Jenna's French Fries

Jenna wanted to help make french fries the other night. I let her do it, and this is how she completed the task:



Needless to say, they were very crispy fries!

That's one way to eat a banana!

Beauty Times Two

We met Uncle Jeffery's cat named Beauty while we were in Louisiana. Jenna was very observant of her characteristics, so she now likes to mimic her. Take a look:

Swimming Lessons

Jenna started swimming lessons last week. She had 4 sessions last week and will finish with 4 sessions this week. She's done very well so far, and we've been very proud of how well she's doing. I asked her what her favorite thing to do in the pool was, and she said jumping. She's not quite jumping yet, but we're working towards it. So that's good to know she likes what she's learned so far. Enjoy these pictures from her first lesson...

Trip to Louisiana

Late last month, we made a trip to Louisiana to visit family. On the way down, we were able to break up the trip and stay in our niece and nephew-in-law's beautiful new home. It was great to get to see them and to have a perfect half-way stop!

We were only in Louisiana for two and a half days, but we had a great time visiting with everyone. Jenna always enjoys seeing her cousin who is so close to her age:

We also enjoyed a wonderful crawfish boil at our brother and sister-in-law's house. Don't these just make your mouth water looking at them?
This is before they were cooked, but believe me they were delicious. They had wonderful flavoring, as well as the corn, the sausage and the potatoes. A fabulous Cajun meal! It was typical summer Louisiana weather though...over 100 degrees at 5 pm and a heat index of 110! It was HOT! We did have a great time, and always love the chance to see our family in those whirlwind trips we always seem to make!

Touch-A-Truck Show

Jenna and I happened on to a Touch-A-Truck Show at Chick-Fil-A this afternoon. We couldn't resist all of the big trucks--she is totally into tractors and big machines right now!

Jenna was intimidated by all of the loud horns, so she didn't want to get in any of them but did enjoy looking at them.
She definitely enjoyed sitting in the dune buggy though...

Enjoying some sweet tea in a kid's size cup...

Within about 10 minutes of leaving, she had zonked out...

July 4th Weekend

Mom & Dad (aka Mimi and Poppa) came to visit this weekend, and, as usual, we've enjoyed our time with them. Mimi, Jenna, and I picked blueberries yesterday morning--something we all enjoyed and will have to do again soon.



Then we used my grandmother's recipe for homemade pie crust and my grandfather's blueberry pie recipe. It turned out really yummy, so I'll definitely have to try to make another one again soon.


We have eaten yummy grilled out meals this weekend too: hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbeque chicken. All were fabulous. We've almost finished an entire watermelon--mostly because of me--and also had some especially sweet & flavorful corn on the cob, which Jenna loved.

We then went outside to watch fireworks in our neighborhood--both on the 3rd and 4th of July. We enjoyed great displays of color against the dark sky and also caught some lightning bugs (aka fireflies) for Jenna. She didn't like the noise (even though she's covering her eyes in this picture), but she loved the fireworks.



She even ended up falling asleep on Randy, in the midst of all of the fireworks--a true sign that she's worn herself out with all of the fun.

Randy's Birthday

Here are a few pictures taken while celebrating Randy's birthday a few weeks ago. We went to Red Robin for the first time (it's new to our area). Jenna loved it--it's so loud there, even if she wasn't happy, no one would have been able to hear! She even ordered her own drink, like a big girl. We enjoyed yummy, unique burgers and endless fries; what a fun evening it was!

What Sweet Expressions!

An Afternoon at the Zoo

We spent a few hours at the Knoxville Zoo today, and we all had a great time. We went later in the afternoon, so the weather was cooler and more animals seemed to be out than in the heat of the day. We left quickly when it started raining. Here are a few shots from our time there.

Here's Jenna as we were waiting
to get our season pass today.

Here's Jenna 15 1/2 months ago
waiting to get our season pass then.
She's really changed!

Jenna led the way!
She was so excited to see the animals!

Mommy and Daughter

Daddy, Daughter and Zebras

Just Like Mommy

I thought this was so cute. Jenna took off her shoes tonight and went right into Mommy's closet...

Two and a Half!

Our little cutie just turned two and a half this week--how amazing. Time is just flying by! Since she started school when she was 6 months old, this was also her 2 year anniversary of being there. I took this picture on my phone as she was walking into school (I didn't know her eyes were closed until I uploaded it). It's still a cute picture though:

Jenna's Recent Funny Quotes

Upon my asking if she was ready to take a nap, Jenna said:
"Nope. I want to play. Five minutes, and I'll take a nap."

We bought a van last week, and Jenna's seat is now behind the passenger seat rather than behind mine. I guess she's scared I'll forget her because each time I get out of the car, she reminds me: "Jenna's right here."

Randy told Jenna he was getting ready to take her to a playground the other day, and she responded, "Oh, that'll be fun!"

Jenna looked at Randy the other night and said, "Daddy, your MY daddy!" How sweet!

When driving past Kroger, her favorite store, Jenna said "I need...acidophilus." She remembered that I'd said we needed to get some the next time we went to Kroger! What a great memory--and good pronunciation too!

Our Little Lady

Jenna is quite the little lady! She loves wearing dresses, and even likes wearing jewelry too--notice her ankle. She's also sporting her new haircut too. Can you tell she likes posing for pictures?

Our Saturday

The weather was absolutely beautiful here today--sunny and in the 70s. We decided to take advantage of a "safety day" being held by our local volunteer fire department. Jenna was very excited to see fire trucks! She also got to see an ambulance, police car & motorcycle, rescue squad, and even a life-star helicopter land. Randy told her he hoped this was as close as she ever got to needing one of those! Anyway, it was great to be outside enjoying the weather--I could use several more weeks of this before the hot summer begins!





Before we went to the event, Jenna said she wanted a haircut. We've trimmed her hair off and on, but have never had it professionally done. We decided to give her another trim in the back, and it turned out really cute. Pretty soon, her bangs will be grown out and we can let it all grow again. Here's a shot from the back so you can see the length--it looks really thick now!

Jenna's growing up

Within the past couple of weeks, Jenna's become quite the conversationalist! She has started asking: "Whatcha doing?" then if we sufficiently answer her, she says "Oh, OK." letting us know she understands. If we tell her we're getting ready to do something she likes, she'll say, "Oh, OK, let's do that!" It's hilarious to hear her responses!

She's also started raising her hand when she wants something. I'm sure this was from school, but it's still catches me off guard. If I ask Randy if he'd like something to eat/drink, Jenna immediately responds by raising her hand and saying "I want some!"

She's also growing like a weed. In the past 2 months, she's grown 3/4 of an inch. Her hair is really growing a lot too. It seems like she just changes everyday.

Jenna is very observant too. A couple of months ago, she started saying "'member?" when we would pass a place she recognized. The first place she mentioned was when we passed a place in an unfamiliar area of town that she'd been to once. It amazed me. Now, she continues to amaze me with how she remembers places we go and things we do. It seems it only takes one time going or talking about something and it's embedded in her mind.

Sorry for the long post. It's been a while, and I wanted to catch you all up on how our little girl is changing. I'll try to post more often in the coming months.

America's Next Top Toddler Model

OK...our child may just be a born model. Check out her poses! She's a natural!

(Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Strawberries

We've been eating a lot of strawberries lately, and they were just too pretty to not take pictures of. Here are some of my favorites...




And check out the size of this one! I've never seen a strawberry so big!

Blogging 101

It's been so long since I've posted, I think I need to go to a refresher class on how to do so! It's been a busy month, so other things have taken priority. But hopefully May will be a slower month, and I'll be much more diligent with posting. : )

Today, I snapped some pictures of Jenna that I thought turned out great. The blues in her shirt really set off her pretty eyes. Notice how long and thick her hair has gotten! We're trying to grow out her bangs, so if you see long hair in her eyes in other pictures, that's why. We're making progress and she likes her hair long, so we'll continue the process.

I'll post some April pictures later.

Twinkle, Twinkle

I've been wanting to get a video of Jenna singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" since she does such a good job doing so. She has her hand in her mouth the whole time, but you can still get the gist of it. She even adds in a little bit of "Old MacDonald" afterward. The video ends abruptly when she observes there are two Jennas--herself and the one she was watching in the video.