A Busy Fall With A Milestone ;-)

I know I've slacked off on the blog - but it has been a busy fall! We had the Fresh Beat Concert, Halloween, vacation to Charleston, an unexpected trip home...Thanksgiving with my family in RIC and Tim's in Fredericksburg. AND - we went to see Santa already! Whew...but fast-forward to now and here we are....

Since turning two, Lula has become Miss Independent. Well, let's be honest - she's always been that way; HOWEVER, since turning two she has really well...she's started testing us. Big time. She wants to determine bedtime, meals, clothes...did she turn two - or 22? LOL, it's not all bad by any means - it's exciting to watch her become her own little person. She's expressing herself in more ways than ever, and has such a silly and fun way about her. I love to hear her tell me "won more tiome mommy, won more" as much as I dislike (and secretly like) hearing "No. I no do dat!" She is full of surprises everyday!

We are still working on potty training and sleeping in her big girl bed, but we've said "bye bye" to the binky! Three weeks and counting now, and she pretty much quit cold turkey (seasonal pun intended). The holidays have been so fun this year as she starts to understand them and enjoy the traditions; and she gets super excited with each new thing (right now it's 'nowmen, Snanta, reinneer, kissmas tees and baby Jebus'). After visiting Santa last week at Papa's favorite Bass Pro Shop, she won't stop telling me about the "talking moose and catching that bear - roooaarrrr" - I LOVE IT! Especially since she was scared to death of all the animals, which she now remembers fondly. So sweet.

As we get back to normal this week following the holiday, we're doing it alone again as Tim travels to IL for a conference (Gram and Papa headed back to IL too). And though it is a tough phase as Lula grows into Miss Independent, we'll get by just fine. She's not only learning to express herself in new ways, but she's learning to follow rules and listen more too! My baby is growing up, but I know I'm gaining quite the little friend - which warms my heart.

We can't wait for our holiday trip home, and even more excited to experience Christmas through her eyes again this year...such a blessing we have in her!

Vacation!

My Beach Babe!

Her serious side...

Getting ready for Snanta!

Vacation is great....but returning to reality is tough!

Re-entry. Not the easiest thing in the world to do after a week off - and when you spend that week with long-distance family, it is even harder. We were glad to come home, sleep in our own bed, unpack our bags, etc. but it quickly sets in just how far we are from "home" and our family. And although Gram and Gramps are visiting this week to help us recover (my back went out late last week), it is just not the same as being "home" with everyone close at hand. PLUS, there is always someone willing to chase after Lula for us :)

We had a fantastic trip - spending time with all of our parents and siblings, as well as cousins and friends. Loved the opportunity to celebrate Papa Brett's retirement and Leah and Dave's wedding! Such a special time with all of the grandparents and almost every one of the Stamps kids there (we missed you Meg!!). Nothing like relaxing and eating.....and eating, and eating. Did I mention we did some eating??

Later in the week we took Lula to the St. Louis Zoo; and needless to say - she loved it! It was nearly 100 degrees, but with low humidity, we made a great day of it. Thankfully we had Gram, Gramps, and Grandmama to help us out. She is still telling us about the animals and asking to watch her animal videos every day.

To survive the heat we had a pool day at the Harre house, another big hit since swimming is right up there with animals on Lula's list of favorite things. We loved seeing her interact with all of our friends' children throughout the week; I think her and Kinley are going to raise geese together rather than go to college.

All-in-all it was a wonderful trip - bittersweet to be back in VA, but looking forward to our next visit in early August to celebrate Lula's 2nd birthday!

 To survive the triple-digit temps, we took to the water!

Duck farmers

 BFFs! 

Best way to end a vacation!

We are all worn out!

Luckily, Tim was doing mostly day trips this week, and again, my parents decided to come help out since I was having back issues. BUT, once again, they will all leave at nearly the same time, then it is me and baby girl, making it work on our own as daddy hits the road again.

Vacations are always too short...