happy birthday reed man

Ada and I had the pleasure of celebrating a first birthday with our favorite little man twice. Reed completed 365 days on earth on October 22nd. That day we celebrated with him by attending our weekly Kindermusik class, eating cupcakes and playing at the park.

This picture is Reed in a nutshell. Full of spunk, personality and absolutely adorable.

...and yes we cage our animals. Don't judge. If you have not had a mobile little one then your opinion does not count :) Ada ENJOYING the cage.

This monkey, Anna Kate, out of the cage and snagging Ada's sippy cup and greenie beans :)

The birthday boy lovin' on his mommy!

Self portrait of me and the little misses :)

THE birthday boy!

A week prior while at Navarre Beach, to celebrate the short-term-homecoming of Auntie L and Uncle Whit (more pictures to follow), we also had a birthday shin-dig for Reed-man. The cake which I had a delightful time making was demolished by the almost one year old. Reed did an excellent job taring into the cake, but my favorite was when he put his whole face in it. Great job, Reed! Happy Birthday, once again!

Doing well

. . .and mastered!

The finished product produced by Reed alone. No cake, just icing. That's how I like it too!

Happy 1st Birthday, Reed!

crumpets and tea

{sidenote: not that anyone even cares :) but I am going out of chronological order. oh no. yeah. The post that precedes this one is a little on the long winded side and I have not collected all the photos from it yet. So just to let you know. But, like I mentioned,not that anybody cares. hehe}

With a love of all things British (after all my name does mean "from England" :) what better way to introduce my daughter than to have a tea party at our vey own British tea room, The English Rose.

Amy and Anna Kate met Ada and I for afternoon tea at 2pm yesterday. We had a delightful time and the girls were on their very best behavior. Well, almost. Miss Lynn took great care of us and continually complimented the girls on their good behavior. As soon as we arrived Miss Lynn gave each of the girls a biscuit that they devoured. Ada not quit as gracefully as Anna Kate.

This is the before and I will spare you the after. Amy brought a child appropriate (and very cute) tea set that the girls enjoyed "sipping" and then tossing on the floor. Continually.

Yes, this is the well, almost that I previously referred to. So many times that we ended up with some damaged goods. First by Ada. Then by Anna Kate. Ada's mommy (moi) was delighted when A.K. repeated Ada's offense so her daughter was not the only one breaking things, though in general she still feels bad that it happened at all. We do apologize, again A.K.

The offense.The offender.

While the girls munched on their biscuits, the adults each had a delicious cup of asparagus soup and split a sampler of finger sandwiches. The two little A's ended up have a bit of the asparagus soup, along with many different kinds of other little people food. And we must not forget dessert. I of course went for the chocolate dish while Amy chose a palatable strawberry option. I think it is safe to say that we both would be up for a repeat.

yum!

For some after tea entertainment Anna Kate showed us her peek-a-boo skills. . .

. . .and then posed like a little cutie.

Ada thought A.K. was hilarious.

And if they had not already been the most perfect (almost) sweet angels and just as cute as could be. . .they held hands.

The four "tea huggers". Black and White. Oh yeah. Truth be told. My face was looking as shiny as one of those 1970s disco balls.

eight months and many firsts

A week ago, Ada turned eight months old. I am going to spare the part where I tell you how time has flown too quickly, how my little girl is growing up too fast and how much I love this little lady, because you all already know all of that. Instead, here is Ada at eight months old and several firsts.

Ada went to her first county fair with her good buddy, Anna Kate. The two were frequently confused as twins as they road around in A.K.'s cute little red wagon. At the tail end the two got caught pulling every single wipe out of their diaper bags. Because the girls had been so good for so long and we wanted to ensure this goodness lasted just a little bit longer we stood there and let them.

264 pound pumpkin

287 pounds of pure cuteness

Preston and Peyton Carli's goats, Victor and Lily, made an appearance at the county fair and both won blue ribbons.

As Amy mentioned in her post, we went to see Charlotte's Web several years ago and by the end of the movie each wanted a "Wilbur" for Christmas.


After using Ada's Bumbo for the longest time we finally broke down and bought Ada a highchair. We regretted waiting so long to make the purchase considering she loved it so much and it has been soooo much easier to feed her in her fancy new chair. No more fighting her from trying to flip out. Ada shows her excitement during her first time strapped in. . .
First encounter with the magical kiddo food most often referred to as O's. It was love at first sight.

Ada and I went on our first solo road trip. Daddy had to work so the two females of the family headed out by ourselves (note to self: road trips are much more complicated without two sets of adult arms. . . wearing your baby in a baby bjorn for pit stops for example). Our first stop was a surprise drop by to Nashville. Becca had been recovering from her foot surgery so we arranged with Brent for a surprise girls lunch out. Ada and I brought her some surprises and confessed that we (read: I) ate all the Dove chocolate that was an additional part of the surprise. Thankfully, Becca loves me despite/because of my chocolate addiction :)

Becca suggested that we go to a little place called the Puffy Muffin for lunch. It was a quaint little cafe filled with yummy food and homemade pastries. It was delicious. Ada was quite the attention getter though most of those doting over her thought she was a boy, so immediately after lunch a bow was purchased. This is a picture of her wearing her first bow.

The second stop on our first girls only road trip was Lexington, KY to see Aunt Suzi and Roman. Where's Ada? How did you get over there so fast?

Ada and I brought Roman a pumpkin. Anytime Roman really loves something such as his Lightening McQueen shoes or his toy Octopus he will want to a.) use it as a bath toy and/or b.)sleep with it at night. The pumpkin got invitation a. He also could not wait to carve the pumpkin. I think that is the first think he spoke about upon waking up the next morning.

Taste testing.

The next day we all went to a local apple orchard. It had the most ginormous slide. Roman could not get enough.

Slide down in a sack on this slide.

No apples for us, but apples for somebody. . .

. . .like they needed anymore lunch. They could barely move. Not quite as cute as our little Wilburs previously pictured.

That night was Ada's first time to be left with a non family member (oh yeah, besides the nursery at church). Miss Maggie, took care of Roman and Ada while Suzi and I went to go see Angie Smith (wife to Tod Smith, a member of the Christian music group Selah) speak at a women's conference. The evening was incredible. The Lord showed up in so many different ways. This was Angie's first speaking engagement since she lost her baby earlier this year. This is a letter that Angie wrote to her daughter. ***warning: this site elicits tears***

Ada's first pair of "real" shoes. I love how girly they are. A target purchase for only $9.99!!!

First time to be a ballerina.

Ada's first day trip with her buddy Anna Kate. Amy invited us to go down to surprise her dad at a conference he was hosting down in Cohutta, Georgia. The girls did well overall, though at one point they were competing for highest octave while attempting to take naps. We were gone for the entire day capping off the road trip with a bit of shopping in Calhoun. The following pictures are a before and a couple of after.

Surprisingly, this last month Ada rode sitting up in a shopping cart for the first time. She has had the ability to do so for a while, but I continued to put her along with her car seat in the shopping cart for the longest.

While this picture does not depict a first for Ada, Tucker had a first this same night. We all witnessed him sit up for the first time. Go, Tucker, Go!
Lastly, Ada met Mr. October, Baby Silas for the first time. He is so incredibly cute and as everyone has mentioned, looks just-like-his-daddy. Verbatim. Congrats on your little cutie. He is precious.