Picnic in the Dining Room

Holly said her first sentence this past week. After dinner her daddy went outside to mow the lawn and when she realized he wasn’t there so looked at me, put her arms out (like when you say things are all gone) and said to me….”Where’d dada go?” I was so excited!!! I told her “dada went outside” and then she said in a question “outside?”. It was a conversation…something that is new to her and I and I LOVED IT. It made me realize how fast she is growing up. New words are normal around here everyday now. She is trying so hard to talk and if she doesn’t know words, she makes them up. She’s also not a phone person (not sure where she…

Nana and Papa came for a visit Saturday and as usual, Nana came bearing presents for Holly and her baby sister. One of Holly’s presents was a Tutu and a Tiara. Holly LOVED them and immediately wanted to put them on. She looked way too cute and of course I grabbed the camera, and she grabbed Nana’s hand to dance around like a Ballerina. After we all visited for a while, we decided to take a ride to the beach so Holly could play with the pail and shovels that Nana also brought her. It was a little cool there, but not too bad. Of course, Holly didn’t even realize it was cold, she just loves going to the beach and playing in the sand….

That’s what Holly said today when I pointed to a picture of me! Finally I’m not “dada”. That’s what she usually says when she sees a picture of me but today she said “tat mommum” tat is That which she’s never said before. I’m so happy!!!! I don’t know if she’ll say it again, but at least she’s trying!!! These are the little things that make my day brighter, especially when it started earlier than I wanted it to. She slept better last night, but was up early again. Those darn teeth! I can’t wait until they are all out. Well I guess I really don’t want to rush that, because then it means she’s getting bigger which I’ve been having a hard time dealing…

Last Friday night Santa arrived in town on the local fire truck. I guess the reindeer aren’t ready to travel yet. After dinner we gathered with everyone else to await Santa’s arrival. This was the first time we were there to greet him so we had no idea what to expect. The girls were becoming impatient so we gave them so lollipops to buy some time and it worked, very well. When Santa finally arrived he began to visit the children in the crowd but unfortunately we were in the wrong spot. We are at the end, but we didn’t know that so we waited and waited until it was our turn. In the meantime Santa had all sorts of helpers there to entertain and…

Holly is developing quite the personality and she shows it with her many facial expressions. Steve and I find ourselves laughing at her a lot, especially when she gets mad. We can already tell the teenage years are going to be fun! Yesterday I caught two of those “famous expressions” on camera. Of course we think she’s just a beautiful even when she looks like this……. This look is saying “Mommy, I don’t want to smile right now”. This look says “What do you mean I can’t have another snack???” (I get that one a lot during the day, especially right before supper) But like the shirt, she’s a princess in our eyes, even when she gets mad.

We went on Monday to The Picture People to have Holly’s Official Easter picture taken. I’d do it myself but I can’t get her to look at the camera anymore. I also don’t have a place to take it without stuff in the background so off to The Picture People we go. The last time we were there was on her 1st Birthday. The thing about them is that the kids can stand up. She started walking at 9 months so by 1 year she was running and I knew she wouldn’t sit for a picture. When we did her birthday picture it was very hard to keep her in front of the camera, she kept wanted to walk out of the room, play with…