The Perfect Saturday

Today was so much fun! I had to run a few errands this morning and Hailey and Ryan went with me. It was a treat! (Ryan isn't really the shopper...) Hailey had a blast in Target and Old Navy. We didn't put her in a cart or stroller because we knew one could chase her while the other actually did what we came for. She was so cute walking up and down the aisles. She played with her shadow and counted to eight by herself while she hopped along the tiles. (She can count to 14 but usually we count together with me saying a number or two and her continuing after those. This time she did 1-8 without pausing.)
We got ready to go this morning and Hailey had to take her purse. It's actually a lunch box but don't tell her that. She got it for Christmas from my cousin and loves it!

Hailey absolutely loved playing at Old Navy. She hid in the clothes racks and loved walking around and looking at the mannequins.

 She must have tired herself out because she took a three and a half hour nap this afternoon!

Tonight for dinner we made pizza at home. We've done it a few times but I really let Hailey have fun with it and do a lot this time. I'm really trying to let her help me cook more and more because she LOVES it. She climbs up in her tower and says "Mommy helper. Big girl." I'm having to take a step back and not freak out about the mess she makes. I have to remind myself that I can clean it later and that we are making memories.

Someone stuck their hand in the sauce,

 and then wanted it cleaned off. "Wipe. Clean."

 Not worried about the mess anymore. She loved helping with the cheese!

I told her to say cheese so Ryan could take a picture and she looked into the bowl of cheese and smiled instead. Silly...

 Adding her toppings. She picked broccoli and pepperoni. Girl loves some broccoli, but only the top part. She will not eat the stems.

 More cheese. She couldn't get enough.

 She played in that bowl of cheese for a good five minutes after I put the pizzas in the oven.

Ahhhh! The perfect Saturday. I love making memories with my family!

Makin' Dumplins'

One of my favorite meals is chicken and dumplins'...but only the way my Granny makes it. Every time we go to Tennessee Granny coaches me and I make dumplins for everyone. She's given me the recipe and I've made them at home before but they never seem to be as good as when I make them in her house.

This time when I made dumplins at Granny's house I had a little helper, well really two little helpers, Hailey and my cousin Cailin. I started out working alone but both were so interested that I gave them a bowl of flour and spoon and eventually a little bit of dough.

First look at the flour. This looks interesting...

"Feels good Mommy."

They got a little messy,

but had a lot of fun!

 "Tastes good. Like it."

"Eat it Mommy."

Fun memories were made!

best I could get...

Ice!

While we were in Nashville we visited the Opryland Hotel (more pictures from that later) and the Ice exhibit. Apparently they've had this exhibit for years but we've never heard about it. We got to go thru it with my parents, sister and her family. It was so neat! Everything inside is made out of ice. They show you a video about how it's done and then give you a parka (because it's 7 degrees inside) and you get to walk thru at your own pace. The theme was Frosty the Snowman, which was perfect because Hailey and Tucker had just watched that movie on the way to Tennessee!

Tucker and Hailey waiting to get our tickets

just before going in

Hailey's coat was HUGE on her. They had a smaller one but said that she wouldn't be able to go down the ice slide with a smaller coat so we went with the big one. It kept her warmer, seeing as how her hands only went halfway down the sleeves so her hands didn't stick out and get cold. ;)

us with Julie, Trey Tucker and Mack before entering

I didn't get to take a whole lot of pictures inside because we were busy keeping up with Hailey but it was just incredible to see what they could do with ice! 

me and Hailey

Ryan and Hailey checking out the first ice sculptures

Tucker on the ice train

And Hailey's favorite..."Pocus" She talked about this rabbit the whole time and for days after leaving.

Hailey (and Ryan) got to go down the ice slide a few times but I didn't get any pictures of it. I was videoing instead. Oh well. I know you're crushed...

At the end of the Frosty stuff they had a mini New York City made from ice so of course Hailey and Ryan had to get their picture taken in front of the "big apple"

and in a taxi

They also had an ice nativity set up but I didn't get a picture of that one.

We had so much fun at the Ice exhibit. It was such a neat thing that we had never done before!

Brown Christmas and Traveling to Tennessee

So I only have like 3 pictures from our Christmas celebration with my parents and sister because my dad took a lot on his camera and I forgot to get them. Oh well. Here's what I have...

Hailey had a blast opening her stocking and loved the candy and jewelery most of all. Her favorite gift at their house would either have been her Minnie Mouse camera that my sister gave her or her Elmo shirt from my parents. As soon as she opened the Elmo shirt she said "wear it" and started taking off her Rudolph one. I had to bribe her later that afternoon to put the Rudolph one back on before we went to Ryan's parents house. Ha!

The day after Christmas we left for Tennessee to visit my extended family. It was a long car ride but Hailey did well. She was super excited when I let her drink from a juice box!

And before I get way into the pictures from Tennessee here is my silly girl putting on Granny's (my grandmother) glasses that she found. These pictures make me laugh every time!

Get ready for the onslaught on Tennessee pictures! We did lots of fun stuff while we were there!

Christmas with the Epleys

Christmas Eve we always get together with Ryan's extended family. This year was a little more lively with two almost-two-year-olds. Hailey and Maddox are about 6 weeks apart in age and they had a ball playing and running around this year.
They loved to play with Beau (Ryan's parent's dog),

and they found the piano. We all heard a beautiful little concert. ;)

Christmas Day we spent some time with both my family and Ryan's family. It was a long day for Hailey but she loved seeing everyone. Once again, she didn't really care about opening that many presents. She was just happy playing with the first few things she opened. But she definitely got a little spoiled by her aunties and grandparents. They got her lots of new toys, books and clothes. They will keep us busy for a long time to come!

Hailey's mountain of presents was almost as tall as she was!

testing out the durability

"cooking" with her new Elmo fork and spoon. She would have played happily with this for hours if I didn't make her open another present.

 We are so thankful to be close to family for the holidays! I still need to get pictures from our Christmas with the Browns but I have lots to post from our trip to Tennessee too!

Cookie Day

Every year Ryan's mom, sisters and I have Cookie Day. We get together and make lots of different kinds of cookies to give away and bring to events. This year was a little different because Kristin wasn't able to make it, but it was special because Hailey got to join in.
Ryan's mom had already made some sugar cookies so Hailey got to decorate them. And boy did she have fun! She loved the sprinkles the most...and of course she ate way more than she decorated.

Check out those sprinkles!

Have to taste test it...

Sharing with Daddy

Yummy!

 

Hailey got to help Rebecca roll out and cut some sugar cookies too!

Look at that determined little face

Notice the necklace...Hailey's new favorite accessory. She got a few for Christmas and loves to wear them. Ahhh, a girl after my own heart...

Christmas in Raleigh

I'm way behind in posting about Christmas but we've been out of town for almost two weeks...so I get a pass right?!

Anyways, we had our Christmas celebration here in Raleigh the weekend before Christmas. My mom was in town and took Hailey to Charlotte with her for the weekend because Ryan and I had a wedding to go to here. So we celebrated early.

Hailey loved her Christmas presents. She was so cute! She opened her stocking and just wanted to play with what was inside it. She didn't even care that there were a few presents for her to open. I hope she's always that content. ;)

With her stocking we got Hailey a new stroller for her baby dolls and she was thrilled! She kept putting all of her "things" in it and just pushed it around the whole house.

 Hailey got a puzzle, some blankets and burp cloths for her baby dolls and dishes for her kitchen this year. She loved playing with the dishes for her kitchen! She made Mommy and Daddy breakfast. Precious!

I loved our little family Christmas celebration. But that was just the beginning...we still had 2 more weeks of celebrating to do!