All in Kids
We have contemplated when the right time to take Melody to see her first movie would be. Well Brad is off for most of December, so we thought that would be the perfect time. We wanted to go in the morning time so that she was happier, and it would be less crowded. We opted to go see Wreck-It Ralph 2. It has enough Disney cameos throughout the movie that it would keep her entertained through that.
I finally had Melody’s two year pictures taken about a month ago. Luckily it was a warm day since I bought her a yellow smocked dress to wear a year ago, ha! She did fairly well, and all of that is thanks to Brad and his crazy antics!
I was really hoping Santa pictures this year would go off without a tear. Melody’s first year doing Santa pictures with my aunt went about as perfectly as it could. They were gorgeous! Last year we were unable to do pictures with my aunt, so we went to see a mall Santa. She was terrified! She was going through a phase were she was scared of most men and elderly people. Her fear as minimized a lot, but she still has general stranger danger. But we have really talked up Santa and shown her pictures to help with this year’s pictures with my aunt.
Melody had her first school pictures a month or so ago. When visiting Brad’s parents one weekend, she bought Melody the most adorable dress. She planned to have it monogramed, but I really wanted it for school pictures. So she let me take it back for pictures, then I brought it back to her for the monogramming. It is such a cute dress! Well Melody and pictures don’t always jive. She loves to take selfies on my phone, and she will usually crack a smile for Brad if he is behind the camera. And she will even sometimes smile for my nicer camera. But I knew with neither of us there it was a long shot. And I was right! See both her individual picture and class picture below. She was over pictures from the start, ha!
Thanksgiving 2018 is in the books! We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of food, and spent a lot of time with our families!
Since Melody was born, Brad and I have been attempting to go to the Galaxy of Lights Walking Nights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. The first year the crowd was insane and we couldn’t get in. The second year, we had things going on and couldn’t make it. This year, they allowed us to buy tickets before we went. So we picked a day a few weeks in advance and bought the tickets in advance to save time. It was originally required, but a few days before the event, they did state they would allow people to buy at the gate.
Back in September, I took Melody to her first football game. My high school football team happened to have a game in Huntsville. Emily invited us to go along with her Lydia, so we did.
My mom has the privilege to travel for her job. She found out back in June that she was going to be in Orlando for a week. So she wanted Melody and I to tag along, so we picked the week based on our schedules. We decided to go in September.
I made Melody another Halloween happy this year. I only did 3 things this year, and they were things I would do even if I didn’t consider them “happys“. First I bought her a cute pair of Halloween themed pajamas. I bought a 3T so that they would also fit next year (although I am not biased to holidays throughout the year…meaning she wears Halloween pajamas even at Easter). I also bought her a new book called Never Touch a Spider. She loves this series of book because of all the things to touch. However, this book is kind of weird compared to the others, but she doesn’t know the difference! Lastly I bought her a small pumpkin to paint from the Target dollar section. I plan on her painting this week since it is Fall Break for dance and school.
We enrolled Melody in gymnastics this summer to see how she would like it. So then we decided to give dance class a try this fall/spring. So far Melody has only had about 5-6 classes (we missed one due to vacation and one for sickness), but she seems to enjoy it. I am really looking forward to seeing how she continues to do over the next 6 months or so. We are also hoping to add back gymnastics in the near future when an evening opening becomes available. Our days are just so busy! We haven’t been allowed to go into the class and watch them learn except for about 5 minutes at the end. So here are a few pictures of those moments (and a few I was able to take of her before or after her class).
I thought after two years, it was time to do a post about what Melody’s nursery looks likes now. It has changed quite a bit.
Unfortunately with the Alabama heat and bugs, we have not spent near as much time outside this summers I would have liked. But we did make the best of it!
So earlier this summer, Emily and I decided to become members at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. It is something we started discussing last summer, and neither of us really jumped on it. So one day in May, we just decided to go! Because of the crazy Alabama heat, we haven't visited but a handful of times this summer so far. We are really hoping to visit more this fall, winter, and spring when the weather cools off. However, below is a sneak peek of our trips so far!
While looking through the dollar section of Target one afternoon, I ran across some different charts for children. I found one that was for chores. It was only $3, and it had a spot for 5 chores and came with a handful of magnets and a marker. I had been wanting to come up with some sort of chore/responsibility chart, and this was perfect for what I wanted to do.
A few weekends ago, Brad's parents {aka Nannie and Bob Bob according to Melody} came to town to visit. They live about 3.5 hours away, so we don't see them near as much as we would like. It has become really hard the older Melody gets. Traveling with a two year old just isn't easy. So we were super excited when we found out they were traveling to us!
So I was struggling with the idea of being away from Melody when she started preschool. Even though it is only 8 hours a week, it was super hard to come to terms with. But it was needed for her. So on her last day before school, I decided to have a mommy and me day.
Since our primary reason of visiting Chattanooga was for Brad to attend JoeCon, we wanted to make sure and do a few things for Melody while there. I did some research, and we decided to try the Creative Discovery Museum. It was literally right next door to our hotel {we shared a parking lot}, and by visiting the Tennessee Aquarium first, you can save a few dollars per admission. It looked like something Melody would absolutely love, so we decided to try and fit it in our schedule.
We decided to enroll Melody into preschool this fall. Since I am a stay at home mom, the doctor recommended she either start school or do a mother's morning out to help her spend more time with other kids and develop more social skills. So we opted for a preschool we toured in the spring and loved. It is very small, affordable, and we loved the facilities.
