Outdoors!

Yesterday it was a beautiful day outside. When I got home from work, the four of us went outside to play. The girls love being outside. You have to really watch Mia though; she is quick and looks for almost any chance to run towards the street or climb our front porch stairs which are way too big for her. She really enjoyed running around and kicking the little soccer ball though; she has a great laugh when she kicks it. Lily was having lots of fun throwing her baseball so we could hit or catch it. She was very specific too as she would stand on top of a little hill that we have, loudly yell "Keep your eye on the ball!" and then throw to whomever was batting. She also insisted if we were throwing to her, we do the same thing. We had lots of fun chasing after the balls together. After we had been out for a few minutes Lily said "Mommy since I'm playing sports I need to go inside and get my sports hat." Ryan took her back in and a minute later she emerged wearing Ryan's Atlanta Braves baseball cap; she looked adorable and of course I didn't have the camera handy so you can see! I am so glad it is warming up so we can play outside again!

A Shot at Bama

Lily and Bama were watching a Disney Sing-A-Long video yesterday, and Bama was singing. Lily looked at her very seriously and said "Stop singing Bama. It's making my tummy hurt." Ryan and I have both been told it "makes my ears hurt" before, but this is a new one. I think we need to work with Lily on her tactful (or not) way of saying things! Lucky for Lily, Bama has a good sense of humor!

The Art of Small Talk

Lily makes me laugh as she is learning the art of small talk and polite conversation. Yesterday, when I came home from work, she ran up to me and gave me a big hug which is my usual greeting from her. She started to run back to playing, but then she stopped, turned back to me and said "So, how was your work?" When I told her "It was good today, thank you" she said "Good. I am good too." Then she returned to her typical self and ran back to the playroom while saying "Mommy, come see what I am playing with!"

This morning as we were all getting ready for school and work, Lily came and sat near me. I asked if she had finished her breakfast (as she was holding a small piece of her waffle in her hand), and she said "No, but I want to sit here so we can talk." I said that was fine (it was just a couple of bites left). She then said "Have a good day at work honey." I had to fight back laughter, but I said "Thank you sweetie. I hope you have a great day at school" to which she replied "I will."

I'm amazed to see her acting so grown up as she picks up on our habits and phrases. It makes me laugh as this pint-size person says these things. I could eat her up she is so adorable!

Little Lily Story

A funny conversation with Lily today...

Lily and Ryan were talking this afternoon and discussing how my other name is Allison (my primary name of course is Mommy). Lily said "There are two Allisons. The one I saw yesterday (referring to our friend Allison Sepulveda who we last saw a few months ago) and Mommy. Just like I have two eyes, two ears, two hands and two feet, there are two Allisons." What will she thinks if she meets a third Allison?

The girl keeps us laughing!

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my 31st birthday. I love celebrating birthdays. Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating holidays too; however, everyone celebrates a holiday at the same time. A birthday, though, is special to each person. Sure you share it with some people, but not everyone. I just like to think that everyone has their own special day.

I love how we celebrated my birthday this year. On Friday evening, Ryan and I met my parents at The Georgian Club. It is such a treat to get time with them where the girls are not with us. I think we all had a great time. Mom, Dad and I enjoyed the lobster bisque (one of my favorite things to eat) while Ryan started with Caribbean Chicken Kabobs. For our entrees, I had a delicious flank steak with bordelaise sauce, Ryan had a panko-encrusted rack of lamb, Dad had balsamic glazed duck and Mom enjoyed a sampler platter of small portions of steak, chicken and shrimp. For dessert, Ryan and I shared their famous praline basket with ice cream and berries while Mom and Dad shared a Macadamia Nut Pie slice. It was all delicious! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I am so thankful to have such wonderful parents, and I am so grateful for all they have given and taught me. I love them very much.

A picture of me with the girls on Saturday morning.

I really wanted to spend some time with the girls and Ryan on Saturday morning because I had decided I would take the whole weekend off from work (a treat in the middle of tax season!). We decided to take the girls on a trip to Imagine It Childrens Museum. Lily loves the museum! When I told her where we were going, her eyes got really big, and she broke into a big smile; she said "Really? Yea!!!" Mia has been once before, when Grandpops and Grandma Jan visited, but she was only a few months old, so this was the first time she could go and actually play; we knew she would love it. We were very excited when we found out that Brian, Parker and Macey would join us. This is such a fun place to visit with kids!

Mia and Macey had a good time in the area designated for the under 2 set.

Mia had a fun time climbing in and out of the tubes.
Trying to learn how to play the piano. Mia loves music!

Lily had fun grocery shopping and then going to pay for them at the cash register. I handed her each item, and she would ring it up. A small item would get one small number while larger items would receive several numbers. She then put each item back into the baskets; she wouldn't let those baskets out of her sight for most of our visit there.

Ryan spent most of the museum visit with Mia and the Hendersons while Lily and I spent time together. As attached to me as Lily is, Mia is attached to Ryan!

Brian, Parker and Macey had fun together too.

Lily, Mia and I enjoyed playing with the moon sand together.

Just before we left, Lily painted which she has never done there before. They have a big white wall, and they give the kids a brush and three colors of paint. Lily painted a few lines and liked seeing how the colors mixed together.

Each time we go to the museum, something different holds Lily's attention which really fascinates me. This time she loved "driving" the big bus. I was a little surprised by this because there isn't much to it. It's a big grocery delivery truck, and it only has a wheel that turns; it's not like there are a lot of bells and whistles on it. However, she kept going back to it again and again. She would look through the window, and if someone else was sitting in the driver seat, she would say "Let's sit on the bench Mommy and wait our turn. We'll wait til he's done and then it will be our turn, okay?" I was impressed with her patience because that is not one of her usual virtues. She also had a lot of fun with the trains which have never really interested her much before. I thought it was funny at one point, there were about 10 little boys playing with the trains...and Lily. She didn't even notice that a bunch of boys were around her because she was having a great time pushing the three magnetic train cars through the tunnels and over the bridges. She amazes me.

After the museum, I wanted to go to The Varsity for lunch; what a treat! It was really crowded but we managed to find a table to hold all of us. Lily wolfed down her hot dog and some of my onion rings while Mia preferred to stick with her graham crackers. Parker and Lily were thrilled when we got ice cream after lunch. I know this food isn't good for you, but I love it; it was the perfect place to have lunch!

We got the girls home after lunch then it was time for naps. After we put the girls down, Ryan and I quickly packed and headed out.  Our Birmingham family had come over to keep the girls for us. We headed to the Marriott near Lenox Mall. We were both exhausted from all the work we have been doing during tax season; we really wanted a chance to get away so we could rest. We used Marriott points to stay; a free hotel room is always nice! We had planned on ordering room service (always my favorite meal), but really, the menu didn't sound that great. We decided to go downstairs to Shula's instead. I am something of a club sandwich connoisseur, so when I saw that on the menu, I had to try it (I was still pretty full from lunch so a big steak didn't sound appealing). It was one of the best clubs I have ever had. It was on chibatta bread, and it had this spicy mustard-mayonnaise spread that was fantastic. Really delicious. After dinner we went back upstairs and watched our Netflix rental which was a 45 minute stand up comedian named Brian Regan; it had some pretty funny moments. We both took Tylenol PM and were out by 10PM. I didn't wake up until 10:30 Sunday morning (really 9:30 if you don't consider the time change). It was awesome! I felt so rested; this was definitely needed.

We thought about getting room service breakfast, but decided it didn't look great and was overpriced, so instead, we went to Lenox Mall to California Pizza Kitchen which was yummy. We then shopped for a little bit, stopped by Target and then got home. The girls were sleeping when we got home, but I was so surprised to walk and see this...

Liz told me how Lily picked out all the decorations. They had picked a Happy Birthday balloon that matched the paper products, and then Lily saw a princess balloon. She told Liz "I'm sure Mommy will like this one too." How funny is she? We rested for a little while until Lily woke up from her nap. She came in and immediately said "Mommy, come see your surprise." I followed her into the dining room and she said "Ta Da!" She was so excited and proud of what she had done! She told me about going to The Dollar Store and picking everything out...the plates, napkins, streamers, balloons, party hats and my personal favorite: "honky horns." They are the noise makers that you usually see at New Years, but I thought it was hilarious that Lily called them "honky horns." Cracks me up. Here's a picture of Lily showing everything to me.

Lily loved the party hats and insisted we all wear them!

Mia however wasn't so sure about the hat.

Ryan and Mia were ready for the party.

They had also picked up Jim and Nick's for us to have for dinner and a cake from Publix which is always good. They make the best cakes there. Lily was so excited about the cake and couldn't wait for it! We were really glad that our friend, Kyle Kline, was driving through Atlanta this evening, so he stopped in and had dinner and dessert with us. It was a treat to catch up with him.

Here's a picture of us in hats and with honky horns before the cake.

Blowing out the candles on my cake. We borrowed Lily's 3 and Mia's 1 candles; they didn't mind.

Thank you to everyone who made this a wonderful birthday! I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful family and friends. This was a great celebration weekend!

Recent Pictures

So I have gotten a little better about taking pictures of everyday events instead of just special events. However, I have not taken the time to upload many of those pictures. I have a little extra time this evening, so here are some miscellaneous pictures taken over the last few weeks. Enjoy!

How's this for an outfit? Lily put a pink tutu over her black pants, Clifford the Big Red Dog ears on and her Chicago Cubs hat over the ears. I know I'm not the most fashionable person, but surely I am teaching her better than this???

Mia has finally learned how to climb up onto Dusty by herself. She loves that she can rock back and forth! She is becoming such a big girl!
Mia was so proud of herself for putting Lily's shoes on. It didn't bother her that they were on backwards. She loves putting on shoes! When she is getting dressed each morning, she will put up a fight to put pants on, but she holds still and holds her feet in the air so we can put socks and shoes on.

How sweet is this face? Mia and Lily love to eat muffins; really, they love almost all breakfast foods. Almost every week, a friend of Liz's in Birmingham, Mr. Ron, gives her a big blueberry muffin or two to bring over to share with the girls. They both love these muffins and look forward to it. Thank you Mr. Ron!

Taking a big bite!

Josh and Amy came over to visit last weekend. The girls were a little shy at first, but once they warmed up, they had a great time. Lily loves that Uncle Josh is a fireman. Anytime we see a fire truck or fireman in a book, she points out that is what Uncle Josh does. They also love that Josh is a great guitar player; they had so much dancing when he would play songs for them.

Mia rarely holds still these days. Ryan would have let her lay against him and hug him for hours!

Mia is quite proud of herself for putting on Lily's dress-up princess shoes. They have little heels on them, so they are more difficult to walk in, but she likes to try.

Lily and Bama have a great time making craft projects together. Lily loved her princess tiara (or "tee-tara" as Lily still calls it). They make all sorts of cool things with paper, stickers, pipe cleaners, crayons, etc. Liz's experience as a kindergarten teacher is one of the many great points for her keeping the girls. She knows how to actually teach them things, and she does an awesome job at it!

Lily knows she isn't supposed to get out of bed at night, and most nights, she stays there once we put her down. One night though, everything was quiet, so I thought she was still in bed. I happen to walk by her hallway, and the picture below shows what I saw. I couldn't help taking a picture before putting her back to bed.

Ryan's Zoo Trip

Last Tuesday, Ryan took the girls to the zoo; it was a beautiful day. They had a great time! Of course, they enjoyed seeing all the animals, but this time they spent a lot of time playing on the big playground. They loved it! They also did really well in the petting zoo area. Here are some of the cute pictures Ryan took.

Lily enjoying a snack break.

Mia enjoyed her snacks too.
Daddy and the girls in front of the panda bear exhibit.

Mia had fun on the playground bus.

Lily told me many times about going down the "silly slide" which went around and around. She loved this!

Climbing up onto the playground together.

Mia loves to test her skills on stairs.

Lily petting some sheep.

Mia prefers to see the goats.

It was a fun-filled, exhausting day!

Why She Comes With Me

Thursday night, Ryan, Liz and I took the girls to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. Lily kept calling it "Scooby Dooby's" which made me laugh. I love to have their broccoli cheese soup and salad bar for dinner. When I got up to go to the salad bar, Lily said she wanted to come too. As we were walking towards it, Lily said "Do you know why I want to come with you Mommy?" so I said "Why?" Lily replied "Because I love you." It melts my heart every single time I hear her say "I love you!"

My Big Helper

Lily wants nothing more than to be a "big girl" these days. She wants to attempt many things by herself, and she tries to "help" us often. Last night was a great example of this. She and I went to Publix together after dinner. She loves the grocery store, and I like getting to spend a little alone time with her because we talk the whole time. It's also a great learning experience because we look at the numbers (i.e., prices) together to see which one is less and we identify colors, shapes, smells, food categories, etc. She also loves to look at the cakes in the bakery. Anyway, on our way into the store, she was pretty adamant that she was not going to ride in the buggy; she wanted to walk with me, so she could show me where the Nemo vitamins were. I told her she could walk but she had to stay with me the whole time, and if she walked away from me, I would put her in the buggy; she agreed.

She did great for our whole hour visit! Normally, it doesn't take me an hour at Publix, but it took a little longer because Lily wanted to put "her items" on the bottom of the buggy; that would be vitamins, Cheerios, Rice A Roni...basically anything that was not in a flexible package. She agreed to put the bread, refrigerated and produce items inside the buggy. She was so careful in arranging everything on the bottom rack; she wanted to make sure that nothing fell through the cracks. She said she was making a big square. She walked right beside me most of the time "helping" me push the buggy, but towards the end she got tired, so she stood at the end of the buggy and let me push her. She would squeal "wheee!" with delight each time we turned a corner. The best part was when we got to check-out. She pulled each item out from under the buggy and loaded it onto the conveyor belt. It was actually very helpful. When we got home, she pulled each item out of the bag so she could show Ryan. She was so proud of herself, and I have to say, she was a big helper!

One Sentence; Two Smiles

I put my mom on speakerphone this evening, so Mia could hear her voice; she gave a big smile when she heard her. Lily was also near me, so she started talking to mom (aka, Granna). One of the things she told Granna was "We just ate dinner and my best friend Mommy brought me Chick-a-lay." First, I LOVE that she called me her best friend; how sweet is that? Second, I love that she still says "Chick-a-lay" instead of "Chick-fil-a." Cracks me up.