Saturday Night Sock Hop!

I've gotten behind! Here are the pics from last weekend's party! My great aunt and uncle celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in a big way! Their three sons really know how to throw a party. We had a great time! Everyone dressed in 50s attire and had a blast.

Everyone has a 'crazy Aunt Martha', right? Well, this is mine! ;) Joe and Martha Kemp. Love them!! My grandfather was Joe's big brother. Their sweet sons, David, Danny and Mike threw a fabulous party. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the boys. Yes, I can! They were never in one place for long...and especially not all together! If anyone has a good pic, please send it to me!Taylor and Maggie Ellen in their little poodle skirts...Taylor learning how to hula hoop! She LOVED it. And sweet Uncle Joe and David brought her a pink hula hoop to have at her house the next Monday...thank you guys! She's had so much fun with it. The poodle skirts that Taylor and I are wearing are very special! The one she wore was made by my dad's mom, my Mama Jean. I wore it for Halloween when I was 3 or 4. The one that I wore was made by dad's grandmother when I was in junior high (for West Rome Chieftain Acts!) My grandmother had passed away and so Mamaw started sewing for me! Luckily, we still had both. How cool is that?! And thanks to Mom for keeping them safe for me for all these years! :)Emily and Mom both thought to wear the guys' class rings around their necks. Why didn't I think of that?? Emily is just starting to show! Her poodle skirt was so pretty-she made it! With a little help from her Mom. Russ is so cool with his cigarette behind his ear! Note: he does NOT smoke...just part of the costume!MeMe and Papaw with Taylor...Mom's skirt also was part of the '92 Chieftain Acts! She borrowed it from Stacie Waters (her mother kept up with her's too). Stacie and I were best friends growing up. She just moved back from London with her family! I'll have pics soon-they're on their way over for playtime!!A picture with Taylor?! She was probably still hula hooping...


Memaw with Maggie Ellen and Taylor...Steve and Ellen...what 'cha drinking, Uncle Steve?! ;)
Memaw, Steve, Uncle Joe, Kelly, Carson and Brian...


Brian, Brandi (Maggie Ellen and Carson's parents) and Tony and Jaime (Ellie Grace and Gavin's parents)

Valentine's, Boo-Boo's and Baby Reed Countdown

We're counting down the days until "Beck Beck" and Baby Reed come to Georgia! We can't wait to see this handsome guy again! 13 days and counting...

Isn't he the cutest thing ever?!

Taylor has had a very eventful February to say the least! She's doing great with potty-training, got her colors down pat, working hard on her numbers and "ABCB's" and no longer sleeping in her crib! But we'll get to that later! :) Here's a few shots from last night with her I love Daddy pj shirt...Mommy's little angel...

Do a little dance...And chillin' like Daddy...
Price Payne came over for a little while on Friday morning and they played so sweetly together! They are 5 weeks apart...

The other morning I found Taylor here...

brushing her teeth in this little box!

She knows that she can't walk around with the toothbrush in her mouth and we usually stand in the bathroom but if she does insist on leaving the bathroom I always tell her to go sit down. At least she follows directions! Sweet girl...

Taylor loves a good tea party! Here she is at Gram's having a tea party. Gram said she brought her cups and plates and got at the "big" table and had herself a little tea party.

Stir, stir, stir!

This is good!Gram had us all over for dinner to celebrate February birthdays (mine and Rebekah's) and the girls wanted to bake sugar cookies with Gram. Here they are waiting "patiently" by the oven.Taylor with Uncle Jeff...I think she was too concerned about the sugar cookies to smile!This is Taylor's game to play at Gram and Grandpa's...bounce on the balloon. The kids started at Christmas when Caleb was here and they just thought it was hilarious. They think it's even better when the balloon pops! Caleb is coming to visit next weekend...and we CAN'T WAIT!! Hurry Caleb, hurry!The week of Valentine's our playgroup had a Valentine party at Melanie's house. That morning in the five minutes it took me to throw on a jacket and hat...Taylor made this beautiful mural on the wall. It's hard to see in the picture but it's beautiful...five feet in length and at least four feet high. And...just so you know, those "Twistable" crayons-from Crayola-that look more like pencils...they don't come off of paint as easy as regular crayons. She's done this once before (on a much smaller scale) and it came off so easy with a baby wipe. This won't even come off with the Mr. Clean magic eraser!! I think we're going to have to repaint. But luckily, this is the color we're going to paint the upstairs. Hopefully, we'll have a post about that soon! Kevin's working really hard to get it finished and now he has the best motivation of all-Taylor! She says, "Daddy work on playroom" now or stands at the stairs and says, "playroom?" So sweet!When Taylor walks by the mural now she either says, "bad girl" or "that's blue." And yes, you did use the blue crayon, Taylor!We had a great time at our party! Here's the gang...Taylor, Carlie Wolfer, Maggie Duke, Ellie Grace, Mallory Hulsey, Laney Carney, William Pethal and Harrison Hulsey.

Melanie really went all out and decorated and cooked a yummy 'heart' cake and cupcakes. Thanks Melanie!
It was such a beautiful day! We got to play outside.

Here's Miss Laney swinging...

Taylor and Laney... Taylor baking in Maggie's cute little kitchen...

After the playgroup party, we met Daddy at the park for lunch and played on the playground. Had a GREAT day! Really enjoyed the weather and being outside. Well, we finished the day with a bang! That night, 15 minutes after I put her to bed...Taylor climbed out of her crib. And when I say 'climbed', I really mean pulled herself up and fell head first to the floor. Hardwood floor. It was awful! As soon as I heard the thud, I KNEW what had happened and by the time I ran in to get her (10 seconds, top) this is what she looked like...

My poor baby girl! We rushed to the hospital to make sure she was ok. It didn't knock her out and the knot came out instead of going in but we had to make sure. They had to do a CT scan to make sure there was no skull fracture. It was a nightmare! And I was so terrified and in a hurry, I ran out of the house in my pajama bottoms and socks! No shoes!! Luckily, I grabbed my jacket. It was a terrible experience, we were there until 4 in the morning. But thank the good Lord my baby girl has a hard head and is tough!! She was perfectly fine. We were so thankful. So we came home and at 4 am we put up...the pack n' play! And she has been sleeping in it ever since. We're shopping for a bed for her room... Poor Taylor. She cried for her crib for a few days but she'd also say, "I fall down" and "Taylor boo boo." She's sleeping her usual 12-13 hours a night so she's fine in it until we find the perfect bed for her.

This is her new fun place to play...Daddy's closet. A few weeks ago, I cleaned it out for him (which is funny b/c he's the neat freak!). Taylor immediately brought ALL of her stuffed animals and dolls in to play. I guess it was the first time she'd seen the floor in there! There have been several times where I've found the oddest things in Kevin's closet...stuff she's "hiding" from Mommy.

Taylor says, "Have a great week, everybody! Thanks for reading my blog!"

Just kidding! That's me, at her age. Did I fool anybody? I guess we favor a little. :)

A Fun Winter Weekend Getaway

This weekend, my sister-in-law Emily invited us to her parent's cabin in Mentone. It's their "Little River Hide-away" and it is beautiful! We hiked, cooked, ate, hiked some more and took a million pictures. We had a great time! The cabin is right on the river and it is absolutely gorgeous! They do rent it out, so if any one's interested...let me know! I believe the website is http://www.littleriverhideaway.com/ but I can't get it to work-just google 'little river hideaway'. I also just realized that you can click on any of the pictures to make them larger! (Didn't know that?!) I think I got some really pretty scenery shots. :)

I thought the back of our car looked hilarious. Can you tell we have a little girl? We had to take the Princess Potty chair because Taylor had been doing so well all week...didn't want to mess things up!

Even though it was dark, after dinner we hiked down to the river just to look...
...it was so pretty! Right on the water and the water was high and sounded wonderful, flowing across the rocks!

After a big breakfast Saturday morning, we headed out for a hike. Taylor stayed in with MeMe on this one...too cold! Which was totally fine with both of them. Taylor needs MeMe's undivided attention at all times! She does NOT like for MeMe to talk to anyone else...better get ready, Taylor. :)

Uncle Russ climbing on the rocks...

My brother is the ultimate Boy Scout, just like Dad. Always prepared. We laughed at him though because he had all kinds of knives to play with all weekend. I think he's one part Crocodile Hunter, two parts Rambo...always has been.

I think I got this shot while Dad was laughing at Russ climbing on the rock...love Dad's hat. He could BE Indiana Jones! :)

Really cool rock formation...the whole weekend we were just amazed at how beautiful the area was.

Emily pointed out this cool tree actually growing out of the rock!

Russ and Emily leading the way on our hike...

We are very excited to announce that Emily is pregnant!!! We are super thrilled and can't wait for our little addition to get here. Her due date is July 28!

Kev-o...

Me, Dad, Emily and Russ...

Taylor snuggling with Uncle Russ after the hike...

Dad and Russ standing in front of the house that Dad's parents used to own when he was little!!! Dad grew up coming here with his family. His parents sold it right after my parents got married but MAN, do we wish we still had it. We can't seem to ever catch the owners there or contact them. Maybe one day!

If you've been to Desota Falls, you've probably seen this boat house. Right above in the woods is the house from the previous picture. When Dad's parents owned the place, they had a floating dock right beside this boathouse. You can just barely see the house.

We have lots of pictures of me growing up, standing in front of DeSoto Falls so we definitely had to take some pics with Taylor. I'll have to scan an old one of me to compare. It was too scary to let her stand by herself...maybe when she's older.

DeSoto Falls also has other fun memories for our family! Funny story-when Dad was in high school, he skipped school one day and came to the falls with several buddies...and JUMPED OFF!! Luckily, my Dad was not injured but I know one of his buddies has had back problems from the jump. Now there are signs posted..."highly dangerous, no jumping (or you'll go to jail)"!! Even funnier story, when I was in 4th grade my Challenge teacher was talking about Niagra Falls and I just heard the word "falls" and told her and the class that "my dad jumped off Niagra Falls"!! She looked at me funny and said, "Did your father live in New York?" and I just answered no...totally confused! Oh well!!

Russ and Em at the falls...she's got that glow, doesn't she?

And with PaPaw and MeMe...

That night we had a bonfire in "the cave". It's this really cool cave right up from the Robinson's house...really neat. Even though it was really cold, it was nice by the fire.

Notice Indiana Jones' and Rambo's cool headlamps! Flashlights weren't enough. Kevin was totally bummed that he left his at home! (He's not a Scout, hehe!-but a dang good sportsman, I have to say or he'll be upset.)

Of course, Wop (the hippo) came with us. Taylor stayed inside with MeMe while we were playing in the cave. MeMe put her hair up in a ponytail and Taylor actually left it. When I've tried that in the past, she yanked it down. Daddy thinks she looks too grown up in her ponytail!

On Sunday it was warm enough for Taylor to go on a hike with us and she had a blast. We hiked down to a little waterfall to take some pics. I know exactly what she's looking at in this pic-her PaPaw! He was stepping over some rocks and she was very concerned that he might fall in!

Laughing with MeMe and PaPaw...

Stealing a kiss from Daddy...warms my heart!!

She loves her Daddy!

Taylor hiking down the trail with a little help from PaPaw and MeMe...

This is just a picture of the wood-burning stove inside the Robinson's cabin and it is exactly like the one from my grandparent's house when I was little. I thought it was really neat. We enjoyed having a fire going all weekend, compliments of Uncle Russ. We had a wonderful weekend!! Thanks Aunt Em!! :)