Doughnuts!

One of Merrilee's favorite snacks is a chocolate doughnut.

Or a glazed doughnut.

Or a doughnut with sprinkles.

Come to think of it, we haven't found a doughnut that she doesn't like.

Half the fun of the chocolate doughnut us getting the chocolate smeared all over her face...

Born To Shop

Like mommy, like daughter.

Mommy loves to shop, and Merrilee already loves to shop too!

Like the shirt says, we think she was "Born to Shop!"

Thank you, Leslie!

Good Dental Hygiene

Merrilee loves to take a bath every morning, and brush her teeth right afterward.

And how lucky can we be -- she even loves to floss!

Blowing Bubbles

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Merrilee got a new playhouse in the back yard. She also got a new Dora the Explorer tricycle.

She spent part of the weekend blowing bubbles. The bubble toy came in her Easter basket from Doug, Kadie, and Jordan, and this weekend was the first chance she got to use it.

Emma Sue's Back Yard

Our next door neighbor, Emma Sue, has lots of cool children's toys in her back yard, since she runs an in-home day care.

Merrilee loves to be around the other children, and she especially likes this one toy in Emma Sue's yard...

Getting Caught Up

Merrilee is over her latest illness and we are finally getting caught up.

Here is some video from Mother's Day when she helped plant flowers and herbs in the back yard...

And check out the fancy sunglasses!

Pigtails

Mommy always makes Merrilee look so cute!

She picks out the cutest clothes, and Merrilee loves getting her hair done too!

A Sick Little Angel

Merrilee is sick. She has a bad, bad throat.

She had a fever of 103 Monday afternoon, and by the time we got her to the pediatrician, it was 104.9!

Children's Motrin is a wonderful thing.

She is such a sweet child, and she puts up a brave front -- even when she is ill.

Daddy will be taking a vacation day on Tuesday to nurse her, watch her, and make sure the fever stays under control.

Turning Two

Merrilee is one smart little girl.

She is already counting down the days until June 15, 2009 -- her second birthday!!!

Merrilee Loves Elmo

One day, Merrilee spotted Elmo.

Next thing we knew, Elmo was EVERYWHERE!

She loves Elmo. She loves to watch Elmo DVD's, and we credit Elmo with making her ever better at using the potty.

This week, Merrilee got her very own Elmo from Miss Karen! Thank you, Miss Karen..

Mother's Day And Planting

Merrilee thinks mommy had a wonderful Mother's Day!

First, Merrilee gave mommy a very special picture book with lots of pictures from their first nine months together. It's a fancy "brag book" for mommy.

Then, daddy gave mommy a nice new Flipcam, so that she can take lots of videos for this blog.

Then, it was off to church...

After church, we had a nice family brunch at our favorite local restaurant.

Then, later in the afternoon, we made trips to Home Depot and Lowe's to buy some plants.

Once we all got home, Merrilee helped daddy plant herbs, marigolds, and impatiens. One of Merrilee's chores this summer will be to keep all of the plants watered. She loves going from planter to planted with her watering can. And she loves using her trowel and putting on her gardening gloves...

We're really looking forward to summer together!

Photos From The Back Yard

We thought we would share some new pictures with everyone. May 1st was pretty necklace day at Merrilee's school. She was all decked out in black, white and red, and of course, she had to wear a silver necklace to mark the occasion....

It has rained a lot here the past few weeks. So today was the first chance we've had in two weeks to get outside and start getting the back yard ready for the summer. While daddy was cutting the grass, Merrilee decided to kick back in her little pink, butterfly Adirondack chair, and enjoy a snack of pretzels and milk. She loves pretzels, and she apparently loves watching daddy work too...

Also on Saturday, daddy put together a little play table that mommy bought for Merrilee. It has a built in sandbox, and a little water area with boats and a water tower. Merrilee already loves it. She giggled and splashed and loved burying daddy's hands in the sandbox. One thing about Merrilee -- we're going to encourage her to play hard and not be afraid to get dirty. Dirt comes out with soap and water, right? You can tell she really loved her new table....

We think Merrilee is really going to love the back yard this summer. We'll start pumping out the pool tomorrow, and within the next two weeks, we should have it power-washed and painted, and we hope to have it re-filled by Memorial Day. If it's one of those terribly hot and humid summers in Baltimore, we expect the pool will get a lot of use this year. Merrilee can hardly wait!

We hope everyone has a great week! Daddy is looking forward to the 134th Preakness next Saturday.

Thank You Auntie Em

A special shout out this morning to Aunt Emily...not Merrilee's Aunt Emily, but Kassidy's Aunt Emily. Kassidy is Billy and Nikki's daughter. We were part of the same travel group on our trip to China last year, and the link to their blog is in the right column of our blog.

Aunt Emily stops by our blog frequently, and she read about Merrilee's little issue with biting at pre-school...behavior that thankfully, seems to have mostly just been a phase and a defense mechanism with bigger kids.

What a surprise when we got a package from Aunt Emily about two weeks ago, with a surprise gift for Merrilee. This t-shirt has shaped our attitude about dealing with these "terrible two" phases.

So thank you Aunt Emily. Merrilee loves your shirt, and these were taken right before she headed out to school this morning.

It was a rainy weekend in Baltimore last week, and more rain is expected most of this week. But hopefully, it will dry out on Saturday and Sunday, and we can get some plants and help Merrilee start an herb garden for the summer.

Photos Of The Week

At the request of some friends, here are some pictures of the week with Merrilee. First, she sleeps like and angel. The little bunny in her arms is a stuffed animal we shipped to her orphange in China before we got her. She had it in her arms when she was put in OUR arms for the first time, and she has slept with this bunny every night.

Next, buckle up, or rather, buckle in time, in her car seat in daddy's SUV...

And finally, Merrilee just loves strawberries. You can't slice them up, or she won't eat them. She has to hold them in her hand and eat them whole. She knows not to eat the little green part at the top...

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. From our home to yours...