Our little walker

Ms. Ella is all over the place these days & she's trying so hard to walk.  The other night she was using the walker & I just had to share how cute she looks trying to be a big girl.  Where has the time gone, that my littlest baby is now trying to walk!  Jessica walked at 11 & 1/2 months, I'm guessing Ella will be near that age also when we see some true first steps.  She has taken some steps by herself already, but she didn't realize it.  She can also stand by herself--although if she realizes it, she falls & then acts as if I've pushed her.  Here are some pics of our little "walker" & some of her on her favorite stump in the front yard.  She loves to sit on this stump & watch her sister.  Enjoy & have a wonderful day!

Pretty little face

I grant you the outfit maybe over the top, but oh well

She always takes a step on her tip toes

Here we go

Always, a pointed toe before an actual step

Ms. Pauline's great-granddaughters

Those of you that know me well will know that I was very close with my maternal grandmother, Ms. Pauline Cunningham Jett.  Unfortunately, I don't have any images of her in digital format to share, but she was a knockout.  A petite Southern Belle (maybe 5 feet tall), with pretty grey eyes, and when I knew her, beautiful white hair.  As I have learned from various family members since I've become an adult, she had quite a sense of humor & would apparently get an entire room to laugh just by telling her stories.  She was born in 1925 & passed away when I was 17 years old.  Oh, there are so many things I wish she could have seen me do--to graduate from high school, get married, become a dentist, & have my 2 beautiful daughters!  I know she would be very proud & I know she would love, love these 2 little girls so much.  She was a seamstress by trade & made most of her own clothing even when I knew her.  When I got married my mom gave me a beautiful butterfly quilt that my grandmother had made many years ago.  I guess it's at least 50 years old, probably older, she may have made it in her 20s--I'm not completely sure; regardless, it's one of those things that you get as a young wife & think that's a great heirloom, but you display it & kind of just make it part of the furniture of your home.  Well, I've wanted to take some pics of the girls sitting on it for a while now & the other night when the light was "just right" I gave it a shot.  These are certainly not perfect...I should have used a different lens, but seeing as how I only had about 15 min. or cooperation out of the girls, they're pretty good.  To me they are very special because my grandmother was very special to me & I'm sure the girls would be so special to her.  I think that she was smiling down as I was attempting to photograph my girls sitting on a blanket she made all those years ago.  I still miss her to this day & probably always will.  Was she perfect?  No, of course not, but she did love me very much.  So even though these aren't 100% as good as I wish, in loving memory of my Gran-Gran--here are a few pics to enjoy of her great-granddaughters!

Ella's almost as big as Jessie

This is as good as it gets...I asked Jessie to hug Ella--too bad my focus wasn't perfect on Jessie ;(  But that light....ahhhh, that's pretty nice!

Hugging her sissy

Laughing with each other

Look at all those little tootsies

Pillow case dresses made by my mom---she got the sewing gene from her mom (it skipped me)

Showing Ella the butterflies on the quilt

Holding hands

Pointing out colors to the baby

I grant you Ella is eating a stick, but Jessie looks really pretty in this one

Little chubbers on Great-grandma's quilt

Wanting to have a flower off my tree

Pittsburgh Zoo

Last Friday, we had a fun day at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG aquarium.  Jessica (&Ella) also had previously been to the zoo; however, they didn't enjoy it in the same way as they did during our most recent trip.  We even got to spend some time with our friends Michelle & her daughter, Cailyn--who is a little older than Jessie.  Jessie thought it was great that I let her ride in the stroller, but unbuckled her so that she could get in & out as she pleased.  Her favorite animal right now is an elephant, which she calls a "yeah-yeah"---don't know where she got this, but it is her word for an elephant & she was squealing with delight & saying this as we saw the elephants in their habitat.  Another treat for her was seeing the baby elephant get its bath in the elephant house.  Jessica was mesmerized by the little elephant!  She also enjoyed seeing all the MoMos  in their monkey house.  Ella wanted to take it all in from the comfort of the stroller, although she did get excited to see the pink flamingos.  All in all they did great, they only got grumpy once it was naptime.  We ended our 2nd visit to the zoo with some Dippin' Dots--Jessica didn't feel the need to use a spoon & just decided her hand was quicker---that's my girl.  It was a great time & we enjoyed spending time with our friends.  Enjoy some pics of our trip to the zoo.

She always loves a big kitty

Our friend Cailyn....check out the nail polish, is she cute or what??

Little friends

She's not used to a mother who has a camera permanently attached to her face & kept pointing at mine ;)  My girls just think it's normal!

Wanting to move on to check out the elephants

I really like this one...mama & her big baby

Totally mesmerized

Measuring themselves in comparison to the baby elephant

Cailyn was trying to show Jessie something

Snack time @ the ape exhibit...look at the t-shirt, it says blame it on my sister

Taking it all in

She got to touch a stingray for the 1st time

Loving all the fishies

Shark tank

The goat really liked Ms. Cailyn

Just thought this was worthy to include

I'm always amazed when I use my  70-300mm lens & zoom all the way in, how there's no distortion