Napmat-Napmat

Well, I finally broke down and bought Paige a napmat.  The poor girl has really needed one since she started in the toddler room, but I couldn't find one I liked for a reasonable price. (In the mean time she has been using a blanket from the school.  Please don't think she has been going completely without.)  I knew though, that something needed to be done for this new school year.

I was doing my normal facebook scan when I saw a friend, Jamye, tagged in a picture - a picture of the napmat she had ordered for her daughter, Morgan.  When I saw it, I just knew Paige needed the exact same thing.  It was kind of funny because when I placed the order I selected everything and then I had to list the thread color.  I didn't really know what it was so I said light pink and make it look like Morgan's.

We got it in the mail last week and when I took it out to show Paige she just got so excited!  It cracked me up because she knew exactly what to do with it.

We let her load it in the truck Sunday night and she proudly carried it in to school on Monday.  Thank you, Jamye, for helping me find such a cute napmat for Paige to enjoy!

Here Fishy, Fishy

Last weekend Granddad and Dede came down for a visit!

Before Paige took her nap we told her she would have a surprise when she woke up.  Little did she know her surprise would be fun grandparents!  As usual, she ate up all the attention.  She loved taking books to Granddad and having him read them to her.

Saturday night we had dinner at the Oyster House in Gulf Shores.  The wait was longer than we expected, but Paige was a trooper and did awesome!  We found a not-so-crowded area and let her just run and play.  She even got to throw fish food to the fishes behind the restaurant.  Despite the wait she was so good!!!  Brad and I were both pleasantly surprised. 

Sunday morning was spent playing, playing and more playing.  I think we were all worn out by the time Granddad and Dede had to leave after lunch!  Thank you guys for coming down; we all loved being able to relax, play and visit!

Swimmie

When we bought our house one of my biggest hesitations was our pool.  What would we do when we had a child?  How would we keep them from falling in the pool and drowning? 

Since Paige was born I have been really protective of what we do outside and I try to avoid actually going in the backyard so that we are not tempted to get near the pool.  At the beginning of the summer we established different rules like don't cross a certain line around the pool, do not get in the pool with out momma or daddy, don't get in the pool without floaties, and no running.  While these rules were great, we still didn't feel like it was enough to keep Paige safe while doing one of the things she loved (swimmie as she would say it).

Swim lessons were in order!

We talked to the lady at our pool store and as a regular swim instructor she offered to come to the house and teach Paige to swim.  So, for the past 4 weeks we have been meeting with Ms. Debbie while Paige learns to swim. 

She is learning all sorts of things, like how to get in and out of the pool safely, when to close her mouth, how to blow bubbles, jumping on command, swimming back to the wall, and floating on her back.  The first couple of lessons were a learning experience for all.  Paige did not want to close her mouth for anything.  This didn't surprise me because I don't think she has closed her mouth since she has been born - ha!  She would just look and laugh at us while we would close our mouth.  Same goes for blowing bubbles - Paige just loved watching us blow bubbles.  Floating...she was not a fan!  Poor thing just couldn't relax, well until the very end.  Now, she is putting her head back and her feet in the water - yay, Paige.

I think of one her biggest accomplishments through swim lessons was improving her listening.  This probably sounds really corny but Paige is just like her momma and we are pretty stubborn.  She learned that there are rules and that there can be treats along the way if she listens and follows directions (cheerios work wonders).  While we have a ways to go, I think Paige knows what to do and with practice we will all be more comfortable! 

18 months!!!

Paige, I can't believe you are 18 months old!

The past 3 months have flown by so quickly and I really feel that you have grown so much in such a short amount of time.  I don't know quite what it is, maybe moving up to your new class or maybe you are just growing up!

You love to talk and sing.  Just the other day we were on the road and you talked the entire way from our house to the outlets in Foley.  Not all of it made sense and not much of it was sentences, but you were happy as a lark jabbering to yourself in the backseat (momma, dada, bo bo, tay tay, ellie, madi, you get the picture, any word she knew she was saying them over and over again).  You are starting to repeat different words we say.  For instance, I was getting the stroller out, said something about the stroller and next thing I knew you were talking about the stroller. 

I think 2 of your favorite phrases are, "move, please" and "beep beep".  If someone or something is in your way you don't mind at all asking them to "move, please", Ellie and Madi included (which is just too funny to watch).  The "beep beep" comes from me and it really means the same thing as "move, please".  You and I both use it when we are coming through and instead of saying "excuse me" we say "beep beep".  Now, when I say "excuse me" you respond with "beep beep".

You love your sweet little friends at school.  Daddy and I feel sorry for the teacher as there are 4 girls in your class right now and no boys.  We joke that the 4 of you will end up being roommates at Auburn when the time comes.  I think it is so sweet that you come home talking about the kids in your class.  I have also seen you interact with them and you can see you thoroughly enjoy them and they love you too.

You LOVE school and transistioned to the toddler room with such ease.  During this time your teachers changed from Ms. Ashley to Ms. Charmaine.  I think you handled it better than me!  There is now a sense of excitement, most days, when I pick you up.  Before, you would wave and be like, "cool, my mom is here, but I am going to keep playing".  Now, you come running and greet me with the biggest hug and squeeze.  I don't even have to bribe you with treats for hug (something I considered after I saw other moms doing it).  In your new class you do all sorts of art which I absolutely love.  I think I have figured out a way to display your master pieces once I get some fishing line - can't wait! 

You eating habits have changed a little bit over the past couple of months.  You went from eating a lot of anything and everything to being a little more picky and not eating as much.  I think the amount you eat really has to do with your growth pattern, not really anything else.  We are getting used to the slight pickiness, but it really isn't that bad.  Fruit is your absolute favorite.  If you have chicken nuggets and fruit on your plate you chose fruit hands down and even want more.  Bananas are your favorite, you even know where we keep them and ask for them by name (well, you say nana instead of banana, but we know what you mean).  You wouldn't believe the number of teeth that have come in over the past 3 months; I think you were cutting 4 at one time.

We are 98% paci free!!!!  We only have one paci and we only use it, if we use it at all, during naps on the weekends.  Yes, you have your momma and daddy wrapped and we give in on the weekends if we need to.  Otherwise we have been paci free since May!!!  It is a great feeling to not have to worry about where it is and if it is clean.  Letting go of it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  We just tried it one night when we were putting you down and you fell asleep within 2 minutes and stayed asleep all night.  You never used it much at school except for naps and after we got rid of it at night they took care of things on their end.  Since getting rid of the paci, you have taking a liking to your stuffed animals when you sleep.  Sometimes you even sleep on top of your Violet dog.

2 of your favorite things to do over the summer were reading and swimming.  You love to read through books and just soak it all in.  We have a bookcase in your play room and the books rarely stay on the shelf.  I know that as long as I have a book handy you will be happy.  Another fun thing you have started doing is learning to find things in books.  While Nana and Papa Joe were here you learned where to find the apple in the fairytale book.  Now when we ask you to find the apply you find the fairytale book and methodically look for the apple until you find it.  At the beginning of the summer you didn't know what to think about this swimming thing.  In fact, you didn't like it all.  Then we went to the beach and that all changed.  You now love the water and love asking to "swimmie".  We just finished lessons today (more on that in another blog post) and you made great progress!  I think you enjoyed your time with Ms. Debbie and we established good pool rules that should help keep you safe.

Dancing - oh my goodness do you like to dance!!!  It could be one of the songs off of a cartoon or in the car - you like to move!  The Fairytale Ball was right up your alley.  I am hoping you can teach me a few of your dance moves!

I can't believe you are 18 months old today, Paige!  Tomorrow you will be closer to 2 than you are 1!!  We love you so much and love watching you grow and learn!

Fairytale Ball

A tradition at Paige's school is their annual Fairytale Ball.

The Fairytale Ball is an end of the summer celebration.  The kids get to dress up and have a dance party.  It was too cute!!

The party got started with one our favorite songs, "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.  Yes, I know this may be strange to say this is one of our favorite songs, especially since I don't know the words, but I know the tune and I make up lyrics as we do things around the house.  Paige loves the song and always follows me when I start to sing it.

As the music started there was nothing we could do to hold Paige back - she was the first one from her class out on the dance floor.

Paige and her teacher Ms. Charmaine

The big room was packed with happy kids and parents!

Licking the cake plate clean - you sure can work up an appetite after all that dancing!

The Dogwood Trailmaids (Baldwin County's version of the Mobile's Azelea Trailmaids) came to visit.  They were so sweet, they posed for pictures with the kids and danced and danced with kids, making sure the party went smoothly.

How cute is this?!?  Paige and Beua, a classmate, dancing.

Thank you, Ella, for letting Paige borrow the cute outfit and thank you Nana and Papa Joe for coming and enjoying the Fairytale Ball with us!

PS - I am trying to load a video, but seem to be having technical difficulties.

Gimme Some Lovin'

I am way behind as usual...

Two weekends ago Nana and Papa Joe came to visit! 

There was time to be silly and to find the apple in the book (she really can find it, pretty neat if you ask me!)

Spent lots of time in one of Paige's favorite places - outside (she says "side" when she wants to go outside)

Gave lots of hugs - nothing is better than a Paige hug.

After a relaxing day by the pool, we ventured to a favorite restaurant and got a pretty pic with the bay in the background

All the girls were interested in what Nana and Papa Joe were doing

Peek-a-boo!!!

Poor Ellie and Madi were exhausted by the end of the visit!

Thank you Nana and Papa Joe for coming down.  We all enjoyed the visit and appreciated all that you did for us while you were here!!

Walgreens' Deals

I thought I should give an update on my couponing adventures.  

In my last coupon blog post I mentioned that I wanted to try the drug store deals.  I typically go to Walgreens so I thought I should try their deals first.  So, a few weeks ago I took part in a diapers deal.  It was spend $xx on diapers and get $5 in register rewards.  Then, I took my register rewards and used it at Publix (because our Publix accepts Walgreens coupons).  Yay for saving $5!!

The deal gets even better! 

Sunday was shopping day.  First stop - Walgreens.  I left with all things we needed, all things on sale and $13 in register rewards.  Next stop - Publix.  It was a great joy to hand the cashier my $13 in RRs!!!  $13 off - so awesome!

So, summary - Walgreens' RRs are great if you can get the items on sale and if you can use the RRs at your local grocery store.

Ta-da!

(Ok, so she isn't smiling, but she sure looked cute!)

Weekend with the Eckleys

Last weekend our good friends, the Eckley's, came to visit!  We have known them forever and just love it when we get to visit with them!!  They were so sweet to come down for a long weekend and we got to do all sorts of fun things.

Friday we started with a trip to the Exploruem (sceience museum) in downtown Mobile.  It was great!!  The kids had the best time exploring the body, how things worked and playing in the special kids area.

All loaded up and ready to go!   On the way to and from the Explorium poor Matt sat in the middle seat with the girls so that Emily and I could ride together up front.  I will have to say that LOVE having a big car.  All 7 of us were able to ride together and we even had room for one more.

The girls are helping me make the pendulm swing...they are doing a great job, right!

Tug boat Master Ben

Captain Emily

We decided we would go local and eat at Cousin Vinny's Pizza for dinner in downtown Daphne.  Then we ventured over to play at a park.  All the kids enjoyed running around, going down the slide and swinging.

No visit with the Eckleys is complete with out games!  In all the years of knowing them, and it has been quite a few, I don't think Brad and I have EVER beat them at Trivial Pursuit.  Shoot, I don't know even know if we have given them a run for their money.  Well, Friday night the tides turned and we WON!!  A first for us!  Needless to say we were tickled and proud, so we had to get a picture.

Saturday was filled with swimming and grilling out - Saturday staples at the Wright house!  The Eckley's knew to bring their swimsuits and their appetites!

After nap the kids enjoyed watching cartoons.  Sweet Ben let Paige sit with him.

How cute are these 2 girls!?!  It cracks me up how much Emily and I think alike - we didn't even know we  had bought the girls the same dress until we got to talking after we bought them (turns out we bought another dress the same for the fall).

The Eckley Family

After supper we went to Alligator Alley (I think that is the name).  It is this neat boardwalk thing where you can walk and look for alligators.  We saw a couple of gators!  I guess it helped that a guy was feeding them marshmellows - ha!

Up close and personal!

The kids were all so great!  I think one of the highlights for Ben and Kate, and probably Paige too, was playing with our Mardi Gras beads.  I loved how they would dump the bag and have the best time!  Madi even got in on a little of the action.

I thought this picture was too cute - the girls are deep in conversation.

Sunday morning we made it to church.  Shoot, we even made it early despite the torential downpour just seconds before we walked in.  Yay us - us Wright's are never on time, or so it seems.

We were sad to see our weekend together end, but I know we all had a great time and can't wait to do it again!!!  Thank you Eckley's for coming to visit!