April catch up!

It has been a crazy busy month and I have been MIA. Let's play catch up!

Around the first of the month, Khloe began to learn how to sit up. She loved practicing against the bumper in her bed. I just happened to have my phone with me and was able to capture her first attempt.

I loaded Khloe in the car at 4:30 in the morning and headed North to see my family. Up to that point, I had never made a 7 hour trip by myself. Mom offered to meet me in Jackson but after getting everything packed into the car, I knew it would be easier to just keep driving rather than unload and RELOAD all the junk we had. I hoped by leaving so early that Khloe would sleep at least most of the way but was still really nervous about it. Thankfully, she did. The trip was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

My sisters and I had a much needed "sisterssss bonding time" when we took Koko to the Memphis Zoo.

 

(I know- we look nothing alike. Ask my mom why. ha ha ha, love you mom!)

We couldn't stop talking about how much we loved it there and how many changes they have made since the last time we were there (years ago).

She really loved the ride on Auntie KK's shoulders! (The "K" in Khloe's name came from the "K" in Kelli's name.)

This was my first to see the Pandas. The zoo keepers had just cut a pile of Bamboo and set it out for him to eat when we walked up. It was so neat to watch him use his hands and teeth to clean the bamboo sticks. I could have watched him for hours. So neat.

I think the seal exhibit was so neat. On one side you can see the Polar Bears as they swim and the other side the seals. Khloe loved watching them swim by.

 

Nana & Poppa Tullos drove up to see us Khloe :) We had a great time visiting with them!

Gigi bought Khloe a new toy, that she loved, it really helped her learn to balance herself while sitting.

The next day, I found her sitting up all by herself in her playpen.

Khloe loved her time with Nana Rhonda. I would say this was the only bad thing about going home. My little PRINCESS was under the impression that she should be held 24/7 when we got home! :)

Not to forget Auntie Tooty. Khloe smiles SO big when she calls her "Koko Channel" (Khloe's middle name Brooke is from Melanie Brooke -aka- Tooty)

We upgraded to the bath sitter this month. She loves loves loves this thing.

John David had a week of vacation this month. Usually, we try to go home for 3-4 days and spend time with both families. This time, we decided we wanted to stay at home and avoid all the traveling and just have family time. (First time we've done this since .. ever.)

We spent a day at Bellingrath Gardens, a 65 acre Garden Estate. Mr. Bellingrath first purchased the property as a fishing camp. He was quoted saying, "See what your wife can do to a perfectly good fishing camp!" Good job Mrs. Bellingrath. It's gorgeous!

Their rose garden was voted the best in the world a few years ago!

The next day, we all loaded up and drove to New Orleans to visit the Audobon Aquarium.

The Aquarium was awesome! I had heard mixed reviews on it, but I was happily surprised at how nice it was. I read that after Katrina (where they lost most of their 10,000 fish) the facilities have really improved and they continue to add more species to their exhibits.

They even had a sting ray exhibit where you could pet them! (I was a little too scared. Let's not forget the freakish death of Steve Irwin!)

I tried to get her to sit in the clam so we could get a picture, but the little monkey just wanted to stand!

Cheeeese-y! :)

She was so afraid she would miss something that she waited until the very end to finally fall asleep.

Vacation at home is always so nice, but it seems so rushed because we try to spend time with everyone. It was so nice of his parents to come to our house for a couple days and do some sight seeing and do even more damage of spoiling Khloe! :) Khloe is not a big "cuddler." She never has been. So, when she fell asleep Nana Teresa ate up her hard to come by cuddle time! :)

Later that week, we packed the sun block and swimsuits and headed to the Beach! Instead of stopping at Gulf Shores (on Easter weekend) we drove an extra 15 or 20 minutes into Florida and stopped at Perdido Beach. There was no more than a handful of people there and the weather was incredible. We will definitely go back to that particular beach!

Miss Thang wore an itty bitty pink and blue bikini!

She loved her beach time! She played under the umbrella for at least an hour while Mommy & Daddy soaked up the sun.

Then it was time to celebrate Easter! This was our first time to not be home for Easter and we were sad to miss all our families Easter Dinners, so we felt very loved when some friends from Church, Cliff & Shannon, invited us over for an Easter Lunch! 

Khloe wore a bright yellow polka dot dress that Nana Teresa sent her with a big girls' headband.

Doesn't she look like such a big girl!??

This is the smile that melts your heart, and makes life worth living!

And somewhere between all this, she began crawling. Within a week of learning, this is where I found her: underneath the swing, which she thought was just the funniest thing ever. She couldn't stop giggling.

 

And this: pulling up on anything and everything she can get her hands on.

Click the video below to watch her!

Just when I thought the month was going to slow down and I could get some projects done, I got strep throat. Being sick is no fun, but being sick and still having to take care of your baby makes it seem a million times worse. Those are the times that it makes it so painful to live so far away from home. Thankfully, John David had a slow week and was able to come home early a few days and take care of her (and me).

We had our first dinner party at the new house Saturday night. Although, I have a lot of decorating to do, the house is finally starting to feel like "home." It was a very nice feeling to not have to explain "why" about every inch of the house, like we did in that junk house in Jackson. Knowing that this is where Khloe will spend her first five years makes John David and I smile. This is a great house for her and I know she is going to have some really great memories here. It's going to be fun to move the cars out of the carport and give her a box of chalk and let her go crazy. :) 

May, oh May! It may not be as busy as April was, but it's still going to be a crazy month. Starting today. John David started his month long rotation of night shift: 6pm-6am plus 24 hours every Sunday. Needless to say, I hate night shift. Thankfully, this is the last month that he will ever have this rotation. My baby sister is graduating next Saturday! (Can't believe it!!) Which means, this week I have to plan/pack to go home again. Who knew a little trip home could be so much work! Two days after I get home from Memphis is my hubby's bday!! I'm still working on a plan for the big 2-7 celebration. It's on a Tuesday, and he has to be at work at 6pm and he won't wake up until probably 2pm (which is ARONIOUS* hunny), so it will be a brief celebration. I think everyone would agree that you should have a paid day off on their birthday, right?!

June we have Tooty's wedding showers and then July is her ROYAL wedding. August will be my 25th Birthday, and then begin to plan for Khloe's ROYAL birthday party in October. And before you know it, it's time for the Holidays. I'm exhausted. LOL! 

The infamous couch makeover is coming up THIS week. I know you haven't forgotten the BEFORE picture I showed you about a month ago! Get ready for a "Blow your mind" transformation from this piece of junk!!

So, now you can all stop sending me "hate" emails and comments about not updating. I am a busy person. :)- And for those of you stalkers who never miss a post, you better be a "follower"! We're up to 10. You can ask my husband.. Every time my number of followers goes up, I squeeeel! So please, make my day and click to follow me if you already haven't!

Love you guys!

Every house has it's tree

It seems that every house we live in has it's own Tree story. When we lived in Jackson we managed to STEAL four Bradford Pear trees originally priced at $99.98, $121.84, $119.94 and $229.94, paying $24 (yep, twenty four dollars) for all four trees. They were priced wrong and also rang up at 30 % off. We loved those trees. The only way I can ever convince John David to drive past that house in Jackson is to see how much they have grown. 

 Last night, I put dinner in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. We packed Khloe in her stroller and went on our daily walk, but this time around our neighborhood. About half way through the walk, I spotted this sign. 

John David laughs at me at how well I can spot freebies and goodwills.

 

I got so excited that I made John David call right away. Ever since we moved to "Tropical Mobile," I have wanted a few sago palms in our yard. The small ones range from 50-100 a PIECE. We walked down to inspect the plant to see if it was anything we wanted and I nearly died. It was HUGE. It was gorgeous. "Babe!! We have to have that!!"

The owner was a little old lady whose husband had just passed away a couple months ago. The plant was really close to her side walk and she was just not able to keep it cut back and cared for. She wanted to have it cut up but her neighbor put a sign up saying it was free so she wouldn't have to pay to have it taken down.

John David went and dug it up. Yep, still in his surgery scrubs.

 It was starting to get late, but it was going to be a little too chilly to leave it unplanted, so we picked the PERFECT place for it, and Jd began digging.

 

........ and.... there is a reason why they say "CALL before you dig." Yep. He cut the water line. Dead in the middle.

Luckily, from that DANG Jackson house, we had a ton of leftover pipes and supplies {in the storage shed. ha ha ha I KNOW}

So. We all know I'm truly blonde at heart. The picture below is right after I admitted to John David that I had a confession. When he first broke the water line and it began squirting everywhere, the very first thought I had was "Omg.. what kind of root did he hit that is squirting juice up." It was only a BRIEF thought until I quickly realized it was WATER, duh. John David told me not to tell anyone else that I thought of that. He laughed. For awhile. {we needed SOMETHING to laugh about. glad I could do it. HA}

Have I mentioned that I love my husband? Because I really do.

In the end, my sweet husband had to dig not two, but three holes. 

{for the record, I am also adding to my list of reasons I love John David: he really is the strongest guy I know. he picked that almost 6 foot tall, 4 foot wide tree up and CARRIED it to the truck- by himself , he is without a doubt a "Mr. Fix-it", and not one time last night did he lose his temper. he amazes me}

We ended up not getting in bed until 1:30 AM, and my sweet husband got up at 5.

It really is going to look good once it's all cleaned up. Plus, it had new growth growing on the bottom, we pulled those off and are going to plant in a pot until they get bigger and then plant the smaller ones around it.

I really think that if my husband loved me less it would keep him from getting into these silly situations. But he loves me... and I'm 98% sure he would do it again for me. {I said 98 percent, 2 percent of me wonders..}

Our next house, we will hire people to do this kind of stuff.

Until then, we will add this story to our list of Homeowner Horrors. 

I love you husband.