Father's Day Fun - Daddy's Turn to Blog

I usually leave the blogging to Danielle, but she and Sydney made sure I had such a nice Father's Day today, that I wanted to write about what a great day it was.
This is my second year being honored as a father and it was so much fun! Danielle brought Sydney in to me after she woke up, and it was so much fun being woken up by a smiling Sydney this morning, with lots of hugs and kisses.

 Shortly after that, Danielle brought in a couple of gifts and cards that she and Sydney had picked out for me.

My cards were so sweet and I absolutely loved my gifts! The first was a new bottle of cologne. It is called Black by Kenneth Cole and it smells great.

The next gift, I was so excited about! I recall a couple of school years in the mid 80's when some of the coolest shoes on the market were suede Puma's. They came in many colors, but as I shared with Danielle many times, the coolest ones came in navy blue. I never did have a pair...but now I do!

 

 

After gifts, Danielle told me that she had made a reservation for us to have brunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Copeland's of New Orleans. The meal was amazing, and as predicted, we completely overdid it, but it was so good and Danielle and I had the most fun with Sydney, who was an angel at the restaurant.

I wanted to post this picture because it shows Sydney's cute curls.

After such a big and delicious meal, all I wanted to do was come home and relax and spend the rest of the day with my girls. Sydney took a (short) nap when we got home. Later in the day we spoke with several members of our families and it was nice to share our day with them. The last part of the afternoon was spent in front of the TV watching the final round of the U.S. Open. I want to thank my wonderful wife for helping Sydney to give me such a great and fun Father's Day! There is nothing more special to me than the time spent with my beautiful family and I am so grateful for them. Here's hoping all Dads enjoyed their day as much as I enjoyed mine!

Little Fishy

One of the great things about our golf/pool membership is that we have access to a whole suite of courses and pools around Northwest Arkansas. Today, we went to a pool close to our house, and we finally got a few quick pictures. Going to the pool with an active toddler is much busier than last year! This pool has an inclined shallow end, so Sydney loved walking in until the water was up to her neck.

 

Her other favorite activity was being thrown back and forth between Mom and Dad. The next time we go to our regular pool, I'll have to get video of her going down the slide with Randall catching her. I think her favorite part was watching me slide down after her :-) We start swimming lessons in July - can't wait for that. I'm so glad she likes the water!

Grandpa and Golf

We enjoyed all last week with my dad. I worked shorter days so I could have time with him, and that also meant he had some quality time with Sydney alone. We loved having him here. He got a lot of good pictures, so I need to get those from him to complete my collection from the week. We will see him again in September for a family wedding, and we can't wait! Syd warmed to him right away, so I think there was some recognition from all our Skype sessions since the last time we saw him in person, which was at Christmas.

 

 

Today, on Memorial Day, we spent a little time at the golf course --- Sydney's first time there. She loved riding in the cart and I think I got some of the cutest pictures of my two golfers. I just hope Sydney has a tiny bit of skill and/or interest as she gets older so her daddy doesn't cry!

 

 

 

 

And here's one last picture from our cookout Saturday evening. We got Sydney her own little chair so she fit in with the rest of the group. Before our guests arrived, she kicked back for a quick read in the sun. :-)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, too!

Two videos

This first video just warms my heart. I took piano lessons for many years, and I love seeing Sydney's interest in music. Hopefully she'll want to take lessons one day. For now, we have this beautiful song to listen to. As you can see, she thinks her performances are worthy of applause, already :-)

For the next video, we knew we wanted to get a swing set for our backyard this year. When my good friend decided to upgrade the one she had for her kids, her old one was the perfect first set for us. She even sold it to us with a baby swing - all ready to go! This is the minute it arrived at our house. We hadn't even found a good place for it yet. I think the swing gives the wagon a run for its money. This may be the new favorite. (She seems to love having a swing at home; we never get giggles like this at the park.) Now if we could just figure out how to end swinging sessions with no tears, we'd be all squared away!

Mother's Day 2011

One word to sum up today? Perfect! Randall helped Sydney create the best Mother's Day any mom could ask for ... and then some! This pretty set of goodies started my day.

Included are flowers (which I later split into two bouquets so we could have fresh flowers in more rooms), two sweet, sweet cards, and three gift cards to three of my most favorite stores: Brighton jewelry, Francesca's (clothes, accessories, etc.) and Ann Taylor Loft.

Before the shopping spree, we went to a drive-through safari (learn more here) in a town about 30 miles from our house. It was the BEST thing and Sydney went crazy over all the animals. There were hundreds of animals covering 400 beautiful acres. If you can think of an animal, we saw it, and we saw it CLOSE UP. The 5-mile loop took us about 1.5 hours, and the animals come right up to your car. You'll see Sydney is sitting up front with us, which is allowed because you're only going about 5 mph.

Following the drive-through part, there is a walking component where you can see more animals up close and personal. It was so hard to choose favorite images, but here are some. We could have stayed all day.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

After the animals, we had lunch and did all the shopping. I had the best time, and Sydney was a trooper! It was 90 degrees here today, so we didn't stroll around too much at the open air mall other than in and out of the three stores. I successfully spent all the money, which was my specific instruction. :-) I can't wait to debut all my new things.

So, we got home and Randall surprised me yet again by giving me a pedicure! One of his coworkers does pedicures at her house so she let him borrow all the stuff. He made me a mimosa and the pampering began amidst all the baby toys. My feet look and feel as though I was at the spa. This could be bad news for my sweet husband!

For dinner, I requested Randall's awesome grilled hamburgers - delicious! I should also mention that we had a great "Mother's Day" brunch last Sunday. The place we wanted to go is usually packed, especially on special days, so we went a week early. The food was fabulous. I also love this photo of Sydney while we were at brunch --- being silly and showing off her pearly whites!

 

I must say I am feeling especially lucky this evening as I type this re-cap, which barely does this day justice. It was so special, and I can't imagine how I will ever make Father's Day as special as this for Randall!! I know he deserves it, and I am so thankful to be married to someone who loves me this much. Becoming Sydney's parents has only made our life together more complete. Here's to making every day Mother's Day and Father's Day.  :-)

Wedding Bells

Yesterday, we were able to attend the wedding of our good friend, Rachel. Rachel and I are co-workers, and quickly became close friends. She has been through a lot, and seeing her happily walk down the aisle was a wonderful thing! This was Sydney's first event of its kind, and she did pretty well during the ceremony (Randall did take her out into the hallway half-way through because she was fidgety), but she had a blast at the reception.

 

 

 

 

Sydney thinks kids in the 5-10 age group are just sooooo cool. My co-worker's daughter, Alyssa, fit that bill nicely :-) She will be a fabulous babysitter in a few years.

Picture Day denim

Today was picture day at the Montessori school, and I had to take a couple of quick pics of Sydney in her sweet denim dress and cardigan before we headed out this morning. I sent a bow for Sydney's hair, of which she is typically not a fan, but her teacher said she wore it for her individual picture and the class photo. It was even in her hair when I picked her up. I call that progress! I can't wait to see the outcome of this overpriced parent trap - school photos. :-)

Easter Sydney on Easter Sunday

It has been raining for days here in Northwest Arkansas, but we have had lots of sunshiny fun on this Easter Sunday! First, Easter bunnies from Arkansas and from Virginia visited our sweet girl. (Thanks, MeMe and Grandma!) Her favorite thing so far are these balls she's holding. We have yet to figure out if she will be right or left-handed (she was left dominant, but now seems to use both regularly), but she can throw with both quite well! I see many nights at the ballpark in our future ;-)

 

 

Then, we got Sydney dressed in her Sunday best, and ventured out onto our small covered front porch for a few rain-free photos. We just had to capture the cuteness in her pretty dress! This dress was a birthday gift from a family friend, Diane. I'm shocked that she left the bow in her hair for so long. Normally, it is out as quickly as we put it in.

 

 

 

 

Finally, we had a make-shift Easter egg hunt in our living room. Sydney practiced Friday at school, so she was all ready to find the eggs and put them in her basket.

 

She's already back in her pajamas, but I think this was the best Easter for an almost 16-month-old as it pours and pours outside. :-) Happy Easter!