It's a PJ Day....

If you live in AR you know that the state has been hit hard by rain this month....and yesterday and today are no exception. So I woke up this morning and declared this rainy Friday a PJ Day at our house! I never do this.... it is very out of character for me. But given the floods outside, I don't think we will be getting out and we have some things we can catch up on around the house. So here we are.... a PJ Day!

And just because I've been very sentimental lately, here is a picture of my girls eating breakfast this morning. It was just one of those moments I never want to forget. We just recently moved my Little Doll out of her high chair and to the table and I LOVE having everyone at the table for meals... it is such sweet family time!

{Notice the baby doll at the table.... she eats most meals with us! And disregard the crazy morning hair, my girls are just like me - our hair is SO NOT CUTE in the mornings.}  {Also, is it crazy that it makes me sad that my Crazy Big Girl no longer uses a sippee cup or the baby bowls? Just look at her.... she's so big! Every day she does something else that's so "grown up" and it makes my heart ache a little....}

So there you go... Happy Friday all! Don't get washed away if you head outside and I hope you all have a moment today that is very special.

As Promised...

A Vacation Post!!! I know... a couple weeks late, but better late than never!

The girls and I headed out with Nanny to visit my sister in Biloxi, MS. That was one long car

ride.... but we had a good time! Here are the highlights...

We ate at some good restaurants...

We went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze...

We had ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery - one of my all-time favorites! It was fun to share that with my girls... and they loved it as much as I do!

We went to the beach.... the girls' first time. My Crazy Girl loved it which is no shock to anyone who knows her.... My Little Doll did not enjoy herself AT ALL. She screamed and cried anytime she touched the sand. I felt bad for taking her picture while she was screaming, but I had to capture that memory!

And finally we ended our trip with dinner out and a milkshake. P and I shared it and we tried to talk L into to sharing with us, but as you can see.... she found something she wanted more!

It is so fun doing things with my children and experiencing things with them. They had a great time on our little vacation.... the only thing we were missing was Daddy. He'll be with us on our next vacation though!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!!!!!

Ok... I think things have settled down...

enough for me to get back to my blog. Yikes, it has been a crazy couple of weeks!! Last week we welcomed my sweet new niece, A, into our big ol' family! And the good news is she and Mommy are scheduled to go home today! Woo Hoo!!!

We are loving Fall, except for the rain - yucko! And we are taking some time to enjoy this wonderful season!

Don't you just love Fall clothes!!! Seriously, I love picking out my girls' clothes each morning!

We also spent the weekend with Pappy last weekend.... it was wonderful, as always. We ate well - I'm sure I gained 3 pounds in the two days we were there (seriously, I weighed myself). We played and watched some good movies. And we rode Sugar, Pappy's horse!

L loved playing on the fence... and so did P!

P is so big and she loves, LOVES to ride Sugar. She's a natural too! It blows my mind! She was telling Sugar to "Whoa, Sugar" and "Be easy Sugar". It was too cute!

And L got to ride for the first time.... she wasn't too sure at first. So Pappy took her around the circle. And she LOVED it! {Speaking of Pappy... isn't my dad just too cute?!} I think we have another natural horse-rider on our hands! And before we knew it, this is what was going on....

Yep, that's my 16 month old baby riding Sugar all by herself (with Pappy leading her around and keeping a hand near her in case she started to fall)! I couldn't believe it!!!! And I'm so proud of her!

And most importantly, I've been spending some time with these people... the ones who make my days brighter and give me a reason to get up every morning.... the ones who make everything I do worth it....

Can I just say that my kids have a wonderful dad... he's the best! He loves his girls so much and they LOVE him!!!! It is so special. And he is the best husband - I love you J!

We had a house guest last night but I'll post pictures of that later. We should have a pretty normal rest of the week so I'll have more time to post. I've also been busy with some gifts and orders from my "craft" blog.... check it out! I'm having the best time with it.... even though all of my orders have been for family! :)

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

What a week...

and it is only Thursday! :)

I am proud to say that I am an Aunt again!!! Baby A made her debut early this morning. She is in NICU so keep her in your prayers! Mommy had some problems so keep her in your prayers too! I'll save the whole story for my S-I-L to share on her blog... but this is why I've been blog absent all week. I've been busy praying and wishing I could be up at the hospital. But they are doing ok now and hopefully I can get up there to see Mommy today! I made Baby A a hat to wear so she's super stylish in the NICU... it was such a blessing to make that for her and to pray for her as I made it. :)

I've also been busy working on some "orders" for a few friends.... I'm having a great time doing this!

That is my quick update on this week.... when things settle down I'll get back in the swing of blog things! Hope you all have a glorious fall weekend!

Something New...

Ok... I realize I still haven't posted our vacation pictures. I'm going to do it soon, I have just been SO busy with random things since we got back from Biloxi.

But I wanted to let you know that I started a blog where you can see my "crafts" and "creations". I have loved crafting for some time now and I'm happy to share my things with my friends and family. Now I can share with everyone! So check it out and let me know what you think!

Have a great Monday and I promise I'm working on the vacation post! :)

Vacation....

The girls and I are home from vacation. I have TONS of pictures to post but I don't have the time to sit down and write out that post yet.... soon, though. I'm almost caught up on all of my blog reading. :)

I just want to publicly thank my sweet husband for being so supportive and ok with me going on trips without him. He works his bootie off for our family and we are so thankful for all he does for us! We love you so much!!!! {And just so you know, he gets to do his thing when he wants to.... it isn't just me :)} We missed you terribly while we were gone and are so happy to be home with you!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Some info...

So this week is crazy for me.... we have a lot going on and some really fun things this weekend to prepare for.... and this will likely be my only post this week. :(

I have a sick little girl.... just a cold, thankfully. It has us kind of messed up. She hasn't been sleeping well (until last night) and neither have I (with her in the bed next to me, kicking and snoring). And I can tell because I have been struggling this week keeping my sanity and not losing my cool. But she is on the mend.... yay!

Anyway... I wanted to let you all know about my sweet S-I-L's Christmas Giveaway! Go check it out over on her blog. She's getting me in the Christmas spirit! YAY!!

I've even started my Christmas shopping - this is very early for me. I usually don't start until after Thanksgiving because I like to see the Christmas decor around the stores as I shop.... but there have been some things I couldn't resist for my family so I started shopping early!

I also have been working on some fun baby crafts.... I'm thinking of starting a blog devoted to only my creations... what do you think?

Ok.... I really need to get to my list of things to do today. Hope you all have a wonderful day and a wonderful week!

Baby Gear... My Thoughts

Ok, first let me say that I do not consider myself an expert on anything baby. I have two and one on the way, but I learn something new every day! Kelly at Kelly's Korner is doing a Baby Gear Linkup today in her Show Us Your Life series. I thought today would be a good day for me to participate and maybe learn some things too!

First, I would say that the most invaluable thing when it comes to babies and children is the advice of experienced moms. I have a wonderful mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, sister, and sisters-in-law who have been my "go-to" people for each and every question I have. They have never let me down and I would advise anyone to find an experienced Momma to guide them through this journey!

The one and only product that I absolutely cannot live without is Aquaphor! It is a bootie saver - keeps those sweet booties healthy and free from rash. I use it on my girls constantly! I have tubes in the nursery, the diaper bags, the overnight bags, and at grandparents' houses!

I've glanced at some posts from the list and a theme I've seen is that no one uses all those receiving blankets that are too cute. Well.... I used them with the tiny newborns but then there wasn't much to do with them... until my girls started playing with baby dolls. A whole new use for those little blankets arose! We wrap the baby dolls up and put them to sleep with their blankets. So my little opinion is to save those blankets if you have girls because they become great baby doll accessories! As do the preemie diapers that you have left over :)

Aveeno baby wash and lotions. I love the smell of Johnson's pink baby lotion but the Aveeno is incredibly gentle and makes baby skin so soft. My girls both were irritated by the pink lotion and wash but Aveeno cleared it up almost immediately.

And bags. I have a number of tote bags - all different sizes. I use them ALL THE TIME! Whether it is to pack some things separately for my girls for church nursery or to pack toys for car trips, they are always handy. I use bags to hold their clothes for overnight visits (we have suitcases for them for extended visits, but tote bags are perfect for a night at Nana's or Mimi's). I love bags and we definitely use them constantly.

A few other thoughts -

• Bumbo chair is great for a "traveling" high-chair.
• Baby swing is a must!
• You can never have too many burp cloths - they make great nose wipers once your babies grow a little and are always useful. Plus they fold up small enough to fit in a purse or whatever you take with you when you are on the go!
• Sturdy passy clip - a life saver in the car. The passy never gets lost and you can usually get it back in baby's mouth with little effort!
• Tide Free detergent or Cheer Free or any laundry detergent that is free of dyes and perfumes. It is considerably cheaper than "baby" detergents and I love using it on our clothes as well - it doesn't irritate skin or have a strong fragrance.

Ok so that isn't all "gear" but it is the baby stuff that I love and can't live without :) However, I've learned the hard way, that what works for one mom doesn't for another and what works for one baby doesn't for another. So there is a lot of trial and error - and I'm still learning things that work for us. But hopefully my list gives someone some thoughts because I've gotten some ideas from some of the posts I've read on this!

Hope you all have a great Friday and a great weekend!!!

Thursday Thoughts...

There is a noise that we hear frequently in our home.... it is the sound of a bedroom doorknob turning. Big Sis likes to wake us up to that noise each morning. So when I heard it this morning, I really thought nothing of it.... until I looked at the clock. 5:30a.m. WHAT? Too early, even for me. She came and I got her all snuggled into bed with me (Hubby was at work early today) and I told her it was too early to get up. So we both went back to sleep.... ahh I love having that little girl snuggle me. She is so sweet. She actually slept in our bed until I got all ready (showered, dressed, hair fixed, make-up on) and then we came out for breakfast.

On the way to the kitchen, we heard Little Sis waking up so we got her and headed to the table. Little Sis has been IN LOVE with her baby dolls lately so she had one with her in her bed last night. And she didn't want to put it down. And as a result, this is how she attempted to eat breakfast...

She finally put the baby beside her in the high chair and took her passy out. She was cracking me up so I had to take her picture! Don't you love her morning hair! Hehehe....

After breakfast we got dressed and all fixed up. The girls went to Nana's house today while I went to the doctor. Have I mentioned that I'm loving Fall and my girls' Fall wardrobes? Be expecting pictures because each day I think they look too cute not to take pictures of them. Here is Big Sis sporting her "Big Sister" shirt and a ponytail - she is very proud to be able to have a ponytail!

I have no idea what is up with her smile.... she's crazy!

And Little Sis actually got to wear a big girl bow today! YAY! I managed to get a little twig of hair and clip a bow to it... and I think she looks awfully cute! You can bet I'll be putting more bows in her hair now. :)

All was well at the doctor.... everything looks fine with Baby M. I got a flu shot... my first one ever! I hate shots.... seriously, I'm a big baby. But this one was surprisingly painless. Woo Hoo! I got to hear Baby's heartbeat - love that sound :) And Dr. C said she looked over the u/s and saw nothing of concern to her.... other than she feels bad for Hubby because he is incredibly outnumbered in our house! :)

I hope you all have a fantastic Thursday! I'll leave you with one final picture from this morning...

"No more pictures. Please, Mom!"