23 months!

It is honestly getting a little hard to write these posts! I can't believe it's time again to write. I can't believe she's almost TWO! Birthday party planning is full swing around here! I (mostly me, because Jeremiah said he didn't care which theme it was!) decided to go with Yo Gabba Gabba. Presley LOVES this show. Love isn't really the correct word. She's obsessed! I really wanted to do a PB&J theme and kick it with vintage-y purples and browns. She also loves a good PB&J sandwich, but I didn't think that she would recognize that from the party decor. I think she'll be really excited about Gabba Gabba! And don't worry if you can't stomach the show, I promise you will only see the characters in small doses! Invites went out today...so they should be on your doorstep in no time!

So Presley is loving Yo Gabba Gabba right now. She also likes Sesame Street and Jack's Big Music Show. She is still crazy obsessed with babies. And trains and airplanes. We have a game on our iPad that plays the noises of different animals and automobiles. Well, there is a jet on there. And one morning we heard a plane and I said "oh I hear an airplane outside", then she quickly informed me "no, a jet". Nothing like being schooled by a 23 mo old! :)

This girl loves to eat sauces. Like as in ketchup, bbq, ranch....pretty much any condiment sauce! She is such a big helper now! She loves helping put the laundry into the dryer. She'll also help empty the dishwasher, minus the sharps and breakables of course. She has a play vacuum that she vacuums the carpet with. Kind of funny considering that she's terrified of the real one!

Bedtime is very routine procedure. She has to have everything just right before she'll go to sleep. She sleeps on her belly with her zebra puppy under one arm and her baby under the other. A pappy in each hand and one in her mouth, her lovey blanket on her back and her regular blanket on her legs. Can anyone say OCD? Oh and the monitor has to be plugged in with the light on before you put her in the crib or she won't lay down. She somehow knows that we watch her in it! Crazy! She also has to have her little bird music box on. When she gets up in the morning, she lays her puppy and baby down in the crib and cover them with blankets and tells them "nigh, nigh"!

Presley has just started calling cats "ditty". She use to just make a meow noise when you asked her what they were. She is also doing this thing where she holds up her index finger and then says "one more". This could be in reference to her getting another piece of food or throwing her up in the air or if she wants you to stop bothering her! She says everything is "boo" when you ask her what color something is. Oh and she says her name is "cessly"! Precious!

Well, the next time I'll write one of these I will have a 2 year old. I'm pretty sure that I'll have to have lots of tissues on hand for that one!

pictures I forgot

I meant to put these in the previous post, but they were in another folder on the computer and I forgot them. Vicky took all of these and they turned out great! So here they are.

Hoping Kole would give her some watermelon!Love this one!

I love this picture too! She looks like she's going "oh no!" to Pappaw wearing her bow.

Tickling Pappaw's beard!

fish fry and weekend fun

Johnny & Vicky (Jeremiah's dad and bonus mom) came for a visit this weekend. We've enjoyed them being here SO much! Here is a recap of the fun things we've done since they've been here and some pictures for good measure!

Friday, Jeremiah had to go in to work for a few hours in the afternoon so we mostly just hung around here. When I put Presley down for a nap, I went to Target by MYSELF! It was awesome! =] random, but I am loving the Calypso St. Barth line there! It just screams summer in the Caribbean and makes me miss St. Lucia! Anyway, back to the point, that night I made PW's meatballs again. Obviously they're something else I am loving! ;) We finally watched The A-Team, it was better and funnier than I thought it was going to be.

Saturday we went to my Mom's for a fish fry. Yum! Catfish straight out of the lake behind Johnny & Vicky's house! It was delicious. When Presley had watermelon that night, I said she looked like a little vampire because of all of the red on her mouth and clothes! Jaden said she looked like she "has a problem with lipstick!" Ha ha! He is so funny! Jeremiah & Johnny also dropped the TV cords behind the wall! Oh my gosh, it looks so awesome!

Sunday we took it easy again (poor Johnny pulled a muscle in his back and has been in some pretty bad pain) and played around here. We had fun with sidewalk chalk. And when Presley went down for a nap, Vicky & I got our shop on at TJ Maxx, Target and Dollar Tree! :) Papa John's was for dinner and watching The Dilemma was for dessert! I liked it but I expected it to be much funnier. I love Vince Vaughn in pretty much any movie though!

Today again we've done nothing! It's been nice! Tonight we are going out to dinner and then calling it an early night. They are going back home tomorrow morning. :( And then it's back to work for all of us. Ughh, I wish it could've lasted longer!

happiness in pictures!

Just wanted to share some pictures from our day! Jeremiah's dad and bonus mom are here so I'll post a lot more detail later on. :) Hope you had a happy Saturday!

girly weekend

This weekend was kinda girly....right up my alley! Ha! On Friday night I journeyed down to Navarre to have Mexican with two of my friends from high school. These gals are great! In the middle is Emily and on the right is Jessie. It was definitely bittersweet because I only get to see Jessie once in a blue moon! She's a big movie star in Hollywood...seriously she lives in LA and is an actress! Let's hope she doesn't forget us small folks when she's an A-lister! ;) And Emily is a sweet friend who is moving to Virginia with her military husband soon. I'm going to miss her even though we don't see each other often. :(

Then Saturday we celebrated Mother's Day with Joy, Jeremiah's mom. We also went to Kohl's and the grocery store for some shopping. Yay for Kohl's not so much for WalMart! & I made this wreath!

Sunday we celebrated with my Mom then came home and cleaned! :) It's only good because Jeremiah's dad and bonus mom are coming for the weekend! :)

And today was my Mom's birthday! & we celebrated Pioneer Woman style! With her meatballs...to die for, every time!....and the best chocolate sheet cake ever. Seriously that's the name of it. And boy does it live up to it's name! Make it tomorrow. I promise you'll thank me...actually you'll thank PW! I can't wait for August to get here! My Mom and I are headed to Atlanta for a few days to attend the Women of Faith conference! I'm so excited! A few days without husbands or kids! Amazing! =]

And lastly I leave you with a funny picture. Can you spot the little girl on the couch? Ha ha! She LOVES her stuffed animals and she has about 20 of them. She would even sleep with all of them if we would let her! She wanted all of them to sit with her on the couch and her Daddy helped her get them settled!

Much better the second time around!

Happy Mother's day to everyone! I know not everyone is a mother but in my opinion everyone has loved a child in their life like a mother would. Whether it be a niece, nephew, friend, neighbor, or even a child at work. It's hard work to love children sometimes! :)

Today was much different than last year, my first Mother's Day. We woke up and ate blueberry waffles, watched a church sermon from the internet and then Presley and I napped! (glorious!) We met my mom, brother and the kids at Blackwater Bistro for some scrumptious lunch after that. We were in a room by ourselves at the restaurant so it was nice to be able to be loud and talk. With four kids it's difficult to be quiet!

My sweet sweet husband and daughter got me the most wonderful gifts! The necklace is from The Vintage Pearl. I picked it out but the book was a complete surprise. I have wanted it for a while and can't wait to start reading it. I hope it will bring great insight! :)

The necklace is just beautiful! I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted just a P or her whole name, but I think her name is really pretty, what can I say, I'm partial! So I went with the entire thing. I figure if I ever have a boy I'd probably just get his initial since that seems a little more manly! And complete side note- but the top picture is bothering me! It is supposed to be horizontal but stupid blogger won't turn it that way. I've tried 3 times to fix it and it won't work! So you guys are just going to have to look at it sideways!

I'm so grateful for the 3 mothers that Jeremiah and I have in our lives....my mom, his mom and his bonus mom! They are all so wonderful! We celebrated with Jeremiah's mom last night by eating some yummy catfish. & we will have all next weekend to celebrate with his bonus mom because they are coming for a visit! YAY! We can't wait!

Hope y'all have had a great day!

another day, another wreath

Obviously I have some craft fever going on over here! I have been dying to make a rag wreath. I first saw it here. I fell in LOVE with the colors and the sheer happiness it exudes! :) It just screamed summer to me and since it feels like summer in the Florida panhandle, I decided our front door needed to wear it! It was super easy to make....WAY easier than coffee filter wreath and less hazardous! ;)

I meant to take pictures along the way and do a tutorial, but I forgot until I already had a bunch of fabric on the frame and I was not taking it off then for a picture! But I promise The Cottage Mama does a great job showing you how to do it all. Probably better than I ever could. She used scraps of Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey that she already had in her scrap bin. I don't have a scrap bin like that so I had to buy my fabric off Etsy! I found a seller who had what I wanted in a bundle of a 1/2 yard of each fabric. I decided to go with Hop Dot Sky, Swing Toss Pink, Hello Roses Olive, and Slim Dandy Stripe Pink. So in total I got 2 yards and cut them into 11 inch long strips and varying widths (thinner strips tie better on the wreath...fyi). I ended up using about 3/4 of the fabric I bought. & I used a thin wire frame, but in the blog I followed she used a dollar store wooden one. My wreath is definitely flatter than hers, but I still love it!

(almost) wordless Wednesday

I came out of my room from getting ready for work and this is how I found Presley!

She was saying "tuptake, tuptake!" and trying to grab it off the page to eat! :) Only MY child!

mid-month sayings

I think if I wait any longer to write these things down, I will forget them! So at 22 1/2 months Presley is doing the following~

Presley is saying "I'd soddy" when she does something wrong. It's really sweet. However now she thinks that gives her freedom to hit someone then say I'm sorry. Ummm....it definitely doesn't work that way! Sometimes she'll just randomly say "I'd soddy Mommy" when we are playing with toys. Hmmm, maybe she just thinks it's another word? Oh well, it's a start.

Presley also says "thank Mommy" or "thank Daddy" for thank you.

She says "awwee" for cute things. When I put her hair up, she wants to look at it in the mirror and then says "awwee!" and smiles. It is so adorable! She also says it when looking at babies or hugging some of her stuffed animals.

Yo Gabba Gabba is her favorite TV show and they always have a band come on and sing a song. When the band is done, they say 'listening to music is awesome!' Presley says "ausome" with them. And she randomly say "ausome" at different times of the day! Ha ha!

Presley says "skew me" for excuse me. Again she'll just barrel over you and then look back and say it. This age is a work in progress! :)

who knew coffee filters could be creative?

So, I'm sure that you have seen these before. They are everywhere right now. People on Etsy sell them for $40, but mine cost $8...and a hunk of my skin off by the stupid glue gun! That seriously hurts! It took me a few hours to complete but I gave myself lots of breaks. I could have probably hammered it out in one hour, but watching Little Women and casually gluing did much more for my sanity, at least for the first time doing it!

So pretty! I just love it! I have a bunch of filters left, so I will probably make another one, or two. The picture below is of the whole wall. I might replace the white ribbon with a red one to match the curtains. I think it might make the wreath stand out a little more.

no pictures, but still exciting stuff!

Presley has a big announcement.........





She pee peed in the potty last night for the first time!

-Sorry if you thought it was going to be a pregnancy announcement like my parents did! Ha ha!-

She has played around on her little potty before, but never actually did anything on it. After her bath, she wanted to "pee pee poddy". Within a few seconds she peed on the floor because she wasn't far enough back on the seat. So I scooted her back and then she peed in the potty! We clapped and cheered for her and then called all of the grandparents! =) I started the phone conversations with "Presley has something exciting to tell you guys!" In hind sight, probably did set them to think new baby, but peeing in the potty is all we got right now! ;)

Miscellany Monday

How's this for random: seafood, haircut, drinking out of a big girl cup and a change purse!

We went to Flounder's to eat tonight and it was delicious! I got the shrimp boat platter and it was HUGE! It could have probably fed everyone on a boat! I was crazy full when we left.

My sweet little watermelon at dinner! Have no fear, a few seconds after this picture, she was climbing all over us!

Jaden's new haircut! We all think it's adorable, but he doesn't like it! :( Poor thing! His hair has always grown fast, so it will be crazy curly again before we know it.

Presley is such big girl! I feel like I blink and she's doing something new, something more grown up. She can officially drink out of a big girl cup! Granted I wouldn't give her milk or juice in one yet, but water after brushing teeth works for now!

& lastly isn't this precious? Karri got it for me because we all know how obsessed I am with birds and owls! I love it! It fits my phone, debit card and keys....all that I need! :)

Oh no! It has begun!

WHY? WHY? WHY?

That's pretty much all I have heard this morning! Every time I say something to Presley, it's the response I get. I honestly was not prepared to hear this dreaded question this early....she's not even 2 yet! For the past few days she has said it off and on, but this morning, the Why has been full blown!

I don't think I'm ready for her to grow up!

Easter prequel

I'm sorry this should have been posted before the Easter post, but better late than never, right? We celebrated Easter with Jeremiah's mom, step-dad and niece on Saturday. It was a low key, (but super nice!) affair complete with grilling out and a small egg hunt! Chloe, Jeremiah's brother's little girl, is so sweet to Presley. They are not quite a year apart and get along surprisingly well. Chloe was really good about taking turns with Presley on the swing and with the toys.

Presley will grab you and squeeze when you ask for a hug! I don't think Chloe knew what to think of Presley being in her personal space...she just stood there!
I had to include this picture because it was so funny! Presley would put the camera up to her eye and say "chessh"! I guess she gets it from Mommy always having a camera in her face! ;)

EASTER!

We hope everyone had a great day! We sure did! My grandparents came down to spend Easter with us and we are so glad they did! We always love seeing them! :) The Easter Bunny came and left some goodies for Presley! She, of course, noticed the bubbles first and snatched them out and wanted us to blow them! She also got a duck hooded towel, a chocolate bunny (that should be fun to eat!), sidewalk chalk, an Elmo DVD, and a toddler Bible. It's really just a collection of Bible stories that are simple to read and have illustrations...it's super cute! {please excuse the junky background...it was well past midnight and the Easter Bunny was really tired!}

We went to the 9 am service at church and then headed to my parents' house. We ended up feeding Presley an early lunch and then putting her down for a nap before we even ate. She was just so cranky that I thought it might help to do that. Um, pretty much wrong! She only catnapped, with all of the excitement going on around the house! There were mini-meltdowns all over the place, but what's a holiday without a meltdown?! She ate again with us and then we had an egg hunt.

One of the first eggs Presley picked up had melted chocolate in it (because it's 109 degrees outside already!) and it went all over her outfit and all in her bucket. I try really hard to not be a perfectionist, but sometimes it just gets the best of me, and I just couldn't handle the melted chocolate everywhere. So I took Presley's basket away, had to clean her up and get her a new one. I tried to be cool, calm, and collected, tried being the key word. I'm sure I came across as a crazy psycho mom...I kinda felt like one after it was all over with! Sorry about that everybody!

Anyways, nothing ever turns out exactly how you plan. And we still had a great day and I got some cute pics!
And thanks to Karri! She's normally our Nanny on Sunday mornings with feeding Presley breakfast and getting her dressed for church, but this morning she woke us all up (thank goodness, because I had turned my alarm off instead of hitting snooze!). AND she got Presley completely ready! No easy feat, I tell you! Thanks again friend!

Sunday's Coming

Wow! I saw this video on Kelly's blog. I have to say, tears were streaming down my face watching this! It is SO incredibly amazing to know that no matter how much we fall short of the glory of God, he still loves us enough to have suffered the most excruciating, humiliating death on earth in order to take away our sins. AMAZING I tell you! This weekend is so much more than eggs, bunnies and good food! It is about our Savior who is ALIVE today!

dialing eggs

We dyed eggs for Easter today. Oh, I mean "dialed" some eggs! That's what Jaden & Kole kept calling it! :) Ha ha!

I just noticed that I didn't even take a picture of Jeremiah and Presley dying some eggs. I was too busy doing my own! Ha ha! Not really, I only did 3, but I was helping Jaden with his....so that's my excuse! Presley only 'helped' her daddy with a couple. And by help I mean drop them in the water and crack them! Then she got bored, well they both did, and went and played with toys!

I think we are ready for Sunday afternoon's hunt! =)