little picasso.

junie painted for the first time yesterday.

big, big day!

i think it's officially time to get this little budding artist an easel.

it was fun to watch her little mind at work as 

she put different colors on her paper.

sweetest girl, i love you.

i know there will be tons more art days just around the corner!

i made my first batch of rice krispie treats yesterday afternoon.

how in the world have i never made these before?

they are delish!

. . . and almost all gone.

what a great rainy day at home.

we are looking forward to some

 sunshine and a mighty fun weekend!

 xoxo.

the real & short of it.

things have been real nasty over here.

june and i both caught that nasty ole' stomach bug 

that has been making everyone miserable.

it reared it's ugly head on us and boy was it u-g-l-y.

i cannot remember being that sick in a looooong time.

june was a trooper through it all and besides some

 nasty diapers and just getting sick at her stomach once, you would 

have never even known that she wasn't feeling too hot.

tough girl.

me on the other hand didn't take it so well.

i was a big helpless baby and hardly moved for an entire day.

so pathetic.

 thankfully, our sweet daddy doctor stayed home

 from work to get his girls all better.

i honestly don't think june or i would have survived the day without him.

on any given day, i am reminded of how i hit it

 out of the park with this guy, this day was no different.

he takes care of us so well.

 all of the time.

love him.

two little miserables watching elmo.

our girl is obsessed with elmo.

she lights up anytime she sees any device that could play

 her a quick youtube of her favorite character.

we are thiiiiis close to having to limit her technology time.

and just like that, the next day we were all better.

definitely was all of that tlc we got from andy.

here we are so happy to be heading out of the house. . . 

with new shades of course.

what girl doesn't need her own

 pair of pretty pink wayfarers?!?

goofball.

 she and i wrapped up our week with some fabric shopping

 for some new projects and 

were eager to get our weekend started.

 it was a great weekend with a surprise treat from bapa and tootie!

such sweeties, always thinking about their girl.

she loved their treats and can't wait another second

 for them to be here with us next weekend!

hurrrry up.

here's  our little queen ready for friend liza's royal birthday party!

be still my heart.

i cannot even look at this picture without fighting the

 temptation to go and scoop up her warm, 

sleepy body and just squeeze her.

i sorta want her to wear that little petticoat every day of the week,

with her keds of course.

who's with me?

 we had such a fun time at liza's party,

loved eating sugary treats,

loved all of the dress up clothes,

loved all of the chit chat,

we just love us some willbanks sisters!

the rest of our weekend was spent just relaxing, 

going to church and eating out almost every meal. 

the best trifecta.

such a great time spent with my two lovebugs.

hope yours was wonderful too!

one year old video!

i have been trying everything i know

 to try and show this to y'all!

i finally did it.

at june's birthday party we had this playing for all of our party guests to see.

it made for a fun and sweet attraction and i'm so hoping 

that i can create something like this 

for every year of her precious little life.

hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 sit back, 

relax 

and enjoy the show.

warning: it's a little long. :)

click here!

15 months!

  

june bug.

you are my 15 month angel and i cannot believe

 how quickly you are growing.

you are getting better and bigger

 with each day.

you are truly the funnest kid around,

 i love spending my days with you.

here's what you have been up to recently!

 at your well check this month you weighed 23.7 pounds

 and were 31 3/4 inches tall.

i think you are going to be long and lean like your daddy, so fun!

maybe you will like volleyball or you will be the best back spot on a cheer squad?

whatever you choose will be great!

we continue to praise and thank the Lord for your healthy little 

self and leave every doctor's appointment so overcome with gratitude

 for how well He's growing you.

you got your shots and we both were of course devastated about that.

your little cry gets more heartbreaking the older you get which really 

breaks your dad's and mine's hearts.

we love you so much.

 you are a very good little sleeper girl.

you are in bed by 8 most nights and we won't see you again until 8 or later the next morning.

you are taking two naps on most days, sometimes just

 one depending on what we have going on.

last week you didn't seem too interested in taking 

two naps but this week you are again, hooray!

just like when you were tiny, it seems the more you sleep the better you sleep.

i am thankful that you love snoozing and also thankful

 that if you miss a nap you can roll with the punches

 and are still your happy, sweet self.

that doesn't' happen too often though because i'm still a freak out nap natzi.

your daddy is helping me work through that. ;)

 you are already such a feminine little lady.

you love your babies and are such a good little mommy to them.

you love to take good care of all of your stuffed animals and 

carry them or your babies with you all day.

you love bows and necklaces and can put your necklaces on all by yourself.

it's a daily fun that you choose to do, get all dolled up in jewels.

i love that you like little lady things.

you also love being crazy with daddy!

he pushes you so fast around in your car or boxes and gets wild 

with you in your monkey tent and you just die for it.

he thinks you like adventure. . .

he's right and so proud.

 you love to go places with me and i try to make sure you love our time running errands.

i'm hoping that all of my favorite places like target, 

hobby lobby and little antique stores become your favorite places too.

so far it seems to be working!

i love having you as my buddy, we have a whole lot of fun together.

you are definitely the apple of your father's eye.

you squeal with delight and run to him with these crazy open

 arms when he comes home each day.

he melts, literally and it's the best thing i see all day.

y'all are really in love with each other, so sweet.

 you are kind of funny about your eating.

you typically eat two very good meals a day which

 i hear is better than some little ones, so high five for that!

the third meal you just pick and choose and graze around

 but it's probably because you love to have snacks.

you know where they are and how to help yourself.

we've moved things around in our pantry so that these little

 goodies are not so available to you anytime you want them, ha!

you are drinking milk like a champ from a sippy cup and can even say the word milk.

it sounds so cute!

 milk is not the only word you can say. . .

 mama, dada, daddy, coookie, bapa, tootie, becky, paw, laci, jackson, 

duck, book, elmo, apple, rock, paci.

you also can say bye-bye, night night and where are you? (tootite taught you that one and it's the best)

talking is fun and your little voice is irresistible,

i could listen to you for days!

you are trying so hard to say christopher, you get the all of the 

syllables but it sounds like jibber jabber.

he loves to hear you attempt it and it really

 is the cutest little word.

last night you even said octopus, wow!

speaking of animals, you know the sounds that the

 bear, bunny, lion, sheep, monkey,dog and horse make.

my little girl genius, ha!

you also know where your nose, belly, ear, mouth and hair are.

smart girl, the teacher in me is so proud.

oh, and you know the tune to the abc's!

you are a growing, gorgeous girl june bear.

there are not enough words to tell you how proud we are of you.

everywhere we go, people want to talk to you and compliment 

you on your sweet, beautiful self.

i pray you are always noticed for having a sweet heart.

my little angel baby, i just am not sure how we managed to

 make it before you came along.

we are so crazy about you.

everyone that knows you is crazy over you.

just cannot get enough.

love you my sweet girl.

all i've got.

so here's the latest hodge podge of my life.

1. andy and i recovered a couple of old chairs i've

 picked up here and there a few weeks ago. 

we do not have a future in upholstery that's for sure.

one cushion, yes.

more than that. . . way over our heads.

2. christopher got his one and only niece her first car for christmas.

she loves it and is pretty stinkin' cute sitting in it.

she honks the horn, turns the key, gets in and out and 

even turns the steering wheel but just cannot manage to make it go.

luckily, daddy likes to push her all around and she even says "wheeee!"

he'd push her for days just to hear her little voice.

3.  as of today all of our christmas decor is down.

still not in boxes but it's off the shelves and our normal 

everyday decor is back in it's rightful place.

i always feel sad and happy to see it go.

i know i'll be way ready to put it all up again next year

 but it was starting to feel a little too messy.

4. our friends brandon, ashley and savannah had us over for a

 delicious dinner, snacks, cowboys game and a tea party on the first day of 2012.

june made herself right at home in the popcorn bowl and 

had some fun sippin on tea with the kiddos.

such a great way to start the year!

5. we also got to celebrate our cousin jonathan who just turned seven!

it was a fun afternoon at the yogurt shop 

celebrating our favorite seven year old cousin.

can't believe how fast these kiddos grow

 and they keep getting better and better!

6. june is dabbling in scribbling.

i am looking forward to sitting and coloring with

 this little bug girl, i love to color!

 and what better place to color than outside?!?

can't wait for spring!

7. i made these for dessert a night or two ago.

you must try them!

one box of devil's food cake mix

two eggs

1/3 cup of oil

rolos

hide rolos inside dough

bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes

sprinkle with powdered sugar

do ten extra crunches and push ups.

yum yum!

bapa + tootie = fun!

with one day left on christmas vacation bapa and tootie raced

 down to see their girls and we were so glad they did!

june definitely was thrilled to see them and i guess 

they were pretty happy to see their little baby as well.

:)

our first stop of the morning was at ol' south for some yummy pancakes.

it did not disappoint and we will
definitely be frequenting there more often.

so yummy!

since renovations are still taking place around the clock at

 the new house my mom was needing some inspiration so 

we popped into pottery barn for a look around.

luckily, bapa was there to keep junie entertained 

while us big girls did some brainstorming.
they are the cutest pair.

next up was the insane apple store for an ipad.

yay! for this incredible technology that allows
 us to see our faves whenever we'd like.

facetime addicts!

andy and i joked that this was probably the first store that
 june didn't leave with a treat from her grandparents. . .
maybe they have her very own ipad tucked away somewhere.

i'm joking.

as soon as andy got home from work we whisked him back 

downtown for a yummy dinner and a few last moments with 

my parents before they headed back home.

what a great day!

let's do it again next week. . . and next. . . and next.

love y'all to pieces.

nye!

2012 here we come!

we had a wild and crazy new year's eve 

with dear friends and sweet little babies,

tons of yummy food and festive drinks.

it was the perfect ending to a sweet year and

 a great kick off to a new year ahead of us!

we are excited for what's to come and so thankful for what's behind us.

we didn't make any crazy resolutions this year but 

i have a feeling this new year is going to be just as good as the rest have been!

happy new year to you!

christmas morning!

christmas is so great,

no wonder it is everyone's favorite time of the year!

 our family does 'santa' and i hope we always will.

here's our little christmas girl, clean and ready for

 dreams of sugar plums dancing in her head on her 2011 christmas eve.

after she left these treats for santa, we gathered to read her 

children's version of Jesus' birth.

she was so sweet each time we would read this story 

throughout the month of december, always paying such close attention 

and loving story time.

this night though was different and even sweeter.

it is a powerful thing to tell your child about our Lord, 

who we celebrate every day of the year, 

pray with her; thanking Him for coming to this earth for us and

 then lay her down to peacefully sleep knowing that come

 morning we get to lavish her with His love and ours.

it's a surreal gift being parents to this little lump of love.

thank you Lord for all that you do, 365 days of the year.

 june walked down the hallway of my parents house

 to a true toyland awaiting her arrival.

santa definitely paid a visit to our very good little girl.

in fact, he came three times!

her face was priceless, she was so confused!

i can't imagine how this morning could have been any better.

there is nothing better than putting together christmas memories for your babies

 and with the help and generous hearts of bapa, tootie and

 uncle pher this christmas morning was extra sweet,

 extra memorable and extra long. . . lots of gifts to unwrap, lots of hugs to give.

i am already so excited for next year! 

merry late christmas morning from our family to yours.

we are all truly so blessed.