July Photo Roundup

This summer we really took advantage of our pool and grills. A majority of the nights we would pack up our food and grill down by the pool. It worked perfectly because I would try and prepare most of it during Macy's nap, Ja would grill it up while Macy and I swam, and then we would eat it together. Sometimes Ja would swim with Macy while I cooked. We found some very delicious recipes for steaks and burgers and wondered why we would ever go out for steak or burgers again because ours were so delicious. Cooks Illustrated taught us that grilled chicken doesn't have to be flavorless and dry, steaks don't have to be over-done and chewy, and burgers can be so flavorful and juicy you don't need condiments. We would also grill up vegetables and eat the plenteous summer fruits.

 We sometimes invited friends over to enjoy our new found favorite way to enjoy summer. This was our third summer here, why didn't we do this earlier?!

We also learned that Macy is a lover of beef! She would down a whole hamburger, bun included! She loved our steaks as long as she had some sort of sauce to dip it in. She called it chicken, but she loved it all the same. Sometimes she would eat more steak than I would!

Macy scaling the pool fence.

 Macy made huge strides this summer when it came to swimming. At the beginning of the season she wouldn't allow me to let go of her even though she had her pool floaty on. Gradually she became more brave and at the end of the summer she would walk in the pool completely on her own and start floating without me. If I tried to hold on her to her she would tell me to stop and that she's a big girl. I am so proud of her and how brave she became!

We were (and still are) so very sad we had to say good-bye to Silly. She moved away from us and we miss her so much. Just yesterday Macy asked to play at Silly's house and wanted me to go bye-bye so she could play there.  Macy hasn't (and probably won't) realized that Silly is many, many miles away and we probably won't see her until Christmas. They were such good friends it was hard to say good-bye. I really miss Silly's mom too :) Don't they look like cousins? This is the last hug they shared hours before Silly's plane left.

Macy reading to her friend. This was not staged at all. 

 Macy's friend had a birthday party that was supposed to be a pool party. Unfortunately it rained the whole two hours of the party. That didn't stop some of the kids from playing in the pool. I didn't bring Macy's suit because it was raining but when she saw the other kids in the pool she begged to go in. I let her and she eventually was the only one out there in the rain. It didn't seem to phase her that it was raining, she had a great time throwing the balls around and climbing from one pool to the other.

Painting with watercolors from Grandma.

 We have been watching A LOT of Tangled this month. Not the whole movie though, Macy makes me skip to the parts she likes the best. Her favorite parts include (but are not limited to): baby princess in the beginning, the man (when Flynn Rider comes sliding down the roof), the horsey (Maximus chasing Flynn), most of the songs (except the lantern song which is my favorite), and flower dancing (Rapunzel dancing in the town square with the flowers in her hair). Napoleon gets some time in too but it's mostly been Tangled. I can't wait to see what her movie fascination will be next month.

Quilt's for Kids

While researching what pattern I should use for Baby Girl's quilt I came across a Non-profit organization that mails out quilt packets for people to make. The finished quilts are given to children that are in hospitals for long-term care. Quilt for Kids says that a lot of kids don't get to take their own blankets to the hospital so they started to help the kids have something special while they are sick.

They mailed me a packet of precut fabric, detailed directions, and a tag to sign my name. I only had to supply the thread. I enjoyed making this quilt and felt good because some little child would be wrapped up by my creation. I felt good because I was doing my part of community service. Once I was finished I packaged it up and mailed to back to them. If you quilt you should check them out and make a quilt for a sick child. It was very rewarding.

Baby Girl's Quilt

I wanted to make this little girl a quilt to have and hopefully enjoy while growing up. I bought a 5" charm pack (where each square is pre cut to 5") and that was the best idea I've ever had. The part I dislike about quilting is all the cutting so having someone else do the hard work was great. This also made the whole process very fast. I made the top of the quilt in one night.

I started in early June with the top but then took a break. Once I realized I would be at home for a week while Ja and Macy went to California I put off binding the quilt until that time. I just finished the whole thing today and I'm very happy with it.

Before I put on the backing.

The finished quilt.

I put the super soft pink minkie on the back. I love doing that on baby quilts, it makes them so soft and cuddly. This quilt is much brighter in color than Macy's baby quilt that had soft pink, green, blue, purple, yellow. As I was sewing this I felt like it was going fit Baby Girl's personality. I obviously don't know it yet, but as her mom I feel this connection with her already and I feel like she's going to be outgoing and effervescent. I could be totally wrong, but I like feeling as if I know our little girl already.

There are a few mistakes on the quilt but that makes it more special, right? Baby Girl will know I'm not perfect and it's ok not to be perfect. I hope she does feel the love I put into it and that I loved her before I even met her.

Macy & Friends

We have been very lucky in our ward to have so many friends for Macy to play with. We've been spoiled with the amount of young families. Another blessing is that we get to play with them often and Macy has made some really great friends. 

The friend she talks about the most is Halle. Halle is 5 years old, but the age difference doesn't matter in this friendship. Macy loves to follow her around and Halle is very nice to let Macy follow her every move. I'm happy to say Halle is well behaved and a good eater so she gets Macy to eat her food too.

They love to put many bows in their hair.

A BBQ we had with friends. Everyone wanted to sit by Hallie.

Eating lunch at the splash park.

Macy also has two other friends she's been hanging out with since she was only a few months old. This day she was playing with them, Grant and Hallie (not pictured), in the little pools. These three friends are starting to play together but mostly play alone still. It's been fun to see them all grow up together.

Sort of a newer friend is cute little Izzy. Macy very much enjoys playing at her house because Izzy has a lot of dolls and doll toys. Izzy and her mom are also our Cafe Rio buddies. We've met them for lunch a few times there recently and both times Macy and Izzy end up cleaning the place. The first time they cleaned tables and chairs with diaper wipes and the latest time they cleaned the windows. 

At Target. Macy wanted Izzy in the cart with her and Izzy made herself comfortable.

Her newest friend of all is Uncle Jeff. Macy has been afraid of him until about a month ago. It's very sad she starting liking him once they decided to move to Colorado! When we would get together she would always ask for "More Jeff!" She loved how he tickled and teased her. Here in the pool he was pretending to drink the water and then would say "YUCK!" Both Macy and Lily thought that was so hilarious and asked him to do it many times. 

Of course Macy still has her favorite friend to call on the phone- Papa. He is the only person she has ever called on the phone. Now in the middle of swimming she'll exclaim, "Papa ringing!" and run out of the pool to "answer" the phone call. She usually tells him hi and that she is swimming.

Mylo Xyloto

Our vacation continued after our trip to the beach. Two days later we went to the Coldplay concert at the Verizon Center. It's our third Coldplay concert and it was very memorable.

Ja gave me the tickets for Mother's Day and I was so excited for the month I had to wait to go. We got to sit in the 4th row thanks to Jacob. The handicap seating was the very first row! We couldn't sit right by him but the way the seats were set up there was only one row in between us and him. We were so close it was hard to believe. Throughout the show Chris Martin and other band members looked at and pointed down to Jacob. It was really nice.

Everyone in the audience was given a bracelet of a different color and at certain points in the show they would light up. It was very cool to see all the colored bracelets.

Another bonus of our seats was being 2 feet away from the band members as they walked past us. Ja took a video of them all walking past and even touched Chris Martin's shoulder.

The most exciting moment happened at the end of the concert. The drummer of the band, Will Champion, gave Jacob his drum sticks! That was very exciting. Jacob left the concert with a new Coldplay shirt, the song list, a signed photo of the band, and the drum sticks.

Outer Banks 2012

The entire DeVore family was able to vacation in a single home in Nags Head again this year. We had a great time and Macy especially had a great time playing with all of her cousins. She didn't want to go to sleep at night because she was having too much fun! We were also having too much fun because I didn't take very many pictures. Here are some of the highlights:

• Macy following Addie around every where and copying everything Addie did.She loves Addie now!

• Aunt Kiki bought all three girls matching nightgowns and Macy didn't wear anything else all week (besides her bathing suit). If I was able to put something else on her she would see Addie or Lily wearing theirs and want to change.

• Only having to make dinner once that week but ate wonderful dinners every night.
• Watching Macy enjoy every minute she spent playing with cousins.
• Watching Macy listen intently as Granny Dot read her many books.

• The drive to NC and back was amazing. Macy did so well in the car and took good naps too.

• Leaving our super hot apartment that had no A/C for the beach! 
• Macy actually enjoying the ocean and letting her feet get wet by the waves (sometimes). The water was so warm!
• Spoiling Macy with chips, candy, juice, and staying up late. It's vacation right?!

• Macy loved the pool because her cousins were there, she is now a good little swimmer and isn't afraid of the water anymore!
• Of course, the annual DeVore family photo session! We thought Macy was uncooperatvie last year, but she was worse this year. She cried most of the time and wouldn't let me put her down. However, the photographers were able to catch a few good candid shots. Here are some of my favorites (I know there's still a lot):



Macy would not put her feet in the sand!



Granny Dot can get anyone to smile.

The five "babies." I love Macy's face, I think it pretty much sums up how she felt about the photo session.

All the cousins. As you can tell, it was the end of the night and the kids were done! Great for memories though. They will all love this picture when they're older!

The original DeVore family.

The best of our little family.

Macy and Lily love to give hugs and kisses.

The models in our family.

The pregnancy pictures.