Hoover's Landing

First Trip to the Dentist

2009-06-03T13:58:00.012-04:00

So Miss Courtlyn had her first trip to the dentist Monday morning. We hyped it up for several days and she was all excited until it came time to leave Granny's house. Since her appointment was at 11:30 I dropped her off at Granny's (my mom's) like I normally do and went on to work. Then around 10:45 I came back to Granny's house to pick her up to go to the appointment. Well apparently she got confused and thought we were going home for the day (which I would have loved to do!) and proceeded to throw a small fit. After some convincing--mainly a bribe of a McDonald's Happy Meal (yes, call me a bad mommy!) we were able to get her in the car and head on our way to the dentist.

Once we were there they were running 45 minutes behind. Ugh! Courtlyn was fine because they had lots of stuff in the waiting room to keep her entertained including Finding Nemo on the TV, lots of books and a play nook. It was me that was getting impatient since I had to be back to work. There's nothing that irritates me more than having to wait more than 20 minutes in a waiting room of a doctor or dentist. Plus the fact that I hate the dentist office--the smell, the sound, well basically everything about the dentist. This goes back to my childhood and a very horrible experience I had. Anyway, I digress...

So finally Courtlyn's name is called and we head on back. I was so proud of my little girl. She didn't kick, cry or scream the entire time. She followed the hygentist on back like she had been there a hundred times before.

First the hygentist started off with the pink stuff on the teeth. You remember those pink tablets you had to chew up when you were little and it showed where you missed brushing? Well, now they have a liquid version of this stuff. (How cool is that?!) So she put the stuff on Courtlyn's teeth and let her see where she missed with the toothbrush. Then she rinsed her mouth out and got to spit in the sink. She thought this was very cool because Mommy & Daddy do this. Now she's a big girl because she can do it! ;) (Of course it helps that the sinks are at knee level for her since she's on a stepstool.) She had to check her "pearly whites" in the mirror because she was so proud of herself. The hygentist helped her brush her teeth and then we were off to get down to business.

Putting on the pink stuff

Rinsing

Checking out those pearlies

Getting some help with brushing

Now Courtlyn couldn't get enough of the dentist office. It is a pediatric dentist so everything is geared towards kids. The exam table where she was had a tree coming out of the floor--you can see it in the picture--with butterflies in it. Oh, she was in heaven! The x-ray room had a motorcycle you sat in to get x-rays taken. It was so cool. (If they had this when I was a kid I know I wouldn't be terrified of the dentist to this day!) So the hygentist had her lie down on the table they had and tried to see if she would let her polish her teeth. First she used the polisher thing (not sure of the medical name for it) on her thumb to get her used to the feel and noise. Then she explained that she would be putting it in her mouth to polish her teeth. Well, that's when Courtlyn said, "um, I'm ready to GO!" I tried not to laugh because it was too cute how she said it. "Like um, lady, you're crazy if you think you are going to put that thing in my mouth!" So she tried again to gently persuade her. Nope, she wasn't having any part of it and this time instead of saying she was leaving she just threw her little arm up in the air and put her thumb up in the air as to say if you're going to do it, do it on my thumb. Too funny!!!!

So she didn't get her teeth polished, but at least she didn't kick, scream or cry during the visit at all. The best part--NO CAVITIES!!!!!! I'm so proud of my baby!!!!

Getting down to the nitty gritty stuff! :)

Flossing! I can't believe she let her do this!!!! I was SO proud!

Counting her teeth...she has 20!

Smiling waiting for Dr. Hank

Dr. Hank came and checked her out and we made our appointment for 6 months. It's hard to believe, but the next time we'll be there it will almost be Christmas! SCARY STUFF!

On a side note....I had to include this picture from this past weekend. It is the only picture I have that when I look at it reminds me of me when I was little since Courtlyn looks SO much like David. I don't know what it is about this picture--if it's the expression on her face or what, but finally I have a picture of my child that actually resembles me!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-29T09:23:00.012-04:00

We had a very relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Saturday we went to a graduation cookout where Courtlyn got to go fishing with her pink & purple Disney Princess fishing pole for the very first time. She was so excited! She talked about all night the night before and it was the first thing she mentioned when she woke up Saturday morning.

In the truck before we left

When we got there she took maybe 4 bites of her food and was dying to go fishing. So David wolfed down his food and they went on down the dock to fish. She had to "pet" the worm. (Not sure why since she hates worms, spiders, bees and bugs, but she insisted on "petting" the dead fishing worm. Crazy girl!) She caught a bluegill fish which she named "Daddy Fish". She was so proud of her first catch and has not stopped talking about it since. She caught another fish which she appropriately named "Mommy Fish". I'm glad to see that we aren't far from her heart. :)

"Petting" the worm

Daddy & Courtlyn before the fun began

Daddy & Courtlyn fishing

Waiting on Daddy to bait her hook

She caught the big one!

Her first fish--"Daddy Fish"!

Isn't she proud!

I caught a couple bluegill myself and David caught one--on the Princess pole! (pretty good pole, huh!) Then not to be outdone David decided to take his fishing pole and go walking around the pond fishing on his own. I think he caught a couple more fish so he could say that he caught more than me. ;)

Before church Sunday

All in all, we had a very relaxing weekend which is pretty unusual for us, but this weekend is completely full of places to go and people to see. Oh well, hopefully it will make for lots of Kodak moments! :)

Firetrucks!

2009-05-14T16:05:00.000-04:00

Monday evening we decided to take Courtlyn to the dedication of the new fire department here in Richmond so she could see all of the firetrucks on display. Ever since she saw all of them at the Christmas parade last December she has been in awe of them whenever we see one on the road. So I rushed home from work to pick up David and Courtlyn so we could head back to town before the dedication started.

The ceremony was actually longer than we thought it would be, but it was nice and Courtlyn enjoyed seeing all of the firetrucks on display. She got to sit in the back of one of the trucks with the help of a nice firewoman, but she chickened out when we tried to get her to sit in the driver's seat to take her picture. The closest we could get her was the step on the driver's side.

She did enjoy watching the hosing down of the new firetruck and watching the firemen push the truck back into the firehouse. She thought that was really cool and she kept saying, "they are giving it a bath, mommy!"

What a wonderful weekend we had!

2009-05-14T15:45:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to post this entry to my blog all week, but for whatever reason I haven't been able to get with it. So here it is...

What a great weekend we had this past weekend! We met up with some friends (Tera, Alex, Braylee & Brynna Knepp) in Louisville and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM!!!! This was actually our first meeting in person, but we’ve known each other for I guess 3 years now. We met when we were pregnant on an online message board for pregnant moms-to-be. Her daughter Brynna and Courtlyn are a little over a week apart. The girls hit it off and so did the adults! :) We had a wonderful lunch and even better cheesecake. The conversation was really good, and I hope this is just the beginning of many gatherings between us! (P.S. Tera--you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers while you grieve the loss of your precious Gramps.)

Here are some pictures from our meeting…

Brynna, Braylee & Courtlyn

all with their eyes closed :)

Brynna, Tera, Braylee, me & Courtlyn

holding hands...

giving hugs...

After we left the Cheesecake Factory we window shopped around the St. Matthews Mall a bit and then decided we would sightsee around Louisville since we were in the area. We had planned on going to the Derby Museum at Churchill Downs, but figured Courtlyn wouldn't get much of a thrill out of that. So I grabbed my trusty Rand McNally map in the car because my GPS was acting weird and saw that the Louisville Zoo wasn't that far from where we were. So we decided we would surprise Courtlyn and take her to the zoo. It was near naptime for her and she was getting antsy in the car and kept saying, "I don't wanna go home!" as we got on the Expressway. We tried to assure her that we weren't going home and before we hit the exit ramp for the zoo she fell asleep. As we meandered through the streets we finally found the zoo and sure enough Courtlyn woke up. When we told her where we were at she squealed with excitement! It was priceless!!! She was SO excited and could not wait to get inside.

The weather was perfect and it wasn't too crowded. We got there about 2:30 which gave us 3 1/2 hours to check out everything, so it was just the right amount of time. We got to see lots of monkeys (our favorite), snakes, hippos, a rare white alligator, birds, a wolf, emus, wallaroos, tigers, turtles, zebras, lions, camels, giraffes, ostrich, rhinos, and a couple things I can't remember what their names were. The one thing we wanted to see that we didn't get to see were the elephants. They were there, but apparently they were hiding or sleeping. Not sure, but we were rather disappointed since we are big elephant fans. :)

After we saw all of the above mentioned animals we decided to let Courtlyn ride the carousel. To say that she loved it would be an understatement.

We let her ride it twice and she was the screaming child that everyone was staring at as we left the park. See....

She did not want to leave the horse--as she called it! When asked if she rode the horses that go round and round. She would say, "no, I ride the horse that goes up and down!". She could have cared less that the carousel went around she liked that the horse went up and down. Kids! I could have done without the round and round since I get nauseous at the very thought of it, but the things you do for your kids.

We left the park and grabbed Courtlyn a bite to eat at her favorite place, McDonald's. Notice I said her favorite place. :) Then we headed for Richmond. About 10 miles down the road she was sound asleep until we pulled into our driveway. She was worn out.

Sunday, Mother's Day, I was met with Courtlyn running into the bathroom while I was getting ready for church with 2 cards in her hands yelling, "Mommy, Happy Mommy's Daddy!" as proud as a peacock. I cracked up! I got 2 sweet cards--1 from David and 1 from Courtlyn. After church we had lunch with my dad and stepmom at Casa which was yummy of course. Then we headed home for some much needed naps and then back to church that evening.

So as the title says....what a wonderful weekend we had! I hope we have many more like this!

Derby Weekend

2009-05-06T10:17:00.004-04:00

Well, we didn't get to go to the Derby last weekend in Louisville, but we vegged in front of the TV all day Saturday watching the festivities from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. and had a blast doing it. I say we vegged, but I did manage to clean a little bit and get some laundry done while the commercials were on since they played the same 4 commercials ALL DAY LONG! I should remember them my heart right now, but I think I just blocked them out after the third time I saw them. Although I do remember the Pepsi commercial because Courtlyn and I would bob our heads to it when it would come on. :)

I snapped some pictures of Courtlyn modeling a couple of my Derby hats from work I had tucked back in my closet. She loved trying them on and pretending she was at the Derby. :) Maybe one of these days we will make it up there for the big race!

I love how she is totally rocking the second hat. She cracks us up! Of course the pink one was her favorite.

Honestly that was all that we did this weekend besides going to church Sunday. We had a really quiet weekend which was so nice. It rained all weekend and is still raining which is totally messing with my allergies and sinuses, but hey that's spring in Kentucky! We'll be complaining in July that we need rain so bad and wishing we had these days so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Fun Weekend!

2009-04-27T11:45:00.015-04:00

What a busy weekend we had. Friday evening when I got home from my weekly trip to lovely Wal-Mart I found David & Courtlyn in the front yard swinging. So after we all unloaded the groceries we went back outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and a really pretty sunset.

Saturday morning David turkey hunted while Courtlyn and I slept in and bummed around the house waiting on him to finish. Once he got home we took turns getting ready so we could head to Lexington to eat and get Courtlyn some new shoes for summer which she was excited about. Of course she’s always excited when we go shopping for her. :) So David was ready and while I was getting ready he was entertaining Courtlyn and when I came into the living room this was what I found…

These two crack me up! I asked them what in the world they were doing and David said he was trying to get her to take a nap. I don’t understand what part of stickers and a Belk's sale catalog entail nap-taking, but it was a cute sight to see nonetheless. :)

We got Courtlyn ready after all of the stickers were removed and she was in all of her cuteness with some old sunglasses that used to be Mommy's.

Once we got to Lexington we ate at Ruby Tuesday and managed to get there before it got too crowded which was nice. Of course Courtlyn enjoyed her favorite fruit before our food came....lemons!

After we ate & shopped we when to Graeter's for ice cream and to try out the neat little contraption I got at Babies-R-Us to hold an ice cream cone for Courtlyn. It's too neat! It's called a Dripstick. I think it was $5.00 and well worth it. She only managed to get a little messy with her first ice cream cone. The only complaint I have is that the end for ice cream cone has a cup to catch the melted ice cream and I had to empty it a couple of times because it wasn't deep enough, but other than that if you have small children you must get one of these. The other end holds popsicles.

A cute story from Graeter's. While we were in line waiting for our ice cream cones some local prom goers came in for an after dinner treat. Well, little Courtlyn had never seen anyone so dressed up in a public place like that before except for the wedding she was in last year. So when she saw them she immediately screamed, awwww princesses!!!!!!!!!!!! It was too cute! Everyone in the store heard her and of course thought it was cute as well. I honestly think she thought that Cinderella & Belle were getting ice cream at Graeter's. Too funny! Imagine what she will do when we go to Disney World?! I can't wait!!!!

Sunday we went to church and then after church we went to Lowe's to get flowers to plant on the front porch. Courtlyn was really excited about this because it was something we could do "togever" that is together for those who don't speak toddler. :) After we planted flowers we couldn't go inside until she did some swinging. So we did that. We had lunch and then had a short nap before heading back to church.

All in all we had a great, fun weekend, especially with the wonderful weather. I just hope the weather is nice this weekend for the Oaks & Derby races in Louisville. I can't wait to see all of the ladies in their pretty hats and watch some great horse racing. Until next time...

Easter Weekend

2009-04-20T13:07:00.024-04:00

Well, we had a great Easter Weekend in the Hoover house this year. This was Courtlyn's first year of actually hunting eggs. She was all excited about it, although she didn't really know what to expect since this was her first time. She was the only one hunting eggs or as she liked to call it "picking eggs" so she racked up on the loot. And boy did she ever! We decided instead of filling the eggs with candy (we were lazy and just bought the plastic eggs at Target instead of dyeing eggs) we would fill them with money because the girl is like her Daddy and loves to save money to put in her pibby bank (that's what she calls a piggy bank). So what did I do but head down to the bank to get a bunch of one dollar bills and raided our change bucket. We filled each egg up with a dollar bill and 3 coins. Well, I believe the girl was more excited about putting the money in her "pibby bank" than actually "picking eggs". Oh, the life of a 2 1/2 year old....

Easter morning we woke up Courtlyn bright and early so she could see what the Easter Bunny had left her. This was what we found...(Yes, those are Christmas pajamas she is wearing. She insisted on them the night before and I wasn't going to argue. Remember pick your battles with a 2 1/2 year old!)

She gets her lovely morning personality from her Mommy. Now I say this dripping with lots of sarcasm because when David & I went into her bedroom to wake her up she said in no uncertain terms, "I WANNA SWEEP (meaning sleep), LEAVE MY (she gets me and my confused) ALONE!" After we told her the Easter Bunny had left her basket full of goodies she managed to drag herself out of bed and stumble into the living room to check things out. She racked up. She got 2 Disney Princess shirts, Gymboree bubbles, a Disney Princess sticker book for church, a Tinkerbell Color Wonder coloring book for church, pink Minnie Mouse rain boots and a stuffed Belle doll that she has had her eye on at the Disney Store to match her Snow White doll she already has.

We let her play for a while and then we had to get ready for church. Right before we left I managed to get a picture of the 3 of us. It's not the greatest picture of us, but at least I remembered to snap it before we left.

The Easter Bunny

2009-04-08T10:25:00.004-04:00

Well, we paid a visit to the Easter Bunny last Saturday at the Fayette Mall in Lexington. This was actually Courtlyn's first visit to the Easter Bunny. We usually do portraits with live bunnies, but for whatever reason this year I failed to get my rear in gear and get them scheduled. So we had to settle for a live bunny of a different sort. I wasn't sure if she would freak out about him since he was in full costume or not and really hoped that she wouldn't because I didn't want one of those screaming kid pictures that you see all too often.

By the time we made it to the mall it was around 4:00 and I was hoping that we had missed the big crowd of the day. Luckily we did! We wheeled right up and only had to wait for a couple of minutes while a grungy teenager had his picture taken with the big guy (which was strange needless to say!). Anyway....David walked Courtlyn up to the Easter Bunny and she hopped (no pun intended there) right on his lap and rubbed his furry face. As David backed away so the photographer could take their picture she began to have this worried look on her face. She never cried or wiggled. She just looked around with her big, blue eyes and began to wring her hands as if she was really nervous. The photographer would say, "Courtlyn, say CHEEEEEESSEEEEEEE!" She would look up and do exactly what the photographer said, but she would do it quickly which was her way of saying, "hey, mom & dad get me off of this crazy looking bunny's leg NOW!"

So we ended up with this picture which isn't all that bad and we have a great memory of the whole thing. We actually laughed the rest of the day because she became a little Nervous Nelly around the Easter Bunny. Maybe she was star struck and wasn't sure what to say since he's a celebrity and all. ;) Now she wants to look at the picture on the refrigerator all of the time and fondly recalls the day she met the Easter Bunny.

Long Time, No Post!

2009-04-03T11:55:00.014-04:00

Ok, so I've seriously abandoned my blog. I was on fire at first and then the flame just flickered out. I don't know why (well, actually I do know why...I joined Facebook and have become addicted. yes, I admit it! I'm addicted!). I love reading my friends' blogs daily and catching up on what's going on in their lives, but the desire to actually type out something that's been going on in my life, well, I didn't think there was anything exciting enough to talk about. So with a kick in the rear from a dear friend of mine (thanks Tera!) and I am trying to get back on the wagon and start this blog up again. Honestly, I am going to try to make a concerted effort at posting something even if I think it's not all that exciting because maybe the 3 people who actually read this blog will enjoy seeing it.

So let's see what's been going on since my last post....Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day...my, my, my....I have been a bad blogger (shame on me!). I won't bore you with all the details of all of the past months, but will share a few pictures with you. (**Speaking of pictures...I don't know what's up with the size of the pictures. This is a problem I've had for a while with Blogger and no one seems to have an answer for me. If anyone out there can help me out, that would be great! Until then, you either get these teeny tiny pictures that are weird looking or whopper sized pictures that you can only see half of. Sorry!)

Courtlyn with Santa with David's work Christmas Dinner at Keeneland

3 of us freezing at the Richmond Christmas Parade in the back of Daddy's truck

Feeding a monkey a banana at a Gymboree birthday party.

3 of us on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning at home

At her first princess tea party

Posing for a valentine picture

At Casa Cafe with a possible future boyfriend??? :)

In the locker room at the Y before swimming lessons

Helping mommy make scrambled eggs

Enjoying her favorite fruit...lemons!

The damage! The child doesn't even pucker up when she's eating them! Weird!

Fun at the park with Daddy

Being silly before bedtime

Helping Mommy clean

Last, but certainly not least...a potty shot--straight out of the bath tub

So I hope I haven't bored you to death with all the pictures, but this has caught us up to where we are now....potty training! OH THE JOY!!!!!!!!!!! OH THE PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The pain in my knees when I have to clean up messes that is! It's been a long process that I wished would hurry up and be over with, but it's not. My little princess is doing this in her own time much to my chagrin, just like I thought she would. It's day to day and a 1 step forward, 4 steps back sort of process, but we are getting there slowly but surely. Hopefully a month from now I can say hey, WE ARE POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!! A girl can wish can't she?!?! :)

Pictures askew???

2008-12-04T08:53:00.003-05:00

Ok, I think I'm setting a record for the amount of blog posts in one day (for me anyway), but what is up with the pictures I post being askew? It's really bothering me! Anybody have any suggestions?

Courtlyn with Santa...again!

2008-12-04T08:53:00.001-05:00

Blog Problems????

2008-12-04T08:49:00.002-05:00

What is up with this blog???? Maybe it's me because I'm technically challenged, but it's about to get the best of me. I am going to try to post the slideshow again. I have no idea what it is doing and why it is not showing. Grrrrr!!!!! These kind of things really get under my skin. Off to work on it.....

Here Comes Santa Claus!

2008-12-03T15:45:00.002-05:00

Ok, I've been bad and haven't posted on my blog for 3 weeks now. So I thought I would quickly put some pictures of Courtlyn up until I can sit down and give you all a real update of what's been going on with us. I took Courtlyn to see Santa about a month ago and that got me to thinking about the other 2 times I took her to see him. So I drug out her pictures with the big guy from 2006 & 2007 and I thought I would share them with you. It is amazing to me how much she has grown. Enjoy!! :)

2008-11-10T12:12:00.002-05:00

So this weekend wasn't as exciting as last weekend, but it was still crammed full of things to do and looks like it will be until Christmas gets here. :)

Saturday Courtlyn & I went shopping in Lexington so that we could use the Gymboree coupon I had and of course accumulate some ever precious Gymbucks (WOOHOO!!) while Daddy went deer hunting. I ended up at both Gymborees in Lexington by the end of the day and they both were madhouses, but we had fun, got some cute clothes and that's all that matters.

Sunday we went to Jonah & Sebastian's 3rd birthday party. There were so many people there and they got so many gifts. I didn't take any pictures though. :( After the party was over we took all of the balloons outside and released them for their mom, Mary Lee. That was the sad part of the day. It seems like just yesterday she was here and now she's not. It's so sad that those 4 precious children have to grow up without their mother, but that's what life has dealt them and we have to help them to grow up and remember the good times that they had with her mom while she was here. Once we left the party my MIL and I cried most of the way home and Courtlyn cried, but she wanted to hear Capri by Colbi Calliat (which she calls the baby song--we have to listen to it every time we're in the car) and it was in my car and we were in my MIL's car. LOL That kind of lightened up the mood, but only just a little bit. By the time we got home I had a migraine and couldn't stop thinking of Mary Lee and everything that happened with her. I just have to keep remembering this was God's plan even though I don't understand it. That does help....

Let me end on a brighter note by sharing a couple cute pictures of Courtlyn I took this weekend.

2008-11-05T10:29:00.001-05:00

Halloween & Wedding

2008-11-05T09:56:00.006-05:00

**NOTE: I have no idea why there is a seperate post of the rehearsal pictures in a slideshow above this blog entry. Who knows what on earth I did! They are on here too. Oh well! Can't you tell how savvy I am. ;)**

Well, what an exciting weekend we had with the wedding rehearsal last Thursday night, Halloween Friday and the wedding Saturday afternoon. Boy, do I have lots of pictures to share! :)

Let's start out with Thursday night at the wedding rehearsal. It was a little chaotic with 7 children participating in the fesitivites, but it was fun. Here are a couple photos.

Courtlyn with some of her cousins and the Mother of the Bride getting their instructions.

Courtlyn getting her instructions from the Mother of the Bride.

Courtlyn holding her flower girl basket.

Friday night was Halloween and that meant Trick-or Treating. Courtlyn was a fairy or as she would like to call it a fairy princess flower. :) We started out at Papaw Joe & Nana's house since she was already there for the day. She got Skittles and Goldfish crackers. She doesn't like chocolate and we're not real sure where that gene came from since we LOVE chocolate, but I'm glad she doesn't because chocolate is definitely our weakness. Ok, back to the Trick-or-Treating. After Papaw Joe & Nana's house we left to go to Granny Judy's house where there we lots of kids in her neighborhood Trick-or-Treating. Courtlyn even got to hand out some candy which she thought was a lot of fun, but she didn't really care for the scary masks and hid behind Daddy when those came around. :) After Granny Judy's we headed down to Papaw Willard & Granny Ree's house. By this time I think she was starting to wear down and we REALLY were too. We still had 2 more stops to make--Great, Great Aunt Francis and last but not least Papaw Ike & Granny Sue's house where there were treats and PIZZA waiting for us. By the time we made to Papaw Ike & Granny Sue's house the costume came off when we got through the front door and her shoes and socks came off thereafter. I think she had her feel of Halloween when we made it home around 10:00 or so. All in all she had a fun time and racked up on the Skittles and Goldfish crackers.

Courtlyn "arriving" at Papaw Joe & Nana's house to Trick-or-Treat" (I'm inside the house, that's why it looks weird.)

Upset that she is leaving Papaw Joe & Nana's house. She thought Trick-or-Treat was all over. :)

Courtlyn at Granny Judy's

Courtlyn at Papaw Willard & Granny Ree's

Ok, next is Saturday, the big day! I let Courtlyn sleep in because she had a long night and I knew it was going to be an even longer day without a nap. She woke up around 9:00 while I was gone to Wal-Mart grocery shopping. When I got back she was watching her new Tinkerbell DVD that she got for Halloween from Papaw Ike & Granny Sue. After I got ready I packed up the car with all the stuff--dress, shoes, socks, snacks, DVD player & DVDs (to keep the kids entertained which we never used BTW!), diapers, wipes, etc. I was worn out. See the wedding was in Irvine which was about 30 minutes from where we live so I knew I had to pack everything imaginable because there was no way I could just run home and get something. Anyway, we got to the church a little after 1:00 and the wedding wasn't until 3:00. I helped with last minute stuff and my MIL helped to keep Courtlyn entertained. Finally around 2:00 we got Courtlyn dressed and ready for pictures. She looked so cute! Just like a princess like she had said since last Wednesday when she first tried the dress on. She would prance around and twist in her dress. It was so cute!

Then it came time for the wedding. I was really nervous at this point because she was going to have to walk down the aisle by herself because the twins that she was supposed to walk down with decided they didn't want to do it. She was the last person to walk down before the bride and I was about the throw up outside the church. LOL I kept saying remember Courtlyn throw the petals down and stand really still beside Brooklyn (one of the other flower girls). She kept saying ok Mommy in the sweetest voice, but she had no clue what she was getting herself into. So up came her big moment. She walked up and what did she do??????? She reached up and grabbed her pretty black bow, ripped it out of her hair, threw it down on the floor and moseyed her way on down the aisle. Of course everyone laughed and so did I because that is typical Courtlyn. At any random moment she will decide to take her bow out of her hair and just throw it down wherever. She stopped halfway up the aisle like she forgot what she was supposed to do, but thankfully my MIL was there to get her back on track. She didn't make it through the entire wedding ceremony though. She ended up coming back and sitting with her Papaw Joe & Nana to play with her cousin Andrew during the ceremony so that was fine. All I asked was that she make it down the aisle and she did what I asked. So I was relieved!

Dancing in the aisle at the church before everyone got there

Brooklyn, Courtlyn, Jamie (the groom) & Kelsey. The look on Courtlyn's face was the one she kept during the entire picture session. Gotta love 2 year olds! :)

Brooklyn, Courtlyn & Kelsey (all cousins)

Courtlyn & Brittney (the bride--before the ceremony)

Mommy & Courtlyn (before the ceremony)

Courtlyn outside before her big debut!

Courtlyn at the end of the aisle where she should be (notice Brooklyn, her cousin, holding onto her arm LOL)

The twins--Jonah & Sebastian (Courtlyn's cousins). They look like they are plotting their getaway. :)

Dylan, Ethan, Jonah, Elbert (their dad) & Sebastian

Courtlyn & Ethan

The maid of honor, Courtlyn & Steve (the father of the bride) posing.

At the reception she really cut loose! There was music and balloons and she was in heaven! She played and played with her cousins. She played so hard that she ended up ripping every pretty pintuck out of her dress. I didn't care though she was having herself a good time and that's all that mattered to me. By the end of the evening the dress was a mess and her bow that was supposed to be in the back of the dress was in the front. LOL

Courtlyn and her cousin Andrew

Courtlyn & one of the twins playing in the balloons.

Daddy trying to fix Courtlyn's dress. Look at her eyeing those balloons. :)

Courtlyn & Andrew busting a move!

Courtlyn & Daddy--you can tell she's worn out!

Courtlyn releasing her balloons

I can't wait to see how the photographer's pictures turn out since I really didn't get a good picture of just her since she wouldn't sit still long enough. For all of you who were thinking of us I really appreciate it!

I just had to share this last picture. It was Monday night. Courtlyn was begging me to take her picture with her piggy tails. I know they aren't pretty, but she wouldn't hush until I took her picture. Then when I took it I thought she just looked too precious! :)

Who can resist a face like that?! :)

It's heeerrreee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-29T13:30:00.002-04:00

My mother-in-law just called and said that the dress has arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it made it here from California in 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!! The ebay seller is getting an awesome review from me for sure!!!!!

I can't wait until I get off of work so I can see what it looks like on my baby. My mother-in-law says that it is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! She did say that it looked a little bit long, but we still have enough time to get it altered if we need to.

All I can say now is WHEW....what a relief to have it here!!!!! :)

Thanks for the prayers! :)

Photo problems

2008-10-28T12:12:00.002-04:00

I don't know what the deal is with the pictures, but if you just click on them then you can see them in normal size. I even edited the post and re-posted the pictures as small and they are still huge. Anyway, sorry!

2 year photo shoot & an update

2008-10-28T11:30:00.004-04:00

The Saturday before last was Courtlyn's 2 year photo shoot at Carlisle Photography in Georgetown. The photos were just posted online last Sunday, and as usual Michele did an awesome job. Of course she always makes it hard for me to choose so I end up buying all of the proof pictures and make an album out of them. But I do need some help from you out there. Could you help me pick some of your favorite poses? I could spend hours just going through each one that I actually end up making myself a crazy lady. :) So I think an objective second eye wouldn't hurt. ;) Here's a link to the proof page and the password to enter is hoover.

http://carlislephotography.smugmug.com/gallery/6370543_pBpsV

This past weekend we went to a Halloween Party. It was actually Courtlyn's first and she had a blast. If I remember correctly last year she had a cold so we decided just to keep her in. She had so much fun playing with the other kids and dressing up. Here are a couple pics...

I can't wait to see how much fun she will have Friday night when we take her Trick-or-Treating!

Then I couldn't resist posting this picture of Courtlyn.

I took it right before we left for church Sunday morning. She's posing with the pumpkins she picked (which she named mommy, daddy & baby) in her new Halloween outfit. She looks so grown up in this picture it kind of makes me sad.

We found out Saturday that Courtlyn is going to be in a wedding THIS WEEKEND!!!!! It is David's cousin's wedding. There is going to be 7 children in the wedding. So this will either be really cute or a disaster. I'm hoping for really cute! :) Saturday morning as soon as I was asked I got on ebay and started hunting like a mad lady for a white dress with a black sash in a size 2. Do you know how hard this was???? About 45 minutes later I finally found one....in California. I'm in Kentucky!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's what it looks like...

She will be walking with a set of twin boys--her 3 year old cousins--who will be decked out in black tuxes so I think it's going to be so cute. Then her other 4 cousins will be the ring bearers and flowers girls. I'm just praying that the dress will make it here from California in time. The seller assures me it will and I hope he's right. So if you don't mind say and extra prayer for me that this dress will get here. I will be sure and take lots of pictures and post on here as soon as I can.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!

Pickles, Lemons & Rock-a-bye Baby

2008-10-21T12:47:00.002-04:00

Crazy title, huh? Well, there is a story...

Saturday I took Courtlyn to Georgetown for her 2 year pictures. She did great. So well that she earned herself 2 balloons. Nothing like a good ol' bribe! ;) So we head to Hamburg in Lexington to get the 2 promised balloons and lunch at Calistoga's (which by the way is my new favorite restaurant!). We get in Calistoga's and ordered and this is where Courtlyn turned on.

I ordered her a grilled cheese sandwich, chips and a pickle. Now this was the first time she had ever had a dill pickle and it was definitely a Kodak moment. It was, you could say, a love/hate relationship she had with the pickle. She loved the taste of it because she would say ummmm...good, but when the sour part would kick in she would throw it down like she didn't want it. It was hilarious!

Trying out the pickle...

Taking a big bite...

Cheeeeeeese!!!!!

After the pickle fiasco Courtlyn finished up her food and we thought we were ready to go. She saw there were lemons and she is a lemon lover (especially Cracker Barrel lemons). I'm not sure what it is about Cracker Barrel's lemons, but my mother-in-law says that she can eat them left and right when they take her. Anyway, I go and get her a couple of lemons. She sticks the whole thing in her mouth and she doesn't really flinch like you would expect her to. My mouth is totally watering right now just thinking about it. But apparently the lemons at Calistoga aren't as good as the lemons at Cracker Barrel because she wouldn't have anything to do with the second lemon I tried to give her.

Devouring the lemon...

Here's just a couple pictures of Courtlyn posing right before we left. She was totally hamming it up with the people who were waiting in line. She would wave at them and say hello. It must have been the pickle/lemon mixture working on her because the rest of the day she was a firecracker. :) Gotta love it!

Now on to the Rock-a-bye Baby part...Courtlyn has just recently developed a deep interest into her baby dolls. She has started to rock them, pat them, feed them and really started to "mother" them which I totally LOVE. But you really have to be careful because she doesn't want you to know that she is doing this so I have to sneak to get pictures. Here's what I got this past Sunday when we were at Nana & Papaw Joe's after church...

Rocking baby Bailey to sleep in the rocking chair

Burping baby Bailey (notice the burp cloth on her shoulder) too cute!

Now if I could just get her on video singing Rock-a-Bye Baby without her noticing you all would crack up. That's my new mission! :)

Cookout, hayride & bonfire

2008-10-14T08:54:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday we headed out to Bebe & Brian's for a cookout, hayride and bonfire on their farm. Courtlyn had been looking forward to this because we had been talking it up all day. Of course, she had no idea what a hayride or bonfire was, but she was so excited to go see Bebe & Brian and ride on the tractor!

When we got there Courtlyn had her first hot dog and she liked it pretty well. She ate half of it and I was pretty much a nervous wreck the entire time. :) Even though I cut it in half and then quartered it and fed it to her, I was still scared to death of her choking on it. I guess it's that first time parent, overprotective thing kicking in, but I can't help it. Hot dogs and kids scare the daylights out of me. They always have! When I see a child eating a hot dog I intently watch them to make sure they are not choking no matter where we are. I guess I'm just weird like that. Anyway, I digress!

So once we finished eating we went on our first of two hayrides for the night. Courtlyn was so excited when she saw everyone climbing on the wagon even though she still didn't know what to expect. Here she is right before the tractor took off holding on pretty tight to Daddy's leg.

Here she is about halfway through the ride and she is liking it!

After the hayride she just had to "drive" the tractor. So of course, we let her. ;)

Here she is checking back making sure everything is ok.

"Driving" again

Is this our cousin?

I'm not so sure about him????

Getting ready to throw in her first fish with help from Phil

First time fishing with Aunt Rene & Nana

Fishing off the dock with Aunt Rene

Daddy, Courtlyn & Mommy going on our second hayride

Screaming with the other kids on the hayride

Admiring her first bonfire

Courtlyn & Papaw Joe all snuggled up by the fire

Mommy, Courtlyn & Daddy enjoying the fire

There were smores to enjoy, but Courtlyn just devoured the graham crackers instead. Somehow she managed to get a package home with her. :) Thanks to Bebe & Brian we were also able to take home 3 pumpkins to remember the night by. Fun was had by all, and we can't wait for next year!

Swimming Lessons...

2008-10-13T08:50:00.002-04:00

We enrolled Courtlyn in swimming lessons at EKU and they started a couple weeks ago. This is her new favorite thing to do twice a week. As soon as she wakes up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and she finds out what day it is she says, I go swimming!!! I couldn't resist in sharing these cute pictures from class last Thursday.

The amazing part of it all is in just 4 lessons she is starting to hold her breath under water and is starting to get enough confidence to jump into the pool standing up from the side of the pool into Daddy's arms which according to the teacher is a really big deal. We are still working on learning how to blow bubbles in the water. She would rather drink the pool water which totally grosses me out, but the teacher says one day it will just click so I am hoping sooner rather than later she learns the blowing bubble thing. :)

One thing that I am learning while in the swimming class is what a total girly girl Courtlyn is becoming. While doing the underwater pass from Daddy to Mommy she is worried about her hair and is fixing it underwater by pushing it back before she comes up out of the water. It totally cracks us up to watch her do this in the short amount of time she is actually under the water. :)

A day at Evan's Orchard & Cider Mill

2008-10-08T11:43:00.004-04:00

On Saturday the 4th Courtlyn, David & I spent the afternoon at Evan's Orchard and Cider Mill in Georgetown (http://www.evansorchard.com/Index.html). If you've never been there we highly recommend it. We had a great time!

It was our first time visiting the orchard and there was so much to do. We picked a perfect day weather wise. It was in the mid-70s and we weren't the only people who decided to head up to Georgetown to check it out. It was a little crowded, but we just got right in there with everyone else and had a great time.

When we first got there we were starving so we decided to try the food. We got a cheeseburger meal & a pork barbecue meal. I got the cheeseburger meal thinking Courtlyn would rather have that than BBQ, but what did she choose to eat.....BBQ. She is always surprising us with her choices in food. :) Oh, then there were the fried apple pies which were to DIE for!!! I wished I had one right now with some vanilla ice cream....YUMMY!!!!

After we ate when went on a tractor ride of the farm which Courtlyn loved! We kept trying to encourage her that the tractor we were on was just like the tractor she had at home, but there was no convincing her of that. She still won't go near it. We think it is the noise the motor makes. Oh well, maybe in time she will take her stuffed cow and pig for a ride in the front yard.

Once the tractor ride was over it parked directly in front of the kids play land so guess where we headed off to next? Yep, you guess right....Kiddie Land! She was in kiddie heaven with all of the swings, slides, mazes, tricycle tractors, hay castles and dirt. When it was time to leave Kiddie Land we had to basically bribe her with a pony ride because she was crying. (Something I said I would never do before I had children...oh, how I am eating those words now!)

Courtlyn & Daddy in the Rope Maze

Courtlyn & Daddy coming down the Apple Cider Slider

Courtlyn & Daddy at the bottom of the Apple Cider Slider

Courtlyn doing her favorite pasttime...swinging.

Courtlyn said she was in her words "flynin".

So off to the pony rides we went. She loved that as well. Oh and the smell was WONDERFUL!!!! The ponies were SO excited to take 2, 3 & 4 year olds for 5 minute rides in continuous circles you could tell.

Once the ride was over we thought the tears from Kiddie Land were bad, but they were nothing compared to the tears when the pony ride was over. So what could we come up with now? Where had we not been that she had been dying to go to? The pumpkin patch!!!!!!!!!! Off we go....

By this time we had been at the Orchard for about 3 hours I guess and it was really starting to get warm and I was totally rethinking the sweatshirt I put on as I was pushing the sleeves up constantly. Courtlyn had not had a nap other than the 45 minute ride in the car to the Orchard. So needless to say patience was wearing a little thin you might say. We make the hike down to the pumpkin patch hoping that some kind soul would be down there to take a family snapshot of us and we could quickly leave. Well, that wasn't the case. As soon as we get down there everyone disappears like the plague. I was like you have to be kidding me! Not 1 single person! So we let Courtlyn attempt to walk in the pumpkin patch as best she could. She tumbled around more than she walked since she was so excited to see all of the pumpkins and would not watch where she was walking. :) Silly girl!

Finally we decided that we had enough and made the hike back up the hill towards the car. We finally spotted a family who we asked if they would take a picture of us and they so kindly obliged. We gathered up everything and loaded up the car and headed home.

We had a great time and made some great memories. I definetly want to make this an annual fall trip because it is such a nice place, and to eat another fried apple pie of course!!! :)

Courtlyn's 2nd Birthday Party!!!

2008-10-02T09:02:00.016-04:00

**I have to preface this entire post by saying I had everything done by the 09/30/08, but the photo slideshow. It has taken me exactly 1 week to figure out how to post a slideshow within a blog. I'm still not exactly sure how I did it, but it is done and that's all that matters at this point! :) Hope you enjoy all my hard work!**

Well, I'm officially a mother to a 2 year old now. It's really hard to believe! Saturday, September 27th, we celebrated Courtlyn's big day with her grandparents--all 8 of them!!!! Everything went great and Courtlyn racked up on the gifts. She got so many that I believe she was a bit overwhelmed with it everything and just wanted to play with them instead of open more. (Lesson learned for next year!)

The day started off busy for me as I had to go to Lexington to pick up Courtlyn's cake at Caramanda's Bakery (http://www.caramandas.com/), which might I say was fabuluous!!!! This was the first time trying them and they were definitely a big hit! Although, anything is a big hit at my house when Abby Cadabby's face is plastered on it. :)

After I picked up the cake I had to swing by Party City in Hamburg to get Courtlyn's special Abby Cadabby balloon and 8 pink & purple balloons. Of course, those were a big hit with her too. I believe if that's all we would have gotten her she would have been completely satisfied...and we would have saved a lot of money!

After a fast trip back from Lexington I had a wedding shower to attend and I still had not got everything prepared for the party, but I wasn't sweating it because I knew everything would work itself out and if it didn't....oh well! I made it home 15 minutes before people started showing up. Talk about making it home under the wire!

Once everyone arrived Courtlyn didn't know what to do with herself. She loves commotion, but with all of the presents and balloons everywhere I think she was a bit of a Nervous Nelly. Oh, and I almost forgot the funniest part...I got her a new shirt to wear for her birthday that was "silky". It was the first "silky" shirt she had ever worn. It was cute because she kept walking around telling everyone she had on a new shirt, but the funny part was that she kept rubbing her belly all night long. Apparently she liked the feel of the silkiness. It was the cutest thing ever! Between being nervous and the shirt we couldn't stop laughing at her. Bless her heart!

Like I said earlier Courtlyn racked up on the presents. She got some much needed fall clothes, her first Vera Bradley purse, a cross necklace, a Little Tykes kitchen with all of the accessories, a motorized John Deere tractor with a wagon (she's obsessed with tractors), a tree swing, My Little Pony, a shopping cart, a tea set, books, tricycle & helmet, gift cards to Gymboree and some more things I know I am forgetting.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

After the gift opening we let her play a bit with everything and then mention the words BIRTHDAY CAKE! She made a bee-line to the kitchen since she knew Abby Cadabby was on her cake. So we put the cake in front her, lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and let her go at it. Well, what did she do? Nothing....she played in the icing a little bit and wouldn't even take a bite of the cake. I have to admit I was a bit proud of my healthy eater! :) She did ask for some ice cream though. I scooped out all 3 flavors and she only wanted vanilla and just a couple bites at that. I don't have a clue where she gets this healthy eating stuff because if anyone knows me they know I LOVE anything sweet. I am not complaning though.

Once everyone finished their cake & ice cream several of us headed outside so that Courtlyn could try out her new tricycle and tractor. Well, guess what comes riding up the road.....HORSES!!!!! As soon as Courtlyn heard the clicking of their horseshoes on the blacktop she said in her sweet little voice, what's that?! We said, it's horses Courtlyn, do you want to go look? Of course she said yes and she was running toward the road. There were 5 or 6 of them riding and they graciously stopped for us. I mentioned that it was Courtlyn's birthday and 1 very nice gentleman got off and offered Courtlyn her very first horse ride. She was all game, never hesitated one bit. I was lucky enough to have my camera right there and got it on video too. She was in heaven. The horse's name was Miss Attie, short for Miss Attitude which is perfect for Courtlyn. :) She went for a short ride in our front yard and the man told us to come by anytime to let her ride since he just lives right up the road from us. I thought that was very nice. When she got off the horse she told the man thank you and that was fun. How sweet is she?!?

When they rode on down the road she just stood there in the yard watching them until she couldn't see them anymore. She was completely and totally amazed by the horses. David said well looks like we'll be buying a horse for Christmas. I laughed and said no, no, no that man said we could come down any time and ride.....and that's free! :)

All in all, Courtlyn had a great birthday! It was a lot of hard work getting everything together, but it was all worth it in the end.

It's Almost Party Time...

2008-09-26T12:11:00.000-04:00

Well, we are gearing up for Courtlyn's big day...her 2nd birthday party that is, which will be tomorrow afternoon. I've almost got everything done that is going to get done. The only things left to do is go to the grocery, pick up the cake and get the balloons.

I can't wait to see what her reaction will be to all the gifts she will get. Last year was fun, but I think this year will be even more fun because she will understand more what is going on.

Thanks to Nana & Papaw Joe she got 1 gift early on Tuesday evening when we got home...her very own table and chairs. When she saw it she squealed, said awwww and put her head down like she was hugging it. She immediately started piling her favorite books on the table and had to sit in every chair to see how they felt. Then she decided that she wanted to line the chairs up like we do in Bible class every Sunday morning for circle time. It was so cute! After that, she decided that she didn't like where Daddy placed her table and chairs so she moved every piece to the living room (as if we didn't already have enough stuff piled up in there already!). Silly girl! :)

Until I post about the party here's Courtlyn and her table & chairs....

Courtlyn with her new table & chairs.

Courtlyn & Daddy playing in the living room.

A New Beginning...

2008-09-16T11:32:00.003-04:00

So, I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I thought I would give it a whirl and see if anyone is even remotely interested in our rather quiet life. I hope to at least update once a week, but notice I did say "hope".

We are gearing up for Courtlyn's 2nd birthday which is the 29th of this month. It's just hard to believe that nearly 2 years ago we brought this adorable little bundle of joy into the world. Here she is just hours after she was born...

The nursery nurse said it correctly whenever the grandparents were trying to get this picture. She said well I will try and see if she will turn your way, but she has a mind of her own. Yep, she pegged her from day 1 for sure. She's an independent bundle of energy and we love every bit of it.

She's certainly been a joy to nuture, teach and learn from. We couldn't have asked God for a sweeter little girl than Courtlyn Claire. So here's to new beginnings in blogging and new beginnings in the toddler world....hope you enjoy!!!!