Doctor's visit

Height-34 inches (95th percentile)
Weight-25 pounds (25-50th percentile)
Doing very well-doctor confirmed that she is, in fact, a genius. I'm serious. I am sure Stella is the only one he has ever said that about. In actuality, she was mute throughout the visit and I am telling the doctor how verbal she is as she stares at him without uttering a sound. He tickles her, he checks her heartrate, shines lights in her eyes and ears...not a word. Then, we are leaving the office after shots and screams and a helicopter is flying overhead. She points her chubby little finger into the sky and yells "harpane!" (airplane, for those of you that don't speak toddler) OK, so it was a helicopter and not an airplane but honestly! It is in the same category and I don't even recall teaching her that word! I continue to be amazed on a daily basis with this kid.

Moving Day is Approaching

Josh's boxers-a favorite dress up item
Shhhh...she loves telling me to "shhh"
Playing in the mini pool-yes, it's a rubbermaid container and it does the trick for now

I never knew selling a house could be so complicated. The inspector came last Wednesday and we got the report on Saturday with the buyer list of demands. They weren't bad at all, so we were able to agree and send our answer back yesterday. Now it's done, right? No. Now they have to get an appraisal done. And probably a whole list of other things done so I guess it will be right up until the date of closing that we will be wondering if this is real! They want to close on the 6th now, so it looks like the movers will come and pack on Wednesday, move everything out on Thursday, and close on Friday. Josh said we might even leave on Friday. I am dreading the car ride. I hate being trapped in a car. Josh hates taking road trips with me because I am constantly asking "How much further?" Mimi Sandy will be in the car with me, so I will probably refrain from that on this trip. She and Popeye Mike are coming along to help with Stella on the drive and as we get settled in. 18 days to go!

She is really loving to dress up lately. This is the hat that Chris Allen bought for her. You can't see the horses on the other side of it. Occasionally, I find her playing with this hat on. She also likes pulling clothes out of the hamper to wear. The other day, she was wearing one of Josh's socks and had another piece of his clothing on as a shawl. As you can see, she is also swiping her pacifier out of her bed during the day. She only gets it at nap time and bed time. I tell her to put it back and she obeys, so I guess that's a good thing. We'll start trying to cut it out altogether after we move. I need the pacifier for the 14 hour car trip!
Climbing in the cabinet in the kitchen
Putting puzzles together in her new chair from Popeye and Mimi
Wearing a book from Jason and Mandy-very stylish
Front view of book "wrap"

Well, some of you may have heard that our house is under contract right now. The inspection is tomorrow and the closing date is June 11th. The countdown begins! We have been looking online for a short term rental and have found a few properties. Atlanta is the home of Emory and Georgia Tech, so there are a lot of students looking for summer sublets that happen to be furnished. We will probably spend the summer looking for a home and store our things until then. The thought of unpacking everything in a rent house and re-packing everything to move again in a few months does not sound appealing! Anyway, we'll keep you posted on the move.

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