Wrapping Up Summer

This summer was packed with tons of fun for our little family.  I was a little sad to see it come to an end. We did get to squeeze in one more beach trip that made the closing of this season a little easier.  Matt's company has an agency retreat in Destin every year in September and we went for a long weekend. I love the beach in September.  We've gone a few years now with his company and the weather is always perfect.  It was so great to get to spend time away with our little family. We truly enjoyed ourselves and each other. 

Our Beach Bunny

Dancing to the live music at Hammerheads. The next day at the pool she started dancing while walking back from getting some lunch with her daddy. Just munching her corn dog, she stopped and started groovin' to the music. She didn't know any of the people watching her, but she didn't care.  I love that she's so full of life and uninhibited.  

Trying to dance with our friends' precious son, Grayson. 

Sweethearts

Matt asked me tonight if I thought every parent's heart melts when they think of their children.  I'm sure for most parents that is the case. This little angel sure melts ours. 

And this angel too. I just can't believe how big she's getting.  

My Loves admiring God's creativity and beauty. 

Our little family.  I'm so incredibly blessed.  

One more pic of this cutie.  A sweet friend took it and I am in love with it!! 

Now, bring on the fall! We are ready for the fun this cooler season has in store. 

"One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is good memories"

Just a Saturday morning at home. I love days like this. 

The girls and I had a season pass to the water park so we went quite a few times.  Mattilee always had a blast and Ivey Kate loved splashing around in the water and even liked to ride the smaller slides with Mommy.  One day towards the end of the summer Matt was able to go with us.  He got to experience all the fun that he had only heard about all summer.  We had a great day with Daddy.  

We celebrated a sweet friend's birthday at their beautiful home on a lake and Mattliee, with the help of her Daddy, caught her first fish.  She didn't want to touch it, but was very proud nonetheless. :)

Mattilee started taking gymnastics classes in August.  She is having so much fun.  She and her classmates are too cute in their tiny leotards and so adorable to watch. 

Our friends' little girl Ava is in Matti's class too. Mattilee isn't ready for this 

picture but it was too cute of Ava. 

Ivey Kate gets to play with Ava's brother Ben while Mattilee is in gymnastics. 

At Ivey's 9 month checkup she weighed 18.5 lbs (50%) and was 29 1/4 inches (95%). 

She's a little bigger than big sister was at this age.  

The doctor gave us the green light on all foods except for the potentially allergenic 

so that night I made spaghetti and let Ivey Kate have at it.  It's safe to say she thoroughly enjoyed it. It makes mealtimes much easier being able to feed her whatever we eat.  

This little stinker loves these two fingers.  

She now has 3 teeth on the bottom and we can see two about to break through on top. 

 She "crawls" anywhere she wants to go.  But she isn't crawling up on her knees, she just kinda scoots like an inchworm.  It is quite adorable. 

 At 9 months she can clap on command, wave bye bye, show you where her head is when she is asked and sometimes she'll tap her chest with her hand when I ask her "Where is Ivey Kate?" She loves to be read books, loves any stuffed animal or doll with a face, she still loves putting everything in her mouth and loves absolutely anything to do with her big sister.   

And this one is just too cute not to post.  

Beaching it with Friends

We were invited to go along with the sweetest friends to the beach for a few days.  Just the mommas and the kiddos, no daddies.  We had a wonderful time.  The girls both loved the water and the company.  I always love the beach and I also enjoyed getting to spend lots of time with such precious friends and their kids.  The place we stayed was amazing.  It had a big water slide and a lazy river so the kids were completely entertained.  I think everyone had a great time, but we decided if we did it again we would bring our hubbies along. :)

These cheeks are just too kissable.  

Sweet Ella with Ivey Kate.  This precious girl LOVES Ivey Kate and is so good with her. 

Mattilee and Ella having fun in the pool. 

Posing for the camera. :) 

Mattilee sliding down the slide with Mommy. She loved it!  

Just us girls.  We missed you Matt.  

Precious Hands and Feet

While Matt was out of town last week, the girls and I stayed with my parents.  It was so nice to get to spend time with them. My girls enjoyed the extra love and attention from Gigi and Pop and I'm pretty sure Gigi and Pop enjoyed it too. My mom had been in charge of crafts for her church's VBS and had the materials left over for making stepping stones.  My mom has a stepping stone of Mattilee's feet that I gave her when Matti was just a baby so we decided to make one of Ivey Kate's feet since she had all of the materials.  I wanted some for my yard too so we just had a fun time sticking little hands and feet in the mold and decorating them.  I was excited about how they turned out. 

I LOVE LOVE these little hands! I think the flower hands turned out really cute! 

I knew Ivey Kate wouldn't keep her hands spread or still so we tried her little feet.  She still moved her feet but I think they turned out precious.  

I know I'll always cherish these stones with my babies' hands and feet from when they were so tiny.  

These are so simple and a great gift for grandmas. Hobby Lobby sells a kit that has everything you need but it is kind of expensive, especially if you are doing more than one.  You can just buy concrete mix for around $5.00 and decorate with anything you choose. There are lots of how-to videos online. 

Sweet Summertime

 Oh how I love these girls! 

Ivey Kate is such a sweetheart.

Have you ever seen a sweeter smile?!?

 

My silly, sweet big girl having fun in her pool.

 Excited about her new Dora nightgown

 Playing like a big girl. 

Bath time is more fun in pairs.  

 Matti really is a sweet big sister.  She loves Ivey Kate so much. 

Both these girls LOVE being outside.

Monday Funday with Daddy

A few weeks ago on a Monday morning I noticed that Matt put on jeans while getting ready for work. My husband ALWAYS wears a suit to work so when I asked him what was different about today he said that he was just going in to work to do a few things and then taking the day off to spend with the girls and me.  He said he thought we might want to go to the zoo.  What a treat to get to spend time with him on a week day and I knew a certain little girl who was going to be extra excited about spending the day with her daddy!

 I love this picture and these two.

Our little giraffe  

Fun times with Daddy 

 She's a "scawey" lion. :)

 Our smallest angel was perfectly happy in the stroller the entire time.  I was so glad because this little chunk of love gets heavy. 

 Feeding flamingos 

 Playing in the splash pad. Her face is so funny!

Having so much fun. 

Thank you Daddy!

 This orangutan had a baby clinging to her chest.  The momma was really protective and tried to keep the baby hidden.  We got a few glimpses of her but I couldn't get a good picture.  The baby was so precious.  It was funny to me that the momma didn't hold the baby, the baby held her. The mom would walk around with her arms hanging by her side and the baby just clung to her mom. 

 This elephant kept her trunk rested on this rock the for hours.  

Family Beach Trip 2012

My mom with all of her grandbabies. 

Sweet cousins

I just love this picture of her. 

We tried and tried to get a picture with all four of them looking at the camera but this was the best I could get.  

My little loves

Matti trying to pose for the camera. 

And again. She hasn't quite figured out how to pose but she sure is cute anyway. 

Ivey Kate and Lyla taking a wagon ride around Carillon. Ivey's wide eyes in this make me laugh.

Pop reading "Hop on Pop" to the girls. :)

These two had just ridden the airlplanes all by themselves! They had so much fun at the little amusement park in Pier Park.  

Matti is the front of the train and she loved riding it! 

Sweet girls waiting to eat at Pier Park. 

Excited about riding the big train with Gigi and Addie Brown. 

Burying Uncle Pat in the sand.  He's such a good uncle and good sport. 

Ivey Kate's sweet feet in the sand for the first time. 

Matti's feet in the sand too.

Matti and her cousin Lyla sliding at the park in Carrillon. 

More fun at the park. 

Trying pistachios for the first time. I love that they do everything together. :)

  

She loves the water. 

Burping their baby dolls after feeding them. 

Riding behind the bike in this cool little bike caddy.  This thing was awesome and they loved it!  I'd like to get one to ride the girls around our neighborhood at home.  

Sitting with Pop before heading to bed. 

They had so much fun in the pool!

So did this angel!

The week of Memorial Day we went to the beach with my parents, brothers, and their precious families.  We stayed in a house in Carillon.  It was so nice to spend an entire week at the beach relaxing, playing, and catching up with my family.  The house had a pool which was so nice.  We didn't have to pack up everything to head to the pool, we just walked out of the back door.  And while the little ones napped, we could still be out by the pool with the baby monitors. We had beautiful weather the entire week.  Mattilee and her cousin Addie Brown had a really good time together.  We were proud of them; we weren't sure what to expect with two two-year-olds in the same house for a week but they played really well together for the most part.  We found out little Ivey Kate had an ear infection the day before we left for the beach so I worried how she would do away from home all week. But she did great!  She didn't act like her ear bothered her much at all.  Our bedroom had a walk-in closet where we set up her pack-and-play for her to sleep and it was perfect.  We set up the monitor and sound machine and she seemed to love her little oasis.  I loved getting to spend so much time with my family and getting to play with my sweet nieces.  These four girls are gonna have so much fun growing up together.  I always look forward to our trips together and I'm so thankful my parents plan trips like this for us.