Outdoor fun

We played with CJ last week and gave him his birthday present since he just turned 1!!! He and Hannah had a good time playing together and they really seem to enjoy each other. It was funny because Hannah would walk over to him and grab his shirt wanting him to get up and play with her. I have a feeling she is going to be bossing him around in no time. Poor little guy! At least he is a good sport about it all. I hope they can grow up to be good friends though. Since the weather was nice we played outside for a little while too. Here is Aunt Kelly with CJ and Hannah. Trust me, where you find CJ and Hannah together you will find Kelly close by.

Is my baby really old enough to seesaw all by herself?!?! Oh my!! We tried it together at first, but when we got off she climbed up all by herself and waited patiently for me to get on the other side and seesaw with her...it was SO CUTE!!! She is getting old quick! 18 months will be here in about 2 weeks...can you believe that?

In other news, I took her to the doc today and she has bronchitis. Thankfully, besides coughing, she is acting normal and seems to be fine otherwise.

Fall in TX

We had a nice fall weekend last weekend at Bop Bop and Nee's house (aka Papaw and Grany). It was great to get away for a little while and enjoy a beautiful fall weekend. Hannah had a blast playing on the tire swing and running around in the yard. Look at our big girl on the tire swing all by herself...I just love this picture with the leaves and shadows in the background!

I must explain the next 2 pictures. If you have been around Hannah lately you will know what I am talking about...my child has learned the word "no." Not only has she learned the word no, but she wags her finger when she says it! YIKES! I promise I have NEVER done that before in my life, so I have NO idea where she learned it from!

Oh OK, maybe I have done it a few times. The story really is that we do it to Molly all the time. So, at first she started wagging her finger and saying "no, no Molly" but that quickly progressed to "no, no Mama" as she wagged her finger at me. Well, let's just say that I don't quite find it funny, so we are working on that around our house. Anyway, it is pretty hilarious when she does it to Molly so here she is with her finger going as she shouts "NO" to Molly across the yard. And, Molly, by the way, is doing absolutely nothing wrong at this point.

At least one day I can look back upon this and laugh...let's hope!

The family seamstress

My sister-in-law Laura has become quite the seamstress lately. She recently got an embroidery machine so when I was in Birmingham we embroidered some fun little shirts for Hannah. We bought some Geranimal shirts on sale at Walmart for $3.50 and went to work (well, really Laura went to work). Let me tell you too, it was work. That stuff is not easy! I now know why they charge so much more for hand embroidered stuff in the stores. Anyway, it turned out really cute. Thanks Laura for sharing your supplies and skills with us!

The pink shirt before...

...and after. This one has to be my favorite.

The blue shirt before...

...and after.

The brown shirt before...

...and after.

By the way, Laura posted a cute video of Kate and Hannah on her website. Go check it out here.

Signs of the times

First off, this outfit cracks me up! Doesn't my child look like a preppie little tennis player? What really makes the outfit though is the cell phone. It just completes the look she has going for her.

"Excuse me while I text message my friends."

This is a look that I might expect to see in about 10 years when she is talking on the phone. "UGH Mom, can't you see that I'm talking on the phone." Oh, that makes me sad to think about!

Or better yet, this is what I might see as she walks out of the room talking on the phone.

Sips'n'Strokes

Since Sips'n'Strokes was so fun last time we were in Birmingham, we decided to go again. Sherry, Laura, and I painted "funky tulips" this time and the consensus was that this picture was a better one to paint than last time. We did have some laughs at others expense too, especially at the lady across from us who had to many sips of wine and utterly messed up her picture. It was kind of comical by the time it was over. Her sips definitely affected her strokes! It was really fun though and great to have this picture to hang up in the house.

Here is my finished product. I did more green in the background because I wanted it to match our kitchen. The great thing about this place is that they give you all the freedom you want to tailor the picture to your taste. So, as you can see below, all of our pictures look very different and really are a reflection of our own artistic style (if it can be called that).

Bob (aka Pop)

Since Hannah can't say the 'P' sound yet, Pop has become Bob, at least for now. Let's hope that Bryce and Kate didn't pick that up from Hannah or he will forever be Bob instead of Pop. Anyway, he was definitely a hot comodity last weekend with the grandkids, and he could usually be found with 2 kids in his arms (which is no easy task!).

The girls hanging out with Pop.

It looks like Hannah was attempting to push Bryce out of Pop's lap...she was. The funniest thing is the look on Bryce's face. He has several pounds and a couple of inches on Hannah, so I am sure he was daring her to take him on.

We are back from Alabama and we had a great time visiting family. The farm/pumpkin patch was a highlight of the weekend along with Sips'n'Strokes which I will share more about tomorrow. So, here are some more fun pictures from our time at the farm.

Hannah picked out this little pumpkin and carried it around for some time. I think she liked it because it was the only one she could actually lift up and carry by herself and it wasn't too muddy.

She loved petting the horse which I was surprised about. She was not scared of it at all and seemed to think it was pretty cool.

These little tractors were all over the farm and she LOVED them. I think she would have played on them the whole time if I would have let her. Anyway, the farm was great and Hannah really enjoyed it.

One funny story to share about our flight back yesterday (although it wasn't funny at the time!). As Jason's dad was driving us to the airport, we got about 5 minutes from it and Hannah threw up 3 times in the backseat! It was ALL over her and the carseat...lovely! Anyway, we pulled over, changed her clothes, and cleaned up the seat and went on to the airport. Thankfully I was able to get 2 more changes of clothes for her and a new blanket (which is key!) to put in my diaper bag before I checked in. I am just so glad it happened before I checked my bag or it would have been awful! I was picturing us sitting next to some business man in a nice suit when Hannah throws up ALL over him. Oh my goodness, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. She was totally fine though on the flight and has been fine since. What a way to start a traveling day!

Since when did fresh peaches and a small bit of whipped cream for snack become 'stuff your face with whipped cream as fast as you can so Mama doesn't take it all away?'

Fun in Alabama

Hannah and I traveled to Alabama to see Jason's family this weekend. We all visited a pumpkin patch yesterday which was really fun. All 3 cousins were there and they had a good 'ol muddy time at the farm (empasis on the muddy!). So here were a couple of the shots from our time yesterday.

We went on a hayride to the pumpkin patch where the pumpkins were still on the vine...it was pretty cool!
The was the source of some great pumpkins but also the horrible mud! It is just not easy to stop 1.5 year olds from getting muddy.

Fast as a squirrel

Hannah found 2 frisky squirrels at the park and was determined to catch them...
...she ran this way...
...and that way...
...
...and finally determined that they were entirely to fast for her! Smart girl!

Old School

They have this old phone system (if that is what you call it) at our kid's museum and Hannah always wants to plug and unplug all the cords. I am pretty sure that my mom worked one of these at the hospital when she was young. It really hasn't been that many years since these were used, but we have come SO far in technology since these times.

Not an exact representation

I tried to get Hannah to lay down on a big piece of paper the other day so I could trace her and write down body party on the picture...it didn't turn out so well. It is really hard to get a 17 month old to lay still while you trace them, hense the very lopsided and awkward body of Hannah. At least she enjoyed coloring the final product. I don't think this one will go up on the wall though.