da da

I know it bothered Nick, although if you asked him, he'd never admit it. Allie's first word was Momma. Makes my heart smile! I never thought that would be her first word, I was sure it would be da da. After all that is one of the easiest sounds for babies to make right? Allie loves her Daddy, always has, but she is a Mommy's girl... until recently. She LOVES her Daddy. In fact on December 30 she said, "da da" for the very first time! I thought Nick was going to squish her to death. He was so excited!

 love the way she looks at him

She will now let him do everything she lets me do. He can feed her cereal (as long as I am not in the room!), rock/bounce her to sleep, change her diaper and take her out without Mommy. Oh and all those ADORABLE daily pics of her smiling. She is laughing at Daddy running around the house like a crazy person saying, "buh bye! buh bye!" She loves it!

She loves it when her Daddy acts like a goober. If he runs she thinks it's hysterical. If he tosses her in the air, it is the funniest thing. Heaven forbid he run through the house with her. She cracks up! 

She also finds it extremely fascinating when he sticks his tongue out. Every night Nick gets in the tub with her and she loves bath time with Daddy. 

I love watching the two of them together. You can see the love that they share. She has him wrapped so tight! I know she will be a Daddy's girl, just like I am. I am so thankful God gave me such an amazing husband, who is the best Daddy to my precious baby girl. Love my sweet little family.

play time

We converted our dining room into a play room for Allie. I suggested it after Allie received so many toys for Christmas. I have to admit I was a little sad to move everything out, but mostly excited. The dining room was the first room we painted in our house. It was the room I had envisioned since we registered. But I am so excited to have a room just for Allie!

I have already told Nick I want to repaint it! Not to mention the green will completely clash with her birthday decor of pink and brown! 

We have spent every day since we converted it, playing. Allie loves her room and we love that she has so much space. We have a few things we want to add to it such as a book shelf and a shelf with cubbies, but I love that she has a space that is just her own. 

And, for a girl that loves tv so much, I love that it is away from it! She hasn't watched tv, nor has it been on more than an hour a day since we moved her in there. 

We contemplated putting some toys away and rotating them in and out when she got bored, but there isn't a day that goes by that she doesn't play with literally every toy in her room! 

I love that there is so much natural light and she has room to crawl, learn and play. I find us playing without the tv on or even music playing. Her voice is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. I pray she will always talk to me.

 She loves when Taylor comes and joins us. Taylor is the most patient dog with Allie. They are all good with her, but Taylor is by far the best. She will lay there as Allie crawls on her, plays with her paws, uses her to pull up and grabs her fur as she learns to pet. She is so very patient with Allie. 

She has so many wonderful toys that encourage her to learn and interact. Many teach cause and effect, some teach and help aid with fine motor skills and gross motor skills. And of all the toys one of her most favorite toys is her jumparoo. She doesn't want you to put her in it, she just wants to pull up on it! She has a standing table, walking toy, chair, riding toy and her little maestro toy, but she would much rather pull up on the most unstable toy in her playroom. She also loves to crawl under it. I just love watching her play!

 

 I look forward to getting up with her every day knowing I get to play with her all day. Sometimes I miss the kids I taught, having my own classroom and teaching in general. But I love that they only stress I have is wondering if Allie will nap today. There is no paper work, SST's, report cards, or benchmarks. Just reading for fun, watching my sweet girl turn the pages and get excited when we read her favorites. I am the luckiest girl in the whole world to have the opportunity to stay at home with my baby girl.

happy 52nd birthday daddy!

On Monday we went to Carrabbas, my dad's favorite restaurant to celebrate his birthday a few days early. I have the best Daddy in the whole world. He is the most kind, loving and caring man I know. (Other than my husband of course, who I think is a lot like my dad.) 

He has taught me so much about life. He has always taught me that you can be nice and stand up for what you believe in. You can express your opinion and still be respectful of others. I get a lot of my personality traits from him. He is a little stubborn, competitive and when he is right he will do whatever it takes to show you that he is. I am a lot like him in those aspects. 

When I was in high school my parents would come to football games with me. I knew my dad loved football and knew a lot about it, so instead of hanging out with my friends I would sit with him and ask questions. It was there that I learned what 3rd down was. He was always so very patient with me and never got irritated with any of my silly questions I would ask. He just explained everything in easy to understand ways and still continues to do so. I remember growing up, my dad's dream was to one day have Falcons season tickets. That time came in 1998, the year that the Falcons went to the Super Bowl. I remember wearing my Jamal Anderson jersey to school and being made fun of, but I also remember leaving the Dome with my Daddy and a woman came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me for wearing her son's jersey. My dad looked at me and asked me if I knew who that was. "That was Jamal Anderson's mom!" he said. I was so excited! I love going to games with my Daddy. Last season when I was at a game with him he pointed to each coach on the field, named them and told me their job. I am always amazed at his knowledge of not only football, but of the Falcons.

I know how much he loves my sweet baby girl and I cannot wait for him to teach her all that he has taught me about football. I hope she loves it just as much as I do. If she is anything like her Mommy, Daddy, Grammie and G-Da I know she will! 

Here are a few more pics from his birthday dinner. 

 Amanda & Tyler

 my Daddy's birthday dessert

Aunt Amanda & Allie

G-Da, Grammie & Allie

Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you!

Allie's first New Year

This year on New Year's Eve we ran a few errands, making some returns and exchanges. We had to go to the mall to have them remove the security tag that was on Allie's outfit, so she was not able to wear it on New Years Eve. :(

I love this outfit my parents gave her!

 

After running our errands we went and picked up my dad and went to visit my mom at Chick-fil-A. She had to work until 9. I got a peppermint chocolate chip milkshake, my favorite and Nick got a brownie a la mode. Allie was good, but was so tired. We went by La Parilla to pick up some cheese dip and salsa. We then went back to the house and watched some basketball & football.

My sweet girl had so much fun shaking her noise maker. We then tucked her in for the night and prayed the fireworks didn't wake her up. Luckily none did. :) Nick and I watched the peach & apple drop in bed and toasted with cheerwine in the cute toasting flutes my mom bought us. Shortly after midnight we went to sleep. 

Allie slept really well so I felt very rested on New Years Day! Nick took Allie to the store with him to get some cinnamon apple oatmeal while I took a shower and got ready. I was so excited to take Allie to her first Falcons game with her G-Da. This little girl I have is so very lucky. In her sweet 8 month life time (not counting the playoff game she was "officially" at in my belly) she has been to 4 Falcons games! She always does so well and seems to enjoy entertaining people around us and every now and then watching the game. Every game up until this one, which was flexed to 4:15, have been 1:00 games. I was a little nervous about the time and it cutting into her usual night time routine, but I was prepared... or so I thought. She did very well and even napped through the end of the second quarter and throughout half time. When she woke up I knew she'd be ready for supper. I brought cereal, a bowl, bib, spoon, milk, everything I needed. Well she wasn't having anything of it! This is a child that NEVER refuses cereal. Other than nursing, it's her favorite thing to eat! I knew she was tired, but I thought she would want to eat. So after that I took her to the top of our section and just stood and bounced with her. The Falcons had a good lead and I could see from the top of the section. All of a sudden I see my dad walking up with all of our things and told me we could leave. Leave? I NEVER leave a game early. I like to stay and watch them all walk into the locker room and attempt to catch a glove or wrist band. We ended us staying until the end of the game and then left. My sweet girl did so well. She was so tired and didn't fall asleep on the way home, until we were literally five minutes away from our house! I just love her for being such a good sport. She really is the best! Somehow I managed to only take one picture of my dad and Allie. It was after the game so she was a little distracted, but I was so glad I got to spend the day with two of my most favorite people! Happy New Year! Enjoy some pics from the game. 

 using my new lens my hubby gave me: Brent Grimes

 I HATE big fred! creeps me out!

 my parents have the BEST seats

 a great win!