Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Dogwood Festival Chalk Walk Downtown Pt. 1

We went to the Dogwood Arts Festival Downtown on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful weather. They were having a "Chalk Walk" where people claim a space on the sidewalk and do chalk artwork. It was so much fun! Lots of flowers were blooming and I remembered my camera!
Azaleas (sp?) are blooming everywhere! I want to plant some in our yard!
They have art sculptures that you can sit on to take pictures, etc! This one is called Mother and Child, so fitting to have Libby and I in it! So fun!
Libby admiring the foilage.

This one is for you, Ben. We thoroughly enjoyed having Brianna along with us this weekend. Thanks for coming into town, Bri!
Tulips are also in bloom.
So here is Libby attempting her very own chalk-work with some help from Poppy. :)
Here are a few samples of the artwork.

Libby holding hands with Uncle Sam and Grammy/Nana.
"Can we plant some of these, Mama?"
More to come, I just have limited time to post today.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Finally, some words!

No new pictures to update, just a few notes on things Libby's learning. While running with her a few days ago, she learned to use the shade/visor on the stroller to block the sun from her eyes. It cracked me up when I realized what she was doing. We'd go around a bend and the sun would move to another spot and she would move the visor up and down until it was where she wanted it, then leave it. After a few times of this (she also pushed it out of the way when the sun was gone so she had a better view), I looked to see what she was doing and discovered how very smart she is! The small bit of shade from the visor was right across her eyes. It was so fun to watch her adjust it after I realized what she was doing!

She will also now give you a "pound" in addition to a high five if you ask for it. :) Very cute.

And, best or all, she saying so many words now! She's tried repeating the following words after me: bird, outside, juice, banana, Maggie, good morning, pound, meow, and much more! She's not exactly saying them on her own yet, but she will copy me sometimes when I ask her to. I don't know if her talking will turn out to be a blessing or a curse! :) She may be talking my ear off and asking a thousand questions before too long. It is fun to hear her try to say things, though!

She's now coloring and drawing pictures for me as well. So maybe she's not actually "drawing" pictures, but she does color and make lines! And she gets the most concentrated look on her face while she's doing it, too. I'll have to try to get a picture of it to post later. She even tries to hold the pencil/crayons the right way in her hand. And she is definitely right handed!

I can't believe all the new stuff she's learning. I keep saying I think she learns new things every day and growing up faster and faster, but I think it is actually true!! And not just a Mom's biased opinion. :)

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

15 Months and Easter!

Libby had her 15-month appointment and it was a good report! She's grown and is inching back up the charts from her last appointment. She is 31 inches tall (70%) and 21 pounds, 6 ounces (35%). Her head is still at 50%, where it's been since she was born.
I thought she was getting tall and sure enough, she's back to exceeding on the tall scale, and staying low on the weight. That's alright, she's just the right size!
After I measured her last month on this thing, she loves to back up to it on the wall and tries to get me to measure her. She always makes the cutest faces and I think she knows it!

She's now getting her first set of molars in (all 4 at the same time!) and it's not so fun. She's already got two in on the top and the bottom two are trying to come through. When those are in, she'll have 12 teeth! She's still not saying too many words besides Mama, Dada, papapa and du-du (meaning dog). But she did learn one new one! Banana! Who would have figured. She doesn't have it down, exactly, but she does say variations of it from Bamama to Anana. We were in the grocery store yesterday and she saw them and yelled out "Anana!" It was so cute and she said it again when we saw some on the other side of the store. She definitely doesn't do it when we ask her to, but if you listen, you'll catch it! Her other word she's working on is Maggie, except for her it's Ma-ma (not like my name, but like the beginning of Maggie twice. :) That's my sister, Ashley and her husband, Scott's dog. We were at their house the other day and she was getting excited saying it.
Here are some cute recent pics of her. As I look at them, I realize how fast she's growing up! My little Toddler!

I love this face and those pretty blue eyes! We were experimenting with a new hair-do (a french braid) and it looked so cute! But didn't last long!
Zoolander?... Working her model pose. :)
She likes to try to write on things (especially books and papers), so I'm VERY glad she hasn't figured out how to get the pen part out yet. Then there will be some serious training before all our books get ruined. She even holds the pen right in her hand. Here she is trying to write on the stairs. I love how she just flopped down on the floor on her stomach.
Looking out the window to see if Daddy was home yet. Love the little legs and arms!

Easter Sunday! Going to church.

Playing on the floor in the lobby, where we spent the service becuase she's getting her molars in and many sicknesses are going around. When she's teething, everything goes to her mouth. So I figured I'd keep her in the lobby instead of having a sick baby for the week. Funny, but somehow she still picked up a cough. Oh, well, you do what you can!
Fell asleep on the way to Great Mamaw and Papaw's. She did have a couple of late nights that weekend.
Barely awake enough to take pictures. This girl takes a LONG time to wake up! Notice the grumpy face. :)
Checking out her sandals.
Too cute! I love those cheeks!

She enjoyed walking around the yard and checking out all the flowers. She'd put them all up to her nose to smell them, and then try to eat some of them. So funny!
Hanging out on the porch after a wonderful meal!
Libby and her great-papaw.
Our little family. :) I think we all needed some sunglasses.

Date night with Jeff and Faith!

Matt and I went on a double date with some friends from church this weekend and had a blast! We went downtown and checked out the art sculptures in Krutch Park for the Dogwood Arts Festival. I was hoping to see the Tapestry of Flowers they are going to do there, but found out it's not for a couple more weeks.
Here is a cool sculpture called "The Storyteller".
Jeff and Faith
Many of the trees in the area are in bloom, so you know I couldn't miss taking a few pictures of them!
I love these trees. I don't know what they are, but they're beautiful.
There were some Tulips blooming.

We got a Gelato (so good!) and enjoyed a wonderful evening in the park!
The sun was setting and made this building look pink! I love experimenting with photography and can't wait till I'm better at it!

Matt and I at another sculpture called "Trinity". We had a great time and hope to do it again!

Springtime!

Some things I've come to appreciate:
Morning devotions before Libby wakes up. I love the sun streaming through the window, casting long shadows across my page. Something about it just seems right.

A good cup of coffee. Yes, I am now officially a coffee drinker and it's hard to get through the day now without it.
The sweet Word, more necessary for life than food or drink.
And, of course, then my little girl wakes up.
Doing her morning yoga. :)
Helping her baby blow her nose, and wiping it's face off. She actually makes the blowing sound out of her nose when she holds it to mine or the babies nose. So cute, she's learning fast!

I thought she looked so much like a little girl here. She's growing up way to fast!!!

Making silly faces. I love her in pigtails!
Something we can all appreciate as the weather changes, a fruit smoothie! And of course Libby wants some too. The nice lady at Smoothie King gave me a little cup so I could drink mine while sharing with Libby. Normally it's hard to pull my cup away from her as she's enjoying it, so this was a treat for me!
She LOVES smoothies!
We went to the park with some friends a couple of weeks ago and had a blast! It's so fun for Libby to be able to enjoy the playground now that she's older!
Playing with her friend Gavin.
Peeking through the bars.
Of course, like always, she likes to do her own thing and explore, so I wind up chasing her down most of the time.
Trying out the slide. She enjoyed it!
They even had a sand box. She liked that, too. I can't wait to go to the beach at the end of next month and see how she likes it now!
She's got a concentrated look in this picture, guess she's trying to figure out what kind of work involves sand.
Thanks to our friend, Mrs. Allyson, we found out about free cone day at Ben and Jerry's and Libby and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Libby's first ice cream cone all to herself. Surprisingly, she didn't make a HUGE mess. :) Thanks, Allyson, for letting us borrow a bib!
Friends hanging out having ice cream together. Gavin looks hillarious in this picture! Like a sumo wrestler! Is he trying to hold Libby's hand?...
Yay, free cone day!
Gavin truly appreciates a good cone of ice cream! And he knows how to get it done!
I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice cream!
After ice cream, we went to the park for a picnic. :) We reversed lunch a little. Adds a little spice to life. :) It's days like this that I truly appreciate my job. What other jobs entail going to get ice cream and then to the park on a beautiful day? Being a stay-at-home-mom definitely has its benefits! Thanks, Matt, for working out of the home so I can stay in it!
Experimenting with Libby's long hair is fun.
Libby thought this was pretty funny, so I had to snap a pic.

And, of course, a blog in the springtime would never be complete without a flower picture! daffodils are indeed in bloom. Hooray for spring time! Praise the Lord for His beauty expressed in creation!