18 months

it's hard to believe this little lady is already 18 months.  we haven't had her 18 month check-up yet, we're still waiting for her records to be transferred.  but, at her follow up appointment last week she weighed 29.9 lbs, and was 31 inches.  31 inches of crazy.  she is a little ball of energy, and creates a path of destruction wherever she goes.  she loves to sing, loves baby dolls, being outside, and her new favorite is watching tv.  (i'm trying not to let her become a couch potato, so i make sure she is pretty active, but still, she loves tv).

she loves gymnastics class.  i'm so glad we signed her up for it, it's so fun to watch, and see her learning new skills.  she also works out with me sometimes.  i was doing some yoga, and she wanted to as well...

 she loves to be outside and explore.  one of her favorite things is to chase the ducks down at the lake.

she's saying more and more, or at least i can understand what she's saying more.  some new things are cup, help, more, apple, cookie, and in the picture below, "wha happ?"

 she is not loving her high chair anymore, i still put her in there most of the time.  but she either puts up a fight, or eats really fast so she can get down.  while we were in houston she loved the little chairs that brittany had for her kids, so i went and got one for her.  she loves it. 

it was a pretty yucky morning on friday, so we had a picnic inside while we watched frozen...she loves this movie!

 i love those overalls, and sadly they are too short.  after i took this picture i had to change her because the buttons kept popping open.  sad day.

we are having fun exploring all the new playgrounds around the area, there are a ton.  she had a blast at the all abilities park that's not far from our house.

we had some visitors this weekend! breann, karen, and lucy came up from houston to spend the afternoon with us on saturday.  it was so much fun.

mae loved it. (you can tell in this picture, she is seriously getting an afro!)

 we love lucy!  mae loves her too.  they had fun together, and i'm so excited for them to be able to grow up knowing each other.

 and mae loves bre! 

 i wish these pictures weren't so blurry, but it's hard taking pictures with babies!

cody got a calling this weekend.  he's working with the 11 year old scouts.  i think he's a little nervous about scouting.  but, he'll be awesome!  and i know those boys will love him.

family!

we made the trip to houston this weekend to see cody's brothers and sister and their families.  it was so much fun.  i love them all so much, and continue to count my blessings to have married into such an awesome family.  it was our niece tessa's birthday party, and there were tons of kids, it was a blast.  i loved having parties with my cousins growing up, and i'm so glad that we love close enough that mae will be able to have that as well.

grandma karen had all 12 of her grandkids together for the first time!
mae did not want to sit for the picture, nor did she really want to look at the camera.  brittany actually got some good pictures.

 this was the best i could get...

 mae was in little people heaven.  she loves other kids. i'm so glad she got to meet all of her cousins!
 i'm pretty sure her favorite part was sitting in this little chair...

 and breann.  she is mae's new favorite person. mae just wanted to sit with her, or be near her. it was really cute.

it made me so happy to see everyone!  and having made the trip, and knowing that they aren't that far from me has helped make the move a little easier.  and makes me excited to be able to go down and see them more often!


mae has become very opinionated, even though she can't talk very much.  the other morning she was trying so hard to get these tights on her head, and whenever i tried to take them off she threw a fit.  so, she wore tights on her head all morning.

 

tantrums have become part of our daily lives around here.  some days they are worse than others.  everyone who has had a toddler before i'm sure can relate.  here are a few live action shots.

there's a reason toddlers are so cute...

we had a rainy and cold weekend, so we were super excited to be able to spend the day outside yesterday!  we had fun down by the lake, mae was chasing ducks all over the place.  and almost fell into the lake chasing them...good thing i have cat like reflexes.  we love to be outside, and we love that we live on this lake!

more ear infections

 little lady had a cold for a while, and finally i decided to take her to the doctor.  i was holding off because i hadn't had the chance to really look for a pediatrician, so i spent sunday asking people at church and doing some research online.  i was nervous because i absolutely loved our pediatrician in virginia. luckily for us, i found a great one.  and yes, mae has another ear infection. so they put her on super anti-biotics.  usually mae is a good medicine taker, not so much with this stuff.  it's a fight to get it down. ugh.

we have had some cold weather, so we haven't been able to be outside as much as we would like.  but we've spent as much time outside as we can.  she loves exploring.

 

this girl cracks me up.  we have some pretty awesome toys. but things she always gravitates to are travel size bottles of things, tupperware, wash cloths, and this box.  if she isn't being pulled in it, she is pulling her dolls in it.

one thing that make me so happy is when mae sees her daddy.  seeing her reaction when he gets home, or when he walks in her room, makes being here so worth everything.  i missed seeing her with him while we were apart. 

 

 mae isn't the only one getting new stuff.  mama got a new toy!  at the beach we rented bikes and a trailer for mae, and she and i loved them so much, i've been wanting one since then.  cody's so sweet and put some money aside for me to be able to get a bike and a trailer for mae.  and here she is...it's a schwinn.  the admiral.  i've nick named her bad addie.  i did not waste any time taking that baby out for a spin.

 mae loved it.  i think she likes the wind in her hair.  heck i wouldn't mind someone pulling me around in what can only be described as a mini chariot.  (in this picture she is looking for the piece of cookie that she dropped.)

we took a ride around the lake.  i won't get tired of this view anytime soon.

 of course we had to take a pit stop and play on the "beach"

 

loves the beach and water...just like her mama.

we're settling in, this week was harder for me dealing with a sick little lady, and being a little homesick.  but, i'm trying to catch myself whenever i think that and remind myself that i need to try to make this my home.  hopefully i'll be able to convince myself!

we finally have internet!

well, i can finally post because we just got the internet set up yesterday afternoon.  it's a long story, but in the end we have internet!

what a busy week we've had!  last friday we closed on our house.  we are home owners in texas.  after closing we headed over to the house. 

 mae has a few favorite spots, but one that she is loving is the balcony off the second floor.  she loves to be out there.

she has spent way too much time in the car the past two weeks exploring with me. i've figured my way around for the most part.  it's silly, but i get excited when i figure out a new way to get somewhere, or find a new route i want to try.  i'm doing my best to make myself comfortable here! mae has been a trooper.  this is the face i get most of the time when i turn around and look at her.

in the apartment, mae had this awesome ledge to line up all of her toys, which has become a new thing for her.

 

but my favorite new thing that she does is sing and dance with her stuffed animals.  it is so hilariously adorable.  here she is singing to her puppy "rufus" (her cousin rufus got it for her so she wouldn't forget him!)

 i think whenever someone moves there is an obligatory trip to Ikea.  and we did not break the mold.  we stocked up.  and i'm sure we will be back before long.  here is mae's new dresser, which i put together myself thank you very much.  ( i will not disclose how long it took me, or how frustrated i got.) i'm starting to regret getting because it is way too easy for her to open and pull all of her clothes out of. this is what she does multiple times a day.  i have yet to find the amusement in it...

 

it's been like christmas around here for mae.  tons of "new" toys to play with.  she didn't really get to play with many of her christmas toys because we packed them up, but she has sure had a chance to play with them now!

one toy that is new is her castle tent.  she loves this thing.  she likes to go in there with the ipad.  and mommy likes to go in there too.  the stuff they have for kids these days is pretty awesome.  thank you Ikea.  actually, as i sit here typing, i'm looking around and realizing that more than half of our furniture is from Ikea.  maybe one day we'll be able to afford furniture we won't have to put together ourselves! (i can hear cody saying "where's the fun in that")

 "new"toys.  she has seriously gone miles around our house with this stroller.  and no, she will not push anything in the stroller.  it needs to be an empty stroller.

  we have met quite a few people in our new ward.  and there are a good number that live in our subdivision.  2 more weeks and then it's hello nursery for this little lady!

one thing i am definitely loving is that we can afford to sign mae up for classes.  i signed her up for her first gymnastics class.  our first class was yesterday.  it's awesome. they teach some really great stuff, and she's learning to take turns, and actually play with other kids without tackling them. she was pretty sad when  it was time to leave. 

we are loving our house.  and still in the process of unpacking and figuring out where we want everything to go.  we've had some wet, chilly days, so it's been good unpacking weather.  now that it's clearing up, mae and i are headed outside, which is where we love to be!!