Birthday at the Zoo!

John celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday. Friday night I surprised him with an overnight trip to Ross Bridge. If you are anywhere near the Birmingham area, I highly recommend going. It is such a fun getaway without the long drive! We ate way too much food (the breakfast buffet at Brock's is amazing) and so enjoyed spending time together. We missed the little guy like crazy though. Many thanks to Yia Yia and Papou for keeping Will for us. Apparently he was a perfect angel. How couldn't he be when he is spoiled rotten by grandparents!
On Saturday, John's actual birthday, we picked Will up and headed to the Birmingham Zoo. I teased John on the way over about how I bet he never thought he would ever be spending his birthday at the zoo....and be excited about it :) This was Will's first trip to the Zoo. It was the perfect day to go. The weather was great-sunny and warm. Will spent most of our visit out of his stroller and in his daddy's arms pointing at EVERYTHING. I think it is safe to say that the monkeys were his favorite. And they certainly put on a show for us!!

When he was in his stroller, he just looked up in awe.Couldn't resist this! We had everyone standing around cracking up at Will :)This giraffe was right over our head and Will thought his tongue was super funny!Saturday night we had a wedding to go to. This time, it was Kiki and Pops turn to have Will duty (THANK YOU). We are so blessed to have both families here that do not consider this duty at all. And John and I got two date nights out in a row!!!! Everyone agreed that the reception food was the best we had ever had at a wedding and the cake served as yummy, free birthday cake for John :) It was kind of fun going to a wedding on John's birthday-reminded me of all the reasons I fell in love with him in the first place!

Diaper Bag Dilemma SOLVED

Thank you to all of you who left comments-I really did take them all into consideration and it helped to guide me in making my decision. It amazes me how indecisive I am about crazy small stuff. In the end, as much as I love how it looks, I decided not to get the Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag. I decided to go with most of your advice and think long term how I would ever justify spending $145 on this bag (though I did a lot of searching and found it with free shipping and no tax! :) ) A smaller bag was a necessity, and I wanted it to be cute...I don't carry a purse at the moment, I just throw my wallet in Will's diaper bag. So this would hang on my arm for a while...until I don't need a diaper, wipes, goldfish, or sippy cup on demand wherever we are. Today I went to Auburn to visit some sweet friends and Shealy and I were talking about my dilemma. We decided we would shop around some of the cutesy, baby stores in Auburn in hopes of finding something cute, economical, and versatile. I think we found all 3 in this lovely bag...The Stephanie by Vera Bradley
For some reason I could not save the picture and post it directly on here. I got it in the pattern "Sittin on a Tree" and I LOVE IT!!! I want this to be my new Vera pattern. It looks more "grown up" than the pattern I have had since high school. Anyways, it is the perfect size for all said items mentioned above, plus there are pockets on each side that fits my cell phone perfect. There are zippers on the outside on each side and it also zips at the top. I know I can/will use this even when it no longer holds diapers and the like. And it has the most adorable pleats on the front-so cute!! So thanks for all the advice-I hope you will be happy with my decision. I have a feeling if you are out and see this bag, you will want it too-baby or no baby!!

On to the more fun part of my trip to Auburn...visiting! Will and I met Shealy, Kate, Holly, Kirkley, Allyson, Sarah and Sam for lunch at Big Blue Bagel. It was so nice to catch up with some of my favorite people in the world at the best place to eat in the world! Then Will and I were able to hang out with Shealy and Kate for the rest of the day which was long overdue. Kate just celebrated her first birthday, so we had gifts in tow. Will, being so experienced with opening gifts, got Kate in on the action. Of course, they both preferred the tissue paper to whatever else the bag contained.Will showed Kate how to operate one of his favorite things-Leap Frog Fridge Farm-A must have for any one year old!! This saves us at night when I am trying to get dinner ready.Aren't they cute??!!

Will loves pushing around a stroller with baby dolls in it. I guess it is because we do not have baby dolls and strollers at our house. Will has discovered that our church nursery also has baby dolls and strollers and the past few Sundays when I pick him up, I see him strolling with a baby around the room.
This was our attempt at yet another photo shoot of Kate and Will-of course our visits together are not complete without snapping at least 100 pictures of them!Until next time, sweet friends! Your turn...come play with us in Birmingham!! :)

Peace Out

Boy am I lucky! My Mama somehow has a job that lets her off work for the WHOLE week-and she doesn't even have to take vacation days! I am going to be sure to enjoy every minute. I woke up bright eyed, happy, and ready to play this morning!You see, I am taking in everything in my world at the moment. I love to figure out how things work. I take breaks every now and then to snuggle with my turtle. He is very soft.Peace Out! I am off to spend the week with my Mama!

Diaper Bag Dilemma

I need advice. We got the Kalencom Laminated diaper bag right before Will was born and have been using it ever since. We have loved this bag. The only problem is it is a bit bulky...well a lot bulky. Especially now that Will does not require everything but the kitchen sink. I can pretty much get away with a small snack container, sippy cup, diapers, wipes, and a few toys to keep him occupied. I don't need this huge bag anymore. He has a little backpack that we use sometimes, but this will be more useful when he goes to MDO or daycare. It has no compartments/pockets. I have been looking at this one for a while.

It is quite the investment. That is why I haven't been able to commit yet. I have heard it is great and have a few friends with it. Recently, I discovered that they made this lovely bag with a "glazed" option-meaning it is wipable. Before, I was worried that the fabric would stain or the threads would pull-but in the wipeable version, this wouldn't happen. I just think it is a very "pretty" and stylish looking diaper bag in a great size. And it would work for a boy or girl, if we are blessed with a girl later....Does anyone have a small diaper bag that they love. I would prefer that it zip on the top, have inside pockets/compartments, be about this size. About half, or a little less than the size of my Kalencom. Thank you for your help!

Cutie

We had some professional pictures taken of Will a few weeks ago. He was a little over 13 months. We are amazed at how WONDERFUL they all are. I have no idea how we will ever decide which ones to order. If you are in the Birmingham area, I highly recommend Heather Swanner (www.heatherswannerphotography.com) Click on the link to view the slideshow. He is also featured on her blog.

http://animoto.com/play/Cbgb46i1dn3PTysajqoMbQ?utm_content=main_link&utm_source=share&utm_campaign=animoto&utm_medium=email

Playing at the Park!

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. On Sunday, cousin James invited Will to meet him at the park to play. The dads had a grand time chasing them through tunnels and down slides and pushing them on swings while the moms just cuddled with sweet Anna Sophia (the newest cousin) and talked.
We have got to get a wagon like this...Grandparents...this is on our wish list!! It had seats that you can strap into!

Will loved riding!

The swings are always a favorite!Will learned how to go up the slide...his new kicks have awesome traction :)

And of course going down is always a thrill...

This is my favorite from the day. James and Will would crawl towards each other and then just hug and touch each others hair and giggle at each other. This is such a fun age to watch Will interact with other kids!

Let's meet at the park again soon, please!!

Sunday Best

Spring fever is running rampant around our house. Spring break is so close and thankfully some warm weather has headed our way (at least for the time being). On Sunday, Will decided to get into the spring spirit and bust out an Easter outfit. He looked adorable. Here are a few pictures I snapped before church.