Today we were invited to lunch and swimming at the neighbor's house. We had a lovely lunch and a lovely time. Daniley has been around pools and water and we've tried all kinds of floating devices. Floaties allow her to sink. Life jackets make her throw fits. Boats make her jump overboard. Rings make her go squirmy. Today we tried a floating swimsuit. It provided just enough support that she'd sink if she didn't put forth some effort, but she could swim if she tried. After just a few trips around the pool she got the hang of it and was swimming on her own. This is what we've been waiting for!! You can see just a short swim here but she was swimming all over the pool. Now she knows how to move through the water so all she has to do is learn to float and we're set!! There ain't a scared bone in this child's body so I imagine swimming will come sooner rather than later.

Today, Memorial Day, meant more to me than I ever remember Memorial Days in the past. Part of it is probably due to age, where you think more about what things mean, and part because one of my grandfathers passed away a couple years ago. He was a veteran in the Korean War and he was shot 5 different times. He earned 5 purple hearts! Not many people get shot 5 times and live to tell about it. He was one great and wonderful man and I'm glad to married to a man that is as handy as my Pawpaw was. I have missed him especially today on Memorial Day. He fought to make me free. So many people don't realize the freedom isn't free. Today I thank our troops and the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. On September 11 we were reminded that we are still vulnerable to threats around the world. We must be united and fight for what we believe in. Gooooo USA!!!

I loved loved loved LOVED this weekend. It was one of the best ever. Things were perfect in every way. Friday Daniley went to her Honey's and GPaw's house. She loves going over there. When Honey picks her up she runs to get in the car and never looks back. While she was there I got the house cleaned up for a party Sunday afternoon. The house hasn't been cleaned (well, the upstairs anyway) since...uhhh...the last party. :-) So once it's cleaned it removes this huge burden of me knowing the upstairs is a wreck and I should be up there cleaning it (even though I never get to it/do it.) We met Daniley and the grands for lunch early Saturday. Then later we went to a good friend's little girls birthday party. It was lots of fun, especially seeing all her family that I haven't seen in a long time. Sunday morning we went to church where we had a sermon on marriage. Last week the sermon was on childrearing. I found both of these sermons to be so good and useful. (I love Westwood by the way.) Sunday afternoon was our Memorial Day grill-out/party. We had just a handful of family and friends here. We were late getting in the game and most everyone already had plans. But for those of us who didn't, it was so fun. We had a dance-off upstairs and you can be sure that I won it. I'm paying for that today. :-)
We blew up the big water slide (thanks Brooke). Most of the kids loved it...well all the older kids loved it, plus Daniley. Hahaha. The other kiddos her age weren't touching it with a 10-foot pole. She is such a little daredevil. She isn't scared of a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. Here she is going down this slide that she can't even climb up by herself.

Here are some other pictures from the day. My camera went dead so thanks Jenn for the pictures I ripped off from your facebook page.

So with post I know I'm going to catch of lot of flak (and the guilty dog always barks so perhaps deservingly but the pictures are too cute not to share). I know my regular readers recall my vaseline incident. Well...it's happened again. To my defense, I moved the Vaseline and all similar products from the bottom of the changing table many weeks ago. Thursday I put Daniley down for a nap. I went to check on her...she was asleep. I knew it was about time for her to awaken so I went ahead and fixed her lunch. Then I went back to check on her again. I noticed from the living room the bedroom light was on. No one else was home....and Daniley can't reach the light. I walk in the bedroom and she is sitting up on top of the changing table where apparently she now goes EVERY TIME she wakes up. She's perfectly able to open the door and come out...but no. This time she got her diaper ointment and spread it all over herself like lotion. She did avoid the hair and other items in the room this time. I grabbed the camera real fast to record the evidence and the little fart said "CHEESE." She NEVER smiles for the camera or even looks at it when I want her to but this time she was ready for a full blown photo shoot. Little stinker!!! I guess now I'll clean the goods out of the top drawer of the changing table too. Next time I guess she'll be on top of the chifforobe. :-O

Daniley is at my grandmother's tonight. Dan is feeling frisky and he likes to play while she is gone. See for yourself. (I promise it's G rated.) :-)

On our last day at Disney, we went to Camp Mickey Minnie (Animal Kingdom) While there, we found a man playing guitar. I've played my guitar for Daniley before and she likes it, so we stopped by to see what he was up to. He was just walking around the street singing random songs. He asked Daniley's name and where she was from, and went into a song about her. If I had known she would stand there and dance with herself for the whole song I would have gotten my camera out sooner. I was holding back tears because she was just so cute and the moment was just so special. Everyone was watching her dance with her shadow. She's my angel!!

So these few images deserved a quick explanation of their own.
The first one is Daniley looking "cool" and she puts on her glasses, stands in front of the mirror and says "Kewl"! She is beautiful and this picture needs no further explanation.
Moving on...When Daniley gets very excited she does one of two things, depending on her limitations. If she is standing up, she puts her arms out to her side and shakes her hands like she has just burned them. She just stands there like she is in shock while doing these hand motions. However, if she is sitting high and holding on, she "head bangs." FOOMCL. (Falling out of my chair laughing!) Here she is doing it on the carousel!

The next two images are us on the cars. They are like small go-carts. Daniley couldn't reach the pedals, so I did that while she took over the wheel. Well of course she's not a very accurate driver but there's a guide in the middle and if you go too far to one side, it bumps you back. The thing is, it doesn't bump you back to the middle, it sends you to the other side where it bumps you back again. My parenting style is generally to just let Daniley figure things out for herself. We were going from side to side, bump, bump, and I was just minding my own business. Then suddenly, I looked over at Daniley and she was popping back and forth and just DYING out laughing. I'm surprised she didn't get whiplash. Every time the car would hit the guide it would jerk her to the other side and she's die laughing all over again. Of course this sent me into hysteria but after regaining composure I did help her with the wheel. :-)

We've been on two vacations in two weeks. First Beach, then Disney. We had an opportunity to tour Disney almost for free, so we couldn't pass it up! (Daddy was at a conference in Orlando.) Daniley's favorite parts were the train, not necessarily riding it, but seeing it and hearing it. Late in the day I heard her say "All aboawd. Choo Choo. All aboawd." It's so cute. A little off the subject here but she's really started to talk. This morning she was trying to get my glasses. I told her No. She said "But I want dem Momma." When she says big sentences (that one was big!) it just makes me giggle. I have a feeling things are about to get hilarious as she continues to put more and more words together. So anyway, back on Disney. We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. She was thrilled by the characters. We don't ever watch Mickey Mouse and I've questioned all the family and she doesn't watch it there either. So I was stunned when she picked up a pamphlet and yelled MICKEY MOW. That pretty much set the stage for finding him!
There were only a few moments when I thought I was nuts for doing Disney with a 1 year old by myself. One was the first time boarding the train. It was about to leave the station; we had arrived just in time. The attendant said "Fold your stroller and get on." So I had 2 bags, 2 drinks, and a 1 year old all in my hands, and now I'm supposed to fold my stroller up? Do I look like an octopus?? But we survived. I think about age 4 or 5 would be better to go to Disney. Daniley couldn't tolerate waiting in line. She doesn't understand it and she tried to run all out of the line, so I was always stuck holding her in my arms in line (and keeping her contained is always an argument between us). We had a GREAT time. But I think we'll have to go back in a few years so Daniley can get the "real" experience. For now, I think she has more fun playing in the pool. So we'll stick with the beach for a few more years.
I tried to put some captions in the images below. Click on the slideshow and you won't have to see the pictures "scooting." I don't know why my blog won't take up the entire screen. I'll work on that.

2 weeks ago we went to Ft. Walton. We weren't sure if we'd have to deal with the oil or not but luckily, we didn't. It was a lovely trip. We went with a girlfriend of mine and her family (3 girls 3 and under) and had a blast. We might have to make this a yearly tradition! Halle and Harper brought some watering cans and Daniley went nuts over them. I bet you she poured water to and from her "Pail" and "Water Can" a thousand times or more. She would stand in the water for hours pouring. The place we stayed has a nice baby pool and the water is just deep enough for Daniley to lay down and scoot on her hands. I was surprised when I saw her do this the first time, but I guess she thought she was swimming. She loves the water and isn't scared at all. Then again, what is she scared of?
We didn't have any meltdowns on the trip. The girls played together beautifully. They built sand castles, floated in the lazy river, had Dippin' Dots, and jumped in our living room which was converted to an inflatable play area. On the beach, one of Daniley's boyfriends pulled her on his surfboard in a small pool of water on the beach (just deep enough for her to skid on the water while he ran her along).
This trip cost me my cell phone, as Daniley threw it over the balcony and into the water sprinklers. I'm out of the loop at this time but another cell phone is on its way.

Daniley absolutely loves playing with my camera. She frequently picks up my camera, puts the lens right up to her eye, and says "Cick" (Click). She got this from Diego, of course. At the beach I let her take a picture of me and this is what she came up with. I was impressed. :-)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
Today was Mother's Day, and I was a little upset that I had no CARD for two years in a row. (You'd think they'd learn the first time, right?) A beach trip was my present and today we came home. I think Dan actually forgot it was Mother's Day until my grandma called and he heard me say "Thanks, Happy MD to you too." When I hung up I got another "Happy Mother's Day." Well anyway, this afternoon I mentioned to Dan about my (missing) card, then went out for some errands. When I got back, he had me a "card" (or a paper) with the most beautiful poem I've ever read. I was crying before I was done reading it. (THANKS for the genes MOM!)
Here's what my card said:
The World's Best Mommy
Of all the Mommies that I could have had
You are the best one...and that makes me glad
You don't mind poopy diapers or pee pee drawers
You don't even get mad when I pee on the floor.
Sometimes I make messes and even throw fits
But you still love me and don't mind a bit.
I love you so much, way more than Daddu
Cause you don't get mad at me, except sometimes when I whack you.
No matter how much I fuss and talk back
I will always be Mommy's Sugar Booger and that is a fact
I wouldn't trade you for all the Nummy-nums in the storE
And neither would Daddu (cause he told me before)
I hope you have a Happy Mommy's Day and had a good trip to the beach
I love you very much Mommy cause I know you love me.
Love,
Sugar Booger (and Daddu)
(Great, now I had to cry all over again typing it. :-( and LOL)

ps. the beach was AWESOME! :-)

So we went another weekend without doing pictures. We had a really great weekend. Friday night Daniley went to her Honey and GPaw's house. On Fridays (even though I'm off) we get up at 4:30am. So that night we were tired and didn't take advantage of Daniley being gone at all. We just sat on the couch and looked at each other like "What are we supposed to do now?" Daniley keeps things interesting so when she is gone and we don't have things to do, we are bored. However, garage-selling was nice Saturday morning without having to haul her around. :-)
Saturday night I had some strange energy burst. I cooked dinner (WOW!) and cleaned the coils inside/under the refrigerator. I also did laundry and even vacuumed! "Book" came by to visit with us and watch Suze Orman for two weekends in a row. My brother works on Saturday nights, so I guess she's bored. But hey, who is cooler to hang out with than me anyway? hahaha.
Sunday I had to work, the full 10 hours. It was nice though...I got a lot done in the quiet. Sunday after lunch, I called home to check on things. Someone answered in the most angelic voice I've ever heard, "Hallo." I was completely SHOCKED and totally not expecting that. I got the hugest smile on my face and giggled. It completely made my day. Then I said "Hello Daniley. This is Momma." She started giggling. Then Dan picked up.
Daniley is talking like crazy, saying words like "Castle" and "Ocean" (Thank Dora) Every time Dora tells her to say something, she does. Map says "Mountain, Ocean, Castle. We went to the Mountain. Where do we go next?" She answers, correctly. I'm amazed each time. Saturday night, while doing laundry, I saw a lot of socks had clogged up in the front of the front loader. (If you don't have a front loader, you won't understand.) I said "GOOD NIGHT." I heard in the background, "Good night." I said, Yikes, good thing I didn't say a bad word. LOL. Then I told Dan not to be cursing. Not that he does, anyway, well, unless he's playing Nintendo or trying unsuccessfully to fix something. Ha.