Strawberry Patch 2

Over the past weekend, we enjoyed our second trip to the strawberry patch. This time, in keeping with our May visit tradition, we took my parents with us! We picked lots and lots of yummy strawberries, ate a picnic lunch, and finished our visit with ice cream. It was a fun day!

3K Graduate

Claire graduated from 3K last week. It is hard to believe that her school year is already over! The kids had a fun End of the Year party at a local park. It was so much fun to see Claire and all of her "Ladybug" friends play together. They had a great year.

Happy 1st Birthday, Emma!

What a special day. More party pictures to follow soon!!

One Year Ago

Wow! Was that a basketball or a baby?

One year ago today my water broke just before midnight. Eight and a half hours later we had our beautiful Emma!

Capturing a Moment

This was Claire and Emma just the other day. I caught them as Claire was attempting to share her apple with Emma. It was really quite sweet, and Emma certainly enjoyed the apple. The only problem with this photo is that you are also observing the transfer of a runny nose from one child to the next. It is virtually impossible to stop the spread of germs between these two.

Mortified Mommy

So, I went to Claire's school today for a lovely "Muffins with Mom". The kids sang songs and we were treated to yummy muffins. I had so much fun spending a special morning with Claire. Then, why the "Mortified Mommy" heading you ask? Below are the answers to Claire's "About My Mommy":

My mommy's name is Darcy. (off to a good start!)
My mommy is 3 1/2 months old.
My mommy's favorite thing to do is go to Stevie B's (a local pizza buffet).
The best thing my mommy cooks is Spaghetti O's.
My favorite thing to do with my mommy is go to Chick-fil-A.

Seriously?! I must admit it was worth a good laugh for me and all the other moms standing around as I read it, but unfortunately it makes it look like I could care less about the health of my child. I would like to note that this is not the case, and I believe that I do a good job of providing my children with healthy fruits and vegetables at every meal. In my defense, I will say that we had just gone to Stevie B's the night before this questionnaire was completed, and it had been well over a month since our prior visit. Secondly, I did not even introduce my child to Spaghetti O's until about 6 months ago, and they are fairly rare here as well. As for the Chick-fil-A, well, she got me on that one. We do frequent "The Chick" a good bit, but, as I see it, fresh fruit, milk, and some nuggets is hardly a terrible meal.
Clearly, this was a list of "Claire's Favorite Things", and maybe next year I'll get some "My mommy's favorite thing to do is snuggle with me." and "The best things my mommy cooks are shrimp and sweet potatoes." (another real favorite of Claire's) Until then, I will bear the weight of the downfall of the diets of our nation's children on my shoulders.

Where Did Spring Go?

In true southern fashion, we had a tiny taste of spring and have now skipped right on to summer. It has been in the 80's for about a week! The good news for the kids is that Water Play is back. Emma got her first taste of water table fun yesterday, and she loved it! The other kids did not care for all of her splashing so much, but they thought Emma was pretty funny. It did not take long before Emma was soaked. In the end, she had to take a little break from all of her splashing for some thumb sucking. That's Emma!

The Strawberry Patch

Yesterday, we made our 1st visit of the season to the strawberry patch, and I just could not resist putting Emma in her strawberry dress. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time picking our own strawberries, eating a picnic lunch, and going on a hay ride around the farm. We even indulged in some fresh strawberry ice cream. It was actually Emma's 1st taste of ice cream. As you might imagine, she loved it!
We look forward to going back soon for some of the tastiest strawberries and ice cream around!

Walking Update

Well, I wouldn't call her a walker just yet, but Emma has given us 6-7 steps at a time. Interestingly enough, the day she started taking steps made her exactly the same age as Claire when she started taking steps - just 4 days shy of turning 11 months. In my opinion, that's about as crazy as them both weighing the same on the day they were born.
Happy 11 Months, Emma!

Pensacola Beach Week

My whole family decided to get together last week and have some fun in the sun. Although the middle of the week was a little chilly, the weather was beautiful and we had a great time. While we were there we decided to celebrate my dad's birthday a little early (it's actually today!!). Claire and I made him a cake. It must have been pretty yummy because it was completely gone the very next day!
To top off the week, we had some local visitors! Jeremy's dad was able to come by for a lunch visit, and we also got to spend time with our friends, Tara, Kevin & their sweet little boy, Kade. Kade is quite the little walker now, and the girls had so much fun playing with him.

Happy Easter!

Bunny sightings. . .

So close to walking. . .

Happy Easter from our family to yours!
We just got back yesterday from spending a week in Pensacola Beach with my family, so today has been a busy one as we have attempted to re-organize things. Slowly, but surely, we will get there. Speaking of slowly, but surely, Emma is getting close to walking! She loves to stand on her own, and today we even got a little step. Go, Emma, go!
Beach pictures to follow soon!

Let the Egg Hunts Begin!

Yesterday we got some kids together for a little Easter Egg Hunt play date in our neighborhood. It was a lot of fun, and all of the children seemed to really enjoy themselves. The Egg Hunt (and non-stop request for candy) season has officially begun!