What a mess!

Sweet Baby Lucy! She is now officially 20 months old, and I am just getting around to updating about her 18 month appointment! (It might be true what they say about second children. However... there are thousands of pictures of my sweet baby girl!)
 We are always saying, "She is such a mess!" I find it hard to even describe her to people. When someone asks me how she is doing... I usually smile and say, "She's a mess!" We love her so much and it's hard to even tell people how fabulous she is (and all her independence!)
She is truly a constant joy to us. She keeps us laughing and continues to amaze and surprise us daily.  She is so different than Jack in so many ways, but she is just as sweet as he is! Lucy shows SO MUCH through her facial expressions. They are so exaggerated and full of emotion! Lucy is incredibly independent and opinionated. She knows EXACTLY what she wants to do and will not stop until she does it EXACTLY her way. She is very determined when she sets her mind to a task.  We could just sit back and watch her think through her actions. She finds pure happiness in anything she is doing. She loves to play by herself and can easily entertain herself. With that said, she LOVES playing with Jack. They have really gotten to an age where they play well together. They definitely argue over toys and aggravate each other on purpose.Jack maybe more than Lucy. He tends to get in her face a little too close! I love listening to their little conversations. Jack is very patient with her when he is trying to teach her something. He especially loves teaching her to say new things. He was trying to teach her the alphabet the other day....something like this:
Jack: "LUCY! LUCY! Say "A"!!! Say "A"!!! Yep, that's it Lucy!!!! MOMMY SHE SAID "A"!"
He gets so excited when she plays along with his "games"! She will fake laugh with the best of them. If someone does something silly she will throw her head back and laugh so hard (and so fake!) She will also fake cry over a boo boo (It may be a boo boo that is already healed up..but if you bring it back up..it's just as dramatic as when it happened!)  They also love to play outside together. Jack will catch Lucy when she comes down the slide and then they fall on top of each other in the grass and roll around and laugh! They do this over and over and over again. They think it is hilarious!
Lucy is talking up a storm. She will answer anything you ask her and will say just about anything these days. She strings multiple words together and definitely understands most anything you tell her. She is a VERY good listener (Hopefully from watching super big brother be such a good listener). She follows directions well and listens when we are talking. AGAIN...with that said, she may throw an all out fit if what you are asking her is not what she wants to do! Jack wasn't quite the tantrum thrower. Lucy can hang with the best of them. She will lay on the floor and kick around and scream. It doesn't last very long and we just ignore her, but it's definitely new to us! With most anything, she is emotional both happy and sad!
Lucy still LOVES to eat! She will eat most anything and gets super excited when it's meal time! The only things she gets more excited about is her swimsuit and water! She will squeal "Swimsuit!" over and over again! She loves getting wet and playing in the water! She might be our little fish! Lucy still loves her sleep! She loves going to bed at night! She gives kisses and says "Night Night!" and points to her crib. She still loves holding on to a blanket (no certain one in particular) and snuggles right down for sleep! She is letting us read a book to her now before bed and prayers. There was a time she would just insist on getting right in bed!
It's so wonderful to see the excitement that Lucy expresses each day. She is so fun to watch and such a sweet little girl. Her kisses and hugs could melt anyone. We are always saying, "Did you see her? Are you watching this?" She is so much fun!
We love our sweet baby girl so much and are thankful each and everyday that she is part of our little family!
Lucy was 27 lbs 12oz and 33" long when she went to see Dr G (She was actually 19 months at the time) That puts her around 80th percentile for height and weight. Lucy is "ahead of the curve" for her milestones and just doing great! We are very proud of her!

Sweet baby girl! She INSISTED on wearing the crown she made at school! She was very proud of it and would NOT take it off. This is a true Lucy picture! A little sweaty, wearing her crown (doing EXACTLY what she wants to do), messy (see stains down her dress) and a big smile on her face!

Playing their games and laughing together!

The princess!

Doing it all by herself! She climbs to the top of the playset and does everything like a big girl!

We love seeing them play together! This after Lucy came down the slide and they collapsed together laughing!

If you're going to do it... Do It RIGHT!

It was Thursday afternoon.... I was checking a few last work emails when the phone rang.  It was Sara. She said she was in my driveway. It's time to go!
We hopped in the super cool minivan (loaded with a few bags, beach chairs, and some groceries...and several bottles of wine) and were on our way to Peachtree City to pick up the rest of our PARTY! By 4:30pm, we were on 85 headed to our little slice of heaven.  All four girls have a deep love for the 30A area and we were soooooo excited to start our long GIRLS ONLY weekend at the beach! From the first minute, it was a PERFECT trip! It was such a laid back and easy group! The place we stayed was perfect, the things we did were perfect, the quiet was perfect and the FOOD WAS PERFECT!
So...when I say if you are going to do it...then do it right! We did it RIGHT!
We rolled in (belting out Ice Ice Baby) around 9:00pm (beach time!). We went straight to George's in Alys Beach for dinner. The waitress pretended that she couldn't seat us because it was too late. We just stood there and refused to believe that would happen. And...it worked! She came back and gave us a "perfect" table outside on the patio! We shared two bottles of yummy wine, a bowl of fried shrimp, a bowl of fried oysters and grouper, lobster quesadillas and crab fritters! (Yep...it was as good as it sounded) We left there full and happy and headed to our townhome. We RUSHED and got into our pjs and grabbed a couple of chairs and headed to the beach. It was a GORGEOUS night.... we sat and talked about how "perfect" it was. There were more stars than we had ever seen! It was perfect! (My head was a little foggy the next morning...but I managed to push through!)
It was rainy most of the day on Friday, but we managed to have a great breakfast and lots of good coffee time. We went on a long walk on the beach and even got some time to sit out there before it stormed again. The good part about the weather is that it was just not too hot! We came in and took naps and then got ready to go out to dinner! We headed to Bud and Alley's upstairs bar and looked around for a table. I know you wont believe this...but we got a "perfect" spot at the corner of the bar! (things just kept falling into place!) We had plenty of room and giggled and laughed through TWO orders of peel n' eat shrimp, sweet potato fries and tuna dip! YUMMY! We walked around Seaside for a little bit after dinner and then headed back to get in pjs and laugh hysterically over the new Cosmopolitan magazine (I can NOT believe people read that without giggling!)
Saturday was gorgeous and not too hot! WE spent the WHOLE day on the beach and none of us got too sunburned ("Perfect", right?!) We headed to Red Bar in Grayton Beach that night (we really ate at all the best places) and it was 4 orders of crab cakes for our table! It did not disappoint and we all enjoyed our dinner! We also enjoyed the really great (CUTE!) waiter we had that night! Again... we were giggling! We went back and walked around Seaside and came back to talk and have another glass of wine!
Sunday we got up...packed up the van and had one more yummy meal! We ate at "Another Broken Egg" in Grayton! It was yummy and we even had some interesting people watching there too!

It was an amazing and relaxing trip! Thanks so much to my parents and Steven for being so great to let me escape for a few days! I had no idea how much I needed it or how great it could be! Just "Perfect"!

View from Bud & Alley's 

Why not wear the same shirt?! Ridiculous? YES! Love it!

Fun 4th of July!

We have had a really FUN 4th of July holiday! It started last night with the annual neighborhood party.  We have amazing neighbors that put on such a fun party each year and end the night with a SPECTACULAR fireworks show! (Seriously...it really is amazing. They spend lots of time and effort on some BIG fireworks!) We didn't think we would make it that late with both kiddos, but they both were happy and hung in there! We played and ate a really yummy dinner and enjoyed ourselves all evening! Both kids went down the slip n slide. Most of our friends remember 3 years ago when Jack was flying down the slide in his diaper! He was such a little baby! He would get up each time and clap for himself! Lucy went down once and liked it but never really ran up the hill to go again! We ran home to clean everyone up before coming back for the big show! Jack loved the fireworks (He told us on the way over there that he "Loves fireworks and he is not scared of them at all.  I am four and when you are four you are not scared of fireworks!") Lucy really enjoyed them and pushed our hands away from her ears (we were trying to protect her little ears! They are super loud when you are that close!) Jack loves for his ears to be covered but loves to see them! It was lots of fun and so glad we all got to enjoy the show! The kids didn't get into bed until around 10:45 last night!
This morning I got up and went to a really fun 75 minute Endurance Cycling class with some good friends! It was lots of fun and tough work! I got home just in time for the 3rd Annual Neighborhood parade. We help organize it and it starts in front of our house! Everyone went all out again and decorated all their bikes, wagons and strollers! It's so fun to see all the fun things our neighborhood can do! The kids looked so cute and everyone had Popsicles afterwards!
Lots of people headed to the pool after the parade! We had Sarah, Tessa and Ellis join us and the kids had a great time together! Jack and Lucy loved the pool! We ate some lunch down there and then headed home for a nap! We plan on spending the afternoon playing in the backyard and grilling hotdogs! Such a Fantastic 4th of July!!!

Happy Place....

We made it through last week...between the patio construction, work on the air conditioner, two cars needing oil changes and work being crazy... we were happy to see the weekend come! We had such a great weekend in our "happy place"! We spent most of our days outside playing just the four of us! The kids were absolutely dirty all weekend... Each day we had to hose them off outside and the tub would need to be cleaned after bath! They played outside and in the dirt all weekend! Lucy LOVES getting to put on her swimsuit and get wet! She squeals "Swimsuit Swimsuit!" over and over if she thinks it's time to put it on! We did lots of backyard playing and eating and enjoyed a really nice service at church this morning! We are thrilled with the new patio and LOVE the extra space! Steven worked so hard getting the yard back in shape (there was a decent grade change right off the patio so we had to cut down that area which left a big dirt spot! As you can imagine, it only took 24 hours for it to make me crazy...well that and Lucy falling in the dirt 5 times!) It looks great and we put down some sod to clean it up. We even replanted about 6 lantana that we took up before the construction started. Let's hope they make it! It was a really happy relaxing weekend!

Lucy digging in the dirt. They were "helping" Daddy clean up the yard. Again...FILTHY!

One view of the patio... I wonder how long it will take before new patio furniture is a necessity instead of a want...

Daddy grilling in the Big Green Egg's new space! 

Jack and Lucy enjoying the bigger space!

Lantana has been replanted! 

Strange I know...but I had to document it.  Lucy LOVES for you to spray down the back of her bathing suit. She will back up to you and beg until you do it! She is a mess! She doesn't mind being sprayed all over! This is also a pretty good view of the pavers and the patio.

Daddy giving some last bites off his plate tonight to the kiddos! We had grilled chicken, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, onions, corn on the cob. rice and watermelon! 

Enjoying an ice cream bar after dinner!

Jack's funny faces

Yummy!

She doesn't miss a bite!

Our new neighbors...YEP. that is a HUGE hornet's nest in our front tree. Steven has sprayed it twice. (It really should have been documented the first time... I insisted he dress from head to toe covered up in case they ATTACKED. It doesnt quite happen like that.) Anyway, we are hoping they are gone soon and we can get rid of it....creepy!

Father's Day, Slobber and Patios

We are thankful everyday for the fathers in our lives. Steven is the most amazing husband, daddy and friend that anyone could ever ask for. I am the luckiest girl in the world that he is mine! He is kind, caring, gentle, honest, funny, patient (at least with me and the kids!), and loving! Not too bad to look at either! :) He is such a rock for our little family of four and always makes sure that we keep us first and have quality time together!  I wake up smiling everyday because he is beside me!
Poppa, Grandbubba and Papa Tillie are such amazing fathers and grandfathers. We are fortunate to have such amazing men in our children's lives to teach them and play with them! Thank you so much for all you do to make our lives so special!

We started our weekend Friday night at the pool with lots of neighbors! Jack is loving practicing all the things from his swimming lessons! We celebrated Father's Day by grilling out and playing in the backyard on Saturday night with Grandbubba and Aunt Neese.  It was such a fun night!

We woke up the next morning and headed to the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain! We had another really great time there! We got SLOBBERED by all the animals and everyone had a blast! It's always fun and funny to see the animals be so aggressive!

Getting in our safari van!

Cute babies with Daddy t-shirts on from Nunno!!

Back seat with Grandbubba!

LOOK AT THAT!

Brave Front seat drivers!

Mommy and Lucy in the middle!

Well hello Mr. Zebra!

About to feed the giraffe!

Yep...that's a Buffalo's tongue in the driver's seat.. .YUCK!

WHOA!

Lucy wanted to drive toward the end....She literally pushed Steven's hands off the wheel. She is VERY opinionated and independent!

Feeding the llamas!

Hey little llama!

Grandbubba and Aunt Neese headed back home that afternoon and we spent the rest of the day running around the backyard and playing! Steven and I put the kids to bed and had a patio night. We sat outside talking and grilled steaks. We ate outside and enjoyed the last night on the old patio...LOTS of memories and nights out there! It was great to have some more time at home this weekend!

Today was very exciting because the construction (or demolition!) for our new patio started this morning. The kids LOVED watching them pull up our old concrete patio. We can't wait for it to be done!!! It's VERY exciting! I will take some pictures along the way of the progress. We will get LOTS of time in on the new patio this summer!

Before picture from Sunday night

Daddy digging up our lantana (we planted them 6 or 7 years ago and are hoping to save them!)

Concrete all busted up!

Kids and friends watching the action from the playhouse!

The "Digger" working hard and pulling up the concrete

View from our back door this afternoon