Walking? YES!!!

That's right, I feel like I can FINALLY say...Scout is walking!!! Nope, she isn't your average toddler that was walking 3 months ago at 12 months of age. She can, however, play a recorder instrument, like no other and blow her nose all by herself. :)

I didn't think this day was ever going to come. She's been "toddling" around for a couple of months now. She'd tease us and taken about 5 steps and then not walk for days. Well, today, Scout woke up and confidence and is now officially, a WALKER! Okay, I'm probably going overboard here, but I am little excited. I know she's still going to have "not-so-good" days, but I really think we've overcame this obsession with crawling. At least I'm hoping that's the case!

The only video proof I have is on my cell phone and I'm not sure how to get that on here. Maybe my computer savvy hubby can help me with that in the near future. :)

Scout will be 15 months on Wednesday. I'm hoping to find time to post pictures from the 1st of each month over the last 15 months so we can reminisce. My, how time flies! :(

I'll leave you with this picture. It shows so much of Scout's personality...She's ROTTEN!

There's So Much To See, So Much To ZOO

I finally took Scout to the zoo for the very first time. This past Tuesday, August 17, 2010 with the diaper bag packed, sippy cup full and Scout wearing her special zoo themed outfit that GG made, we headed to the Knoxville Zoo. We were so excited to have some company come along with us, my Mom, Craig (step-dad), and Allison (step-sister). They helped me out a ton! Scout doesn't like to hang out in the stroller like she used to.

We had such a fun-fulled day, but was it ever so hot and humid! By the end of the day, we were all dripping sweat. I've been wanting to take Scout to the zoo for some time, but wanted to wait until she was little older so she would enjoy it more. Scout loves animals so very much, so I knew she would be thrilled to see all these furry animals around.

We visited the zebras, elephants, giraffes, gorillas, chimpanzees, red pandas, rhinos, butterflies, baboons, birds, lions, African wild dogs, wild boars, meerkats, & chipmunks. Can you guess which of these animals was Scout's favorite? I'll give you a second a guess... It was the meerkats! She was fascinated by them. There was one in particular that was very curious and kept pacing back and forth along the window. Scout wanted so badly to touch him and love him. She loves to hug and kiss on animals.

Overall, our fun zoo day was a success! I can't wait to take Scout back when Papa (Adam) can go. We actually went to Kroger today to buy two more tickets because the buy one get one free special ended today. Next time, we'll be going in the fall. I'm really considering buying the family membership package for a year. The zoo can be so educational, especially at Scout's age. She can learn about all of the animals and get to see them in person. I am considering doing her 2nd birthday party at the zoo, too. I know it seems silly to plan that far ahead, but you can never start too soon, right?

Enjoy pictures below from our zoo experience.

Scout says, "Ohhhhhhhhh!"



A beautiful monarch butterfly.



I love zebras and zebra print! ;-)



Scout sees something else interesting.



I love that precious smile!



This is from Scout's amazing meerkat experience. I bet if she knew how to ask us, she'd be asking for one of this little fellers.



Pointing and "Ohhhhhing" with Auntie Allison



Scout loved drinking lemonade from Nana's tall cup!



Auntie Allison and Scout



Scout was giving the giraffe lovin's. She is such an affectionate child. I love it!



Here's the real deal, giraffe. I'm sure Scout would have loved on him, too.



The cutest zebra in the zoo!



The lion was snoozing. A lot of the animals were sleeping, actually. It was way too hot!



Three generations. Me, Scout, and Mom (Nana)



I loved watching this gorilla. He amazed me!



This chimpanzee is looking a bit old. He looks so bored.



This little guy was a hoot to watch. He certainly put on a show for the crowd. He was very cute and clumsy. He was do flips and fall. It was hilarious. This was probably Scout's second favorite animal to watch.



The cute, little chimpanzee again. I believe he was eating a slice of orange.



This little guy was sleeping and seemed pretty boring, but man was he cute. I stood there for about 5 minutes taking pictures before he finally turned around. I was so happy to get a face shot. Look at that sweet, adorable face. I love the red pandas!

Jean Louise Finch

"Neighbours bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo was our neighbour. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives."

That is just one of many wonderful quotes from Jean Louise Finch a.k.a. Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. What a wonderful, meaningful novel and movie. The novel is narrated by Scout explaining her journey through life in which she realizes that racism and inequality are rampant in her town. This year, Harper Lee celebrates the novel's 50th anniversary. She finally speaks out about the book, her life, and finally, her achievement.

Today, Adam and I went to see To Kill A Mockingbird at the Tennessee Theatre. Seeing this movie on the big screen in such a beautiful theater, makes it that much better. To Kill A Mockingbird was one of the first movies that Adam and I watched together in his apartment when we were dating. It's Adam's favorite novel and has a lot of meaning to us, especially since June 1, 2009.

On that warm, spring night, our beautiful baby girl was born. She was an angel sent from Heaven above on our cousin Tabby's birthday. I knew Tabby was watching down on us from Heaven as I delivered yet another miracle into this world. This tiny, sweet baby was to be unnamed until we met her, held her, and saw her face. We were in no hurry to decide on her name, we had a couple of days, although everyone was referring to her as "Raylea" which is her middle name. Raylea comes from my mother-in-law's middle name, Ray and my moms middle name, Lea. Adam and I had narrowed down our favorite names to just a few, Scout being one of them.

Scout was born at 8:10p.m. It seemed like an eternity before I got to hold her. The nurses did their thing, my mom leaves the room soon after to tell all of the family of her arrival, and finally, the makers of Scout get their special time with her. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew that she was Scout. It fit her best. I looked at Adam and said, "Scout, she's definitely a Scout!" After having our bonding time with Scout, we called the rest of the family in to meet the newest addition. Everyone was passing her around the room and adoring her and suddenly my mom goes, "So, what's her name?" I said, "Her name is Scout!" She claims she had a feeling she would be Scout. Adam and I had not disclosed any of the names we had picked out, but my mom remembered me talking about the name after Adam had mentioned it early in our pregnancy.

As I watched To Kill A Mockingbird today, I thought about Scout the entire time. I wondered if she will have that same spunky attitude that Jean Louise had. I am so thankful that she has such a meaningful name to Adam and me. It couldn't fit my girl, Scout, any better.

I will never do a post without a picture. With that said, I couldn't think of any better pictures to post than these. Enjoy all!

These pictures are from Scout's 3 month photo shoot. We wanted to use the book her name came from as a prop. She was so tiny, that was 11 months ago! Time flies! :(



This is the first page that Scout's name is mentioned.
This hardback book was bought especially for Scout and has a page dedicating it to her, from Mama and Papa.



There's my girls name and her precious, tiny feet.



I hope this is Scout's favorite book someday.

Vacations

I am still going backwards on my posts, but I thought this would be a fun topic to blog about.

We were blessed enough to go on two vacations this year.

Carnival Cruise to the Bahamas

Our first vacation (Scout's very FIRST vacation) was a 5 day cruise with Carnival Cruise Line in March. Several family members went, including the three of us of course, and my Mom, Mamaw, Bubba, Auntie Ami, Grahm, Bonnie, and Josie. We left out a day early to head down to St. Augustine. It was nice to visit St. Augustine again, it's been years since I've been there. The next day we headed to Jacksonville, FL, where we boarded the Carnival Fascination. We cruised to the Bahama's with two destinations. The first port was in Half Moon Cay, which I was most excited about. Unfortunately, we weren't able to port because the bad weather made the waves too choppy, which was dangerous. The ship headed down to Nassau a day early, getting us there the night before our scheduled arrival. We were supposed to have a beach day at Half Moon Cay, but since we didn't get to port, we bought a private beach excursion in Nassau. We took a taxi van to a private lagoon behind a beach club house called, The Poop Deck. Yep, that's the real name. Adam and I have shirts to prove it! Ha! I thought the beaches in Nassau where beautiful! We spent several hours at the lagoon. Scout put her little piggy's in the sand for the very first time and loved it! She didn't think the water was all that great, but it was March and the water was still a little cold.

We really enjoyed ourselves throughout the whole cruise. Scout was amazing and never once got sick. We were a little concerned since we were on a ship. The highlight of each day was our dinner. When you cruise, you are seated at the same table, with the same waiter each evening. Our waiter was from Poland, his name was Kaz. He absolutely adored Scout. I must say, Scout adored him, too! She even got to dance with him a time or two. It was precious! Scout was the biggest hit on the ship. Everywhere we went, people would want to stop to talk to her or tell us how pretty she was. Some even wanted their picture taken with her. She was our own little celebrity! Of course, she was eating up all of the attention. Adam and I were proud parents!

That is a glimpse of our first family vacation. Enjoy the pictures below:

The Carnival Fascination


My Little Carnival Celebrity


Scout and Kaz, our waiter, it was love at first sight!


Sporting her Speedo bathing suit.


My handsome hubby


Scout loves Grahm!


My Little Diva


Scout and Nana had lots of fun playing.


Watching the waiters dance at dinner.


Isn't she the cutest? I love her cowboy boots!


Showing Scout the ocean for the first time.


Scout's first time playing in the sand.


Scout and Papa


Family Photo in Nassau, Bahamas


The most precious foot prints, ever!


Scout and Kaz, again.


My girl is stylin'! She looks so cute in her Teva's!


Okay, I know this is a horrible picture of me, however...check out that amazing frozen yogurt cone! This was the highlight of the cruise for me! Unlimited frozen yogurt, 24/7! Yum! Adam is the best frozen yogurt cone maker, ever!


Check out that game face! Miniature Putt-Putt on the top deck of a cruise ship=A very bad game!


Walking down the steps with Mama's help.


I loved all the lights at night. This was in the main lobby inside the ship.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Our second vacation was in Myrtle Beach, SC in June. I haven't been there in years and had really been missing it. It's a wonderful childhood memory for me because that's where we always vacationed when I was a kid. I couldn't wait for Scout to experience what I always did. This trip was actually a Christmas present to us last year from my mother-in-law. We stayed in a 4 bedroom condo with my mother-in-law (Judy), brother-in-law (Mike), and cousin-in-law (VIIIICCCCCKKKKIIIEEEE). I say Vickie's name like that because that's how Scout says it, well sort of. Ha!

We had a nice relaxing week, spending most of our time at the condo and beach. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Scout thoroughly enjoyed the sand and water. She crawled all over the beach. I'm sure she ate about a pound of sand and drank about a gallon of salt water. That was our biggest challenge, keeping the sand and water out of her mouth, oh and sea shells. While we were there, Adam and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Grandma kept Scout while Adam and I enjoyed a night out. We really enjoyed ourselves. We've only been on about 3 dates since Scout was born and we were in desperate need of one. We went shopping and to eat at Margaritaville. On our way back to the condo, we got caught up in the "cruising" traffic on Ocean Boulevard. Man, that brought back some memories. We had a hoot laughing at all the kids, but it sure made me feel old.

And that, is a glimpse of our second vacation. Enjoy some pictures below:

Scout crab crawling on the beach.


Observing the ocean.


She looks very determined.


Papa and Scout...and Vickie in the background.


I was trying to be creative with the camera.


Grandma bought Scout a kiddie pool for the deck. She really enjoyed it, but contaminated it soon after this picture was taken.


My lil' beach bum.


Scout loves her activity walker that Grandma and Grandpa bought her for her birthday.








Scout always has to have something in her hand(s). She would crawl around with the face sunscreen in her hand at all times.


She never once lost the sunscreen, either.


Be jealous, Gene Simmons!


Jimi Hendrix rose from the dead.





Ozzy was sober and Zakk Wylde, his guitarist doesn't really talk.


Broadway at the Beach


Adam got this amazing picture of lightening late one night.


The pier lit up at night.


The sunset


I love this picture.

The next run of pictures is from our beach photo shoot.

























I hope everyone enjoys this post, sorry it's so lengthy. I tend to get carried away with pictures.