Sunny weather makes me happy

I am in heaven now that spring is here. I got so tired of being cooped up in the house all day long during winter and catching so many sickies. It is so fun to take the girls on walks, play on the back deck, go to the pool, the park, etc. It's not just me loving this time of year... it is all of us.

Savannah's new fav thing to do is play with play dough. She loves for me to make all different kinds of animals. I have only taken a picture of the snakes because they are the only thing that came out looking normal. haha

Can you just see the happiness oozing from Savannah's face. She loves when the Cazier girls come to play!

YUM! Stephen is a grill master... he makes the most delicious recipes that he finds for the grill. I am all for them. It is so nice to have a break from cooking every now and again.

Love this cutie!

Enjoying some family time at the Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo!

I hope they are always this sweet to each other. I am sure eventually they will fight, steel each others clothes, etc but I love how cute they are together. Savannah adores her and Tammy Lee smiles from ear to ear when Savannah is near.

This is Chase... he is our next door neighbor and Savannah and him play often. He is a couple years older but neither of them seem to mind. They hold hands, ride bikes together, eat popsicles together, blow bubbles together. She loves when they play!

It is weird going from Savannah who is SO picky and would hardly eat anything as a baby to Tammy Lee who will eat absolutely anything you put in front of her. She tried spaghetti for the first time the other night and went to town on it. Savannah continually told me to clean up that big mess.

My 8 month old girl! Love her to pieces!

Fell asleep reading her Elmo book.

Refinish table

A couple weeks ago I decided to refinish our kitchen table and once I decide to take on a project there is no turning back. I am so happy I did it even though it took a couple weeks because I could only tackle it during the girls nap time. This table was the table my family had growing up. I love it and I am so happy we have it now. It started out with white legs and a light oak top. When my family moved to Georgia my mom painted the table legs and chairs black and stained the top. Stephen and I got it when we first got married and I just left it as is. The black paint was turing into more of a gray paint and it was chipping like crazy. The top of the table had water marks all over and it was in need of a new stain. I looked up a tutorial on line and invested in all the things I would need to strip and re-stain properly.

The chairs were quite the task. I didn't realize how much time it would take. I started off by sanding them down and making sure they were nice and clean. I did 2 coats of semi gloss black paint. After letting them dry for 48 hours I did 2 coats of polyurethane to seal the paint and prevent any chipping from occurring.

Here is the table out in the garage right after I stripped it. The staining of the table went a little something like this...

1. brush on thick paste finish remover

2. use wide putty knife and scrape off finish

3. apply liquid stripper and take off with steel wool

4. wash away waxy stripper residue with lacquer thinner

5. sand to smooth surface

6. apply stain and let dry for 24 hours

7. brush on 3 coats of semi floss polyurethane clear coat

8. apply finishing wax

Here is the finished project. It was so nice to have a table in the house again after a couple weeks of eating on the ground. haha Stephen and I were really happy how it turned out. It is always satisfying working hard on a project and loving the outcome.

Snuggles

My days are pretty much the same everyday aside from random errands and play-dates here and there. We have a routine going that works really well. I am all about routine!

A couple weeks ago I tried making some homemade laundry detergent to save some money. I have ended up really loving it and the best part is is that it only costs 1 cent per load. Pretty cool huh! I also love the fresh clean scent... it makes our clothes smell so yummy!

This girl is a total daddy's girl and Stephen just eats it right up. She is so excited when he gets home and during dinner she insists on sitting on his lap the whole time and will continue to give him hugs and kisses while we are eating. She also turns to me and says, "mama... look, dada is home." 

I am so happy these two love each other so much. Savannah is SO sweet to her and I am so glad. She loves Tammy Lee to be with her at all times... I think she will be in heaven when TT can actually play and talk with her.

I have fun trying new hairstyles on Sav. She is so patient at letting me mess around with her hair while she eats breakfast!

Big Smiles and Chubby Cheeks

Have I mentioned how fun it is to have girls? I never had any sisters growing up and am SO glad I got two girls right in a row. I am glad they can have each other growing up. Don't get me wrong I would love some boys in the mix... especially for poor Stephen who is very outnumbered by us girls! He needs a boy... and insists we try every wives tale in the book to make sure I get pregnant with a boy next. But for now I just love all the fun girl stuff... the bows, the skirts, the dresses, the princess toys, and the cute hair-dos.

So glad these girlies are mine.

Me and T-Lee all ready for conference at Hobble Creek. We love spending time at Hobble Creek with my family. It is always a fun little getaway!

Tammy Lee is really into putting anything and everything into her mouth these days. More so than I remember Savannah doing at that age. 

I would say my favorite baby stage is when they start sitting up before they start crawling and getting into everything. I love the stage Tammy Lee is at right now. She loves sitting up and is so content playing with her toys.

This girl loves to paint... i means LOVES. She asks me daily to paint and knows right where to get all the supplies. 

I wanted to take a pic of her and I but instead she would bonk my head and start cracking up. We didn't quite get the pic I was hoping for but I love her genuine smile in these ones. 

I can't tell you how nice it is to have a baby that is a good eater. Savannah never liked baby food. She was always so picky and still is. Tammy Lee has done so much better and it is such a relief. ;)

Love these two!

Crazy Faces and Fun Personalities

I tend to take way too many pictures but they always make for fun collages. I love all the fun faces. I think it shows so much of their personality! 

These pics were so fun to take of me and Savannah. She would copy ever single face I did and LOVES looking at pictures of herself. 

Savannah is so much fun. I love watching her personality develop. She is growing up so fast and is talking up a storm. She speaks sentences and loves being able to communicate. 

Some of my favorite sayings are:

"Mama, you come det me?"  "Mama, will you come get me?"

"I eat iceam pwease?"  "Can I have some iceream please."

"No mama, I do it... you sit down"

"Siwwy TT"  "Silly Tammy Lee"

My baby is 7 months old... say what? When did this happen. She is such a fun baby and has so many nicknames... TT, Tammy Lee, T-Lee, Lovebug. She is gonna have a hard time knowing what her actual name is. ;) Tammy Lee is much more of a mamas girl than Savannah ever was. Savannah has always been very social and would go to anyone but Tammy Lee likes me to hold her when other people are around. Occasionally she will let other people hold her without getting nervous. She is sooo sweet and cuddly. There is nothing better than a cuddly baby. She has the cutest chubby cheek grin and I am in love with her baby blue eyes that look just like her daddy's. 

I love my girlies... I am a lucky mama!