Day at the Park

WOW! 4 posts in 1 weekend!

We spent a couple of hours at Frozen Head State Park this afternoon. It was great to relax and spend some time in the great outdoors. Jenna loved an open area near the entrance (we think she's conquered her dislike of the grass), as well as a playground that was there. She did pretty well on the trail, considering it was close to her naptime. Randy also flew our kite for her, which she loved. She kept saying "Whoa!" as she saw Elmo flying in the air. What fun!

(Click on the collage to see it zoomed.)

Here's a video of our big girl; if you get motion sickness, please take a Dramamine before viewing!

The Many Faces of Jenna

Sometimes the best things in life are unplanned. Take, for instance, these pictures that were shot this afternoon right after Jenna ate her lunch. She had only a diaper on, her hair was tangled, she had a runny nose, and she was drooling like crazy. Nonetheless, we thought they really captured the many sides of her personality. Enjoy!

Playing Ball

We've really been enjoying this beautiful spring weather, and have been trying to let Jenna play outside as often as possible. She loves being outside, but doesn't particularly like walking in the grass. However, as you'll see below, she was interested enough in playing ball to endure the discomfort of walking on the grass!

Our Little Shopper

We bought Jenna a shopping cart filled with pretend boxes of food. She loves pushing it around and adding both real and pretend food to it. I'm sure she'll enjoy it for the next couple years!

At the Park

We took Jenna to the park tonight, and she had so much fun swinging, sliding, climbing, etc. Each time she got sand on her hands, she would hold them out and say, "Oh, no!" waiting for someone to help clean them off (see last picture). It was hilarious. She is such a princess, but she really plays hard too. Enjoy the pictures!

Mommy's Little Helper

Last weekend I was taking a break from mopping when Jenna decided to finish the job. What a big girl she is!!!

Dollywood

We went to Dollywood yesterday for Associate Appreciation Day with my employer, DENSO. We had even taught Jenna how to say "Dolly," in case we ran into her, but no such luck. The day started out looking a bit stormy but it ended up being a very pretty day in the 70s with a light breeze. Here are some pictures of Jenna on her first amusement park rides.

She looks upset in this picture, but she was really having fun.
Her least favorite part of the rides were waiting for them to start.

We let Jenna walk around while the park wasn't very crowded, but then she took a shoulder ride with Dada. She loved the freedom while she was walking, but was glad for the break and the new vantage point from the shoulders.


The flowers and trees were absolutely beautiful! Here's one picture I was able to capture.

Girly Girl

Here are some pictures of the outfit she wore to church today. We thought she looked really girly in it, so we thought we'd share them...

Bloomin' Butterflies

We went to the Knoxville Zoo on Friday night for a sneak peek at their new Bloomin' Butterfly Exhibit. We waited a long time, but enjoyed it once we were in there. Here are some snapshots:





Jenna also enjoyed the petting zoo (she slept through it last time). She really enjoyed hitting--I mean brushing--the goat with the brush. All in all, she seemed to get a lot more out of the zoo this time, and enjoyed laughing at some of the animals too.

Weekend Pics

Here are some pictures from this weekend. Jenna likes to empty her canvas bin then sit in it. We had to take a picture because at the rate she's growing, she won't fit in it much longer. She really seems to be getting tall fast! I've heard you can determine your adult height by doubling the height at 18 months--we'll see how tall she is in 2 months!


Here are a couple of pictures on our front porch this morning. Jenna's really been enjoying spending time out there, and she's also enjoying taking care of the flowers she helped me plant a few weeks ago. She even helped me water them yesterday. What a big girl!

Bathtime Fun

If you have 3 1/2 minutes to spare for some funny entertainment, here is a video of Jenna as she finished her bath one night. Mimi and Poppa were visiting, so she was really performing for her audience.

Our Growing Girl

We took Jenna to her 15-month checkup this week (a little late) and here are her stats:

• Weight: 23 lbs, 8.5 oz. (57th percentile)
• Height: 30.75 in. (52nd percentile)

So she is about average in both. The doctor said she was very healthy and was developing well. He seemed to be impressed by the number of words she could say (a little over 20) versus the average for her age which was 3-5. She's definitely a very verbal child!

Here's a few pictures of her playing earlier this week and eating today.

She cleaned and reorganized my Lazy Susan.

Dada and Poppa arranged her stuffed animals
to greet her when she walked in the room.


Jenna's reaction after eating something she liked.

Jenna's reaction after eating something she didn't like.

First Trip to the Zoo

We took advantage of the first weekend of spring and took Jenna to the Knoxville Zoo for the first time. The weather was perfect, the flowers and trees were in full bloom, and Jenna really enjoyed the experience of seeing all the animals. Mimi and Poppa were visiting from Atlanta, so they shared in the fun too. We bought season passes so we'll have lots more pictures to post in the future!

Laughing at her Poppa while waiting in line

Enjoying a piggy back ride from DaDa while entering the zoo.

An up-close look at a camel

Posing for a picture with Mimi and Poppa

Attempting to stand still for a picture with Mommy and Daddy

After about 2 hours, Jenna had to take a nap!

Springtime and Smiles

We took Jenna outside this afternoon to play with bubbles in the yard. It was so windy, though, you can't see any bubbles in the pictures. She did chase some though, and kept saying "bubble" while doing so. The pictures aren't great (I think my camera was on the wrong setting) but you get the idea of how pretty of a day it was and how much fun Jenna had being outside.


When we came back inside, she was pretty hungry so she started eating dinner right away. I asked her to smile for a picture, and this is what she did. We thought it was pretty funny!

Mommy's Cape

I had to get a picture of Jenna wearing a cape that I wore when I was little. I tried it on her yesterday, and she loved wearing it. The cape looked so big when I took it out of my hope chest last year; it's amazing that it actually fits her already!

Jenna is really starting to talk a lot more recently. She's saying such words as eye, nose, teeth, please, juice, etc. She's also doing sign language for a few words too, so it's really getting much easier to understand her wants and needs.

Long Pigtails

WOW! Two posts in one day! I just had to share some new pictures of our big girl taken just this morning. Her hair is getting so long, which makes her pigtails look so long too!