Little Picasso

Your new favorite thing is painting. I keep the paints on top of the refrigerator, in hopes you may forget they are there, but at least 3 times a week you cling to the door and scream "I paint, I paint pleeeeeeeaaaasssssseeeee!" How can I resist such good manners? The only thing about painting is you haven't quite mastered keeping it on the paper, I am trying very hard to let go of my OCD and just let you have fun. But painting ultimately means washing the highchair cover, the kitchen floor, and of course YOU!

Chatty Cathy!

The biggest milestone this summer has been your speech for sure! You are talking up a storm and towards the end of the summer you started to speak in little phrases and every once in awhile now you will blurt out an entire sentence. It's so crazy how for the past almost 2 years I have been talking away to you, and now you are finally talking back to me! I can finally have a conversation with you. Although sometimes I would like you to be quiet, all in all it's so nice to be able to have someone to chat with everyday!

I'm in Trouble!

For the most part, you and I are 2 peas in a pod....but every once in awhile, nothing can make us see eye to eye. We quickly turn to oil and water. You have such a little opinion and you definitely want it to be known. It scares me when I see these small glimpses of our future, I can picture you as a defiant teenager screaming how much you hate me. But no matter how loud we yell, or how much we cry, we always are back loving one another in no time. Let's hope that trend forever continues.

Queen Michaela

I was having a really tough day with you. You weren't listening to one thing I was saying, I said to you, "why do you have to be such a brat!" You looked at me and said, "I not....I the Queen!" How could I not laugh....one of the 7 million reasons why I love you so much!

Mimi...Mimi...Mimi

I can't even say the word Mimi anymore unless we are seconds away from seeing her. You know her car, her voice, and even her house (god forbid we drive by and not stop). She is by far your most favorite human being on the planet. You ask for her 20 times a day, and the minute I yell at you for being in trouble, you cry for her. When we go to her house, you immediately tell me to leave, and picking you up and taking you away is a nightmare. You scream and cry the entire way home. I can remember being so in love with my Grandmom as a kid, but you take it to a whole other level. You two have a bond that I know for certain will last forever, and it makes my heart so happy that you have each other.

My Sister...

is completely and totally head over heels in LOVE with you. 2 visits home this summer, which is unheard of for her, and we all know it's because of you. I can see it in her eyes how hard it is for her to be so far away from you, but when she is here it is all about you. You have an adventurous spirit just like her, and I tell you all the time that you better not grow up and move to California too!

Everytime I start to miss her, I look at your little face and I am reminded that a part of her is here with me. I think we are finally starting to wear her down, maybe in a few more years we can get her to move a few more states closer to us!

Father's Day

I hope you will always know how much your Dad loves you. I don't think any guy will hold a candle to him, and I'm pretty sure he will never think anyone is good enough for you. The older you get the more excited he becomes, I always say that he is rushing you to grow up, but I know he is just excited to do more things with you. The way you say "I looooove uuooo Dad-ddddde" is enough to melt his heart. He is so loving, nurturing, and forever working on being more patient with you. You most definitely stole his heart.
Another guy who loves you to pieces is your Poppy! You are very lucky to have 2 men in your life that would do anything for you. He is by far the most patient guy I know, and he tells me EVERY SINGLE DAY how beautiful you are. He loves to spend all his free time with you, and you can do no wrong in his eyes. He is the best Dad in the world, and now the best Poppy too! You and I are blessed to have them both! And even though you aren't even 2, I think you already know that!

Summer in LBI

You are such a lucky little girl. We got to go to the beach twice this summer! We first went in June with Aunt Jen, Uncle Matt, Maya, Dillon, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Erika, and Aunt Devon too! You and Maya got along great! What a difference a year makes, you guys have grown so much! Last year you could only crawl and this year you were running full speed into the ocean. You love that water so much, and have no fear whatsoever. You didn't even want me to hold your hand. All three of you had so much fun on the beach, our weather was perfect as well. Much to my surprise you still crawled up my lap when you got tired on the beach, full of sand, and placed your head on my shoulder, and collapsed in my arms out of pure exhaustion and took a nap every single day on the beach. I loved every single sandy second of it. I bet next year you won't want me to hold you anymore, but I'm still hoping you will. Michelle also came down for a day with Miranda and Amelia and took more gorgeous pics of you. We also took you girls to fantasy island to ride the rides, and you LOVED them. You wanted to go on everyone and you wanted to go by yourself and you cried your eyes out the moment they came to a stop. When did you become so independent? You definitely get that from Daddy, not me! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week!

Movie Day

The weather has been ungodly hot this summer, and with no shade at all in our yard, I am quickly running out of things to do with you on these long summer days. The movie theatre near us offers $1 movies on Tuesday mornings at 10am, and i figured you are probably too young to sit through a movie, but for a dollar, who cares if we leave after 10 minutes. When we got there, you were so fascinated by all the kids and the huge screen. You wouldn't let go of your ticket, you had to hold it the whole time. When the movie began, it was Charlotte's Web, but not a cartoon version. I thought for sure you would want to leave right away. But you LOVED the animals and you sat through the entire thing, eating your popcorn, being so quiet and clapping at the end! Your Dad and I love the movies, we used to go every Sunday before we had you, and he is so looking forward to going to the movies all together.

Missing Mitzi...

I am pretty much an emotional mess today, I guess it's because Aunt Mitzi left to go back to California, then you peed on the potty...which should make me happy, but only made me sad because you are getting so big so fast. As I sat there on the bathroom floor pretending to be excited that you peed, I started to cry, and you looked at me, wiped away my tears, and said "it's ok momma" gave me a hug and proceeded to pat my back. God, I love you so much kid, and I just hope that you always know that. And I pray that I can show you in a million different ways every single day how much I love you and how happy you make me all the time. You are the only one that could put a smile on my face today. You are the best thing that ever happened to Daddy and I and you make life that much sweeter.

Pee-Pee on the Potty!

You won't even be 2 for a few more months, but you love to tell me that you pooped! You must hate the feeling of it being in your diaper, and who can blame ya, but you always tell me after the fact! Today you told me that you pooped, and when I sae that your diaper was dry, I ran and put you on the potty. You wanted me to read you a book, and then you peed!!!!! You started clapping your little hands and inspected the potty and your pee, before flushing it down. Of course you pooped in your diaper about 3 mintues later, but I'll take this as a positive start! It makes me a little sad, because I am so not ready for you to be a big girl and start to grow-up.