Happy Birthday Madelyn

The Birthday Girl!

This past weekend we loaded up the babies and headed to Jackson for a birthday party. One of my very best friends, Andrea was having a party for her little girl Madelyn. Our children have never met so this was very exciting and meant so much to all of us. Betsy was there with Lilli and it was just such a blessing to all be together. The birthday party was very cute and had a cupcake theme all based on Madelyn's dress. The babies were great on the long drive and Charles gets a great big kiss for coming along on the road trip.



Dan and Andrea with Bryant and Lucy Kate




Bryant, Betsy, Lucy Kate, me, Madelyn, and Andrea.
Lilli was asleep in the car with Betsy's mom.




Andrea with Madelyn and Lucy Kate


All the kids together eating cake, so precious!
Lucy Kate even took some of Lilli's cake


Dear friends!!

We love Dixie

Just a little outing to see Dixie, the babies love her so much. She wanted to see them and we wanted to see all that she had done to her house so out we went. She got out her toys and played with them so much, we had a great time!

Dixie helping Lucy Kate walk

Bryant waiting on some more crackers

They are loving some Dixie

Checking each other out in the mirror.

Snail Up!!

No need to pony up when you have a snail! Bryant loves to ride

his snail and I wanted to share these pics.

Good Morning Mommy

One of my favorite times of the day is going in to get Bryant and Lucy Kate out of their beds! They are usually very happy and they start saying "momma" as soon as they see me. I got some cute pics this morning of how happy they are.

StoryTime

Reading is so important to me and I am trying to make it something we do a few times each day. My mother is a wonderful reading teacher and always read to us so much, hopefully she will be able to take on the task of teaching Bryant and Lucy Kate to read. We were just reading Clifford before bedtime, at least I was reading and they were trying to rip the pages out.

Give Me That Toy

I left the room for two seconds and I came back to Lucy Kate on Bryant making him so mad. She wanted to pan to the learning kitchen and of course he was not giving it up. She just crawls all over him and tries to take it away. He is getting pretty rough and tough but this makes him crazy. He squirms all over to try and get away! I see time-out in the future for these little guys.

Bryant Where Are You?

Bryant is really starting to move around. He pushes himself backwards and loves to be under things. His personality is so cute and he always has this flirty look. Couldn't resist sharing these cute pictures.

A Sweet Visit

I was able to meet Cooper this week and he is so precious. Seems like so long ago Lucy Kate and Bryant were that small. Cooper is a bit of a grunter and he just stays in a little ball when you hold him. Landon is doing great and is such a wonderful mom to her two beautiful boys. We are so excited Cooper has arrived and we hope to see him soon.

Morning Hair

Bryant's hair was crazy this morning, it looked like a mohawk!

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Bryant and Lucy Kate will be turning one in a little over a month and they have never had sweets before. In preparation for the big day when they each get their very own cake we practiced last night. Val gave each of the babies a valentines cupcake and when I put it in front of them they dug right in. It was a huge mess but I think they are ready for the big day!

Our First Set of Wheels

Val and the boys gave Bryant and Lucy Kate a push buggy for there birthday, yes it is early but well worth it. She called to tell me about it this morning so I ran out and bought another one. It is an early Valentine's present (have to justify it to make myself feel better). They are too cute in them and Bryant gets so excited when he is riding beside Lucy Kate. Anna Sims came over to see us and we look forward to playing with her this summer. I see many fun summer days in the neighborhood riding in our little red cars.

Just Hanging Out

I realized I have not been taking as many pictures of the babies lately so I wanted to share a few. The days become so routine that you forget the fun stuff sometimes. Going from nap to meal to cleanup to playtime and so on the camera gets forgotten about. Anyways, I took a few pics and wanted to share these bundles of joy with you. We are about to be a year old and it seems as though we were just in that NICU wondering when we would get to take them home.

My Sweet Lucy Kate!

Look at those cute lips!

Bailey wanted to join in on the fun.

Enjoying breakfast with there favorite blueberry pancakes

He loves his bath and loves to play in the water when it is running.

Neighborhood Fun

We have such great neighbors and such a wonderful neighborhood. John and Val and there three sons live behind us and we have become very close over the past few years. Every once in awhile we get together and cook. Patsy and Donald come over and it is just fun to visit and enjoy all the kids. I got the babies all ready for bed before going over to John and Vals tonight and we had such a great time. It is so great to enjoy the simply things in life, great neighbors and friends!

Lucy Kate was providing the nights entertainment!

Sweet Rutledge playing with Bryant

Not to sure about his dad's hat.

Bryant and Patsy

The Life

I just had to share some things that my dear husband has said to me lately. He is near and dear to me and such a wonderful father but the life he lives is unbelievable. He farms so they have about 3 1/2 to 4 months off and he loves to hunt, so this is exactly what he does. I love that he has this interest and it is a great hobby that I soon hope our children enjoy, but to love that life again is unbelievable. Never does he have to think about who is going to keep the children while he hunts from sun up to sun down, does he have to plan what to cook for supper, or even go to the store (unless I specifically ask, make out the list, and talk him through the store, it would have been quicker to do it myself). Never the less he says to me last night "do you have any help tomorrow" I nicely responded with "do you have any help tomorrow". He looked at me with this puzzled look and I told him just once I would like to live the life of no worries. He also managed to tell me that I would not feel so overwhelmed if I did not come up with so much to do each day. Again I responded so nicely with "Oh yes I make up all the laundry, swiffering, mopping, dish washing, highchair cleaning, post office running, grocery store trips, bill paying, bank running, dog dealings, and last but not least the things for the children, yes I should check my list and see what all I can mark off and not worry about. I know all of you feel this way but I just had to vent about it briefly!

Our Little London Bridge

This is what Lucy Kate does when she is trying to crawl.

Peas Again..............

Bryant does the cutest things in his highchair. This was his reaction to more peas on his tray.

The Perfect Vacation

We arrived home from Colorado yesterday after a wonderful vacation. It was mine and Charles' first time to ski and of course he caught right on, but I had a little trouble. I attempted to go up with everyone the first day without lessons and it was a disaster. Lets just say some man skied by as I was laying flat on my face and said "first day". I wanted to cry and as a matter of fact I did cry about the 8th time I fell. I made it to the bottom of that peak and I signed up for ski school. After an afternoon of that I was ready for the slopes and the rest of the trip went much smoother. We ate great food at some local places, shopped downtown, enjoyed the spa and made great memories. We all want to come back as soon as we can and would love to bring the kids. Everyday we watched all the kids and they were so cute in those little ski outfits. I had many that were passing me and making me look like a fool. I would recommend that if you have never been skiing Breckenridge is a great place to go and it is absolutely beautiful! A much needed vacation and now we are back to reality, but it was so great to come home and see how excited Bryant and Lucy Kate were to see us.

Our Beautiful View!

Ginger and I on our way to Breckenridge

We had the greatest time with Chris and Ginger

What the guys were most excited about, the hot tub

We found this crazy store with all these hats and sunglasses

All suited up and ready for the hot tub

So warm................

Standing by the fire trying to warm up!

First day on the slopes before I busted it!

Resting and waiting on Chris and Ginger

We are so ready to go back and take the kiddos!

We enjoyed the super bowl and the guys played a little pool during the game

An afternoon at the spa and much needed after hitting the slopes

Ginger enjoying her pedicure.

Our last night we enjoyed s'mores at The Motherloaded