Ice Ice Baby

I don't know what happened to my original post, but I just realized it is gone! So, here we go again...

I tried something new today with our busy girl. I saw this on Kelly's Korner a while back and wanted to see if Scarlett would even be interested in this....

I gave her 2 mixing bowls with ice in each of them and a big spoon.

Needless to say, it was a success!!!

The title of this post reminded me of something funny. When Mitch and I were on our honeymoon 2 girls came up to him and asked, "Are you Vanilla Ice?" He responded, "No." They then said, "Well, can we have our picture with you because you look just like him." And being the extremely nice guy he is he agreed. Ha! Those of you who know Mitch can join me in laughing out loud because he is SO not into that sort of "limelight" stuff. Oh my. Well, I will let you be the judge...

Here is Mitch on our wedding day...

And his "look alike" Vanilla Ice...

hahaha!

Lookout Treehouse

Scarlett has been enjoying her new "Lookout Treehouse" from Nonni and Pepaw.

She was climbing the "ladder" all by herself as soon as I put it together... she is my little monkey.

Believe me, she likes to be on the "lookout!"

Thank you Nonni and Pepaw!!!! xoxo - Scarlett

Sweet fellowship

Mitch and I both graduated from Asbury College. Well, now it is Asbury University, but it sounds funny to say that! We loved our time are there. We both feel like the education we received and the entire "college experience" was great. One thing in particular that makes Asbury so special is the community that you become a part of when you are an "Asburian." We love the precious life-long friendships we made during our time there. The girls I lived with (the Duckies as my frequent/longtime readers know!) are SO special to me. There are other friends that will always be a part of our lives too. We recently had visits from some dear Asbury friends that I want to be sure and document.

Laurelee... I will never forget the first time I met this darling southern belle. Doesn't her name just make you think she should stroll up in a hoop skirt holding a parasol? I love it! She is a precious Georgia peach. I am SO thankful the Lord allowed our paths to cross!!! She was in town visiting her sweet sister (Caroline) and she so graciously made our house a stop on her trip! Here she is pictured (left) with another darling friend Courtney (middle).

Now Courtney is a little Texas cowgirl! Courtney is as sweet as they come and she has always inspired me with her love for the Lord and for the people of Israel.

Laurelee brought Scarlett this cute cup from Savannah, GA with a fancy straw and wouldn't you know that while we were upstairs giving the girls a little "home tour" Scarlett threw the cup down the stairs and it cracked! It was totally an accident but I was so sad. At least we still have the fun, twisty straw!

Laurelee decided she like Scarlett's "pebbles" hairdo and so she tried to do the same.... as soon as she looked at Scarlett she cried! ha!!!!! It was a very funny moment as you can see from Courtney's laugh.

When I started this post including Laurelee, it made me think of a precious reader Caroline, Laurelee's little sister. Caroline knit Scarlett 3 cute, cute bibs before she was born and I realized I have never shown Caroline a picture of Scarlett with one of her bibs on... Caroline this one is for you!!! :) Thank you!!!!

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The DiMartino's are some other sweet Asbury friends. They were in town this past weekend and we were SO glad they came over for a little play date!

I cannot remember how Aidan and I met, I just remember having a speech communications class together and the rest is history!

There have been 2 sweet little girls added to the mix since we saw each other last so that made our visit extra special.

Here are Scarlett and Aolani. Aolani has beautiful olive skin and gorgeous dark eyes!!!

We are still working on sharing :)

Livin' the Dream..... Rolex 2011

2 weekends ago my cousin/best friend growing up competed in the Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event. Hannah Sue Burnett is her name if you want to follow her amazing riding career. I am quite sentimental about her "stardom" because we grew up riding horses together. We spent pretty much everyday together at the barn. It was a blast! When we were young we would beg our moms to let us skip school and go Rolex. We would dream of riding there one day.... well that dream has come true for Hannah. She is the real deal. It is seriously amazing to watch from the sideline as she lives out her dream!

Ok, so just to give a little history.... here I am with 2 darling "barn buddies" when I was probably 11 or 12 years old (I am the one on the far right.... you may also notice my precious mom (who is allergic to horses mind you!) in the picture as well)

That was my horse "Rocky." He was a gorgeous grey appaloosa. He was spirited!

Here is Hannah when she was probably 10 years old when she won the Oldham County Fair Horse Show on her horse Kody...

Hannah's mom, Sue, is pictured here letting Kody drink out of her silver trophy! Sue has always been like a second mom to me.

Here we are together at Rolex this year on Dressage day. Sue, Scarlett, my mom and me.

And here is Hannah! This is after her amazing double clean cross-country ride (amazing!!!!)

If you would like to watch her rides you can do so HERE.

On cross-country day Aunt Ryan (my sister) and Derek (Mitch's best friend) joined us... Here are the boys...

Our little family enjoying the beautiful day at the Horse Park...

And I had to show y'all this... Here is Aunt Ryan. ah!!! I know it looks really realistic, but it is just a cutout thing you pose with!

On Sunday (stadium jumping day) Mitch and Scarlett stayed home because it had been a long weekend already. Here is a picture of Hannah and Nike (her horse) riding their course.... I was way up in the stands so you have to look close.

Hannah ended up finishing in 8th place out of 40 something. Top 10 at Rolex is incredible. She is actually being looked at for the 2012 Summer Olympics! London here we come!!!!

Here is Hannah signing autographs for her adoring fans.... I told you she is famous :)

Here we are after her final ride...

Way to go Hannah.... I love you!!!!

And this post would not be complete without me showing y'all how much fun little missy had "watching the horsies"

She also loved our picnic lunch... imagine that!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing Mommas out there!!!!

Here are my sweet Mother's Day "gifts"....

Mitch brought me these tulips and Scarlett is the precious gift that makes me a mommy!

I cannot help but think about my 1st Mother's Day last year. I had tiny 1 month old baby and we dedicated her to Jesus this day last year. What a little joy she is to us! I will have to say I also remember how difficult being a 1st time mommy was this time last year too... nursing a baby 40 times a day (ok, that is what it seemed like, ha!!), sleepless nights, having no clue what I was doing from hour to hour, never leaving the house! Oh my, those were precious days that I would never take back but boy were they hard. So thankful for each stage of mommy-hood, just some more than others!

My two sweeties.

Mitch's Memaw sent me a cute little "poem" for Mother's Day so I thought I would share it with y'all...

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby...
Somebody doesn't know once you're a mother, "Normal" is history.
Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct...
Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
Somebody said being a mother is boring...
Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a drive's permit.
Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good...."

Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices .....

Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her
child hitting the baseball through the neighbors window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother....
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first....

Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books....

Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery...

Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

or on a plane headed for military "boot camp."

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back....

Somebody never organized four giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married....

Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home .....

Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her.

Somebody isn't a mother.

I have to give a special "shout-out" to my AMAZING, FABULOUS, LOVING, INCREDIBLE Mama today. She is the one Scarlett is pointing at in this picture...... :)

I love you Mom... you are my best friend!!!!!!

Side-note: I want to say to any girl who finds herself reading this blog and you are not a mom yet and so desperately want to be... sit tight. God has great plans for you. I know how you feel. I was in your shoes. I can remember one Mother's Day in particular when I wanted to be pregnant so bad that I could not even bare the thought of going to church on Mother's Day. I promise it will get better. God is always working on your behalf whether it feels like it or not. I can even remember when I was working full time for the Governor of Kentucky and I had a personal interview with him for a new position. He asked me what my greatest aspiration was and I said, "To be a stay-at-home mom." Probably the first (and last) time he ever heard that! But it was so true! I have never wanted to do something so badly! I guess I could say I now have my "dream job." So, stay faithful, keep trusting Him and great things are to come. Just had to stick that little side-note in :)

13 Months

Scarlett,

April flew by and you are already 13 months! You continue to be our little sunshine and are quite an active girl. I cannot believe how much you continue to change from month-to-month. Here is what is going on with you....

- You wear all 18-24 month clothes

- You wear a size 4 diaper and a size 5 shoe.

- You LOVE to eat. You and I made our goal of nursing 12 months! Whew, way to go us! You are now drinking organic whole cow's milk and like it pretty well.

- You love to drink through a straw. You are obsessed with it actually.... so much so that I even let you drink your yogurt through a straw!

- You are very energetic. You play hard all day long and I love to watch you. You are very determined which is perfectly coupled with your sweetness.

- You started walking on April 26th (Aunt KT's birthday!). You love to walk, but are still getting the hang of it. You are walking across the room and all over the house, but you take quite a few tumbles. We are so proud of you though because you never cry when you fall, you just get right back up and keep going.

- You have 8 teeth and are in the process of getting your lower molars. Ugh. That means sleepless nights for us, but I know this is just a short phase!

- You talk constantly. You say lots of things we understand but even more things that we can't! ha! You don't care though, you just talk away and nod your head because you obviously know exactly what you are talking about!

- You love to play with other children your size. You just love to laugh and pat them (sometimes a little rougher than mama would like you to).

- You love your daddy. You get so excited when he comes home and I know he loves that!

- You are 100% fun. You just have that sparkle in your eye that makes you light up a room.

- You are sleeping pretty good at night.... I think your teeth have been bothering you lately. You take great naps during the day (still taking 2).
- You are very adaptable which we are so thankful for. If you have to miss a nap you get a little clingy but are still so pleasant.

- You love to "love on" your baby dolls. It is SO cute. We ask you to love on them all the time and you just rock and pat them. It is so sweet.

I cannot help think about the precious little 1 month old I was holding this time last year...

1 month (May 6, 2010) & 13 months (May 6, 2011)

Mama and Dada love you SO much!

Pampered

No, dear readers, I did not make a mistake on the title of this post. I did not mean to put this....

Pampers

Although diapers are now what I associate with the word 'pamper.' I am talking about this!!!!

The "new" mommies getting manis/pedis!!! Oh, it was divine! Kristin cracked me up when she got in the pedicure chair, put her feet in the tub and said, "I wish I could get my whole self into that tub!" ha!

Here I am with our precious "pamperer", Stephanie. She was a doll!

My darling friend Kristin was the "mastermind" behind our little pamper session... am I good at picking friends or what? (Just kidding! ha!) It was our little, "we did it!" party. It was perfect.

We enjoyed lunch at a little tea room in town before heading to the salon. YUM!

And then we topped it off with Coconut Cream Pie (warm!). We were speechless :)

Oh my, yesterday was such a treat! (thank you Kristin!!!!! love you friend.)

And now.... for today.... it is only 9:00 a.m. and my living room looks like this....

AHHH! Welcome back to reality. But I love it. I decided this would give me the perfect opportunity to clean toys since they are obviously all accounted for! ha!

And I have to say, how adorable are these 'little people'... they just make me smile.

Hoping your day is filled with unexpected smiles as well!