We're back!

Hello darlings! We are back from a fabulous beach vaca with our family.... I have missed blogging. Needless to say, I sat down one afternoon in our condo while Scarlett was down for her nap and it took me 25 minutes to upload 1 picture... yikes. So, I will be updating with lots of posts in the coming days! We had nice weather (just a few thunder storms) and wonderful quality time together. I have to say though, vacations as a mommy are very different than they used to be... still as wonderful just different. More on that later. Here is our sweet, little beach goer enjoying her dinner after recovering from a 12 hour car ride. She was a trooper!

Back with more later :)

Reporting from the Owen Range mobile news room...

Here is Miss Scarlett, reporting on her time in sunny Florida. Notice the inflection used in her facial expressions alone... we think she is quite the news anchor.

A banana in one hand and the TV remote control in the other....

Good morning from....

....the beach!!!!

We are vacationing this week with my parents, sister and brother along with my mom's sister (Aunt Barbie) and her family (Uncle Bill, Elizabeth and Lyndsey) in beautiful Perdido Key.

It was a long trip down, but we are happy to be here and settled in for some relaxation and fun!

A little yawn is just the right expression... let's just say it was quite a car ride to get here.

But we are anticipating smiles all around!

Wishing sunshine on my dear readers!!!!

A summer evening with the Ham Fam.

This evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner with some life-long friends, the Hamiltons. It is unique because I am the same age as Jill (one of my best friends from high school) and Chaz (my little bro) is best friends with John, Jill's little brother. It makes for a special bond between our families. Although my most favorite member of the family was not there (Jill!!), we had a sweet time soaking in the ambiance and charm of their back porch... I seriously think it should be featured in Southern Living.

Sweet summer corn.

The darling duo -- Dada and Scarlett :)

The scenery.

I could stay there all day!

Scarlett sitting with the boys... Chaz, Scarlett and John.

The dinner party and our lovely cook, Mrs. H!

The little brothers cooking some meat.

And this is Baxter. Scarlett loved him!

Thank you Hamilton's for a delightful evening and for a precious friendship.

Obsessions

Scarlett and I have both found new "obsessions" that help

us count away the hours while Daddy is away.

As you can see, Scarlett loves to feed my parents' dogs. Although it is a small snack for them, you would think it is all they eat for days by the way they wait to woof it down!!

And then it's time for a little snack for herself... Hey, all feeding and no eating makes Scarlett a cranky girl!!

I am loving these sweet curls...

And now for my new "obsession" -- Monogramming. I love it. There is just something so classy about a monogram. I will admit though, I do not monogram any piece of clothing that I paid more than $10 for. I love consignment sales and find all kinds of name brand clothes for Scarlett that are very gently used and then I monogram them for a personal touch. My mom has a monogramming machine that I am slowly learning to use (with much supervision!) so it is such a treat to be able to create my own little "masterpiece!"

This is a fun and summery Kelly's Kids outfit I got for $6 at a sale.

And here is Scarlett's 4th of July dress that I got on sale at Strasburg, in the middle of winter mind you, for under $10!

15 Months

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

I am 1 month older!!!!

Scarlett, Yet again another month has flown by! You are a pure joy to your Daddy and I and our entire family. You are all smiles and are already very loving. You are vivacious and fun, very liberal with you laughter and light up any room just by stepping in.

Here is what is going on with you...

- You wear a size 5 diaper and a size 6.5 shoe!

- You wear all 24 month clothes

- You eat all kinds of stuff and love to snack all day

- You favorite food is blueberries. You LOVE them. I cannot even leave them out on the counter or you will point at them every 5 minutes because you want them. I am happy that you like such a healthy food so much... it is practically a super food! Go girl!

- You take 1 nap a day around 12 noon and sleep for about 1.5 to 2 hours.

- You sleep well at night but we still have our "once in a blue moon" tough nights.

- You say all kinds of things, most that don't make a whole lot of sense to us yet. But, you are picking up on animal noises. You know dog and cat really well.

- You love carrying around a baby doll and purse (you are SO your mama's girl, I love it!!!)

- You love seeing other children.

- You are not too keen on the nursery at church anymore. I guess you have figured out that it is not all it is cracked up to be if mommy and daddy aren't there :)

- You love to ride the Gator at Nonni and Peepaw's. You smile and wave at everything even though there is really no one to wave at!

- Speaking of waving... you wave at everyone everywhere we go! It is so cute because it is a very good little "princess" wave. Many people have stopped because you flag them down so well :)

- You are very friendly. Although you love being with mommy and daddy most of all, you are very quick to greet others.

- You LOVE to play hide & seek. Your daddy instigated this and you get extremely giggly when we have our little night "hide & seek" after dinner. Oh and have I mentioned before that you have quite a pair of lungs because you can scream like nobody I've ever heard and I used to pride myself as a pretty good screamer but you definitely have me beat.

- You found your belly button and are quite interested in yours and other's as well!

- You are so sweet and loving. I really think that is something that is very much a part of your personality and hope that never changes!

We love you Scarlett Jean!!! (dada and mama)

Family fun in the hot, summer sun!

Last Wednesday we spent the whole day with our family. There is nothing like family. We so badly want Scarlett to grow up knowing all of grandparents and feel very loved, just as Mitch and I did as children.

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Early in the morning we met Mitch's parents (Pop and Lolli) and kiddos at Huber's Farm for lots of activities and lunch.

The petting zoo was our first adventure of the day.

Do you spy some sweet, little, familiar faces?

Daddy and Scarlett.

We found this darling little piggy... she looks like her name could be Izzy :)

She was one flower pickin' little pig... she picked a whole bouquet of dandelions for Scarlett!

~~~~ Everybody loved the slides!!! ~~~~

Pop and Scarlett.

Kavin and Jack.

Daddy and Scarlett!

Lolli.

~~~~ Scarlett on the run! ~~~~

~~~~ Then we tore up the track on tiny tractors! ~~~~

Mama and Scarlett.

Kavin

Pop and Jack.

Lolli and Isabella.

Daddy and Scarlett.

All of this activity made for one tired girl on the trip home...

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Later that evening we had dinner and play time at the splash park with my parents (Nonni and Peepaw).

My sweet parents! I really don't think they look like they are grandparents :)

Little Miss Wet and Wild!!!

Peepaw had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve!

And the purse lives on!