.my new meal planner.

One night when I was cleaning up the kitchen HattieJo decided to get into the drawer wear I keep all my recipes. She sat there playing with all the cards and papers for at least 15minutes. It was so cute. I guess she was trying to help me plan the upcoming week's menu!

.fun by the fire.

One night last week we had some friends over for dinner and after dinner we went out and enjoyed some time by the fire pit! I love the look on HattieJo's face in the middle picture. She was mezmorized by the fire. She just sat at stared!

.WORN OUT.

This girl was WORN OUT from her day with her daddy!

.NC State Fair.

On Monday after school, I picked up HJ and we headed to pick up Andrew from work... then we set out to the NC State Fair! HJ was a little grumpy when we arrived, so we weren't sure how she was going to do. We fed her before we entered the fair and from then on she was loving life! She was WIDE EYED looking at all the sights and if you have been to a state fair, you know there are some sights to see! She rode in her stroller a while, then I decided she needed to stretch her legs. She LOVED being a big girl and walking all around. She thoroughly enjoyed waving at everyone she passed, eating the ribbon fries and funnel cakes, looking at the ducks and rabbits, and messing with every pumpkin that she saw!

At the end of the night, she was WORN OUT! She fell asleep in the car and was out for the night!

:THANKFUL:

I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us with such a precious, healthy, lively, NON-STOP, smiley, giggly, playful, and smart little girl! We are grateful. We love you HattieJo!

.daddy day pictures.

When Andrew has his daddy day each week he will sometimes send me a picture at some point during the day of HattieJo... I.LOVE.IT!. Talk about putting a smile on my face! So I have them all saved on my computer at school and thought I would share them. Such special times she has with her daddy on these days. So thankful for a man who LOVES his girl! Some of these are OLD. You will see how much she has changed! (in order from oldest to recent)

:the relatives came to town (part2):

*morning snuggles and smiles on the porch*
*the big boys had a great time each morning helping Andrew take care of the dogs...the little kiddos loved watching from the wagon!*

*the bigs LOVED the 4wheeler too, so their weekend consisted of several rides**On Sunday we went to a little spot on the side of the road near our house that is gorgeous! it has HUGE rocks and a nice little river running. we all had fun exploring... the kiddos had cute halloween shirts that erin had made for them!*We had a GREAT time with the Collins Five and were so glad that they came to visit us!!

.the relatives came to town. (part1)

Last weekend, the Collins five came to visit! This is Andrew's sister and her family. We had such a GREAT time with them. I took this collage from her blog because I thought it was SO CUTE! More to come about our fun weekend together....

:poppa socks:

So Andrew's dad, Poppa, ever since I have known him wears these TALL white socks! He doesn't wear them with sandals, but proudly sports them with his black tennis shoes. He coaches high school football in FL, so you can only imagine how bad his tan line is from his socks. Well, I think that HattieJo is walking in his footsteps! We love you Poppa!

.daddy's lil hunter.

So as you all may know it is hunting season. Andrew LOVES to hunt! So the other day he was outside putting together his new stand and then needed to try it out. HattieJo and I went to observe. She loved watching him (trying to figure out what he was doing) and then insisted on joining in on the fun.

:Wordless Wednesday: jail-bird:

.little linus.

"Linus van Pelt: Charlie Brown's blanket-toting best friend"- Wikipedia

.playdate.

One of the deacons for our Saturday Night Campus and his family came over for lunch the other week. We had a great time hanging out with this precious family! HattieJo loved playing with sweet Nora. We are so thankful to serve alongside this couple.

.blankie.

I always wondered if HattieJo would get attached to something... like I had a little rabbit rag that I LOVED and couldn't leave the house without and couldn't sleep without. My sister had a cloth diaper that she called her "di". Also, our nephews have "doolollies" that they have when they sleep and they are particular ones, MUST be the "one with the tag" or the "armadillo doo". Well I think HattieJo has found her "thing." It is a burpcloth that my aunt had made for her and has since made her 3 more! They are adorable and monogrammed. HattieJo will get her rag when she is tired and will tuck it in the crease of her elbow of her thumb sucking arm and go to sleep or at least rest! It is precious!

:Wordless Wednesday: Blue Jean Baby or Toddler:

.WATER.

Like I have said before, HattieJo LOVES water. She loves to play in water wherever there is water to be found... like in the fountain in my parents back yard! Not only did she want to splash in it with her hands, she wanted to stand in it and stomp.. WILD WOMAN!

.tickling the ivories.

While we were at my parents house, Little Miss Priss discovered the piano. She was so cute. The first time she touched a key she looked around not sure why it was making such a noise. Then she became quite fond of "playing" the piano. She was gentle and didn't bang!

.picnic in the park.

While we were in SC after our beach trip, we were able to go to the park and have a picnic with some of my friends from college! Joanna is about to have a baby boy, Cooper, in 6 weeks. We were suitemates for 2years and ran cross country together at NGU. Then Amber married one of Andrew's roommates from college and so that is how we became friends. Crazy thing about Amber is that she had her little girl, Kyley Joy, the same day that HattieJo was born! They are about 12 hours apart!!! Crazy! It was such a fun time to let the girls get together and for us all to catch up. Of course we didn't get a picture of us three, because we were watching the girls. Kyley and HattieJo were so sweet feeding each other goldfish and other snacks, then HattieJo was on the go with her RED cheeks from walking all over the place. HattieJo loved being at the park seeing all the people. She was walking up to everyone and waving and talking. I am pretty sure she isn't shy!

:family beach photos:

So we set out on Sunday night to get some shots of our family on the beach together... My dad had the camera set up on a tripod so that we wouldn't have to bother anyone with getting our pictures, so then the task of getting HJ to look at the camera and not the person running from pressing the button to get in the photo!!! So my idea was to throw a shovel right at the last second to get her to look straight ahead... here are a few bloopers! (Yes, that is the shovel in mid-air in the second photo! haha)