Sweet Mallory turns 4!

Its hard to believe that 4 years ago I had sweet Mallory, while we were living in Tallahassee, FL. This year we had a art party at our house. I think she had a lot of fun!

Here are some facts about Mallory:

- She can write her name pretty good.
- She is right handed.
- She can recognize all the alphabet letters and numbers 1-15.
- She can count 1-50 pretty good.
- She is now associating words with the letters. She loves to tell me all the words she can think of that start with each letter. ex. D for Dog, Daddy, Diaper, and Donut.
- She loves to color and can now stay in the lines pretty good.
- She loves to sing songs.
- Her favorite shoes are her cowgirl boots.
- She can ride a bike with training wheels really great now.
- She can write most of the letters pretty good in the alphabet.
- She still loves putting puzzles together.
- She has started loving to play games. The newest favorite is Pop the Pig and Cooties.
- She got her first marriage proposal by a little boy name Jonah at school on the playground!! She told me that she didn't respond except with a laugh! Ha!
- She loves having her Aunt Kathleen as her teacher this year at Trinity Play School.
- She is finally starting to get a little independent on me! I can now say I actually hear the words "I will do it myself". I wondered if that would ever happen!!
- She can now buckle her own car seat harness!
- She still adores her baby sister and loves to give her kisses and hugs.
- She still take naps pretty good, although will try to fight me about taking them some days.
- She loves ice cream as long as it's vanilla and its Blue Bell!
- She is still a picky eater, but that's gotten better! She still loves chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese! She is so use to eating the easy-mac that she doesnt' even like homemade mac-n-cheese! If she only knew what she was missing!


Mallory's questionnaire:

1. What's your favorite food?? Mac-N-Cheese

2. What's your favorite movie? Hello Kitty

3. What's your favorite Color? Pink

4. Who is your favorite friend? Story

5. What's your favorite thing to do? Cook

6. Where is your favorite place to go? The Grocery Store

7. What's your favorite toy? My Puzzles

Sweet Nanny (Johns grandmother) made the trip and told us she wouldn't miss this birthday for anything! This was over 8 hours total riding in the car for her in one day! 

The amazing cake our friend Mrs Beth made! She is so talented! 

It's time to paint! 

 

The only family picture we got. Mary Claire was asleep and didn't get to be in it! 

Our sweet Birthday Girl!! 

All the kids in their aprons I monogrammed. 

Mallory's reaction to us singing Happy Birthday to her!! 

Mallory with her masterpiece the day after her party. She was so proud and so am I! I even already hung it on the wall downstairs! 

We had so much fun celebrating Mallory turning 4, but I would like for this year to not fly by so fast!! I am definitely blessed to be her mommy! 

 

Mallory turned 3! Just a little late with my post!

So I guess it's about time to play catch up on my blog! I am way behind! The oldest major event I have neglected to post about was Mallory's 3rd birthday! So I guess that is where I will start. Her party was on Sunday afternoon Novemeber 18th at 3 at our house.

November the 20th Mallory turned 3!! Where did the time go?? We had a Hello Kitty Birthday this year and this was the first year to include some of her friends from school and church. She had a blast!

This was her invitation.

 

 

We even had a pinata for the kids to try and knock open, but the only one strong enough was my cousin Chris. Here are some pictures from her party.

The Yummy cake Mrs. Beth made!

Yummy and adorable cookies Mrs. Beth also made.

 

Pink lemonade and water!

The Birthday Girl!

Mallory with her sweet church friends Madeline and Story.

Cousin Chris hitting the pinata!

Mallory swinging with her best friend from school Harris.

 

 

Now for the big news that came with Mallory's last present opening!!

 

Mallory holding up the shirt to reveal our secret!

We are expecting in July 2013! This was our reveal to our family and friends that were at her party! It was super funny to hear the silence when we read the shirt to Mallory! I think we pretty much stunned our entire family- in a good way at least! Now that it is already Feb.... I am already 19 weeks! We find out next Thursday the 28th what we are having.

I can't believe we have a 3 year old now and come her next birthday she will be a big sister! We are definitely blessed to be her parents and I think God for her every day!

 

 

Up next Thanksgiving and Christmas! Goodness maybe one day I will catch up!

 

 

A 60th Birthday Party Surprise!!

Back in September, my mom had the idea of throwing dad a surprise birthday party since he was turning 60 this year. Now, if you haven't thrown a surprise party before, it's not an easy task, but it's especially hard if you live in the same house as the person you are surprising! My mom wanted to do a nautical theme, which at the time sounded like a great idea in September, but come December you could not find any toy plastic boats or nautical themed stuff.... so decorations were much harder than I ever dreamed they would be. After lots of searching, we did get lucky and find a few things at a local party store, which really helped. The party was held at a local community center in Glendale, which is right outside of Hattiesburg. After spending days upon days closed in the bedroom upstairs at my parents house working on decorations, I was very glad when they were done, and that dad never happened to walk in on me. I am still amazed that we managed to pull it off. All in all I think he enjoyed himself and it was lots of fun to see his reaction!! We had food catered by Front Porch, which included a roasted Pig!! The look on some of the guests faces after seeing the pig was priceless. Good food, great guests, and the best birthday Dad made for a great, fun, and memorable surprise!! I definitely have the best dad any girl could ever dream of having!! A daddy's girl I will always be!! Here are some of the funny things I found on the internet to read at his party. Enjoy!

Here are the top 10 signs that you are 60:1. Your back goes out more than you do.
2. Your address book has mostly names that start with DR.
3. Getting Lucky means you found your car in the parking lot!
4. Your joints are more accurate that the national weather service.
5. A dripping faucet causes an uncontrollable urge.
6. Your investment in Health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.
7. Your ears are hairier than your head.
8. You now know where your prostrate is.
9. You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.
10. You turn out the lights for economic reasons rather than romantic reasons.


Helpful Tips for turning 60:1.Keep a diary – it will be a great source of comfort and handy reminder of what you did yesterday.
2.Cultivate friendships with people much older than yourself. This will make you feel so much younger!
3.Never attempt bending down, except under strict medical supervision.
4.Take the strain off your tired memory by labeling all household objects such as the bed, fridge, and television.
5.Save all hairs that come loose when you brush your hair. One day medical science may develop a means of replanting them.


Lastly, I will leave you with the toast I gave to my dad at his party.

Dad,
It’s hard to believe that you are 60 years old! Wow that sounds so old!! You still actually have your hair and it’s not even grey!! Those 2 things should make you feel younger already.
Looking back on the past 30 years, not only brings back wonderful memories, but also reminds me what a good sport you were living with a house full of girls!! Now as you can imagine, a house full of girls requires some major adjustment. As most of you know, dad has always been a tight wad when it comes to money, but he quickly learned with girls came, clothes, shoes, and make-up. Surprisingly, he learned pretty quickly that he just better be quiet and carry the bags.
With a house full of girls, came lots of emotions and drama! He handled this way better than most men, but I often wondered if some of our emotions were rubbing off on Dad. One example of this was the morning of my first date at the age of 16; dad came in my bedroom and woke me up with tears running down his face telling me “that his little girl was growing up.” By the end of this conversation he had me in tears and wondering if I should cancel the date!!
Another step in growing up was dad teaching me how to drive. I am still not sure who was more nervous Me or Dad !! Just to tell you how nervous dad was, the entire time we were moving he held a very tight grip on the parking brake of moms Maroon Volvo station wagon. I guess he thought if I forgot to brake, he could yank the parking brake up and it would stop us! Dad, I sure am glad you have finally gotten past that!
As I was getting ready for this party, I came across letters you wrote home and scrapbooks Mom (your grandmother) made for you when you were in college. One funny thing I found was a copy of a wreck less driving ticket you got in Starkville Mississippi!! I almost couldn’t believe that the slowest driver in our family had gotten a wreck less driving ticket!! As, your mother Patsy put it, Mom may have kept a few too many documents!!
Now, I know you have been called many things over the years including: Dad, Bobby, Uncle Mike, Sir, Boss, Deacon, Forester, The Tire man, Sunday School Teacher, and Pops. But now you can officially be called a senior citizen!!
No matter what name you are called you will always be the best dad a girl could ask for! Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

A Minnie Mouse Party

Well I have been really busy lately and have neglected to post since October!! We have a lot that has happened, so I will try and play catch up!

Back in November on the 13th we had Mallory's 2nd birthday party. My parents were leaving for a Biblical Tour in Turkey, so we had to have the party a little early.

Mallory had lots of fun opening gifts and eating some of her Minnie Mouse cake! She got so many gifts that at one point she lost interest in opening them. John's family and Nanny made the trip down here for the afternoon, which was so nice of them. Mallory's favorite gifts were the School Bus Aunt KK (aka Aunt Krista) gave her and the pink kitchen sink she got from Nanna, Pops, Granna, and Papa. She loves to pretend to cook and wash her hands!

At Mallory's 2 year old check up she weighed 26.11 pounds and was 33 in tall. The Doctor joked with me that she was finally now in the normal weight range! I guess all that Cheese she eats is finally paying off!! After seeing the doctor, she sent us to get Mallory's finger pricked to check her blood work. This was a first, and I wasn't to thrilled to see her go through this, but I knew shots were much worse! Once they called her name back there, the tech was trying to talk to her and the first thing Mallory does is poke her bottom lip out as far as she could. It was pretty funny and had the techs in the room laughing. Next the tech pricked her finger and we all kept waiting for Mallory to cry, but to our surprise it never came! Mallory is officially stronger than her mother when it comes to pain!!! Mallory just wanted to get the band aid on! As soon as we got back to the waiting room, the others in there commented to me that they kept waiting to here her cry too and couldn't believe what a big girl she was!! I was one proud MaMa!! Hoping she continues to get John's pain tolerance and not mine!!

Mallory is now talking up a storm, can sing row row row your boat ,and the wheels on the bus. She now knows what a sucker is and likes them. To be honest I wasn't too excited about that, but I guess it's about time!

She loves the play ground and every time she sees one she wants to stop and play. I can't believe Mallory is finally 2! I mean it seems like yesterday she was born. I just love seeing her blossom and learn. Her giggles make my heart smile, her hugs and kisses are priceless and can turn a bad day into a great one! She recently told me she loved me and this was hands down one of the best moments of being a mom so far! Praying one day that she will understand that there is a God who loves her even more than I can! Praying I am the motherly example God wants me to be!

Enjoy the pictures from her 2nd Birthday party! Stay tuned for a fun Thanksgiving at Aunt KK's in Jackson.