Dinner Theatre

The other night during dinner, you decided you would serenade me and your dad with all of the songs in your repertoire. Though I would love to post ALL of them, here is a montage that Daddy put together. You don't like it when I call you "Drama," but how could I not??

Jekyll Island 2011

For about the past 30 years or so, my family has been vacationing on a small island off the coast of Georgia called Jekyll Island. Though we don't make it every year, this year we did along with all but TWO family members (Mallory & Marc - we missed you). Here are the stats (stolen from my sister's blog):

Destination: Jekyll Island, GA (one of the Sea Islands)
Attendees: 43 family and friends
Countries represented: United States, Mexico, Japan
Generations: 4
Duration: 1 week
Alcohol Consumed: unknown
Fun Had: immeasurable

For the most part, we spent the week just playing on the beach and in the swimming pools. Stella was definitely in heaven the entire time. Give that girl a shovel, some sand, and a bucket and she's entertained for hours! Playing in the waves with Keagan and looking for buried treasure were definitely highlights of the trip! Enjoy these photos! Until next time.....

Striking a pose with their fishing nets!

Kohen loved the sand and was such a happy boy all week!

Keagan was one cool surfer dude!

Papaw with the kiddos! Alan managed to get Keagan in this photo!

Silly faces!! These two played so well together!

Stella and Tessie


The kids had so much fun chasing Papaw on the beach!

Look at that cool treasure map! Going on a treasure hunt, going on a treasure hunt!

Wow!! Those pirates left a pretty cool chest filled with all sorts of goodies!!

Proud grandparents and happy kids with their treasures!

Stella & Keagan had movie night every night!!

She didn't win a single race on the beach - but she definitely had fun crossing the finish line!

She wasn't in the mood for a picture, but this is the only family one we have on the beach!

Resting up and fueling up!

The following photos were taken at the north end of the island. Alan took a bike ride up there and got some amazing shots!

Silly Polkadots!

If this doesn't say "SILLY POLKA DOT," I don't know what does!! You and Daddy have nicknamed each other "polka dot" for some silly reason, and I think this video captures your silliness perfectly! How lucky you are to have a daddy who plays with you and can be silly with you. I hope that you always feel confident enough to dance freely and openly, without a care in the world!

First Wave!

From the day you were born, Daddy has been waiting for the moment he could put you on the end of his surfboard. Though I am a bit hesitant about this activity, I know that some day you will definitely be riding waves alongside your dad. On this day, you caught your very first wave!! You held onto the boogie board and seemed to love every minute of it!

Jumping Place!

I think I won the "Coolest Mom Ever" award when I brought this inflatable slide home from work and told you it was your present for being a big-girl and going potty! I also may have set the standard a bit too high seeing as I didn't pay a dime for this monstrosity. My school raffled off the slides that they used for field day, and I won this one! You are obsessed with Monkey Joe's and call it the "Jumping Place." You now refer to this as your very OWN "Jumping Place!"

Ladies and Gentlemen.....

We are POTTY TRAINED!!! I had planned to work on potty-training this summer, but you really started to show interest, so we just went with it. Last weekend we had our first official "outing" without pull-ups and you did great! We put the potty in the back of the Jeep, and if you had to go, I would take you there. We went out to dinner with Tessie & Papaw and you went THREE TIMES at the restaurant! Honestly, I was dreading this process, but I definitely think you had more success once we just put you in big-girl undies. If you were wearing a pull-up, you would just go there because it was easier for you. Knowing that it wasn't comfortable to go in your undies helped you to stop what you were doing to go to the potty! We are SO PROUD of you!!

This happens to be the day you turn 2 1/2, so here are some stats:

Height: 34 inches (as determined by my measuring, using a ruler...so accurate?)
Weight: 28 lbs
Words: You are pretty much talking CONSTANTLY. Our favorite phrases right now are "Aw nuts!" , "Aw fiddlesticks!" , "Aw picklejuice!".
Songs: You sing two versions of the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Castle on a Cloud, and The Moon Song quite regularly.
Favorite Foods: carrots, chicken, PB and honey sandwiches, peas, avocado, black beans, bananas, apples, grapes, anything crunchy and salty (chips, goldfish), pasta noodles, chick peas, yogurt, oatmeal, waffles, grapes, and many more!
Favorite Toys: you have you "friends" that you cart around the house when we're home. You also sleep with them. They rarely leave the house, and if they do, they stay in the car. Your current friends are Stripes (a striped dog), Ellie (an elephant), Monkey (sock monkey), George (Curious George), and your two babies. You are very motherly toward your friends and put them down for naps, feed them, give them baths, and change their diapers. You also discipline them with time-outs if they misbehave.
Our Challenges: Though you love all different kinds of foods, you are a lazy eater. You want to be fed and put little effort into eating on your own. This is probably my fault as I am obsessed with the foods you eat and want to make sure your diet is balanced. Our other challenges right how are typically related to not listening very well in certain situations and yelling at me and your dad. You have a very stubborn personality and want to do what you want to do when and how you want to do it! You respond to 1-2-3 Magic pretty well, though. If we count to three, you sit in time-out and typically learn your lesson (for a period of time, anyway!).