To the Beach!

We went with Matthew's family (his mom's side) to Perdido Key last week. It was SO MUCH fun! JoAnna LOVED it! Matthew, JoAnna, and I shared a condo with his brother Taylor, Lori, and Reynolds...perfect set-up (thanks, Doc and Grancie!). JoAnna preferred the beach, but wasn't a fan of the "clean feet" shower at the end of the boardwalk. The freedom she had out there was more than she knew what to do with. Playing with her cousins was a lot of fun, too! She liked being in the pool I'd say a good 8 minutes before she was crawling out and on her way to interrupt the next poor person trying to enjoy a book. The only thing that I can pinpoint as not-so-much-fun was the twice-daily lathering of sunscreen on JoAnna. Otherwise, no complaints. Matthew and I were even able to go out together on a date while Doc and Grancie kindly stayed in with the babies. We are already looking forward to next year!
JoAnna 13 months

Hair lately...

JoAnna's hair is growing/going out of control! I keep saying I've gotta get it cut, but WHEN!?! I am rarely home before 5:30 during the week, and trust me - a haircut isn't something either one of us would do well with at the time of day. I've played with it and put it up in knots, tails, barretts, etc. Getting JoAnna agreeable to wear anything in her hair to help the situation has been work in itself. Anyway, she seems to be "giving in" a little more lately and is letting me at least have her eyes visible. I thought I'd share some pictures I've gotten over the past month or so...
JoAnna, 11-13 months

Birthday Pictures!

yes, I've finally rounded some up!

JoAnna, 12 months

Check-up and stuff

JoAnna went to the doctor for her one year check-up the other day. Her daddy took her, and he said she did really well but cried a lot with the shots. Oh, how I'm so glad I didn't have to hear that! Anyway - she's creeped back up on the height scale now standing 30 inches tall (exactly one half of my height - crazy!). This puts her in the 90th percentile for height. She is now weighing 21 pounds, which puts her at the 50th percentile. She's a growing little thang! She's started walking alot more lately, but still prefers the crawl. She loves to swim in the tub and kick like she's getting somewhere. Dr. Dennis thinks she may be cutting some molar teeth, which may explain her moodiness this past week. One of her teachers said, "she was just showing off a little of her one-year-old self!" She's really such a joy and is changing by the day. We are trying to encourage her to use some words because she's getting away with pointing her little fingers off... it's so sweet, it's hard to resist sometimes. We look at her in amazement and still don't know how a year has passed by.
JoAnna, 12 months

How has it already been a YEAR???

I'll post more pics really soon, I promise. JoAnna had a very big weekend with her first Double Decker and her FIRST BIRTHDAY! We got lucky and had a lot of family and friends in town...similar to the weekend she was born, you might say... So, the turn-out for cake and ice cream was great! Thank you to my dear friend Erica - I could NOT have done that without you!

Easter 09

not sure what's going on

laughing and talking all about it...

didn't have enough hands to reach for it all at once

my sweet little love bunny

the way too big Easter dress...all dressed up and nowhere to go...boohoo

We had plans to go to the delta for Easter, which would've been JoAnna's first trip there. We were all packed and ready to go, and Matthew called me on my way home from work to say that JoAnna had a fever over 1o2. What a surprise! We certainly didn't see that one coming! Needless to say, JoAnna's first Easter wasn't what WE had planned, but she had a fun weekend, anyway. We hate that we missed out on so many playdates. We didn't even make it to Easter service. I wasn't gonna dare attempt the church nursery...we know how those are! Anyway, here are some pics from the weekend.

JoAnna 11 1/2 months

Monkey Cupcakes

JoAnna loves her stuffed monkey - actually too much - she has been loving on it so hard that it's hair is falling out! I would let her love it to pieces, but it happens to be her Aunt JoAnna's. So, I'm hoping to take a little better care of it. Anyway - I thought since she loved monkeys so much (even says eh eh eh for the monkey sound, compliments of her daddy) that I'd attempt some cupcakes. Her first birthday is right around the corner - CRAZY! I figured if they were presentable that I may could do them for her on her special day. So, Erica was here for the weekend and being the "go getter" that she is got me working on my first rough draft. We had so much fun playing around and learning to be icing artists! Here are our results. Still not sure what the birthday will be like, but I think these little monkeys turned out pretty cute! They even have hair, which is something I thought was impossible. Thanks, Erica! Come back to Oxford...I'd be SO much more productive!
P.S. gotta find a way to make them baby girl monkeys...didn't attempt bows in the hair this time

JoAnna, Georgia, and flowers

For those of you following Lain's blog, forgive the repetition. I did try to find some different pics. As you can see, the girls where way more interested in the natural artwork all around than they were in the camera. Can you blame them? The flowers around campus and in the square are beautiful! Springtime in Oxford is great!
JoAnna, 11 months
Georgia, 10 months