ok so i just have to make a note of the little things jia does at this age because my mental notes tend to get lost. ;)


it is so much fun watching her explore the world through play at this age as she's starting to use her imagination.


dress up has been a favorite for awhile, and she loves playing with her dolls/stuffed toys and feeding them, putting them to sleep, teaching them, etc. but this week she took her pretending to a whole new level.

we took her to my grandma's last weekend who lives out in the country. she has a chicken yard with a pet bunny that runs around with the chickens. jia was obsessed with both the chickens and the bunny, but especially the bunny! so this week she has been happily bouncing around the floor on all fours and trying to eat her snacks off of a plate on the floor! yay for the fun of make believe!



other than playing pretend, her other favorite thing at the moment is stickers. like it's an obsession. on most days she is covered and so is our house. we may be taking a quick trip to india next month and if so then you better believe i'll be bringing a lot of stickers along for that crazy long flight!



love her.

i say last days of summer...but it's hard to even imagine summer being over while it's still 100+ degrees every day. at this point i'm begging for fall to come!



but since i work in campus ministry, my life revolves around the university calendar, which means august = crazy time. and even though the weather outside is still screaming summer for a few more weeks, those laid back summer days have officially come to an end for us...though i love the busy fall days just as much!

i've noticed a trend of moms doing "summer bucket lists" with their kids, and i definitely need to do that in the future so that i don't let the seasons slip away from me.

but still we had a lot of fun times this summer. i love getting to spend each day with my baby girl who is growing up way too quickly. she is growing into her personality and becoming so much fun.



we spent a lot of days the pool and splash park this summer just to cool ourselves off. this was a milder summer than normal in texas, but still to survive outside during these months you pretty much always need to be in water or eating ice cream.



we had really pleasant weather a few times though and were able to sneak in trips to the zoo and arboretum without having a heat stroke.







when all else failed, we would take trips to the indoor play areas in malls or gyms. at this age jia really keeps me moving. i've learned that outings are usually the best way to keep my house clean (ish), as well as get the toddler good and tired for a nap.



we also used our outdoor movie screen this summer... a LOT! we've definitely already gotten our money's worth out of that investment. i can't wait to use it in cooler weather now when there aren't so many mosquitoes, and we can all sit around the fire pit!



so summer, we had fun. but now bring on the fall! :)

i love the 4th of july in our neighborhood.
every year there is a neighborhood parade. we got together with friends, loaded up the kids, and picked a nice shady spot to watch.





jia was pretty excited about the candy this year, and the next most exciting thing was a guy sitting next to us to brought his pet bird to the fair. that was more interesting than most of the parade in my opinion.



in the evening we decided to have a little party at our place for international student friends so that they could experience an all american holiday.

we had a potluck, watched an american tale in the outdoor theater, and then we for a fireworks show.





jia managed to stay awake for the fireworks too. so all in all i'd say it was a pretty happy 4th for all! :) this may be our new regular tradition.

on jia's actual birthday we wanted to make it a little extra special even though she wasn't having a party or anything on that day.



i started off the day by filling the hall with balloons, so when she woke up she had to kind of wade through them. balloons are her favorite, so that definitely kicked the day off right! it took her half an hour to get down the hall because she was so enamored!



then there was cake for breakfast! in my defense, it was zucchini cake, so it was semi healthy. (and it's surprisingly yummy!) we had to blow out the candle for her the first time, but then she wanted us to keep lighting it so she could try again and again.



after breakfast we decided to go for an outing.

since it's june and it's already pretty hot, i turned my sights on indoor fun with a toddler.

i kept hearing that the perot museum was great, so we decided to check it out.







the museum itself was pretty awesome, though a lot too old for a toddler to get into, though she loved the children's museum...so that part was totally worth it for her.










in the evening we went out to eat and let her play for a bit a kid mania. which is basically a giant indoor maze. she went crazy there and it was hard to finally reel her in!




at the end of the day it was safe to say she had a good birthday...it's a good day when you can wear out a toddler! :)

for the past 6 months or so my girl and i have been going to a mommy and me sort of gym class that's offered by the city. it's 3 mornings a week, so it gives us a good routine, and a chance for her to burn off some energy early in the day so that i can get a few things done later! :)



these pics were all taken back in the early days of the class when everything was still new...hence the much younger looking baby. i can't believe how much she's grown up in the past few months! and her hair has grown like crazy!



i would have thought that parachute was the coolest thing ever when i was a kid. actually i still kind of do.




hopefully my kiddo has learned a lot about how to interact with society through this class. it's definitely been good for helping her to learn how to wait her turn, share, sit down and listen, etc... although she certainly still has her moments that she forgets...she's almost 2 after all! ;)



i really enjoy having this special time with her though. hopefully we're making memories!

parsley sage rosemary and thyme....



scarborough faire is one of my favorites, and i absolutely can't go without getting that song stuck in my head!

out first trip there was last year, and we loved it so much that we decided to make it an annual tradition! jia really loved it this year too, and we were able to go with some friends this time!













it's just a fun chance for grown ups to play make believe and totally escape from reality for a bit! can't wait until next year! :)