Wordless Wednesday (Christmas Cookies with Cousins)

Merry Christmas!

A few of my favorites

Our good friend Lisa Butler took family photos of us and I am so happy with how they turn out.  Every time we meet with her, I am always amazed that she is able to transform pure and absolute chaos into something magical.  I told her that I wanted a fun and casual photo shoot and wanted to capture the kid's different expressions (tears and all).  Lisa takes the photos and her sister Cynthia does the editing.  They are an amazing team!  Oh, and I haven't changed anything about my blogger account yet and it let me post these photos.  I guess they got wind that I may switch things up!  :-)

Photo Limit?

I am trying to post photos but blogger says I am over my limit and need to start paying for storage.  Has anyone else gotten this message?  If so, what are you going to do about it?  I am trying to decide if I want to move my blog somewhere else.  Thanks for any and all feedback!

Mary Beth Lately

I haven't done a kid update in a long time and this one is way overdue.  MB is changing so quickly that it is hard to remember what she was like just a few short months ago.  Here is a quick update on what she has been up to.

- The girl is LOVING school!  It has been so good for her and she is learning so much.  Every morning she is excited about going which is a good sign.  She doesn't tell us very much about what she does during the day but the mom's of other classmates say their kids don't tell them anything either.  She does remember what she had for a snack and if she was able to pet the Guinea pigs that day, it's the important things. 

- We went to her first "friend" party in our new town a few weekends ago and it was so much fun!  MB was totally in her element with her classmates and it was so great watching her play with other kids and being herself.  She normally is so shy around other kids so it was good for my soul to see her love being with the other kids and having a ball.

- There are several words/phrases that she says that just crack me up.  I absolutely love how she says them.  Here are just a few examples:

• Look mom, it's Old McDonalds - Said every time we pass the golden arches.
• Yay!  It's chicken-fil-a!  I'm scared of those cows but I liked them at the parade.
• Yesterdade - Said for anything that happened in the past.
• Hey mom, we been here - Every time we drive past a familiar landmark 
• Pasketti; I just sawed that; pizza is my favorite, then the next day, pizza is yucky, i no like it; i uv shoe; know what?; i'm pertending; hey, watch me!
• Daddy, you are my whole daddy, not Ben's daddy. 

- She is super smart and really loves numbers.  She recently learned how to spell her first and last name (she isn't writing it) and she is so proud of herself.  Poor girl has a long name, Ben will have it much easier.

- She loves her brother but the poor guy can't play with anything.  She snatches up anything he is able to get his hands on.  No wonder he rather have me carry him around all day.  When he wakes up from his afternoon nap, she has to be the first one to go up the stairs and she wants some alone time to play with him in the crib.  She hands him all kinds of things to play with and the laugh and play for about five minutes before I join them.  If I go up too early, she gets so mad.  She also likes to climb into his crib to play.  I love hearing them cracking up at each other.

- She absolutely adores her daddy.  He is the only one who can put her to bed and she asks him every night if he is going to go to work in the morning and if he will eat breakfast with her.  When he leaves for work, she asks him if he has his lunch and then gives him about 20 kisses on the cheek.  They have a very special relationship and I love it!

- Other favorite things - Her stuffed animals, Teddy and Sport, or as she calls them, "The Boys".  Anything sweet, she asks for dessert after breakfast.  Gymnastics, either in class or just practicing at home.  Playing Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, and Memory.  Building towers (until Ben knocks them down).  Helping me cook and bringing her little step stool into the kitchen. Playing outside and jumping.  And last but not least, whining, good gracious at the whining!

Pictures from the last few months.

Spontaneous Friday night picnic at Lake Allatoona

Her real live baby doll

Spending time with her cousins is one of her favorite things in this world.

Look mom, the tower is so high!

Waiting on daddy to come home, the best part of our day.

Grandparents day at school with mimi and papa.

Nastics!

Tire swinging at the Agirama with Queenkie.

Celebrating Drake's first birthday, say cheeeeeeeetos!

First school field trip, having fun on the hay ride.

Wordless Wednesday (Our Nurse & Cowboy)

Wordless Wednesday (Best Friends and Pin the Tiara on the Princess)

Sport the Bear

Meet MB's new buddy!  For her birthday this summer, we took her to Build-A-Bear and it was such a great experience.  She has this thing about stuffed animals.  She loves everyone she sees and we have to be intentional about not buying them so they don't take over our house and increase our "stuff" level.  However, we knew this would be her ideal birthday treat so off we went.  It was low key, easy, and she absolutely loved it.  We even managed to get out of there only spending around $20. 

We told her she could choose any bear that she wanted.  That was until she first stopped in front of the the neon-colored bear with peace signs all over it.  I don't think so!  We then gently encouraged her to look at ALL of the bears before making a final decision.  Thanks goodness she moved on and forgot about that first one!

 

She settled on this cool looking dude, much better!  He also happened to be the cheapest one, bonus!  She's thrifty like her mama!

Helping the bear get fluffy.

Test Squeeze

Picking out the perfect heart

Making a wish on the heart.  She had no idea what she was supposed to do but the lady said close your eyes and make a wish so she did her best.

Giving him his first bath.

Bears like to be cleaned with air, good to know.

Picking out something for him to wear, she settled on the Olympic T-shirt since we were in the spirit.

All boxed up in his little house.

We stopped at the DQ for ice cream to further celebrate.  This picture describes envy perfectly.

The girl can suck down some ice cream, again, just like her mama.

One with mommy to mark the occasion.

Silly in the parking lot, she carried him all the way home.  When we got in the car, we started asking her what his name should be.  I said "we should think of something that goes with the Olympics, like a sport or something" since he had his Olympic T-shirt on.  MB then yelled from the back, "his name is Sport!!!"  It has stuck and she just loves the little guy.  She introduced him to Teddy, her first love, and she said that Teddy was a little jealous at first.  She has since tried not to show favoritism, sweet girl.