June!! Part 1

Summer is here! Woo hoo!  This summer we will just be travelin' fools!  Callie and I took a trip to Texas for a few weeks where she was constantly spoiled by everyone she saw.  Callie also had the pleasure of being in my cousin Jordan's wedding!  Katie made sure to spoil her on that day too.  Well, the wedding was on her 3rd birthday so it was just an extra special day!  Callie was the flower girl in the wedding and did a great job!  That is one of the most nerve racking things in the whole world... watching your 3 year old (to the day) stand up on stage for an entire wedding.  I was not sure how she would do but she did great!  She may have dropped her flower girl basket down the steps... twice... and said Opps!  But she will still and quiet for the most part.  The scariest part of the ordeal was when the adorable ring bearer (who was 2) started going down the steps and collecting the flowers that Callie had so purposefully placed in the aisle.  I was ready for a 5 alarm meltdown... but she kept her cool and just looked very, very concerned and even said a quiet "Hey! Those are my flowers!"  My heart was racing... just a little bit... haha.  The wedding was beautiful and I couldn't be more happy for Jordan and Katie!  At the reception they even played the Happy Birthday song for Callie and she got her very own princess cake.  I'm pretty certain that she thought the whole entire day was about her.  So this wedding, coupled with 2 full weeks with Grandparents who both have Ipads with them at all times... made for a very difficult transition back to the real world.  It was a rough couple of days when we got to Alabama.  Matt is at a training here in Alabama until mid July so Callie and I flew out here to be with him!  I love the south.  I miss it so much and can't wait to return.  The plane rides went really well this time.  She is finally old enough to get through the whole flight without any issues. Yay!  At least when I have this new little girl, Callie should be a good traveler!!  Speaking of this new little girl... she is half way done cooking!  I can't believe I am at 20 weeks already!! WOW!  She is rolling around and kicking and moving all the time!  Matt even felt her kick from the outside!  I love this part of pregnancy! :)  Well, I don't have many pictures from all of these events because my Mom has them on her camera... but I will get those soon and post them.  Here are a few that I managed to get on my camera! 

Have a great and blessed week!

Erin

 Callie and her Aunt Lindsey at Memaw's garden!

 They love each other!

 Very proud of the onion that she just pulled!

 A little windy, but a cute picture!

 Exploring with Aunt Lindsey!

 My Memaw has such a beautiful piece of land!

 I am obviously fascinated by the color green... I don't see it much folks.

 More of God's beautiful creation!

 I spy a butterfly!

 There it is!

 I have so many great memories of Memaw and PawPaw's!

 Here are a few from Callie's 3rd Birthday Party!  

 The kids were all coloring!

 Serious business!

 Making strawberry jam with Grandma!

 Helping press the button.

 She loved it.

Such a sweet little helper!!!

Aunt Jenny's Visit!

It's really hard to believe that it's almost MAY!  I can't believe how quickly this year is already flying by.  I'm having an especially difficult time with this because I know that my baby girl will be turning 3 in June.  It's just not possible.  She is growing so much and way too fast.  I do love the way that she is growing and it is a joy to be her Mommy.  We still have our "difficult" toddler moments, but she is really turning into a little kid!  She is starting to understand what a quiet voice is and when it is appropriate to use it.  Yay!  She is also getting really good at drawing.  I love seeing her pictures of people.  All of a sudden one day, she just up and started drawing people.  She can draw the head, eyes, nose and smile... sometimes she will draw a body and  shoes.  (Can't forget the shoes).  She has successfully written her first name a few times with very little help.  She signed some birthday cards for friends and really tried her hardest.  She held the marker all by herself and I just prompted her to spell out her name. It's a really exciting thing to watch your baby learn how to do all of these big kid things.  I guess I do have more of a big kid now than a baby!  Another thing we have just started working on is sounding out short words.  We were working on the "at" family of words and I was impressed with how well she did.  She knows all of the sounds that the letters make and after I made the sounds she could blend them to say the word.  I think that she will learn to read without much difficulty... so once she turns three, I think we will start on simple reading skills.  It's not a matter of if she can, it's if she has the attention span to do it. Haha... when we were working on the "at" words at the fridge today she said, "Mommy, I'm all done rhyming".  I didn't even tell her we were rhyming.  Hahah... oh Callie.  I'm in no rush though, she will learn it soon enough.   I'm sure if I pick my own teacher brain, and dust out the cobwebs, I can come up with some fun activities that she would be interested in... well at least for a few minutes.  

This past week we had Matt's sister Jen at our house.  It was so wonderful to spend some good quality time with her.  It seems like when we do get to see her in Texas it's just not for long enough to really catch up.  We always have to split up our time in so many different directions when we are there, so it was really nice to just have one on one time with her.  Callie was in HEAVEN.  She absolutely loved having her Aunt Jenny here!  They played and played, and then they played some more.  Aunt Jenny even brought Callie some fairy wings and a wand.  Both of them had lots and lots of sparkles on them.  Obviously that instantly made Callie and Aunt Jenny best friends.  It was fun having an adult to talk to when Callie went to bed while Matt worked or was studying for school.  I love Jen and spending time with her just makes me wish we lived closer to family.  

Here are some pictures from when Jen was here.  I hope all of you are having a blessed week! Love to you all!

Erin

 Sweet hugs for Aunt Jenny!  Callie is thrilled that it's nice enough out to be in her swimsuit!  She cant wait until it's warm enough to swim!

 Here is Callie at Child's Play.  She is carrying the coveted "Princess Baby".  She is pretty much obsessed with this doll.  It's always "fun" when we get there and another child has it.... not!

 Callie and Princess Baby.

 Aunt Jenny was such a good sport!  She went down that slide many times with Callie!

 Callie's first trim! (And yes, she is wearing Halloween PJ's... she loves them all year long haha).

 I just love this picture of her!  Such a cutie!  

 Aunt Jenny and Callie on a "train" at the Springs Preserve.

 Love this sweetie!

 "I see you Mom"!!!

 FACT: kids love sand.

 Aunt Jenny being a good sport again!

 She could have stayed in here all day!

 Smelling the plants in the garden.

 Cute!

 Taking time to stop and smell the roses!

 I know I'm the Mom... but isn't she so cute!!?

 Cactus!

 More cactus!

 Pretty flowers!

Pretty cactus flowers!!!

 Callie takes after my Dad in this picture... 

 That's better!

 Sweet kisses for Mommy!

This is one of Callie's drawings!  There are 3 people on this picture can you make them out? :)