More Milestones!

I know it sounds like I am bragging all the time about what Hope is doing these days. Please keep in mind, this blog is my journal (like a baby book would be) documenting all the wonderful things she is doing and all the wonderful memories we are making. I print out each month's blog and put it in a binder, so she will have a journal of her life in my words along with photos.
So this is what she is up to this week... 33 1/2 inches! We measured her last night as she is getting so tall.
She is starting to memorize and sing along to songs. Last night she was singing the "these are the colors of our rainbow... red, orange, yellow, green, purple and bluuuueee". She is really starting to recognize so many colors. For a while there, everything was "yellow", but now she is starting to get them right when you ask her.
She is like a sponge, absorbing everything she can. Wayne is teaching her all about the Dallas Cowboys. When she sees the Cowboys signature star, she immediately says "Go Cowboys!" Wayne will put both arms straight up in the air and she says "Touchdown!" It is cute! Each game, she has to wear her Tony Romo Jersey and sit in Daddy's lap for kick off. They are starting a new tradition!
She is talking so good and holding little conversations. When we drive by Ms. Keri's, she points and says "Keri's house". I am so amazed at what she knows and understands at such a young age. She is starting to test the waters a bit too. Sometimes she doesn't say "sorry" when she is supposed to and gets into trouble and has to go to time out until she is ready to apologize. She knows what she is supposed to do and sometimes refuses to do it. It all is developmental and normal for her age, we just have to teach her respect. We are all human and have our moments, she is no different. We still think she is more amazing than we could have ever dreamed she would be! She is so lovable and polite.... still saying "Thank you mommy" "thank you Daddy" when you give her something. "Bless you Daddy"... although she doesn't bless me much; I guess our sneezes sound different?? And our favorite... "Love you Mommy!" "Love you Daddy!" That always melts my heart!!

Sunday Stroll

It is antique time again! We headed out Sunday afternoon and it was HOT!! We were only there for a little over and hour due to the heat. Here is Hope in her wagon as we got started! So precious!!

"Hope Happy"

Wayne just got home from dove hunting this morning and is playing with Hope in the other room. As they were playing, Hope told him "Hope Happy". How wonderful is that?? We always knew she was a happy girl, now we are certain!! What a wonderful feeling to know your child is happy!! What a great way to start off our day!!

My 19 Month Old Can Count to 10!!!

This morning, while Hope was sitting on her potty, we were counting the butterflies in one of her books and she counted them 1 thru 10 all by herself! (She stumbled a bit on number 7, but the next time, she got number 7 just fine!) My 19 month old can count to 10!! How amazing is that???

WOW!!!

Yesterday when I went to pick up Hope from Ms. Keri's, Keri showed me something so amazing!! She pulled out these ABC flashcards and had letters A thru N lined up. She proceeded to ask Hope to sound out the letters while pointing at each letter. Keri did NOT tell Hope the names of each letter, all she did was point and Hope proceeded to sound out each letter as Keri pointed to it. I stood there with my mouth on the floor in total amazement. Hope went thru each letter and sounded each one out (not named the letter, but made the sound each letter makes). She did stumble on a few letters... F, H and K, but she nailed all the others. I still am in awe that my 19 month old daughter knows how to sound out the first half of the alphabet!! She amazes me each day! We are so blessed to have Ms. Keri as a second mommy! I don't know how she does it with all the kids she cares for, but they all get so much love and attention, not to mention all the fun projects, activities and learning they do!! I hope and pray all of our kids will have the opportunity to go there and experience what Hope is experiencing!!

I just received this email from a friend of mine and it made me cry! Even though I know everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan, I still have a hard time letting everything happen in His time, not mine. These are very powerful words we all need to be reminded of every now and then, so I wanted to share them with you and with Hope when she is old enough to read this.

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day. I love you.

P.S. And, remember...

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that
you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it
yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something
for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All
situations will be resolved, but in My time, not
yours.

Once the matter is placed
into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about
it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things
that are present in your life now.

Dancing Queen - Wedding 9-19-09

Saturday evening we went to Casey and Kayla's wedding at The Oasis and had the most wonderful time! We originally tried to get Granny or Kate to baby sit Hope because the wedding was to start at 7pm and Hope usually goes to bed at 8. Both had other plans, so we decided to take Hope with us and if we had to leave at 8, then so be it. We got there a little early and decided to sit down and have dinner. (I forgot Hope's bib, so I used the shirt she was wearing earlier in the day and put it over her dress). I love this photo of Hope and Wayne at the dinner table:




After dinner, we went upstairs to the wedding. It was beautiful! They got married with the sunset behind them overlooking the lake. Here are a few photos of us with the beautiful scenic background. Hope loved watching the boats on the lake too!














At 8pm, the band started playing. They were great, played mostly 80's music and come to find out... Hope LOVES 80's music. She danced and danced ALL NIGHT LONG! The little girl who goes to bed religiously at 8pm every night, danced to the music until 9:45!!!! We had total strangers come up to us and dance with us. We even had a stranger come up to us and tell us "you have your hands full with her!" Everyone was commenting on how precious she was... and she really was so cute out there dancing all around! She had a ball! Full of smiles and energy. Then when Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to leave, she was smiling and waving "bye bye" to everyone around! I wasn't able to get any good photos of her dancing, but here are two photos of Hope with Fritzie (top) and Hope with Katie (bottom).




I am so glad we weren't able to get a sitter. We would have missed out on such a wonderful night! I know Hope won't remember it, but we sure will! We are so blessed to have such an amazing and fun child!!

County Fair Weekend ~ Sept.3rd ~ 6th

Hope is at such a fun age where she can really enjoy the places we go. A few weekends ago we had our county fair. We went up there all 4 days and checked out the animals, live music and the petting zoo. She liked the petting zoo the best!! On Saturday, we went to the parade and on the last day, she got to play games and ride rides. Here are some of the photos from the weekend.

Petting Zoo:












Parade on Saturday. Photo with Madison and Brodie. Jaley, Brynn and Kynzee where there too!






Playing Games and showing off Prizes!





Riding Rides with Daddy:

Austin's New Golf Cart

A few weekends ago, we went to the golf course with Aunt Janet, Uncle Barney, Austin, Emily and Reed to break in Austin's new golf cart. We had a great morning!
Here is Austin and Reed in Austin's golf cart and Hope and Mommy in the other golf cart!