Conversations with a 1-year-old

Allie Beth made my day today! Not only did she go all day without wetting her pants, but we had the best conversations.

Allie: Daddy, are you happy?
Daddy: Yes, Allie, I am happy. Are you happy?
Allie: Mommy, you make me happy.
Mommy: Aww, Allie, that is so sweet. You make me happy too.

Mommy: (Thinking I already know the answer to this question...and I was wrong!) Allie, who is your best friend?
Allie: Jesus
Mommy: Allie, that is the best friend you could ever have
Allie: Uh Huh.

Daddy: Allie, it's time to go home.
Allie: How about I go back in the pool....  (She loves the new saying "How about....")

She was such a sweet girl today (minus a few moments :))  Allie Beth is now acknowledging when she's done something wrong and when I'm proud or disappointed.  She's now starting to take her arms out of the carseat buckles while I'm driving. I told her she needed to put her arms in the seatbelt or she was going to get a spanking when we got home. I opened the car door when we were home, and she said, "Mommy, you disappointed?" I replied, "Yes, I was disappointed when you took your arms out of the carseat." Allie said, "But you proud now. I fix it."  Of course I responded, "Yes, Allie, Mommy is proud of you. " I'm astounded on a daily basis of how much Allie Beth is learning right now. She's definitely hitting her terrible twos, but she's also the sweetest little girl I've met. :)  I truly enjoy being her Mommy!!

G is for Green

As seen in the last post, we have been potty training. So, there have been many days playing with playdough. We're slowly going through the alphabet.  Here, Allie is learning G.

Potty Training, Kindermusik, and Reading

We've had a busy few weeks while trying to potty train. We've enjoyed having Trenden with us for a couple weeks while his Mommy went back to work. Allie thoroughly enjoys playing with her cousin!!
It was nice to have him here while we started the potty training experience because he gave us something to do while we were stuck at home. We miss him already....

 Allie enjoys looking at herself, whether it's in the mirror or in pictures. So, we've had to take numerous pictures recently because she wants to look at them. :) I don't know if it's the way her hair looks in this picture, but I think Allie looks like Aunt Sara did when she was little.

Allie Beth loves reading to Trenden.  Poor Trenden didn't have clothes on in these pictures because he had just had a big blowout; I was in the middle of changing him when Allie wanted to read to him. 

Side note: She also loves her new pajamas from Aunt Dawn! :) Thank you! 

Allie enjoys dressing up....

And dressing Daddy....

Only Daddy's little girl would get away with this!! :)

Allie won a princess dress for going one full day without going in her panties. She was so excited!!

We've had a great time while being in the house. But, we're going to enjoy getting out of the house more!!!  We have made daily trips.  We have enjoyed our times in Kindermusik every Wednesday this summer. I realized tonight that I don't have one picture from Kindermusik. Oh well. She LOVED it, and we definitely have a dancer on our hands.  We've also enjoyed going to the Hoover Library once a week.  Allie has read over 2,500 pages this summer!! I was so proud of her. They gave tickets for every 100 pages, and she picked out two big prizes and won a free book. Great job, Allie Beth!

Mommy and Daddy love you, Allie Beth. What a wonderful summer it has been! We will be sad when school starts back!

F, G, and H are for Fun in Grand Haven

We had a fabulous time in Grand Haven, MI, visiting Grandma and Grandpa VanderBroek.  It was HOT. I think we took the Alabama weather with us. It was around 100 the entire time we were there, but it didn't feel that hot because we were on the water.  We finally talked Grandma and Grandpa into turning on the air conditioner. Whew.  It was also great to see Aunt Martha and Aunt Shirley. We were thankful for a fabulous week with family.

We took so many family pictures; however, I am so upset that I don't have any pictures on my camera with Grandma, Grandpa, Martha, Shirley, or Martin. Bummer!!!

Uncle Martin found goggles on the beach. The girls loved wearing them....

 Enjoying the beach.

 Funny how they must have the same things...even outfits. Allie would cry if she didn't have her glasses when Krislyn did. She also had to wear the same shoes. Good thing Uncle Martin found Krislyn's on the beach so that they could be twins.

 Playing at Imagination Station.

 Family Photo.  It was an interesting experience trying to get a good one! :)

 Allie Beth is just like her mother. She wouldn't put her feet or hands in the sand because they would get dirty. As you can tell, it was past bedtime for both Allie and Kendan.

 This pretty much summed up her attitude during the photo shoot.

 Cuties.

 4 generations.

 Allie being less than pleasant.

 Daddy makes her feel better.

 She will finally smile for a picture with Mommy.

 Hugs...

 And Kisses...

Kris and Danny being wonderful dads.

Allie playing in the Water Fountain. She would run in the water and run back to me saying, "I have fun!" I wish I had it on video. 

 Enjoying ice cream. Look at all of those napkins! :)

 Happy 4th of July!

 This photo makes me laugh. This is exactly what it was like trying to get their pictures made!!

What a fabulous trip!! We can't wait for next year....and I will have pictures of everyone else too!