TANTRUMS!

They've started.

Willa had her 15 month check up at the pediatrician last week.  Her doctor asked me if Willa had started throwing tantrums.  And she really hadn't.  He said she would probably start throwing them pretty soon.  I think she heard him.  It wasn't 24 hours later that she threw her first tantrum.

It's hard to take her seriously when she is screaming and crying (or pretending to cry) and acting crazy.  Sometimes I have to laugh and sometimes I want to tape her mouth closed.  The pediatrician told me to ignore her tantrums so that's what I do.  The only thing that seems to help is to let her go on for a minute and then ask her if she needs a hug.  She usually comes running, gives me a big hug, and calms down.

Here she is this morning.  I made her pancakes (which is not the norm in my house.  We usually eat cereal and fruit).  Apparently she wasn't in the mood for pancakes.

visitors!

Amanda and Kate came to Memphis for a long weekend.  We loved having them here and having an excuse to be tourists.  Some of the highlights...     (There are A LOT of pictures. I love when my sister comes to visit because she always takes so many pics. This isn't even a quarter of the pics she took.)

Willa and I picked them up from the airport and we went directly to the zoo.  We love living close to a wonderful zoo.

in the bubble at the sea lion aquarium

the panda exhibit

cooling off after a fun afternoon

Kate had no fear.  She played in the water and had a blast.  Willa stayed on the edge, but also thought it was great fun.

On Friday, we spent the morning at the Mississippi River Mud Island Park.  

We took the monorail over the Mississippi River to Mud Island.

Then on the island, we spent an hour walking along the mile or so long relief map of the Mississippi River.  It has water flowing through it and maps of cities along the way.  It was really neat.  The end/Gulf of Mexico is a big pool with paddle boats.

The girls loved running around, playing in the water, and crossing the bridges.

the snack of the weekend...little cuties

Willa and Kate devoured the little oranges every time we pulled them out.

We rode the monorail back to the car

and then the girls crashed as soon as we put them in their strollers.

Neither one of them opened their eyes when we transferred them to their car seats.  Our next stop of the day was the cafeteria at Matt's hospital so we could eat lunch for FREE!  I love eating there.

We spent the afternoon and evening playing at my house.

We had a lazy Saturday morning and afternoon at home.  In the evening we went to a birthday party.

Here's Kate hangin' with the big kids.  They thought it was fun to deflate the bounce house and lay in it.

Such cute little cousin friends.  Willa was definitely saying "tate" by the end of the weekend.

We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Memphis walking around and eating crawfish at the Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival. 

They tasted way better than I was expecting.  We peeled and ate all of them.

We also visited Beale Street while we were downtown.

Amanda and Kate flew back to Florida Sunday evening.  We had such a fun weekend.  Thanks for coming!

set for summer...a new tricycle & sandbox

My siblings got Willa this little "grow with me" tricyle for her 1st birthday.  Thank you Auntie Amanda, Auntie Moe, and Funcle Nick!

It was an instant hit!  She loves it!

And so does Matt, as you can see in the video below. (These pics & videos were taken in the middle of March. Memphis has since completely bloomed.  Matt's already had to mow the lawn and trim bushes.)

JoJo got Willa a sandbox and toys for Easter while she was here.  It was not an instant hit.  Willa wasn't sure about the sand.  You can see her hands and feet are tense in these pictures.  But she quickly relaxed and now enjoys playing in her sandbox.  Thank you JoJo.

Make Way for Ducklings

I looked out my window the other day and saw

these cute, little baby ducks on our bank.

I was so excited at first, but I quickly realized

they were alone.  Momma Duck was nowhere to be found.

I showed them to Matt and then we spent the next 24 hours worrying about them and checking on them and researching what we should do with them.  They stayed on our bank the whole night and of course, a storm rolled through.

The next morning, I sent Matt out to check on them.  I was so afraid they were going to be soaking wet and cold and maybe dead.  But there they were, swimming around and quacking perfectly fine.

Our worrying didn't stop though. 
I figured their days were numbered. 

Later in the day I was talking to our neighbor and he said he had been raising the ducks in his bathtub.  What!?! He had just let them go and was hoping they would live right there behind our houses.  What!?!  That's not really the way it works. They have since swam away and we haven't seen them in a couple days. I hope they figure out how to fly and migrate and find food and build nests all on their own...but I doubt it.