Dream come true

If you know me at all, you know that I am a little bit obsessed with party planning. Well, the ultimate has happened for me. Ok, I am setting this up to be something so huge, and I realize that most of you will think it is so silly, ha!

My big news is that Amelia's 2nd birthday party has been featured by The TomKat Studio, a wildly popular party planning blog! She is the next big thing in party planning, so of course I am a huge fan. I've been following her for a couple of years and have gotten tons of ideas and party inspiration from her. She's been featured by the fabulous Amy Atlas, and even Martha. Yes, Martha. Y'all know I want to be Martha when I grow up (minus that whole white collar crime/jail thing).

Check out Mimi's cute face on the TomKat studio's blog here! Such an exciting day for a nerd like me!

Playdate

Last week we got a day off due to the ice storm, and this week we had MLK day. Have I mentioned lately how much I love working for a college? The only thing I love more than a four-day work week is Spring Break, and the only thing I love more than that is Christmas break. Sadly, I do have to work in the summer, so don't hate me too much. Also, our government hates us. So there's that.

Anyway, we filled our three-day weekend with as much fun as possible, and ended it up with a playdate with Pailyn. We finally had weather that allowed us to play outside and the girls had a blast.

(I swiped all these photos from Lindey from Facebook.)

I just realized from looking at their grim faces in these photos, that it looks kind of like we forced them to play, ha. Contrary to no smiles for the pics, they did have a great time playing together, and we love that we have stuff to play with in the backyard now, thanks to all Mimi's Christmas gifts. I hope you're not tired of swingset pics, because we LOVE playing on it and I have a feeling this is not the end of swing photos. 

Now that the holidays are over, we're ready to fast forward to springtime and warmer weather. Looking forward to more outside playtime and playdates with friends!

She's got moves you've never seen

I don't think I've mentioned here before what a performer Amelia is. At home, she never stops singing and talking. If there are adults in the room that are talking amongst themselves and not noticing her, she immediately thinks she needs to climb up on a table and start performing something so that everyone will look at her. I didn't have high expectations for her to participate with the Wolf Pups at the game last night since she's been terrified of the wolf all year, but lately she has just been such a ham, I thought she might actually do it. I told her about it and she has been talking about it all week. She was pumped to say the last. At their practice (when the mascot was not in his costume) she danced and giggled the whole time. Loved it. But when show time came (and he had that costume on)...

Wolfpups "performance" from Angela Furr on Vimeo.

...she FROZE. Bless her little heart, she was terrified. Of course we all died laughing, as any compassionate family members would. Fun times. The second it was over she ran into my arms.

Here are a few other pics I got of her and Daddy before the game.

Maybe she will be an athlete one day if this singing and dancing thing doesn't work out.

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, I have 3 words: NO MORE DIAPERS! Yay!

MimiTV

Amelia is in love with her swingset already, but one thing that we are getting used to is hanging out in the backyard with Cash, our rambunctious 4-year-old lab who still has a lot of puppy in him. Amelia has liked playing with him through the fence, but hasn't been a big fan of getting up close and personal with him. Until now, we've mostly played in the front yard because of that, and also we didn't really have anything to play with in the back yard. I had hoped the swingset would not only give us something to do in the backyard, but also get Amelia used to being around Cash up close without being scared.

Yesterday after school we played on the swingset until it got dark (which sadly was less than an hour. I hate when we aren't in daylight savings time. Is there a name for what we are in now? A quick internet search produced no answers for me.) and as I tried to get some video of her swinging, it turned into more video of her shooing Cash away. Surely they will be BFFs soon.

Swingin from Angela Furr on Vimeo.

Don't feel sad for her. I am not trying to torture her. But hello, we've had her for two years and the dog for four. It's time they got to know each other.

(Insert Let Mimi Swing video)

I also was able to catch Amelia "reading" one of her favorite books, Princess Baby last night. We realized a month or so ago that there are a couple of books that she can actually quote from memory. She will be sitting there flipping through and actually saying the words on the pages they appear on. I remember doing this with a few books as a child, Cinderella in particular, but I'm sure I was much older than Mimi is now. We are so amazed at how much she remembers. I've been wanting to catch it on video, but of course she always refuses to perform when I want her to. I caught a little of it last night, although it wasn't quite as verbatim as she usually does it. Pinkalicious is her other fave book right now that she pretty much knows by heart, so hopefully I'll be able to capture her "reading" that one to us soon.

Princess Baby from Angela Furr on Vimeo.

Funny Girl

Parenting a toddler is very challenging. It's almost impossible to reason with them (at least my kid anyway), their attention spans are incredibly short, they are very self-centered (at least my kid anyway), and tantrums are their way of showing their displeasure. Discipline is all about being consistent, and some kids catch on quicker than others. Mine is one of the stubborn ones, Lord help me. However, I think God knew parents of toddlers would need something to break up the difficulty, and that's why he enabled them to begin talking.

I prayed for a funny child. Of course, I prayed that she'd be healthy, first and foremost. Then of course, I hoped she'd be cute, but after that I prayed that she'd be funny. You know some kids are not, and I was really hoping we'd get a funny child. Well, we did. And I am thankful to God for the funny moments that help me keep my sanity when I just want to pull my hair out. Here's just a few snippets of converstaions that have gone on in our house in recent weeks:

• "Mama, where's your make-up?" - upon waking up and seeing that I had clothes on and my hair done, but had not yet put on make-up. Ouch.
• "You drive your car."- Amelia's distraction technique when Cliff or I notice her doing something in the back seat that she shouldn't. For me, it was when she was smashing a cookie into a million pieces by banging it on the window. When I caught her and told her to stop, she said, "You drive your car." She's tried this same technique when I've been on the computer or watching TV and catch her doing something. She'll say, "You watch that." In other words, "Don't worry about what I've got going on here. You just do what you're doing." That girl!

• "Mama, you look like an angel."- after seeing a photo of me in my wedding dress. Guess she was trying to suck up after the make-up comment.
• "Mama, your belly's sticking out."- after a big pasta supper. Ouch again.
• "I need to get in the corner!" - after getting in trouble for something. Yes, she likes to go to the corner to pout. We've got to get a new time-out spot. She also NEEDS everything. "I need to go outside and play." "I need to get some more books." "I need a cookie."
• "I need some breakfast." - she asks for a snack or breakfast at random times of the day and they mean different things to her. I think a snack means goldfish crackers and breakfast means a cereal bar, even though she has many other things other than a cereal bar for breakfast and other snacks other than goldfish.

• "Bite my butt!" - not what you're thinking. She can't say her 'f' sounds very well and she usually substitues 'f' words with the 'b' sound. She likes for us to nibble on her toes or tickle her feet and she'll say, "Bite my butt!" or "Tickle my butt!" That one was a riot at all the family holiday gatherings. She is starting to finally say 'foot,' so that joke will end soon. I did paint her toenails the other day and she said, "Oh, my butt looks so pretty!" Ha!
• "Yes my are!"- When I tell her she doesn't NEED to get a snack right before supper. Or when I tell her she can't watch another episode of Dora. That kind of back talk would warrant a spanking if it didn't make me laugh every time she says it.
• "I wike that song!"- to Cliff when he's driving and the "Thong Song" comes on (from the CD box set my friend Josh made in honor of our 10-year reunion. Just to clarify. It's not like that song comes on often or that we would choose to listen to it, although you know you know all the words.)
• "I sing it!"- when she is singing something and we try to sing along with her. She doesn't like sharing the spotlight.

I know there have been many, many more funny Mimi moments recently, but those are the main ones that come to mind. I've got to do better about recording them because this kid cracks me up!

Sewing

I haven't made a real New Year's resolution in a long time, because I just beat myself up too badly when I don't keep them. But one goal that I've had for a very long time has been to learn to sew, and I am excited to say that in 2010, I finally accomplished this goal! Now, if only I had time to actually use my new skills as much as I would like...

My favorite thing I've learned to do is applique, and I wanted to share a few of my projects that I've done over the last few weeks. I adore being able to give handmade, personalized gifts to people, and I was excited to get to do that this Christmas.

I made these little Christmas tree shirts for my cousin, Tess' little girls, and I was so excited to see them wear them on Christmas Eve. I thought they looked so cute in them. I also made the matching bows in their hair, but you can't really see them in this pic.

I appliqued these initials on blankets as gifts for Amelia's Sunday School teachers. You have no idea how hard that O was to do, and how proud I was of the finished product!

Blurry cell phone pic of an initial shirt I did for Mimi

One of my very favorite things to do are sweet little baby gifts, and I did these onesies for some friends' baby boy a few weeks ago. I can't wait to see him in them!

I have done a lot more sewing, but these are the few things I've thought to take photos of. I may start sharing more things that I make here since it's fun for me to look back on things that I post. I love having crafty hobbies!

Christmas- Part Two

Since it is New Year's Day, I guess I will finally get around to posting about the rest of our Christmas! I left off with Cliff and my Dad working into the evening to finish the swingset, and now I'll let the pictures tell the story of our third Christmas morning (and by far most fun so far) with our sweet girl.

Warning: Photo overload!

Checking out what Santa left in her stocking. She was so excited about the little happies and candy, little did she know what else was in store!

Opening a few gifts from Mama and Daddy and Chris and Kaki. They stayed with us for a week and Mimi had so much fun with them (and I think they had a little fun too!) Katie also came over with gifts and her camera to capture some memories.

 Santa liked our cookies!

 Thanking Kaki and Chris for all her presents

Finally going outside to see what Santa left for her!

Her reaction was priceless! That thing paid for itself within 5 minutes.

Resting up on the way to Grammy and Papa's on Christmas night.

Sadly, this is where I was just too tired to take any more photos. But we had a great time, and Mimi RACKED UP on so many more gifts, including a Barbie Jeep from Aunt Mare and Uncle Justin, a vanity from Uncle Jeremy, a tricycle from Uncle Josh and an art easel and a precious newborn baby doll from Grammy and Papa that she has now named baby Audrey. I have no idea where she got that name.

The weather was so cold that it was a couple of days before we were able to really get out and enjoy the swingset, but when she finally was able to, she has had a ball!

I also finally invested in a new camera after Christmas, and it is much quicker than my old one about catching those smiles from Mimi.

Modeling one of her new gifts from Mama and Daddy, a monster towel.

Isn't she scary?

A few days after Christmas, we drove over to Laurel to visit Cliff's grandmother and Amelia was so sweet to her. She really did well at all the family gatherings and was so loving and performed all her tricks for them, ha.

Later that night, we celebrated Papaw Fred's 82nd birthday. At every family gathering besides at my grandparents' on Christmas Eve, Amelia has been the only little one, so you can imagine that she was the center of attention. She loved it all and everyone enjoyed getting to play with her. She was SUCH a ham on this night for everyone.

We are SO blessed to have so many people who love us and our little girl. We don't take a single bit of it for granted. Of course, the ridiculous number of gifts she received is appreciated and she loves them all, but the love that all of our family has for her is just priceless. We had such a fun Christmas and an amazing year, and we are looking forward to what God has in store for our family in the coming year!

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"

Psalms 126:3