Spring Break

Spring Break- one of the many reasons I love working at a college! This spring break was bittersweet because Cliff had to be away from us for an entire week! The girls' team made it to the national tournament in Kansas (I can't tell you how many times I have wished it could be held somewhere fun like Florida or even better, Hawaii!) But no, it was held in lovely, flat, 14 hours away, Salina, Kansas. We considered going but in the end decided the long ride would just be too much for Amelia. Plus, there wouldn't be much free time for Cliff, so if we were going to just be hanging out on our own, we might as well have stayed at home.

Anyway, since we had no plans, we went along with Grammy, Papa and Aunt Mare to Navarre, Florida to check things out for Mare's upcoming wedding. Even though it was too cold and windy to spend much time on the beach, it was a nice change of scenery for us. We were only there for a few days, but I did take a few snaps of Mimi getting spoiled rotten by her aunt and grandparents.

We went to a gulfarium in Ft. Walton and Mimi got to see dolphins, sea lions, sharks and more. She was pretty sleepy and wasn't that impressed with it all, but we had a good time. It's so hard to plan things around a toddler's naps!

 

Amelia also got to ride on her very first mechanical ride. She loved every second of it and was OVER IT when it ended. I mean, she totally lost it.

After that fiasco, we decided it was time to hit the road. Here we are posing in the car on the way home. Look at her throwing up the peace sign! Silly girl.

Mimi actually did really well with the drive, thanks to the best purchase I ever made. Yes, we watched lots of Dora, but if it helped make the ride more manageable, we were all for it.

Once we made it back to my parents' house, I let Amelia play for a couple of hours before we headed home. She went right for her favorite thing in their house (besides the stairs).

Then she got pulled around in an overnight bag.

And read to. Seriously, this girl is so rotten!

The next day (St. Patty's Day), we got to see someone very special.

Uncle Jeremy made it home from Iraq! He is still having to spend some time at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, but he is safely home on American soil. Thanks for your prayers for him these last several months he's been gone. We're looking forward to he and Mimi getting to know each other very soon. She is kind of afraid of big and tall people, like my brothers and Uncle Chris. She only likes them from a distance right now, ha. But I'm sure that will change soon after she gets to spend more time with them.

We wrapped our week up with meeting Grammy and Papa's new puppy, Max. Amelia wasn't too sure about him at first, but when he yawned, Mimi told him "night night." Ha!

Since it has been just us girls on our own, I have been a little more lenient on our meal times and food choices. I am usually weary of letting her enjoy messy treats such as ice cream bars, but I went for it and gave her one. As you can see, she enjoyed herself.

Then we followed it with a wagon ride over to our pal, Ella's. I would've taken more photos of the girls playing, but I had my hands full from chasing after them.

                                         

We ended our week today by meeting the Easter Bunny, and I'm sad to say Amelia was terrified of him! I'll be sure to share our awful photo when I get it. So that was our spring break. We missed Daddy like crazy, but we made the most of our time off. We are ready to see him bright and early in the morning. We are also celebrating a special birthday tomorrow, and I will be back to post about that later. Hope those of you who got a Spring Break enjoyed yours as much as we did!

Afternoon photo session

Yesterday after school we stopped by Katie's to play and of course she had to snap some pics of Amelia in her cute new (to her! we heart ebay) dress. These are some of my favorite pics she has taken of Mimi in a while.

And my favorite one of all:

                                                  

It looks like she is pouting, but she wasn't at all. She has been folding her arms like that a lot lately (and walking around with her hands behind her back) and I think it is just stinking adorable. I think maybe she has just realized she can do it? Sometimes that girl is just too much!

Thanks for the pics, Aunt Katie!

Trike-a-thon and some randoms

Yesterday was the Trike-a-Thon for St. Jude, and it was a huge success! Thanks so much to those of you who donated. Amelia raised $300, and I haven't heard a total on the whole daycare, but I will update when I hear. Every little bit makes a difference for St. Jude, and we were so glad to be able to help, even in a small way.

Unlike last year, the weather couldn't have been more perfect! I am so thankful for a job that provides a daycare just steps from my office, and that I am able to slip over and watch her participate in fun things like this. Or just slip over and check in on her if I feel like I need to.

Amelia riding in her wagon with one of her BFFs, Joy:

Those girls will be trikers next year! Amelia got tired of the wagon (for probably the first time ever) and decided to walk the rest of the race with her teacher, Ms. Margaret.

                                    

I don't know if I have mentioned it here how much Amelia adores Ms. Margaret. She gets so happy in the mornings when she sees her, and will throw a fit if Ms. Margaret is busy with another kid and doesn't pick her up right away. I try to tell her that she is a big girl and sometimes the babies need Ms. Margaret more than she does, but she does not want to hear it! I know Ms. Margaret truly loves the kids in her class, and makes each of us parents feel so good to know they are in such good hands.

Afterwards, Amelia and Joy enjoyed their very first experience with the deliciousness that is a Capri Sun! Neisha and I didn't even know they knew how to drink these. I think this is the first time Amelia has been able to successfully drink from a straw.

How cute are those little curly heads sitting together?

                                          

Thanks to Tonya for snapping this shot of me and my triker. Cliff had class and didn't make it, but I'm sure he will bless his students with a class cancellation next year to watch Amelia actually ride her trike.

                                                       

And now for a few random shots that don't seem to fit in any other post, but I knew some family members would like to see. Sometimes I am guilty of letting Amelia snack on crackers or in truly desperate situations, a cookie, in order to get supper cooked. This particular night I was on a deadline to get food ready to deliver to a family in our church, so it was Oreo to the rescue. What you don't see in this pic is how she had the whole cookie stuffed in her mouth trying to swallow it whole.

A post-Oreo bath shot. Amelia is rocking awesome ponytail hair that gives off a nice Lyle Lovett/mullet effect. She is also wearing mardi gras beads and chewing on her Barbie toothbrush. Good times.

                                               

On nice days we like to go for wagon rides around the neighborhood, and we often stop by Aunt Katie's house when we see her neighbor girls playing. They are such fun, sweet girls, and Amelia just loves playing with them. This is her and Emory playing in Emory's mustang, which has seen better days so big sis Elizabeth was sweet enough to push the girls in it. As you can see, Amelia thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Next up, a special post dedicated to Mimi's photo shoot with Aunt Katie yesterday!

Afternoon at the park

We enjoyed the fabulous weather this weekend and got out and played at the park on Saturday. It started out with Mimi and I and her aunts, Katie and Mare, and then we were joined by Cliff and his brother Chris, who was in town visiting from Arkansas. As you can see from the pics, Mimi enjoyed playing almost as much as she enjoyed being the center of so much attention from her family.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, she is so loved!

(Thanks to Katie for most of these pics)

Help us help St. Jude!

It's that time again! Amelia and her classmates are getting ready to particpate in the annual trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude. Last year, Amelia raised over $400 and helped her daycare to raise over $3400 for the hospital. We hope you will help us again this year.

Just as I wrote last year, we are so thankful that Amelia has been so healthy and we have not needed a place like St. Jude yet in her life. But when I see her in pain from teething, or when she has a stuffy nose, or any minor illness, it just breaks my heart to think of the families who have to see their children suffer so much more. Can you imagine?

My favorite thing about St. Jude is that they are the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. They never turn a sick child away if the family is unable to pay. They are also a research hospital, and our money goes to support efforts to find cures for these terrible diseases. Will you help us raise money for this worthy cause?

The trike-a-thon came earlier this year and snuck up on me. We only have until March 11th to collect our donations. You can send your donation to Angela Furr at PO Box 649, Wesson, MS 39191, or let me know that you are willing to give, and Amelia and I will personally come by to pick up your donation. I will also be happy to send you a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you are out of town.

Amelia says YAY for helping St. Jude!

16 months

Thanks to a 28-day February, Amelia didn't have a 16-month birthday, but for memory's sake I wanted to go ahead and jot down a few things she's up to this month. These days, Amelia:

• finally has enough hair for real pigtails! See post below for photos.


• loves to write with a pen. She is actually obsessed with pens a little bit, probably because I don't really allow her to have them. If she sees one of us writing with a pen, she throws a fit wanting it. She will settle for a crayon, but she much prefers a more permanent way to showcase her art.


• is still talking more each month. This month, she's learned several new words, and I've noticed she seems more able to comprehend their meaning. For example, she will walk to the kitchen and point to the cabinet where we keep her snacks and say "Eat!" She also loves to pick up a camera and say "Cheese!" She also knows we watch some of Daddy's games on the computer, so if there's a game on, even if Cliff isn't on the screen she will point and say "Daddy."


• loves to look at framed photos and point out the people she knows in them. She can point to Mama, Daddy, Grammy, Papa, Aunt Mare and Aunt Katie. Chris, she also loves looking at a pic of you and Aunt Kathryn, but I haven't gotten her to say your name yet. Maybe this weekend! I need to get more photos of Papaw Bob and the great grandparents to work on next.


• has become way more social than she ever was before. In the past, she might be a little snobby to strangers in public, but now she wants to wave and say "Hey" until someone acknowledges her.


• blows her nose when I try to wipe it. The other day she picked up a clean dress from a basket of clothes I was folding and blew her nose on it! Unfortunately, the poor child has seen a lot of nose blowing in her lifetime from her father and me. I'm afraid she may have picked up our allergies too, poor thing.


• is getting a little better at restaurants, and is starting to eat better too. She loves to eat fish sticks and she actually chowed down on some of Cliff's steak the other night. I don't think I've mentioned it here, but the doc says she is slightly anemic, so I am glad to see her eat a little more meat. Pasta and bread and cookies are still her favorite foods but she's getting better. We were able to go to a buffet after church Sunday, and although we got in and out and choked down our food in about 30 minutes, she was actually pretty good so maybe there is hope for us to get to go out more in the near future.


• has almost outgrown all her 12 month pants, but isn't quite big enough for 18 months yet. I'm busy stockpiling her spring wardrobe and I'm buying mostly 18 months and size 4 or 5 shoes. Our girl is growing!


• can be a little meanie when she wants to be. Ugh, I do not like mentioning this, but I want to preserve our memories, and that includes good and bad. Amelia for some reason, has decided she is mad at Cliff's precious grandfather, Fred. You may remember seeing photos of Papaw Fred and Mimi that I've posted. He loves her so much and is so sweet to her, but she is just plain rude to him! We have tried all kinds of tactics to get her to be sweet to him, including bribery, but they are not working. Does anyone have any advice for us on this? It hurts his feelings when she won't let him hold her and it makes me so sad. Y'all, she wouldn't even let him pull her in her wagon!


• can also be a bully. Yes, our sweet, precious angel is a bully. Her teachers at school and church tell us how sweet she is and how well she plays with others, but I have seen the bullying with my own eyes when Mimi is playing with her friend, Pailyn. I asked Ms. Margaret if she ever does this at school and she said no, but Amelia is sometimes bullied by others so she is just doing what is done to her. I suppose this is just par for the course, but I will not stand for her pushing smaller kids around and not sharing toys! Sorry, Pay! We are going to keep working on being sweet.

Other than a few not-so-sweet traits we are working on, Amelia is becoming such a sweet, funny little person. We are having so much fun watching her grow into a walking, talking, child with a personality. Each new stage is more fun than the last!

She wore a lot of pink this weekend.