Welcome Callie!

This is my beautiful, wonderful, fabulous friend Taffney with her sweet new baby girl, Callie Nicole Carter, who arrived last night. Thankfully Taffney's power came back on the night before she had her so she didn't need to worry about taking a newborn home to no power! Congrats Taff, we're so happy for your little family!

CHEESE!!

Lately, Alexa has this new thing...she'll grab the camera and bring it to me saying "cheese" because she knows she's supposed to say cheese when getting her picture taken. Funny girl, she's not camera shy at all!!!

She's very talented!!

Not only is Alexa an accomplished pianist...she's on the fast track to becoming an accomplished drummer as well!! Here we are at Taffney's house. Her husband is in a band and has several musical instruments set up in their basement. Alexa LOVES it!! She was content to sit there bangin' on the drums for as long as I would let her!!

Ouchie!

If you're squeamish at all, you may want to avert your eyes. Okay, it's really not that bad...but seeing as this was the first real accident we've had to contend with, I had to post for all to see!

We were at the park today while I watched my friend Taffney's boys, Olan & Quincy, while she went to a doctor's appointment. My other friend Waveney also met us there with her kids, Rhys and Sydney. Well, we were enjoying a morning exploring the trails and the kids found a creek. Well, it wasn't long before rocks were being thrown into the water...that IS a fun thing to do after all. However, one rather largish rock decided to connect with Alexa's little noggin and this was the result. It actually bled quite profusely at first (head wounds tend to do that), but we got the bleeding stopped and even had several other moms at the park who helped me out. I was actually kind of a little panicked since I've never dealt with anything like this...I'm so glad Waveney was there! I ended up taking Alexa to her doctor to have them check her out, just in case...but all was well. She didn't need stitches or anything.

And as you can see, she appears fine...back at home, enjoying a cracker!

She does know what an "ouchie" and a "boo-boo" are now and has to kiss anyone else's ouchies and boo-boos better!

She loves the piano!!

This is definitely one of Alexa's favorite things to do. Usually, Kevin or I (or sometimes even both of us) have to be sitting right next to her....but this time I was able to capture her just having fun by herself!

Honestly, I don't think I can count offhand how many pictures of Alexa we have like this....where she appears under the influence of who knows what??!!!! She's going to LOVE these pictures when she's older!!

I want to go NOW!!

Apparently, I wasn't moving fast enough for Alexa!!!

Tea Party

A couple weeks ago, my friend Amanda let me know about a listing on Craigslist for a little kitchen set with all the different kitchenware to go with it. At first, I was kinda disappointed that I'd paid what I did for it as it ended up being only about 14 inches tall instead of the 3 feet it looked in the picture. However, Alexa LOVES it!! Here she is having a tea party...even putting the cups on plates. I've never even taught her that! Isn't it funny how they just pick things up?!

Tagged!!

Okay, I have been tagged several times in the past but have never followed through with any of them...mostly because they were just way too long to bother with (sorry to any of you who have been the taggers!!). But this one was pretty short so here goes Brittany!!!....

3 joys:

Kevin, Alexa, great friends

3 fears:

something happening to Kevin, something happening to Alexa (or any future children), my home burning down

My 3 current obsessions:

reading, dreaming of what life will be like once school is behind us, fun jewelry

3 surprising facts:

Even though I grew up in Canada, I was not an "official" resident until I was 14; I once was a member of a girls' choir; I used to dream of being a surgeon

I tag: Rachael, Amanda Graves, Tiffany, Erin

Mamaw & Papa Baker come to visit!

So my mom and dad came for a visit this past weekend. Alexa warmed right up to them as well, just as she had with Kevin's parents earlier in the month. It also didn't hurt that "mamaw" had a sucker for Alexa as soon as she got in the car!! :-) Gramma also had some presents for Alexa as soon as we got back to the house. Here she is opening some shoes and some clothes, two of her favorite things already!!

And of course, she had to try on and model her new presents!!

The second day they were here (the 29th), we went for dinner at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, a funky little restaurant here in Louisville. Kevin and I have been wanting to try it out for quite some time and finally got the chance. And it didn't disappoint. It's very eclectic but very, very good!

We didn't know they had a store attached to it where you can buy all sorts of fun stuff. :-)

Alexa didn't like being a shark! Poor thing!

On Saturday, we went to Fall of the Ohio, just across the river in Indiana. It was pretty interesting but very hot and muggy outside so only Kevin really ventured down onto the slate and rock.

We had a great time with Gramma & Grampa Baker and hope their enjoying the cruise that they're on this week! Thanks for coming to visit us in Kentucky!!

Who needs a bathing suit???

We went to Tyler Park this morning with Taffney and her boys. It was a little overcast so I didn't really think Alexa would want to get in the water, which means I didn't bring her bathing suit....but following Olan around was too much temptation. And then when her shirt got wet, she didn't want it on anymore. She was having so much fun, who am I to deny her that??? At least I did bring a change of dry clothes!!!

Kentucky State Fair

We went to the Kentucky State Fair today but, unfortunately, didn't take many pictures. We spent the majority of our time looking at the animals as we knew Alexa would really enjoy that this year. However, our main reason for going to the Fair this year was to get the DEEP-FRIED SNICKERS!!! I know, I know...you may be skeptical of a deep-fried candy bar...we were too the first year we lived here. But then we thought, well why not at least give it a try??? And lo and behold...OH MY...it is to die for. It really is amazing. We should have taken a picture of it, and of one of us enjoying it!! We'll remember that for next year. Anyways, if you have the opportunity to try one, we definitely recommend it...it's a week's worth of calories in one shot, but hey, it only happens once a year!!! :-)

This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none and this little piggy cried...weeeeeeee, weeeeee all the way home!

All Growed Up!!

It really does amaze me how big Alexa is getting. She has grown up so much this summer.

And she really is a girly-girl...loves anything girly, like jewelry...and shoes, and handbags, and makeup!!

Happy Birthday Nathan!!

Today was also Alexa's friend, Nathan's, birthday! He turned the big 2!! He had his birthday party yesterday, it was a John Deere theme, very cute. Rachael, you did a fabulous job on everything! We had a great time and we know Alexa did too, especially eating the green icing on the cookies!!

Happy Birthday Waveney!

Today is my fabulous friend, Waveney's, 30th birthday! If you remember, she is the one who accompanied me to the Bon Jovi concert in April (that was both of our presents to ourselves for our big 3-0!!). Anyways, on Friday, we had a surprise party for her. It was a fun evening with some yummy treats and good company. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WAVENEY!!

Left to Right: Me, Sarah Ripperdan, Waveney Taylor, Brinn King and Rachael Ice.

I love these girls!

Naptime!

Alexa loves to play out on our balcony and this is what I found today. She was having a nap with her "baby", the moose! Don't you love the little area rug as her blanket. And she's not trying to hide from the camera, she's actually pretending to sleep and saying "shhh, shhh". It's pretty cute!