Insta-Abby

I was planning on linking up for InstaFriday, but then, I thought it would more fun to do an Insta-Abby.

Ah, the joys of technology.

They didn't have any of this fancy technology when I had my first and I didn't have a cell phone with such a nice camera when I had my second born.

My third, well, the first three {eek!} years of her life have been documented using Instagram quite a bit.

This is one of the first pictures I took when I started using Instagram.

It is still one of my favorite pictures.

Look at those baby cheeks and the nose and well, the everything.

This girl, holy smokes.

The pigtails, I die.

Dollface.

I have no words.

I love this pic so much that it's my lock screen on my phone.

The scrunchy nose, the pigtails, could she be any cuter?

Summer fun at the pool.

Big girl wearing mama's sunglasses.

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house, she was roaring at us.

She was terrified of the fireworks, homegirl was not a fan.

She was a fan of Daddy holding her and holding a sparkler.

My mom came in town to celebrate all four girls' birthdays.

All four girls' birthdays {my niece included} are within about 6 weeks of each other.

I recently took this one, I love her excitement at a new coat.

Our little super model was telling me that she was 2.

Her first picture as a 3 year old.

Wow, my baby is 3!

This morning she had her 3 year check-up, homegirl is healthy, praise the Lord!

Our pediatrician and his nurses gave Abby, Ainsley and Cameron {niece} little tiaras and fairy wands.

They even gave Abby a birthday cake sticker.

Happy Birthday Angel Face Abby.

{That's what my dad calls her}.

You are such a delight, your spunk, sass and liveliness bring just joy to us.

I thank God for you my sweetheart.

Love,

Mama

5

Holy smokes Ainsley, the years have flown by. 

This girl, well, she turned 5 today.

Without even asking, the nerve!

She told me that Jesus told her that she could turn 5, so I'm okay with it...sort of.

This girl, who I prayed daily, hourly and sometimes by the minute for is 5.

It seems surreal to me that:

A: she stayed in my bell until full term

B: she's here, real and not some figment of my imagination

C: that K and I were chosen to be her parents.

Regarding item C, I have to tell you that this kid rocks.

She's got compassion and nurturing in spades, she is a major goofball, has a wicked sense of humor, has a will that tests mine like crazy and is just all around awesome.

In the words of K "She's a goober pants."
One of her nicknames is goofball supreme.

She is super goofy, it's awesome.

Have I mentioned before that Lee is obsessed with the movie Pocahontas?
She is, big time.

K and I decided that for her birthday we would try to get her Pocahontas and John Smith.

{She has always asked for the boy to the princess.}

Did you know that they don't sell the Pocahontas/John Smith dolls in stores?

Plus, we don't have a Disney store here.

wah wah wah

K found an awesome deal online.

The above picture was her excitement at getting P & JS.

The below picture is her posing them, she's a hopeless romantic already.

Happy Birthday Lee, we love you more than words could express.

She up and decided to turn 10 on me

Adison's first picture as a 10 year old.

Double digits.

Yikes.

K was so kind to point out that she will be gone, at college, in 8 years.

I didn't appreciate that reminder, at all.

This girl.
Sigh.

She slays me.

She is so kind, intelligent, witty, insanely goofy, talented, artistic, athletic, creative and thoughtful.

My mom came in town this past weekend to celebrate all four girls' birthdays, my niece's plus our three girls.

She also watched my brother and I run in The Color Run, yes, I did it again.

I'll do a post about that tomorrow.

Neither one of us look very excited in this picture, but we were.

We had just finished Adison's dinner choice, Pasta Bake AKA Baked Ziti.

She's not a fan of cake so we made sundae's for dessert.

The girls loved picking their own toppings, girls love choices.

My Dad got Adison a Barnes & Noble gift card, she is an avid reader.

She perused the shelves several times, carefully choosing which books she wished to purchase.

It was funny watching her pick out books, then declaring that she was only going to get paperback because they were cheaper.

Then, we needed to tally up the prices because she wanted to have some money left on her gift card.

It was awesome.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Data entry and spring cleaning

Today, while Abby slept I worked on some data entry.

Did I tell you that I am on a subcommittee for the PTO?
Well, for that committee I am on another subcommittee, awesome sauce.

For the second subcommittee we are working on a study topic trying to find out about communication among other things between schools and parents.

We were expecting to get maybe a couple hundred responses and were thrilled to get close to 900.

Such a great number!

We have a couple hundred paper copies of the survey that need to be entered so we can tally results and whatnot.

So that has been my mission, get my portion of the written surveys entered.

You know what I've discovered?
I really enjoy data entry.

Yep, that's right.


This morning around 11 o'clock I got a call from Adison's school, she puked.
I was worried about her, my poor baby.
But then, I get there, she's laying down on the cot/bed thing and she says, Mommy, I feel fine.
Oh, okay.
 We are 99% sure it was from her donuts, sugar overload.
Now she's home for two days, score!
We of course had to stop by Sonic to pick up a Sprite for her and treat her sisters to Sprites too.

Abby has been galloping around the house singing
Bate bate, chocolate

She's a big Dora fan.

Spring Cleaning.

The kids DE-MOL-ISH-ED the house on Saturday.
I had been putting off doing a big cleaning but K took one look at it and declared it time.
For a while the house was even messier but then, at long last, it was clean.
Less than 24 hours later it was trashed again.
But at least it was a clean trashed???

Ainsley starts ballet tonight.
She is beyond excited and told me earlier that she wanted to go right then and wait outside there until is started.
Too bad it was like 5 hours before then.

I minimized the toys and clutter.
I was seriously feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff in our house.

We celebrated my Dad's birthday this weekend.
It was a lot of fun, good food, wonderful company.
Such a nice celebration!

How was your day/weekend? 

It was a happy New Year

I originally wrote this post on January 2nd, but somehow missed posting it. Sigh.
Things have been super busy lately, between the kids, being on different committees for Adison's school and I am now watching some friends of our darling little girl, it has been crazy.
Crazy in a good way, a really good way, but still crazy, ha! 

This past weekend K and I celebrated our birthdays.

Since my mom and step-dad live a bit too far to make it for Christmas, we decided to combine the two.

The girls had. a. blast.

My step-dad is amazing with them.

He took them out to do some mole scouting and patiently listened to all of their stories.

He was great with them.

Seeing my mom with my kids is a blast.

I never realized how many things that I say that she also said.

It's really funny.

Adison, Pappy and Max.I think that Adison would have been more than happy to have cuddled with Pappy the entire weekend. 

On Saturday {K's birthday} we headed across the border to Oklahoma to enjoy one of my childhood favorites, Goldies.

Yum.

Adison and I shared a humungous plate of chili cheese fries.

How cute is this!?! 

The kids spent the majority of the weekend rocking on it.

The birthday couple on Saturday night.

We had beer can chicken for dinner on Saturday.

The look like they're fighting.

How cute are these skirts???

My mom got them for the little girls for Christmas.

I love the princess, biker look.

Ainsley was watching my mom act goofy.

She didn't know what to think, ha!

Ainsley was sporting her new princess pajamas, they are already a favorite.

Because, Ainsley likes pink and princess.

Those are her words.

This was goodbye.

Waving goodbye to my mom was hard, but seeing her smile so happy made it better.

My mom and I are best friends, we talk about everything and I so enjoyed spending time with her.

Just chatting and catching up over a cup or two...or three of coffee while the kids played and the men talked was lovely.

I'm ready to do it again!

It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas

We had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G weekend.

My mom came in town on Saturday to celebrate this sweet girl's birthday.

This picture cracks. me. up.

I asked her to smile and this was the cute face that she made.

On Saturday we got together with my mom, brother, sister-in-law and niece.

It is always so much fun to get all of the kids together and watch them interact.

Abby got A LOT of Elmo stuff, she was over the moon excited.

After lunch K took the littles home to nap while Adison and I headed out with my mom.

I miss my mom so much, it was nice to spend the day with her.

Sunday was the laziest day ever.

K went to the store and picked up 3 bottles of my new favorite coffee creamer flavor, sweetest hubby ever!

We did manage to put up our little Christmas tree.

It's a little 4 ft tree that is just so much fun.

Adison and Ainsley helped decorate it and Abby was THRILLED to see it when she got up from her nap.

This morning Abby had her 2 year check up.

While we were in the waiting room, Lee and Abby were acting like silly little rascals.

Abby was running around then suddenly stopped, looked down and said, "Help Mama!"

Turns out her new pants fell off of her and were down around her knees, ha ha!

Abby is tiny y'all.

Tiny.

She is in the 10th to 25th percentile.

How did my biggest baby end up being my smallest?

Our doctor said that she looks amazing and is on track.

He also checked out Ainsley, who still has her funky cough/throat clearing thing going on and said that she look just fine.

He thinks it might be viral.

How was your weekend?
Did you do any Christmas decorating?

She's two!

{Her first picture as a two year old.}

I cannot believe that Abby is two!

These last two years have flown by more quickly that I could have possibly imagine.

This little girl who's name means a father's joy is just that.

She is an absolute joy.

Sure, she has her moments, like anyone does, but she is such a delight.

More often than not she has one or all of us laughing at her antics.

She is able to keep up with feisty Ainsley and make Adison giggle.

At two {gasp!} she is into:

Mickey Mouse or as she calls him "Mouse"

Elmo

Babies

Trains

Babies

Books

Blocks

Babies

Kitties

Abby is extremely shy around others.

She lets very few people see her feisty side, which seems kind of neat and baffling all at the same time.

She is very nurturing and cares for others.

She likes to be around other people and is, at times, VERY bossy.

Abby knows what she likes and doesn't like and is not afraid to let you know.

Most of all though, she is loving, in every sense of the word.

I think back to the early days of my pregnancy with Abby when all was so uncertain, it makes me realize how truly blessed we are to have her as part of our family.

Abby, I love you so very much. You are such a joy and delight, you make my heart smile. I love you my dear. xoxo, Mommy

So today you are 4

Her first picture as a 4 year old 

 

Holy smoke you guys, Ainsley is now 4.

Last night while I was tucking her in I gave her extra kisses.

She giggled and asked me why she was getting so many.

Because this is the last time I get to kiss you being  3 years old.

Oh, okay Mommy (as she giggled).

I can hardly believe it.

How in the world has four years gone by already?

Ainsley had school today.

She brought a birthday treat to share with her friends.

She was so excited.

Her teachers got her a gift.

It was really sweet.

They invited me up to celebrate with her and I was so excited to see her in action.

When I walked in the room with Abby and my niece, Cameron, her little eyes lit up.

She was so excited to show me how she does school.

Ainsley at school right after passing out her treats

Happy Birthday Ainsley!

A birthday weekend extravaganza

This weekend we celebrated birthdays.

Let me tell ya, it was a good time.

On Saturday Adison turned 9.

Nine years old.

I can hardly believe it.

She woke up so excited.

Ainsley told her happy birthday first thing in the morning without having to be reminded.

After the girls came downstairs the first thing that Adison asked to do was open her cards.

Here is her very first picture as a 9 year old.

A little later in the day my mom and step-dad came in town and we celebrated the older girls birthdays.

My brother, sister-in-law and niece met up with us at Cracker Barrel.

My kids love to eat there.

They were so excited to see everyone and celebrate!

Then all the servers came out and sang "Happy Birthday" to the girls.

Adison was embarrassed.

I had to snap a picture, ha ha.

I cannot believe that Ainsley is going to be 4 on Tuesday.

I'm telling ya, they seem to grow up in the blink of an eye.

Today we got together with my dad to celebrate.

We met up at Barnes & Noble.

The girls had so much fun looking and playing with everything.

Poor Abby, she was so tired that she fell asleep on the way home and kept on sleeping as I layed her down in the living room.

She slept for about 30 minutes then popped right up and was ready to go.

Hey look, it's Tuesday!

This picture of Abby makes me laugh, she was beyond excited to play with the balloons at my in-laws house.

She just kept jumping around and was so filled with excitement.

Note to self: When Abby is cranky, buy her a balloon

Abby + balloon = happiness

I mentioned yesterday that we visited K's parents to celebrate the girls' birthdays a little early.

They had the whole thing set up for a party, complete with a banner above the front door and a doughnut cake.

Adison's birthday is on Saturday and Ainsley's is next Tuesday.

Yes, birthdays and Halloween are pretty much all that is being discussed in our house right now.

Every time Ainsley hears "October" she says, "My birthday is in October, October 11th." 

Then she either tells me that she will be 4 {eek!} or asks me how old she will be.

I am convinced that she knows, just maybe wants to be reminded of how much older she is getting.

While visiting the in-laws we skedaddled up to Trader Joe's, K had not been there yet.

We bought some black bean soup that is supposed to be delicious.

We are having it for dinner tonight, I'll let y'all know our verdict.

Also, while visiting K got me some coffee creamer {because I am a weenie and can't drink coffee without it, hellllooo upset stomach and because he loves me}.

He surprised me and got a creme brullee and a caramel macchiato creamers, they are really good.

Yum.

Now I want more coffee though, oh well.

My abs {or lack there of} are sore after my Tarzan swing from Sunday.

Such a sad way to discover how out of shape you are.

I'm blaming it on my last pregnancy, you know, the one that was almost two years ago.

Abby was simply precious this morning.

All smiles and silliness and joy.

She really is a delight.

This afternoon when I picked up Adison from school there was an ambulance out front with it's lights on.

I had a moment of panic and was praying to see my girl walking towards me.

{Yes, the rational part of me knows that the school would have called if something had happened to her, but the irrational part of me wouldn't let the rational part speak up.}

I asked Adison what happened and she told me that a girl fell of of the slide and hurt her hand/wrist.

I feel really bad for her.

The big girls are itching to do some Halloween decorating.

I don't usually put up too much Halloween stuff, but it should be fun.

Maybe tomorrow.

Well, I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

Wow! What. A. Weekend.

Hello all!

This has been a crazy, whirlwind of a weekend.

As I mentioned on Friday, my mom came into town to celebrate K and I's birthdays.

My mom made it into town around 3:00 and I was so excited to see her! The little girls were so excited to see her as well. (As I was typing this I realized that not once did I take a picture!!!) My mom went with me to go pick up Adison from school. I was all excited and thinking that Adison would have one of those movie moments. You know, seeing grandma in the car, screaming and hearing "GGGRRRAAANNNDDDMMMAAA!!!" as she went racing to the car.  No, that was not even close to what happened. Instead, Adison hops in the car, says, "Hi Grandma" and proceeded to tell us about her day. We decided to head to over to Target, my mom doesn't have one in her town. It is always a necessary stop. Oh Target, how you make us women happy. We shopped, ate some popcorn and I took Ainsley to the bathroom approximately 29.37 times. I don't know what it is about the bathroom at Target, although I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with their bathroom smelling like Fruity Pebbles. Has anyone else noticed this? Please tell me that I am not the only one.

That night for dinner we had my Grandma's Tuna Fish and Potato Chip casserole for dinner. Yummy, talk about comfort food and reliving your childhood. We also opened up some presents. Yay for a sweet, thoughtful Mom who gets you things that you would never buy yourself. Thanks Mom!

The next day (Saturday) my mom, Adison and I headed out to do some damage. We hit up Kohl's. The sales! Oh, how I love shopping at Kohl's, I always feel like I hit the sales jackpot. I didn't buy anything though. I looked and thought about it, but seeing as it was just Christmas and my birthday I just didn't. After that we went to the mall and oh my goodness, the purses. I have such a purse weakness, it is my kryptonite. Again, looked and looked but just couldn't find THE bag. I am picky with my purses. The main thing is that is has to be BIG, I am talking a small duffel bag big. I also have a penchant for pockets and little organization thingies. (Technical word.) We pretty much looked at everything and had a wonderful time doing it. It was nice having time with my mom, to talk, laugh, ohh and ahh at things with. A big shout out to the hubs for watching Ainsley and Abby so my mom, Adison and I could enjoy the shopping! Thanks Babe, I love you!

We decided to celebrate our birthdays on Saturday night, but Abby is teething and OH MY GOODNESS is she CRANKY! I feel awful for her, but taking her anywhere in public right now is just not a good idea. She is screaming, crying and throwing major temper tantrums. You can thank me later. We decided to order some Chinese and had a picnic on the living room floor and watch The Cat in the Hat. We had so much fun!

This morning (Sunday) we hung around the house. My mom left around 11:00 and K got a text from my dad asking us if we wanted to head out to Taco Bueno. I love me some Taco Bueno, it reminds me of being a kid and going every Sunday after church. We discovered pretty quickly that 30 minutes was about all that Abby could handle. That and the fact that Ainsley was waddling like a penguin, squawking and acting all around goofy, we decided it was time to head home. Well that is, after we made a quick stop to the grocery store for some essentials. It is supposed to snow here for the next couple of days and I just don't know what the roads are going to look like. Plus, the idea of driving to the store through all the snow, dealing with all of the people and my 3 cold kiddos just does not sound at all appealing. Crazy right!?!

Now, it is Sunday afternoon, two of my three kiddos are sleeping. The house is quiet and warm, just the way it should be on a cold, winter Sunday afternoon. We were hoping to go to our Church's worship service tonight, but I just don't see how that is going to happen. Again, we've got teething going on.

How was your weekend?

Happy Sunday!



It's my birthday!

I am officially 30!

Or as my friend Clara and I talked about it is the 5th anniversary of my 25th birthday.

I guess it is all about how you look at a situation.

Seriously though, I am proud of my 30th birthday.

I have no idea why, but I guess why not?

We had a nice evening last night celebrating hubby's birthday.

We got together with his family for a fantastic lasagna dinner.

I was boring and fell asleep before midnight, I made it to 11:30 though.

Today has been busy!

I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my soon to be sister in law.

We had fun!

Hung out with the family for a bit.

Then we headed out to Barnes & Noble for some treats with my dad and step-mom.

Mmmmm!

We will be celebrating next weekend with my mom.

Good times!

I don't normally do resolutions, so I hope that 2011 is an amazing year. I pray that it is full of laughter, growth, compassion, encouragement and most importantly LOVE!

How did you spend New Year's Eve?
Did/Do you make resolutions?

2010 Recap in pictures

Well everyone, 2010 is coming to a close.

This has been a pretty good year.

Next year though will be even better!

I am so very grateful for all of your support throughout the year and taking the time to read this little blog of mine.

Here is my 2010 recap using pictures, enjoy!

January

February

 March

 April

May

June

July

August

September

October pt 1

October pt 2

November

December

Have fun celebrating the New Year and be safe!

See you in 2011!