National Zoo.

Shawn's parents were in DC for a convention, so we drove up to see them (roughly an hour and a half away) and to see Mike, Shawn's super awesome first cousin- and on my list of favorite people- that lives there.

The agenda? Go to the National Zoo.

It was awesome and the kids had a blast. We ate with everyone and then walked to the zoo, which entailed more walking. Shawn's parents had to leave for the conference and after finishing up at the zoo we went with Mike to a super awesome cafe.

And as a bonus, when I ended up having to vacate said cafe with my little hooligan, I saw 3 out of 19 (?) Duggars crossing the street. I will state, for the record, that despite the fact that their house is crawling with kids- Jenna, John David, and Jinger totes thought that Liam was super cute and smiled at him.

FYI: They walked back by a few minutes later, each with a McFlurry.

Oh hai.

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. So much has changed since my last entry- some good, some bad. For this post I'm going to focus on the good.

Liam has grown so much. I currently refer to him as my little hooligan. I know I've said before that he and Abbi Kate have totally different personalities, but it's just crazy. First of all, he could care less if you tell him no. It doesn't hurt his feelings one bit and he stares you down and does whatever you've told him not to do again. Except he's so darn cute, and gives me that mini-shawn mischievous smile and it takes everything I have in me not to laugh.

As for Abbi Kate, she started pre-school at St. Matthews Episcopal and is in a class of 7 "young" 4 year olds. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here, but in VA the cut off for kindergarten is that you need to be 5 by September 30th. Everywhere else we've lived, it's been September 1st. So, we're holding her back, but that seems strange to say considering she'd be like me in terms of age compared to her classmates (my birthday is September 30th). Plus, I won't lie- the thought of her going to College and being there for almost a month before turning 18 freaks me out. But I digress....

She LOVES school. Most mornings she wakes me up long before it's actually time to go to said preschool, just to let me know. She could've cared less about me leaving her the first day. All she saw was other little kiddos and toys and it was bye bye mommy. It was really hard to be sad with her so happy about it all. Her new BFF is Sophia... or, as AK says, "So-FEE-ah." Her teacher? Ms. "EAN-Sehl".. It's hilarious that she says her "A"s like someone from Indiana or Illinois (or my one time Disney roomie from Gary, IN) and then says "Belle" ... "BAY-YULL" all MS style. At this rate she should fit right in when we move back to New Orleans.

I'd just like to add, very quickly, that you should not, under any circumstances lay down in front of Liam. He uses this as an opportunity to jump on you and attack. All of this complete with an evil laugh, that is both terrifying and adorable at the same time. I often find myself thinking about all the parent teacher conferences that are in my future. It's okay though, because both Abbi Kate and Liam are awesome and make me laugh on a daily basis.

And now, Pictures....


Abbi Kate with Liam on his first birthday- he is unimpressed.


Abbi Kate just before going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg. We bought a 2 year pass and it's fun, but also very VERY exhausting. Still, she's rockin' her tinkerbell shades and you can see our fabulous granite countertops in place behind her. Now all we need is to get the backsplash finished and we will FINALLY be finished with the kitchen.


Too funny not to post- this was one of Liam's bday presents- from our friend Nikki.


And this is Miss Thang rockin' her Pink Floyd T-shirt and posing in front of her artwork.


Abbi Kate is 4!?!?!? She has a band-aid under her chin because she takes after her clumsy mom (to make a long story short).

Just a Fwimmin'

A few months ago we decided to buy a small inflatable pool for the back yard... I was thinking of something slightly larger than the one we purchased, but Abbi Kate wanted the fish one, and so the fish one is what we bought. Apart from going to the playground or "chalking the sidewalk", it's pretty much the best thing ever if you're Abbi Kate.

You Say Shrek, I say Karek.

We took Abbi Kate to see the new Shrek movie a few weeks ago. And much like she was obsessed with Disney movies following our trip to Disney World, she constantly wants to watch Shrek (we own the previous 3 installments). The cute thing is that she calls it "ka-rek" and any attempts to correct this completely fail. We say "sh.sh.sh.REK" and she says, "kah.kah.kah.REK".... Maybe she can't say "sh" you say... oh no. She can. I know this because occasionally when I shush her and say, "shh.." she will look at me with a glare that I'm sure I'll see on a daily if not hourly basis when she becomes a teenager and says "shhhhh!" right back at me.

Friday Fun.

As I'm typing this, Liam has chosen to take advantage of the fact that Abbi Kate left the door open to the cabinet containing our DVD's (or if you're Abbi Kate: DBD's) and is doing a good job of scattering them around the living room floor. When he discovers something, like the door being opened in this case, he does this little chuckle, smiles, and squints his eyes at you. It's one of his most recognizable "Shawn looks" and oh so funny. It's also not very clever in the grand scheme of things, because it's obvious he's about to get into something. Even so, I do appreciate the warning.

Abbi Kate can't seem to understand why I would allow him to scatter the "DBD's" and make a mess.(Let's ignore the fact that there are blankets and toys scattered around us from the tea party she just hosted.) I try to explain that he's enjoying himself, but that doesn't compute. Of course, who can blame her? Chances are, if she were to do the same, I'd ask her to stop. She doesn't remember that when she was Liam's age, I'd let her do the same. On a related note, why is it that I even bother buying toys?

And, since I can't post a blog entry without also posting a picture....



I'd like to say, for the record, that while most of the time they enjoy playing and entertaining each other, both Liam and Abbi Kate can often be found smiling when the other one is crying.

tick tock.

I know, I know, I say it a lot, but time is flying by. Now I know the true meaning of the phrase "there aren't enough hours in the day." I also know why people like to remind me "how quickly they grow up."

Liam turned 9 months, and in a matter of weeks will be 10 months. It doesn't seem possible. He's crawling around, pulling up on everything, and is constantly talking. Obviously not in words (other than the odd 'mama' or 'dada') or sentences, though he does do this body convulsing grunt to mimic Hannah's barking. He still adores Abbi Kate and is currently in a bit of a must have mom phase. I can't say it bothers me. I remember all too well how Abbi Kate went through a similar phase and how quickly it passed. Now she's very much a Daddy's girl. He's stood on his own a few times and I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he's walking.

Abbi Kate keeps me busy too. She is definitely developing an attitude lately. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. At times it's downright entertaining. She's been on quite a few play dates recently and would spend absolutely every day in her "bathing soup" if you let her. Thankfully, the weather has been gorgeous lately (apart from this weekend). It should also be noted that her favorite activity (other than swimming, which she very much remembers from last summer) is sliding. Anytime I tell her we're going to a playground that is the first thing she asks, "is there a slide? will there be a slide?"

Happy Easter!

On Easter, I tortured Abbi Kate and Liam by once again putting them in matching outfits. If they didn't look so stinkin' cute in them, I may be less inclined to do this every holiday.






It was actually really hot that day, but we'd decided to venture out to the "Easter Parade." It's not really a parade in the traditional sense. They block off a stretch of Monument Avenue (in Richmond) and there are performers, vendors, food carts, etc... making it a "parade of Richmonders." We calculated that we walked about 3 miles by the time we parked, walked around, and then walked back to the car. As a result, Abbi Kate was completely worn out. We stopped for food before coming back home and she was in bed by 6:30 and stayed down until 8 the next morning. The houses and scenery were gorgeous, and all in all it was a nice way to spend the day.

renovation realities...

Now that the kitchen is at least functional again, and the house is relatively clean (because how clean can it ever really be with two kids?), an update is in order.

A few weeks before Easter, my mom and sister came to town. Somehow we managed to not take any pictures. It was great seeing both of them, and Abbi Kate and Liam loved having them here as well. The next week Shawn's parents came for about a week to help with the kitchen project. Shawn and his dad were able to get most of it done, or at least the hard parts, before it was time for them to go back to Tupelo. For about a week after that Shawn and I spent long nights finishing up the cabinets.

We still don't have our new counter tops, and won't for a few more weeks, but everything is back in its place and the house doesn't feel quite so small and cluttered.

before:



and (almost) after:



The cabinets are MUCH taller, providing much more storage, and make much better use of the space. All we need are the counter tops and new sink installed and we're done!

Catching up...

Things have been a little hectic (per usual) here. We've been spending most of our time either chasing Liam around or trying to plan/make decisions regarding our kitchen remodel. We're not changing the layout of the kitchen, or getting new appliances, but we are getting new cabinets and counter tops. I am looking forward to the final product but definitely NOT looking forward to the chaos that not having a functional kitchen will cause during the transition (among other things like re-locating breakables in a house with 2 kids).

I will post before and after pictures when we're done, but until then here are a few other pictures from the past few weeks. Note the bump and bruise on Liam's forehead in the bathtub picture- one of the casualties of cruising...







Liam had a check up yesterday. He is 8 months, 21.7 lbs and just under 28" long. Looks like he'll catch up with Abbi Kate soon.

We've also registered Abbi Kate for pre-school next year. She'll be in the 3 year old class. Here in VA, the cut off date for starting school is September 30th. That means that as long as you're 5 by September 30th, you can start that year. In every other state we've lived in the cut off date has been September 1st. So, Abbi Kate is being "held back" when before it wasn't really something I'd considered since I'd always planned on her starting Kindergarten at the same time (age wise) that I still plan on her starting Kindergarten (her birthday is Sept. 13th). We toured the school last week and she is beyond excited.

Under the Sea...

We finally got around to ordering our photopass pictures from our trip to Disney. We ordered a lot of them in hard copies, but purchased one as a download. Here is Abbi Kate with her favorite Disney Princess, Ariel. (It should be noted that Jasmine is a close second.)

Éire go Brách

Anyone who knows anything about Shawn, knows that he loves all things Ireland. So, when by accident we had Liam in an orange shirt and pulled out the festive green shamrock bib, Shawn had to get a picture. I thought it'd be best to take it before he ate and got messy, and that is where things went downhill.

Have I mentioned that Liam is even more strong willed than Abbi Kate and while he doesn't get upset very often he is very adamant about his food and his toys. In Liam's world, those are things you don't mess with, just so you know.




That same day we'd made a trip to Babies R' Us and Abbi Kate found some Buzz Lightyear pajamas in the clearance section. When we got back home she changed into them immediately and insisted I take her picture....

Hook 'em?

Mack bought both Abbi Kate and Liam some Navy gear, and we had Abbi Kate model her t-shirt. She stood on the bed and as soon as we said we were taking a picture for Mack, she immediately said, "Hook 'em Horns!"

Back Story: We taught her that a few years ago to be funny since she was born in Texas. During football season, every time she sees the Longhorn symbol she starts saying it and doing the hand sign. One afternoon Mack was here and caught her doing that and told her "No, no Hook 'em Horns." She was skeptical but went along with it, especially when he said, "Hook 'em Horns in the air," raising his hand, followed by "down in the ground," putting his hand down. That became a simple "Hook 'em Horns in the ground." It wasn't long before she caught onto him and told him "No, Mack! No Hook 'em Horns in the ground!"

So, here's Abbi Kate in her Navy shirt (and Hello Kitty biker style gloves courtesy of H&M).

Someone is Crawling!

I may or may not have mentioned it, but Liam started crawling recently. It started out innocently enough, he'd raise up on all fours and fling himself forward. After a few days of that he implemented a modified version where he would go a few "steps" and then fling himself if needed. And then the real fun began. He now is crawling non stop and if he knows you're coming to get him and wants something (take a shoe for instance since that is something he seems to always go for) he turns on the speed. And EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. Needless to say, the past week or two has been fun. Each day he gets faster and better and now, if he's got anything to do with it he's pulling up on his toys and on me.

Dear Liam,

You are 7 months old. Stop trying to grow up so fast!

Our Little Artist!

Ever since the move we'd had Abbi Kate's easel packed away in her closet. We finally brought it down for her a few days ago, as promised, and she painted with me while I worked on an order. I need to go to Ikea and get another roll o' paper to go with it, but for now she enjoys painting pages of her big coloring book.

And yes, she is painting in her apron and panties. Gotta love it!

Careful What You Wish For...

We've been told that other than some snow last March, that there hasn't been a snow storm in Richmond in 5 years. Now, we've had 3 in one year so far. We didn't get as much this time as we got last weekend, and certainly not as much as they had even an hour north of us, but for the second weekend in a row we've been home bound. I have to say, however, that Abbi Kate LOVES it. She loves "playing snow."






Liam and I stayed indoors while Abbi Kate and Shawn were outside. It was still snowing and really windy at the time, but we plan on taking him out for a photo op today. Otherwise, we'll be settling in to watch the Super Bowl and cheer on our Saints!

And Then it Snowed...

I know, I know,I asked for it. On Friday night it started snowing and snowed all day Saturday. Mack (my nephew) came up from Portsmouth for the weekend. I'm not sure he was quite as impressed with all of the snow, but the rest of us were pretty excited. I take that back, Liam wasn't all that impressed either, but we did bundle him up like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Poor thing, he couldn't move. We didn't want to actually sit him in the snow because it was pretty deep and very soft. It was the fluffiest snow I've ever seen. We weren't even able to build a snowman- it wouldn't pack at all!

Epcot.

On our final day in Orlando, we went to Epcot. Abbi Kate dressed up in her Ariel dress and wore her tiara. We spent most of the morning at 'The Seas'... an area of the park that has a Finding Nemo ride as well as several aquariums and a "Turtle Talk With Crush" interactive show. After lunch we began our trek across the world (also known as Epcot's World Showcase). We started in Mexico and ended in Canada. It was very low key and really a lot of fun. In Norway we stopped for a sandwich and rode a ride featuring Norway's history. Well, let it be known that Abbi Kate is no long a fan of Vikings. Just sayin'...







There was a Beatles cover band in the UK. Obviously Shawn was in heaven, and Abbi Kate had so much fun dancing. It was so cute!