My Marvelous Mamaw!

On Friday, we went to Monticello to spend the afternoon and evening with my Mamaw on her birthday. We hadn't been to see my grandparents in a while and we were all excited to see them! I am so blessed to have my grandparents. They have always been a very big part of my life. I've went on countless camping trips with them and they followed me all over the state (and beyond) to almost every single one of my rodeos. They were a constant source of love and support...then and now. They are wonderful examples of everything that makes grandparents grand! :) I love them so much and cherish the wonderful memories of the past and look forward to making many more amazing memories in the future. I'm very thankful that my girls have them as a part of their life and already share a special bond with them.

Grace snuggling in the chair with Mamaw

Grace had fun with her Pa!

Anna Kate really enjoyed singing "Happy Birthday" to her Mamaw
& we all enjoyed stuffing ourselves with her famous fried chicken & homemade rolls! YUM!

Our Best Buddy, Bailey

Those of you who follow this blog and who know my family, know exactly who this post is about. For the few of you who have not met our beloved Bailey, let me introduce you: Bailey is our 8 year old Boxer. He is, without question, a very important part of our family. I decided to devote this post to him this morning b/c he reminded me yet again why we all love him so much. His world has changed ALOT in his 8 years with us. For the first 4 years, he was our baby. We took him everywhere and he did everything we did. Now, he has had to take a backseat (twice!) to our girls and rarely gets to leave our house :(. However, thru it all, he has been a constant, loving, loyal companion. I could give a million examples of why we love him so much, but I want to list just a few:

• Bailey loves each of us unconditionally
• He is the best behaved, most well mannered of all my "children"
• He keeps my feet warm and always sympathizes with me (or any of us) when we feel bad
• He protects me, my children and my house
• He allows my girls to pull his tail, ears, nose, mouth and any other part of him without ever complaining or even whimpering
• He is never too tired or too busy to greet me at the door or make me feel loved and needed
• He doesn't like getting dirty (I wish I could say the same about Anna Kate!)
• He has "kept watch" over both girls by sleeping under their cradle when they were newborns
• He is a tattletail! He always comes to get me if AK or Grace has gotten into something that he thinks they shouldn't be into (I realize how crazy this sounds but it's TRUE!)
• He is the definition of loyal. Where we are is where he wants to be. Period. He is sleeping by my feet while I type this...

Last but not least, I know (without question) that he would never hurt or harm my children (or anyone else we love) in any way. He truly loves my girls and puts up with their tireless forms of "torment" and asks only for a treat in return! I pray we have many more years to enjoy him.

Grace with Bailey (3/09)

Anna Kate "playing" with him (10/06)

Grace showing Bailey some love (3/09)

AK also showing her affection for Bailey (11/06)

Behind On Blogging...

I'm way behind on my blogging! We've been too busy enjoying this great weather! We've spent alot of time with great friends over the past week. Anna Kate has been able to play with her friends, Laney and Alia. I got to spend some time visiting with Aunt Shirley, and then all of us got to enjoy a crawfish boil! YUM!! Here are various pics from this past week...

Laney and Anna Kate

Laney & Alia...silly faces!

Bryson & Grace...he is SO sweet to her!

They rode the golf cart down every street in the neighborhood!
(Grace and I could barely keep up!)

Mason & Ashley...getting ready for the crawfish boil!
(Yep...we filled that ice chest and the pot twice...we LOVE mudbugs!! lol)

Aunt Shirley and Grace

Grace has always had a softspot for Deda :)

Happy St Patty's Day!

The girls and I had so much fun today. Anna Kate thought it was great that we all wore green and was even more thrilled when I told her she could eat a green popsicle! The weather has been beautiful and we were able to go for a walk this afternoon. Now, I get to let Mason tend to the girls while I attend a party with the wonderful girls in my SS class! Hope everyone had a great day! :)

My gorgeous green girls!

Me with Grace at 9 months

Me with Anna Kate at 9 months
Big difference in me and them...huh? lol!

Crawling is Overrated...

...at least as far as Grace is concerned!! She has shown absolutely no interest in even attempting to crawl. Last night, Anna Kate became convinced that she could teach her. It was quite funny to watch! Grace never did crawl but at least she did finally agree to stay on her tummy for more than 2 minutes without screaming! I took a couple of pictures and video of Grace's attempts. (Anna Kate had undressed her because she thought she would crawl easier without her clothes on! lol) I'm sure she'll be on "all fours" eventually!

"Okay, I'm on my tummy...now what?"

"I'm kicking my legs but nothing's happening!"

"I'm tired now...what was the point of this again?"

Anna Kate insisted I take a picture of her being Grace's "teacher"


My little fish out of water!

It Was Fun While It Lasted...

Until today, the weather here in Crossett has been awesome! The girls and I took full advantage of it while we could! These pictures were taken over the weekend and yesterday afternoon. We certainly missed our daily walk today. It's way too rainy and cold now to even consider such a venture!
Rain, rain, go away! We are craving more warm, sunny days! :)

Sweet & Sassy Sisters!

My very silly, Anna Kate

Grace cheesing with her Nana!

2 years later...AK still LOVES to ride this trike!

Grace is always happy when she's outside.

I love this picture of Grace...my sweet little punkin. As of yesterday, she is 9 months old! I can't believe it! Time has seriously flown by. As for her stats, she is 17lbs 10ozs and 28.8" long. I took her for her well baby visit with her pediatrician on Monday. He said she looked great! She smiled and laughed at him throughout the exam...even trying to munch on his stethoscope! lol Still no teeth, no hair and no serious mobility, but she finally seems to be working on her crawling skills. She still LOVES to eat...pretty much anything you put in front of her! We're anxious to watch her these next few months, we know there are even bigger changes on the horizon!

Thankful Thursday

It was so great to wake up this morning to such a bright, beautiful, balmy day. The girls and I were thankful for the nice weather and also thankful that Nana had the day off! We enjoyed our favorite lunch (Sonic!) and then headed to the zoo and the park. The girls had a great time! Grace loves being outside and seemed to be happy just taking in the sights. Anna Kate couldn't make up her mind what she wanted to do first. She must have tried to feed almost every animal at the zoo (except the monkeys...she gets that from me...we don't do monkeys!). After the zoo, we went over to the park and she swang, climbed and slid to her hearts content. Nana and I decided to treat ourselves to an icee afterwards to cap off a really fun afternoon.
I hope everyone got out and enjoyed this great weather!

My New FAVE!

Grace Elizabeth

This is my newest favorite picture of my sweet baby girl. Meredith took this at Christmas with her awesome new camera! As you can see, she is quite the photographer. I just now got a chance to see this particular picture and it was worth the wait! I just LOVE it!! It captured everything that makes her, her! The squishy cheeks, the leg rolls, the sweet smile and the "I'm watching you" expression. It also shows just how much she favors my Daddy!! Thank you Mer for such an awesome pic! :)