Beach weekend and more

We left last Thursday and went to the beach. We had amazing weather and two great full days on the beach. My parents and Brian's parents were both there so we had lots of help with the girls. We were able to celebrate my birthday on Friday with a great dinner and a delicious Strawberry pound cake and some ice cream. Hailey woke up on Friday and announced that is was only beach day and not my birthday. After dinner we all had to run some errands and pick up things that we were getting low on for breakfast and Hailey informed my parents that she had to buy me a card. So she did pick out a very sweet birthday card for me all by herself.

Hailey has come a long way from just last year on the beach where it would take her a few days to even touch the sand and she was scared of the waves and had to have someone hold her to go in the water. Now she runs down the boardwalk and just dives into the sand. She was covered in sand from head to toe and couldn't care less. She now has no fear of the ocean and just walk in up to her neck. Brian taught her how to body surf and she just thought that was the best. She is already counting the days till we can go back to the beach in August.

Mackenzie loved the beach as well. She wasn't a huge fan of the dry sand and would just sit in her beach chair and jibber jabber non stop. But as soon as she got on the wet sand and the waves would come at her she was all excited. She would just sit and splash and then crawl around the whole beach. Next time we go she will be running (I hope, but who knows we never imagined that she wouldn't be walking by 16 months) all over the beach and we won't be able to catch up and probably wishing she wasn't so mobile.

We had a great surprise when we got back from our mini vacation, we have veggies! Our garden is exploding. The last picture is the banana peppers that are starting to sprout. The gap you see in the pictures are our onions that don't seem to be doing very well, any of you garden experts out there have any advice?

Mothers Day and other stuff

I took this first picture last week of our garden to show how things are growing but because of the rain we got the other day it is even bigger. So I will have to post again with more updated pictures. I just can't believe how big everything is getting, I just hope we can keep it up and reap the rewards.

Hailey has been having fun making new friends lately. She meets new friends at church every week, at her daddy's softball games and apparently in Old Navy as well. She loves the mannequins and has to play with them every time we go.

Mackenzie is starting to seem so much bigger to us lately and has started doing a lot more things. She is pulling up on everything and starting to walk along things. She loves to climb on whatever she can. The other day Hailey was playing at her snack table and Mackenzie just climbed up in the chair and started playing with her. It was so cute and it made me sad that she is starting to become a little girl and growing out of all her baby stages.

We had a great Mothers Day. I had both moms over for our second annual Mothers Day tea on Saturday. I thought Hailey would be more into it this year than she was last year but I was wrong. She ate some fruit and then she just wanted to get down and play. Mackenzie got to participate more this year and had fun so it should be interesting next year to see if they will both sit for a while.

On Tuesday Hailey's gymnastic class had parent observation day. My mom and Brian's mom got to come along as well. Everyone got to go along with them during class and see what they have been working on since January. Hailey did great and we were amazed by how brave she was and all the things she could do. At the end of class all the kids got a little trophy. It is sad to think that this busy year is coming to an end in just a few weeks but we are looking forward to a relaxed summer.

Cupcakes and skates

We went to King last weekend to celebrate Popi's birthday. We had a great time and even got to visit with Maddox, he is a cutie and growing so fast already. Hailey helped get ready for the party by making the cupcakes (we made sure to leave some with no icing for her to eat).

Mackenzie played on the stairs the whole time (who needs toys?). Her other game was peek a boo with the tray cover of her high chair, she thought she was so funny putting the cover on her face. Her laugh was so sweet, the more we laughed at her the more she would laugh it was hilarious.

We went to a farm near their house on Saturday and watched them sheer some sheep. The family is trying to turn the farm into an historic museum for families to visit and learn about life in the early 1900's. Hailey loved going thought the old house because she said everything was her size. Hailey got a special treat while we were there, new skates. Right now we let her practice inside before she tries it on the pavement and she is starting to get her balance on the linoleum and not falling as much, so maybe we will try and venture outside one day this week and see how she does.

Things you forget

I thought I had the house pretty much baby proofed and we have had to start putting up the gate since Mackenzie has found the stairs but has not quite figured out how to climb down the stairs yet. But the one thing I forgot about is making sure the bathroom door is always shut. I went up stairs the other day to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer and when I came back down this is what I saw. Just seeing the big smile on her face and how proud she was of herself just melted my heart and I just grabbed the camera and started laughing. The only problem is now she thinks it is funny and wants to do it all the time, it is a good thing Hailey is such a big helper and helps me to remember to shut the potty door.

Spring!

We have been very busy these past couple weekends. Two weekends ago we decided that we should go to the zoo in Columbia. We had a good time and really enjoyed the zoo. Mackenzie was pretty fussy but she is teething and then we found out the next day that she was constipated so that didn't help either. Hailey had a lot of fun seeing all the animals and her favorite part was riding the carousel.

Haiely's friend Tyler turned 4 last weekend and we went to his birthday party. It was a super hero theme and everyone got to dress up as their favorite super hero. Hailey (who was the only girl) wanted to dress up as a super princess and looked adorable. She had a great time at the party and even went though the obstacle course where she had to leap over huge building and crawl though fire. Captain America even made an appearance to talk to all the kids, it was a great party.

This past weekend we spent working outside in the beautiful weather. We planted an azalea bush in the front of the house to replace the one that died last year. Brian built a raised garden bed in the back yard. He has wanted to try planting vegetables for over a year so we have finally decided to try it and see what happens. We planted some okra, green beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, banana pepper, watermelon (this was a Hailey request). We also planted some basil, mint and cilantro as well. Hailey had a lot of fun helping plant the seeds and playing in the soil. She also planted some flower seeds in our flower bed and had a little to much fun watering them with her own watering can so it will be amazing if the flowers actually grow after she probably drowned the seeds. It was so cute to watch because she would pound the watering can into the soil and make mud witch she thought was great.

Mackenzie had her 15 month check up yesterday and not much has changed, she is still a little peanut. She weighs a whopping 18 pounds and 1 ounce, she is in the 10% for height, 5% for weight and the 25% for her head. She is a very picky eater and she refuses to try new things so trying to fatten her up by eating regular food is not that easy.

Easter

Here are just a few pictures from Easter. Hailey had a great time finding eggs and playing outside, Mackenzie just liked shaking the eggs to hear the jelly beans rattle inside them.

Exciting things

Our nephew Maddox was born March 31st at 7:04pm weighing 8lbs 12 oz and he was 21.2inches. We were able to go and visit him yesterday and got some cute pictures of him. Baby, mommy and daddy all seem to be doing great and are getting to go home today. Here are just a few pictures, the last one is of Mackenzie standing at her toy, she stood for a good couple of minutes. She is staring to pull up more everyday but I still don't think we are anywhere close to walking yet. Please keep Mark and Kat in your prayers as their due date is Tuesday.