Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Cousins, cousins everywhere!

We recently celebrated our soon-to-be great nephew (which will actually be our second great nephew) with our nephew, Zach, and his wife, Courtney at their baby shower. Baby Jaxon is due to arrive in the next few weeks and we are so happy for Zach and Courtney to soon experience that sweet bundle of love that will forever change their lives.

Below is the happy couple in their post present opening haze (who knew such a small person required so much stuff?!)...




Molly Ruth was a busy little girl during the entire shower. She must have walked no less than a hundred laps around the church's fellowship hall.


She also refused to wear her glasses most of that particular afternoon...




Toward the end of the shower, MR discovered some hula hoops hiding in a corner and decided to slow down long enough to play with them...





MR trying to escape Uncle Greg's kisses...



and getting some hugs from Zach...


Congratulations Zach and Courtney! We can't wait to meet the next baby Scott ;)



Friday, July 20, 2012

Bad, bad blogger


It's pretty obvious my blogging has been lagging lately. It just takes me so long to complete a post. Once I go through pictures and choose the best ones, decide on a subject matter, and proofread (no less than 20 times- NERD ALERT!), it almost always takes me a whole day to get to the final product. So, I have been talking myself out of blogging a lot lately. I also blame my absence on the fact that several of the keys on our laptop are sticking and must be pressed 2 or 3 times before they work, which makes typing not so enjoyable. But, I'll quit talking about not writing and actually write!

Let's see...since my last post about Mother's Day (yikes! has it really been that long?), we've mostly been sticking close to home, indoors, far far away from the sweltering heat of this dry, hot summer.




As I mentioned in a previous post, MR took her first steps at 13 months. She offically started walking in her 15th month. She built up her confidence one night in her room while Matt, mom, and I were all in there with her. Up until that night, she'd take a few steps and then intentionally drop to her knees. But, on the soft, pink flowered safety net that is the rug in her room, she decided to take a few steps, pivot, turn, and then take a few more! She is so active now and is slimming up every day because of it. I miss my butterball baby but am so thankful for a healthy, active toddler.



Pictured above is MR with her baby. I cannot stress enough how much she loves this baby. Baby goes everywhere she goes. She has even recently started sharing her food and "wa wa" (what she calls all liquids) with her baby. She must say "baybeee baybeee" a million times a day. It's so sweet. We even recently bought a back-up baby identical to this one just in case, God forbid, this one ever goes missing.







Molly Ruth loves books and often picks one out, brings it to me, and says "book!" That's her way of letting me know she's ready to read a story. Her current favorites are Madeline loves animals, Where is baby's belly button?, Elmo and Friends, Ten Little Ladybugs, and Dora goes to the Beach. She likes to point to different animals in the books and make the sound that they make. She also likes to "count" things in the books and will point to different objects and say "baa doo deeeee!" (One, two, three)



Yep, my baby girl is a toddler and I am loving this stage. She learns so much so quickly and each day is different than the last. I love looking at things through her eyes for the first time. It's refreshing (and funny) to see things through the eyes of a toddler. Her little imagination is already running wild and I love to dream about what her passions and hopes and dreams will be. Maybe she will be a writer or a nurse or a musician or an athlete. Or maybe she will want to save animals or be an activist or a missionary. Whatever her destiny, I pray that God gives me the right words and actions to encourage her and uplift her to reach her full potential in whatever journey she is meant to complete.