Father-Daugher Zoo Trip

Michael and Sarah are going to the zoo each week this summer.  I know that it is only the 2nd week of summer, but as of today, they have been 2 times.  So that qualifies as every week! :)  Here are some pictures of their most recent trip. 

Don't you want to eat here for lunch?

Well, if you think that this place is sketchy and that you wouldn't want to eat here ... you'd be dead wrong!  This is Archbald's Drive Inn located in Northport/Tuscaloosa.  We first heard about Archibald's from our neighbor's blog.  Annah is an aspiring food critic and has even been published in the Tannehill Trader newspaper!  Her description of the food served at Archibald's made our mouths water, so on Memorial Day, we ventured over to get some ribs!  This "shack" is literally in someone's backyard.  They have a 98 health rating.  There are five stools located inside and 4 picnic tables outside.  On this day, we bought a large rib plate (5 bones) and a large pork plate (3 "sandwiches" of pork).  Everything is served on white bread -- obviously!  After all, this is Alabama and we are talking about real BBQ!!  The sauce is a vinegar mustard based sauce that was yummy!  The ribs were probably the best I've ever had.  We got our food and drove back home to eat it.  It was so good, we are already thinking of reasons to go back! 

Welcome to Summer

Several friends have told me that they routinely do "Welcome to Summer" baskets for their kids.  I thought this would be a fun thing to do with Sarah.  So ... we went out and got a swing, sand/water table and a bubble machine!  Welcome to Summer little Bug!! 

Here are some pictures of some of the fun we've been having. 

Here's Sarah taking a bite of our first Cherry Tomato that we harvested.  She loves to pull them off and eat them right away -- no washing, no cutting in half, no nothing -- just tomato guts squirting out everywhere!

The bubble machine is lots of fun.  Of course, Sarah has figured out how to turn it on and off, so that is even more fun than running through the bubbles and popping them!

Here's Sarah in her most favorite thing of all ... the SWING!!!  It is the first word we hear when we get ready to put on shoes and go outside, it is the first word we hear when we pull into the driveway.  She loves it.  I love that her papa and daddy built it for her.  Sarah is a very loved and happy little girl!  She loves to lay her head back and close her eyes when she swings ... high mama, high ... no fear from my little flying bug! 

Cornerstone Graduation

Last week was Cornerstone Christian School's graduation.  This was an important night for Michael.  The class that was graduating, was the first class that Michael taught when he came to Cornerstone.  Bethany has always been one of his favorite students.  She is so smart and nice.  She was valedictorian of her class.  She is a National Merit Scholar and will be going to Samford University on a full scholarship.  We are super proud of her.  Also, we love that she'll be close and can babysit Sarah!

On a much sadder note, it was also Sarah's graduation from Cornerstone.  She has been loved on and taken care of by Mrs. Amanda since she was born!  However, the time has come for Sarah to go to a different school.  There are many reasons behind this decision, but it was time.  We will definitely miss the love that was shown to Sarah and to all of us.  I know that we will not be able to put Sarah anywhere else that will love on her like CCS has done.  We will miss all of you, but we'll still see you at games.  However, you know how Sarah is ... don't be sad when she gives you her mean look that says get away from me!!  Just pretend that she doesn't really mean it!

Grey Seal Puppet Show

Last night, we took Sarah to the Hoover Library for the Summer Reading Kickoff Party.  We watched the Grey Seal Puppets.  It is a one man show of puppets.  It was really good.  As you can see, Sarah enjoyed it!  There were three different fairy tales, The Frog and the Princess, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, and the Three Little Pigs.  In between each show, was music and puppet dancing.  We were unsure if Sarah would understand and "get it", but she totally did!  She could tell the difference in the music and knew when something scary was about to happen (e.g., the wolf blowing down the pigs houses).  The puppeteer was excellent and making all of the different noises and including in the act some subtle jokes for the parents.  A fun night!!

Sweet Dreams

This is what I found when I got home from work yesterday.  Look at the sweet, pitiful little girl sound asleep in her bed.  In case you can't tell, she has her Bama cheerleader doll under one arm, her monkey under the other arm, and her cup of milk nearby. 
We have been struggling with sleep issues!  She doesn't sleep enough at night, so she gets tired mid-morning and wants to take a nap.  Then she doesn't usually want to take a nap in the afternoon, which leads to a grumpy little girl at night, but she wouldn't dare go to bed early!!
Yesterday, we entered into a new chapter of sleep -- at least mentally, Mommy and Daddy started a new chapter.  We have to make her sleep and break her sleep cycles!  We are now putting her in bed and letting her cry.  I don't really like it, but I don't know what else to do.  It worked yesterday for her nap, so we tried it last night.  She did great until her usual 3 am wake up call.  Only mommy is the fix for that.  Michael went in her room about 3-4 times because she was crying for mommy.  Mommy needs sleep!!  Mommy needs to rest her arm and shoulder from 18 months of holding her in the middle of the night when she wakes up!!  I'm sorry sweet girl ... Mommy does love you more than anything, but you're own your own.  You have to learn to sleep.  Once we tackle the sleeping, we'll talk about your best friend (paa paa).  Of course, we're not going to tell you that right now.  Sweet dreams baby bug!

Tag Renewal

Have you seen this lately?  Unfortunately, this is what happens when you wait until the last day of the month to renew your tag!!  I counted and there were 74 people in front of me in line.  There was (of course) only 1 person working.  The other person was at lunch.  Seriously, people!?!? 
Needless to say, I didn't wait!  I called Michael and made him pay for the renewal online.  Now, I'm driving around illegally, but with a printed receipt showing where we paid.  Hopefully, I'll get those precious little $100 stickers in the mail soon so that I'll be legal again!

Feed Me Books Friday: Books for Mom

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is the story of an unusual woman, Agnes Sparrow. No longer able or willing to leave her home, where she is cared for by her long-suffering sister Griselda, Agnes has committed her life to the one thing she can do besides eat. Agnes Sparrow prays and when Agnes prays things happen, including major miracles of the cancer, ulcer-healing variety along with various minor miracles not the least of which is the recovery of lost objects and a prize-winning pumpkin.  The rural residents of Bright's Pond are so enamored with Agnes they plan to have a sign erected on the interstate that reads, Welcome to Bright s Pond, Home of Agnes Sparrow. This is something Agnes doesn t want and sends Griselda to fight city hall. Griselda s petitions are shot down and the sign plans press forward until a stranger comes to town looking for his miracle from Agnes. After some tense days, everyone decides they all need to find their way back to the true source of the miracles -- God.

This story by Angie Smith is not unfamiliar to those of you blog readers like myself.  This is the story of Audrey Caroline.  I have just started this book, but so far it has not dissapointed me.  I was hesitant to read it because I already knew the story from reading her blog.  From Amazon -- "In 2008, Angie Smith and her husband Todd (lead singer of the group Selah) learned through ultrasound that their fourth daughter had conditions making her “incompatible with life.” Advised to terminate the pregnancy, the Smiths chose instead to carry this child and allow room for a miracle. That miracle came the day they met Audrey Caroline and got the chance to love her for the precious two-and-a-half hours she lived on earth.  Upon receiving the original diagnosis, Angie started a blog (Bring the Rain) to keep family and friends informed of their journey. Soon, the site exploded in popularity, connecting with thousands who were either experiencing their own heartbreaking situations or simply curious about how God could carry someone through something so tragic. I Will Carry You tells the powerful story of a parent losing her child, interwoven with the biblical story of Lazarus to help those who mourn to still have hope—to find grace and peace in the sacred dance of grief and joy.

I don't always take the time out to read for myself because it is hard to find those moments for yourself!  Laundry needs to be done, dishes put away, quality time with husband, etc.  However, I have found that I am so much happier when I can read and escape.  I have found that always keeping a book in my car works best for me.  I can always find 5-10 minutes in between appointments or stuck in traffic, or if someone stands me up for a visit, etc.  Reading calms me and helps me gain perspective.  What are you reading?

Sarah's 18 month Appointment

Here is Sarah this morning at her 18 month doctor's appointment.  She did very well.  She is in the 75% percentile for everything!  She is 32-1/4 inches long, 26.2 pounds, and her head circumference is 18.5 inches.  All in all, she is doing great! 
She is holding the doll that her "Aunt Beth" brought her back from Texas.  She loves her!!

Feed Me Books Friday: Summer Reading Club

Well, we have joined the summer reading club.  Yes, I did say "we".  We all joined as a family.  Sarah has her reading club log and Michael and I are sharing a log.  We'll see who gets the better rewards!  As a result ... here are Sarah's first books that she has checked out from the library.  She didn't get her card today, but we will be sure to get it next time.

This exciting little board book introduces the alphabet to infants in a humorous game of tag, "a told b, and b told c, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree. Whee! Said d to e f g, I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree." The entire lowercase alphabet makes it to the top of the coconut tree and "chicka chicka boom boom," they all fall down! Colorful and eye-catching, the artwork bewitches little ones, while the sing-songy prose encourages listening and learning.

How could your child not love a book with characters such as Zachary Zebra, Orfo the Orangutan, Bismark the Buffalo, Igor the Egret and lots of funny underwear. Poor Bismark, he doesn't get to wear any underwear. Or does he? Lots of alliteration in this very funny little book that your pre-reader will just love for you to read to her.

Feed Me Books Friday: Favorite Books

This week, I'm featuring books that we just love to read. For Sarah's first birthday, her "Aunt Beth" gave her this book by Betsy Snyder. At the time, Sarah enjoyed looking at it and feeling the different textures, but she now really likes to look at the book and gets the humor of it all. One of her favorite pages is "have you ever kissed a walrus?" She likes to kiss the walrus and feel the whiskers tickle her face.This is a recent new favorite book. This is a sweet story about a little duck (Dimity) and his frog friend (Frumity). This story tells about their day and the fun that they have playing together. We got this book a long time ago, but Sarah didn't care anything about it. Now, we have read it about 6 times in the past 2 days!

What child doesn't like Good Night, Gorilla??? Well, actually, I'm not a huge fan, but I think that is only because we have read it about a million times! Sarah loves to look at this book and she laughs at the zookeeper's wife's eyes when she realizes that she is not the only one awake in her bed!

Sweet Cousins

I feel that Sarah is very fortunate to have cousins that live nearby. When I was growing up, I obviously knew my cousins, but I don't feel that we were very close. We didn't see each other very much. Of course, I didn't know that I was missing out on anything until I met Michael.


Michael was very close with his cousins growing up. He still remains relatively close to some of them. They get together at family events and we've even had some of them over for dinner just because we like them -- shocker, right?! :)

Sarah loves her cousin Steven Riley. He was born 4 years before her almost to the day! She loves getting to play with him. Well, Steven Riley now has a little brother -- John Colton.

Sarah doesn't quite know what to think of him. She sees him in pictures and mostly just calls him baby, but she is starting to call him Toto. That is her version of John Colton. As you can see above, she's not really sure why Steven Riley is kissing John Colton instead of her!

She loves her cousins and I hope that they will always be good friends!

Fun with Rice and Beans

If there is one thing that I have learned in my job with Early Intervention, it is to try to access all areas of development. Enter the sensory bucket. In EI, many special instructors have a sensory bucket. Basically, it is a bucket with a variety of different textures inside. This are used for a variety of different reasons. I like to use mine to have a child talk about what they may find inside of the bucket. Other professionals may use their buckets with children who have various sensory processing needs. In my bucket, I have easter grass, rocks, rice, beans and a few sticky spiders, frogs and lizards. We use the shovels and rakes to find the bugs. Here's the results when I tried it out on Sarah ...

Fun with Friends

Friday night, we were pleasantly surprised to be invited over to a friend's house for dinner. We were excited because as "non-parents" we had all hung out regularly, but we just haven't been able to spend much time together since all of our little ones take up so much time.

Eveline was born in September, Sarah in November, and Audrey in March -- so you can tell that they are very close in age. However, they are all so different. It was so much fun to watch them play together. Of course, Sarah always has to have a baby doll; luckily, Audrey shared with her.

Thank you Lazenby's for opening your home to us and the whirlwind known as Sarah!

Claire's Birthday

Saturday, we went to our little friend Claire's first birthday party.

It was a wonderful time and Sarah enjoyed herself! Claire, and her parents, live two houses down from us. Annah and John threw a wonderful party. We had Donato's pizza (which was fantastic!) and pink champagne! Who cares if it was a kid's party -- Claire turned one and mommy and daddy lived through the first year! It was definitely cause to celebrate!!! Another thoughtful thing was that Annah had potted plants to give to each of the mothers because of Mother's Day. I thought that was super sweet. We are not really close with this family, but I would like to change that. We need each other as friends, neighbors and believers in Christ.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Tori and Dean ... for better or worse

Okay, I admit it. I am addicted to reality shows, well specifically Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. This season has been really depressing! They have been married 4 years and have two beautiful children, Liam and Stella. However, there is some sort of disconnect going on between them. The past two episodes have had me almost in tears.

Michael and I have been married for 4 years and have Sarah and Gus (can't forget the dog-child). I don't want to feel a disconnect, but I feel that everyone has those fleeting moments from time to time. I think the most important thing is to take time for each other and come back together to being one! Don't forget what you wrote on your air-sick bags (T/D reference)!!!

I know that this weekend is mother's day, but you wouldn't be a mother without your husband ... therefore, do something special for the two of you. Reconnect with each other, love each other, cherish each other always!

Feed Me Books Friday: Books about Mothers

We have two books that we read on a regular basis that have to do with mothers. The first one is a favorite by Karen Katz. Actually, Sarah loves all of her books! This is a book that we often read before bedtime when we are cuddling. It goes through numbers 1-10 and everything that mommies do ... all the way from one nuzzle wuzzle wakeup hug, to five kiss it all better boo boo hugs, ending up with ten goodnight I love you hugs.

One of our other favorites is a relatively new favorite by Ezra Jack Keats. This book is about lots of different types of animals and their mothers. The mother provides instructions to their babies, such as "Dive said the mother, we dive said the one. So they dove and the played on the rocks in the sun." Reading books with Sarah is one of my most favorite activities. I love to read to her and never get tired of hearing her sweet baby voice "eed eed mama" (translated -- read read mama)!

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventures of Motherhood.

Sunday Events

We had great friends visit with us at church yesterday. We were excited to have Beth and BJ come with us. Michael was excited too because he was teaching Sunday School. They seemed to have a good time and by the end of lunch, Sarah had warmed up to them ... FINALLY!!

Check out the day's events at Beth's blog.

Last night, in the middle of the storm, we had our friends Chris and Amanda come over for dinner. We have not gotten to hang out with them in a long time, so it was great fun! Although, thanks to Chris, Michael is even more obssessed with the potential harm and danger from Obama-care. Sarah eventually warmed up to Amanda, even though she refused to share a strawberry with her. However, she was scared of Chris. At one point, I think Sarah had even forgotten Chris was there, but then she bumped into his leg and ran straight back to mommy! That's okay little bug, mommy will always protect you!

All in all, a great Sunday!

Sarah loves to play outside!

Sarah is definitely an outside little girl. She loves to be outside. We have been on a mission lately to find the very best parks for her to play in. So far, our favorite is a "secret park" that not many other people know about located in Hoover. I can't tell you where it is because then more people would start to show up! :)



Anyway, we try to go to the park about once a week at least. I can definitely tell that she is growing up fast. When we first started going to the park, she was a bit apprehensive on the slides and swings. Not anymore! When we pull up she gets so excited and then goes running to the slides. She is doing much better and walking up the steps and loves to go down them by herself. The slide is "mine, mine"! "Mama, mine", she says, as she is waving her hand in protest as to say no help mama -- i'm a big girl! :)



Slow down growing up little girl. You're at the best age yet and I want to enjoy every minute of it! Besides, some days you outrun mommy and daddy!

Feed Me Books Friday: Books you can Sing

Okay, so I'm several days behind in my posting. Although some of you would say that I am months behind. However, I'm trying to do better! I saw this post today on another blog and decided to write about one of Sarah's new favorite books. Before she was even born, I saw a set of paperback Eric Carle books at a consignment store. I like his things, so I bought the set. I really haven't let her look at them because I didn't want them messed up, but she found them in her book basket the other night and ever since we have to read this book at least 4-5 times a day!

Basically, this book goes through each of the days of the week.

Monday, string beans. Tuesday, spagetti. Wednesday, zooop. Thursday, roast beef. Friday, fresh fish. Saturday, chicken. Sunday, ice cream. All you hungry children, come and eat it up! The book repeats all of the previous days each day. Each days food is presented by a different animal, like a porcupine, dog, cat, fox, etc. At the end of the book, there are the lyrics and the music for the song that goes along with the book.

Sarah loves to read and sing/sign with the book on the pages that she knows. I really recommend this book to anyone! Happy Reading!