thesellers.net

While at the aquarium, Molly started talking to the fish. Then Emmie joined in.

Our last morning in Gatlinburg a few of us headed to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. It was literally down the hill from our lodge, so we decided to check it out. Molly and this fish appear to be seeing eye to eye.

Emmie and Leah enjoyed watching the seahorses.

This aquarium had a long tunnel with a slow moving walkway that allowed you to go under the sea. The tunnel was small enough that you really felt like you were right next to the animals.

Molly and Leah wanted nothing to do with these guys, but Emmie was up for petting this horseshoe crab.

The aquarium was full of little tunnels you could crawl in to get up close and personal with the undersea life.

Our last stop was to see the penguins, up close and personal.

Since we won't see my family in December, we posed for our family Christmas photo Friday morning.

We then headed inside and exchanged gifts with G'Mom, Grampa, Uncle J, Aunt 'Chelle, and Emmie. Molly is shocked by these socks.

She was also very excited to get a Belle doll.

Chad sometimes sticks a little Lego man on his camera to give the girls something to focus on. After using it for the pictures, Leah wanted to play with it. Even after getting a bunch of Christmas presents, she kept coming back to playing with the Lego man.

I love this picture of Leah opening her ornament from Grampa.

Emmie had to check hers out from all angles.

After the gift giving had concluded, Leah took a minute to teach Grampa a bit about how to use the iPad.

We headed to Gatlinburg, TN to gather with the Batson extended family for Thanksgiving. We arrived on G'mom's birthday, so we had to celebrate. Here G'mom is receiving her fantastic birthday hat Aunt 'Chelle made for her.

The morning of Thanksgiving we hiked up a mountain to see a waterfall (and burn some calories before the feast!).

Molly got a lot of extra time with G'mom and Grampa since we allowed her to have "special" days with no naps.

The girls are still not fond of big or active dogs, but Max is neither of these. Max enjoyed sitting quietly on Dot's lap, and Leah thought that made him the perfect dog to pet.

The house we rented had a pool table, which was lots of fun for adult and child alike.

The Batson clan (well, almost all of us).

Our family was going in three different directions the morning of Leah's party. Chad played a tennis tournament that weekend, including an early morning match before the party. Uncle J tagged along to watch and be our event photographer.

At the same time, Molly had her first Fall ballet class. So, Aunt 'Chelle, Emmie and G'Mom took her. Here Molly is showing how she leaves class by demonstrating her curtsy.

That evening, G'Mom and Grampa watched all three girls so that the parents could have a night out. The girls enjoyed reading with Grampa before Leah went to bed.

A Sunday afternoon photo op.

Hold on girls!

While Molly was at preschool on Monday, the littlest girls had playtime at the playground.

The train is a good place to sit and talk it out with G'Mom.

Just Leah and her mom.

Emmie and Molly had fun helping G'Mom bake cookies. Though, all Molly really wanted to do was lick the spoon!

A good rainy day activity? Swimming, or swinging, in the hotel pool.

A told B, and B told C
“I'll meet you at the house
for Leah's party!”

“Whee!” said D to E F G
“Are you coming to see
the coconut tree?”

Chicka chicka boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
We'll find out when you RSVP!

When Leah consistently started choosing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for a bedtime story, I knew it would be the perfect theme for her 2nd birthday. The party started with making Boom Boom shakers. It takes a lot of concentration to fill a shaker with beads.

The kids then sat for a reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and used their shakers to go boom boom!

To the surprise of many, I did not make the cake this time. Chad convinced me to focus on the rest of the party prep and have it made by Oh What a Cake. It was great decision and a great cake.

The basic story of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is about the alphabet climbing to the top of the coconut tree. So, naturally we had to have one present.

Thanks for inspiring silly ways to play with balloons, Uncle J!

Leah was so excited for the birthday song that she even sang it to herself!

To fully appreciate the taste of the cake, Leah thought it necessary to close her eyes. Though, when you do that you must open your mouth as wide as you can to make sure it gets in.

Who needs a fork? Icing, finger, tongue.

Then it was present time and the kids were definitely present.

Leah's very into baby dolls right now. This one came with a bottle, which was a big hit.

She also enjoyed reading a fun, new book.

And as a party favor, guests left with colorful alphabet cookies.

Skit skat skoodle doot.
Flip flop flee.
Thanks for coming
To Leah’s party!

Leah turned 2 on the 16th, so we celebrated with cupcakes from the new Kupcakes & Co.

Two candles can be tough. It helps to call in some reinforcements.

She had singing birthday calls,

practiced tearing open gifts, a skill necessary for her party,

then played with some of her new toys.

Happy birthday big girl!

The celebration continued with lunch at Grams and Pop's house. While waiting for lunch, Molly showed Grampa her iPad skills.

Grams made a great lunch, but this trifle was what many of us were really looking forward to!

Leah played peakaboo with everyone.

Leah now loves to say (with force) "boh." It's said with a deeper voice and lasts a few seconds. It's quite hilarious. You can see a video of it here.

The main event, Leah's baptism, arrived Sunday morning.

Molly assisted in pouring the water.

Leah did great! No tears, and she even gave some good smiles and clapped for everyone.

Grampa and G'Mom finished the baptism with some bell playing.

We were grateful that so much of our family could be with us for this special day.

Mom and baby.

A close up of the pretty girl!

Leah with Grams, the dress maker. The dress was made for Aunt Caroline's baptism.

And if you missed it, you can watch the video of Leah's baptism here.

We went to the pool for a little wet fun. The splash pad was a big favorite. We did a little jumping,

ducking under the water,

zooming through the water,

and finally, some swimming in the water.