The Dallas Aquarium

Presley and Reid checkin out the River Otters together...they were huge!

Presley loved everything about this place. She would get so excited when she saw all of the animals. She has her daddy's love for animals ;-)

Lovin those turtles...stinky ;-/

hey mom, I have those all over my room ;-)

I am sure she was wishing she could be in the water with that little penguin

I always wondered where she picked up that open mouth facial expression from...hmmmm????

We got to the shark tank just in time to watch them feed!!

Just last week Presley picked up on the word cat. She was very excited to see such a big cat sleeping right in front of her eyes! She wanted to pet him so bad.

Our Days

Our days are spent outside mostly. I love the weather we have been having...even though it is still a little hot and muggy, anything is better than the 100+ temperatures we had in August for 30 consecutive days. The mornings are bearable and they provide for some much needed time outside. Presley loves to draw. Just recently, I introduced her to toddler crayons, finger paint, and sidewalk chalk. She will often lay down on her giant pad of paper I got her and just color away. She always seems so grown up when she does this. She loves to read and almost always has a book (or two) in her hands. Within the past 2 weeks Presley has learned to climb up on things...all of you with boys are laughing at me right now. She will climb UP on everything she can, but she is still unable to figure out how to get down so she just sits/stands there until I help her. The first thing Presley does once she gets outside is go in search of her favorite rock...from that point on, it goes with her wherever she goes....

She always puts things down her shirt...she learned this from her daddy who thought it was great fun to tease his daughter. He did this to Reid all.of.the.time when we were in Colorado last year. It provided for hours of entertainment...for both of them!

Having an intense conversation with her rock.

So grown up with all those teeth...missin those toothless smiles I used to get!

Update on Little Miss Presley Girl

Presley is very inquisitive. She gets into everything! She has been talking up a storm lately and loves to get on the phone. Yesterday, she got on my iPhone and called my Grandma Cose...not on purpose, but she left a lengthy message. Her newest word is hi. It used to be hewwo, but she has since moved to just hi. Whenever she looks at herself in the mirror she says hi. Last night, Presley was eating her dinner when Joey got home from work. He went up to her and peaked his head over hers and she said hiya. At the grocery store today, the lady at the check out stand said, "well aren't you a sweetie pie" and out of nowhere Presley replied "thank gu." She is becoming more and more of a little person everyday and she just melts my heart.

She continues to eat well, nap well, and sleep well. She is teething and has another molar coming in. She now has a total of 10 teeth and she looks so grown up when she smiles. I was so excited to finally get into our new "fall routine" this past week. She is loving kindermusik, I really enjoy my Wednesday morning MOPS group, and my Thursday morning Beth Moore Bible Study group. All of the moms are very sweet and very involved. Presley did pretty good in her MOPPETS class and I was surprised that I did not get a call to come "pick up my screaming child." ;-) I am just keeping my fingers crossed that her separation anxiety will just mysteriously disappear once she reaches the 18 month mark...as everyone has told me it should. She is still doing great with room time, blanket time, and play pen time which is also providing me with some much needed "down time"...or should I say "cleaning time."

Presley loves Goose. When she wakes up in the morning, he follows me into her room and she always looks over my shoulder to say "goosey, goosey, goo." As we prepare for our walks in the morning, Presley makes sure that Goosey Goo goes with us. The whole time we are walking she will look over the side of her stroller to make sure Goose is walking beside her. Yesterday, it was pretty muggy outside and Goose started panting right away. Presley thought it was hilarious for some reason and started laughing. She then started to mimic him. She actually mimics him a lot.

She carries around stuffed animals in her mouth, she follows him under the table and goes under the chairs when he does. AND last week, he was drinking the water out of her tiny pool and she followed in doing the same thing.

It's actually a little concerning to me. Have you ever seen that movie from the 60's about the Great Dane who thinks he's a dachshund?? *sigh*

Oh, The Drama!

So, yesterday Texas had some crazy weather...surprise, surprise. Anyhoo, after a few days of rain and an afternoon of flooding things began to slow down and clear up. However, by the late afternoon things began to pick up again and crazy weather started appearing out of nowhere! Of course, the local news and meterologists were having a field day with this! They were capturing everything on film...there were several tornadoes that touched down in the area and I am pretty sure that every single one was captured on film by the local news.
Now, we all know that the local news can over-exaggerate the tiniest thing. For instance, the last time we had a bad rainstorm they broke into regular television programming to show us what was going on outside and to explain what the local radar was showing. After a few hours, the storms passed and the rain lifted. However, the news continued with the coverage. I was quite annoyed, but even more annoyed when I heard these words come out of the mouth of one of the newsmen "if you look to the right of your screen you will see one of our downtown cameras. You can actually see that the rain is falling and reaching the ground!" Keep in mind, that he says this with the most alarming voice and puzzled look on his face...as if he has never seen rain reach the ground.??? I actually pressed the record button just so Joey could hear these words when he got home from work.
So...after this little episode last Spring, I decided that 80% of what the news relays to the public should be taken lightly and with little to no concern. However, yesterday was a little different because they actually had live coverage of these little tornadoes that kept touching down, lifting up, and then retouching again. Of course, I am a sucker for a great storm...especially when there are tornadoes involved. ;-) I get it from my dad! Anyhow, by 6:00 I was getting a little bored of all the coverage and began making dinner. Then, I heard of another tornado touching down just south of downtown Dallas. It had been on the ground for several minutes and was moving at 30 mph. I started thinking about Joey, but figured he was already on his way home. About five minutes later, the news said that the tornado had now been on the ground for over 5 minutes and it just jumped Trinity River and was heading towards Mockingbird Ln. About that time, Joey called. Insert photo here....

This would be the lovely view from Joey's office...notice that the brighter employees have already left work and this would be my reasoning for the empty car lot. Moments later the sirens went off and all of the employees were asked to head to the basement! So as everyone is rushing down and taking cover, Joey is on the phone with me (sirens blaring in the background) walking out the front doors of his office building. I, in the mean time, am telling him that the tornado has already been on the ground for several minutes and is heading towards Mockingbird Ln (1.5miles from his work). To which he responds, "oh, good....that's ok, I can outrun it." Seriously??? Who says that......well, besides me??? :-) Now granted, it was a small tornado and Joey was driving in the opposite direction of it, but still.... There's no doubt in my mind that he still would have left and tried to outrun it even if it is was staring him dead in the face. I know this because last year we had a little episode where my sister, Elizabeth, called us telling me that there was a tornado on the ground a few miles from our house. As I was talking to her on the phone, a huge wind came and all I see is our tree in the front yard toppling over. Of course, I grab for Presley (she was 2 months) and run into the bathroom with the dogs while my husband runs outside to "see what it is." Such a man and this is what I live with.
And you wonder where my child gets her dramatic attitude from....*sigh*

Captured Moments of Sweetness

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. -Psalm 5:3

The sound of laughter is a thing of beauty for laughter spreads the very gift of joy...-Francis Duggan

A friend loveth at all times...Proverbs 17:17

Painting with Pig Tails

First off, my child's hair grows like a weed and it's always in her face! Today, I was able to put it up in pig tails for the first time. ;-) She was not amused! Anyhow, have I told you lately that I miss teaching?? I know, y'all are going to stop reading my blog if I don't stop talking about teaching. ;-( I just love staying at home with Presley, but I must admit that every school year that goes by makes me miss it that much more. ;-( I do not miss the paper work, assessments, or all of the politics behind it, but I sure do miss the setting up of the classroom, the lesson planning, the kids, and the actual "teaching." I got up in the attic a week ago because I was looking for a clipboard to give my little sister...we were getting together for a play date/craft date. ;-) I came across all of my classroom boxes and started going through all of them. I found several fun activities for Presley that were adaptable to her age and then I found some stuff for Mr. Reid to begin using. While going through my early childhood box I ran into my box of finger paint ;-) Here's what came of that little run in....I tend to ignore age suggestions :-)

No comments about the pig tails please...I've heard enough about it from my husband

"uh mom, I don't see anything on here that says this stuff is washable"

Blanket Time

One of the things I miss about teaching is the sharing of ideas between teachers. Every year brought new challenges along with a new group of children with different little personalities and behaviors. As a teacher, you are a forever learner. I loved it and it's probably why I have taken on so many new "projects" as a stay-at-home mom. I was the last of my sisters to have a baby and one of the last of my friends as well. I love this because they always share with me what to do and what NOT to do. For instance, my little sister told me to do play pen time with Presley because she didn't do it with Reid and she felt she missed out on some of the benefits of implementing this routine when she had Grant. So I took her advice and started doing it when she was able to sit up on her own. I knew very early on that I would be "that mom" who implemented a schedule and routine the day my child came home from the hospital....I know, how could I? Gasp! But, it's the only thing that made sense to me. My little first graders loved a routine and thrived in a classroom with a routine so I couldn't imagine throwing my baby into a life without routine, structure, and a schedule. A few months ago, I was reading Pre-Toddler Wise where I noticed a little section in the book titled blanket time. I read through it rather quickly and then thought to myself, "when would I ever use that"? So I dismissed it and continued on my merry way of reading. Then, my daughter hit 14 months old and pre-toddler behavior invaded our home. So, I went in search of advice...again. As I was researching, I came upon a blog called Common Sense Parenting (it's basically the same thing as The Chronicles of a Baby Wise Mom). The author went into great detail about blanket time and the benefits of doing it with her 15 month old daughter. She mentioned that children learn from seeing good behavior modeled and from having the opportunity to practice that behavior. She chose to do blanket time with her child because she said it taught her about boundaries, obeying mommy, having self-control and self-discipline. Sounded great to me! I grabbed a timer, a blanket and some toys. I put Presley down on the blanket and told her to "stay on the blanket." The first day I did it I started out with the advised 3 minutes and Presley did great with it. She sat there on the blanket for 3 minutes playing with her toys. The next day, I set the timer to 10 minutes and sure enough she sat and played quietly for 10 minutes. Then, a week after starting blanket time I was able to put it to use! Presley and I went to Colorado to visit my grandparents and on the way back home our flight was delayed several hours. I was a total mess because I was traveling alone with Presley and I knew she was going to get restless. So, right there in the middle of the airport I pulled out her blanket and did blanket time with her. She sat on the blanket playing with her toys for 15 minutes...she didn't leave the blanket once! I couldn't believe it. Of course, by then, I was patting myself on the back congratulating myself for being such a great mom....ha! It was very short lived people. I usually try to do blanket time once a day. I do play pen time in the morning so I can take a shower and get ready for the day. In the afternoon, I do blanket time instead of play pen time. It wasn't long until Presley started testing me and this so called "blanket time." At first, she would test me by placing one foot on the rug and then look at me to see my reaction. When I saw her do this, I couldn't believe that this little girl was actually smart enough to "test" her boundaries. I really had no idea what to do so I just decided to ignore it...bad idea because that lead her to push the limits even further. She began running off the blanket and then back on...turning around in circles and laughing all the while! Oh great, My child thinks that "breaking the rules" is super fun. I wont tell you what I was thinking at this point, OR where my mind went, but let's just say the term, "party girl" was in the midst of my agonizing realization. Anyhow, after weeks of modeling, practicing, and high chair time outs we have worked our way back up to 10 minutes. I will spare you all of the details, but basically this blanket time has given me great insight into my daughter's mind. It has allowed me to model good behavior and try different methods to see what works and what doesn't...because we know that what works with Presley probably wont work with the next one. I will say one thing...after blanket time is over I give Presley my undivided attention and play with her so that she has some sense of there being a "reward" at the end of it.