Happy 4th of July

We spent most of the day on the beach before heading back to my parents' house for nap-time.  I slept longer than I had expected when I layed down on the couch, but after chasing Handley and Harper around all day at the beach I guess I was just worn out! I woke up to Handley singing "Happy Birthday America."  Robby had tried to explain it to her, but then she turned to him and asked, "Who is America?"  I guess that one is  little tough for a 3-year-old to grasp. That evening we had dinner, played outside for a while, and then got ready to head over to my grandparents house to watch the fireworks.  They live on the inter-coastal waterway and just across from them is a private island that has a great firework display.  We had a great view and it was a fun way to end our holiday weekend.  

Everyone sitting on the dock watching the fireworks

Handley, Aunt Stefanie, Harper and Uncle Trey
Handley with both of her Great-Grandmother's on my side of the family

Handley's week with Mimi and Dadaw

We arrived in Wilmington during wee hours of the night, so we got to see Handley the next morning.  She was thrilled to see us, but then went right back to wanting Mimi to do everything for her.  During our weekend there I kept reminding her that she would be coming back to our house and every time she would tell me that she just wanted to stay at Mimi and Dadaw's house.  It took some convincing on Monday morning, but thankfully she got in our car to head home without too much of a fight.  It didn't hurt my feelings one bit that she wanted to stay though.  I'm happy she feels so at home there with my parents.  Heck, with all the fun stuff she did all week, I'd probably want to stay too. :-) 

She spent lots of time outdoors swimming

picked blackberries that made delicious smoothies 

saw Toy Story 3

played games at Chucke Cheese

got to hang out with her pal, Paxton 
ate dinner at my uncle's place and a Wilmington favorite, Capt'n Bills

and got to spend some quality time with her great-grandparents.

Harper: The Only Child

Harper and I had a pretty uneventful day today.  Besides getting my oil changed and a quick stop by Target we just played the rest of the day.  One thing I've noticed this week is that Harper has taken advantage of being the only one in the house.  She has started doing this thing that absolutely cracks me up.  If she is off playing in the next room or if I'm out of sight she'll start calling, "MAMA!!! MAMA!!!" and will peek around until she finds me.  Once she sees I'm nearby, she'll go back to playing.  She's also started exploring some of Handley's things that normally she doesn't have the opportunity too.  Stamps, stickers, special baby doll accessories and the dress-up clothes are a few of her new-found favorites. 

As much as she has enjoyed being the only child this week, I just know that when she sees her big sister she is going to be grinning from ear to ear.  Handley will probably smoother her with hugs.  Everyday when Handley calls to talk to me she'll say hi to me real quick, but immediately she'll ask to talk to Harper.  She talks and Harper listens with the biggest smile on her face.  It is just about the sweetest thing ever.  

A New Daddy's Girl

With Handley gone in North Carolina this week with my parents, Harper has taken over the role of Daddy's girl.  Usually Handley dominates that role, but since she isn't here to compete with Harper has done nothing but ask about her "Dada" during the day, picked up the phone and tried to call him, and followed him around non-stop during the hours he is at home.  She is in love (and so is he!) with all of the time they've had to bond this week.  

Handley is having a great time (just as I expected) and doesn't seem to be missing us at all.  They've gone to the beach, swam at the pool, played outdoors a lot, and today were going to see Toy Story 3.  I'm so happy she's getting to have some special time with her Mimi and Dadaw.  

On the other hand, it has been VERY quiet around here and almost boring.  It's been nice to have some one-on-one time with Harper, but we sure do miss Big Sis too.

Jenny's wedding

This weekend we made the road trip to NC for my cousin's wedding.  Jenny and her groom, Matt, had a beautiful day and it was so great to see all of my family.  The girls did great during the wedding and didn't make a peep.  After the ceremony all the kids were happy to be outside running around. 

The kids had fun dancing at the reception and we really enjoyed the evening.  Harper and Handley were both social butterflies and fluttered around the ballroom all evening.  

When we left to come home this morning we were one girl short.  Handley went home with my parents and will be staying with them all week!!!  It is her first week away from home, but she couldn't get in the car with them quick enough.  We'll miss her, but I'm not sure the feeling will be mutual.  

Braves Game

Tonight some last minute plans found our family of four heading to Turner Field for the Braves game.  Just before 6 PM the girls and I were still wet from playing in the sprinkler in the front yard.  We had thrown on clothes and were in the car on the way to pick up pizza for dinner when I got a call from Robby saying he had 4 tickets to the Braves game that started at 7:30 PM.  My first thoughts were: we aren't even really dressed, it's dinnertime, Harper didn't nap well today, we are leaving the house bright and early in the morning, and we don't need to be out late tonight.  I'm so glad those thoughts only lasted for about 2 seconds and I quickly thought about how much fun it would be to take the girls to their first ever Braves game.  We hurried home, got dressed in our red and blue and headed to pick Robby up from work.  

Handley was beside herself with excitement to go the game and she really didn't even know what to expect.  She's been to a few other professional sports games, but never a baseball game.  She kept telling Harper in the ride there, "Harper, this is going to be SO fun." She was also asking all sorts of questions.  She wanted to know if the people playing the game were grown-ups, what all they had at the game, who would bet there, if there was food, how would we cheer, if we would sit up high or down low, and she wanted to know if Daddy was a Brave. Ha! We taught her how to do the tomahawk chop on the way there so she was ready to cheer when we got to our seats. 

When we arrived we were happy to find ourselves in seats just behind home plate.  Handley was really into the game.  Right away she wanted to know what color our team was and watched pretty closely as batters came up to the plate. Every time the crowd would cheer she would stand up and clap her hands.  If she happened to look over and notice that I was not cheering she would prompt me to do so.  It was so fun watching her.  She also loved all of the food.  We had chicken fingers, a pretzel, popcorn, and dip-n-dots.  Every time a vendor would walk by she'd ask, "what do they have to eat?"  

Harper did great too.  She was squirmy at first, but settled down and was happy to sit on my lap and take in all the sights.  She kept looking around at everything and even though it's like sensory overload in there, she loved it.  Harper would also take cues from others and start clapping at appropriate times. :-) 

We actually stayed a lot longer than I thought we would make it.  We sat through the first 4 innings and then made our way back to the car.  Just before leaving the park we stopped at the kid's zone.  Both girls were tickled to death running around the bases in there and Handley even battled the big kids to make her way down the giant slide before riding on Daddy's shoulders back to the car.  She must have said at least 18 times, "That was so much fun!" 

I couldn't believe they both stayed awake the entire ride home and since they were wide-eyed and bushy-tailed when we got home I just had to go ahead and give them a bath to get all the ball-park grime and sweat off of them.  Even if it was 10 PM.  

I hope this is just the first of many games for us.  I remember going to the Braves games when I was a little girl and just loving it.  I'm happy that tonight we got to pass along that fun to our girls.  

Squeaky Shoes

This week I got Harper her first pair of real shoes. She's been wearing the soft soled Robeez, but now that she is really walking everywhere and a lot sturdier I figured it was time.  I decided on a pair of squeaky shoes for her.  Handley had a pair when she was Harper's age and just loved them. I had hoped that Harper would fit into Handley's old ones, but her foot is a little bigger so we got her a brand new pair.  

When I first tried them on her she started crying and wasn't too sure.  That didn't last long though.  Now every time she sees them she sits down and holds her foot up so that I'll put them on her.  These shoes might seem annoying to some people, but they just make me happy to hear her squeaking around.  I just love them and she does too. :-)   

*** NOTE: The squeakers can be removed, which is a good thing because Harper will be wearing these shoes to my cousin's wedding this weekend and I'd hate for her to be squeaking around during an event like that. ***

We've been having a great week, but nothing too exciting has been going on.  We've spent lots of time at the pool, which wears both girls out.  Yesterday Handley slept until 9:30 AM!  That girl has the life.  This weekend we are attending my cousin's wedding and I am so excited about seeing all of my extended family.  I have been meaning to post these pics for a week now.  Both girls have closets full of pink, but I love little girls in blue and loved that they were really admiring the flowers on our front porch so I had to grab my camera and snap a few pics.