Babies, buggies and tea sets oh my!

This week Sk has been into baby dolls. She runs around the house with a baby carriage and her baby in it. She puts her fake purse on her shoulder and begins pushing the stroller through the house. She then takes her baby out and tries to give her tea from her teacup and fake cake and cookies also from her tea set. She has become quite the prissy pants this week. She is saying thank you and please every time she wants something and then gets it. She says baby and duck duck duck. She also now knows where her eyes and mouth are in addition to her nose and belly button. She likes to show people her belly button too. She's hilarious. We have been going twice a week to toddler play time on post and she has enjoyed playing with other children. They have a kitchen set there and she loves it. She cooks and cooks all morning. She also likes the baby dolls and play house too. She will lay her babies down in the play house and give them a bottle. Her ability to learn and comprehend more and more each day amazes me. Everyday it seems she blossoms a bit more and learns something new. I am so enjoying spending this time with her as she grows and learns.

Lord have mercy, we are in for it!

In the past two weeks, Selena Kate has done some serious changing. She now hands me a book and says "book". She also says Ming Ming (the duck from WonderPets). She also has completely quit using bottles and only uses her sippy cup. She has become even more opinionated and now will put herself in the corner when she misbehaves; we are in for it now! (I'm thinking this isn't an effective discipline tool). She is eating with a fork and spoon pretty well and thinks its funny to "feed" her baby dolls and purple stuffed monkey. When she's watching Dora she makes monkey noises like Boots does in the beginning. She dances around the living room during Dora or any music for that matter. At almost 18 months she amazes me with what she knows and learns everyday. We are about to move to Alexandria to be closer to my mom and dad, so we are looking forward to that. Everyday is just another fun day with my silly and sweet girl! Love love her and our life.

Mommy Michelle :)

As I mentioned in my previous post, Selena Kate and her birthmom got to spend quality time together over Memorial Day weekend where she met her brother Aidan and spent time with her Gammy and Nana and Uncle Michael too. When we went to Michelle's house and Michelle walked out of the room, Selena yelled: "Mommy" right at Michelle. We refer to Michelle as "Mommy Michelle" so this melted my heart! Selena went to the park and the beach with everyone so here are some additional pictures from that weekend.

Memorial Day Memories!

What a great month we have had! Although I resigned from my position to go back to school full time and have been sad from that, we have had a blast as a family! SK and I spent Memorial Day weekend with Grandy and Granddady and Auntie Em in Merritt Island. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to old and true friends. We were able to see SK in her element with all the attention on her and all the cookies she can eat! (What are grandparents for, right?) We also got to spend a whole day with her birthmom and Gammy in Vero Beach. We had an amazing day at the beach and taking pictures of our wonderful amazing adoptive family. SK was able to meet her brother, Aidan and spend time with him at the park. Sk is beat and exhausted from the go go going we have been doing.
A highlight on what SK has been learning...This week she has been saying "Cookie" pretty regularly and knows where they are kept. She tells you, sssshhhh right before you put her to sleep. She knows how to put her bottles together!! And she is loving a little kitchen set Grandy got her and stirs and stirs with a whisk in mixing bowls. She is also obsessed with make up brushes and knows what to do with them. Here are some pics from this month!

 SK in the naughty tree corner because she was hitting and there was no corner at the park

 SK and Mommy!

 SK playing peekaboo

 Running with sticks, oh my

 Michelle, SK and me

 Gammy, Aidan and Michelle

 Sk playing at play plus in Melbourne

This was her favorite toy.

Peter Pan Moment

Now that I'm staying home with SK, I get the joy of seeing her grow each day. As I mentioned yesterday, she's become very independent and has her own little mind and temper to match. Today was a gem of a day though as we hung out at the park and swam in the kiddie pool in our newly renovated backyard. At the park, she discovered her shadow and literally chased it giggling for about 8 minutes. Then she got mad because she was trying so hard to catch it! Silly girl. Later, we went to get in the pool and I began to rub lotion into my legs and I look down, she's gotten some lotion and is rubbing it on her legs too. She is copying everything we do now. It is quite endearing right now, hopefully we don't teach her something we wished we hadn't. I watch her try to figure things out, like how to open the baby gate and I can just see her wheels going in her head. I am so happy to watch her get up very crankily in the morning, devour blueberries, watch Mickey mouse then run run run until nap time at noon which she now naps in a toddler bed. I just put her in her bed and say night night I love you, and she smiles, kisses me and rolls over and goes to sleep! This cannot be this easy, but for now it is. And for now, I am savoring my baby girl!

It's Good To Be Back!

After a much too long hiatus from blogging (who has time when you work and are gone from your home 10-11 hours a day??), I am back to blogging. You will have to excuse the recap on our lives, for those of you who keep up with me other ways. I want to keep my blog current for Selena Kate to maybe go back and read someday.
Today was my second mother's day. I woke up to a happy and not cranky girl, who has been sleeping through the night in her big girl toddler bed. She snuggled on the couch and watched Sesame Street with me this morning (something she never does). Chad made me chocolate chip pancakes and gave me some awesome Blvgari perfume and lotion and he and SK "wrote me" the sweetest letters. I was waited on hand a foot all day and got a relaxing day watching "The Vow" and spending time in our newly re-done backyard; On a side note, we decided to RV redneckify our backyard (hey we are in LA) and put astro turf (Chad's idea) and tiki torches and lanterns to create that real RV campground elegance! :) We have had a blast spending time outside by the fire pit in our redneck RV style retreat!

I have gone back to school full time at the University of Southern California for my MSW (Master's in Social Work) and am still working on my Master's in Nonprofit Management. I am missing my work at BeauCARE terribly though but have loved being with my girl during the days now. I know this was time I was not getting back so when USC called me and told me no more deferments, I knew I needed to just go for it.
Selena Kate is 16 months now and feels like she's in her terrible twos already. hr favorite word is NO and she throws herself on the ground several time a day in fits of rage or crying. Its actually comical as she rolls all over the floor yelling NO and hitting the ground. Her little anger outbursts are concerning to me but if it gets bad we put her in the corner,otherwise we ignore her and do not even look at her. She stops as soon as she realizes we do not care or want anything to do with that! She pretty much runs everywhere now and has been scraping up he knees left and right because she's 90 to nothing all day everyday. She can go down the stairs now on her belly and thinks this is hilarious. She also stands on the couch, tables anything really and yells "Sit down" while shes doing it! We have our hands FULL!
I am looking forward to this summer and spending time with her outside at the pool and Toledo Bend Lake (our new place). We are also looking forward to Grandy and Grandaddy moving here soon! We still cannot believe they are moving here but are so excited and cannot wait.
That's it for now. Stay tuned because I plan to have more time to blog :)

Life without the beach...wah wah waaah :(

Navarre Beach, FL

Navarre Beach, FL

Merritt Island, FL

Do you see the beach??? Not near me!

I thought I would be fine away from the beach, I really did. I went to college in Mississippi for years and LOVE the mountains. I have unfortunately been reminded today of what one of Chad and my very best friend's Mike told me. He said, "Amy, you pretend you do not like the beach or the sand or the hot weather, but secretly you do. I do not think you could ever live without it." I, of course, told him he was right but not to tell anyone that.
I have, over the years, taken where I grew up for granted and pretended that the beach, the islands, the water, that it all is nice but I do not NEED it. I like to travel, right? I like the mountains, the snow, anything besides the hot, humid, sand in all the wrong places, beach! Today was one of those days, you know the kind where you realize you are an utter fool and need a Marga-daquiri-screw-a-lada-on the beach (country song)! Honestly, I have been a bit blue since moving here. While my daily mood and acceptance of my new life here is steadily improving, I cannot shake the feeling that something is missing.
It has come to my attention, since moving to Louisiana that I am, and will always be, an Island girl. As much as I want to say I am a country girl who likes the woods, wherever they are, it is not completely true. While I will always appreciate all types of nature and the setting it offers, my heart feels a bit empty with no ocean, no real body of water near me. Is that nutty or what? I have heard of people with seasonal affective disorder, you know the one where the winter seasons make them become clinically depressed? (My feeling on the validity of this diagnosis or even reality of this disease can be saved for later) I am seriously wondering if there is a disorder for being depressed when you are away from that Island life. ( I know Kenny Chesney would agree)  Maybe I am just homesick, but when I think of that life, it is not necessarily my hometown I miss. It's all of it, anywhere with the water, the beach and that laid back little tiki bar where everyone knows you and crappy bands play but you don't care because the setting is perfect!
Due to this newfound exploration of my beach life depression (BLD), I have been channeling Kenny Chesney (always a bad idea, for me at least because it usually means I am contemplative). He makes it even worse! My mom gave me a CD that was burned from a family friend's wedding and it is all of his beachy, laid back life songs. It was my CD that I would ride down Navarre Beach, through the National Seashore, the perfectly white beaches, and green clear water, and just BE!
We have two, maybe three years here in LA and I am hoping to find ways to be at peace away from the water. I am a military wife, and will not always have the luxury of being an Island girl. How I will shake this need to be near the water, I just do not know. One thing I do know is, I have sincerely taken my life growing up, my hometown and even the beginning of our marriage in Florida for granted. I misjudged my true nature and pretended I was a bit of a gypsy and could adapt where we went. I think I will always adapt, as we have no other choice when we are married to the military. Unfortunately for me, there will always be a little piece of my heart missing when I am away from that sweet, sweet Island time!