Hamming it Up

We had an event to attend that started an hour after Reese's bedtime. Instead of throwing a major fit as Wes had predicted, Reese decided to ham it up all night long. When I got my first baby doll, I named her Katie Rook after a friend who I totally looked up to because she was one year older, so pretty, and so nice. And last night, the real Katie Rook had her wedding reception in Little Rock. She and William eloped in San Francisco earlier this year, and it was time to celebrate the nuptials in grand style with lots of family and friends in fancy dresses and bow ties. And BEAUTIFUL decorations.

I couldn't wait to see the "Big Creek Crew" last night. What made it all so much more special was that Reese got to wear a smocked bubble that the Mother of the Bride made just for my girl. I have loved it ever since I opened it, and Reese looks absolutely beautiful in it. Seeing all of my mom's best friends dote on my sweetheart was so fun. The friendships present last night are some of the strongest I've ever witnessed, and I'm so thankful to have some just as durable and deep. Although we didn't get to stay as long as I had hoped, we stayed long enough for Reese to kiss Pam, play with Mopsy, be hugged and loved on by Julie, Laura, Barbara, Joanie, and Gena, dance with Popsy, and spit up on Laurie. Oops on that last one. She hammed it up for sure. Laughed, talked, played, and just chilled. That's my girl.

And now, I must go help unload the groceries. I have a pretty great husband, too.

I wish I would have gotten pictures of all of the beautiful white decorations. But here is the super cool cake table.

The bride and groom made the cakes and pies themselves. This was not crazy or scary...they are basically professional chefs.

Mopsy and her girl.

Mopsy, Auntie Julie, Reese, and Auntie Laura (aka Mother of the Bride AND

incredible smock-stress)

Reese: "Really, mom?" But for real...she was smiling at every other split second of this scene besides the one that actually was captured by the camera.

Popsy just dancing with his girl.

Sweet.

Reese: "What? Everyone doesn't eat their shoes?"

Yay!! The bride and Reese. I think this is Reese's first picture with a bride.

Right before Reese lost it.

And we were out. We didn't hear a peep the entire drive home. Little girl was exhausted from the big party.

China

I'm not talking about the country. I'm talking about the fine dinnerware I inherited from my grandmother that sits so pretty in my china cabinet. It's been with me for over five years, and not once have I had an occasion to use it. (I have Christmas china for that holiday, Thanksgiving dishes for that one, and so on.) Not until two days ago. As I was preparing for a WIC (women in the church) meeting at my house, I was getting out some coffee mugs when Wes told me that some women like to use cups instead of big mugs. You see, I don't drink coffee or any hot drink for that matter. I don't know these things, and Wes somehow does. I didn't think I had any cups until I glanced over and saw my beautiful china just sitting there begging to be used. I hurried over, rinsed out a few, and set them on my counter. Wes was right...women like cups over mugs. I LOVE my grandmother's china. And now that I have a semi-obsession with aqua and other shades of blue, I'm even more in love with it. It's Minton Cheviot Blue, and I couldn't be more gracious of my Granny's generosity. I'm now coming up with so many opportunities to use it, and I can't wait to have it out all the time!

So, the night was great, and Reese decided to grace us with her presence from 8-10 pm. What?! Yeah, she did NOT want to miss a party, so she got up and just hung out for a couple of hours.

Today, we have enjoyed this wonderful weather by taking a family walk on the museum trail and through Compton Gardens (GORGEOUS these days!!!), and we are going on a date tonight! Dinner and a movie.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

China cups.

The spread. Chocolate chip pound cake and sour cream pound cake. This pic is for mom.

My Blenkos. Unlike my china, I can't even begin to count how many times they have been used.

The living room. I took this because I'm about to do some major changes, as I have been inspired by a few blogs (and my brain)lately. I'm giddy excited about what's ahead for this room.

Love the profile.

Hey, Emmett.

Tutus

The rainy weather decided to break for the weekend, and this little family was happy about it. Reese and I did some ice cream eating and clothes shopping with Amber (and Cooper) on Friday, and then while Wes and a friend went canoeing on Saturday morning, Reese and I did some more really girly things. Celebrated a dear friend's sweet baby girl at her Baby Blessing, shopped and ate out with Kari and Shawn (plus five kids--sort of), and then got all rested up for a big night. My incredibly affectionate and beautiful niece Whitlee had her dance recital, and I told Wes this would most likely be the first of many dance recitals for him. He grew up with two older brothers, but 6 out of the 8 Walker cousins are girls. Whit is the oldest, so we expect to have many more dance recitals in our future. Having danced from age 2-18, I'm pretty happy about this fact.

I am working on a whole post devoted to what I've been learning lately in church, in Bible study, and in discipling three high school girls. I'll just say church today was amazing. Truth was spoken in a magnificent way.

The normal Walmart run has been done, and Wes is now out getting more flowers to plant. Enjoy the crazy amount of Reese pictures and some from the rest of the weekend.

She studies EVERYTHING.

And she pauses to catch a glimpse of her mama.

And play with Emmett.

And of course smile to light up the room.

Concentration.

Guess how much I love you? You have NO idea.

Cat, her sweet and gorgeous mother, and precious Harper.

The cousins ready to watch Whitlee perform.

Reese got to change into her ballerina pajamas during the recital. Lucky girl.

Yay! The ballerina herself!

Bravo! Bravo!

Things I Love: Volume 3

Things I Love: Home Inspiration

Okay, so in no particular order (well, they are in alphabetical order by the way I labeled them on my desktop), here are most of my favorite home ideas.

1. I love the colors here in this Anthropologie store set. Maybe a fun guest room?

2. No little boys in this house yet, but if they come along one day, I will come back to some of the fun ideas in this room.

3. However, I do have a girl. And that bed and that B. Oh, heavens.

4. Really? I just start drooling every single time I look at this bedroom.

5. Don't know if I have the guts to stencil a floor, but come on, that's really cool, right?!

6. My current vision for my dining area. Our walls are a light green, but the "look" is what we are going for.

7. What I love about this are the fresh flowers on the dining table and the globes on top of the cabinets. I've started my own collection after seeing this picture.

8. Inspiration: Guts to make a DIY lamp. I should just give in to some of my ideas and go for it. Ashley Ann does, and it works. Every time.
9. How cool is that collage?!

10. Master bedroom. I love the sweetness and daintiness here.

11. Who can pass up a Pottery Barn bathroom? Ahhhh...

12. LOVE the clean lines and simplicity of this room.

13. Maybe one day we will have outdoor seating like this. Or maybe not. Regardless, it's fun to imagine.

14. Yep, it's fun to dream.

15. I don't even know what I would do in this room, but I LOVE the colors and the details.

16. Look closely at how AMAZING this playroom/homework/project room is. Oh WOW.

17. This blogger I stalk also collects globes. I guess it's the cool thing to do. I love the mix of clean lines/simplicity/vintage-ness. I think it's kind of close to my style.

18. Creativity at work.

19. And again.

20. Check out that wallpaper. Crazy, but it works great in a small space.

21. Work space for mama and crafter. LOVE it.

So, the only thing I can think of right now that I couldn't find a picture of is my dream idea of the picture wall. I don't know how to describe what I like, but I like all of these things. I don't think I could go as vintage and eclectic as Ashley Ann, (heck, I'm not near as talented or as crafty, so I couldn't even if I wanted to!), but I absolutely love her house and her creative eye. Give me a lot of her style and a lot of clean and crisp-ness, and I think I'd be just about right.

8 Months (and a whole lotta pictures)

She's EIGHT months old today.

TWO-THIRDS of a year.

242 days.

As Reese is down for a nap, I'm going to grab a few minutes to write about what she's up to these days. (And upload a whole heck of a lot of pictures from our photo shoot this morning.)

*Reese weighs 17 lbs. 12.5 oz. She's in the 54th percentile.

*RRW is 26 3/4 inches long.

*Here's a typical schedule (I can already tell I will want to know this kind of thing when the next kid comes along--not that the next kid will be anything like Reese. Who knows.)

7:00 wake/nurse

7:30 breakfast

8:15ish nap

9:30/10 wake/nurse

(on days like today when we aren't getting out--it's yucky out--she takes an extra nap around 11 which pushes back the rest of the day about an hour. however, i'm going to continue writing the typical day schedule.)

12:00 lunch

1:00 nurse/nap

3:30 wake

4:00 nurse

5:30 dinner

6:15 bath/nurse/bed

*Reese is an excellent sleeper. She may play for a few minutes if she's not super sleepy, but she puts herself to sleep SO much better than months ago.

*She even wakes up during some naps, plays, and then goes back to sleep for a while. Miracle, I say! Then when she's up for good, she just plays (90% of the time) until I come get her.

*It also helps that she has FIVE pacifiers in her crib at all times.

*Sweet girl is in LOVE with puffs. I mean, crazy in love. I've tried the regular Gerber kind, the Happy Baby Organic, and Plum Organic, and she does not discriminate. She LOVES them ALL.

*Speaking of eating, she is a fabulous eater. She eats about 3 ounces of fruit/cereal for breakfast, 6 ounces of fruit/vegetables for lunch, and 6-8 ounces of fruit/veggies/cereal for dinner. She would eat more, but I've been advised to cut back by the nurse to help with a recent return of spit-up. She just opens that mouth up and is learning table manners. Baby and toddler table manners, that is.

*Sweet pea is in her big girl convertible carseat as of this past Sunday. We put the old carseat in Wes' car, and it's so nice to have a permanent place for Reese in both cars. I think she feels big in this new one. It's really cute.

*Recent trick: Getting on all fours and then getting back to sitting position. She doesn't have it down pat yet, but she can do it when she really tries.

*Backwards crawling/scooting all over the place.

*I must say that my daughter has grown into an incredibly content, laid back, easy going baby. (Cary, you told me it would happen!) Her recent teething moments have proved otherwise, but when she doesn't have teeth trying to break through her gums, her personality is the greatest ever. She leaned back, propped her feet up on her stroller, and just listened to me eat a two hour lunch with friends last week. Really?!?

*Speaking of teething, I THINK she's getting one. She is still all gums, but she's been a bit fussy lately, and the doc thinks that's probably what's happening. I will say, though, that Wes' grandmother reminded me that Wes didn't get his first until 14 months. We shall see if Reese inherited this trait.

*The way she grins when she catches my eye is magical. She will peer and cock her head to see me if I'm not right with her, and then she just lights up the room when she smiles.

*Reese is one observant little girl. Ask anyone who has spent any time with her.

*Reese gets about a 30 minute independent play time in her crib on most days. She just sits and plays with her toys all by herself without mama in sight. I think/hope this is going to prove really beneficial later on.

Enjoy a day in the life of an 8 month old.