Circus and Elmo First Week Back Fun

Whoa what a busy first week back its been. And it's been freezing! Looong JSL board meetings (I really need that wall color somewhere in my home and the rug), report cards going home, etc. I was very excited to see that Target and Lilly are teaming up and better start saving up now for everything that I know I will want! It inspired me to bring out some bright colors! 

We went to the circus on Thursday night in Tally. It was the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth and although I thought it was going to be flashier and have more animals, we had a great time! Matt even planned for us to eat at The Red Elephant beforehand. He truly gets my love for a theme! lol 

Did you know that PETA protests at the circus? It was so sad walking past all the signs, and made me feel so bad for the sweet animals. I thought about them during the whole circus. I might have started crying over it several times. Matt told me I was ruining the circus experience, so I stopped, but it really was so sad to think about those animals being treated badly!

Friday night was low key, thankfully. Matt grilled chicken and veggies for fajitas and we played in the playroom all night. After Molly Caroline went to bed we watched the newest Parenthood episode. What a tear jerker! 

Saturday we went to Macon for Levi's second birthday! It was Elmo or "Melmo" themed! Molly Caroline's idea of perfection! :) Everything was adorable! Afterwards we went out for supper with Lynn, Jason, and Levi and I loved every second. There is nothing like reunions with college best friends. And our babies playing together. Makes my heart happy! Plus I birthday parties are so fun! Look at this wrapping paper! 

Today we are resting...church, Publix, and hopefully a trip to visit my friend Erin in the hospital! She had her first baby, a sweet little boy, yesterday morning!!! 

Here are a few other pictures from our week. Someone is all about wearing my watch and rings every afternoon lately.

How is the weekend already over!

Crafts, scripture, Valentine's, and our Weekend.

Well I'm up nice and early...back to work I go! I have several countdowns in my head already! I will miss Molly Caroline so much. I started crying thinking about it yesterday around 5. :( I will say that we made the most of our time off together! 

We stayed in our pjs all day Friday. Just because. We did one last craft. It makes me so happy seeing artwork that she helped make hanging in the playroom. :) it just looks cheery! 

We had Nachos for supper, took MC on a trike ride, and watched a movie. Molly Caroline joined us for about half of our date!

Saturday we worked around the house and hung out on the back porch most of the day. It was slightly rainy and we got a ton done. Then we ran to Target before supper and I got MC a few Valentine treats and some buckets for the playroom. 

Carrie Beth and I are doing the She Reads Truth John plan and our message at church yesterday went right along with it. I love this verse we are memorizing. 

After grocery shopping and a nap we grilled and played before I laid out MCs clothes and started going through my school bags.

I'm thankful that today is a workday and to see my teacher friends. As I was throwing away my planner from last year I came across these awesome sayings. Great advice! Happy Monday!

18 months old!

Molly Caroline is a climbing, dancing, laughing, great sleeping and eating, super fun 18 month old as of December 4th...can't believe it!

She gives hugs (ones where she wraps her hands around your head) and kisses "mah" constantly!

She almost always has one of her stuffed animals tucked under one arm.

She repeats all animals sounds...so cute!

She has started screaming to get what she wants...I'm not a huge fan of this :/.

She is truly a daredevil and stands on things that scare me to death!

She loves to feed her baby, carry around her banana from her kitchen and wear her oven mit, and talk on her phone.

She "reads" to herself often.

She loves playing with scarves, jewelry, and purses. She looks like a little teenager because she knows exactly where to wear them all. She also loves my makeup!

We started doing crafts this month where she started to participate. She learned how to use glue.

She says I'm all done and I enjoyed it after she eats. Thanks to Pam! :)

She loves to wear headbands and sunglasses...but does so around her neck?! Haha

She loves kids...babies, around her age, or older. She gets so excited to play with kids at church, her cousins, and most definitely her friends at daycare. It's super sweet.

She loves walking up and down stairs, going for rides on her trike, swinging, and just being outside!

She's been cutting a lot of teeth lately.

She still takes two good naps most days.

She's right around the 50th percentile in height and weight.

Big news! She likes baths again. Actually, loves them! She tries to crawl in with her clothes on and no water! She splashes like crazy and laughs when you pour water over her head. I think she just remembered...oh yeah I used to love bath time and baths are fun!

She is starting to count...she points as she counts! 1, 2, 3 is as far as we've gotten :)

She says ready, set, go and then either runs or goes down her slide.

She loves to climb up her slide backwards. 

She loves to give us her paci. 

She loves brushing her teeth and is not happy to give up her toothbrush!

She mimics different dance moves. It's pretty amazing. Uh let me just call up South Georgia Ballet! :)

She still loves her Aden and Anais blankets and paci. 

Her little arms can reach a lot lately. If she  gets something off that she knows she shouldn't have, she quickly brings it to me and says thank you.

She loves cups and Tervis tumblers. I wonder why?

You love to be tickled. 

You don't love for your hair to be put up. However you love your bows and ponys. 

She loves wearing her duck slippers and brings me them multiple times a day to wear. She also still loves shoes.

Molly Caroline you are our best girl! We love every single thing about you. You are our princess and honey bunch. "Mah"

2014 Year in Review

I love going back through my pictures and kind of summing up my year. I think that 2014 was a fun year...quiet, we took quite a few memorable trips, did a lot of projects, and rested a little bit too. Nothing huge in 2014...but sometimes that is good.

January
Matt deemed 2014 as the year of staying home! I think we accomplished that for the first few months of the year anyway. :) We just had a quiet, low key January. We worked on some things, organized, and refreshed ourselves after the busy holiday season. I love the cold, quiet, restful January month. We tend to stay less busy, organize our lives, and spend lots of nights cuddled up on the couch watching TV! We really hoped for at least one snow day, and got one! :)

February
I always stay busy in February with League. We got Molly Caroline's high chair all ready for her! I LOVE Valentines Day! And we celebrated Matt's 32nd birthday...he always chooses hibachi! Still a low key month!

March
We traveled to both Dublin and Atlanta this month. Lots of fun festivities. We also celebrated Karlynn's 1st birthday!! Molly Caroline started "crawling." Our Blakely gave us a scare and had to have surgery. So scary!

April
We went to Destin for Spring Break and stayed with our cousin, Marisha! I LOVED this trip! It was relaxing, Molly Caroline loved the sand and ocean, and the weather was perfect! We did a lot of yardwork! Love landscaping! I also love the Rose Show Festivities in our town and beautiful Spring weather! Such a great month! Milky Caroline's first Easter was special! I'm thankful my parents got to come for it! 

May
We had a fun little Cinco de Mayo fiesta at our house! We had some park fun too! I was thankful to complete my first school year as a working mama. Thankful to have survived it too. ;) We were busy with party prep and table making! The anticipation of Sweet Summertime is the best!

June
Probably the best month of the year! Sweet Molly Caroline Whelan turned 1! We celebrated all week long! Her birthday party day was so special! Matt and I also celebrated 8 years of marriage at the end of the month and went on a little trip to Reynolds Plantation and stayed at the Ritz on Lake Oconee. It was sooo relaxing!

July
We celebrated the 4th of July in Atlanta with family! We also visited my college BFF and her family. Our baby girls are just a few weeks apart in age and will be college roomies. :) We have already planned a trip back up there for this Spring! Had a fun baby shower/season weekend for Bridgett! Lots of shopping, eating, and laughing together! It was time for a change in my classroom and Molly Caroline was my little helper. :) We also spent most of July outside in her baby pool or playing with her water table. We had the best summer together and I never wanted it to end. Oh, and our baby started walking!!

August
Always a tough month. Back to school, back to daycare, back to League = tears, tiredness, and faded tans. :) The end of the month turned out to be awesome though because we spent Labor Day weekend at 30A. Oh Seacrest, Rosemary, and Grayton...it was fun! We also took Molly Caroline's one year pictures and then had dinner with our photographer and her hubby...we always laugh so much!! We did make the most of our afternoons with golf and fun in the yard!

September
Football Season and Fall...ahh!!! Friday Night Lights cheering for the Jackets! Saturdays cheering for the Dawgs and Blazers! We went to Athens and took Molly Caroline to her first UGA game! It was the most fun weekend! LOVED everything about it and our time with the Radfords. We went to see Elmo LIVE! :)  Molly Caroline was a flower girl in a southern plantation wedding. :) All the pre-wedding festivities were fun too! And we went to Jacksonville to meet Bridgett's baby girl, Lauren Elizabeth!

October
Fall decor and Halloween make me pretty  happy! We were soooo busy this month. We spent Fall Break in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri. We had such a sweet trip visiting with Matt's family. It was a beautiful time of year to visit too! I can't forget pumpkin patches. We went to THREE! Matt thought I was overdoing it, but now looking back at pictures, he realizes they were all different and a great experience. :) We had a fun family night celebrating our 8 year old golden retriever princess pup. We spent Homecoming weekend in Valdosta and enjoyed a deck dedication in honor of Matt's mom, the Homecoming parade, and an alumni lunch! Halloween was a blast as well!

November
A season of thanksgiving. We traveled to Dublin to visit my family, had a shopping/date day (our second "full" day of the year), and spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta. All things Christmas began to fill my mind the week of Thanksgiving. I was extra ready this year!

December
Such a great month jam packed with wonderful memories and traditions. We enjoyed local fun like the parade, Flowers lights, Breakfast with Santa, MC's daycare party, Victorian Christmas, the Nutcrackers, and many church events and fun activities with our Life Group. We spent time with some of our closest friends, loved picking out a real tree (I will always have to have one real tree now), decorating, and playing Santa. My sweet little family celebrated me turning 32! I also loved getting to be with my family this Christmas...something about it reminded me of Christmas when I was a child. December was a month full of blessings.

I'm beyond thankful that it was a healthy year for everyone in our families too. Seems like that is so rare these days. 2014 has truly been a year full of blessings and treasured memories.