Sally's Birthday Week!

Yes, I said week...we're kind of working on a birthday couple of weeks...but I just can't help it! Sally loves all things birthday and she has for a few months. She loves to sing the song, blow out candles, and of course, cake! She loves to celebrate anyone's birthday, and its been especially fun celebrating her own special day, er week, with her! We started the week by baking pink cupcakes.
My ragamuffin!
LOVE this face! (excuse my tired eyes...)
Next on our birthday agenda was a special get-together with Piper, Sally's special birthday buddy!
We met at Swirl bakery for some birthday treats!
The girls loved picking out their cookie and cupcake.
Then we opened some presents at home early on her real birthday.
She had a busy day pushing Mickey around in her new stroller.
We had a little mini-party at Nana's house with the family. The best part of this picture is that she looks very sweet like she is only looking at the cake. What the picture doesn't show is the back side of the cake with giant finger prints and holes in the icing. She just couldn't help it!
Joining in singing one of her favorite songs!
The girl gets serious about cake and ice cream.
We moved the party outside to open presents. Aunt Megan and Uncle Eric got her this orange skirt. She put it on as soon as she opened it!

What a fun birthday week we've had.....let the birthdaying continue!

Scary Beast

No pictures today, but I had to write this down to remember it...

Apparently, Sally and Nana were watching the Backyardigans this afternoon. It was about dolphins and there was a big clam that scared Sally. By the time she was relating the story back to me the clam was a "scary beast." Mom and I both looked at each other and asked where she got that term. Pretty sure I have never told her something was a beast--- much less a scary beast! This kid amazes me each and every day! I think we'll lay off the Backyardigans for the time being. More to come soon...

We Love Snow Days!!

We have had some great snow (ok, ice) days lately!!! I am so thankful for these days to stay home with my girl! Daddy got to stay home a couple of days last week, so we took advantage and played outside! Our first outside adventure ended in tears because Sally's "ho ho ho jammies" got all snowy and that upset her...This time it was sunny, warmer, and a snowman was involved. It was a complete success!
She loved the snowman that she built with her Daddy.
A hug for the snowman...
And a kiss too!
Trying a bite of snow.

This was before we went outside...."Ok guys, a couple of pictures and then we've got to go out and play!"
"Really, the good stuff is right outside this door! Come on!!"
This is the view out Sally's window Friday morning. It was beautiful around here!

22 Months...SO close!

I was so close to making Sally's 22 month post on time...but then the weather got better again so we were back out playing and going 90 miles an hour!!




No more monkeys jumping on the bed!


Sally spent one snow day morning under my sink in the bathroom....She was the most beautifully accessorized girl that day!

Cow house shoes, purple jammies, a paci, and about 10 necklaces...What more do you need?
Our ham on her 22 month birthday!



In 2 short months this sweet girl will be 2...I have no idea where the time went. She continues to teach me new things every day. She is such a sweet girl- she loves to kiss her animals goodnight and is always ready with a hug and kiss for mommy and daddy. She loves spending her days with Nana and PopPop-- although I still dread to drop her off when I go to work...We are definitely entering the lovely tantrum stage of the two year old. It always makes me laugh because as she starts her tantrum she is very careful to lay down on the floor-- she doesn't want to hurt herself by throwing herself down! I'm learning to judge the tantrum and figure out if she needs to just sit down with mommy and be held or if she needs to lay down and work it out on her own...See, I'm learning! Sally will repeat anything she hears (this is a good and bad thing!) and she loves to sing! Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is still her favorite show and we sing about Mickey and Minnie all the time! She loves to sing "Happy Birthday To To" so I can only imagine how she'll feel about her 2nd birthday!

Christmas 2010

A quick Christmas review in pictures. Of course, they are all out of order, but at least they're on here, right?
Sitting like a perfect angel waiting to open presents in OKC. If only we had taken pictures of the before and after of this pose!
The famous picture with Grandmums and Grandpa...always a fun shot to try!
Family in OKC!
We went to church with the family in Denton.
She looks so sweet, but I bet she was planning her escape route!
Christmas Eve 2010.
Sally seems a little overwhelmed by the wreckage created by our Denton family Christmas.
Let's open presents!
As a perfect kick-off to the holidays, we decorated gingerbread houses with all of the cousins at Aunt Jill's house. We were so glad we could join in the fun this year!
Aunt Jenni helped us eat, er, decorate the gingerbread houses.
My favorite picture of the holidays...
After we were all out of school on Christmas break we were able to get together with Chris, Taylor, and Piper. We decorated another gingerbread house and Christmas cookies. We had such a great time! The picture above is evidence of how much Piper and Sally enjoy each other. They were taking care of their babies together. It was wonderful to see them play!
Piper carefully decorated the house while Sally sat on the table and ate the candy.
We celebrated with Andress and Patrick (and Jack!) by a girls' shopping trip and dinner at Two Guys from Italy. Andress and Patrick gave Sally a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse set of bath toys. We don't go anywhere without our four new friends now!
Merry Christmas from Sally~

**On a sidenote- something I want to remember from Sally's second Christmas: All Christmas lights were "happies." And all "happies" were put up by Pop Pop. Sally decorated the tree with Nana and Pop Pop. No matter where we went we discussed all the happies and Pop Pop. Apparently he has been busy-- he decorated every neighborhood in the metroplex and even had time to do Highland Park Village! Pop Pop is amazing in Sally's eyes! :)
We also tried to teach her to say Merry Christmas and every time she would clearly say, "Merry Happy!" There was no convincing her otherwise!

Home!

We closed on our house today!!! (I know, it seems like we've done this a couple of times since this blog started...I promise this is it for a while!) It is in Denton. As with all of our houses, its needs a little "love" and a little personalization, but not nearly as much as our last two houses. This house is almost 50 years newer than any other house we've owned, so the amount of "love" it takes to make it livable is much, much less. We are so excited to get into it, get settled, and give Mom and Dad their house back!

More house updates to come!

Catching Up...Again

Once again, the month got away from me! I guess I've totally given up on monthly pictures for Sally. Who's got time when you're running from toy to toy playing all the time!! Certainly not Sally and me! :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with both families. We spent the Sunday before Thanksgiving with all of my family in Bolivar. We joined Megan and Eric with the rest of Megan's family for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and we spent the weekend in Oklahoma City with Ted's family. What a perfect holiday! (Ok, minus the strep throat for me, but that is only a minor detail!) Ellyn, Luke, Jack, Sally, Rob, and Madison...a pretty cute crew!

A family picture attempt! She wanted to go play with the rest of the kids!

Playing the piano in OKC...with the help of all of her little friends!

Always the fashionista?

We're looking forward to Christmas and all the joys of celebrating through the eyes of a 20 month old! Just putting lights on the Christmas tree brought squeals of glee! It should be a fun few weeks!!!