The Adventures of the Baby {Ducks}

Saturday, February 23rd started out like a normal Saturday.  Aaron was working& Nora had a princess birthday party to go to.  She got all dolled up in her new Merida costume (the princess from Brave) & had a blast at the party.  On the way home Aaron called & said he had surprise for Nora.  Those words made me nervous because he sounded so excited & wouldn't tell me any thing about the surprise.  We finally met him at his mom's (Grama) house & saw the surprise.  They were 2 tiny baby ducks.  They were so cute!  Nora named one Daisey & the other Donald (get it...like Donald & Daisy Duck).  I will say Aaron had a great idea getting them.  They were White Pekin ducks which supposedly make good pets.  We were going to raise them until they could live on their own at Lala's house in the pond.  That's our kind of a pet...one that takes care of themselves but we can visit with treats often.

Sadly, Donald didn't make it a whole day with us before Nora played with him too hard.  She is too young to really understand what happened or why.  She now knows things 'get dead like Donald' but she never really got upset.  It upset Aaron & I way more.  We had a little burial service for him & Nora put flowers on top of him.

The one the most upset over losing Donald was Daisey.  She became so loney.  She chirped for company constantly.  We tried to 'play' with her so she wasn't alone.  This video, Meet Daisey, shows her playing in the sink.  This one, Daisey Swims,shows her learning to swim.

Finally Monday came around & we bit the bullet & went back to Tractor Supply.  Since Donald died Nora was dying to to go to the store & get her a Minnie. (Of course...Minnie IS Daisy Duck's best friend!)  State law says you have to purchase at least 2 at a time, so we did.  Meet Minnie & Willie.  Willie has the 2 spots on his head.  Aaron really wanted to name at least one after Duck Dynasty.  They were exactly a week younger than Daisey. 

They loved to play in the water & would go crazy.  I call this the Duck Races.

Following Nora around the yard...so cute!

Ducks are gross to clean up after. Thankgoodness they weren't my idea so I got out of cleaning up their messes.  Their cage needed to be cleaned at least every other day & that was probably skimping.  Ducks poop a lot and use water when they eat so they spill a lot of water.  Yuck!  Good thing they were so cute & fluffy!

Fast forward a few weeks.  We went out of town to see Paw Paw & Dee Dee in Georgia & pick up Aaron's new-to-us truck.  Before we left Aaron quickly built a place for the ducks to live at Lala's house.  We tried to put them in with the chickens but they freaked out so bad.  The chickens were flying into the sides of their coop to try & get away from the ducks just walking around outside of their coop.  It was crazy!  Aaron make a little wire box for the ducklings to stay in with a wooden box inside it for them to sleep in to be protected.  They needed so much water & food a day (apparently White Pekins are very quick growing ducks) that they couldn't stay in our garage for the weekend alone.  We got plenty of water & food for them & even had a neighbor willing to check on them since they could spill their water & need lots of water to live.  Unfortunately, they didn't make it.  Some creature came & ate all three of them.  It was horrible!  We still miss them.  Seriously.  In case you're wondering, no, we aren't going to get any more ducks.  It was fun while it lasted but the mess trumps the cuteness.

RIP Donald, Daisey, Minnie, & Willie

Snow Day 2013

February 16th we had a big snow.  It was not our normal southern snow storm!  When we noticed it was snowing (& got over the shock) we quickly put on warm-er clothes & headed out.  Nora loved it!

Daddy quickly taught her to throw snowballs...at Mommy!

She went back & forth a million times between Aaron making her snowballs & me standing on the porch to throw it at me.  Lucky for me, she's not a softball player.

Nora was so cute in all that snow.  Her enormous pom pom hat held lots of snow in it.

Then, Daddy helped Nora build a little snowman.

Apparently our snowman needed eyes & a nose made of pink chalk...

...and a hat.  But, Nora's hat didn't fit right (& Nora needed it on!) so Daddy helped her make a 'hat'.

I think play time with Daddy was more fun for her than the snow itself. 

Aaron saying:  "Nora stand right here & hold still..." Immediately after the snow falls Nora would say:  "Do it again Daddy!"

Within minutes of the snowman being finished & playing with Daddy, Nora decided the snowman was done.  She stomped him out...just like that.  Poor guy never had a chance.

Randoms

Here are some random pictures of Nora.  They don't fit in with any particular post, but are so Nora that I thought I'd share them.

This girl love Alabama & finds that 'A' everywhere!

She loves dress up!

She loves peoples pets...& we love her loving OTHER people's pets!

Lots of Love

We started our Valentines celebrations early this year.  Hayley & Ellie spent the night for us to work on their class Valentines & we snuck in a few other Valentine's activities.

Heart Strawberries

Valentines Color By Number

A Color Hunt (okay maybe this wasn't really Valentines)

We peeled, chopped, & melted tons of crayons to make new heart shaped ones 

Ellie is assembling her valentines...sticking the crayons on the notes

Nora's love bug valentines

The day before Valentine's Day we had a play group party.  We had way too many sweets, valentines, activities, & tons of fun!  I'm so glad Nora has some little friends to have fun with. Thanks to other moms we have proof of the fun.  I couldn't take any pictures because I was leading most of the activities.  I think it's how I get my teaching fix. =)

Decorating Valentine boxes

Pretty sure that wasn't Nora's first cupcake...

Next activity was coloring heart shaped coffee filters & dropping water on them to watch the colors move.

Playing 'Don't Eat Pete'

And finally passing out Valentines before it was time to leave.

On Valentine's Day we went out to our little sweetheart's favorite restaurant...Chick-fil-a.  She loved it!

Our perfect Valentine!

Mommy's Birthday {And Nora's 1st Haircut}

This year I celebrated my annual 21st birthday.  We decided it was as good of a day as any for some haircuts.  I cut mine off and then took Nora to get her first haircut.  To say she loved it is an understatement.  She still asks about once a week to go get another haircut.  She is a girly girl!

I kept with tradition and spread my birthday celebrations longer than a week between dinners with different family members, to a cake with my Primary counselors, and a girl's night out.


I'm not sure if this video will work, but it was my 'good morning' from Nora as she sang "Happy Birthday" to me.  She loves birthdays and was excited for it to finally be Mommy's birthday.

This girl is getting so big!  She can reach the magazines at the salon.

Tutu went with us to get our haircuts.  Nora did amazingly well.  I thought she may wiggle too much or not want to sit in the chair to get her hair cut so we went to a children's salon.  She could not have proven me more wrong.  She was so excited & happy to get her hair cut.  She turned down to 4 Wheeler chair & the Lightening McQueen chair for the regular chair.  Then, she chose to watch a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD but barely watched it.  I couldn't believe how still she was.  It was like she was scared to move!

One happy girl with her new haircut!

She even got a glittered heart on her face for being so great!

Our new haircuts!