Valentine Surprises

My sweet Frank really went over and above this year for Valentine's. The Valentine extravaganza started last Saturday when he took us shopping. He bought me a pair of shoes and Little a special Valentine outfit (among other things). I really wasn't expecting anything else, but he surprised us today. Little and I were out running errands, and when we got home, he had already come home from work early to surprise us. We walked in the door to find Jazz/Swing music playing and our surprises on the table.There were Valentines for all of his girls. He gave me these beautiful roses, a sweet card and some delicious cupcakes from Gigi's. The icing was so high that it toppled over on the trip home. There was Strawberry Shortcake, Red Velvet, The Grasshopper (which is mint chocolate chip-yum!), and Chocolate. Great choices, Frank! He said the line at Gigi's was out the door and went all the way down the street past the end of the shopping strip. I'm not surprised. These things are GOOD!

Mollie's (the dog) Valentine was a homemade one of a couple of her favorite treats. She had a milk bone with peanut butter and a frosted mini wheat. How thoughtful of her sweet Daddy! He even had it plated and sitting on the table with our gifts. Little got a single rose with a bear tied to it. His name is Valentino, and he is white with a red heart on his chest. Frank said he wanted to be the person that gave her the first flower she ever received. What a loving Daddy he is. He cherishes his sweet little girl. She also got a card from him, and she gave him a card with her hand traced in it.
After we put Little to bed, Frank and I cooked dinner together. It was a very sweet time together and the food was delish! We cooked salmon, homemade mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach. I also made bread pudding, but we'll wait until tomorrow to eat it since we are still on a cupcake high.

Happy Valentines Day!

Here is our Sweet Little Pea ready to go to church in her Valentine's outfit that her Daddy picked out for her.

It's so sweet how proud Frank is of our precious little girl. She is truly his special Valentine.






Here are my two favorite people having a little chat after we got home from church. How sweet!

A Beautiful Day...

Today was a beautiful day and much appreciated after the snow we've been having. Seriously, can it just be spring already? We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get out for a little family field trip to Decatur. My parents called to let us know Dillards is closing in Decatur, so we decided to meet them at the mall to eat lunch and check out the deals. We decided we'd head that way after Little got up from her morning nap. The nap, which normally lasts about an hour and a half lasted for 3 hours! It was much needed after the lack of naps she had yesterday, and it definitely made for a perfectly happy Sweet Pea for the outing. She was so excited and happy all day after that enormous nap. We started out meeting my parents in the mall parking lot and then walking to Pizza Hut. Let me first say that this was exciting because I haven't been shopping in forever (seriously, only once in the 8 months since Little was born to buy a pair of jeans that fit), and I haven't been to Pizza Hut in years. So, off to Pizza Hut we went. Little's transportation of choice is Daddy's shoulders. She absolutely loves to ride on his shoulders and hold onto his head and ears. We had a great lunch at Pizza Hut. Little ate her squash and snacks and she talked (in her own language) to some kids that were sitting in the booth next to us. She really loves other kids and babies. It's so sweet to watch. Then, we headed to the mall to find some deals. Little was SO excited in the mall. All of the lights, the carousel, the fountain and the Valentine's setups were just so much fun for her to see. She was so excited, chatting and bouncing at every new thing she saw.
Little was very busy. She rode on shoulders, hung out with Daddy J, strolled around, walked around (with help), watched herself in mirrors, and even talked to some strangers. I told Frank that we don't even need to go to Disney world with her...the excitement of the mall seemed to be sufficient.
We had a great time and found some really great deals. Frank was going crazy picking out clothes for Little. We found some of the cutest winter coats (for next year) that had been marked down so much that we only ended up paying about $10 a piece for them! And Frank picked out a Valentine's outfit for Little to wear to church. It is her Valentine present from her Daddy for her first Valentine's Day, complete with a dress, red sweater, and red shoes. Stay tuned for a picture...

Here's one preview picture I'll leave you with. This is a shot of Little wearing one of the hats that came with one of her new coats. SO Precious!!!

Baby BFF?

Is it possible for a baby to have best friends? Little loves to be around babies, but with certain babies that she knows and recognizes, she is overly excited. We were sitting behind our friends Brian and Natasha (and Ivana) at church on Sunday. We made it through a couple of songs before Little realized that Ivana was sitting in front of us. As soon as she saw her, she started kicking her legs and making noises of excitement. We literally had to take her out of the church. Here is a picture of Little giving Ivana a kiss after the service.

Self-feeding, Here we come!

A lot has been happening around our house. Little is walking all over the place now, holding onto things, of course, since she can't walk by herself yet. She walks from toy to toy and pulls up on anything she can. It's amazing to watch her each day as she does new things and makes new noises. One of her newest accomplishments is that she has started feeding herself finger foods! She is eating banana puffs and peach yogurt melts. The banana puffs are all little A's, so I told her they stand for Amara. They dissolve in her mouth, which makes it kind of tricky because once her fingers are wet, they start dissolving and sticking to her fingers. But she's doing so good and getting better at it every day. As easy as it is for her to put toys in her mouth, I'm sure she didn't realize it would be so tough to get something so small in there. She has really been a pro at eating solid foods. She still nurses 5 times a day, but she also eats 3 meals of solid foods in addition to her little finger food snacks.

Here is what her typical daily food schedule looks like:
Breakfast: Oatmeal (mixed with about 2 oz. of breastmilk) and 2 oz. fruit
Lunch: 2 oz. green vegetable and 2 oz. other vegetable (carrots, squash, etc.) and finger food snacks
Dinner: 2 oz. vegetable and 2 oz. fruit/whole grain combination and finger food snacks

Sewing Project #2

Today I successfully made a dress all on my own without any supervision! This dress is the same as the last (see my last post) but the fabric is pale pink with little birds, and I'm planning to get it monogrammed. I must say that this time everything was MUCH easier and faster. I started and finished everything today in between taking care of Little during naps, feeding, etc. I'm excited to make another trip to Hancock Fabrics to see what other fabrics and patterns I can find. I just may become a seamstress after all!

Adventures in Sewing

Frank surprised me with a sewing machine for Christmas (so much for not exchanging presents, right?). I have been very overwhelmed because it is computerized and very intimidating. My mom, who is a wonderful seamstress, took me to Hancock Fabrics to pick out some fabric and as simple a pattern as we could find. This dress is my first creation. It's hard to tell in the picture but it is grey seersucker with ladybugs on it...very cute! My mom helped me by supervising and directing the project, but I can honestly say that every stitch was done by ME! I'm very proud! It's still a little big for Amara, but I'm looking forward to seeing her in it very soon! When I bought this fabric, I also got some cute fabric with little birds on it. I may try to make another dress, like this one, but all on my own with no supervision. Hopefully I'll have another successful project to post about. Wish me luck.

Love to all...