Weekend in Ozark

We got to go to Ozark this weekend for Bobby's uncle's 50th birthday and got to see his sweet family. We had a great time. Even his aunt and cousin from Florida flew in to surprise everyone. It was so fun to see my sweet mother-in-law so happy! His family is wonderful and so fun to be with so the entire weekend blessed us all. Can you now see where Abby Kate gets her famous eyes?! It runs in the family.....

Just a swingin'

I know the last one is blurry but what a face of pure delight! And yes, she was wearing a pink tutu. Mom and Dad just got back from Vegas and they brought her this leotard. It was sitting on my kitchen cabinet this morning and she asked her Daddy to "put it on me?" So he asked me and of course, I agreed (what Momma does not love the sight of their little girl in pink tulle?), not expecting she would want to wear it ALL DAY. Even out to run errands and swing and she REALLY wanted to wear it to take a nap. I drew the line, afraid the tulle would be uncomfy. But I love the idea of my child being a free spirit, wearing whatever suits her fancy. The sight of her all day has made me giggle.

Night outside....

Sweet, sweet girl...

I just love this girl so much it makes me want to burst! What a FUN stage! All you others with two year olds know the joys of this age. Though it is renowned for being a tough stage, I am shocked that it is not more like delivery....you forget how bad it was because of the good. To see this child I love emerge has been the sweetest discovery of my life. Little things that come from her mouth make me instantly tear up. Just to hear her tell me of her wants and dislikes makes me grin. I love getting to know her more each day. It helps that she is just a joyful kid. Always excited. I love that she exclaims "HI!" to any kid that passes and that she says "no thank you Momma" when I offer her something she doesn't like and/or want. I love that she has an active imagination and loves to wear dresses and calls her $10 jellies her princess shoes. I love that she loves to read and will curl up with a book and a snack for long periods of time (a girl after my own heart :)). I love that she melts down like other two year olds but has learned to quickly turn on the charm, asking sweetly, "Please Momma?" before breaking down again if I stand firm (that is a big IF because I often cannot resist her "pleases"). I love that she sobbed last night when we made her come inside after the tornado sirens started going off....she loves a good storm just as her Daddy and I do. I love that she loves a good movie and popcorn. I love that she loves shopping, especially at Wal-Mart. I love that she is sleeping with 6 stuffed animals right now, all of them white. I love that she has awoken my world again.
These are just a few pics I snapped today when she was playing outside. Hope you are enjoying this WONDERFUL spring!

Gardening....

Abby Kate LOVES digging. We were outside last night playing and she decided to help Daddy garden....aka: try to climb on his back and ride like a horsey as he tries to work. I really have been consciously trying to slow down and watch her....and thus see the world through her eyes. It has been a trip. Everything is a discovery. And oh so fun!

Daddy's Girl....

Outside!

As with every child I know, Abby Kate cannot get enough of outside right now. The warm air just lures her. She has figured out how to open doors and unlock them as well. Thank goodness we have a chime feature on our alarm system! But she loves going in our backyard but scared me to death when I looked out and she had climbed up in her high swing set with me inside! GASP! So what does a good Mom do? Grabs her camera....

The Wormy

We went to my parent's last weekend to visit my sweet Granny in the hospital. Abby Kate LOVES looking for rolly pollies and wormy's at their house. Though most days, she is the most ultra feminine girl I know, she has NO PROBLEM holding a live worm that is wiggling about and then comes apart and black stuff oozes out. Shiver. Anyway, I think she is a great balance. We spent forever in David's Bridal this week trying on a flower girl dress for Amber's wedding in August. She just kept exclaiming "Princess dress Momma! See it?!" The whole store had seen it by the time we left and I only got her out of there but promising they would keep it safe and clean and a day soon, she could wear it the whole day! Now she is wanting to wear dresses every day. I desperately need to go stock up on some cheap ones for play time....

Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear(s)

So Abby Kate's FAVORITE new movie is Toy Story 2. I mean the child straight up loves it! So B and I happened upon 3 dolls on ebay and purchased them for her. This was her awaiting the toys and getting them one by one. Of course, Jessie is her favorite and she sleep with them all right now. Except somehow Buzz kept ending up on the floor. I thought she just didn't like him. She actually calls him Buzz Lightyears. Like Bobby trying to teach her it was Wal-Marts instead of Wal-Mart. Anyway, she was actually letting him "fly" out of the crib. Saying "to infinity and beyond!"

Pics!

I so wish I had my makeover before we had these taken but here is a sneak peak of the family pics we had taken recently!

http://kellystocksen.typepad.com/

The long awaited new camera is here!

I think I told you all that Bobby had gotten me an amazing new camera for my 30th birthday.  They were not released until April and I got it this weekend.  Thus tons of new pictures are shared :)  Mom came up Thursday due to my winning a HAIR MAKEOVER at our church.  It was seriously one of the most fun days of my life.  I will have to share before and after pics on my blog.  Anyway, Dad came up Friday after work and they went to dinner with one of my Dad's drug reps.  B went to Dallas to spend time with 2 of his best friends which I am sure has been GREAT for him.  AK and I went to eat at Panera on Friday night and my heart just had such sweet bubbles the whole time.  She was so content and we just ate watched people.  It was a sweet night!  But here are a few pics from the weekend.  

Ahhhh Rain....

Rain, Rain, Stay and Play....

As you saw earlier, our child adores the rain.  As do we...anyway, her fun Daddy took her out to play in it before bath time.  And just a little FYI, the color was not my camera, it really was that yellow green caused by the massive storm clouds.  For a while, we thought we might get a tornado but the wall cloud passed over us.  Then the beautiful rain began!  

Shapes

Bring on the Rain....

We got truly hostile, beautiful, angry storms today....which we love, as long as we miss the tornados.  Abby Kate and I were at the grocery store when Bobby called to tell me a severe thunderstorm warning was in place and for me to hurry if I could and get home.  Well, I was half way through my list, and toting my toddler so hurrying is next to impossible.  I kept anxiously peering outside and seeing the black/greenish clouds roll in.  We got to the car during the sprinkling and then the storm began as we pulled out of the parking lot.  I decided to brave it and stopped by Braums to get our milk.  After we got home, AK wanted to stay in the garage and watch it rain.  I unloaded the groceries, put away dog food, stocked an ice chest for friends and then made her come inside.  She was heartbroken!  So we improvised and I let her watch from her chair out the front door.  She sat there for over an hour, eating Vanilla Wafers and watching it rain.  Agh, a child after my own heart.  

Activities...

Our parents as teacher's consultant came last week and always gives us great ideas to work on....
this month it was sorting and puzzles. We talked about expanding beyond colors but add shapes, other objects, and the object's purpose....like vaccums and brooms sweep; forks, knives and spoons are utencils we eat with; etc....
This was one of our sorting days. We just used colored t-shirts and her blocks and she LOVED it. I will upload the video of us working on shapes. I am super proud of her!

Straight Lines...

Abby Kate has a thing with putting items in a straight line. I was cooking the other day and looked over to see a perfectly straight line of water bottles she had taken out of the pantry. She goes on tangents with what she loves playing with....the other night, she found her huge tube of stuffed animals and baby dolls. She talked to them and played with them for hours. So this is her straight line of babies. She has named them all, from L to R they are, Bess, Pig, Bear and Baby. Bess is about her only original idea but she named her months ago and we still get a kick out of it. She had not seen her in months and when she found her Saturday, she exclaimed, "BESS! There you are! Where did you go?!!"

More Fun!

Dancing...Sorry its sideways!

Big Thanks....

Because I couldn't post with the slideshow, this is a huge thank you to Sweetie and Poppy for buying us tickets for Sesame Street Live.  It truly was the most excited I have ever seen my child to date.  She kept exclaiming "Hold you Elmo, Grover, Big Bird, Abby!"  She LOVED it.  My parents and Bobby were supposed to get to go but our Aunt Kate died and my parent's went to her memorial today and B had to work on the Habitat house they are building.  We got to take Laura, Max and Sutton and we had a ball together.  We missed you Sweetie, Poppy and Daddy though!  So again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  I actually had tears pouring down my face and seeing such sheer joy on my daughter's face.  I know everyone around me must have thought I really loved my Sesame Street!  

Just a little blog note, if you want to watch the videos without the music I uploaded to the page, scroll down to the bottom and hit pause and then you can watch the videos in peace.  I love you each!

Sesame Street Live!!!!

Momma's Funny Face...