Ivy turns two!

Our silly girl turned two back in May and just wanted to post a few pics of our day..  Ivy actually pretty much picked out her own birthday gift this year. While out shopping for the event, we stopped by a second hand kids shop in Knoxville and just inside the door was a near perfect condition used car. Ivy spotted it before I did. She ran over, got in and refused to get out of the car for anything. After a quick phone call with Sam and a couple other people in the store eyeing the car while she was still in it (really people?), I decided this was an unbeatable deal. So we hid the car in our storage for the next week and Ivy was beyond thrilled to see her beloved car the morning of her birthday, along with some other goodies. :)

I made cupcakes that morning and off we went to Mcdonald's with some close friends of ours for lunch while Sam was in school. Too bad Ivy wouldn't eat the cupcake afterwards. Just decided we'd give it another try when we celebrated with Daddy later that night.

Thanks Leila and kids for joining us that day! It was so fun!

Later, opening a couple more gifts with dad.. dress up shoes and a new magnadoodle. This little girl was in heaven, haha:

She thought the candle was awesome and loved when we sang to her but yet again, would not even touch the cupcake. Such a silly girl. She doesn't know what she's missing, lol..

We just love our goofball. She really is so much fun to be around. Certainly opinionated and stubborn every now and then but such a fun-loving sweetheart.

Just for record's sake...

At age two, Ivy:

-weighs 25 lbs, can't remember her height

-has LOTS of words but not very many sentences yet. Very good at communicating what she wants or needs though. I can usually understand what she's telling me even though it's in her own little language still. (some phrases that she uses are "hi there," "I love you," or just "love you," "want some," "all done,""thank you") 

-knows every shape and loves when I draw them with her

-knows just about every animal and their sounds, quick to pick up on ones she's not familiar with

-knows almost every part of her body

-LOVES to cuddle and give kisses and hugs to mommy and daddy. I think she becomes more affectionate with age. I love this about her.

-gets super anxious or upset around large crowds of people or large groups of kids. She does much better in smaller groups, less overwhelming. She's always been this way. Gets it from her dad I think. 

-still hates when I sing (not Sam, just me). Anytime Sam plays and I sing (or even just me singing at the piano), she throws a huge fit. I still cant tell if it's bc the focus is off of her or if she really doesn't like my full voice. 

-LOVES when we play rough with her. she thinks it's hilarious when we throw pillows at her face or toss her all over the couch, etc.. the more rough the better. It turns into a laughing fest.

-fake laughs a lot, she thinks it funny when we laugh at something so she always copies us

-sings along to songs on the radio.. favorites lately include "Daylight" and "Home", this one cracks me up and melts my heart at the same time. :)

Some of her favorite things include:

-CLOTHES, I think obsessed is an understatement. She is already verrry opinionated on her outfit each morning.

-getting her nails painted. She is SUCH a girl and loves to look pretty with necklaces, shoes, purse, etc..

-being outside, loves roaming our yard and playing with sticks, flowers, etc.

-Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse, and finally Backyardigans occasionally

-books, puzzles, and stickers

-all animals (names, sounds, pictures, anything)

-blocks of any kind

-jumping and dancing

-princesses and fairies 

-the park.. asks to go every single day. She even knows how to get there and gets disappointed when we drive past it, haha.

Mother's Day (you might wanna read this one)

I had a pretty good Mother's Day this year. Kept things pretty low-key and just hung out as a family all day. Took a few pics of my cute girl in the evening time that I wanted to share. I wouldn't be a mother without her! She is the light of my life and honestly makes me laugh every single day (I think she has her daddy's sense of humor, lol).  Some days can be tough, when she is her two-year-old self, but I do love being her mama and wouldn't have it any other way. 

Also, I guess this would be the perfect post to announce Ivy is going to be a big sister this coming fall! Baby Robinson No. 2 is due in early December and we are so excited for the newest addition to join our family! The timing couldn't be more perfect and both Sam and I are very happy about everything.. We don't find out for a few more weeks what the gender is but people close to me keep telling me they think it's a boy. So far things have been good. Not too sick, and nothing too "eventful" which is how we prefer it, of course. I won't do a pregnancy post for a while but just wanted the news to be public. :)

Chattanooga

A few weeks ago we made a day trip down to Chattanooga to pick up a mountain bike Sam had found on craigslist that was a steal of a deal. After we got the bike, we found a city park nearby, next to the river and decided to hang out for a bit. It was the cutest park! They had some fields, a little art market going on with live music, a splash pad, an indoor carousel, plus lots of boutiques and cafes just up the road. We got way more than we bargained for with our $1 parking fee (we were downtown so I was certain it would cost more but I guess it's not a busy enough city to care).. It was so fun to watch the river boats go past and listen to the local music.. We headed over to the splash pad thinking Ivy would be in heaven but she was pretty timid about the whole experience. She was also pretty nervous about the carousel (also cheap, only $1 per ride!) but quickly learned how fun it was to ride on a horse... It turned out to be a really fun afternoon. We became big fans of the little city. 

It was a Saturday afternoon and this place wasn't busy at all.. it was prefect. Any place like this in Houston is normally a ZOO, just crawling with too many people. I'm not sure if that's just the difference between ginormous cities and smaller ones? or if this is just not a very popular park (which I doubt)? Not sure what the deal was but we were loving every minute of it..

Lets just say, Ivy was more comfortable watching the fountains from the nearby statues. She would splash in the puddles but got pretty nervous when she got too near the fountains. haha silly girl..

Loving her "horsey"

Happy 6 Years!

At the beginning of this month, Sam and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary! A good friend of ours came over to watch Ivy so we could go out for dinner and it was perfect. I am so proud of Sam and how well he has been doing this past year with school. It is certainly not easy and he puts in a lot of hard work while still finding a balance with us at home. Thanks babe, for being such a great (and hot!) husband and an awesome dad to Ivy!

Ivy in dance

Ivy had her last dance class last week and we are so sad to be losing our awesome teacher Brittany this semester! They are moving for her husband to start rotations with med school. Anyways, we've been going for the past few months and it has been really fun. Ivy isn't too keen on following directions very well yet but she does enjoy moving and marching around and being hyper for a while with other little girls her age. Plus she just looked oh so cute in the leotard and ballet shoes she'd wear. 

Not sure what we are gonna do next year without our amazing teacher! We'll miss you Brittany! Thanks for  being so fun and caring with our class!

F-stop and angles

Just some more practice with my camera. 

Practice

I was just trying to get the hang of lighting and focus with my camera one day a few weeks ago.. Ivy is the perfect little model to have, besides the fact that she is pretty darn wiggly these days. Especially if we are ever outside... Anyways, a lot of these I switched to manual focus per my good friend's suggestion to try it out. I do LOVE how they turn out but it is pretty dang hard to be so quick with it. It will take lots of practice...  

I love having a big yard for her to roam around..

Aren't these weeds just lovely? lol.. wish they were flowers but still thought the pic turned out kinda cool.. playing with the focus:

Back inside:

Another year older and wiser too

My birthday was a couple weeks ago and we kept it pretty low-key this year considering we'd just returned from an awesome vacation. The only thing I knew I wanted to do on my birthday was eat at our favorite little bbq place just near our house called Haymaker's. They make killer pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries. So, after Ivy's dance class that morning, off we went to enjoy a wonderful lunch together. 

This really is just about the only thing I ever crave around here. Slow smoked pulled pork, finger lickin' bbq sauce, and the most delicious sweet potato fries I've ever had. It really is that good.

Sam made me a delicious brownie trifle (since I'm not a huge cake fan) for dessert:

He is quite the cook! Wtg babe. 

Here's to another year! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and kind words! And for your very generous gifts! I have the best family in the world who all know me so well. :) And also, thanks to my friends for helping me celebrate the next night at our girl's night. I always have a blast with you girls!