The Beach, an Anniversary and a Doctor Visit make for a busy few weeks!

A few weeks ago, we packed up the car and headed to Gulf Shores for a few days. It just so happened that my aunt Vickie and Cousin Julie, who live in Texas decided to also come down to the bay house! It reminded me of old times, when the whole Hollomon family use to go down to the bay house. All of the cousins had so much fun and lots of great memories!! Sadly, since my Mom's only Brother, Mickey, and his family moved to Texas many years ago, we haven't had the whole family there in a long time! It was great to at least have Julie and Aunt Vickie there!! Mallory fell in love with her Cousin Julie. She was so attached to her that anytime Julie went outside or even went to the bathroom Mallory thought she had to go with her. If Mallory was not allowed to go, the this would involve a full blown crying session!! It was so funny to watch Mallory follow Cousin Julie around!! She loves her Cousin Julie very much and I wish she lived much closer!!!

While we were their we played on the beach, kayaked in the bay, and worked on a puzzle. It was a fun and relaxing week! Mallory loved playing in the sand and after the second day at the beach she finally got her feet wet in the water. The bay water was a little to cold, so she wasn't a fan. After spending 5 days there, it was time to head back home to reality. It sure was fun to get away for a few days! I can't wait to go back soon!

The next weekend, we got a visit from Granna, aka John's mother, for Friday night and Mallory loved getting to see her!! She ran right to her as soon as she saw her which was so much fun to watch!!

Last Saturday night, my parents watched Mallory so John could take me out to eat at the Walnut Circle Grill Downtown for our 6 year anniversary. The food was really yummy and it was so nice to have an evening out with just John and I. I can't believe we have been married 6 years already!! I am truly blessed to have him in my life!!

As soon as we had finished dinner, my phone rang and it just so happened to be my Uncle Bob and Aunt Ceil. They happened to be in town and wanted to come by to see us and Mallory!! What a great surprise this was!! Uncle Bob has always been really special to us and it was great to see him and Ceil again. They live in Birmingham; so we don't really see them very often. I have a feeling, he will be telling Mallory some pretty funny stories of me when I was little in the coming years!!

This past Thursday, Mallory had her 18 month check-up and had to get her last shot until she enters kindergarten. She was a trooper and even had a delayed crying reaction to the shot this time! She also has finally gained weight and is in the normal range!! We weighed in at a whopping 24 pounds 7 ounces!!! She gained almost 2 pounds in less than a month!! Now that is some kind of growth spurt!!! I was so proud she had gained so much weight, although the doctor still reminded me that she needs to eat high calorie foods.....

Here is a little info on what all Mallory is doing now days:

- She loves music and will try to sing along and dance, which is super cute!
- She is talking lots more, but still knows more than she says!!
- She signs "please" when she wants something.
- John has recently taught her to say toodles, which sounds pretty funny!!
- She still loves shoes and purses,but not much into dolls!
- She is a really great helper and wants to help you do everything!!
- She has recently started loving books and will bring one for you to read and expect you to stop what you are doing to read it to her. Her current favorite is "Caps for Sale" and "Finklehopper frog". She also likes a book that has pictures of animals and food in it.
- She has started feeding her self, which makes for a messy meal!!
- When she is hungry she will go and stand at the fridge and start fussing!!
- Her favorite thing to eat is still Cheese, and we sometimes get a double please for it!! She also loves to eat pizza, but is still a picky eater just like her mommy was!
- She loves to say the word dog and every time she sees one she talks about it, even if its just in a commercial on tv.
- She has started climbing more and more. I turned around one day and she had climbed up on this horse, that was actually me and my sister's when we were kids. Now to give you an idea, this horse sits of the ground on a frame and is attached to some springs about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. So as you can imagine this freaked me out!! I secretly think Nana, aka my mom, has been teaching her to climb up to ride it!!
- Sadly, she is still not sleeping well, and I hope this one will be worked out in the near future. She has done better the last 3 nights!!
-She has 12 teeth total now and getting some more in! Four of those are back teeth, so she can chew her food much better now!
-You can tell her to march and she will start Marching to one...two..three...four.. it's really cute to watch!

All in all she is growing up way to fast!! Here are some recent pictures! Enjoy!