Consignment Finds

Consignment sales are a mom's best friend! I picked up this Sit and Spin at one the other day for $5. Lia loves to make herself dizzy so I thought she would love it.

Well, as with most things, it took her a while to warm up to it, but after much convincing and a few "mommy turns" she tried it and has been going "round and around and around" ever since.

More fun with Daddy

Brendon was always playing blocks with the nieces and nephews before we had blocks (and a kid) at our house , but now he's getting the chance to build with Lia. She is really good and liked making the robot with Daddy...


But didn't want to stop building for the picture...

Favorite Chair

We got this chair on the clearance rack at Target for Lia at Christmas and I she LOVES it! It is her little spot to sit in the living room and when she runs in there, she says, "I sit in my pink chair, Mommy."



What is your favorite place to crash?

Color Time with Lia (and Daddy)

Genius at work....


Ok, Daddy at work too, but they had fun making a mess on the back patio.


Hope the drought doesn't start next week :) or it might be permanent.

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to take a minute before heading off to sleep and wish everyone a wonderful Easter! I can't wait to celebrate our Risen Savior, Jesus.

Lia has been learning about Easter at her preschool this week, too, and must be soaking it all up because on Thursday morning Brendon and I woke up to her saying "Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive!" over the intercom. She was singing a little song they had taught her at school and it was so cute.

I hope you wake up with the sweet and powerful message of Easter in your ear tomorrow as well!

Here are a few pictures from this week:

Lia in her pink flower headband from Nana


and me, wearing the yellow one as directed :)

Listen Bear

"No Mommy, I want to sing it."

This happens quite often at bed time now as Lia learns more songs and wants to do it all by herself. I think she likes the solos.

Anyway, tonight I was trying to get her to sing some songs on camera for me and I caught her telling her bear to sit and listen. Oh, and the hiccups were worth the video alone!

So close!

"Teeny Tiny" Belmont came to play! Well, if you didn't see it, you might have heard them talkin' about it on Sportcenter or around the water cooler on Friday. Belmont gave Duke a run for their money and came up short by one point. They can certainly go home walking proud.

Check out the full story here.

Belmont in NCAA Tournament 3 Times running...

So, we don't have a football team and as many of you can attest, it's hard to get into college sports when most people coming out of your college play an instrument and don't score goals. But I have always loved Belmont basketball since the first time I visited campus and this weekend Belmont has made it to the NCAA tournament for the 3rd consecutive year this spring.

Watch us come up against Duke tonight at 7:15pm. As the head coach, Rick Byrd said "we're certainly happy to be here".

Go Bruins!

Lia meets Miss Lea

My friend, Lea, was in town for a conference early this week and was sweet enough to drive a little north to meet us. We met at the mall and Lia played at the fountains and had a little snack. It was great to catch up with her, but I was sad it could be for longer!

When I told Lia that we were going to meet "Miss Lea" she looked at me *very* strange. She doesn't really know anyone else with her name so it was fun to introduce them.

In honor of Ryan

Ryan recently had an experiment in facial hair and I guess Lia got inspired b/c I looked over the other morning and found her wearing her own chin puff .


maybe we will try for the Frnz-Josef tomorrow!

Friday with Lia's TX Cousins

The Texas cousins came to TN this past week so we drove up on Friday to see them. Thanks to Kimball's family for letting us crash the party and here are a few pictures...




and on the way back we stopped at Chick-Fil-A. Lia isn't much for the big slides, but she did really like the rockin' cow :).

Walking NOW (again) for Autism


I am participating again in the Georgia Walk for Autism in April to support Autism Speaks and help fund research and find a cure for autism. As most of you know, I have been inspired to walk by my friend Tina and her family. Tina's son, Myles, lives with Autism and they are such an inspiration. They started Myles-A-Part last year to help other families living with autism and have made such an impact on those around her.

Please help me celebrate Tina and help the many families just like theirs.

Autism is the second most common developmental disorder in the United States affecting one in every 150 children born today. Despite some promising discoveries, the cause of autism is unknown and a cure does not exist. Research is crucial. Every 20 minutes another child is diagnosed with autism. Not only must we find ways to improve the quality of life for children and adults with autism, but we also must find a cure, and soon.

Walk Now for Autism is our chance to make a difference in the fight against autism by raising money for autism research and heightening public awareness. Please join me in my goal of raising $1000. You can donate to Walk Now for Autism and join my team online through my webpage at www.walknowforautism.org. Donations can also be mailed to Autism Speaks using the donation form located on my page or send me a check made out to Autism Speaks. My team name is Myles-A-Part; please note this on your check and the donation form.

Any help you can give will be truly appreciated and valued by the families and children supported by Autism Speaks.

Thanks for your support!
Rachel


Donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
501 (C)(3) NUMBER: 95-4542637
Autism Speaks Tax Id #: 20-2329938

MATCHING GIFT PROGRAM Many companies provide their employees with matching gifts. Please consult your employer on its matching gift guidelines and attach matching gift forms accordingly.
Follow this link to visit Rachel Petty's page.

Fancy Dance

I can't figure out how to turn this video, but I think you will still like it...
it's her new happy dance, but she calls it her "fancy dance"...



I love it!

Nana and Papa B visit

We got a visit from Nana and Papa B this weekend. It was fun to visit and they couldn't believe how big Lia is. Here is a little picture from after church....


Thanks for a great weekend!

Potty Time and trying to catch up....

I don't know what has happened with my time except that I spend a lot more of it in the potty with Lia. So, I will attempt to catch up on the blog this week and get everyone up to speed on life at the Petty house....

We had been potty training for about a month now, and Lia is doing GREAT! She has had 5 dry days in a row over the weekend so she earned an elmo sticker for each dry day and a special treat for 5 days in a row. Here's her chart....


The special treat was a fun green shirt that she wore to school today. She loves ROCKET (aka Little Einsteins) and it has two of the characters on it from that.


She's getting to be such a big girl!!!

She be Crackin'

All the mom's up there know that what is really keeping your toddler's pants up is the diaper. They don't have any waist and not much booty so it's the diaper. When you lose that with potty training there is an unfortunate side affect!

Like Mr. Aaron

Our friends, Holly and Aaron, came over about a month ago to drop Lily off for a fun night with Lia and I. Aaron was playing on the floor with the girls and ended up laying on his stomach with his elbow propping him up. Lia thought this was so much fun that now she likes to lay down "like Mr. Aaron". So, this morning when I wanted to take the picture of her shirt she insisted on laying that way.

So, here is a shout out to Mr. Aaron....




from my daughter - the poser!

My Daddy, the jungle gym!

My Daddy is very tall and when he puts me on his shoulders I can touch the sky (and the ceiling!).


When we go through doorways her says "duck-down" and I put my head down so I don't hit it.


My Daddy is also very strong. He can hold me on his foot and walk around. It is so fun to ride on my daddy's foot!


Bye-Bye!

First Haircut

We decided that it was time for Lia's first haircut (a trim, really) since the bushy hair was getting a little crazy. I had embraced the toddler mullet for as long as I could and it was time for the cut....

Oh, and as you can see - she has gotten all of her baby teeth in except the 2 year molars. they must be very sharp too b/c she keeps biting her toungue and finger. Ouch!




So, we took her to a little place down the road and she did great. Thanks to Miss Lisa's goldfish trick (food always works as a good distraction) she was great and held still.

Miss Kim cut her hair and did a fantastic job. the ends are stright now and it's much easier to pull back. She even got glitter and sticker earrings - very glamorous!

Shoe obsession starts early...

Lia LOVES putting on my shoes and trying to walk around. This is quite a "feet" because they are size 10s to her baby size 6s. I managed to talk her into these flats instead of the boots behind her.


She tries to stand up in those and walk and I'm afraid she's going to hurt herself!

Well, I'm sure we will be sharing shoes in to time. With parental feet the size of ours - she is bound to be to a size 10 in no time :)