Weekend recap

We had a busy weekend.....whew...thank goodness for rainy Mondays. ha!

On Friday, we went to visit our friend Casey and her little boy, Ryan. Isn't he such a cutie??!!He and Alabama had a fun time playing together with his toys and at the park in their neighborhood. Thanks so much Casey for having us over and for making us a wonderful lunch! (I'm going to try to make that pretzel strawberry recipe!)

After we left her house, we headed to Atlanta to pick up my sister, Alicia, from training. Alabama was asleep before we got to the gate and slept the whole trip! We stopped at my favorite store...Last Stop Thrift Store in Decatur. The thing I love about it is not only do they have nicer things, it is all organized by size!!! yay! I found a few goodies then we headed home.

On Saturday, we went to my Nana's in Gibson to go fishing with some of our members of the Augusta GCB. For some of them, it was their first time fishing! Here is Alabama in her wagon ready for the day. My Daddy caught two or three. I caught one at the end. Just to say I fished! ha!

Here is Alabama with Nana. (She's probably going to kill me for posting this picture!ha!)Thank you so much for letting us come over! We had a great time!

After we left, we went home and took a shower and had a quiet night at home. After Alabama went to sleep, me and Adam watched "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". I forgot how funny it is! Cute movie + Hot Matthew McConoughey = Fun!

Sunday, we went to church of course! It was graduate recognition Sunday. The little preschool graduates were so cute and made me realize how fast Alabama will be that big and graduating from preschool! wow! Bryan preached a wonderful message on trusting God during a crisis. What are you trusting God for today? Whatever it is, He is big enough to handle it!!!

Well, I'm off to clean up my office on this rainy Monday! I've got 3 hours to get it done!!

Alabama Grace

Today at Kelly's Korner it is "Show us Your Life: Baby Names". Some people may not know where Alabama's name comes from so here you go.

When I first tell people Alabama's name, they usually like it but at the same time are surprised. (Well, one person...my "Aunt" said "Al-a-bama????" in a disgusted voice when I told her....but anyway..) People ask me all the time where we got the name Alabama. They usually assume that we are Alabama (roll tide) fans, or that she was born in Alabama, or that she was conceived in Alabama....which none of those are true! ha!

Actually, we wanted to have a state name since I am Virginia and Adam's sister's name is Georgia. I always thought it was so fun that my sister-in-law was a state, too! Since we are both the first born, my first born became Alabama Grace. We wanted to keep it in the South...not Montana or Dakota...although they are pretty...just not for us.

I LOVE her name because it is so unique, because it comes from my name, because it sounds so Southern, and the Grace because it represents the amazing grace of our Savior! I hope that when she's older, she loves it as much as we do.

And no, I do not plan to name all of my future children different states....that may be a little weird! ha!!

14 months

On Monday, Alabama turned 14 months old!

Alabama, here's what you are up to these days:

You weigh 24 pounds.

You are so friendly to everyone....although you've started to act shy when you first greet someone! ha! You love to wave, talk, and blow kisses to random people!

Everywhere we go, we get stopped to tell us what a beautiful baby you are! I pray that you will grow up to be as pretty on the inside as you are on the outside.

You say so many words now through sign language. You can sign baby, bottle, duck, frog, dog, cat, eat, more, book, hat, kisses, pig, monkey, all done, thank you and probably a few more that I can't remember right now. I love how we can communicate more now! It is truly amazing!

This is you smelling the flowers!

The words that you say verbally are mama, daddy, yeah, me, and ba-ba. You say A LOT more than that...we just can't recognize it all! ha! You talk constantly....and I know that you know exactly what you are saying. You talk with such inflection and look me right in the eye and use your hands when you talk...it's soo funny! Everyone tells me they've never heard a baby talk as much as you do....we'll have our hands full when you really start to talk! ha!

You are on the go all the time. Since you started walking, you haven't sat down for more than a minute since! ha! You get into everything and love to play with your toys, all the pillows, and every bag you find. You are always pulling the cushion off the piano bench and using it as a mat to lay on. Within a minute of when I put it up, you pull it back off! You lay on it, put your babies on it, and want me to lay on it with you. (By the way, these socks you found and wanted to wear yesterday! ha! You try to put your socks and shoes on by yourself and it is so cute!)

Your two favorite things are your babies and any and all chairs! You love to sit on chairs, stools, benches, steps...you even climb up into the big chairs now!

You sleep through the night most of the time now...but not always.

You have four teeth. You drink regular whole milk now but don't want to drink it out of a cup.

We have so much fun playing together. I love this stage of your life so far! We tickle each other, talk, play with babies, play outside, and you act like a kissing monster!

You love to read books now. A few of your favorites are: Where is Baby's Belly Button, Goodnight Gorilla, Where's Elmo, and the Animal book. We read them over and over!

I love you so much and enjoy having the honor and blessing of spending each day with you!

I wouldn't trade this time for anything!

1st Trip to the Zoo

Friday, Alabama took her first trip to visit the zoo! We drove to Columbia, to the Riverbanks Zoo. It's actually the only zoo I've ever been to. We had a fun day with Shana, Thomas ,and their girls, Caleigh and Camden, and Casey and her son Ryan. Casey and I rode together and it was great getting to talk and get to know each other a little better. They moved here not long ago from Virginia and it's great to have them in our Young Married's class! The weather was perfect and it was not too very crowded (besides the school kids!). Our first stop was the flamingos. Ryan had been asking to see them the entire ride! I love them, too...except the smell! Alabama had on her Pretty and Pink Flamingo shirt just for the zoo so we had to do a few pictures with the beautiful coral birds. She really liked to look at all the animals. I wasn't too sure how interested she would be, but she really did enjoy it! I think her favorites were the flamingos and the monkeys

(man, they are loud!). The gorilla feeding was pretty neat. I think it scared Alabama a little bit when those huge gorillas ran towards the glass...kinda scared me a little, too! That was my favorite, though. They are soo big and they come right to the glass where you sit and watch them. So, so neat!

I let her get out and play a little while we were in the penguin house. She needed some running around time! Ryan was so sweet and wanted to hold her hand...but after a few minutes, she was tired of that! ha! It was so funny! (Good girl!)

We also saw the giraffes. You can feed them from an observation deck.

They were beautiful...I just love your spots Mr. Giraffe!

We saw elephants, farm animals, lions and tigers (but they're pretty boring and just sleep all day!), baboons, other birds, and fish. We did NOT go into the reptile house..no m'aam!

They have these cute statues all over the zoo...so cute for photos...but Alabama wasn't really feeling it! ha!

Before we left, we had some ice cream...so yummy...Blue Bell Strawberry! Then we played for about ten minutes on the playground. Alabama loves anything with steps. It was a little scary for me because it has drop offs at the top so I went up with her. She would climb up and walk all around and she also slid down the slide a few times. Ryan was being such a gentlemen helping Alabama up the steps! ha! They had a lot of fun playing together! At the end of the day...they had both finished their bottles and were asleep before we got on the road! ha! Long day in the life of a one year old....who am I kidding, I was tired, too!

Baby Signs and Random Fun

Alabama can do many signs now! It's so exciting to see her communicate with us! I love it!
She can do the signs for: book, hey and bye (of course!), pig, dog, frog, cat, duck, blow a kiss, and bottle/eat. She will do these when we ask her to but also if she sees a dog or cat in person or on the TV. Wow! I've been doing some of these for a while and now she is doing them, too. It just blows my mind! We are working on more.
She can understand so much now. It just amazes me how smart she is! She can tell you where her belly is. She loves to tickle you. She wants you to read her favorite books over and over! She gives such sweet kisses! She loves her babies. She puts them in the high chair to feed them. She climbed into the high chair herself and wanted to eat! ha! She wants to be outside ALL. the. time! She walks everywhere and is into everything! She knows that turning on the music in her room means bedtime and she cries and leaves the room! ha! She gives you her passy when you ask for it. She stomps her feet and claps to "If you're Happy and you Know it" and "Rise and Shine".
She says what sounds like "Go" and waves her hands when she sees a dog or when Sassy is barking. I'm not sure if she's saying dog or go. We do tell Sassy to go sometimes so I'm not sure which it is, but I know it means dog. Also for dog, she pants with her tongue out.
This is the funnest stage so far and I am enjoying every minute of it!!!

Mantel Party!

I am excited to participate in The Nester's Mantel Party!

I love my mantel and really love to decorate it for the different seasons. I am so glad to have a mantel for the stockings at Christmas. Right now, though, it's just a plain mantel. I did have a garland up for Easter, but that is down now and we're waiting to put some shells up for summer. I'm excited to look through the other links to find some inspiration to add in to my mantel.

Our "fireplace"...that's right...it's not a real fireplace...just a great mantel that we rescued from the house that my husband's Mother grew up in with black fabric stapled to the back and leaned against the wall. I also added the Old Taylor Tiered Stand with candles from Southern Living and a surround that I got very cheap to give it some serious authenticity! Most people don't even know it's not real when they first walk in. I love to burn the candles so it really feels like a warm fireplace in the cool months.

This is the entire wall view from the french door entrance to our small den where the TV and the "fireplace" is located. (I wish we had a playroom..but we don't so I found this little shelf that is perfect for storing Alabama's toys.)

And...just for fun...my refrigerator! I love having the top and front free of clutter. For years, we had cereal boxes, bread, etc. on top and magnets of all types, notes, and such on the front. It really makes such a difference in the feel of the kitchen when it is pleasing to the eye and put together. Love it!

Sleeping Beauty

When I checked on Alabama while she was napping yesterday, she was snuggled up like this.

So sweet....