Texas Road House

Tonight we went to Texas Road House for dinner. We met Aunt Laura (Ben's sister), Uncle Rick and Conner there too. We were there for 2 1/2 hours and Alivia was perfect! We had such a great night. Here are a couple pics I took with my phone...

Playing with Aunt Laura...

Alivia and Conner playing!

Our Sweet Neighbors...

Our wonderful neighbors, The Summerlins, just got back from Disney World so they brought Alivia a Mickey Mouse cookie. They are so sweet and Alivia just LOVES their two boys Chase and Ryan. We are so lucky to have such great friends on our street. Of course, Alivia LOVED the cookie and couldn't wait to eat it! Thanks guys...you are the best!

AS I am blogging this picture Alivia looked at it and said, "Awww...so cute!" I guess she thinks she is cute!! LOL!

"I do it myself" STAGE...

We have been in the "do it myself" myself stage for a while but it is definitely worse since Alivia turned 2. Ben took his new job in December so he leaves extra early in the morning. Our mornings are definitely different without Daddy. Ben used to get Alivia ready and give her breakfast. I don't think Mommy does it just like Daddy did. :( Alivia insists on putting her clothes on all by herself every morning. She actually CAN do it by herself but of course it takes a while and she WILL NOT let me help her at all. Needless to say this has been a fight every morning. I have tried letting her pick her clothes out the night before and also had her do one part of the clothing and then sharing with me to do the other part but NO, she wants to do it all alone! ha! It makes me feel bad because I end up holding her down on her bed to get her clothes on while she is kicking and screaming. What a way to start the morning, right? I know this is just a stage but I am hoping it gets better soon. Here is Alivia tonight when we got home who wanted to change her pants by herself...

Frustrated because she keeps putting 2 legs in one hole but wouldn't let me help her...

Got her underwear on and now her pants are on....

Pulling them up!

She said, "See Mommy, I do it all by myself!"

Introducing Baby Brynn....

Today Heather, Allison and I went to Columbia to see the Rublys. Casey, Trevor and baby Brynn were in town from Oklahoma since their famiy lives in Columbia. We were so excited to make the trip to see them. Casey is one of my best friends from college and is such a wonderful friend so I have really missed being there when Brynn was born. Baby Brynn is their miracle baby and a true blessing. We had such a wonderful day with them!! Allison did a photo shoot so I took a couple pictures myself....:) I miss you already Rublys. Hope to see you soon!!

Heather and Brynn...

Precious Brynn...

Funny face....

Gorgeous family...

Aren't they so cute??

Baby fever for me!!!

Tutu....I got this tutu for her at Yellow Strawberry. It was perfect since it wasn't so big for a newborn!

So snuggly!!

They are all big MU fans!

Heather, Casey (proud mommy), Allison and I! :)

Happy 90th to Grammy!

Alivia sent Grammy these flowers for her 90th birthday. We are so blessed to have Grammy in our lives. She is truly an amazing person and I continue to learn from her each and every day. WE LOVE YOU GRAMMY!

Playing outside...

I don't know who was more excited to run home and play tonight, me or Alivia? Right when we got home we changed our clothes and went right outside to play. We played in the front for a little but then she wanted to go in the back yard. This is her first time on her swing set since the Fall! She is so big now. She loved climbing up and sliding by herself and swinging on the big girl swing too! She especially loves when I swing next to her. She thinks it is so funny. Here are a few pics from tonight....

SO fun...she says, "Higher Mommy, higher!"

Swinging with Mommy!! Yes, I am having fun too!

CHEESE!

Bemis 2 in 1

Ok, I know this may be funny but I had to share this with you all since I had never seen something like this before. Last week our dryer broke so we called a maintenance company to come and fix it. After the guy was finished we started talking to him and he was telling us how he has 4 kids (3 boys and a girl) and they were all potty trained at 11 months...WOW!!!! He then told us about this potty seat that is sold at Home Depot. It is called a Bemis 2 in 1. Alivia has really liked going on the regular potty instead of her potty chair so we were going to get a potty seat cover and do a stool so we thought we would try this one and then we wouldn't have to take a cover off and on. Anyway, it works great and Alivia LOVES it!!!! :)

Alivia's seat down...

Then her seat is lifts up and magnetizes to the top....