Trip to the Zoo!

Several weeks ago (I'm very behind on my blogging....) we decided to take an impromptu trip to the Birmingham Zoo. Russell had been talking about taking the girls to the zoo all summer, but it was just too hot. However, one Friday, Russell got off work early and the weather was beautiful....so, we loaded everyone up and we were off to the zoo! We had a WONDERFUL time. The zoo wasn't very crowded, the weather was perfect, the animals (although not very lively) were there and the girls absolutely loved every second of it! We will definitely be going back soon:)

Our first sighting....the flamingos.


I love this picture, Marissa was so into all the animals!

Daddy and daughter looking cool in their shades.

Allie pointing out the ducks....and showing off the fact that mommy obviously forgot to brush her hair after her nap. See, here's my problem (maybe you curly headed girls out there can relate...) I never brush my hair, first of all it's not really possible and second of all, if I did it would look like someone stuck one of those fluffy pomerian dogs on my head. So...with all that said, I am always forgetting to brush the girls hair...poor things. Oh well, they are cute enough that it doesn't really matter:)


Still checking out the ducks.

Now on to the kangaroos. They didn't put on much of a show...

Lazy bums.

Allie getting a good look with a little help from daddy.

Next up, the monkeys. This little guy was really fun to watch!

Allie was loving it!

How's that for flexibility!

I love this picture:)

Marissa called these "ris-nos-erous". They were very stinky.

Daddy being silly, showing the girls how to pose in the gumball machine!

Marissa was up next....

And last but certainly not least...Miss Allie barely made it! :)

Then we saw this huuuuge turtle. Yuck, could you imagine running into this guy while swimming in the lake or ocean....I would have a heart attack.

Allie had to get out of the stroller to get a better look. (I mean, seriously, look at that poor child's hair....I can just hear people saying "Bless her heart, her mommy can't even brush her hair?!)

"Look!!!"

Those of you with kids know exactly what Russell is doing:) HAHA:)

Here are the girls admiring the fountains from a distance. Mean ol' mommy wouldn't let them run in the water.....

Then it was the giraffes!!

Mommy and Marissa checking them out!

Sleepy Allie.

This picture is a little blurry, but it's cute because towards the end of the day, the zoo wasn't very crowded, so Marissa and Russell started running. Russell would jog and Marissa would faithfully stay right behind him! She loved it!!

Feeding more ducks.

Then it was time for the train ride!

And lastly, the carousel ride! Marissa chose the zebra!

So Allie got the gorilla.

Allie wasn't too sure about it at first, notice the death grip on the pole and silky.

Marissa was loving every minute of it!

Allie eventually warmed up and gave up the silky. (I'm sure it helped having her daddy right there, just in case:) )

And lastly, we got a great family picture!! We really did have a lot of fun:) Looking forward to our next visit!

Things.

There are so many things about you, Marissa Kate that make me smile and laugh and wonder how we are so lucky that God gave us such a sweet and precious gift.....and there are some things that you can do that make me want to pull my hair out...


either way, here are a few things about you right now that i don't ever want to forget......


*you think your silky (teddy bear) has magical powers....if you have a booboo on your finger, you will rub it on your silky and look at me and say,"It feels better now, Mommy!"


*you are very complimentary and you do it a lot! no matter the occasion. Today, Allie, you and me were laying on your bed after naptime and Allie stood up, spun around in a circle and you said, "Allie, that was a great spin!"


*you will start crying if you see me crying. (you get that from me, i do the same thing with neenee)



*you absolutely LOVE your princess shoes and would wear them all day, everyday if you could.




*you love your little sister so, so much. you like to help her if she needs something, hold her hand, sit with her and watch a movie.



*on the flip side, you are the reason your sister cries about 70% of the time. mainly because you like to take her toys away from her....but if you aren't the reason she is crying, you will do just about anything to get her to stop.



*you love to help me cook, your favorite thing to cook is cinnamon toast and eggs.



*you like to pick out your own clothes now and put them on (almost) all by yourself.


*your favorite friend is bryce. anytime i ask you what you want to do, the answer is almost always, "play with bryce and layne" :)


*you love to be with your daddy. anytime you get hurt when you are playing, the first person you ask for is your daddy.





*you have yet to have a hair cut...in your life. i am thinking that will need to happen soon. :(



*today, when you woke up from your nap, while allie and i were laying in bed with you, you looked at me and said, "mommy, i'm so happy right now."


oh...sweet girl, you always make me happy. the past 3 years with you...they have been the best of my life. raising you is an adventure that is exciting, exhausting, emotional, fun, surprising, wonderful and hard all wrapped in one beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed package. you are our little princess and we love you forever and ever.

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!!

3 years old!!! Can you believe it?! Our Marissa Kate turned 3 on the 16th:) She is getting so big and is such a sweet, kind girl. I want to fill you in on all that she is up to these days in a different post, but for now....It's Party Time! On the 12th, we had a double birthday party for Marissa and her friend, Quinn, who lives down the street, he was born 9 days before Marissa. It was, per Marissa's request, a Veggie Tales themed party! It was so much fun, the weather was beautiful, the decorations were oh-so cute and everyone had a wonderful time celebrating 2 very special kiddos:) OK....let me warn you....there are A LOT of pictures below....it was so hard to narrow them down, so I hope you enjoy them ALL!!:)
The party was at the park across the street from our house, the girls are in the car ready to go and they spot something very,very interesting at the park.....
We pull up and this is what they see!! It was a huge hit with all the kids there and we actually ended up purchasing this instead of renting one...so now the girls can play with it anytime they want!! The food table, complete with a Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber along with assorted veggies with googly eyes:) Julie (Quinn's Mom) and I had so much fun making all the decorations...everything turned out really, really cute:)

These were the favor bags that Julie made. The tag read,"Thanks for Coming and Remember, God made you special!" Not only is that true, but it's also the "tag-line" for the Veggie Tales. Inside the bags we had a Veggie Tales book and a tomato-saver filled with candy.

Bob and Larry cupcakes made by a local bakery.

Bob the tissue paper Tomato and Larry the tissue paper cucumber. (These were probably my favorite decorations...they turned out so cute. We had 4 of each hanging around the party!)

Russell and his mom, Nana. She flew in from Texas for the occasion and we were so happy to have her there! (We missed you Pops!)

And my mom and me...she drove in from NC to celebrate:) (We missed you Papa:( !)

While everyone was snacking...the little sisters found some time to play in the Bounce House alone! That is Allie and Emerson (Quinn's little sister, she is 6 months younger than Allie)

Action shot!

This is Quinn, isn't he such a cutie:)

Miss Allie!

So fun!

The kiddos found the cupcakes very quickly! Look at my big girl!! This is the outfit my mom made for the party...isn't it adorable!! Thank you NeeNee:)

Allie trying out the Larry cupcake....and me secretly praying that she doesn't get that green icing all over my Anthropologie shirt... :)

I think Bryce enjoyed his cupcake!

OK, so this picture is so close to being PERFECT! If only Marissa was looking at the camera...maybe I can fix it somehow. (Anyone know anything about photoshop? Is it possible?)

Layne and sweet baby Avery:) This is such a great picture!

Allie found some shoes to play with....this girl is OBSESSED with shoes!

My mom, Scott (Russell's friend from high school), Gale (Scott's mom), me, and Megan (Scott's girlfriend)

Marissa and Quinn...birthday buddies. :)

And these are the Bob cakes my mom made!! I was, once again, super impressed with her skills...she really came through for me with this party, she was such a huge help!! Thanks again, NeeNee!!

Quinn is anxiously waiting to dig in!

Time to sing and blow out your candles!

And he goes for it! This picture cracks me up!!

The aftermath....poor Bob.

Marissa wouldn't eat the cake...just the M&M eyes.

Then it was present time!! Marissa was so excited and really got in to opening all the gifts:)

This was one of her favorites, a Fancy Nancy dress. She said, "Oh mommy, look at the butterfly dress! It's soooo pretty!"

Not sure what she was opening, but she was clearly very excited about it!

Allie just wanted someone to give her some shoes to play with....or some food:)

Reading her card.

And this was the grand finale! I so wish we would have taken a picture of her face when she saw that bike! Her whole face lit up, she has been telling us she wanted a bike and when she saw this...oh my, it was perfect! A big thanks to Pops and Nana for getting Marissa the bike! She absolutely loves it:)

Quinn also got a very cool Jeep bike!Trying to do it by herself!

At first, she needed a little help from daddy.

Then, a little help from Daddy and Bryce:)

And of course, little sister had to go for a spin.

And apparently, Daddy had to try it out also. I don't think I've ever been more attracted to him, sitting on a Barbie bike with pink and white streamers, so manly:)

And finally, here is our sweet, sweet Marissa Kate. She had a blast at her party! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us. We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends who love our Marissa as much as we do:) Happy, Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!!