Special Blessings

Anyone who has ever lived away from his or her family knows it can be tough at times. When I was pregnant for Landry, I was fortunate enough to live in Lake Charles for most of my pregnancy. It was wonderful getting to share all the wonderful new experiences with my family and friends back home. For this pregnancy, I have been in Georgia, and have not had my extended family surrounding me the entire time. However, God has blessed me immensely by giving me wonderful friends to share the experience with.

These two wonderful ladies, Corie and Traci, have been so special to me. I know God placed them in my life during this time, and I am so thankful. They are so thoughtful, and they threw me a amazing baby shower today. Here are a few pictures from the wonderful event.

Don't you just love all the faces you get caught making when you are opening gifts. These were actually the "good" faces. Eeek!

Landry's favorite part was the FOOD. I think she ate a pound of cheese.

The Rest of the Valentine's Shoot

Well, you saw a few of Landry's Valentine Pics from the card/sign project. But I wanted to post a few more of the shots. Notice, I like to use suckers a lot. It's a great way to get Landry to cooperate :)

Valentine's Greetings

Since our families live quite a distance from us, I like to try and send them special things from Landry. I try to do a little craft/card for each holiday, and as long as Landry has added her own little touch to it, they eat it up. So here is what I did for Valentines.....

I had to wait to post this blog until they received them in the mail. Of course our parents called us tonight on the phone excited about what they had received. They LOVED it! I wanted to share my idea with you in case you wanted to do something like it. Even if your parents live right down the road from you, who doesn't like to get "good" mail? And what grandparent, uncle, aunt, etc. doesn't want cute pictures of your little one? On the inside, it just says Happy Valentine's Day ____________. And of course Landry wrote her own special message. I also made sure I included the year, so it would be a keepsake.

While we were at it, Landry and I made a special project for daddy as well. He took it to his office and hung it on his wall.

Diaper Deal for the Mommas!!

Ok, so I've got a great deal that all mommas need to take advantage of. Especially if you are like me and are about to have 2 kids in diapers. This is a deal on Luvs diapers, which work great. They are not as expensive as Huggies and Pampers, but are just as good.

Ok, go to diapers.com

Buy 7 packs Luvs Jumbo Diapers $6.99 each = $48.93
Buy a small filler item like Pampers travel wipes for $1.99 to get your total to $49 to get Free Shipping
Total = 50.92
Use Promo Code: AMBE7044 to get $10 off
Pay: $40.92 and submit for $14.97 rebate (The site for the rebate is http://www.diapers.com/helpcenter/parenting.htm ) It will explain what you need to do to get your rebate.

Total cost for you will be only $25.95 for 7 packs of diapers and travel wipes! Now that is a deal!!!

Best part of all, you don't even have to leave your house. The diapers come to you in just a couple of days. :)

Comment if you have any questions. I just stocked up on a few different sized diapers for Eli. I know I'm going to need them so why not. :)

A Huge Nerd

That is what Cory called me today, because I took a picture of all my bargains. But I am proud to be a coupon/sale nerd. Especially when it saves me $87.06. $32.58 of that was just coupons. When I pulled up in the van and opened the hatch, Cory was shocked to see how many groceries I had come home with. He was even more shocked when I told him, the total bill was $49.69. Who's the nerd now?

I spent the better part of Landry's nap today getting my list and coupons together. I got everything organized perfectly so I knew exactly how many of each item I needed to buy. Here is what I came home with:

In case you can't see everything, it is

5 packages of Yoplait YoPlus Yougurt (.25 each)

4 cans of Progresso Soup (.75 each)

4 cans Rotel Tomatoes (.42 each)

2 jars Prego Spaghetti Sauce

3 Boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars (1.19 each)

5 Boxes Fiber One Bars (1.70 each)

1 Box Honey Made Graham Crackers (.99)

2 Boxes Fiber One Cereal (1.14 each)

4 pkgs. 8 o'clock coffee (1.49 each. I am usually a loyal Community Coffee Girl, but I have found you can mix the coffees half and half and it tastes pretty similar to the original Community)

1 pkg. Publix Decaf Coffee (Penny Item)

2 large Bottles Coffee-Mate Creamer (1.50 each)

1 pkg. Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (.24 each)

2 pkg. Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta

1 pkg. Chex Mix Trail Mix (.24 each)

1 container Publix Premium Ice Cream (not pictured 2.00)

1 Lysol toilet bowl cleaner (1.00)

5 bottles Juicy Juice (4-1.00 each, 1- .50)

Arnold Whole Wheat Bread

Nature's Own Whole Wheat hamburger buns

Newspaper

Whew! That was a lot to type. But I get excited just reviewing how much I saved. Ok, so maybe I am a huge nerd. :) I am making a trip to Winn Dixie tomorrow to pick up a few deals from there. And I may just be able to skip shopping next week, unless there are deals I just can't pass up. :)

Have a great night everyone!

On the Out-and-OUT

My belly button, that is. In the last month or so, my innie has become an outie. So much, in fact, you can see it through most of my shirts. Some people refer to the belly button as your cooking timer. They say you are ready when the belly button pops out. Eli, however, still has a little "cooking" time to go. I guess my timer will just stick out further and further over the next few weeks. And that's ok. I've grown quite fond of it. :)

Oh When the Saints....Go Marching In!!

Can you believe the SAINTS are actually going to the SUPERBOWL? No one thought they would actually pull it off, but THEY DID!!! WOOOO HOOOO! I am so excited for the team and for our home state of Louisiana.

Last night, we had a big NFC Championship party for 2 of our college groups. And of course, we were a little biased. So we decorated the place in Saints colors. If someone was pulling for the Vikings, they were just out of luck. It was the one time, we did not want to see any purple and gold.

We made cookies and King Cakes, but not with the traditional colors. What do you think?

Of course, all the students were a little weirded out by a baby being inside the cake.

Here's Landry at the party. Sadly, she doesn't have a Saints shirt, but she was still decked out in their colors. We will definitely be making a purchase before the superbowl!

Landry had a ball last night. Recently, she had gone through a stage where she was extremely bashful. And to be quite frank, she was mean a lot of the time. If someone tried to approach her, and she didn't want to talk to them, she'd just scream at them or roll her eyes. It was always quite shocking to the person and very embarrassing for us.

Well, thankfully, she has made a complete turn around and is back to being the life of the party. What a relief for me, she was not attached to my hip all night!! She was dragging college students around every where, doing whatever she could to entertain them and make them laugh. She's quite the character lately.

Here she is with one of our students, "Red". Red and his wife are expecting a baby girl in June, so this was perfect practice for him.

Landry was such a good girl, the entire party. Even though the party lasted till after 10:00, (more than 2 hours past her bedtime) she was quite the trooper. She hit the bed hard when she got home and is still sleeping now, even though it is 9:00 a.m.

Here is one of our student's, Olive, enjoying some King Cake. She found the baby!

And here is Amy after eating the black King Cake. This is what it did to her tongue. You should have seen her teeth afterwards! Eeew!

What a night to remember!!

So Special

We have started teaching Landry to pray. Up until this week, she has participated in prayer-time with us by using her prayer hands and saying "Amen". Usually she squints her eyes, but looks around the room to make sure everyone else has their eyes closed. Now, we have started having her repeat after us during prayer time. It's so cute to listen to her talk to Jesus, even though she really doesn't have a concept of who He is. We know children are important to Jesus and I believe it brings Him so much joy to hear their words to Him. I know I will cherish this video forever.

Right now, Jesus sounds more like GiGi. And she says "amen" the same way she says "alright." I think she says that because she knows when the prayer is over, it is time to eat.

Coupon Warrior

Ok, so I'm not quite at the warrior stage yet. But it's only my second week, and I'm building quite a stockpile of items. This will be really useful after the baby is born, and I don't have time to go to the grocery store as often. It's been pretty exciting to find such good deals. Please keep in mind that I am still working out the kinks. Sometimes I mess up and buy the wrong thing. But I'm getting better. Once I really build my stockpile, I can expect to start spending even less on groceries each week. I am aiming for about $50. This will not include things like diapers and make-up. Anyway, here is how I did at my Publix trip this week.

I spent $55.65

Coupon Savings $17.62

Advertised and In-Store Special Savings $34.77

Total amount saved $54.23 (That's almost 100% savings)

These groceries include

2 cartons of o.j.

2 Diet Mountain Dews

1 Gallon of Milk

4 boxes of Ritz Crackers (only .89 each)

4 pkgs pilsbury cinnamon rolls

2 pkgs. pilsbury crescent rolls

2 pkgs. pilsbury Italian bread

6 lbs. lean ground meat

1 large bottle Wesson canola oil

2 bottles Kraft dressing (only .84 each)

3 cans tomato products (that was one of my oops...I got one of the wrong brand and they wouldn't take my coupon :()

1 pkg. Quaker instant oatmeal (only .94)

2 pkgs. New York Brand Frozen Breadsticks and Sauce (only .64 each)

1 40 oz bottle Lysol all-purpose cleaner (only .59)

1 big roll of Publix Paper Towels ( only .01)

I didn't have a coupon for everything and my total included the newspaper I bought. Not too shabby. Plus, I don't think I'll have to buy any other groceries this week. I'm pretty set between meat already in our freezer and the last two shopping trips. Can't wait to see what I can save next week :)

This just doesn't get old

Seeing my daughter come out of her room dressed in things like this will never get old.....

Skype Shower

My wonderful cousin, Shonda, is due almost exactly one month before me. She and her husband live in Seattle, WA. But I wanted to think of some way for her to have a shower, even though she could not make a trip to LA. So I thought about the wonderful wide-world web. I knew that she and her husband had Skype accounts, along with her dad and step-mom. So that is how we did it. Everyone mailed gifts to her in advance. Then, last night, everyone went to her dad's house and gathered around the computer to watch her open gifts via webcam. We attempted a 3-way Skype call, so I could "be" at the shower as well. But we soon learned that Skype only does 2-way video conferencing. Luckily, Shonda and her husband have 2 computers and 2 Skype accounts so I was able to watch her open her gifts. It was such and neat and exciting experience.

Here are a few pictures of Shonda and I showing off our baby bumps.....

This one is when I was about 5 weeks pregnant and Shonda was 9 weeks. Can't wait to look like that again!

And here are our most recent pictures. I used photoshop to attempt to get us in the same picture at the same time. She was 34 weeks in this picture. I am 31 1/2 weeks in this picture.

Shonda, it has been so much fun being pregnant with you! I have enjoyed sharing all of our experiences with one another. I can't wait till we can share stories about our new little boys!!

Landry's "Babies"

For Christmas, I wanted Landry to get plenty of things that would encourage the use of her growing imagination. So GiGi and PawPaw bought her a doll house. Thanks to GiGi, PawPaw, Aunt Willette, and Alivia, we not only have a doll house. But we've got a doll house full of indoor and outdoor furniture. We were worried that she may be a little young to play with it right away, but that is definitely not the case. Landry affectionately refers to her doll house and little people as her "babies". Right now, it remains a supervised activity, because of all the small pieces. But it is so much fun to sit back and watch Landry's imagination run wild when she is playing with it all. She'll put the babies in their swings and have daddy pushing them. She'll put mommy and daddy in the bed and then have the babies climb in with them. She'll have the whole family sit at the table and then make them pray together. She even has them sit on the potty from time to time.

Here is a video of her playing with her "babies". I can't wait to see what else she comes up with as her imagination continues to develop.

Geaux Saints!,.

Here is Landry cheering on the Saints......
Oh, and she is dressed nicely with a bathing suit around her neck and an inside out stocking cap

Landry's Well Visit

Yesterday was Landry's 2-year-old well visit at the Doctor's office. I was so hoping that there were no vaccinations this time, but I was informed quickly that there was one and a hemoglobin test as well. They tell me this is it until she is 4. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

See Landry, since she was about 9 months old, has gotten nervous at the very arrival to the doctor's office. When we enter the triage room, the screaming begins. And when a doctor or nurse walks into the room, she is just done. There's no reasoning with this child. And the whole office knows it. She is known as a drama queen there. How lovely :).

So, as you can expect, our visit was quite the experience yesterday. But how can I blame her, when almost every time we have gone to that place, she has been stuck by at least 3 needles. Researchers, please find an easier way!!!

Now, I must admit, I did have to laugh when my drama queen was still crying an hour later at the very sight of her band-aid. She would calm herself down and be going about a normal activity. Then she'd look at her finger and start whaling all over again. I can't tell you how many times I said the phrase, "Landry, it's over." She was quite pitiful.

So besides the traumatic experience, the doctor said she is doing great developmentally. She weighs 26 pounds and 12 oz., which puts her between the 50th and 75th percentile in weight. And she is 35 inches long, which puts her between the 75th and 90th percentile and height. I don't expect the height to last long, since mommy and daddy are short. Oh, and her hemoglobin looked good, which was excellent news since I worry about her not hardly wanting to touch meat.

We are so thankful for a healthy child. We've not had any major issues, and really hardly any minor ones. Thank you God for your many blessings!

Couponing

Ok, so when people would mention couponing before, I would always think it was not for me. It is sooooo time consuming, and I just didn't know if it was worth it. Well, for M.O.P.S. yesterday, we had a speaker who talked about budgeting. It got me thinking of ways that we really need to be saving. Then, later that day a friend mentioned to me a website: southernsavers.com . I decided to take a look at it, even though I was skeptical. And what do you know, I became slightly obsessed. Here in GA, and I know in AL as well, we have a grocery store named Publix. They always have lots of buy 1 get 1 free deals. This website gives all the secrets about how to use coupons on top of the deals to get things for little of nothing. Basically, the website does all the work for you. Anyway, to make a long story short, I spent Landry's naptime today mapping out a plan to shop at Publix and grab some great steals. I could hardly wait for her to wake up. Once she did, I took my list and my STACK of coupons and we headed there. I loaded my buggy with all the things I planned to buy and went to check out. I watched as my total began to shrink. The little asian lady behind me watched too. She kept saying, "you already saved $20, now $30......" I had this lady convinced by the time I was finished checking out. I had saved almost $90 with the store savings and the coupons. It was quite a victorious time in my life.

I think I just might stick with the couponing. Thanks Mandy for the suggestion!

Name Change

No, we haven't changed Eli's name. But it was time to change our blog name. Eli will be here soon, so we wanted to come up with a name that included our entire family. I thought through many "V" words that might describe our family: The Valiant Veulemans, The Very Infectious Veulemans, etc. But nothing seemed right. So, I decided to look for a verse that would describe what our family is all about. Cory and I know our purpose on earth is to follow Christ with our whole lives and to lead others to Him. This starts with our own children. I found the verse, 3 John 4, which states:

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."

Our heart's desire is for our children to follow Christ and be used by Him in amazing ways. So I present to you our new blog name "No Greater Joy".

Pretty, Pretty Princess

One of Landry's favorite things she got for Christmas was a trunk full of dress-up clothes from Nana and Poppy. Yesterday, even in the midst of potty training, we broke out the trunk and Landry went to town dressing up. Her favorite part are the shoes. This child changes shoes about 15 times a day. At any given time, you may find her wearing sandals (with or without socks), slippers, rubber boots, mommy and daddy's shoes, etc. etc. etc. As a matter of fact, as soon as she saw the trunk, she kicked her feet immediately, throwing off the princess shoes she was already wearing, so she could put on a new pair of princess shoes. Here is our little "Cinderelly" all dressed up.

And wearing a tutu just makes a little princess want to twirl. Landry twirled round and round to her music until she was so dizzy she would fall over. Then she would get up and twirl some more. In this video, she does the motions to "This Little Light of Mine" while throwing in a twirling intermission.

Potty Training Memoirs - Day 3

So I know you are all just waiting to hear that Landry is fully potty trained and we did it all in just three short days. And you are just dying to know all my secrets. Ha Ha Ha!

No, I regret to inform you that we did not reach our goal in the three days as planned. But I'm not giving up. After all, my ultimate goal is to have her out of diapers by the time Eli gets here.

I have some things to be encouraged about:

1. Landry is much more conscientious of using the bathroom. Just letting her wear panties instead of diapers for a few days helped her to know when she was wet and when she was dry.

2. She has much better control now. She woke up dry this morning. She is staying dry for hours. And she woke up from her nap dry for 2 days in a row.

3. Even though she is realizing she has to tee tee when it's already a little too late, she is now giving a cue that she is about to go. I am hoping that when I see that cue, I can grab her up quick enough to get to the potty. Eventually, she'll be able to do it on her own.

Since I have a few more days with no plans, and the temperatures are absolutely frigid, we'll be staying in a few extra days to work on potty training a little more. What have I got to lose? Don't worry, I'll spare you all details for the next few days. I'll just be sure to tell you when she's got it good.

Potty Training Memoirs - Day 2

Alright, here is a run-down of day 2.....

Landry woke up with a wet diaper. Of course that is to be expected. I strapped on the big girl panties right away. She ate breakfast, drank a little lemonade (not three cups like yesterday). For the next two hours I sat her on the potty a few times and asked her several times if she had to tee tee on the potty. She kept telling me no. And for those 2 hours, she did not use the bathroom at all. I had a hair appointment so I had to leave my duties to Cory. You know he was really looking forward to that. But while I was at my appointment, I got a text from him saying she had gone on the potty. VICTORY! So when I got back, we asked her again if she had to go. We gave her a little more to drink, sat her on the potty for a few minutes while she watched a movie, but nothing. A few minutes after she got up, she had an accident. Grrr! And then another. Double Grrrr! We then decided to feed her lunch and let her play for a little bit before nap-time. i sat her down on her potty again to try one more time before nap. She sat there, reading a book to herself for 15 minutes, but nothing happened. I put a diaper on her for nap and surprisingly, she woke up dry! This afternoon/evening, she tee-teed two times on the potty, and was still dry when I put her to bed.

So, I am not as tired as I was yesterday. Maybe it's because I'm not obsessing as much. I don't know. I am just questioning whether the potty training is doing any good at this point. Is she getting it at all, or is she just sitting on the potty enough times during the day to actually avoid some accidents? I am just praying, that by some miracle, everything will magically internalize for her tomorrow.

And I welcome any advice from experienced moms. I know that all kids are different, and I'm willing to try anything.

I don't have any pictures today because they would just look the same as yesterday.

Potty Training Memoirs - Day 1

So Landry is now 2, and we have only 2 months before baby brother gets here. Our goal.....potty train in three days. Ok, so I know that sounds very unrealistic. But, I've read about a method that assures me it can happen. There is only one teeny, tiny problem. It only works if the child is really ready. That is what I am trying to determine the next 3 days.

So I read the method in the book "Toddler Wise". I highly recommend the book if you haven't read it. They say to block out a few days to be home. Don't go anywhere. Choose a doll for your which your child will act as a tutor. Buy lots of treats and yummy drinks. And focus only on potty training for the next 3 days.

So last night we went to wal-mart and Landry got to pick some special snacks and drinks. I kept telling her we were going to have a special day tomorrow, and she was going to wear big girl panties. This morning, first thing, I took off her diaper and let her choose a pair of big girl panties to wear. I also let her choose a pair for her doll. She walked into the dining room and saw all of the snacks and immediately started asking for them. When I told her they were for later, she was not real pleased.

After breakfast, the "fun" began. We used her doll as an example. The doll was dry so she got a treat. The doll tee-teed in the potty, she got two treats. I then left the room to go grab a treat for Landry for staying dry. But as soon as I walked out, she peed everywhere. Not such a good start. I realized right away, that this was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

1 hour of training camp down, Landry had downed three sippy cups of lemonade, had 2 accidents, but had successfully tee-teed on the potty one time.

3 hours down, we put a halt to the lemonade for a while, 3 successful tee-tees in the potty, but the accidents were still winning out.

We then took a break for lunch and nap. I put her in a diaper during this time, just to be safe. She was dry before her nap, but took a 3 hour nap and woke up a little wet.

The afternoon went much more smoothly. We only had one accident, but 3 successful tee-tees on the potty. One of those was even after we had put a diaper on her and her p.j.s right before bed. She started un-zipping her p.j.s and went to her potty. Sure enough, she had to go one more time. That was a huge victory!!!!

Now I have to admit, this little training camp has worn on me today. I have had to be right there next to Landry the entire day constantly reminding her to tell me if she has to potty or chasing her back to the potty when she has made a run for it. I am just praying that it really works. Tomorrow will be Day 2 of my potty training memoirs. For now, here are a couple pictures from today.

This is one of those classic pictures that Landry will never get to live down. It might just make it in her yearbook one day. This is when she had just discovered the goodies on the table and I told her she couldn't have them right then. But you cannot deny how stinkin' cute she looks in her big-girl panties.

This is where Landry spent most of her day. You can tell she is very enthused! ha! ha!

Landry's Special Day

We wanted to make Landry's birthday extra special. Even though she has already had three birthday parties, we wanted January 3 to be a real celebration of her life. We are trying to make it a point to make holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, about their true meanings. On Christmas we want to focus on the birth of Christ and giving to others. On Easter, we want to celebrate Christ's resurrection rather than just eggs and bunnies. That doesn't mean we will not have fun, but we are hoping that our children realize these holidays are not all about them. That is why it is important for us to make their birthdays, a day that IS all about them.

So with all that said, here is what we did on Landry's special day.....

We started the day with breakfast. Landry had her own little stack of chocolate chip pancakes, with 2 candles on the top, and a bowl of strawberries. We prayed, thanking God for Landry's precious little life, then Daddy and I sang to her and she blew out her candles. She gobbled the strawberries and ate the chocolate chips out of the pancakes. I'm pretty sure she learned that from her daddy.

Next we went to church, I brought iced-cookies, special birthday napkins, and sunglasses to share with her sunday school class. All the kids LOVED it! The teachers, on the other hand, probably wanted to kill me. I thought cookies would be cleaner than cupcakes. You should have seen the carpet when they were done. YIKES!

After church, we brought Landry to Olive Garden for lunch. I know you are all probably thinking that it sounds like a very adult place to take a 2-year-old for her birthday lunch. But I assure you, she enjoyed it just as much as us. Of all the places we've taken her to eat, including McDonalds and Chick-fil-a, she never eats as much as she does when we go to Olive Garden. She enjoyed the heck out of it!

We then went to Barnes and Noble to let Landry pick out a book. Oh, did she have a ball! She loves playing on the train table there and running around on the story-time stage. I'm not sure if she was delirious or just full of joy, but she ran around laughing and playing for an hour. We finally got her to choose a book and headed home. She was fast asleep in the car within 5 minutes.

She took a very long nap and woke up in time to get phone calls from all the grandparents. We also had some special visitors stay the night at our house, and she loved showing off for them.

Last of all, daddy read her new book to her before we prayed with her and tucked her soundly into bed.

Even though Landry doesn't truly understand what a birthday is all about yet. I know she had a wonderful day, and I think she really felt celebrated!

Happy Birthday Landry!

2 years old

1 year old

Minutes after your birth

Awaiting your arrival

To my precious gift from God on her second birthday……

Dear Landry,

How can it be that you are 2 years old? It just doesn’t seem real. I know it is cliché, but it truly feels like just yesterday I was anxiously awaiting your birth. I can remember every little detail about the wonderful day you were born.

It’s been 2 years since you made that special appearance and everyday just keeps getting better and better! While I miss the little bitty you, all the little baby sounds you would make and being able just to hold and cuddle you. And I miss seeing you crawl around everywhere, and that sweet little round baby face. I am absolutely loving the little girl you are developing into. It is so much fun seeing your personality emerge and watching you learn new things. It’s amazing listening to your vocabulary form, admiring as you work to achieve a goal, and watching your imagination run wild. I am in awe at the wonderful creation God gave to us. Please take to heart the verse that was painted in your first nursery: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5. I know God will use you in a mighty way if you allow Him to. Every night, Daddy and I pray that God would draw you to himself at a young age, and you would follow hard after Him your whole life. God’s given you a strong will. Use it for Him.

So what has your second year of life been like? Well here is a short run-through of each month:

January - You had taken steps, but were pretty determined that crawling was much easier than walking. You developed a camera face the month before and hammed it up all month

February – You decided walking wasn’t so bad. You’d do it a little more often. You also thought it was funny to climb onto the side of a laundry hamper and jump. This is also the month where we were able to get one of the first glimpses of your determination, when we watched you throw an all out fit because you could not balance an egg shaker on a piece of plastic.

March – It snowed in GA! We brought you out to play for a minute, but you weren’t too sure about what to do. Your camera face became “pretty eyes”, something you are still doing today. This month, daddy also went to Costa Rica on a mission trip. You were so glad when he came back!

April – You had lots of firsts this month. You had your first ice cream cone. I introduced you to sidewalk chalk and fingerpaint. You began imaginative play. You got really good at doing motions to songs, especially “Wheels on the Bus” and “Happy and You Know It”. You had your first Easter Egg Hunt. And Mommy and Daddy went on our first extended trip, a mission trip to New Orleans, without you.

May – You started getting the hang of using eating utensils. You discovered how much fun it was to ride on daddy’s back. You had a visit from Nana and Poppy and GiGi and PawPaw. You got your worst ouchie ever and scared me to death. And you began making your “strain face”

June – You were a swimming school drop-out. You took a new interest in taking care of baby dolls. You were obsessed with bubbles. You took your first plane ride. And you were a flower girl for Uncle Josh’s wedding.

July – You visited Dallas, Lake Charles, Singer, and Natchitoches. Aunt Shonda and Uncle Tim came for a visit. We found out you were going to be a big sister. You decided it was fun to wear underwear on your head. You starting making lots of different animal sounds

August – You showed us that you know all your colors and shapes. You ate your weight in strawberries. And you put on every pair of shoes you could find.

September – You began using a paintbrush to paint. You helped us celebrate Daddy and Mommy’s birthdays. You went to a college conference, in Atlanta, with us. You began to master the playground.

October – We went to the fair. We took a surprise visit to Louisiana. You helped Daddy carve a pumpkin. We found out you were having a brother. You were the cutest rock star ever, for Halloween

November – You showed us that you recognize and can name many letters of the alphabet. You helped decorate the Christmas tree. You got your first kitchen center. GiGi and PawPaw came for to our house for Thanksgiving.

December – We got a mini-van. You decided you still do not like Santa. You cut out and decorated sugar cookies. We took a trip to Louisiana to celebrate Christmas with our family. You had three birthday parties. You’ve taken imaginative play to a new level.

Woah, what an amazing year!

Landry, I love you more than life itself! You are an amazing little girl. I can’t imagine life without you!

Love,

Mommy