Baby Finley

I know I have said it before, but I couldn’t be more excited about Charley’s newest BFF!  Finley Cross Steele made her debut on 10.11.12 (which will be super easy to remember) weighing in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches long and absolutely adorable!  Rachel and I debated on whether or not we should take the girls to see her in the hospital, and we ended up having to take them with us.  Our plan was to keep them away from her…but Charley leaned right over and gave Finley a kiss….luckily it was on her blanket…but I’m pretty sure our visiting privileges might have gotten revoked if one of the girls had passed on their snotty noses that are inevitable this time of year!  

Charley and I had a lunch date with Aunt Court and Finley when she was about two weeks old, so I think I was pretty successful at not letting Charley get too close!  We had the best time on our outing to Chuy’s and playing with Baby Finley’s new tea set.  Actually, Aunt Court and Charley played with the tea set while Aunt Jess had some quality time with Baby Finley…explosive diaper change, swaddling, rocking and giving her a bottle…just enough to get my baby fix!  I think Aunt Rachel and Aunt Court were hoping it would give me baby fever…but they will just have to keep hoping for a while…after all, we all know how much my hands are full now with Miss Priss!  

Miss Priss Goes To The Circus

A few weekends ago, Craig and I took Charley to her very first circus.  We have never really taken her to anything that lasted that long and required her to stay in her seat, so we were definitely apprehensive on how things would go.  Much to our surprise, she was great!!!  She sat in awe watching the clowns, tigers, elephants, the motorcycle on the tightrope, the dirt bike jumps and the human cannonball.  Since she wasn’t old enough to ask for any of the junk food, we decided to go to J. Alexander’s for lunch.  Unfortunately, we pushed our luck a little too far, because she was awful!  When Craig took her out to calm her down, the man next to us said, “You need to take that girl to do something fun!”  I said, “We just took her to the circus…how much more fun can get you get?”  After tossing my phone, pushing my plate out of her way and throwing a fit to get down, she and I skipped most of the meal and went to the car.  Of course, she was great after that!  We will all no better next time, hopefully!

2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip to Gentry Farms

A few things have changed since we went to the Pumpkin Patch last year with the Goode’s!  This year we had two sweet girls, which meant it was twice as hard to get cooperation during our photo shoot on the Gentry Farms truck!  Even though we didn’t get a single picture of Charley and Harper looking at the camera or smiling, they are both so adorable that all pictures are cute of them!  We had a great time making the rounds to see the goats, chickens, and turkeys…which was about as long as Miss Priss would stay in her stroller.  Once we let her out, she was a goner!  She saw some “big” kids getting their picture made with the “how tall this fall” sign, and she ran right over and stood to get her picture made!  I swear she is the smartest little girl, ever!  She also took Craig through the maze, which was so cute!  We ended the day with a few more pictures, got our pumpkins, loaded the car and had dinner at The Mellow Mushroom.  Last year we spent a total of 20 minutes at the pumpkin patch, so an hour and a half was definitely an improvement!  There are so many fun things to do there and I’m sure it won’t be long before Uncle Gar, Aunt Ray-Ray, and Craig and I have to make the kids leave, because we have spent the whole day there and they want to close.  I guess that will be when we go back to Aunt Ray-Ray’s house to carve our pumpkins…since she is the crafty and patient one of the bunch! 

Happy Birthday to Gramma and Momma!

Over the last few years, Gramma and I have made it our little tradition to go to Patti’s to celebrate our birthdays since they are five days apart.  This year I was able to enjoy my entire meal tear-free!  I am not sure if I mentioned it last year, but Charley was her usual loud, adorable self, and the couple next to us keep getting angry, which got me upset and made me think I would never be able to go out to dinner again!  I realize now how I could have just been a tad hormonal and slightly dramatic!  This year Dad, Justin, Granny Martha, Granddaddy Charlie and Miss Priss came along to celebrate with us!  Needless to say, with that crowd we had a great, but eventful evening!  Charley is going through a “phase” (hopefully) where she just will not sit in her high chair, so she tends to go back in forth to whoever she wants during a meal…which pretty much drives Craig and I crazy, because we are determined to teach her discipline…like sitting in your own chair at a meal!  We have some work to do in that department!  In addition to Charley not sitting still, Dad worked off midnights that morning…which speaks for itself!  Uncle Justin decided to take her outside to play so we could enjoy our Boatsinker pie.  It wasn’t long after he left that he called saying, “We have a situation!”  I went outside to find that Charley had peed through her diaper and they were both soaked!  Hahaha!  After borrowing Uncle Justin’s phone to snap a quick pic, I got her cleaned up with a dry diaper and no pants.  Uncle Justin was in luck since Gramma and Granny Martha had brought him his clean laundry!

On my actual birthday, I had a Matilda Jane party, so Gramma came to help out and babysit so Craig and I could go on a birthday date!  The next day we went back to Kentucky for something I had been looking forward to since the day I found out I was having a baby girl.  We had four-generation pictures at Gwen’s, and I am so excited to see them. 

Until then, here are some of the highlights from our Patti’s outing!

18 Months

Height: 31 1/8 inches (25%)

Weight: 23 pounds, 13 ounces (75%)

Teeth: 12 ish :) and we started using a spin toothbrush since she insists on “brushing” by herself.

Words: Lots! She is starting to pick up on lots of things.  Just this week she started saying “wow” and “gosh” just because she heard us saying them!  

Clothing Size: 18 Months

Favorite Foods: biscuit (Chick-fil-a), Chuy’s beans and rice, blueberries, corn, green peas, Crispx cereal, ice cream, banana pudding

Drinks: whole milk, water, white grape juice (70/30 water to juice) and sometimes we try Sprite or lemonade

Sleeping: Bedtime is between 7:00 and 8:00 and she usually wakes up around 6:40.  She now takes 1 nap a day…but always sleeps with her cat!

Favorite TV shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Tricks: She is an expert at working an iPhone and loves to watch videos of herself and names all the people in the pictures (she started saying Mike for Uncle Mike and its so cute!).  She can officially point to all (and I mean all) body parts when asked.  She has mastered the shapes bucket and can always put the shapes in the correct spot.  She is a big helper and will follow commands like “please put that in the trash” or “please shut the door” or “sit down, NOW!”  I’m pretty sure she is a little too smart for her own good sometimes!

Favorite Person: Gramma, but Momma when Gramma’s not around, but always Daddy in the morning and before bed 

Favorite Restaurants: Chuy’s, Olive Garden, Catfish Kitchen

Buddies: Harper, Keyton, Sam, Parker, Lily, Hadlee, Hunter, Logan, Alec, Kobey, Laney and James and Lily Z.

Favorite Animals: dogs and lions...she can make both of their sounds

Favorite Toys: purses, bracelets, sunglasses, Cozy Coupe car, Whoa! Boy, books, lipstick, baby dolls, balls…and anything she isn’t supposed to have...currently she loves parts of my food processor, chip clips, bobby bins and the tongs for the grill!  

Here are some iPhone pics taken between 15 and 18 months!

Happy Birthday Kobey!!!

It is so hard to believe that Kobey just turned 5 in August...FIVE...I mean, it was literally like yesterday when he was born!  He is such a sweet boy, and I am so thankful to have such a special relationship with him. I am even more thankful to watch him and his sister as they build a bond with Charley.  He had a fun-packed night with dinner at Texas Roadhouse and games at Chuck e Cheese...Sweet CeCe’s was on the agenda, but for some reason (weather, I think), plans changed....not for us, however, we celebrated his birthday a little more with frozen yogurt for the road home!

Happy Birthday to my Super Star Best Buddy!  

Miss Priss Goes To The Fair

Apparently the Wilson County Fair is a big deal around here and one of those events that you just can’t miss!  I knew the weekend crowd would be way too much for us to try and handle, so we went on Monday night.  It even worked out for Granddad to take a day off from work and come down and enjoy the fun with us!  We had so much fun walking around, riding rides, and eating junk food.  Of course Miss Priss was the center of our attention!  Can’t wait to do this every year!!!

I know she enjoyed riding the rides, but I am pretty sure her favorite two things were Granddad’s ice cream cone and the water bottle!