ATL Trip

The Newman fam at Talladega on the Finish Line
Lake house #1 (the driveway was straight down the hill!)
Lake house #2
View from lake house #2
View from our room's balcony at lake house #1

We had such a wonderful week in Atlanta! We visited the Georgia Aquarium, Andrew and Lisa Fisher(friends from college), the park, Daddy's work, and got acquainted with the city. Atlanta is a beautiful city and there are rolling hills and so many trees. I can't wait to see the leaves when the seasons change. On Friday, we drove to Wedowee, Alabama to Josh's boss's lakehouse. On Saturday, we drove to Talladega for our first Nascar race. Even if you are not a Nascar fan (which I am not), it was an amazing experience to get the VIP treatment. We had golf carts, food, drinks, went down to the track, and watched the race from the Aaron's suite. Stella had a great time seeing all of the strange sights. On Sunday, we had to drive back to Atlanta to catch our flight to Houston. Stella was such a trooper with the planes, trains, and automobiles. We were literally on the road or in the air from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. What a day!

Josh's coworkers are great and I look forward to getting to know them better. I can't wait to move now!

Big fish at the Georgia Aquarium
Looking at fish
Jellyfish

She liked putting her face up to the glass at the aquarium
Can you tell she was impressed?
Sign at Chastain Park in Atlanta

Chastain Park in Atlanta
Talladega for the Aaron's 312 race-she was wearing a Michael Waltrip (their former driver) outfit that Josh's boss found for her. She looked very Nascar-ish. It says "Caution-Rookie Driver" on the back.
Our picture with Lucky Dog (Aaron's mascot) at Talladega. She was really excited about him until he came up to us and then she didn't want to be near him. She may have hurt his feelings.
First flight-she did so well! We were very proud of her.

What do you think?

I think I like it. Now that I have the hang of it, I will probably change it on a weekly basis. It's fun! I used www.scrapblog.com and www.cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com I got the ideas from my friend Jennifer M. and it is free to download images and backgrounds.
I am going to try to get some really good pictures of her this week. We are planning on going to the Aquarium, the zoo, the park....anything to get out of the hotel room!

Under construction

I am working on redecorating the blog-sorry it looks terrible right now. The colors aren't right. I am learning how to do this and I can't do anymore tonight. I am exhausted. I'll get back to work on it when we return from Atlanta.

Growing girls

Hanging out with cousin Tori-she is absolutely hilarious Miss Taylor-can you believe she's this old?!?? I can't believe she's turning into a beautiful young lady
The Thompson girls with their new guinea pigs-aren't they cute? And growing up?!?Watching t.v. with Daddy
At Market Street with Mommy
Not enjoying the water at all-she refused to go near it
She loves emptying out her drawers and trying to put on clothes
Kissing (and dressing up) Daddy
Lettting her mark on herself was cute at first and it became clear that it was a bad idea the next time we played with markers inside. Now I have to remind her constantly that markers only go on paper.
I'm learning, people!

New words-apple, tree, juice(jew), Kristi (Kicky), grape (grate), outside (ow-sye), please (peez), good girl (goo gur), shoes (sues), and stop (top) Yes, I know that no one else probably understands what she is saying, but I do and that is all that matters for now. ;-)

New signs-thank you, dog, please, sorry, shoes, sleep

She's so sweet. She loves giving kisses and hugs. She is really turning into a little companion for me. She actually understands most of what I am saying. She is starting (and it will probably never stop) to test me more and more. If I tell her to do something, she will wait until I start walking toward her to do it. She loves crayons and markers. She loves shaking her head "no," but responds with actions for yes. ie: Do you want to go to bed? She shakes her head "no." Do you want some grapes? She runs to the refrigerator. She's growing and changing so fast. I am so honored to be her mom.

I have been taking her to story time at the library and the first two times she wouldn't leave my lap. Today, she ran around the room and actually participated in the lesson. I guess she's figured out I am not leaving so she doesn't have to hold on to me the whole time.

Upcoming events-Payton's 3rd birthday party, MawMaw Polly and PawPaw Johnny are coming to visit, first plane ride, first glimpse of our new hometown-Atlanta, first Nascar experience