Friday, September 27, 2013

It's a Girl!!

August Digital Download

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: We are officially having another little girl!! I am so excited for Blakely to have a little sister!! My sister and I are 2 years 2 months apart, and we are super close. I really, really wanted that for Blakely... so I am even more excited that this baby and Blakely will be 2 years 1 month apart!! Yeah for Sisters!!!
 
My OB told me that I wouldn't find out the sex of the baby until 20 weeks... NOT good at waiting, so we headed up to Summerville to "See Me 3D" and found out we are having a GIRL at 15 weeks!! This was a super fun experience, because we got to bring family (IE the Little's, Alyssa and Mom) for the big reveal!!

So..... what are we going to call the little peanut???
Kathryn Ellis ("Katy Ellis") Monk
We are so excited to meet our new baby girl!

I love that Blakely is rocking a sand mustache in this picture.

This girl LOVES to read. She occasionally likes to be read to... but she loves to read it herself. Her Mimi would be so proud it she could see her now!

Double stacker!!

One of the cool things about my parents moving into their new house was all our childhood toys came back out to play! Blakely IMMEDIATELY went for the barbies, and Banks went for the GI Joe's! Banks is ALL boy, and Blakely is ALL girl!

Blakely loves the couch at Gigi and PopPop's house. It is a big, potterybarn sectional, and Blakely just loves to crawl all over it! This is her favorite spot to watch Mickey Mouse do the "Hot Dog Dance."

MUST GET OUTSIDE!! Finally not raining, so these two are getting in the pool. BLINDINGLY HOT!! Only 2 options for the day... stay in the AC or get in the water!

Scrub-a-dub-dub two cousins in a tub...

Popsicle Panniculitis here we come!

It was so hot out there that we ate like 10 sugar free Popsicle's between the three of us!!! They loved it!

These two cousins LOVE each other! So cute!

Banks is "kind of"  a messy eater!! Understatement of the year!!
Best slide for toddlers EVER at the Calhoun/Rutledge park! Shade, stairs, railings and high sides on the slide... this little girl thought she was a "BIG GIRL" because she could do it all by herself!




Let the Dinner Battle 2013 begin!! Blakely has suddenly become a SUPER PICKY eater. I don't know what happened to my baby who would eat anything and everything. If she had her way, she would eat mac n' cheese and grilled cheese for every meal. I have to constantly remind myself... a) she won't starve herself. b) I am doing this because I love her. c) she is growing and developing normally. As a result, Blakely gets offered whatever we are eating, and if she truly refuses to eat... guess what comes out for the next meal. This has been tough and very unpleasant, but I feel like we are slowly but surely getting her back on track.

This little slide has been the best buy ever!!! I bought it used for $20.... and the Little's loved it so much, it HAD to be moved inside!!

Blakely and Banks will literally spend a solid hour sliding and giggling!! Awesome.

Little Mama on the go! Gigi go her this little doll stroller and it is about one of the most precious things I have ever seen. She puts her babies (most I've seen at once was 5) in the stroller, then strolls them around the house while she sings. Occasionally, she'll stop, pick up a baby, give them a BIG kiss and then keep strolling. Preciousness!!

 
This month we helped Banks celebrate his FIRST birthday!!


It was a golf themed "Par-tee"!! Alyssa did a great job with the decorations, the cake, the food and everyone had a great time! The party was thrown at my parents new lake house, and we could not have asked for better weather!!

Every baby has their own style of cake smashing, but Banks' has to be the most memorable ever! For anyone who doesn't know Banks, I think it is important to state that Banks is a BIG EATER! He is skinny, but don't let that fool you! First, he used his hands as scoops. Then to make sure he didn't miss any cake, he would roll his hand from palm to finger tip so that every morsel of cake made it in his mouth. Finally, he just cut out the middle man and buried his face directly in the cake!! It was one of the funniest, cutest things I have ever seen!! Love that boy!

Long boat ride to dinner, and this girl falls asleep.

We started working of swimming techniques this month with "Aunt" Olivia. We would place Blakely on her tummy and only let her go forward if she kicked. To get her to kick, we would tickle her feet and say "kick-kick-kick." Blakely to really into it and the entire time she was "swimming," she'd yell "ki-ki-ki-ki-ki."

This girl loves running water!!

Blakely learned the word "cup" that day, and said it like at least 100x.

These two love the Cozy Coupe!


The mall playground is the best escape! These two cousins love to play chase through this tunnel.

They just giggle and giggle and giggle!! I love that Blakely is so excited to see Banks in this picture!

Follow the leader!


Cool girl in her sun-glasses!

Went to the zoo for the first time with this girl! To say she loved it, is putting it SUPER mildly!! Can't wait to go back with her Daddy!

Blakely loved the zoo so much, that she wore herself SLAP OUT!! We hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot yet, and this girl had passed out!! We are definitely going to be making this a regular outing.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

July: Digital Download

JULY: iPhone Dump

Really enjoying coloring now (not just eating the crayons).

This picture literally cracks me up! For being such a good girl at the dentist, we picked up Chick-fil-A biscuit for a treat! I think you can tell from this picture... she liked it.

Playing hard at the Chick-fil-A.... did I mention we spend a lot of time there?

Banks can't quite climb up to the slide yet, so Blakely came down and found her cousin! Best friends! There can be tons of kids in the playground, but when they spot each other they get so excited and start squealing and pointing.

Babies first picture!!! This is Monk Baby #2!! I know it is just a the yolk sac to the left, but doesn't it look like baby #2 is smiling???? Hope this means he/she is going to be a happy baby!!

Monk Baby #2 3-D!!! Love you little Sea Monkey!! Can't wait to find out if you are a boy or girl!!

Happy 4th of July!! This is Blakely's first sparkler...she looks thrilled, right??

This month we really made an effort to get out to the beach more often. This was our first time taking Blakely to the beach this summer. We had kind of avoided it, because the summer before when she was 6 months old, the beach had been miserable for her. She had been hot, sweaty and sleepy. It had been no fun for Mommy, Daddy or Blakely. This summer was TOTALLY different!! She loved it, and we all had SO MUCH FUN together playing in the surf, digging in the sand and watching all the kids!

She loved the sand!! We spent almost an hour digging and making GIANT, Blakely sized holes.

This girl LOVED the beach!!

This earnest faced girl might have inherited her Mommy's CRAZY hair.... uh-oh!

Not sure what this was about exactly, but for an entire day these two kept putting their heads together and giggling!! It was precious and hilarious!! Not really sure what they were thinking.

This happened at Gigi's house one morning. I got this picture sent to me at work with the caption:
"What happens at Gigi and PopPop's, stays at Gigi and PopPop's!"

Enjoying the Mini-beach at Gigi and PopPop's! You cannot keep this girl out of the water. If she even sees the lake, she is going in.... bathing suit or no bathing suit!



Boat riding!


Two cute little booties enjoying the view from Gigi and PopPop's back porch.

Blakely is majorly learning from everything she sees us doing. This little cutie is attempting to help Mommy with Daddy's sunblock. Monkey-see-monkey-do!

More Monkey-see-monkey-do.... Daddy lies on his tummy to watch TV, I'll lay on my tummy to watch TV. This is one little girl who LOVES her Daddy!!