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Baby Gymnastics and Backpack

I signed Meredith up for a baby gymnastics class. It was offered by the city recreation department for a decent price and I figured it would be something fun for Meredith to do. There seems to be a bit of a shortage of things for toddlers to do in this town. In fact, a friend and I have decided to do some music classes starting in the winter. The Parks and Recreation people are eager for more things for the kids to do and have facilities they will let us use for free. So, we're going to try a couple of toddler and preschool classes. A fun way to make some money and to provide a service for the moms in the community. We're still in the planning stages, but I'm really looking forward to it! I know Meredith will love it, too. Boy does she love her gymnastics class! Her teacher's name is Miss Ally and Meredith loves her too. Here's a few pictures from her class today. The vault is Meredith's favorite...she loves bouncing on the springboard.








Yesterday, while I was out to dinner with some girlfriends, Court took Meredith to the mall to walk around. They came across this backpack. Meredith is a huge Dora fan and Court couldn't help but buy the backpack for her. Now she wears it around where ever she goes. And when she's hungry or thirsty or tired or whatever, so is Backpack. Earlier I told Meredith she needed her squishy diaper changed and she said, "Backpack has a squishy diaper too!"

Chick Fil A Daddy Daughter Date Night

This is the follow up picture from Janelle's Post. Meredith and I had a blast. They had the area sectioned off with table cloths and candlelight. We got a picture with the cow. Great idea Chick-Fil-A :)

Cutie Pie

Here's a few fun pictures of Meredith taken this past week:

On Saturday we took Meredith to the
Texas State Forest Festival.
She got to ride a real pony, a fake pony and the Ferris wheel. Her favorite thing was the petting zoo, where she was actually brave enough to feed some goats. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures. We had fun at the festival for the first little while, but then Meredith got tired and wasn't happy with anything we tried to do. So we ended up taking her home and putting her to bed.

Riding a pony. She loved it for the first minute and then was ready to get down.

Riding a fake pony...
The carousel and the Ferris wheel were the only rides she could go on.


The other day we were at the Family Dollar and found some $5 Disney Princess outfits. So we bought Meredith a couple. Nothing fancy, but she sure has had fun playing dress up.

Checking herself out in the mirror.

In her little kitchen. She absolutely refused to look at the camera.
So this is the best I could get.

She particularly likes the costume jewelry.

These were taken just tonight. The Chick-Fil-A at the mall had a "Daddy Daughter Date Night" complete with a candlelight dinner and a visit from the Chick-Fil-A cow. Court and Meredith are there as I type this. Hopefully having fun. I prettied Meredith up for her special date with daddy. She is getting so big!

Stevie Wonder Eat Your Heart Out

I was "watching" Meredith this morning as Janelle was getting ready for church. I was at the computer working on my homework and Meredith was at the kitchen table and broke into song. I grabbed my phone and here is what I caught:

I Love Ya, Tomorrow!

Meredith loves to sing. Lately she has been singing the song "Tomorrow" from the movie "Annie". It's so cute to hear her in her room singing it from the top of her lungs. LOL. Last night she started singing it at the dinner table. I probably should have told her not to sing at the dinner table, but instead I grabbed the camera and started recording it! Here's the video...(ignore my horrible singing at the end!) ;)

Apparently She Likes Books?

Janelle and I went into Meredith's Room to check on her before we went to bed tonight and here are the pictures of what we found. We put her in her bed sometime around 8:30 and she apparently decided to do some reading:


Check the pile of books underneath her.

Now Check out the Pile on the Floor

Keep in mind her room was clean when we put her to "bed."

Oh to be two again.

Chicago!

Court and I are lucky enough to be spending this week in Chicago! I was born just outside of Chicago, but we moved away when I was five. This is the first time I've been back to Illinois since then. It's beautiful here! It's been fun to have a sort of second honeymoon with my hubby! ;) Court has been offered a job out here, so we are out to see the area and decide whether or not we could call Illinois home. I worry most about those cold winters! Ugh! But people tell me it's not as bad as I think, and that the climate has changed a lot since I was five. The only memories I really have of Illinois are of the blizzard of '79. So, I have images of 6 foot snowdrifts in my head. But I'm told the climate has changed a lot since then and it's not as bad as that.

Anyway...we arrived Tuesday evening and got settled into the hotel. We were excited when we picked up our rental car because we were supposed to get a Ford Focus sized car, but the lady in line in front of us got the last compact car they had on the lot (a Kia), so they gave us an SUV instead! Yay! Good thing my husband is such a gentleman and let her go first in line! ;) Court spent yesterday morning working, and I spent it driving around trying to find Walmart! I got totally lost! I found out that I have learned to rely on my GPS too much. I'm lost without it. But I did find myself driving around a really beautiful neighborhood with some very large homes! Yeah, we won't be able to live in this area! ;) After I finally found my way to Walmart and back, got showered and dressed, I met up with Court and some of the people he was working with for lunch at Cheescake Factory. Yum! They are a really fun group of people and I can see how happy my husband is working with them. They treat him so well. I really love the idea of my husband working with people who respect him and treat him well. Anyway, Court got off work at about 2:00 and we decided to go see the Houston Astros (Court's all time favorite sports team) play the Cubs at Wrigley field. Unfortunately, we discovered that the game was an afternoon game and we wouldn't be able to make it. So, we headed into the city to see Navy Pier instead. What a fun place Navy Pier is. Reminds me a lot of Santa Monica Pier and the 3rd Street Promenade. Shops, food, boat rides out on Lake Michigan, music, shows, and lots and lots of people walking around. It was a beautiful evening and we had a good time. I wanted to ride on the big ferris wheel, but the line was so long we decided not to wait. But we did walk to the end of the pier and watch the boats sailing on the lake, looked for a t-shirt for Meredith and ate some really yummy pizza for dinner. Good times. So, so far, the trip has been fun. I'm going to go run down to the fitness center here and check it out. Then we'll meet up for lunch and afterwards probably go for another drive. Try to see some of the surrounding areas and look for places to live. See what's available. If anyone knows of any good areas around Oak Brook, IL...let us know! ;)

Here's some pictures so far...

O'Hare Airport! We made it!!

Driving into the City. The Sears Tower. I guess they've renamed it the "Willis Tower" but Court and I have decided it will always be the SEARS TOWER to us!

Chicago Skyline from Navy Pier. This picture doesn't do it justice!

Us at Navy Pier!

There is something very cool...

...about taking your daughter to the library and seeing your sister's book on display! Awesome! And I looked...it's been checked out 6 times...or at least the sticker on it had 6 different dates stamped on it! Cool!

Big Girl

Meredith turns 2 next week. I can't believe it. I have a 2 year old? What? I can't believe how grown up she is. It's awesome, but somedays it makes me want to cry. The time goes way too fast.

Eating lunch in her new kitchen.
For the first few days I couldn't get her out of that kitchen.

Meredith's crib converts to a toddler bed. So, on a whim, Court decided to make the conversion and see if she would actually stay in the bed. I was sure she'd climb right out of it and we joked that we'd probably find her asleep on the floor or in her kitchen, if she even went to sleep at all. But, from the first night, she has slept just fine in that bed. She gets all excited when I tuck the covers around her. She doesn't stay under the covers long, but she does stay in the bed. The only downside is that now, when she wakes up at 5:30 am, she's no longer contained, so she gets out of bed and starts pounding on her door and yelling "Let me out!" So, no more sleeping in for me!

First night in the "big girl bed."

We got invited to go swimming at a friend's house, so I bought Meredith some floaties. She was so excited watching me blow them up. She put them all on and went walking through the house. I had to make her take them off so we could get her bathing suit on. Boy, talk about a tantrum! When we finally got into the pool, she didn't want any part of those floaties...or me, for that matter. She kept saying, "Mom, let go!" and would get frustrated when I wouldn't. Finally, I let go for a brief moment...just long enough for her mouth to go under water. Then she didn't want me to let go anymore. Instead she kept saying, "All done! Get out!" LOL!

Playing with her floaties.

Meredith loves to brush her teeth. Of course, I have to put the toothpaste on the brush and turn the water on for her, but she does the rest all by herself. I usually have to eventually force the toothbrush out of her hand, or she'd brush all day long!

Brushing teeth.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

We had a fun Memorial Day Weekend.

On Saturday, we drove down to Court's parents house for a crawfish boil and swimming with cousins. We had a blast! Meredith really enjoyed playing in the water and was sad when it was time to get out. Court enjoyed the crawfish, and even coaxed me into trying some. It really wasn't that bad, I just don't like to eat things that are looking back at me. I kept hearing people talking about sucking the heads and I was grossed out. Ew! LOL. But I did eat some corn that was so spicy that it almost burned my lips off, and a hamburger and a whole lot of other yummy stuff! Fun times! I love my in-laws!

On Sunday we went to church and then later that evening went to our friends the McDaniels' house and cooked hot dogs and 'smores over their fire pit. The grown ups sat and visited while the kids jumped on the trampoline and played on the swing set. It started raining after a while, so we had to pack it in and call it a night, but we had a lot of fun!

Then on Monday, we had a quiet, low-key day at home. Court has been working so much and so busy with school, it was nice to just be home together. We played Mario Cart on the Xbox, watched the Land of the Lost marathon on the SciFi Network, took naps and went and walked around the mall. It was awesome! The most exciting part of the day for Meredith was when she got her new kitchen play set. Some friends of ours are moving (we're going to miss the Huntsmans a lot) and they had a fun kitchen play set and a kids sized table and chairs that they didn't want to have to move. So, they kindly gave them to Meredith. Since her birthday is in two weeks, it was perfect timing! We haven't been able to get Meredith out of that kitchen! Thank you so much Huntsmans! That kitchen will definitely get used A LOT!

Here's some pictures and video of our weekend fun...

Swimming with Cousins and Aunt Kim!

Meredith's New Kitchen!!

And here's some video of swimming and playing in the new kitchen...

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid!!

While Court was in Chicago for work, I spent the week at his parent's house. It was a really nice getaway, and Meredith really had fun spending time with Awna D, Geezer, and her aunts and uncles. She got to go play at the splash park, the mall, and even Chuck E. Cheese! It was a very busy, very fun-filled week!

On Wednesday, my sister-in-law Kim and I took Meredith to Chuck E. Cheese. We met up with Kim's friend Maren, whose husband is the manager of the local CEC. He gave us a GREAT deal on pizza and tokens (Thanks Ryan!). It was Meredith's first time in the land of the big Cheese...or "Chuckie Mouse" as she calls him. When we first walked into the dining area where they had the big animatronic (or whatever it's called) Chuck E. Cheese, she was a bit nervous...I took her down to this little dance floor they had where she could see herself dancing on a T.V. monitor. That totally changed her mood and from then on out it was go, go, go...when the pizza finally came, she wasn't too interested because she was so busy waving and yelling "Hi Chuckie Mouse!" and dancing...always dancing. Meredith's favorite thing to do with the tokens was to ride all the fun kiddie rides...her favorite being a little crousel. It had three horses that were small enough, and went around slow enough, that she could ride it all by herself. She must have ridden that thing for a good 30 minutes. I had to force her to get off of it. When it was time to go, she was sad and kept running away and climbing on the rides. I had my hands full of the diaper bag and drinks and had to keep setting them down to chase after her. I'd get her back by me and start picking up the drinks and diaper bag again and then she'd take off running! Ugh! But I finally got her out the door and into the car. She was fast asleep by the time we pulled out of the parking lot. Oh what fun "Chuckie Mouse" is! The only downer was that Court wasn't there to witness it all!

Here are some pictures and a short video of our fun in Chuckieland!

I Like to Move It, Move It!

Here's some more video of Meredith dancing...we were watching American Idol and when Daughtry came on, she started cutting a rug! The other video is of her looking at a book with her dad. She'll be 2 next month...I think she talks very well for not even being 2 yet!

My Funny Meredith

Meredith has been making me laugh all morning. She does the funniest things sometimes! This morning I've been working on laundry, so she's been entertaining herself. I about died laughing when I came out of the bedroom with a load of laundry and found her sitting on the couch reading...with her bunny ears on, but pushed to the back of her head. Maybe I'm just punchy today, but that made me laugh, so then I grabbed my camera and started videoing her, and eventually got her dancing!

Here she is reading with the bunny ears on.

And here she is dancing!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Today we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a friend's place. Court smoked up a bunch of meat for the event...which was delicious! Seems like we've had lots of BBQ lately...but I'm not complaining because it is soooo delicious!

Anyway....they had all the dads go out in the front yard and hide the eggs. Then they let the kids 4 and younger have a 2 minute head start. Meredith had a lot of fun. Here's some fun pictures...

All the kiddos lining up for the egg hunt.

Look closely and you'll see lots of Easter eggs!

Collecting Eggs

Wearing Bunny Ears

Perusing her loot.

Comparing Loot with cousin Taylor.

The people who threw the party just got 4 little bunnies. They were so cute and all the kids had tons of fun holding them. Meredith loved petting the bunnies...but we had to work with her on being "soft".

Trying to get her to kiss the bunny.

With her cousins.