Father's Day??

These pictures were taken on Father's Day. However, none of the pictures have Dada! But, they were so cute, I had to share.

We had Uncle Jason out for some grillin' since his little girl is in Florida. He showed Lena how to whistle with a blade of grass between your thumbs. Lena was captivated.

Lena took a minute to model on an old bench.

Remembering

Today, we found out that Lena lost her Great Great Grandmother, my Great Nana. Even though Lena never had the chance to meet her, I want my daughter to know what a special woman Great Nana was. Lena will know that she was a kind and loving lady. She will know about the ginger ale in peach-colored cups, Cracker Jack, and candies in the milk-glass bowl. She will know about the tinker toys and dolls that her mother played with at Great Nana's home. Lena will know that the piano she plays once belonged to Great Nana. She will know that the blue dresses she wore, that I once wore, were made by Great Nana. She will know that I wore Great Nana's bracelet in my wedding, and someday, she may too. She will know these things because I will tell her. I will tell her stories about Great Nana, to keep her memory alive and to let Lena know where she came from. These memories are important to me, and I hope they will be to Lena.

I miss you Great Nana.

Growing and Coloring

It's been a few weeks, and Lena has been growing up a lot. She has gotten taller and had a growth spurt since her 15-month appointment. She's 80% in height, 30% in weight, and still 3% for her head. She's super-smart, so her brains must be tightly packed-in. Ever since she hit 18 months, she has just taken off! She has a great vocabulary, and learns a new word daily. Her faves are monkey (mung-ee), light (yite), breakfast, pancake, Einstein (yes, Einstein), and All Done.

Since she soaks things up like a sponge, I decided it was time for Lena to color! She likes to play with pens, but crayons and colored pencils are much more fun.


Pretty colors


Hmmm, which do I want first?


Double-fisting red and orange!

Ohhhh- so pretty!


All done!

Yipee-Ki-Yi-Yay!!

I came home from work the other day and found a cowgirl on the deck. Mama Mills told me Lena actually picked out the whole outfit by herself- seriously. She loves clomping around in her new cowgirl shoes, which look like Mama's. She posed for some pictures before saddling up her pony and riding around the ranch.

Mother's Day Part 2

Lena is the inspiration for S.A.L Gardens. (More about that in another post to come...)

Mother's Day Part 1

We had a wonderful mother's day with my family. Aunt Shannon, Uncle Jason, Edy, Mama Mills, Granddad, and Grandma Carmon were there. We all relaxed on the porch, played in the yard, had lunch, and got snowballs, complete with marsh mellow topping. (You can't have a snowball without the marsh mellow on top.) Lena loves snowballs, of course! Her mouth was a lovely blue color.

Girl Time

Seth has been out in Texas and Oklahoma for the past 2 weeks, so Lena and I have had a lot of Mama-Monkey time together. We've been having a lot of fun. The weekends are the best of course. We cuddle in the morning, Lena with her milk and me with my coffee. We watch cartoons together and have breakfast. While Lena takes her nap, I work in the garden. Then Lena gets up, has her lunch and then we play outside- all day. We dig in the dirt, watch birds, play in the pool and water the plants. Then we might run some errands, if I'm not exhausted. Lena still gets a 2-hour nap! But, it's totally worth it. We've re-bonded; I really needed this since I miss her so much at work.


Lena loves peanut butter sandwiches.


Lena will "crinkle" her nose on command now. It's the cutest thing. She's such a goofball.


She's a silly girl!