Budding athlete

Breeley and I attended her daycare friend's 2nd birthday party tonight at a kids gym. Brian was away with friends at the Bills-Panthers NFL game in Charlotte, but he would have been very proud of his little budding athlete!



She scaled these steps over and over, but what's more impressive, she also walked up the steps/ladder in the background and I only had to help her once!


Up...


Down...


A different way up...


I was surprised when she climbed right up this like it was nothing.


She also loved the trampoline at the gym since she's been working so diligently on her jumping. At one point she came flying off the side toward me, completely no fear. Luckily, I caught her, and the "umph" I grunted reminded me once again why pregnancy has been a bit harder the second time around!

Although some of the kids were scared to try new things, she was first in line for all the different apparatuses they pulled out!

I should also mention how surprised and proud I was that she waited her turn so well!

Playtime was great, but of course she had no problem taking a break for cake!

Saying "chiz"


It was a fun party! And it was great to see Breeley in action in a different setting... we hope to have more opportunities to watch her show her athletic prowess!

What do cows say?

We had a big weekend of fun activities! On Friday we headed to the SC State Fair and Saturday we went to a local farm for a hayride. We saw cows on both excursions, so my favorite new Breeley development from the weekend:

Mommy: "Breeley, what do cows say?"
Breeley: "Moooo"

She loves sounds and almost always at least tries to mimic them, but this is the first animal sound that she's made on her own by recognizing the name of the animal.

I didn't get any pictures of cows, but Breeley came home with some cow poop on her shoes, which transferred to Brian's pants! Here are some of the pictures we did get:

She loved looking at all the animals. Despite our warnings, she managed to get a little nip from a duck. I didn't even see it and it didn't seem to faze her, but it triggered a few frantic comments from other witnesses. Apparently they don't have toddlers in daycare... a little duck is nothing compared to a toddler bite!




Luckily, they had handwashing signs and stations all around the animal areas. We washed the germs away, but while Mommy was in the bathroom, Breeley tripped over a curb and busted her lip! So our visit with the animals resulted in a bit finger, a busted lip, poop on our shoes, and a happy little girl!

What else makes for happy girls and parents? FAIR FOOD!!! We were pretty tame in our selections of a foot-long corn dog, fries, polish sausage, lemonade, and chocolate-dipped ice cream! Guess which was Breeley's favorite? It was Mommy's too! (Brian neglected to point out the chocolate all over my mouth in what was the only picture of me at the fair!)


We walked around and observed all the lights, music, games, and rides... pretty much we spent a lot of time laughing at people who try to win the hideous prizes from the games. I'm not a big fan of stuffed animals in general, but really, you REALLY want a gigantic money-print tiger??

We also talked about Brian's distaste for spinny fair rides. I love them, but he's hated them since that fateful day at the NRV Fair when he threw up after a certain round-and-round ride!! Still a very funny memory (for me)!!

Okay, so we did let Breeley play one game... she chose a $2 duck with a "S" on the bottom, netting her a small pink dolphin, which she immediately stuck in the water! But of course, dolphins go in the water!


Our first visit to the SC State Fair was well worth the $8 admission and outrageously-priced food! As we add more children, we'll have to save up for the fair, but I definitely see more visits in our family's future!

Another thing I've been wanting to do is take Breeley on a hayride. We finally made it on Saturday, although we got there a little later than planned due to Bee's late nap and my late-afternoon run to the grocery store. (Ahh... child-free grocery runs are so nice!)

We enjoyed a ride around Clinton Sease Farm, complete with cows, sheep, cornfields, and a beautiful sunset!













Everyone on the hayride thought Breeley's mooing when we saw the cows was very impressive! We are continually amazed at how much she's growing and developing! She hit 18-months on Saturday, and we are anxious to see what the next 18 months (and beyond) hold!

Mountain Weekend

This weekend we traveled to VA for a Mountain Weekend! Brian's family has a cabin and some land in Wythe County (intersection of I-77 and I-81, near the VA/NC border) and we've enjoyed going there for a long time. We planned a fun fall weekend with his sister and her family. The weather wasn't nearly as great as we were hoping with temps in the 40s-50s and clouds and some rain, but we enjoyed a bunch of fall activities inside the cabin, as well as some relaxing time away from "the real world."

I actually took these several years ago (weather wasn't cooperative this time), but these give you an indication of why we love it so much!

Here's Breeley with her cousins in their Halloween shirts. I'm not sure if we'll ever get a picture where all 4 kids cooperate!

This chair was the cause of several fights between Breeley and Kade! Here she is demonstrating her new trick of saying "cheese," which actually comes out more like "ciz."

Ma & Pappy didn't stay the night but were there some on Friday night and Saturday during the day. Pappy hunted in the morning (so did Brian) and then came back to enjoy the grandkids!

Of course, the kids had to beat up on Brian and Pappy, and Breeley joined right in!


But then she got a little jealous of her daddy playing with the other kids!


So of course Daddy's Princess got a ride too.


Here are a few other fun activities from the weekend:

Finger-painting fall leaves on her tree (traced arm and hand). As she gets a little older, I'm feeling quite crafty!

Emma and Lance decorating Halloween cookies. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the day when my daughter hands me a sugar cookie with big goopy eyes and a string of hair made from orange icing and says, "Mommy, I made this one to look like you" (as Emma said to Lindsay)!


Where there's pumpkin cake, there's toddlers!



What's a festive fall weekend without pumpking carving? We haven't carved a pumpkin in several years, so I think Brian enjoyed it as much as the kids!


Occasionally, Breeley and Kade would sneak away to go jump on the bed!


I'm not sure why she's making a face because books are Breeley's new obsession. (That'll be a different post.)


And what do parents do when the children are in bed? Why, play Guitar Hero and eat junk food of course! (Yummy cheesey crab dip on Friday and nacho sausage dip on Saturday!)


It was a super fun fall mountain weekend!! We always love being at "the mountain" and it was even better to enjoy it with Lindsay, Brian (her husband), and the kids!





Crazy to think that next fall's mountain weekend will include an 8-month-old baby boy!!

Picnic

One of our Tot Trade purchases was a kids picnic table for the backyard. Breeley loves to climb on it but we've been hesitant to use it for its intended purpose in fear that Breeley would want to eat ALL her meals outside if that concept were introduced. However, it was a beautiful day today and I realized colder weather is ahead, so I decided to give an outdoor picnic lunch a try. Of course, as we knew she would, Breeley LOVED it!

"Ciz!" ("Cheese" in Breeley-speak)


She did pretty well staying at the table, but she did walk around some. I let her sit on the step to drink her juice.


This was my favorite part of the entire lunch! Breeley spilled some of her juice as she was walking back to the table. I said, "Uh oh, you're spilling it," and motioned for her to turn it rightside up. She set the juice on the table and immediately reached for the papertowel, then went back to the spot and started wiping it up!


She actually tore off a tiny piece of papertowel, which is what I do for little spills and drips! It's amazing what kids pick up!


After our hour outside, I expected a fit when we came back inside, but she did great! I'm sure we'll enjoy a few more outdoor picnic lunches before the weather gets too cold!