A Few More- Post Birthday

After Mary Hyatt's birthday party was over I headed back to my house while Ben went to play golf with his dad and brother as part of their Father's Day celebration.  

My parents stayed for a little while to help me get everything unloaded and cleaned up and then we couldn't resist breaking in to some of Mary Hyatt's new toys!  I absolutely love this first picture.  As I have mentioned before, Mary Hyatt has a really special bond with my dad.  She LOVES her Pappy and talks about him constantly.  One of their biggest traditions every time we go home is to talk about the "choo choo" that we can hear near my parents house and to go to the window every time they hear it and look outside. (even though it's not in sight).  They also take many trips over to see the trains in person when we have the time.  So, because of their special bond along with Mary Hyatt's obsession with trains, my parents couldn't resist buying her her very first train set.  She loves it of course, and I love this picture of her admiring it with her hand on Pappy's back.

After my parents left, I walked down to our friends Leigh Anna and Bagby's house for a few minutes and had Leigh Anna take a couple of pictures for me since I didn't get many at the party.  I am so glad that I did because I love this picture of the two of us. 

Later that evening Daddy got back home and Mary Hyatt continue to play with her new toys and show everything to him.

Of course another favorite toy was this giant slide from her Lovie and Granddaddy!

After church on Sunday our friends, the Cupps, came over to play and Mary Hyatt and Jane Reable were all over the slide.

 They loved it!

 After such a busy weekend, I literally walked in to my bedroom right before bed time and found Mary Hyatt just like this.  She had independently managed to set herself up complete with her passy, night night, and shades of course.  She wasn't asleep but it cracked me up and I couldn't resist a picture.   Never a dull moment with this sweet two year old! She sure isn't lacking in personality!

Pre-Birthday Prep and the Actual Birthday

Mary Hyatt,

The night before your actual birthday we decided to make cupcakes for your class.  Of course we had to let the birthday girl help us make them and you were so excited! There was a constant grin across your face. You thought you were so big, and I must admit, my heart hurt a little bit because I realized that you ARE so big! (Where has the time gone?!)

We made a pretty big mess and batter ended up all over the kitchen but that's what is suppose to happen, right?

Giggles were heard constantly...especially when you quickly stuck your finger in the batter to get a taste before we could stop you! 

 We made Mickey Mouse funfetti cupcakes.  Unfortunately you had already gone to bed by the time the cupcakes were out of the over, cooled, and ready to be decorated so your daddy and I did that ourselves.  I thought they turned out super cute!

Mary Hyatt, the next morning,  your actual birthday, your daddy got up super early to make you a delicious breakfast.  He made eggs, bacon, and mickey mouse shaped pancakes. What a sweet daddy you have!

We headed to school after that.  I came down to your classroom for your afternoon snack to join your "party."  Your friends all sang "Happy Birthday" to you and you sang right along with them.  They all thoroughly enjoyed their cupcakes and so did you!

 This is one of your sweet friends.  She is actually a year older than you and will move up to the next class in August, but you sure do love playing with her right now and talk about her constantly.

 Your class had a dance party after snack and it was the cutest thing.  Your teacher played music and you all jumped around and hugged each other. I took off the rest of the day so that you and I could spend some time together.  We went to a place called iJump that has tons of huge inflatable slides and bounce houses.  You weren't scared at all and successfully made your way to the top of the highest slide!

You slid over and over...even head first a couple of times. 

Your favorite thing was playing in the big ball pit.  You would climb up on the ledge on the side and then jump in.

You jumped in the bounce house as well and loved it even though it made me super nervous because there were some big kids in there with you.  They didn't slow you down though!

After iJump, we headed home to meet up with daddy and let you open up a few presents from us.  I didn't take any pictures but you loved opening them this year.  After letting you play with your new toys for about 10 minutes we had to leave because our street was actually having a neighborhood cookout that we were attending.  You had such a fun time playing with all the little kids on our street.

You even got to eat cupcakes again!

 The neighborhood crowd of about 40 people sang happy birthday to you.  You cracked us up because this was your face the entire time.  You hated it.

 At the end you busted out crying. haha I think it overwhelmed you being the center of attention with a bunch of "strangers" staring at you. As soon as the singing was over though, you dug right in and were happy again.  You are just like your mama and daddy... you love your sweets!

It was a fun and a sentimental day for me.  Just to keep it real, it was actually pretty funny because your daddy and I went so out of our way all day long to try to make your day extra special.  You actually were much more ornery and whiny the whole day than you usually are.  You pitched a few more temper tantrums than usual and really worked hard to push my buttons. Oh well... I guess that is part of being 2 and all day we just kept saying to each other, "It's her birthday, she can cry if she wants to!" 

Dancing Queen

At the beginning of May we went to my cousin, Julia's wedding.  Have I mentioned before that Mary Hyatt LOVES weddings and she loves to dance?  She has been to several weddings in her short little life and at all of them we have found her right smack dab in the middle of the dance floor for most of the night.  Julia's wedding was no exception!

At the time she was about 22 months old.  She danced for at least a solid 30-45 minutes.  She was like the energizer bunny.  It was pretty funny because she was oblivious to everybody around her too. There were several times that she would squirm her way back in the crowd and start breaking it down, to which I had to go get her for fear that she would get trampled on.  Here is a short 2 minute video of some of her best dance moves...I hate to admit it, but my almost 2 year old did "drop it like it's hot" on one occasion.  I actually wasn't videoing then so I don't have it on camera but it was hilarious.  You can see her holding her arms up at times though, and at the end she looks like a college girl holding a water bottle and chugging it one handed while continuing to dance.  I promise it was just water in the bottle! :)

April 2013

With the exception of these first few pictures (they are from the month of March.. I just wanted to include them because I love them), most of these pictures sum up our month of April. 

 

Mary Hyatt is all about puzzles these days....and of course is still a big fan of her cowboy boots.

 

 Silly girl! She loves to be naked!

Mary Hyatt is still a big fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and she loves these little toys.  One day when we were going out to run errands, I told her she could pick one to take with her.  She just decided to pick up all of them EXCEPT one.. Poor Daisy was left behind!

More puzzles... puzzles and books are some of her favorite things these days!

She also loves to push her baby stroller around and tries to squeeze herself into it.  I walked in to the living room and found her just like this one day, right beside daddy watching a TV. She is just about to get to the point where she will be too big for this one. That is gonna be a sad day. haha

One Sunday after church we met our good friends, the Cupps, at the park for a picnic.  We were so happy to finally have some warmer weather!

Love these girls!

We have spent many, many days at the park already.  I can't believe how big Mary Hyatt is getting.  She can now pretty much run up and down the jungle gym and do the slides all by herself.  I couldn't believe when I saw her swinging herself on this little bar... she looked like such a big girl. She is getting to be so independent...and I'm just not sure I'm ready for that yet.

One of her favorite things to do at the park is swing.  She laughs and giggles the whole time! It never gets old... for her or for us!

Pure joy!

 

Now that it stays light outside later, we have even started taking family walks after work.  Mary Hyatt's new thing to say every single day on the way home is "wan go pak" (want go park).  I can tell we are going to be spending tons of time at these places this summer!

 

Lastly, one morning while we were getting ready for work, Mary Hyatt got really quiet.  I peeked my head out of the bathroom and around the corner and was totally shocked at what I had found.  Mary Hyatt had let herself out the back door (usually we keep these locked but must have slipped up after letting the dogs out that morning).  She was sitting indian style on our porch not even moving.  She literally sat there for at least 5 minutes... Ben and I laughed hysterically inside.  It was the funniest thing ever.... we also made a mental note that these doors can NEVER be left unlocked.

More to come!

Pretty Girl, Pretty Dress

So I know I've mentioned repeatedly now that I love consignment shopping, thrift store shopping, yard sale shopping etc.    Well, this is the exact reason I get such a high from all of those things.  Sometimes you have to dig and it may take multiple times before you find something you like, but it never fails, at some point you will come across the most awesome treasure ever.  This was mine.

Mary Hyatt and I got up one Saturday morning and headed out to some yard sales.  I found this absolute gorgeous heirloom dress.  The tag said it was a 9 month size but it looked big enough that it would still fit Mary Hyatt.  I tried it on her and it buttoned with plenty of room under the arms so I couldn't resist buying it for only $15. The lady said she paid close to $200 for it when she bought it.  What a steal I had found!!  She actually had it priced for $20, but it did have a couple of light spots on the top so I asked if she would lower it any in case I wasn't able to get the stains out.  She did and I snatched it up!  As soon as I got home, I put a couple of products on it and within minutes the stains were totally gone! Yay!  Oxyclean works wonders!! 

I of course had to take a few pictures of my sweet girl in the dress.  I guess since it is a 9 month size, it really kind of looks like a top/dress with bloomers.  I'm sure it's not nearly as long as it was intended to be but I think it looks absolutely adorable on her and I really don't think anybody would ever think that it wasn't suppose to fit like this.  I just love it, and I love that it is something that I can save for future children and even future grandchildren because it is timeless.  

So...whew... all that typing and no pictures... ready to see? 

I am absolutely in love with the back of it!  Beautiful!!

Yard Sales and Consignment sales really are the way to go! :)  I'm not ashamed!

Easter Morning 2013

We woke up Easter morning at my parent's house and couldn't wait to get downstairs to see if the Easter bunny had made a stop there for Mary Hyatt. 

Of course he had!

With her recent obsession with Mickey Mouse clubhouse, I couldn't resist buying all of these stuffed animals when I found someone selling them for $5 each.  (In the stores, these guys are like $20 a piece!)  Yes, I got FOUR of them for $20..the price of one!! Have I mentioned that I love consignment shopping and finding a good deal?! (We already had Minnie from our trip to Disney World but I set her up with the rest of the gang in MH's Easter basket so she wouldn't be left out! haha)

Anyway, at first glance, MH was far from amused at the stuffed animals.  Talk about a let down! haha All I was thinking was at least I didn't pay full price for them! :) (Just for the record, she does like them a lot now and plays with them often. I have found her several times laying on the ground surrounded by them all)

Easter morning all she went for was the Minnie Mouse pez candy...

And she wouldn't look at anything else until we opened it for her.  Guess she has a sweet tooth like her mama and daddy!

One more thing I just can't resist mentioning..her Nana and Pappy got her this awesome piano (at my request).  I also found it at a sale for only $10!!! I had already met my budget for the month according to my accountant husband haha but I couldn't let this deal pass so I called my mom and asked her if she wanted to buy it since it was only $10.  I am so glad she said yes! I love it and so does Mary Hyatt! I'm hoping she will learn to play the piano one day!

Mary Hyatt your Lovie and Grandaddy got you the cutest Easter gifts too... your first pair of your very own dress up high heels and a precious purse shaped like a dachshund! (I didn't have my good camera when you opened them though so the pictures on my phone were all very blurry.) It is so fun having a little girl and I'm so glad that you are so girly right now, loving shoes and accessories!

That morning we ate lots of pancakes and then got ready for church.  I wanted to get some family pictures taken but the morning was too rushed and by the time we were ready, my parents had already left for church.

I tried to take a couple as we were running out to the car..

My child is definitely a Mama's girl.  She loves her daddy but when she is sleepy, only mama will do...as you can tell in the picture below.  I wanted one picture of her with her daddy but she wasn't having it. 

We went to church and then to lunch with Lovie, Grandaddy and Sassy at the country club. Unfortunately no pictures to share! :(

Every time we go to Decatur, Mary Hyatt loves to listen for the "choo choo's" when we are at my parents house.  We thought it would be fun to go watch one go by on our way home from lunch.  After the train passed, I thought I'd take a few pictures of MH on the track.  It was a total failure...

This little girl was totally exhausted and all she wanted to do was take a nap.  She fell asleep before we even made it back to my parents house.

Oh well.  Didn't get many good pictures from this Easter but we had a great day celebrating Jesus' resurrection!