End of summer

Mallory ate with a fork yesterday, because she really thinks she is a big girl. First, I took her clothes off of her, because I knew things were about to get messy! I was feeding her with her baby fork, but she pulled it out of my hands and started poking her noodles and chicken. Sometimes she would actually get a noodle on there! She did get a little frustrated, so she cheated and used her fingers.


We went to my dad's school for a family dinner this weekend. They had blow up bouncers for the kids to play in so it was really cool. Mallory got in and had a BLAST! I will definitely rent one for her birthday next year! We have a place called The Jump Zone (kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese) in our area that has a ton of blow up bouncers, so on a rainy cold day this winter we will have to go!


She also climbed up and went down a slide with her grandpa.


School started for me today. I am taking 18 hours this semester so it will be a rough ride! I took 3 five week classes at the same time this summer and made two A's and one B so I think I will do alright. I have two classes a week that don't get out until 7:30 pm so it will be hard not being able to see Mallory all day.

Charles picked Mallory up from daycare today, and he was pretty clueless. He's never picked her up before so I had to explain step by step what to do. He did okay I guess, because Mallory was here when I got home. He texted me in class while it was just him and Mal at the house, and all it said was "SAVE ME"!! It was so funny I literally laughed out loud! I hurried home and as soon as I walked through the door, Mallory's jaw dropped and she ran with open arms to hug me! It is such a blessing to come home to someone like that! Charles was super excited I was home too! (:

Nashville Zoo

Today was Mallory's first visit to the zoo. It was super hot, but super fun! Lynne gave me her zoo membership card so Charles, Mallory, and I got in FREE!! We didn't get to the zoo until 3:00, because Mallory had to nap first, but we saw almost everything. We walked around the jungle loop first, but it was under construction so we had to backtrack about 30 miles... not fun. After we sweated for an hour, we went into the amphibian and reptile building, where it was air conditioned, to regroup. It was actually really fun, because Mallory really liked looking at the fish. This huge cat fish swam right up to her and scared her and made her cry. It was sad, but cute.

After that, we went to the petting zoo where all the fun began! She LOVES animals! She was having the best time of her life petting those goats! There were a couple with huge horns that scared me a little bit, but they were all really nice.

This one goat stood by this bucket full of brushes so that people would brush him. I thought he was the smartest goat.
This other goat followed Charles around, and they became friends.
Mallory really liked the little pygmy goats. I think I would actually get her one if she ever used this face on me again:
After we left the petting zoo, we headed over to the gift shop where Mallory got a t-shirt that says "My first trip to the Zoo". It's really cute. She also got a magnet with Meerkats on it, because she loved the Meerkats!
We went to the huge Jungle Gym and played a little bit after the gift shop. Me and Mallory went on the bridge to take a picture, but she really wanted to go on a slide. It is HUGE by the way! This little boy showed me where the big slide was. I had no idea how long it was going to be or else I would have skipped it. Mallory was pretty terrified the entire way down, because it was pitch black. I had to carry her out when we left, because she would take off running back inside the zoo! She LOVED the zoo so we will definitely be back!

Mallory news

I created Mallory an art portfolio today. I'm collecting all her artwork she does at daycare, and separating them by month so we can see her progression. Maybe she'll be a famous artist someday and her very first artwork will be worth millions... (:

She is becoming more and more independent! She runs off when we go shopping and only sits in the stroller for so long. I need to get her a baby leash so she doesn't run too far from me! We went to Nashville yesterday to buy my bridesmaid dress for Kasey's wedding, and she did really good at the beginning of the shopping trip. We went to the Green Hills mall where they had a Lucky Kids store... (I always said even before I got pregnant that my child would have clothes from there and we would match) well they closed that store so now my dreams have been crushed!! Oh well. Mallory got hungry at the end of our shopping trip so we were feeding her goldfish, but she really wanted the good stuff! We stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and got a grilled chicken sandwich so it wasn't too unhealthy and fed her the baby food I packed for her.

She fell asleep not too long after we left and woke up as we were pulling in the driveway. I have never met anyone so happy to wake up before! I wish I could be that happy about waking up! I put her pj's on and put her to bed. She didn't wake up until 8 this morning so that was nice! I gave her a bath, fed her breakfast, watched Sesame Street, and then went to daycare. She didn't even cry when I left! I was so proud! (:

Mallory really wants to do all the things I do! When I sweep, she will grab my broom and sweep with me. Lynne bought Mallory a baby vacuum cleaner just like mine. It's a Hoover Wind Tunnel! It even has a little bag that catches the dirt! I can't figure out how to get it working, but I did get it to make noise. She thinks she is big stuff with that little vacuum!

Introduction

This is my very first post on this blog! Yay! I'm not sure how all this works yet, but I will get the hang of it. I always keep up to date with my facebook, but not all my family members have a facebook so I thought this would be a nice way to keep everyone up to date with our lives. Mallory is changing so much so blogging is a great way to inform everyone of the exciting things that are happening to us!

Today was Mallory's 12 month well baby check-up. I was a little late when I scheduled the appointment so we just now went! Mom went with me, which was great, because I was chasing Mallory all over the waiting room! She was a crazy child in the exam room too. Not too much of a shocker there! I swear I have never met a child as active as she is! Everything regarding development looked good. She had an ear infection which surprised me, because she didn't show any symptoms of having one. The doctor said that we could wait it out if it was a viral infection or get antibiotics. I was going to let it run its course, but a few hours later, she was super fussy and wouldn't eat anything so I called to get the antibiotics. I hope they make her feel better, because I hate it when she doesn't feel good!

Mallory also has a boyfriend at daycare. His name is Noah. He is a cute little chunker and is a month older than she is. The teachers told me that they have to separate them during snack time, because they kiss the whole time and don't eat! When Mallory was in the infant room, I remember they would always crawl to each other and play. I just hope she isn't this boy crazy her whole life. She will give Charles a heart attack!! (:

Some fun things that Mallory's doing now:

• She waves bye bye to everyone
• She is starting to blow kisses
• She kisses everything and everyone!
• She loves to hug and rock dolls
• She dances when music is played
• She likes brushing her teeth
• She can have her hair french braided!
  
• SHE LOVES BOYS!!!!

This is a picture of Mallory at her birthday party. I just love editing pictures!