Great Friends=Good Times

I really miss my college roommates and friends.  Sometimes I wish I could go back to living in Bass C 204 and relive some of the great memories that were made there.  Don't get me wrong...I LOVE being married and being a mom, but some girl time is needed occasionally.  Unfortunately most of my college friends live in Rome or the surrounding areas closest to Rome.  :(  We've tried to get together at least once or twice a year to meet up and of course eat!  Our usual meeting place is Kennesaw since it is in between Gwinnett and Rome.  The last time we met was at Christmas.  At that time Raleigh was 12 months old, Amanda A. was expecting her twins, and Amanda D. had recently found out that she was expecting her first.  We made a promise then that we would have to meet again in the summer after the twins were born and of course to see Amanda D. with her cute preggo belly!  Amanda and I drove up to Kennesaw and Coo (my roomie), Amanda D. (my other suite roomie), and Lori (a good friend) came from Dalton, Rome, and Cartersville to meet us.  Raleigh provided us with some comedy (as only toddlers can do) and Ryleigh and Avery provided us with all our oohs and aahs over their baby cuteness!  Not only did we see Amanda D. with her preggo belly (Emma Kate inside), but we got to see Lori and her cute preggo belly (Tucker inside)!  Needless to say...next time we get together we'll be even larger!  I'm so thankful that I was blessed to attend college with my all time best friend and that God blessed me greatly with two amazing roommates and another good friend while at Shorter!

Raleigh with Coo in December

The gang in December...Coo, Amanda A., Me, Raleigh, Amanda D.

Retrieving the crayon Raleigh ate...not even 5 seconds after giving them to her!!

Eating lemons!

Being goofy...showing her belly!

Silly girl!

Tickle, Tickle

Arms up!!

Needing a little privacy...squatting!

Raleigh with Amanda D.

The whole gang...Me, Raleigh, Amanda D., Lori, Avery, Coo, Ryleigh, Amanda A.

Coo's creativeness on the picture!

Raleigh walking out with Amanda...she's going to be a great mom!

Park Time!

We went out to dinner with Nana Pat and Granddaddy Jack when they returned from vacation.  After eating we took a trip to the park.  Raleigh and Nana Pat had a great time playing on the "seat," slide, and seesaw!  

Sitting on the seat with Nana Pat

Down the slide

On the seesaw with Nana Pat

Fun on the Porch!

We went to visit Nore one evening and sat on the porch (my favorite summer past time!).  Raleigh went for a ride in an old wagon that Nore had in the house.  She had so much fun and loved her "ride!"  Nore also had a red ball on the porch.  Raleigh sat in the rocker and played ball with Nore!  She was so cute passing it back and forth...of course it didn't last long!  I hope that she'll create her own wonderful memories of summers and porches!

Ride in the wagon

Playing ball with Nore

Sand, Sand, Everywhere!!

We recently bought Raleigh a sandbox.  To her it is called "box."  She really enjoys sitting in it, playing with some of her sand toys, and most of all picking the sand up and letting it fall out of her hand.  This of course produces sand being found in lots of places!  :)  I know she'll enjoy it for many years to come!  

It's on my feet!!

Water Time!!

The lovely Georgia summer heat and no water ban allowed us to pull out our sprinkler one evening.  Raleigh wasn't sure what to do...she just stood there and let the water fall on her.  Every time the water got to her she would squeal and say "wet."  It was so much fun to watch her enjoy something that I enjoyed as a child!  I'm sure as she grows older she'll enjoy actually running through the sprinkler.  

The initial shock!  Fun, Fun!!

"Wet!"

Two of our neighbors have little girls Raleigh's age.  We had a play date one afternoon at Jennifer and Lauren's house.  So Melissa, Taylor, Raleigh, and I took the short hike to Jennifer and Lauren's.  We all had our swimming pools filled up and Jennifer turned on the sprinkler for the girls.  It was so much fun to see them run around, get in and out of the pools, and learn to share toys (this was a difficult task)!!  Lauren is the oldest...she's 22 months old, Raleigh is in the middle...she's 18 months old, and Taylor is the youngest...she's 17 months old.  The girls did a great job "playing together" and allowing us mommies to have some adult time!  After some swim/water time we enjoyed a nice lunch together.  Once lunch was over it was time to head home...all the girls were exhausted and ready for nap time!  We're very fortunate to have some great neighbors!

Raleigh "helping" fill up her pool

The 3 girls...Taylor (standing), Lauren, Raleigh

Lauren and Raleigh in the sprinkler

Dried off and ready for lunch!

Lunch time!!

Beginning to Climb

Raleigh has never been a climber.  I'm not sure if this is because she started walking late, she's afraid of falling, or I try to keep her as safe as I can and don't give her the opportunity.  Well, she finally found our steps.  To begin with it was her "seat" as she would call it.  She sat there and proceeded to pull diapers out of her diaper bag.  I turned around for a second and she was half way up the stairs!  I went up with her and encouraged her to keep going, but she stopped and couldn't figure out how to get down!  She's also started standing in her little chair and sometimes attempting to climb on the coffee table.  We're really having to keep a closer eye on her!! Hopefully she'll use this new skill to become more comfortable walking and getting around!

Finding the stairs...and her diapers!

Taking off up the stairs!

Climbing on her chair

Happy Birthday Nana!

On June 2, we celebrated Nana Pat's 60th birthday!  We went out to eat at Longhorns and had a great time celebrating together as a family.  We look forward to many more birthday dinners with Nana Pat!!

The 3 P's...Park, Potty, and Porch!

P #1...Park:  My great friend Lou Ellen is in Georgia with her daughter Kensley for a few weeks.  Kensley is a little more than a month older than Raleigh.  Lou Ellen and I have walked a couple times at the park and then let Kensley and Raleigh play on the playground.  They have had the best time getting to know one another.  Kensley is so sweet to Raleigh...she greets her with a big "hey Waleigh" and a wave.  Raleigh has learned to say "Kensey" and loves playing with her.  I wish they lived closer to Georgia so that Raleigh and Kensley could develop a great friendship!

Playing on the "big" playground

Big hug for "Kensey"

Time to go!  :(

P #2...Potty:  Raleigh had been saying "diaper" or "stinky" whenever she had a dirty diaper.  Since she has started to recognize when she needs to be changed I decided I would sit her potty chair in the bathroom.  She loves it and says "seat" when she goes to sit on it.  It was time for Raleigh to take a nap so I told her that it was time to go to sleep.  She must have thought I said seat because she went straight to her potty chair.  I decided I would take off herdiaper and let her sit on it since she needed to be changed before nap.  To my surprise she "tinkled" in her potty!!  I was so proud that I had to take her picture and her little accomplishment.  We haven't officially started potty training yet, just introducing her to the idea!  WARNING:  Some images may be disturbing to some!  :)

Sitting on the potty!

I just couldn't resist taking a picture of her very first "tinkle" in her potty chair!

P #3...Porch:  With the beautiful weather, Nore has felt like sitting on his porch.  When we have time we enjoy going over and sitting on it as well.  Raleigh has been really good not getting too close to the edge.  She enjoys swinging, petting Miss Kitty, and just running around.  Since Nore has always had ice cream or Brown Cows around we decided to let her try a Brown Cow.  Obviously she LOVED it as she loves any and all sweets!

First bite of her first Brown Cow!

Yummy!

Give me more!!

It's all gone!  You can tell who ate it by looking at the mouth and filled out belly!