Our Little American Idol?

Lindsay is definitely getting into singing!  Here are two of our favorite singing moments from this summer.  First up is "Call Me Maybe":

And then "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (sorry that it's blurry at first, I didn't realize it until she was finished with the song!)

The Big 3-0

In May, I turned the big 3-0... a major life milestone worth celebrating!  Since my birthday fell over a holiday weekend, Todd surprised me by suggesting that we take a special trip somewhere.  We went back and forth, but finally decided on a "grown-up celebration" at DisneyWorld in Florida.

It was fun to be treated so special by Disney on my birthday!

This was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime trip -- how many times in your life will you be at Disney World on your birthday?!?  Since the little one was staying home with grandparents, we decided to the things we'd never do on a trip with family.  We visited multiple parks each day, hung out in a hammock on the Polynesian beach and watched the fireworks, ate at some amazing restaurants, and even played at the Magic Kingdom one night until 3 AM!!  We also took the "Keys to the Kingdom" tour at Magic Kingdom, a behind-the-scenes guided tour full of Disney trivia and things you don't have access to as a regular guest in the park.  It was amazing, and I highly recommend it if you're a Disney fan!

Birthday Breakfast -- Mickey Waffles!

Our home for the weekend -- The Grand Floridian

We hit all four parks on my actual birthday -- Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition Everest, Epcot to shop their awesome store (hey, Test Track was closed! :/), Hollywood Studios for Toy Story and Rockin' Roller Coaster, and Magic Kingdom to take a picture in front of the castle. :)  Then it was off to California Grill for my birthday dinner and Magic Kingdom fireworks! 

Mickey Bar -- Best Birthday Cake ever!

Todd also got to have some fun on this trip... for his birthday, I surprised him with a driving experience at the Walt Disney World Speedway!  He got to drive one of his favorite cars, the Audi R8.  Now he's convinced we need one -- yeah, right!  Even if we could come up with the ridiculous amount of cash needed, where would we put the car seat?  And would you really want that temptation sitting in the garage when your kids turn 16?  :)

Todd with his super fun car for the day :)

We had an amazing time celebrating my birthday in Florida, and I can't wait to see where Todd decides to go for his big birthday next year!

4th of July

We are so blessed!  Blessed to live in a country where we have the freedom to have an opinion, and blessed to have brave men and women to protect that freedom every day.  Blessed to live in a wonderful community that offers so many family-friendly opportunities.  And blessed to have a great little family!  Here's our sweet one at the 4th of July parade:

Watching the high school band come down the street

Favorite part of the parade - the flag someone handed her.  She had so much fun waving it!

While she loved the parade, she was not a big fan of the fireworks -- when we asked her if they were pretty, she said, "No... go inside?"  Guess the bright, loud, exploding lights in the sky were not her thing this year. :)  Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!

Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Engines!

Yes, that's right, Lindsay has officially become mobile!  When I went to pick her up today after school, here's what she was doing:

She has taken a few steps here and there before, but today was her first time to really take off.  I think she looks so adorable up on two legs!

Even though she's been a little bit of a late walker, she's been putting her brain power to good use.  Here we are "singing" our ABC's.  We like to sing it fill-in-the-blank style (pardon the Blair Witch Project-esque cinematography... it's hard get a good video of a little one when they're sitting in your lap!):

Lindsay counting, May 2012.  Makes a mommy - especially a math teacher mommy! - proud! (the cutest part is the first 26 seconds... I only put up the rest of it because Blogger wouldn't load the edited version!  Sorry!)

Spring Happenings, Part 2

Other big events this Spring included a trip to the grand re-opening of Texas A&M's Memorial Student Center (MSC) and our 15 month check-up!

A few weekends ago, we headed up to College Station for the grand re-opening of A&M's MSC.  Todd and I both have very fond memories of the MSC from our college days, and we wanted to see what the long-anticipated renovation was all about.  And we thought just maybe it would help subliminally establish a little Maroon & White love in Lindsay. :)  Here are a few pics:

Yay for the new MSC!

The new 12th Man Hall (we're standing on the walkway to Rudder Tower)

Out by Rudder Fountain (it's still there, Todd and Lindsay are facing it)

The entrance across from Kyle Field (where the old "main entrance" used to be)

Sul Ross Statue

Of course we had to take her by the place it all started... The Century Tree!

Lindsay's 15-month stats...
- 23 pounds & 31.5 inches long
- crawling everywhere, pulling up, walks holding onto your finger... but refuses to do it by herself!
- definitely experiencing stranger danger
- uses a cup most of the time, but still takes a bottle at night before bed
- eats pretty much everything, but her favorites are "samiche" (sandwiches), milk, "eeweios" (Cheerios), apples, and peas
- has 4 top teeth, 3 bottom teeth, and is starting on a top molar!
- sleeps from 8:30 PM to 8:00 AM, takes one good long afternoon nap
- talks up a STORM and will repeat almost anything - she loves her animal sounds!
- favorite things: puzzles, books, her pink chair since she can get in it by herself, and helping us sing "You are My Sunshine"

Caught in the chair!

We'll take some videos soon so she can show you her talking and animal noise skills!

Spring Happenings, part 1

Seems like Spring is the busiest time of the year!  Here's a quick update about what we've been up to...

This Spring, Lindsay had the chance to visit with all 4 sides of great-grandparents!  Todd's Grandpa Sheets is staying with Todd's parents for a few months, and Todd's Grandpa and Grandma Anglin came down to visit for a few weeks at the end of March.  Lindsay was a little shy around them at first, but warmed up by the time they left and had lots of fun learning to say their names!  On my side of the family, we had lunch with Grammie over Spring Break, and Memaw came down at the beginning of May for a weekend.  We are so lucky to have such loving extended families!

Lindsay and Memaw (my mom's mom)

In April, we had lots of fun celebrating Easter with Lindsay, who was a little more interested than she was last year!  She's still not into hiding or hunting, but she LOVED plastic eggs -- something about opening and closing them fascinated her.  She's going to be really excited in a few years when she figures out that people usually put fun toys and candy inside....

Look at that pose...

Thank you for the fun book and bunny cup, Grandma Marge!  We love reading about Peter Rabbit!

Getting to be such a big girl!

 Up next... a visit to the New MSC at A&M and a 15 month update!

Bluebonnet Pictures!

The bluebonnets have bloomed, and they are beautiful in our area!

We couldn't resist going out this weekend and letting Lindsay have some fun in the flowers. :)

 

 

Well, why not a fish face?