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....

He is Risen!

Happy Easter! We had a great day today celebrating the resurrection of our Savior and enjoying time with family. This morning we got ready for church in our "Easter clothes" and let Alabama open her basket from the Easter Bunny. She got a lamb and some Life Savers candy in an egg (it has lollipops in it). A few years ago, my friend, Tina, told me how her girls got Life Savers and a stuffed lamb each year to remind them that Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for our sins and rose again to save our life! I thought that was such a wonderful way to celebrate the true meaning of Easter and not get into all the chocolate bunny hype so that is what we plan to do for Alabama. She also got some Yogurt Nibbles and an Easter card.

This is the beautiful dress that I already had that I decided a while back we would save to wear on Easter. I love it because it is so sweet and simple but so detailed and beautiful! I made the huge bow last night for the "wow factor" as Adam calls it. ( Y'all think it's me that makes a big deal over what Alabama wears...but it's really him! ha!) I know it's as big as her head...but she doesn't mind...promise! The cutest part was the little purse that "Aunt Katie" got her from Cracker Barrell that she loved toting around. I knew she would love it so I wanted her to have a sweet ,dressy, Easter purse. She put her passy and her "lipstick" and keys in it. So cute!

It was awesome to see our church filled almost to capacity this morning and it was such a great time of worship and a wonderful message from our Pastor!

We went home to eat at our house for lunch. I had already cooked a Strawberry bunny cake and had Audra make potato salad last night. So today, we just cooked some green beans and the bread and made tea. Adam's Mama and Daddy came over to eat with us, too. We took some pictures of all of us and some more of Alabama with Maxine's camera, but I'll have to get the card from her this week. She brought deviled eggs and a pie. Mama made a ham that was so good and a sweet potato souffle and Alicia made mac and cheese. It was a wonderfully good meal, but I'm still full now! ha!

After lunch, it was about time to go back to church for the Spring Fling. We got there just in time for the egg hunt for the babies. She fell asleep in the car and was still pretty tired, but she perked up a little after a few minutes. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with the eggs..she wanted to open them like she does at home..but we picked up about four. She really wanted to climb up the steps...that's one of her new favorite things...but they were covered in pollen! She also wanted to pick up the wood chips...crazy girl! Here she is toting her basket of eggs all by herself!

I prayed that she would be walking by Easter, because of course the dress, the purse, the egg hunting...all are more fun when you can walk rather than just crawl! God is so good to answer such a small request and give us the desires of our heart! She has been getting better and better all week and yesterday, she was walking all around the house by herself! It's so fun to watch her! I made this little bunny applique for her shirt. It was soo easy so all of the plain shirts in her drawers...you better watch out- you're probably next! ha! This is the pillowcase dress that my Mama made her. She wore it on Good Friday and also some on Saturday to an egg hunt at their church. She also has some super cute bunny shoes that she wore with it Friday. We got so many compliments while we were out!

This girl is soo spoiled! She had so many Easter goodies! We went to see Granny and Aunt Judy on Thursday and they gave her a bunny, some bubbles and a cute card with $2 in it! (which i bought her a Gymboree outfit at a yard sale on Saturday with!) She got a cute card in the mail from Aunt Georgia and Uncle Chris! Leslie brought us the prettiest card and some "too pretty to eat" chocolates and brought Alabama a pink bunny. Nana had her a present on Saturday at the egg hunt. She gave her a pull-along phone which Alabama loves and a big pink bunny and a card. Then today, Mama, Daddy, and Alicia gave her a basket full of yogurt melts, baby cookies (she hasn't tried those yet..made by Beech Nut), an "I love Grandpa" bib, a white skirt, and a Larry the Cucumber. She even snuck in a few Reese's eggs. (the best candy ever! ha!) Then last, Audra gave her the purse and some bubbles! Wow, what an Easter! ha!

I hope you had a great day! We serve a Risen Savior!