Readin' scriptures.

Curls!

I butchered the exposure BAD on this one so it gets to be black and white, but I wanted to remember this cute moment so it made the cut still.  She walked into church carrying her scriptures just like this.  It was adorable.  One of those moments that make you happy inside to be a mom. :)

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Not really, but it was still cute.

I went out with a friend today and while we were driving home I looked back and Mikayla was totally making her little buddy hold her hand.  It was hilarious.  She worked for a few minutes to get his hand in the position she wanted it in and once she was satisfied with the arrangement they just sat there holding hands the rest of the way home.  It made me smile, but it also made me think we are only in for trouble with this chick!

You know you've had a yard sale when...

...the next morning when you get your kiddo undressed she has a "make offer" sticker stuck to her chest.  Make us an offer we can't resist!

We love yard sales!

Strut your stuff.

Mikayla inherited Dustin's sense of style.  The theory basically goes like this: it's awesome because I'm wearing it and I don't care what anyone else says.  We wouldn't have it any other way (for Mikayla or Dustin...)!

Still benefiting from Dad's hair genes....

One thing she did inherit from me was her love for purses.  When I was little I was a purse girl and always had one with me.  She is pretty much in love with any kind of bag (purse, grocery bag, huge pool bag, gardening bag, etc.) and will carry them around ALL.DAY.LONG.

Yep.  We're still in the hoarding stage.  Somebody might want to steal some of your cool bags.  You just never know these days.

I don't know, either Mikayla (her favorite hand motion these days).  All I know is that you keep us laughing!

"Cousins"

Dustin's Uncle Derick and his wife Cheryl, along with Grammy and Papa, came to visit us for a couple of days. Derick and Cheryl's son Lincoln is only a month younger than Mikayla and it was a blast to finally get them together.  Lincoln was a little bit more friendly than Mikayla (big surprise there, right?!) and wanted to hug and kiss her constantly and Mikayla just pushed him away most of the time.  After a while they finally discovered they could play with each other and they were adorable together!

Mikayla was pretty smitten with Uncle Derick.  She was constantly wanting to be held by him or have him read to her.

Swimming in the mud!

Reading with Grammy and Papa

Nothing better than rides in a box!

Such a fun little weekend with "cousin" play time!

Another day in paradise.

Mikayla just came running into me saying "BLAH, BLAH, BLAH" and SO excited to give me a present.  I held out my hand to receive a recipe that was soaking wet.  When I asked her where she got it from she ran as fast as she could to show me the toilet that was covered in water.   Not only the toilet seat was wet, but the whole bathroom floor and a collection of items, including, but not limited to her beloved Mrs. Bear, my make-up brush, and a few toys that had all been given baths.  I guess I'd better stop washing Mrs. Bear in the bathroom sink.

Good thing she's cute because I really wanted to get mad at her, but I guess when you're 1 1/2 those sorts of things are great fun.

I took this picture in the middle of one of her conversations with herself.  She has the greatest expressions when she talks to herself.  As I'm writing this she's sitting on my lap using her hand as a phone while jabbering away, smacking her lips, giggling, and waving her spare hand all around in the air while she talks on the "phone".  It's my favorite.

Even though I get frustrated with her at times, I hope she knows how much I love her!

"A lesson on genetics".

Miss Piggy

I scrounged up every millimeter of hair on Mikayla's head that I could and we finally got some "real" pigtails on the back of her head!

If I sit her on the bathroom sink she'll play with our toothbrushes (shhh...don't tell Dustin-he's a germaphobe!) and sit still long enough for me to do her hair.

The problem is the pigtails were are tiny you can't see them from the front (not to mention her 99th percentile-sized head kind of hides things) and her hair isn't long enough to move them forward much. I sat her back down on the sink so she'd sit still and let me get a picture from the back to prove they really existed for a short time.

Aren't they adorable?!

While she was sitting on the sink something finally clicked and she realized she could make faces in the mirror.  I was laughing so hard at her trying to think of faces to make at herself and I just couldn't help taking pictures.  There are a bazillion pictures that all look pretty much the same (and I fully recognize that not everyone thinks my daughter is as cute as I do so feel free to ignore all my pictures!), but her faces in the mirror make me super happy so I had to include them all. :)

I can't resist.

Sorry if this is a spoiler for you, but I have to share these pictures...

I was sorting through Mikayla's clothes on Saturday and came across one of my old Halloween costumes.

One thing led to another and we ended up trying it on because I was afraid Mikayla would be too "fluffy" for it.  Mikayla was NOT excited to be playing dress-up on her break from working outside.

Check out her face in the top left picture.  It is the absolute epitome of the "Mikayla face".  She gives this scowl to everyone.  ALL.THE.TIME.  She's done it since the day she was born.

We've had many good laughs the last couple of days over all her expressions in these pictures.

Now, check this out.  My Mom emailed me this picture after she saw these pictures of Mikayla.

It's me, at 19 months (the same age as Mikayla right now), in the same costume.

See any resemblance?

Chit Chat

If you ever need someone to talk to, you know who you can call...

She'll even blow you kisses and wave good-bye over the phone for you!  Call anytime....just be prepared to TALK!!!

Snapshots of home.

The outside isn't the only part of the house that's been getting some attention lately.  I've put Dustin and anyone who walks in the door at the right time (mostly my Dad) to work hanging some things around the house.

First off, Mikayla's room is officially the first totally completed room in the house.  Dustin hung up all the chair railing and I just LOVE her room.

I don't know if many of you truly appreciate the degree of nerds that Dustin and I are.  Let me explain.  One of our dreams is to have a library in our home.  Yes.  A library with millions of books, big picture windows and huge comfy chairs to sit in and read all day long.  

Until we have our dream library we needed a home to house our kids books.  I've been dreaming of rain gutter bookshelves for quite some time and now we have them.  Mikayla loves her books and "reads" them all day long.  It's perfect. 

We've been collecting kid's books since we got married with our old books, at yard sales, thrift stores, etc. We started to get a good collection, then my grandma retired from teaching and gave us some books, too.   Now we have a kid's library.  Thanks, Dearie!  The rest of the books just found their way out of boxes and it is so much fun!

The playroom is almost done.  We just have to find a mirror to put in the frame over the piano and we'll be good to go.

Our kitchen shelves (that still need things in the boxes and frames, but all in good time!).

Sorry, this was the best shot to get it all in, but it's a weird angle.

And, lastly, last night my Dad and Dustin hung the picture collage in the living room.  I wanted something simple and something that I could change out pictures in so this is what we came up with.

That's the update on our home!