Zoo Boo

Makayla and I attended Zoo Boo with our friends Christine, Caleb and Abbie. We got up early to head to the Houston zoo. We met Christine and the kids so that we could follow each other there since I have only been there a couple of times and couldn't remember the way! :)

We got there at 9:00 and the parking lot was already getting packed! I'm so glad we decided to go early. Once we got inside, we stopped at the first booth that was set up to get the kiddos zoo boo tattoos. The girls got theirs on their cheek. It was so cute. Caleb got his on his hand.

We went to the children's petting zoo next. Makayla was NOT interested in touching any of the animals. I thought she might like them though, since she loves dogs, but she wanted nothing to do with them. We walked around and looked at lots of the animals. I think Makayla was more into watching the other kids that were there instead of looking at the animals. Next, we went to the pumpkin patch so the kids could pick their own pumpkin to decorate. While inside the pumpkin patch we decided to take some cute pictures of the kiddos sitting with the pumpkins.

We also saw a dance performance from the Aldine Dance Company. It was so neat because that's the school district that Christine and I work for. They were dressed up as animals and they performed to the song "thriller." It was awesome! Makayla really enjoyed the music and dancing since she loves to dance!

We spent a couple of hours looking at all of the animals. It started getting very crowded and we could hardly walk around. Once it got that crowded...it was time to go! We had a great time before everyone else in Houston decided to get there. :)

Here are some pictures from our fun day at the zoo!

It's FUN to be ONE!

Jeff, Makayla and I headed to sweet home Alabama on October 1st to celebrate Mak's first birthday with our family and friends. The plane ride was an adventure, as usual! Mak is just not into sitting still for 2 hours. She would rather get down and play. She cried and screamed most of the time (I apologize to the other passengers). However, we did survive. We arrived in Birmingham at 9:30 p.m. Grandpa Ken (Jeff's dad) was there waiting for us.

We spent all day Friday visiting family and just relaxing. We got together with all of my family Friday night, at Nana's house, for dinner. It was great having everyone in the same place. All of the kids had a great time playing together. And of course Nana had a present for Makayla to open!


Saturday was spent with my mom shopping for birthday party supplies. We went all over the place trying to find the perfect party decorations...and we DID! I was so tired when we were finished but I love going shopping with my mom no matter what we're shopping for. We always have a great time and I miss it so much.

Of course Saturday night was spent watching the Auburn game. We all went over to Jeff's dad's house. Dinner was great and so was the game! WAR EAGLE!

Sunday was the day of the BIG party! We got up and got everything together. We met my mom in Hueytown to get the few last things we needed and to get all of the balloons blown up. After that, we were off to Grandma Ann and Papa Bob's house to decorate for the party. We didn't really have a "theme" for the party but we had a pink and brown color scheme. Everything was pink and brown...tablecloths, plates, napkins, balloons, even the cake! Her dress was supposed to also be pink and brown but I couldn't find one I liked, so it was pink and black...complete with a beautiful hairbow from Aun JenJen. We started setting up the tables outside on the deck and of course...it starts raining!! The tables looked great so we decided to move them inside. We were still able to set up the food table on the screened in porch and it looked great! I was hoping it would stop raining but it just rained harder and harder. I was disappointed to have to move it indoors because I wanted the kids to be able to play outside, but it was still a wonderful party. We were so glad that so many of our family and friends were able to come! Although I was so sad that my sister was sick and couldn't make it.


Before eating, we decided to go ahead and open presents while everyone was still there. Makayla wasn't really into opening them, so Abby, Morgan and Reese were able to help us! Makayla wasn't sure what was going on but she loved all of her gifts! She got lots of toys and lots of clothes. We had 4 boxes full of toys to ship back to Texas! She got a push behind walker, a push behind baby doll stroller with a baby doll, books, a ball pit with balls, a cabbage patch doll, more baby dolls, puzzles, and lots of cute clothes. She got so many toys, I don't even remember them all. :) She also got a very special gift from her cousin, Abby...a picture that she colored just for Makayla!

After opening presents we ate the yummy hamburgers and hot dogs that Jeff's dad grilled. Next, it was cake time! The big cake was in the shape of a 1. Nana had it made at Edgar's Bakery. It was so cute and it tasted so good. She also had them make a little cake for Makayla that also had a 1 on it. We sang Happy Birthday to Makayla and as soon as I set the cake down in front of her, she picked it up and took a big bite out of it. It was so cute. She really did a number on that cake. She ate almost the whole thing. She had cake from head to toe! I think that was her favorite part.

After getting her cleaned up, it was time to start saying good-bye to some of our guests. It was still pouring down outside! Even though the rain changed our plans, we still had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends! Makayla was so tired after her party. She fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to leave.

Monday, we spent the day relaxing and getting all packed up for the trip back to Texas. We headed out of Birmingham at around 5:00. Makayla did better on the trip back because she had her own seat. The plane was almost empty, so they let us use an extra seat so she would have more room to move around. We were so very tired when we got home but we had to get ready to go to work the next day.





Thank you to everyone that came to the party and made it a special first birthday for my sweet baby girl!!