Family Vacation

We just got back from a great family vacation!! I've been talking all summer how I wanted to go to the beach now that we are so close again. We planned a trip for my birthday weekend and invited our parents and Rachel to come, too. We had a GREAT time!! I think everyone needed a vacation for different reasons. It was nice to get to relax on the beach and have no real agenda everyday. Cameron has been gone so much this summer, it was nice to get to spend some time with him and our little family. We went to Orange Beach, AL and will definitely be going back as often as we can!

You may remember when Presley and I went to PCB earlier this summer with Libby and Parker, Pres would not walk in the sand and didn't really even like sitting in a towel on the sand. It took a morning to get her a little adjusted, but by the afternoon and the second day - she was a pro! She even walked in the sand!! I was shocked and so proud of her! She ran in it and took a walk along with beach with Dallie by the afternoon. She did great and it was nice to see her enjoy the beach. She loved jumping the waves and being in the water with everyone.

Mallie is cheering her on for walking back to the towel from the ocean.

Enjoying her new beach chair from G and D.

Enjoying dessert one night after finishing her meal.

This is love.... Pres and Rere traded Todo for Minn Mouse one morning.

Presley and I enjoyed our virgin strawberry daiquiris out of the margarita machine that Dallie brought.

Mallie taught her to spit the salt water out when it got in her mouth- think that's what she was doing in this picture.

Cameron and I got to enjoy a dinner out on my birthday thanks to the 4 grandparents! I'm sure Presley wasn't spoiled at all when she went out to dinner with all them without us...

Enjoying some birthday cake

Playing in her princess dress

We had such a fun trip and are really thankful everyone made the drive down (especially Mallie and Dallie since it was a full 11 hour drive for them!) We are glad to spend time with each of you and get to relax a little bit! Hope to do it again in 2012 with Baby David!!

Some Good Stories

I wanted to document some good lines that Presley says and some of her favorite games at this age:

-Mama, let's play the louder game. I say Yo Gabba Gabba and you say Louder... then, she shouts Yo Gabba Gabba.

-Mama, I have an idea.... let's play hide and seek or another game she comes up with.

-After I picked her up for her first day of Mother's Day out, she says "I missed you mama. That was fun."

-When I'm telling her to stop playing in the back of the car and to get in her car seat, she looks at me and says, "Be patient, mama. I'm going to count to 3 then you go to the naughty spot."

-Walking to bathtime down the hallway, "Mama, you follow me. Now, I get behind you."

-At the playground, we were sitting by a little girl that was stuck climbing. She was yelling for her mommy who was across the park and Presley said, "maybe my Rachey can help you."

-"Mama, you can be my best friend" as she pats me on the back.

-We were putting her in her jammies after bath. I pulled our her yellow Lightning McQueen t-shirt for her to wear and a random pair of pajama pants. She said, "Those pants don't match my shirt." I told her, "I don't have any pants that do match this shirt." She said, "yes, you do" and proceeded to pull out a pair of yellow shorts. I guess they technically did match since they were the same color...

-When I put her down the other night, she was crying. I told her she was fine and that if she needed anything, I would come back. She started screaming, "I need anything..." Then, I started laughing so she did, too.

-One of her new favorite games is makeup. We put nail polish on each other's nails, powder on our faces, eye shadow on eyes, etc.

-Lately, when we go on walks, she says, "When you see a squirrel, say squirrel" just like they do on Dora.

-After her first day of school, I asked what she got in her lunch. She listed off everything, then her cookie. Then, she told me she ate it first before her other food.

-She likes to say "Mama, I'm going to tell you a story." Then, she'll talk about her day. And, she'll ask me to tell her a story about my day.

-When I asked her what my name is, she said Mama Elizabeth Smith.

Presley's First Day of School

I signed up Presley for a Mother's Day Out program in Columbus this school year. She goes two days a week and I pick her up right after lunch. I was really excited about her getting in this program because I feel like it'll give her some stability and something to be excited about once Baby David makes his arrival and she no longer gets my undivided attention during the day. I also wanted her to be able to have a good group of friends. We had such a great playgroup back in Dallas and I know I miss seeing the same people at playdates and all our friends we had. We have made a few friends here at Fort Benning, but, unfortunately, most of them are only here for 6 months at a time. Since we were going to be here longer, I thought it'd be really good for her to have a full year in school and hopefully learn a few things. It's at a Methodist Church and I am glad she gets to be in a Christian environment.

I don't know which of us was more nervous yesterday for her first day.... Keep in mind, she has never been left with anyone other than family for any occasion. We've been very fortunate, butI knew that wouldn't last forever. We had met her teacher and a few of her classmates on Friday at the Open House. Yesterday, we were outside looking at her name on the wall and talking to some other girls that were going to be in her class. The teacher came to the door and opened it and Presley walked right in! I was shocked, she didn't even look back. I stood there for a minute watching her as she started playing with the baby doll and crib set. I was so excited she wasn't crying, but I was really shocked she just walked in... guess she was ready to be left alone after all. I called to check on her and they told me she was having a wonderful day and was the teacher's helper all morning. I am so proud of her for being such a big girl!! She didn't have any tears all day! When I picked her up, she gave me a huge hug and said "I missed you mommy, that was fun." She told me they played outside, played with water and ate lunch. I asked if she ate her lunch first or her cookie first and she told me the cookie.... guess we'll have to work on that!

I am so glad she is excited to go back tomorrow and that she had a fun day! She is such a wonderful kid with a great personality...I almost don't want to share her with anyone else. I know this is so good for her, though. Presley, I am so proud of you!! I love you very much!

Thanks, Mallie, for her awesome backpack! It definitely made getting ready for school more exciting yesterday. And, she loved her Tinkerbell lunchbox she picked out!

PCB 2011

Our best friends, Libby and John, moved to Germany earlier this year. We miss them a lot!! Libby and Parker, their daughter, came back to visit this month. We got to go to Panama City with them this past weekend. It was a blast! It was so nice to see them again, to catch up and have the girls play now that they're older. Here's some pictures of our weekend.

Libby's Aunt Kay and her mom were super helpful with Presley and Parker!! Presley would not walk in the sand, even with her water shoes on! So, Kay and Ebby would carry her down to the towel or chair for me. She made little progress by our last day there. I finally got her to shovel sand into a bucket, but that was really the only way she'd consider even touching it. Hopefully, she'll do better on our next beach trip later in August.

Ebby would take the girls out in the boat to ride the waves. Parker loved it!! She would take off running right for the waves. Presley rode in the boat for a little while, but then realized the sand was right there...

We had a blast and are so glad they are still in town to play this week!