Fall Creek

We found the coolest creek EVER!!!! there were parts where we couldn't touch the bottom! It was Awesome!!!!!!!! Sure we trekked forever to get to where we wanted to be.... got some nice bug bites and all that.... but it was totally worth it and we WILL be going back. For sure! There was this amazing waterfall that you could sit on and just chill.... there was another waterfall (at the other end of the creek) that was good for jumping off of. It was perfect because right under the waterfall the water was deep!!! There was a rope to swing off of and everything!!! Oh what fun! The water was clean and blue green and it was just altogether a great day!!!

brag

I love my kid! She gets smarter everyday. Some new words of Kourtney's:

• blue- she knows the color and gets it right... it's just that almost every color is "blue" too. so cute
• purple
• apple- she recognizes an apple and says it perfectly
• two- she knows that it's a number and recognizes it... but every other number is "two" as well. :)
• PaPa- for both Nana and Papa
• bird
• kitty
• baby- she's known the sign language for baby for awhile, now she knows the word.
• outside- boy does she use that one alllll the time!
• take a bath- when dinner is finished and eaten she runs to the bathroom saying "take a bath!" of course, not that clearly. cutest thing!

Daddy made her this cute screensaver on the computer, a fun educational one. She loves it! She begs for it. She loves loves loves reading books! She'll sit in her room forever just looking at and "reading" all of her books! I love that she's a bookworm. She's so girly. Yesterday I was painting my nails and she held up her foot for me to paint hers. She let me do it too! Whenever there's a necklace in sight she puts it on, pats herself and says, "Awww". She loves feeling pretty! Her manners get better everyday. We don't have to tell her to say please and thank you anymore, she just does it. She sits at the table with us now. She woke me up today with sweet kisses and laying her head on my shoulder. I caught her praying by herself the other day. At first I didn't know what she was doing. Then, she opened her eyes, looked up, and put her finger to her lips and "shhhh"-ed me! And she just went right back to praying. How funny! I love her. I love that Jordan is such a wonderful daddy. I love that we learn and grow each day because of her. I love her energy (most of the time). I love how smart she is. I love her smile and her giggles. What I really love though.... when she blows me kisses from her crib as I'm putting her to bed and then she waves at me and says, "Bye Bye Bye". I just love that.

Wicked Cardinals!

Oh yesterday *sigh* It was only THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!! Okay, I might be exaggerating... but only a little smidge. First, Angie and I went to see Wicked (well, after we stopped for a certain disaster of mine... no fun). However, I nearly cried and peed my pants with excitement! It was so amazing amazing amazing!!!!!!!!! FANTASTIC!!!

Then it was time to eat... at the amazing Old Spaghetti Factory with their amazing gluten free menu! Woot! It was just greatness.

So then (after we changed into the appropriate colors) we were off to the Cardinals game. My first time at any type of game. Now, I'm a baseball fan! I absolutely had a blast!!!! Even though our team really really sucked last night... but that's okay. They even had a little school choir from Quincy sing "Take me out to the ball game". It was the cutest thing.

The day was full of adventure.. some good... some embarrassing... all in all... I don't think I could have had a better with Miss Angie!

family time

We decided to give the disc golf course a shot. (We both suck... Kourtney is by far the winner). She loves playing with the frisbees and being outside. As you can see, she has a much easier way of playing this game!
Daddy decided he would jump in and help her. It was so cute. Watching them is so fun. They just love to be together! As we were walking right before this picture was taken... a sweet little Chinese man came up to us. He only spoke broken English but we could basically understand him. He kept saying that Kourtney was beautiful... that she took after Mommy. Then Daddy came up and he got the biggest smile on his face and just started saying, "Oh beautiful!" (about our family). He thought we were so cute that he wanted to give us a hug! He was so sweet and I was so flattered!
By the time 11 am came around the heat and humidity were getting to us! Kourtney got so hot and tired that she actually let me carry her. That's a big thing for little miss independent. I love this piggy back shot of her! She's getting so big and so fun! she says all sorts of words... one of her favorite phrases is, "LET'S GO!" She's says that one a lot! It still makes me giggle!
Then it was eat time. She wanted to feed herself the yogurt... so we let her. (I was pretty thrilled that she was eating something other than peanut butter) we can't get that kid away from the pb!!!!! She was so good today! We love having her in our lives!
Then it was time to go. She was running away from me and was getting pretty far. The old man came back (he was about 25 feet away from her) and all he did was say hi. Yeah... the result is this picture. I'm thinking she knows something of "stranger danger". I had to cuddle her and tell her everything was alright and reassure her that we were indeed still here. (even as she was freaking out in my arms) Oh so funny :)

Angie

I must say... I love my camera! I also love my best friend Angie who devoted a whole day to being my guinea pig. We had so much fun! It was hot, humid, sticky, sunny.... did I mention sweltering??? lol. Angie just went with it and we had the best time ever! Thanks for being such a great sport Ang!!!!

Daddy

"Daddy" it's the first word Kourtney learned (pretty much). Everything is about Daddy. When she wakes up... "Daddy Daddy Daddy", she calls Mommy "Daddy", when she wants something... "Daddy Daddy" when she goes to bed... "Daddy". Never having a Daddy myself, I feel quite blessed to have this wonderful man by my side. He is, by far, the greatest Dad and Daddy that I have ever seen! Kourtney could not go a day without seeing her Daddy.
She loves his kisses, his tickly beard, his snuggles and hugs, his fun games, and everything about him! When he calls from work she just kisses and kisses the phone. When he leaves for work she watches out of our big window in the back and blows kisses until he's out of sight saying, "Bye Bye Bye".
These two are quite the pair. Oh boy are the difficult sometimes!!! I think Kourtney has a certain respect for her Daddy, for that I'm very happy. He loves, teaches, hugs, and yes... disciplines her. He tries his hardest to be the best that he can be. And at the end of the day, he still tells me that he doesn't feel that he's good enough.. that he could do better. That is the mark of a great man.

Happy Father's Day Jordan.

I love you!!!

Convinced

Well, Jordan came home from work last night telling me all about the delicious 2 slices of pizza he had from Pizza Hut. I think if there was a weapon nearby... he would have been hurt. So, we discussed the whole gluten free thing and how it's supposed to work. You see, he's convinced (as he says) that he has it however..... he thinks that the occasional slice of pizza won't kill him. He doesn't realize, one more stunt like that and I might! (kidding, for all of you literal people out there)

I got my new camera. Now I'm convinced that I know absolutely nothing about cameras and I am completely overwhelmed!!!!

Kourtney had a playmate yesterday. It didn't work out so well. I was babysitting a 3 year old little girl who also happens to be an only child. Let's just say.... there was a battle of wills going on! Kourtney, as it turns out, is extremely territorial... and hates to share. And! she wouldn't stop hitting her! A habit I fear will never die since our trip home. (awesome)

Moving on...

Jordan has been in my life for 3 years now. 3 years!!! I can hardly believe it. In these 3 years I've learned so much... about life, love, myself, him, patience....

Things happened quickly with us. We've had a lot of rough patches. Our relationship has been rocky. Sometimes we've wondered if we were too young. But, no. I wouldn't have done it differently. Because right now is the happiest that I've ever been. No one could have made me this happy... taught me so much... given me Kourtney.... been so patient... so loving.... no one but Jordan. He's really, quite amazing.

That being said... if he eats gluten one more time.... I'm gonna hurt him. :)