OVERWHELMED!!

In a good way :) I am overwhelmed with the number of fun pictures and stories I have to share from the last 10 days.  I was hoping to line up a few posts to publish over the next few days as life settles back into some sense of "normal", but I have this strange feeling that life isnt going to get "normal" again anytime soon. (More on that in a later post, when I know more and can share.)

For now, I will leave you with some cute pics of our brief visit with Eric's mom, "Grandma Debbie", and stepdad, "Papa Butch".  They live about 8 hours away, so I am always impressed when Whitney recognizes them and acts like she saw them just last week :)

Whitney was excited to give Grandma Debbie her Mother's Day card :)

And of course, no visit with Papa Butch would be complete without a game of catch!  Once again, Whitney and Papa Butch enjoyed playing catch with a wad of crumpled wrapping paper :)

Which, as usual, disappeared beneath the chair :)

And unlike the last two times we've been together, we DID remember to take pics of Whitney with her Grandma Debbie and Papa Butch before they got back on the road to Pensacola. :)

It was a short visit, but nice to catch up and see Whitney interact with more grandparents :)

Later that week, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo (and by "celebrated", i mean "had some cervezas and quesadillas at Tijuana Flats) and Whitney enjoyed a playdate with one of her FAVORITE boyfriends, Connor.  Whitney adores him, and I would totally sign on the dotted line on an arranged marriage certificate for these two.  He is so well behaved (and Im TOUGH to please re: kids' behavior) and genuinely a nice kid who comes from fabulous parents :)

Is it me, or does he look like he's getting down on his knee to propose!????

Love them :) Whitney calls him "CAWNN-uh" with some sort of Boston accent.  Its adorable :)

And the next night, we had some of our very favorite besties over for dinner and playtime.  Whitney's bestie, Faith, spent the day with us and then the rest of Faith's fam joined us that evening.  We always have so much fun with the Ragans :)

They watched a little "Tangled", had tea parties, and played in the tents since it was rainy and yucky outside. :)

They would yell back and forth to each other, with Faith in the "piggie" tent and Whitney in the "pwincess" tent, they were laughing and cracking up and shouting, "I in da PIGGIE tent!" and "I in da PWINCESS tent!!" over and over and over.  Bailey was so confused :)

 

Whitney decided to take some books into her tent, along with her nbew princess pillow.  Good choice, Whitter :)

And then, of course, it was time for MORE dress up!  Whitney has recetnly become OBBBSESSSSSED with her Snow White gown.  Really, ANY dress-up clothes are fun for her, but this Snow White gown/shoes/bow/wand ensemble is the first thing she asks for every,. single. morning. and we have to rip it off her wiggly, thrashing body at the end of the day convince her to take it off before getting in the bath each night.

 (While I dont love the tantrums this dress produces, I do secretly LOOOVE that my girl has fallen in love with Snow White. LOVE.  And the tantrums are totally bearable...I am grateful that Whitney is smart enough and understands just enough for me to be able to reason with her.  She understands that the "real" Snow White doesnt sleep in HER gown, and then decides that jammies arent such a bad idea afterall.  And she understands that the "real" Snow White wouldnt want to get her ball gown dirty at the dinner table, so she wears a bib.  Soooo grateful for her ability to reason and comprehend, even at just two years old.  Otherwise, I'd be in TROUBLE!

Whitney was shouting, "Faif is TINKABELLE!! FAIF! TINKABELLE!"

I mean really, HOW CUTE ARE THEY!?!?!?

They were shouting "Bibbity! Bobbity! BOOO!!" with their wands :)

LOOOVE these girlies :)

And the Snow White obsession continues....

The next day was Saturday, and a day I have been looking forward to for 100 years! :) One of my very best friends on the planet brought her fabulous family to come see us for a week!!! We went to Disney a LOT, hit the beach, and had an AWESOME time with some of our favorite people :) We were soo blessed with great weather and fabulous company, and you KNOW you love someone a WHOLE LOT when you spend 8 days together and still dont want them to leave :)

Will be back with more KatMandoo tales and pics and adventures and plans :) Sneak peek:

And before I forget, I want to make sure I write this down.  Aside from the recent love of her Snow White costume, Whitney has really gotten into the movie "Tinkerbelle and the Great Fairy Rescue".  In the movie, Tinkerbelle finds a "human house" and meets a little girl named "Lizzie" who lives with her Daddy.  I wont spoil the movie for you (haha), but Whitney is loving it and amazing us with how much detail she remembers from the movie.

I snapped this pic when she plopped down in our shrubs in the front yard and yelled, "I wiv in da woods, just wike Tinkabelle! I wiv in da woods, Mommy! I find Tinkabelle!!"

And last night, Whitney was playing nicely in the playroom.  I overheard her talking in a sweet little voice and decided to go eavesdrop.  She was talking to her fairy figurines and saying things like "I ride da mouse, wike you!" and "I beweev (believe) I fwy (fly)!" Sooo cute.  But then things got realllllly cute a little later when Whitney came into the family room and said, "I goin to find da human house, Mommy.  I fwy wiff Tinkabelle and find da human house and Wizzie. Bubye!"  VERY matter-of-fact. This kid has such a HUGE imagination, and clearly understnads soo much detail from the movie, that she was pretending to fly with Tinkerbelle and the fairies to go find Lizzie in the human house.  Then she talked about "I ask Wizzie's Daddy. I ask him to pway." because Lizzie has a hard time getting her busy dad's attention in the movie. Whitney waved goodbye to me a few times and I told her "Ok, have a nice flight! Have fun flying! Tell Lizzie we said hi!" etc etc.  She thought it was hilarious, and kept up the awesome imagining for quite a while.

Then, as I laid her in bed, she pointed to the green light on her smoke detector and said "Say hi to Tinkabelle, mommy. I fwy wiff her to go see Wizzie!" 

This stage certainly has more obstacles than any other stage we've been through thus far, but moments like that just make all that drama and fussiness worth it.  She is becoming this "big girl" and learning sooo much about her surroundings and life and peoples' feelings.  I am looooving watching her grow up, and still feel INCREDIBLY blessed to be able to stay home with our girl, not having to miss out on one cute conversation or silly story.

And as I sit here wrapping up this post, Whitney brought me a nail file and said "I cutting my nails. WIKE MAC DO!! Mac cut her nail and Whit-a-ney cut her nail wike Mac!" She is just soaking life in, one moment at a time. :)