Hump Day...

Ok.... I typed that title and then I had to double check that today is actually Wednesday. I'm running on about 5 hours of real sleep over the past two nights and I'm a little less than together this morning. But since I've been so good about blogging lately I didn't want to let today pass without a post.

First, I was reading some of my old posts last night and hello.... I was so much more creative with my writing back in the day (the day before I was wrangling three kids all day long and trying to find a minute here or there to post). So... I've been inspired to add a little more creativity and thought into my words. We'll see!

Next item... tomorrow is my darling Laila's second birthday. Two. I can't believe it. I will post her birthday post tomorrow or Friday... depending on how things go around here. But be looking for some cuteness in pictures by Friday.... one thing this baby girl definitely has going for her is her cuteness.

I'm having a bit of a week, if you know what I mean. Apparently a two-year birthday means that the child gets the attitude of a teenager. It seems my favorite phrase this week is "stop crying and whining." If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. Add to that a crazy schedule for Jared (translation: I'm home alone with the girls more than normal). And if that weren't enough, Mika Lynn is sick for the first time and is not sleeping well. That means this Momma isn't sleeping well, or at all. I actually looked in the mirror a little while ago and almost didn't recognize myself. Beauty sleep is a real thing people. Just saying.

I spent most of Tuesday doing this.

And this. Poor baby.

Finally, guess who is sitting up all on her own....

We are still working on it, of course, but she's getting the balance thing down really quickly! She won't roll over, but she's sitting up! Silly, silly girl.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Guess Who...

had her first trip to the movie theater..... Peyton Lou!

We have been wanting to take her to a movie for a while now and we thought Toy Story 3 would be the perfect first movie experience. And since we were going to see TS3 we decided to do it "right" and see it in IMAX 3D.

So Monday afternoon, we took the baby girls to Nana's and headed across town to the movie theater.

She was so stinkin excited!

We got there and P immediately spotted the TS3 movie poster so we had to go check it out.

Peyton and Daddy

And Momma with Peyton

I'm not sure who was more excited to do this, us or P! Actually I was both excited and emotional... I fought back tears all day thinking about how big she was getting and how happy I was to get to make this memory with her. Anyway, I overcame my emotions and we had a blast!

Before we left, we explained to her that she had to keep the glasses on or she couldn't see the movie. I knew she'd be cute in those glasses, but I had no idea how cute she would be....

We had a great time and it was a great movie! I think her first trip to the theater was a huge success! And just because she is so darn cute, I'll leave you with another picture of my big girl.

Happy Tuesday!

Reunion Top Ten... well, Top Thirteen!

There are a few more memories I want to document from our Reunion weekend. So I thought I would do it in Top Ten format....
These are in no particular order other than the order in which they came to mind just now.

13. Seeing Mamaw walk into the depot Saturday at lunchtime with a bowl of dumplins for my dad. He is so spoiled! She said she knew he wouldn't get in line to get some until everyone had gone through the line and that they would be gone by the time he got up there. So she kept out a bowl especially for him.

12. Laughing with my husband and my dad and the rest of my family.

11. Four words: Nanny's. Homemade. Ice Cream.

10. Watching my girls play with their cousins. They had a blast and it makes me so happy to see them love their family!

9. Seeing my girls get so excited to see Mamaw Sunday afternoon and then watching her feed Laila bites of food. They love each other so much and I know being with my girls (and all of her grand and great-grand babies) brings such joy to Mamaw.

8. Seeing sweet Kohlie run up to Jared and give him a huge hug. My heart smiled at that. He is such a good man and I'm lucky to have him.

7. Hearing the story of my cousin Mike who took the challenge at the Mean Pig restaurant in Cabot, AR. He did not win the challenge, but instead won himself a night in the bathroom, miserable, with a bottle of Pepto Bismol and some pain meds. He said he learned his lesson and it was so not worth it!

6. Getting reunion cups and coozies... my uncle brought them for everyone. This is the first time we have had anything like this and I was so excited. I love coozies because I love to drink Dr. Pepper from a can! And I love plastic cups. Weird, I know, but I prefer to drink from a plastic cup than a glass one!

5. Seeing people enjoy the dessert I brought. I love to cook for my family and friends and even though I'm not that great, I still really enjoy it!

4. Actually taking the girls to church by myself... I don't go many places with them alone and it always boosts my confidence. Thankfully, my sweet cousins helped me tremendously Sunday morning - Thanks Kyle, Kris, Kelsie and Kylie!

3. Watching Laila crawl up in Mamaw's lap and give her a sweet hug. Then she did the Laila thing and rubbed her face so gently. Precious!

2. Uncle Larry recognizing that I work so hard at being a mom and telling me that he sees that. I don't do my "job" for the recognition, but it sure feels good when someone comments on how hard I work as a Mommy.

1. Mamaw telling Uncle Billy not to eat a piece of the cake that she made for us to eat on Friday. There was about half of it left and she wanted to give it all to Whitney. She did tell him he could eat the crumbs in the pan though!

Reunion 2010

One weekend in June, every summer, we pack up and head to my dad's hometown for our family reunion. My dad comes from a big BIG family. My grandparents had TWELVE children..... yes, 12!!! From that has grown a huge family. I think the headcount for Saturday's festivities was 75. Anywho.... we head there on Friday afternoon usually. **this may be a little much for one post, but I really want to remember it so I'm documenting as much as I can on here.**

This year, Jared was working late Friday so my dad decided he would come to our house Thursday and take me and the girls with him Friday morning. Jared met us Friday night after work. So we woke up EARLY Friday morning so we could get to Sam's at 7am before we headed to my grandmother's house.

The girls wanted me to take their picture in the freezer section of Sam's. They are so funny!!!

After buying our Sunday lunch groceries at Sam's, we headed out. We got to Mamaw's and the fun began. We hung out all day Friday with the few family members who were there already. Friday evening we headed to my mom's to celebrate her birthday (again!) then back to Mamaw's for more fun.

This year, we rented the 3 room suite at the hotel so our room became the "hot spot". We hung out until about 11pm (if you know me, you know that is WAY past my bedtime).

Saturday morning I woke up early thanks to my lovely alarm clock:

She and I got dressed and ready and headed to the grocery store. I had been asked by my darling hubby and brother-in-law to make my banana pudding so M and I went to Kroger and got what we needed then headed to Nanny's to make it in her kitchen. (Nanny and Mamaw live about 10 minutes from each other)

We made banana pudding and then came back to get the big sisters dressed and ready for the day. We got everyone rounded up and headed to start our fun-filled day. Our family rents out the old train depot in town so that we can have a space big enough for all of us. It works out nicely because it is separated into two rooms. We use one for eating and visiting and the other room for the kids to go wild.... and that's exactly what they do in there!

Of course, by "kids" I mean the big ones like Jared and the little ones too!

Lunch is served at noon and consists of veggies, fried chicken, salad, and chicken and dumplins. Mamaw makes them in a HUGE pot and they are the highlight of my meal! And we put a hurt on that pot of dumplins!!

Yes, we scrape it CLEAN!

We all sit around and visit and eat and the kids play and it is really just a nice time for everyone.

Papaw is very sick and we know he won't be with us much longer. What a blessing it was to have him at the reunion this year. His Hospice Nurse brought him and it was wonderful. We made sure to take some family pictures with him and Mamaw.

I will cherish this picture forever! I love to see how much they love each other still. 

My dad and his baby girl.... he loves his girls!!

Laila Whitney and her Aunt Whitney!

Mika Lynn and me! I love this baby girl so much!!

After lunch, we decided to take the kids swimming at the hotel for a while before we laid them down for naptime. I am so blessed that Nanny came to the reunion with me and she stayed around to help me with Mika while J and I took the big girls to the pool!

No trip to the pool is complete without Cheetos!

Laila gets really hot and her poor cheeks turn bright red. I felt so bad for her to be out in the 100 degree weather with her face so red, so I decided to take her back to the room early. Jared and Pappy stayed with Peyton and when they came back to the room they told me she was swimming without floaties! I'm so sad I missed it. But I am SO proud of her. Is she really this big?

After we took our naps we got cleaned up and headed back to the depot for dinner. We order pizzas from the best local pizza place and take them up there to eat. The girls were thrilled to get to go back to the depot because they LOVED playing in there.

Hula Hoop!

Jared loved playing in there as much as the girls did! :)

Sweetness!

So we had dinner and hung out for a bit then headed back to the hotel to put Miss M to bed. Once again, our suite was the place to be, so we had a good crowd over. It was such fun visiting and hanging out with them. Jared and I both decided we wished we could see them more often and spend more time together. And the great thing is that we all have kids about the same age and hopefully they can grow up together!

How sweet is this Sister picture! I LOVE it!

Sunday morning we get up and go to Mamaw's tiny little church to worship together as a family. This year we decided to do something a little different for lunch. My dad and Jared stayed home from church and went to the depot to grill burgers and dogs for us all! It was wonderful. They did a great job!! We usually try to go out to eat somewhere but it is just getting harder and harder to find a place to accommodate us. This was the perfect solution.

The Grill Masters!

Enjoying lunch together!

Laila is so in love with her Mamaw. She was so sweet to her all weekend and it completely melted my heart! When Mamaw came in for lunch today, Laila got so excited to see her and asked Mamaw to sit by her.

Look how happy they both are! I'm seriously holding back tears right now thinking about how sweet this is and how much I love seeing Mamaw this happy while she is in the middle of such a hard time with Papaw. 

We got home tonight about 5pm and Jared and I both agreed that the weekend was a huge success and so much fun! We can't wait to do it again next year!! What a blessing my great big family is... I love you all!

An Interesting Day...

Some kids play "pretend" with Barbies or action figures, some play "pretend" with dolls or stuffed animals... my kids play "pretend" with crayons!

This is Peyton's "castle" complete with all of us who she locked in there because we weren't being very good. Thankfully, she let Daddy save us from inside the castle. Ha!! I'm thinking its time for some new toys :)

While Peyton was playing with the crayons, Laila was busy doing this...

Picking up the crayons she dropped. I should have taken a video of this because she was singing "clean up, clean up..." and it was hilarious! I love her sweetness!!!

And tonight while I was giving Mika a bath, a certain little girl (Peyton) decided to snatch up my camera and take some photos herself.... Here is what I found when I put the pictures from the camera onto the computer:

Food Network! Disregard the state of my mantle, it is a work in progress! A few things got stuck there this week until I find somewhere for them to "belong". And the white patches above the tv.... another project we are trying to finish.... I can't believe I'm posting this picture. 

This would be our couch.... nice angular shot!

Laundry on the coffee table! At least she took the pictures after we picked up all the toys :)

We have some fun planned for the weekend and I'm going to try to be good and take many pictures so I can share with you all! Have a great weekend!!!

What I've Been Up To...

I've had quite a few projects going this week:

I've had some people ask me to make some things for them and I needed them all done by this weekend - done!

I've hung some of the pictures and things in the house that needed to be hung.

I finally made a third bow holder - I've been needing one for a while and I finally got it done. Complete with bows!

I've got birthday invites ready to be mailed.

Birthday plans are still in the works. I need to get on the ball since we will be partying in a little over 2 weeks!

And I've working on some things with my girls - little daily projects and such for them to be involved with! Such fun!!

I decided to dress Little Miss up today in some Hog attire - love it!! I made her the red headband to match the red bows and I'm so loving it!!!

Go Hogs!!!

What's Left? Well I still need to pack for the weekend and clean the house and mail the invites.... nothing too crazy!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!!

Weekend Recap

Saturday my mom and Nanny came to celebrate my mom's birthday! I was so happy to have them. On the agenda for the day : Shopping and eating!! What could be better, you ask?! Well.... Jared decided to join us, so that made it better for me. He rarely attends the shopping days, but we all love it when he does!

So Saturday morning I got the girls all dressed up in some cute, but cool, summer clothes. Nanny had been shopping that week and brought them some new dresses and such. She LOVES to shop for her baby girls and I love it too! She picks out the cutest stuff!!!

Big sisters in their matching sundresses. I let them pick out which dress they wanted to wear and they picked the same one, of course!

M's shirt says "Born to Shop" and that is about right! This girl was perfect all day Saturday!! How big is she? Sitting all by herself in the recliner! 

We shopped and found some things we were all looking for and some things we weren't looking for too! It was such fun! I helped Nanny pick out some clothes for L for her birthday. She is such a blessing and such a good Nanny. I remember when we were growing up, she always had a gift for me on my sister's birthday and one for her on mine. Now she makes sure to do that for my girls. It is so sweet - she doesn't want anyone to feel left out or less special! So all the girls got some gifts!

I never go to Kohl's because where it is located here, I never drive by it. But we got a coupon last week so Nanny and I decided to go there.... um, hello... it is a good thing I never go. We cleaned them out!! Not really, but we found some good gifts and some things for all of us too. Everything was on sale and then we got 15% off that at the register with our coupon.... we did good!

We spent yesterday doing whatever J wanted for Father's Day. We watched movies and had lunch at one of his fave restaurants. I cooked one of his favorite meals for dinner and we watched more movies. It was a nice day, except for the fact that he had to work some.

This morning I took P for her 3 year check-up. Seriously, how can she be that old? She was wonderful! I am so proud of how good she was at the doctor's office. She played "pretend" in the waiting room then was so good for the nurse and the doctor! As a reward, the doc gave her a sucker!

She is such a goofball! I love it!

I hope you all have a great Monday and a great week ahead! We have some projects, a birthday party to plan and a few other things going on and a big weekend to look forward to! I'll try to post as we do our projects and such!

Happy Monday!

The Night I Said "Yes"

Today Kelly is doing Show Us Your Life - Proposal Stories... and I thought I would join in.

Jared and I had been dating for about 7 months when he proposed. We knew we were "the one" for each other, but I didn't have any idea he would be ready to propose so soon. We had planned a date night on October 1, 2005 to go eat at our favorite restaurant. We didn't get to go there often so it was a special date.

The week before that Saturday night he had been acting really weird. At one point, we were hanging out one evening and he had stepped out of the room. His phone started ringing and I picked it up to take it to him and I looked at the caller ID for some reason and it said "Jen's Mom".... what the? And he actually answered it and went outside to talk. I thought it was weird but he made up some story that I actually bought (yes, I'm gullible). Later, I found out that he had called my dad to ask his blessing (he tried to talk to him in person when we were visiting but apparently I never left them alone long enough!) and my mom was returning his call so he could talk to her about it.

So I got ready that Saturday evening for our date. Jared showed up with flowers... which he never did! :) And I still didn't know what was going on. We went to the restaurant and ate our dinner. Then J ordered dessert, another thing we rarely did/do. When dessert came, he gave me a card. This was totally normal because he has always been a card-giver! So I'm reading the card and he had written a lovely poem in it that ended in the words "to make you my wife" and I'm so engrossed in the card that I still didn't get it when I read that. Or maybe I was just too full from dinner AND dessert! And while I was reading, I totally missed him getting on one knee.

He pulled out a ring, said something through his tears and proposed. I was shocked! I picked up the ring then gave it back because I didn't know what to do! HA! Of course, I said yes and the whole restaurant cheered! Then I look over and see his sister there with a video camera - so we actually have video of our engagement! Love it! Apparently the waiter and a few other people were in on it. The boy did some planning!!

It was one of the most exciting moments of my life! We left and called everyone and went to visit his family and then some friends of ours who had also just gotten engaged. I loved every minute of that night. Sadly, the restaurant where he proposed has since closed down. We miss it!

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

Thursday Thoughts...

Today I took my baby girl to the doctor for her 4 month check-up! All is good.... her stats fall right in between the big girls'. She is such a joy and everyone who meets her agrees! She got 4 shots and an oral vaccine today - no fun! She did not appreciate it and let us know! Bless it!



Have you tried these? Can we say "addicted"??!!

A certain little girl will be turning TWO in a couple of weeks... party plans in the works! I hope she feels special on her special day!

I'm totally having withdrawals from the lake. I wake up every day wishing we were heading out on the boat... but that isn't my real life! I can't wait for our next weekend on the lake though!

I'm slowly making progress with some decorating in our home.

I love my girls so much. We have been having so much fun together doing nothing much really. It is just so great to spend each day with them and help them become little ladies!!!

I'm ready for the weekend. But before I get to relax and celebrate my mom's birthday, I have to clean my house tomorrow.

On that note, I will say goodnight.

Girly Things....

I've been busy getting my girls' hair "dressed" for the spring/summer! And while I've been doing that I've had 4 people order some bows. So over the past few days this is what I've accomplished...

That's almost 60 bows and four headbands! Love it!!!!!! And now my girls' hair is lookin good!!! I'm working on getting some good pictures of my babies in their bows...

Yumm...

Looks like someone gets a little hungry between feedings, thank goodness she's able to find a snack!  Toes are tasty!!!!! 

Oh my, I love this baby! I don't remember my other girls doing this and I think it is absolutely hilarious!!!!!

I've been a busy girl doing some fun projects... maybe I'll get some pictures posted soon. 

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

Girls and Their Dolls...

Just like most little girls, my girls love dolls! We have oh so many dolls here in our home - enough that I created a special toy box just for baby dolls! :)

I love all the dolls (and so do my girls) but there are three dolls that are really special to me. They are their Wagon Train Dolls.

About once a year we go to Silver Dollar City - a theme park in Branson, MO. On each of the girls' first trips, they have gotten their Wagon Train Doll.

While we were at my dad's house a few weeks ago, we made a trip to SDC one Saturday. Since it was Mika Lynn's first time we had to get her a Wagon Train Doll...

I gave it to her today and she is in LOVE with this baby!

I love the Wagon Train Dolls because the story is that they were originally made by some crafty, creative mommas who didn't have much to make a baby doll with so they used rags and tied them together. I love this!

I only hope I'm a creative Momma like that!!!!!

Random Thoughts...

Mika Lynn discovered her feet a couple weeks ago and she LOVES to suck on her big toe. Gross and hilarious at the same time!

The girls and I were watching our wedding video the other day and when my dad started walking me down the aisle Peyton said "Mommy, you married Pappy? I thought you married Daddy!" It cracked me up!!

I'm in the process of completing my big girls' baby books (sadness) and I was getting some pictures ready to print out to put in there. All I could think of while looking at the pictures was "How did they get so big, so fast?"

Here is a little peek at each girl around 4 months old...

Peyton Lou

Laila Whitney

Mika Lynn

I got a spray tan a couple weeks ago - very disappointed in the results. 

Mika loves to "talk" but she only does it when she has her fist in her mouth.... she's so silly! 

I've been making hairbows like crazy.... the girls need some new ones for their summer outfits. This is one of my favorite things to do! And the girls have some really cute, new bows for the summer!

I miss the lake. 

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!