Happy 2nd Birthday, Georgia Kate!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday my sweet Georgia!!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

Your 2nd birthday was a great day! Grammie got to be in town to celebrate with us and we met her at the Cheesecake Factory for a yummy lunch. Then we came home and opened some great presents from her & Grandad that she'd brought with her. You took a great nap, and when you woke up we made Birthday Cookies. I know you like cupcakes, but also know how much you love the cookies you get at Publix, so thought you'd enjoy some Birthday Cookies! You and Grammie rolled them, patted them and sprinkled them! You made flower, heart, train and "2"- shaped cookies and sprinkled them pink, green and yellow. You also discovered the joy of raw cookie dough! We played till dinnertime, then Nana came over and ate dinner with us. You ate a great dinner- maybe you'll get an appetite with this new age! Then we sang to you and you blew out the #2 candle in your cookies. Yummy Birthday cookies!! I can't believe you are already two, and am so thankful to have such a beautiful, sweet, fun little girl!
Happy Birthday, Georgia!!

'Monkey's' 2nd Birthday Party

Saturday we had a fun little birthday party for Georgia with a few friends & family. It was supposed to be at the park, but since we had ~5 inches of rain the 3 days before, the park was a huge puddle and we moved the party indoors to our house. And it was great! We all enjoyed our picnic food and cupcakes inside while Georgia & her friends ran around and played. As the grand finale to the day we took her out front and presented her with her first car- a blue mini-Jeep! She jumped right in it and took off- right towards a car parked on the curb! She does great at driving it, except we have to work on steering a bit!

Thanks to our friends & family that were able to share this day with us and make it so special!

Yummy! Birthday cupcake!

Maggie & Tate have fun with the bubble maker!

Georgia tries out her new trike from Nana,

Ooo- thank you for the chalkboard placemat, Rollins! Your mommy is so creative!

Georgia with her admirers- Uncle T, Uncle J & Joseph

Watch out- Georgia's driving!

Don't worry ladies, Rollins will get you out of that ditch!

Rollins showed Georgia how a Jeep-driving pro does it!

After all the toys were opened, it took a team to put them together!

Even baby Brother Lincoln got to share in the new toys.

Thank You for my fun party! Two is Terrific!!

"Thank You, Thomas!"

On Friday, Larry took the day off and we went and saw Thomas the Train at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera. It was one of our birthday presents to her and such a fun family outing! We got to take a real train ride on Thomas- the train just goes out & back, but it's about a 30+ min ride- just enough for an *almost* 2-year old! There are also lots of other fun activities- storytelling on a train car, electric model trains, play train tables, bouncy inflatables, a petting zoo, and a gift shop with more Thomas stuff than you thought existed.
All Aboard!

Georgia & Lincoln enjoy the view on their first train ride!

Georgia loved playing with the train tables.

Enjoying storytime- this lasted about 5 mins! Sitting still is not her specialty!

She got to pet cows, bunnies, a pig & feed the goats.

Lincoln's had all the fun he can handle!

I wasn't sure how much Georgia would understand, as she's only seen Thomas' show a few times, but she loves trains. But she really loved it! While we were on our train ride she kept "choo-chooing" and saying "Thank You, Thomas!" We had given her a toy Thomas and Thomas stickers as a "train day" present and Thomas stayed by her side all day, even sharing her yogurt that night. It was a great day with lots of sweet memories! Thomas is here thru next weekend and we highly recommend it to you & your little train-lover!

"Thank You, Thomas!"

Happy Spring (Cleaning)!

We make our little ones earn their keep around here! ;)

Just kidding! Georgia is always my cleaning-helper and desperately wanted to hold the sponge, so I sent her outside to "clean" the windows. A little bit of cleaning to welcome in the Spring season!

Right after I took that picture I realized she was shivering and turning blue, so we modified her outfit... maybe it's not completely spring weather yet!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

A few old Irish sayings to ponder this St Patty's Day...

~It is often that a person's mouth broke his nose. Irish Proverb

~Wisdom is the comb given to a man after he has lost his hair. Irish Saying

~If you give the loan of your britches, don't cut off the buttons. Irish Saying

~A face without freckles is like a sky without stars. Irish Saying

~It is easy to halve the potato where there is love. Irish Proverb

~Here's to your roof, may it be well thatched

And here's to allunder it -May they be well matched. Irish Toast

~You can't kiss an Irish girl unexpectedly.
You can only kiss her sooner than she thought you would.

Irish Saying

~Man is incomplete until he marries. After that, he is finished. Irish Saying

~Three best to have in plenty - sunshine, wisdom and generosity. Irish Triad

~Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, Love leaves a memory no one can steal. From a headstone in Ireland

~God is good, but never dance in a small boat. Irish Saying

~God made time, but man made haste. Irish Saying

~Get down on your knees and thank God you're still on your feet. Irish Saying

And finally...

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with Joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours! Irish Blessing

Big Girl Bed

Almost a month ago we moved Georgia to the Big Girl Bed and I've been meaning to blog about it since. So, even though this is late, I still want to "record" it!

Sometime in January we started letting Georgia nap in her big girl bed, but back then it was just a twin mattress on the floor. Feb. 22nd we set up the bed frame, box spring and all, and she officially moved to the BIG big girl bed!

Dancing on the Big Girl Bed! Lincoln's all tucked in too.

Big bed- little girl!

And Lincoln moved to the crib, with a blue sheet and all, making the transition complete (and giving mommy & daddy their room back to themselves!).
Georgia hands over the keys to the crib to little brother Lincoln.

She's doing great in her Big Bed! She's only fallen out a few times; we kept pillows on the floor for awhile, just in case. She still struggles to settle down at naptime, and it takes over 30 mins and several times of mommy going in to discipline her before she'll fall asleep.
SO excited she just can't sit still!

And several times I've gone to her room to find her asleep somewhere on the floor- sometimes I bring her back to bed, and sometimes I just cover her where she is!

The day we set her bed up, she was very excited about it and wanted to practice getting tucked in, etc. She also tucked her lamby in, then tucked Lincoln in- it was very sweet and I was dutifully capturing the moment with my camera.

Here's a video of her tucking him in...

Grandad's Gate

As usual, we found a project for dad to do while he was here. He built us a gate on our back porch so Georgia won't fall down the long flight of stairs that lead to the backyard. It turned out great, and looks like it was always there! Now Georgia can play out there as the weather gets nice, which she absolutely loves to do!

We've had such a fun visit, playing at the park, doing projects at home, going to lunch, and today we went to Pump It Up (a giant indoor inflatable playground). Thanks Grandad!

Here are my pictures from the park:

And one from Pump It Up:

Playing with Grandad

Grandad is in town for a visit... We enjoyed a great morning at the park, playing on the swings, running around and walking the nature trail!

Lincoln was there too, practicing his rolling over...