Engineerin' a Fort

Did you know my Grandaddy Bill was an engineer? Papa and Uncle Kimball are engineers too! I wonder if they have ever engineered a fort before? It's really fun especially the inspection part. You get to climb in the fort and make sure the sides don't fall down.



This one that Daddy and I built looks pretty good to me!!!

Outta Here....

Just a little glimpse of our baby headed for the stairs. I remember feeling like she would NEVER learn to crawl and now she's about to walk. I love that I can see the motion of her feet and I don't want to forget the little patter of her hands on the floor.
What a precious girl!

A Few of my favorite things...



I have the BEST toys... I mean who doesn't love a Ball Bopper?!?!?! but today I want to give you a little tour of some of my other favorites. I will save the ball bopper for another day.

First, books... man do I love books. I mean, they open and close - the pages are fun to turn and I love looking at the pictures. This is one of my favorite that my G-Mommy gave me. I like to look at it upside down b/c it's a little more challenging that way.



And I have a ring stacker unlike any other. Who needs the donut shaped stacker from way back when you can have one that plays songs. Don't your toys play songs too? Well, I figured out early on that you didn't have to stack the rings for it to play the song - you just have to push the *little* button on the very tip top. So, I like to push the button - read a book - and then when the song is over I push it again... Mommy says I'm a little DJ.



My new favorite toy has got to be this COOL bucket... it's a shape sorter, but I like to dump all the shapes out and talk into the bucket. It makes the funniest sounds! It always makes me laugh... especially when Daddy does it too.



So, if you are having a bad day today...just do like I do...put on one of your favorite tunes, read a book, or if all else fails - talk into a bucket!

Happy Summer Sun
Have any of you ever been to the pool with me? the beach? I'm the one whose always putting sunscreen (the thick stuff) on me, my sweet husband and now my daughter. With a big 'ol family history of melanoma I'm more than a little cautious, but I wanted to remind all of you to be cautious too.

Did you know that 80% of skin damage happens before the age of 18? That means that the little spot I had biopsied today at the dermologist probably got it's start way back when! So slather up you and the kids before you go to the park, out to the pool or wherever. It's worth the investment in your/their health.

I know... I know... you want cute pictures of Lia, but blogging is kinda like having a soapbox so your just lucky I don't give my opinion every entry :)

And, as a thank you for reading this public service announcement... here's a little picture of our angel....

Rockin' it like Steve Fee....

I woke up the other day from my nap and Mommy and Daddy kept saying my hair looked like Steve Fee's do. Steve, aka Fee-Dog leads worship at our church and is a cool dad himself.

What do you think? Do you see any similarity?

Me...


Steve Fee....

Lazy Summer Days

We don't have a neighborhood pool so we had to improvise today. Vicki inflated their pool and I acted as lifeguard for the girls. They had a lot of fun splashing and playing in the water.

And here is a little picture of Lia... she really like cruising along the edge of the pool.

We hope you are having some lazy days of your own this summer.

Six Years and still goin' strong...


We just celebrated our 6th year of marriage this weekend and I was inspired by our friends, the Biggs, to give a
State of Our Union....

Things that have changed in 6 years...

Rachel

• lives somewhere other than TN
• wakes up before 8am most days
• knows what BNC and LED stand for (really, ask me... I do)
• wears earrings everyday

Brendon

• has a few gray hairs in his goatee
• enjoys sleeping in on Saturdays
• eats asparagus
• can level and frost a cake (but really loves to eat the cake top)

Things that haven't changed in 6 years...

Rachel

• doesn't take out the trash
• drives with the radio turned up too loud
• hates to shop for cars or furniture
• still likes to stay up too late at night

Brendon

• doesn't like to make his own sandwich
• wishes he could sleep with the windows open AND the ceiling fan on
• stresses over big decisions like cars or furniture
• still makes me laugh EVERYDAY

Happy Anniversary Brendon!
I love you and can't believe it's been 6 years...now for the next chunk of our marriage...

Santa Rosa Beach

We had a last minute chance to go to the beach this past week so the Pettys packed up and headed on down.....


Thanks to the Stevens' for letting us crash at their beach pad. the girls had fun hanging out at the house cruisin' the furniture together...


and watchin' a little Baby Einstein....
(Haley, watch out for Lia...)


We also got to take Lia to the "big pool" for the first time....



One...Two...


Three....GO!!!!


SHE LOVED IT!!!!

The girls each had a baby float and loved sailing around the pool...





And of course... the beach! It didn't last long, but it was so much fun to see her face! She laughed everytime a wave came in, and even liked sitting as they tickled her toes.







We headed back around sunset to take sme pictures of the families and girls. For those who are looking closely... yes, that's something on my lens :( Gotta get it cleaned, but I thought the pictures turned out pretty fun!













We were all pretty tired after the photos...


BUT we can't wait to go back!

Climbin' and Readin'

We kept Lily for Aaron and Holly's first date night out...and we were so honored to be her first "babysitter". I think Aaron and Holly had fun, but not as much as we did! Lia showed Lily her new way of climbing up to bed...


and then read her a little bedtime story before getting tucked in for the night "pup-pay", "oof, oof"....

Pool Party

Well, the string of babies being born last year means a string of 1st birthday parties this year :)! We went to Joshua's birthday party this weekend and they had a pool set up. Unfortunately, I ran out of battery before Joshua dove into the cake, but as soon as his parents send out a picture I will pass that along too. I have two words...blue icing!

In the meantime, here is a picture of Lia in the big pool


and drying off with Daddy after all the fun.

Walk NOW for Autism

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in the Walk for Autism @ Atlantic Station as a member of the Myles-A-Part team. Myles-A-Part is an non-profit organization started by our friend Tina. It is dedicated to the support of families facing autism and is named after Tina's son, Myles. I am so excited about all that she is doing and the hope she wants to give families facing the challenges of autism. If you want to learn more she has launched a new website for Myle-A-Part - www.mylesapart.org



Our team rasied over $3800 for research and i think they said the 38 walks across the country raised over $1 million! Thanks to everyone who supported me. It was exciting to be a part of the day! Here is a picture of most of our team gathered before the walk.


and a look at the crowd as the walk started up the ramp to Atlantic Station...crazy!

Bathtime

Hi! It's Lia again...I wanted to share a few pictures of my FAVORITE time of day...bathtime. Now, I know you grownups don't take a lot of baths (except G-Mommy - she still knows what's up!), but you are missing the most fun thing EVER! I mean, what's better than a little time splashing around in a big tub with toys??? And Mommy always keeps an eye on me so I don't do anything crazy. Well, there is the shampoo part that's not too much fun, but check out all the fun things to do with soapy hair....

There is the fauzhawk (eat your heart out Sanjaya!)


..and the faux ponytails (someday soon I will have REAL ones!)


I even play peekaboo with Mommy sometimes. It's just more fun if you keep your eyes open the whole time, really, that way I get to see the look on Mommy's face when I say...boo!



I mean now that you know what you are missing you should jump right in there....gather up a few bath toys and jump right in... splash it up!

Monkey See, Monkey Do....

Well, Lia likes to do anything we are doing so here are a few snapshots of everyday events.

Mommy likes to read magazines...and Lia reads magazines
(is that a new recipe?!?!)


Daddy likes music...he and Lia has started a band
The BaBa Band..bababababa..ba ba..ba ba

Miss Em'ly

Some of you may remember my last visit with Miss Em'ly. She is one of my Mommy's oldest friends. Well, she isn't old...Mommy is actually OLDER than her, but they are going to be 30 this year. That means they have been friends for 1/2 their life...wow!



Miss Em'ly came to Atlanta for a business trip and instead of staying in a quiet hotel room she decided to stay with ME! It was so much fun. She put me to sleep a few nights and read to me and I could here my Mommy and her laughing and having fun downstairs after I went to bed. Miss Em'ly is gonna have a baby soon and I can't wait to meet my new little friend. Maybe we will be friends for our WHOLE lives.

I'm one!!!

Sorry it's been so lng getting these photos online, but Lia had a week of sicknesses and the blog always takes the back seat to that stuff :).

But, we are back and I thought I would start with her fun birthday party. We had some friends over to celebrate.


Both sets of Lia's grandparents made the trip, Miss Jennifer came from Nashville,


and there were lots of fun kids to play with... There were the crazy big kids...


(L to R - Isaac, Avery, Benjamin, Sarah, Ginny, Hannah, Olivia, Glenn and Ben)

A few smaller kids...

Ben...


Alex...


Noah...


Haley...


...and the littlest kid, Lily.


Of course the highlight of the party was the fun cake time... Lia was not sure what to make of a WHOLE cake to herself....


Until she got a taste of the icing....


and then she dove in....


"Hey you guys, you should really try this!"


Thanks to everyone for making her birthday such a fun day!