Proud Mommy...

There are a few things I'm not really sure about when it comes to my children's development. I know there are certain things they should be doing by certain ages, but I also know that every child is different and grows and learns at their own pace. I try not to push developmental things, but rather introduce them and let my kids figure it all out as they are ready. I got surprised the other day...

Peyton got a Magna Doodle for her birthday (a Barbie one!) and she has loved playing with it. Sometimes she wants me to draw something or write something on there and she tries to mimic it. She's 3, so she has a hard time with it usually. Then the other day I was doing something with one of the other girls on the couch and Peyton was drawing... she brought me her Magna Doodle and said she drew a Barbie. I, of course, expected to see scribbles when I looked up, but this is what I saw...

Needless to say, I was incredibly proud of this scary looking Barbie that my baby drew ALL BY HERSELF!  She was proud too and wanted her picture made with her drawing. :)

And in case you are wondering, she can recreate this drawing (not exactly, but she'll get all the elements each time she draws a Barbie).

I'm so proud!

What Does 70 Years of Love Look Like?

This is my Mamaw giving my Papaw some water. He is in the nursing home not doing well and she still comes to take care of him. She's been taking care of him for over 70 years and she will do it as long as she can. (I thank one of my aunts for the sweet picture). 

Papaw is 90 years old and has cancer that they are not treating for a number of reasons. He has lived an incredible life - 90 years worth!

He and Mamaw had 12 children

23 Grandchildren (including me!)

and 42 Great-Grandchildren (so far).

These numbers are by my count so I could be missing some - it is REALLY hard to keep up with that many people :)

Mamaw and Papaw are incredible examples of how to love Jesus, how to love your spouse and love your children. And I love them so much!

I pray that Papaw's days on earth are peaceful and comfortable and filled with love and family. I know that the cancer will take his body and has already started to, but I love that he is still the same Papaw - ornery and loving to aggravate everyone! 

I hope this picture and post bless you - I think it is so wonderful to see that people can still love each other so much after 70 years together. For most of us it is hard to imagine spending 70 years with someone. :) 

Happy Friday!

Moments This Week That Have Made Me Laugh...

When the girls ask me for things they know they won't get, I have a standard response. For example, Peyton says all the time "I want Nana to come over and spend the night with me" (You can substitute any family member for Nana in that sentence. I hear this request many times every day.). My response to her is usually "I want a million dollars." Then I explain to her that we don't always get what we want! Anyway.... we were driving to Wal-Mart the other day and Laila said something about wanting a toy or something in the floor of the car.... then I hear Peyton respond with "Well, I want a million dollars." I lost it... I was laughing so hard tears came to my eyes.

Laila has the sweetest voice and her words are always so cute. She speaks fairly well but the words aren't always exactly right. She's learned her cousin Amelia's name and the way she says it is absolutely precious! She pronounces it A-MOOL-YA. So stinkin' cute!

Last night Jared was changing a poopy diaper of Laila's in the girls' bedroom and Peyton came out of the bedroom into the kitchen (where I was) and said that "I told daddy I had to get out of there, Laila's diaper stinks too bad." Seriously, that was hilarious.

And finally.... I laughed at how none of my children escaped getting their daddy's feet! Please check out the following picture of my Mika Lynn's feet. Notice the extra big Big Toe. Also, feel free to notice how adorably cute her little legs and feet are!

Jared's big toe is longer than his other toes, my second toe is the longest on my feet. All of my girls have his toes. And I love it! And it constantly makes me smile!

I just wanted to document these few moments to remember later. Things have been so crazy around here lately that I've needed these little laughs with my kids. Happy Thursday - I hope y'all take some time to laugh today!

Spring/Summer Wardrobes

As promised... here are some pictures of the girls' warm weather clothes.

These are the Easter dresses that Nanny and Whitney picked out. Complete with white sweaters and white patent leather dress shoes! The girls tried them on and LOVED their "princess" dresses. :)

This is Peyton's stash! She has some CUTE summer everyday dresses and some short outfits. I have some play clothes that I didn't bring out for the photo. Actually I have play clothes for all of the girls that I didn't take pictures of. :) Peyton has some great hot pink polka dot flip flops so now we just need some white sandals.

And here is Miss Laila's wardrobe. As you can see... she has a lot of the same things as Peyton. She also has some things that I didn't bring out. We are still on the hunt for a few items to complete her wardrobe, but we'll find them! And L needs some white sandals too. I like to buy the girls good shoes that they will wear most of the time. I don't really mind spending a little extra money to get some shoes that will last until they grow out of them (which will be by the end of summer). So in the next few weeks I'll be searching for the perfect summer sandals for the girls.

And finally Little Mika Lynn's new summer clothes! She has a huge drawer full of clothes that her big sisters wore and I saved but like Laila (who has Peyton's handed down clothes) she needs some new things just for her! There are a few more things that I've picked up (and Whitney has picked up) but they are all put away in her closet so I'll just show you these. And the pink and green onesie - it has ruffles on the bootie! Love it!

So there you go... a glimpse at the fun spring things we've picked up for the girls. Nanny and Mimi have done most of the  shopping . They enjoy picking out little girl clothes as much as I do!!!

Now it just needs to get warm enough for me to put these fun outfits on my girls!!!

Happy Spring everyone!

I finally have a minute to blog and I have nothing to say! How sad is that?! I guess I'll share with you that I've almost got all three girls' spring/summer wardrobes completed. Thanks to Mimi, Nanny and Aunt Whit!! They have helped me pick out some darling things. Now all we need are sandals and we should be set! I'll be sure to take some pictures soon. This is one of my favorite perks of having little girls - all the cute clothes. And I'm thankful that I have girls who love to wear dresses (they call them princess dresses) and who love to get new shoes (just like their Momma)!!! 


Sorry for such a lame post... I'll be back with better stuff soon! :) 


Hope you all have a great week!!!

Just a few things...

Just a few things I don't want to forget...

I love stealing kisses from my girls. 

I love sweet baby breath.

I love the way Peyton is learning to sing with the radio. 

I love how Laila has to go to bed with her blanket and TWO pacis (which she calls "pass-a-pacis")

I love how Mika is starting to smile. 

I love how I could watch my babies sleep forever.... will that ever get old?

Every time you ask Laila what she wants to eat she says Mac and Cheese.

Peyton thinks she is a Mini Me and I frequently hear her disciplining her baby dolls (and her sisters). 

Mika likes to grab hold of my shirt or my finger when I'm holding her... I love this. 

Laila is starting to throw fits - for some crazy reason I'm finding her methods hilarious! 

Peyton is constantly surprising me with her intelligence. 

Mika has sweet little brown eyebrows - my only baby to have dark eyebrows!

It really is the little things that give life so much meaning. At the end of every day (even the hard days) I have so many things to be thankful for and to be happy about. I'm blessed beyond belief!

Play Group

Yesterday we went to our first play group. I've been needing some activities for my girls since it is hard on me to go many places with all three of them. So I talked to my S-I-L and we got some other moms involved and we now have a little play group.

We went to Chick-Fil-A yesterday and it was so much fun! P had a blast playing in the playroom. L enjoyed munching on fries and fruit and chatting with Jill and me. It was just a good time all around. I even took my camera... of course I was too preoccupied keeping up with my girls to take pictures. :)

On a different note, we are in the process of making some big decisions so if I'm Blog Absent for a while it is because I'm dealing with that. Hope you all have a great week!

Look Who...

Look Who... Likes her toys!

Look Who... Has a nasty case of baby eczema. We are treating with Aveeno wash and lotion and Aquaphor (my favorite baby product!).

Look Who... Got stuck playing in the bottom of the bassinet. Silly little girl! We heard her yelling "I'm stuck" so we went to find her and this is what we saw!

Look Who... Finally let me take a decent picture of the three of them! I'm actually using this picture for a couple of "projects" and I really hope it works well. It is INCREDIBLY difficult to get a good picture of these three. I have a couple that are ok, but none of them are perfect. Any advice???

We have a busy week this week but I wanted to share a few pictures from the past few days with you! Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday :)

One Month...

Today Mika and I headed to her one month doctor appointment. My darling Nanny stayed home with the big girls - I'm not sure I could have managed all three girls at the doctor's office. Thank you Nanny!

** Speaking of Nanny, she turns 70 this month and we are having a surprise party for her! I'm so excited :)

Sorry for that little interruption.... Mika was great while we waited. Then we got called back. Apparently we've given our child a name that people have a hard time pronouncing. It NEVER occurred to me that we would have to tell people how to pronounce it, but since she was born we are constantly asked if it is like Mike-a or Meek-a. It is like Mike-a :) Crazy!

Little Miss now weighs in at a hefty 9 pounds 1 ounce. My biggest baby at one month :) We had to see a different doctor at the clinic since our doctor is on maternity leave (she just had the CUTEST baby girl!). He said she was VERY healthy!!! I love hearing those words. As a mom, I feel like I sometimes need to hear from other people that I'm doing things right - my family tells me enough, but a little outside confirmation is good for me.

Now I need some advice/opinions/etc. This doctor told me that since I'm solely breastfeeding that I need to give Mika a vitamin D supplement. I was never instructed to do this with the other girls and I breastfed them as well. I realize that different doctors do things differently, but I wanted to ask all of you moms out there - did you supplement vitamin D while you were breastfeeding? I guess I just like to know how other people do things... I do plan on doing some research before I start the vitamin supplement.

We concluded the appointment with an unexpected shot. I thought the shots didn't come until 2 months, but I guess we all know how well my memory works!! Baby girl did great - of course she cried during the shot but she quickly fell asleep and is still sleeping!!

I'm so proud of my baby girl and I can't believe that we are 1/12 the way through her first year! :) I realize that I don't have any pictures of her to share.... I really have been bad about taking pictures since I've been home with all 3 girls by myself. My focus is on making sure we all survive the day, therefore the camera doesn't get much use. I'll try to get better. I know I need to.

Happy Weekend!!!

Released...

I went to my doctor today and she released me to go back to "normal".

What does this mean?? Well it means that I have to start working out now :( and I have to be more careful what I eat so I can get rid of my squishy-ness.

It also means I can officially hold my big girls again (but between us, I've been doing that already - my days aren't complete unless I've held my babies some).

It means some other things, but I won't go into that. :)

And who can believe I've had 3 blog posts this week?  What is going on? I'm a little proud of myself.

Tomorrow morning I take my baby in for her one month check-up.... has this not been the fastest month EVER? I can't believe that little stinker is a month old. I'm hoping we have a good check-up tomorrow and everything looks good with Mika Lynn. Maybe I'll even get a chance to post about it!

Have a Happy Friday (tomorrow)!

I can't believe it...

I absolutely can't believe that three years ago today our little Peyton decided to make her appearance in this world. I still remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday.

This little girl is such a joy in our lives. She is full of life and personality and is incredibly smart. We are so proud of her and proud to be her parents. 

We had her Birthday Party on Sunday afternoon. We just had our families over for cake and ice cream and snacks. Peyton loved it!!!!! I let her help pick out different things for the party to try to make it as special as I could. We kept it low-key since I'm technically still recovering from surgery and things around our house have been crazy this past month. 

It was a good party and my BIG girl had a great time - which is all that matters! 

We love you P-Town and while we can't believe you are three already, we are so proud of the little girl you are! 

Naptime...

Today is the second day I've had all three of my girls by myself. I'm still learning, but it has been better than I expected.

Right now.... there are three precious girls in my house all napping at the same time! Can I get an "Amen"?!

The littlest girl is in her crib - YAY! Although I'm a little sad she's moving out of the bassinet in our room, I'm glad because I actually worked to make her crib a special place for her. And my babies all seem to sleep better in the cribs than in the bassinet - I don't blame them... ever felt how thin and hard bassinet mattresses are?

Ok... I just realized I'm too tired to really write anything right now. My mind isn't at its best :)

Have a great Tuesday!!