you.

A Beary Good Day

Look what Daddy brought home from work.
No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. That would be a 6 ft. stuffed bear. Have I mentioned that he is tightly wrapped around a certain little girl's small finger? It's bad. It has to be for a grown man to go into a store and walk out with this monstrosity.


But she really, really loved it. So much so that she offered Mr. Bear some of her pretzels and juice. And she doesn't share her snacks with just anyone!

Thanks to Daddy for making each day so very wonderful for his girl!

Race Car Grocery Cart

It seems that the time has come for the race car grocery cart. And boy, was it an adventure. First, the thing is gigantic. I feel like a 7 year old trying to maneuver it around the corners of each aisle. We almost took out a few people. Secondly, there is way too much room in the seat area. Even if you strap in your kid, she can still move around quite a bit (see photos below). The problem is that she now knows the race car exists. So the normal cart is now boring and just doesn't provide a joyous grocery shopping experience for this toddler. Oh, and let us not forget that there are probably scientific studies proving these race cars to be thriving habitats for all varieties of bacteria, fungus, viruses, and stray boogers and snacks. Yay for the race car grocery cart. Not.

We love and miss you all!

BBQ

The firefighters in our town hosted a fundraising BBQ today at a local park. After AC's nap, we packed up and headed on over. While it was chilly by south Florida standards, a brisk 74 degrees, people still lined up for the delicious food and games. Our girl had a good time as well.

Once Daddy finally let her get out of her stroller, she made sure he couldn't catch her!

She didn't want to get back in!

There was also a live band. AC broke out her dance moves for the crowd!

So, yeah, the sweater is a little small. She looked cute anyway!!

Eating one of Daddy's buns! Yummy.

We hope you all had a good weekend!

Daddy's Girl

It is true that this little girl loves her daddy. And he loves her. He continues to amaze me everyday with how selfless and loving he is with his baby girl. Sure, there are days when I worry that he is a big pushover when it comes to her. Especially on days like today. We made an early trip to Toys R Us just to look around. It wasn't long after plunking her little tush into the cart that we had pretty hefty load. If she wanted it, Daddy let her hold it. "Holding it" means "keeping it" if you're a 15 months old. She wasn't happy when Mama started putting things back. We left the store with only 3 things, but they were 3 wonderful things in the eyes of our girl. First, we have #1 and 2... Balls. Are you surprised? She screamed like she was on fire when we strolled past the ball bin. She wanted them all, but Daddy drew the line at these two. We now have 1,456, 398 balls in this house.

And then there is #3...this wonderful creation. Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home. She would have rather had the Barney doll, gumball machine, gigantic stuffed bear, and wagon that we had to put back, but Daddy really wanted her to have this. I just knew she would love it and Daddy agreed. We were right. It was a huge hit. And if I must say, it is REALLY awesome. It kept her entertained for hours, literally. Plus, she got to put all her dance moves to work with the cool sound effects and songs (tomorrow, I'm going to find the mute button). And the girl has moves. For real.

Daddy showing her how to use her mailbox.

"Wow! Look at the porch light!!!"

Crawling through the door!

"Hi, Mom! It's pretty cool back here!"

Merry (early) Christmas, Baby Girl. Daddy loves you more than you know. Someday, you will understand this and it will make you happier than you were today!