Hey everyone- I am officially going private on September 1st. Please leave a comment with your e-mail address (won’t be shared), who you are, and if you have a website/blog too you would like to share leave the link! I don’t want to leave anyone out so let me know before September 1st! :)
Thanks for reading!!!
Nat
They took so long to load I can’t remember which one is what…. so hopefully there are some cute ones. If not, Lola will love them anyways one day…
The first part of this video is what is so cute…
All about Lola Lou… 
I still smile at God when I think about how much He really listened to my prayers while I was pregnant. I prayed for a healthy and very happy baby. I didn’t care if she was book smart, I didn’t care if she liked to decorate or bake, and I didn’t care what color she would want her hair one day- I just wanted her to be a naturally happy and positive baby and one day woman. And everywhere I go everyone says “Is she always this happy?” and I smile and of course say “Yes.” She is learning how to throw fits now and lots of grunting when she can’t communicate effectively with us and does get grumpy when she is tired or hungry just like her momma, yet her spirit is so fun, energized, and indeed happy.
Thank you Jesus for putting happiness in her heart and in return making everyone around her happier, especially me and her daddy.
I do believe, and I am sure everyone experiences it, that some people are just naturally happier than others. I would like to hope I fall somewhere in the middle, but Lola falls way on the happy side of the spectrum. And I tend to worry here and there, yet Nonna hardly worries at all, so I hope Lola learns not to be a worrier as well. God tells us not to worry. I have a feeling she won’t be a worrier. She’ll be a optimist, a dare devil, a friend maker, a bit of a tom boy, and a loud little thing… and I am sure I just keep loving her a bit more and more each day.
We just had our 15 month appointment and she got her shots despite having a fever when we arrived, which the last two days she has been pretty sick. Sick enough I ended up spending $40 on a thermometer. I know, I about had a heart attack too. Ugh. But it works good and fast and that’s what I needed. She finally seems better today. Her weight is somewhere between 25 and 26 pounds. We couldn’t get a great weight because she was bawling on the scale trying to get around the nurse to get to me. This whole separation anxiety can really be to the extreme sometimes… which it might have been worse because she was sick- was actually I am sure of it, but when she gets upset, so do I. I know, silly- but I don’t like her being upset especially when I know I can make her happy. Her height was…. oh, maybe 33 inches? I can’t remember now, but 100% on her height. Doctor thinks she will be a tall one… I secretly hope not. She is napping in her bed during the days and still sleeping with us. I think in the next month or two she will be ready to start sleeping in her room at night in her toddler bed… fingers crossed.
Her vocabulary is huge. Everyday I seem to hear a new word. Now when we put her in her car seat she grabs the straps and says “buckle, buckle.” And she is getting better and better and attempting to say words even if it comes out all wrong.
The other day she did the cutest and surprising thing yet- It was about to pour and thunderstorms were moving in… Lola was in her room just playing with her little kitchen and it thundered really hard and Lola came sprinting down the hallway and I just heard her little feet hitting the floor so hard and fast and she ran straight into my arms with this frightened little face. It was adorable and funny seeing her get scared of something. So we talked about the rain and thunder and stood at the glass door and looked at the trees blowing… from then on out the thunder didn’t scare her and whenever she heard it thunder she would look at me and say “thunder” and nod her head like it was okay because she knew what it was. Where did my baby go?
A little personal, but just a true confession… I thought I would have baby fever by now. But I am really loving this stage. I know my dad is kind of surprised because I have always been ready for the “next” stage even when I was just a little girl. But then again he knew I always just wanted to get to this stage… and here I am and it’s all I thought it was cracked up to be. The hard work we are putting into our marriage, Lola, and home feels good and rewarding. I think I will always look back and cherish this time. Clay and I seem to have gone through a lot of changes in the past 3-4 years and it just feels good where we are. I know God will strike baby fever upon me when it’s just the right time for all of us… and Clay admits there will be no stopping me! :) And Lola will definitely be an amazing big sister and I know she will love having a playmate.
Back to Lola… I just love her so much. One thing that I so enjoy watching is how she loves of her daddy when he comes home from work. Some days she seems to cares less, but then there are those days you couldn’t pry her loose from his side. She says his name so sweetly and over and over and just climbs, pulls, and loves on him. I love it and I know Clay loves it too. It’s a fun thing to come home too. I will be sad one day when she becomes all about daddy, but then again- I know what it means to be a daddy’s girl- so I’ll so appreciate it too.
Okay, here are some pictures. I guess this was a bit more of a journal entry which I have to have some like this because it’s just in my nature to journal.
Lola has learned to pick her nose and she does it all the time and loves showing strangers her new talent… so embarrassing… She will just sit in a buggy or her stroller with her finger shoved up her nose and just laugh and laugh…
Lola loves climbing the stairs to her Aunt Kebby’s room so she can play dress up!
Kebby is officially going to Blinn and has a great roommate and we are all really excited for her!
So of course Lola and I had to make a trip to check out the school and town for ourselves. We loved it, but won’t be traveling again any time soon. Traveling with a 14 month old is not fun.
Moving on to playdates:
I have given up certain things for awhile like my favorite restaurant, so we have to find play dates doing something besides eating… so that leaves shopping!! Our girls were super into each other this day and Aubrey would cry when she couldn’t see Lola so we left them parked in front of each other so they could talk. :)
See? Wasn’t lying.
I splurged. I spent $20 on Elmo Pajamas (two for twenty) . I thought it would be a fun surprise for Lola at bedtime and I thought it was a cute way to incorporate Elmo apparel without having to buy a Elmo shirt. Plus, they are kind of cute for Elmo. And Lola does love them.
I was trying to take a picture of Lola and me and she leaned over and gave me a fat kiss… Sometimes she makes me feel so loved.
Look at that face…
Still takes over our bed :(
Next Elmo pajamas… sometimes she’ll be playing and see Elmo on her pjs and stop what she is doing and try to pick him off of her pants… haha. In this picture she was bringing her pot and forks in the den to make Clay something to eat. She is pretty good at pretending.
She definitely is a Chick-fil-A girl. Good thing we have “connections” or we would be broke. Haha
She loves the cows.
And I thought this was really funny! I think it’s funny how I couldn’t do what Clay does and he couldn’t do what I do… :) But either way- we both adore Lola. Happy 15 months Miss. Lola Lou
Natalie
So I am definitely a stay at home mom. I work here and there and maybe one day a week out of the home, but it’s minor. Not that the “work” I am doing doesn’t matter, it’s just in comparison to the job I have as a wife and mother, it is only minor. It’s a small, tiny piece of the puzzle.
Some days I think maybe I should have gone into criminal justice, law school, been that hardcore crazed investigator.
Or really learned the art of baking and have opened a creatively-named bakery, sported a half-sleeve tattoo, and dated Clay till I was 32.
Maybe the teacher route would have been okay. (probably not- although I loved the kiddos)
Or I could have even been a sex therapist and wear my hair in a high bun with a pencil through it and get some wayfarer reading glasses. Clay- did you just get a little turned on? :) Oh crap- I know I just embarrassed him. (I can make that up to him later…)
Not to be conceited and it’s probably because my mom always says this, is why I so confidently believe it, but I am sure I could have done all of those things. And it’s not wrong for those mothers who do, but for me- my heart is at home and Clay makes that possible. Really works hard to make it possible.
Even when my house is a wreck and there’s proof that my little glow worm baby has been in every nook and cranny of it- I still look around, a little frazzled that my house is frazzled, and still know that this is right. Even when laundry gets piled sky high- which is probably more laziness- but at least it is clean laundry- I am glad it’s my job to put it up- maybe Lola’s job one day… :) When I rock Lola to sleep at noon and then lay her down in bed and watch her laugh and giggle in her sleep and say Momma Nonna because she is having sweet dreams, I know I couldn’t be anywhere else in the world- (The beach is exempt from that).
My life is pretty much how I imagined it: Husband who may just love me unconditionally which helps balance off the messy boy still in him, a baby girl who might love me as much as I love her right now (I thought she was going to be a boy- praise the Lord He knows best!), and poor. :) Haha- I always said I would have tons of babies in diapers only because I couldn’t afford clothes and thanks to great grandparents- Lola has a great wardrobe!
I really appreciate the blessings God allows us to experience on a daily basis and I really fail to give them enough recognition and thankfulness. But know that I am very thankful- for my husband, my baby girl, our home, our families, and my job- staying at home.
I got seriously sun-burned on Sunday and have slowly been recovering especially my poor tummy. I guess with Lola this year I didn’t realize the lack of sun in my life and on my stomach. Now I am in this itchy, scratchy stage. What’s up with that? The redness has turned to tan, but I am scratching my stomach like crazy. ??? So after trying everything, I resorted back to my pregnancy state and busted out the olive oil. Soaked my skin in it and am feeling a little relief. So bazaar.
I am really wanting some cinnamon toast, but it late and I have to be up before the sun tomorrow, so I guess the smarter thing would be to go to bed… most definitely more healthy. What should a hungry girl do?
This built in little hutch is pretty nice to have especially considering my kitchen is the size of a lot of people’s closets, so any extra storage is great.
A few things to note: The chalkboard doors where a genius solution to a cheap free way to fix the doors. The lady before me had the doors off and only one of the doors had glass (which was yellow). To replace the glass was over $300. I bought some cheap wood (or form of) and cut it with my jig saw and primed and painted and then added it in all for like $10! And it’s been a huge hit!
Second thing to note is, it’s pretty much my pantry. I have a small pantry that has a pretty glass door on it and my microwave and toaster are on the shelves along with cereal and snacks. So needed more pantry space… :)
And the space where the jars are placed, is kind of awkward. Not quite tall enough for most decor type things and the jars are just awfully convenient. But boring. Hence the Before:
And after! I painted the letters spicy mustard, which I may change but wanted something different, but love the over sized numbers. I looked into the vinyl stick ons, but this seemed a lot cheaper ($5) and required less patients. I think they make the cheaper jars look better too!
So Gaps big sale was AMAZING! Got Lola some ridiculously cheap things like these $3 jeans she wouldn’t take off! One of my favorite things about Lola right now is she knows when she hasn’t something new on and likes to show it off! Jeans are a little big but should be great for fall and are super comfy. I wanted a pair!
Cropped which bring me to the point that I am highly considering going private again so may be asking for e-mail addresses of readers who would like to keep reading. I get some weirdo comments and don’t like knowing who’s actually looking at this baby-filled picture blog.
Little baby steps: Lola took a nap in her toddler bed!
Productive week: Got Lola’s clothes, toys, and all baby stuff organized! Yaya! Maybe this weekend we can clear out the garage and get it good and organized too! Just need to have a garage sale! :)
7 Tubs full of things and lots and lots of new stuff to add to a garage sale! :) I guess I’ll give in and have one more.
Love labels- even handwritten ones!
So Lola is going to need some big girl fall and winter clothes for sure. Not much to safe from last winter…
I am selling Lola’s clothes I didn’t save so if anyone is interested, holla’! I had so many there was no way to justify saving it ALL!
Hope everyone is having a great week!!
Nat
Well I haven’t been able to completely rid Lola of her bottles because it’s the only way she will drink milk! So we were still taking two bottles a day, one morning and one night.
But now I can easily ditch the morning one because I figured out the secret. At CFA Lola will drink the milk there with a straw and it was an easy way to add a little more milk to her diet and not soooo much juice or sweet tea :) So at Wal-mart I bought some cheap, but really nice cups with lids and hard straws that work great for her age and up and now I put the milk in that! Ya! So she is getting milk without a bottle, except for at night. :( Not ready to give that up yet.
Normally she doesn’t even like her sippy cup on her tray, but I guess because it’s her big girl cup, she’s cool with it.
She takes a drink…
And puts it back!
Ya for my Lola! Love you Lola Lou!
I don’t know what’s going on with Obama and health insurance but I know what’s going on with our health insurance options and they all suck. Tears…
This is a picture of fireworks. Nick. Nick in the fireworks. They were daring him to do that and by they I mean Kebby and me and Mom was threatening him if he did so. Double-dog-dare still works- even on 27 year old men boys. When he went I just happened to throw my camera up and snapped this crazy picture! It definitely gets picture of the weekend! :)
The 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays and for years now we have always had a party down at the lake to celebrate… this year we did the same- just pushed back one day due to the rainy weather. The 4th ended up being beautiful and the perfect day for our annual bash.
Lola was a perfect little one all weekend and did great on the 4th! A lot was going on and she just fit right in! Luckily I have the sweetest husband in the world and he drove Lola, Stace, and me around so Lola could sleep and Stacy and I could hit up antique stores! Stacy got some great stuff, I bought something small, and Lola got her nap in which was critical! She was amazing all day and weekend and only started to break down during the fireworks, so as soon as they died down, we showered, read Ba’s chapter books in the back room until everyone left, and then grabbed a bottle, and crashed! Haha- the both of us! Then she woke up at 7:20 a.m.!!! What??? :)
My Mom always makes everything look so festive, no matter the occasion! Even Clay got into the decorations this time! :)We all LOVE it! It seemed Lola really knew something fun was going to go down! Hehe. Holidays decorations really are a big deal… I think it helps create memories, puts love into things, and makes everything a tad more special! When we go to estate sales, sometimes people have had booths or stores and so people have tons of holiday decor…. well people are going to think my mom had a booth…. nope- just a person who put special touches all year round! :)
Lola loved her flags and kept wanting to carry them everywhere!
Mom had a HUGE Nonna moment and I loved every minute of it! She made 4th of July Cupcakes (Yum too!) and just for Lola Lou put Elmo on them!! Uncle Elmo!! Haha! Lola got a huge kick out of it and certainly didn’t mind eating Elmo!
I seriously love these sugar cookies more and more every time she makes them… although I will admit I could dip the entire cookie in icing… thanks for the extra 5 pounds cookies.
Okay only some pics have comments and they are in such a random order…
Lola LOVED jumping on the mattress with Kebby… and ever since she tries to jump on everything! Kebby helped her learn how to bend her knees and get a little spring in her step.
Poor Nick just hasn’t won her over yet… he sees her enough she clearly knows who he is… only girl besides Leah Taylor to not like Nick. Haha!
From our quick First Monday trip: Rox and Christin had never been! Mom kept calling them First Monday Virgins to all the vendors… so embarrassing.
One of Lola’s favorite things now is this darn golf cart, which she can say oddly enough and begs to ride it at the garage door… between all of us she probably got on it 25 times!
Lola wanting outside! She knew if she wanted to go down to the dock to grab her life jacket at the door and it was so cute!
My sexy husband :)
So Lola was super proud of her bathing suit and cover up and it when she came out of our room she went straight to her daddy to show him. Awe- melt my heart.
I asked Ernie if we could take his ice chest home because apparently it’s better than even Elmo. Lola played and played with this chest and all the ice… luckily it was just to keep drinks cold because she probably licked every cube in there.
Dock time! I wasn’t as nervous as I thought and only my mom, Clay, or me took her to the dock and Ba made the rule and we second it that she can’t go to the dock until she has her life jacket on. I love that rule. It did cover up her cute bathing suit, but the price you pay to keep your baby safe.
We would chill in our room every once in awhile to recoup. I brought several of her toys and she would just play so good. We actually stole Nick’s room since our room has double doors out to the back porch which equals a little noisy- his room was much quieter.
So this is the big Corn Hole Tournament. I know- sounds weird- but lots of fun and somehow Stacy went pretty far in the bracket.
I seriously love the determination on her face. :)
I loved her barely-there-pony-tail! And red sunglasses!
Lola tries so hard to say Stacy and Stacy won her over this weekend with all her Bible songs… Lola still loves them and Stacy even taught me some new ones!
I love this picture of Clay.
Just got in from their Honeymoon and straight to the lake!
Same look…
FROM 2oo9: Lola fell asleep when Nick danced with her- not quite the same reaction this year.
In the cabana and she discovered the air condition on the wall- she loved it and we all were in need of some cold air on us!
Lola is playing “Peek-a-boo” in this picture… so cute.
That is all sweat… I couldn’t wait for us both to get cleaned up!
Emily tried to teach me some new tricks with my camera and I was learning how to catch this shot with sparklers. They were trying to spell “Hell Ya”
I finally gave in and let her swim in lake water. No surprise- she loved it!
Momma (me): Why the sad look Lola?
Lola: I really want to ride the one that actually goes.
Momma: But you are just too little this summer Lola.
Lola: That’s not what my Nonna said.
Momma: Nonna is wrong. :)
These pictures were shot at 8 am when we were the only 3 up… we finally let Lola sit on the parked jet skit and she so badly wanted it to go but her Momma is mean and said “NO WAY!”
I actually got one! :) Isn’t that awesome?!
On our way home- Lola has slept great ever since that trip!
