Family Vacation

Where to begin... we had a great vacation last week!! We started off in Nashville at Keila and Dennis' house. We celebrated Amelia's bon voyage from Nashville that night. Cameron hung out with some college friends and met us out later. It was so much fun to see Keila and her girls and to have them get to visit with Presley and Liam. Keila was smart and stocked up on puffs and fruit to win Presley's heart- it worked!! We had a great visit and hope to get to see them again soon.

We left the next morning and traveled to Rough River in Kentucky to Uncle Tim's lake house. We had a blast!! They have an awesome house right on the lake that we used to visit all the time when we lived in Nashville. I haven't been back in years and have truly missed all the fun we had out there growing up. I was a little nervous Presley wasn't going to enjoy the boat or her lifejacket... she never really liked being in her lifejacket, but the boat was a different story. She LOVED the boat. It would put her right to sleep. When she wasn't sleeping, she was standing on the side waving at all the other boats while her hair was blowing in the wind. She was hilarious to watch. Here she is passed out on her very first boat ride. Presley is definitely a toddler now. It's sad to realize how old she is and how independent she has become. She walks/runs everywhere now. She learned so many words on our vacation. Her favorite was "outside." She wanted to be outside the entire time at the lake. She also says "kitchen," "Debbie," "Bitty," "snack," "school bus," "boat," "Mick Mouse," "babu" (what she calls her paci), "Elmo," "elephant," "Aubie," "bump" (when she wants a fist bump), she says "no" now and uses it. If we ask her if she wants turkey, she'll say "no." There's more, but I can't think of all of them now. She also says her name. It comes out "Pes-ley". It's by far, the cutest thing I've ever heard!

Liam loved the wind!!

Cameron and Presley in the swing on the deck.

Her new favorite activity is to stir things... as long as I have a spoon and bowl with us, she's happy (oh, and snacks of course!)

Presley carried the big box of goldfish over to me at the lakehouse when she wanted a snack.

Getting ice cream from Aunt Debbie.

Testing out the wakeboard- haven't done this in years.

After 5 days at the lake, we drove to Louisville. My grandfather, Pop, celebrated his 80th birthday. Presley was exhausted from the lake trip>

We had a nice dinner with all my cousins and aunts/uncles Friday night. Debbie and Brittany were so great and babysat the kids for us that night. It was so comforting to know Presley and Liam had spent the whole week with them and were excited to play with them that night. Here's a sibling picture from that night.

Saturday we went to the backside at Churchill Downs for the day. It was a lot of fun! All my cousins, their babies, aunts and uncles were there with Pop to celebrate. Presley learned to say "horsey" very quickly. We were right near the track and every time they'd run by, she'd yell at them "Go hosey." She had so much fun looking at all the horses and playing with all the other babies.

Reading the program with Mal.

Placing her first bet with her daddy!!

We all walked to the stable where Uncle Mark's horse lives.



This is my uncle's horse, Duomo. We all got to get so close to her and she behaved so well. Presley loved seeing the horse this close.

Here is Pop getting ready to cut the birthday cake.

We had a great visit in Louisville. The other exciting part of our trip was Father's Day. My dad had a BIG surprise waiting for him when we got to the lake. He got a 1989 red Corvette. We always joked that his corvette was each child's college education (and high school for that matter). He finally got his dream car! And, he got to drive it all the way from KY to TX on Father's Day. I don't think he minded too much, though... I don't have a great picture of it, but here's Liam and Presley getting ready for a drive.

I did feel bad that Cameron's second Father's Day was spent traveling, but at least we were together, hehe... You are such a wonderful dad. You work so hard for Presley and me- I can't thank you enough for all you do to allow me to be home with Presley every day. I am constantly amazed at what a good father you are. Not just cause you play with her, but you bathe her, make her dinner, clean her bottles, vaccum the floor so it's clean for her to play on, the list goes on! I love watching you play with her and make her laugh- no one can make her laugh as hard as you do. I love how excited she gets when we get home and she runs to your office to see you as soon as we walk in the door- it's so cute to watch her face light up when she sees you and says "Hi Da." Thanks for all you do. Happy Father's Day!! We love you! And just so you don't say something later, here's a shout out to Capt. Phil Harris- RIP.

Week with my G

Cameron's mom came in town this weekend! We had a great visit. I am SO lucky to have such a great mother-in-law. We have so much fun when she visits. We played at the splash park, Cameron smoked ribs and a turkey for Memorial Day, we played in the pool, watched movies, and had Mambo Taxis and good Mexican food. Cameron had to leave town Tuesday for work, but we managed just fine without him. We went to see Sex and the City 2, ate all my favorite girly restaurants, drank wine, watched the Bachelorette, went to Target and I got an hour long pedicure while Lea played with Pres :)

I love hanging out with Lea and am so glad she's able to come visit us for long periods of time in the summer. Presley had a BLAST with her, too. She walked up to her one morning and clearly said, "Hi, G." She still looks for you in the mornings, Lea! We miss you so much, but can't wait till our next visit.

My cousins, Max and Olivia, and their parents, Mark and Julia, also came in town Memorial Day weekend. Presley and Olivia have lots of matching clothes we discovered. Here's their matching shorts. Liam and Presley just adore Max and Olivia and try to keep up playing with them.

Before our second haircut...yes, second in 13 months!

Presley's new favorite book is Eight Silly Monkeys. This is us doing the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed."

Love snuggling with G while she gets her bottle.

Trying on Olivia's shades.

Trying on new swimsuit from G during a playdate with all our friends.
Playing with Dal in the pool one night.

We love summer!!

I have been looking forward to summer and it's finally here! Presley and I have been enjoying most afternoons at the pool or splash park. We love going to Ashley and Mia's pool and playing in their new playroom!

Presley is such a little toddler. She walks everywhere and is talking so much! We have started keeping Liam on the days Emily works. It's been really fun to see Presley and him bond. They really are growing up like brother and sister. They get so excited to see each other.

Presley, Mia and Caroline took a bath together the other day after playing outside at the water table. It was such a fun night because all our husbands were traveling or at work dinners that night. We just ordered pizza, bathed the kids and hung out. I really feel so lucky to have made such great friends with other moms and babies close to Presley's age. I can see how being a stay-at-home mom might get old or boring (or expensive) if we didn't have these playdates and fun people to hang out with!! I absolutely love staying home and playing with Presley every day.

Presley borrowed Mia's trike the other day to ride to the pool. She loved it and thought she was steering it herself!

Caroline LOVED the splashpark, in particular this one spout!

Liam today set himself in these baskets to play peek-a-boo at a playdate. It was TOO funny!

Cameron's mom comes to visit this weekend. We can't wait to play with G!!

Playdates and Mother's Day

We had such a fun weekend! We started off with an impromptu playdate with Mia and her mommy, Ashley, on Friday afternoon. I don't know who had more fun, the babies or mommies :) We are super excited they live right around the corner from us now.

We call this Presley's Big Cheese! She is such a happy baby. We truly have been blessed with a happy, fun little girl. She's walking everywhere these days. It's hilarious to watch her walk cause she's still so short. She's gotten fast and uses it as her primary way of getting around now instead of crawling. She'll now follow me as I go from room to room during the day.

We had a fun Mother's Day weekend...that's right, I got a whole weekend! Cameron took us to the zoo on Saturday. Most of you know this, but I've been wanting to take Presley for a while now. She was so serious the whole time. She would point to the animals and say "Wow" or "Cool." It was cute to watch her take everything in.

Sunday we went to my parent's house and had an early dinner with the whole fam, including Amelia. I didn't manage to get one picture of me with my baby.... oh well. She looked precious is her dress.

It's funny...now that I'm a mom, I appreciate my mom so much more. I now notice her cooking and doing the dishes while the rest of us play cards or relax on the couch...things I will admit, I took advantage of in the past and never noticed. I guess I assumed the meal magically appeared on the table. Anyway, I want to say thanks to my mom for all you have done and continue to do for us. I know I can be hard on you at times when I want to be independent and want to do things by myself, but the truth is, I am so thankful that you are there to teach me new things and guide me through new phases of my life. I agree with Emily's blog 100%. I would love to one day be the kind of mom that you are to all of us. Thank you to all the great examples of good mother's I have in my life. I have learned so much from Lea, Grandmom, Keila, Lynn, Paulette, Julia, Emily, Charelette, and all my friends who are mommies. You have all been there for me for all my pregnancy questions and now all my parenting questions. Thank you!

Thank you, Cameron, for a wonderful weekend! And to Mal and Dal for a yummy, fun dinner last night.

Bluebonnets

Presley got this new suit from my best friend, Liz, and her daughter, Caitlin, for P's birthday. It is SO cute on her! We've been enjoying our swim lessons with a bunch of our friends. Presley's favorite part is "jumping" off the side. I'm so thankful she seems to enjoy being in the water.

Liam is in our class, too. He's really good at floating on his back and going "under." The Denney's came in town this weekend. We had a lot of fun catching up with them and letting the babies play.

And finally.... we took bluebonnet pictures.