My Special Day...:)

Well...today is my birthday....28 years old! Yikes! Although I am amazed at how time flies, I am completely at peace with getting older, especially when I see all of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me.....it's incredible.

First of all...this is what I had to wake up to this morning....Noah and I ran into Sailer's room, and looked at her angelic face, and I just had to thank God b/c my children are my life...REALLY. (You too Jase! Love you SO much!) We also noticed that Sailer had scooted up into the corner of her crib, which means she'll probably roll over during the night anytime now, and that will be another obstacle for me to face. But, that's okay....I just LOVE being a mom, and that's one of my greatest gifts! I tried to take in every moment of my day...from feeding the children breakfast to getting them ready for the day...it was wonderful, and something I take for granted WAY TOO MUCH.

For lunch, I took the kids to meet Christy and Meghan at Laredo's...on Tuesday's, kids eat free! These girls are amazing, and their children are beautiful. Christy (in purple) is 36 weeks pregnant with baby #3! She has 2 boys, and is expecting a GIRL! :) And, Meghan has 2 GORGEOUS girls...Clare and Eleanor....I would love for Noah to marry Eleanor...she's 2 1/2 and the most precious thing! I also cannot wait for Sailer to hang out with these girls...and Christy's NEW baby girl soon.

Noah wanted to sit with Clare (6 years old)....he's such a little flirt! :)

Mommy's Surprise Tinkerbell Party!

This past Saturday, Jason REALLY surprised me for my birthday by inviting our LifeGroup from church over to his parents for my 28th birthday party! And, YES, I was truly surprised, which is hard to do! I knew we were having dinner for my birthday, as we always do, but I had NO CLUE who all would be there, and it was really the most pleasant surprise ever! I didn't suspect anything until Jason wouldn't let me leave the house and he demanded that I close my eyes on the way over to his parents house (we live next door). And, they all happened to bring their kids too, so there were probably 10 kids or so there. It was pure craziness, but SO MUCH FUN! I LOVE these guys...they have brought so much joy to mine and Jason's lives....they are such a great accountability to us and our marriage, and many other things. Our lifegroup leaders brought me a dozen white roses....it touched me so much for them to think of me! :) Thank you all so much again!

The crew....or most of them, at least..:)
My FUN Tinkerbell cake....my mom and mother-n-law came up with this one....they know I LOVE pink and everything girly, so they picked the perfect decor. Plus, my mother-n-law made these adorable tinkerbell goodie bags for the kids to take home.....see? You don't have to go to a toddler's birthday party to get a goody bag!! Hehe!
My precious girl....who stuck by my side the entire night! (I think she's a momma's girl....:)
....except when Big Daddy gave me a break.....Sailer LOVES looking at ceiling fans. That's what she was doing in this pic...

Hot & Humid...

This past Sunday, I took the kids over to my parents house for awhile....my parents had gotten Noah an inflatable pool for the backyard, and thank goodness, b/c it was so hot and sticky outside. I think the August weather has arrived early..:) Sailer was easily entertained by Noah, so we just watched him play and had a pretty laid back and relaxing evening....I love those!

King Of The World!!!
Looking Cute in my Suit!!!

Too bad the water was FREEZING....b/c I think Sailer would have enjoyed taking a little dip.....oh, well...her teether was all she needed....

Let Me Explain....

I was going into Sailer's room yesterday....I turned the corner, and this is what I saw..and YES, I did have my camera b/c I was planning on getting some pics of Sailer when she woke up from her nap (she always gives this sweet little grin when she wakes up), so luckily, I snapped this picture really fast. Then, I was like, "NOAH! What are you doing?" He said...."I'm eating the cookie on sissy's shirt!" (Sailer had a onesie on yesterday with a chocolate cookie on it) Oh, geez.....what's next?

Baby Ballerina

Here's mommy's sweet girl in her "baby ballerina" onesie....she's so precious. I wish you all could see her personality lately...she's just the sweetest...

Sailer is starting to see that having tummy time gives her an entire new perspective in which to see everything...she is perfectly content now laying on the floor and looking around....

I see you sweet girl!

It's Playtime!

Here's a peek at how things have been at our house lately....Noah and Sailer's naps are not as much in sync anymore, so it seems like one of them is always napping at some point during the day, so there is really not much time at all when they are BOTH awake. However, when they are awake, they "play" great together....Noah is encouraging during Sailer's tummy time, and he has learned how to use our bottle warmer to help with her feedings, and they ALWAYS have breakfast together.....Noah..Apple Jacks, and Sailer....Rice cereal...YUM! He's so great with her....she's even started chuckling at him....as you know, he's very funny and entertaining! ALTHOUGH....he has his moments...he did tell Sailer that she was rude the other day...hehe!

Doesn't Sailer look like she's saying..."Noah..get out of my chair!"
Sweet girl....
Still doing the "bumbo lean!"
Serious face!!
Pretty in red....which we do not have much of....Sailer's closet is filled with SO MUCH PINK! Hey..what do you expect? I had a boy first! :)

A BIG Week For Sailer!!!

Hi Everyone...see? I can wave to you!
I can also flash my pretty smile!
I can even blow raspberries...although, you really can't tell by this picture...it's my new skill....along with.....
Uhhhh! You can do it!
YAY!!!!!!!!!! I rolled over! And, as you can see, I'm happy about it! :) It was my first time, and mommy actually got it on camera. She knew that I was going to do it at any moment...I've been trying with the utmost determination for the past few days, and SUCCESS!!! Way to go ME!

Whoever Said..Boys Can't Play Dress Up?

From my recent posts, you'll remember that Noah has been going to some "far away places" lately.....well, he's still there....not quite sure what has happened to my "never used to play pretend" boy.....oh, well...he's having fun!

Want a kiss? I give good ones! :)
Like much of my family has always said...I would have made a pretty little girl, huh? I need a haircut so badly...I actually could pass for one in this pic! (Don't tell daddy!)
This Indian feather hat and drum came from Blowing Rock, North Carolina....Dede and Big Daddy just returned from a trip there, and they got me these things along with a super cool hard hat with a cool red light on the bill.....how did they know I like to dress up? Hmmmm.....

Hiding From Myself....:)

For those of you that truly know Noah, you know that if you spend at least 30 minutes with him, you'll most likely be on the floor laughing at him....the funny thing is that he doesn't really know just how funny he is..so here's a story for those of you that don't really know him...and, of course, for those of you that do......

Today, Noah closed himself inside the cabinet in our sunroom....I noticed that he kept crawling out on his tip-toes with his eyes closed tightly. He climbed out VERY carefully (he also had on my red cowboy boots).....then, he reached up with both hands and literally grabbed both eyelids, peeled them open, and then, he said to himself...."There you are! Boo!" I was like, what are you doing? It took me a couple times of watching him to realize what exactly was going on......He was hiding from himself!!! I was laughing so hard.....

It was the first time that I had really laughed at him all morning, considering the fact that he had been in trouble most of the morning.....first, he spilled juice on the coffee table, the ottoman, and was pouring it on top of poor Sailer's head while she was playing in the exersaucer...I actually walked into the room to see streams of apple juice covering the top of Sailer's head, and running down her face. She didn't even blink! But, I was furious! So, I got pretty mad, raised my voice, gave Noah a little spanking (not enough to really do anything), and made him sit in a dark room (am I a bad mom?). Then, I tried REALLY hard not to laugh when Noah told me...."Mommy, I'm gonna go cry now.....my booty hurts...don't do that again!"

Ooooo....I'm still laughing! :)

Sweet Blessings

The other night, Jason and I were playing around with some lighting and other effects in our home photography studio...which is really just an old theater room in the pool house behind our house..:) So, of course, we had to throw the kids in there and take a couple pictures....here they are! These are our 2 precious and sweet blessings....**By the way, it is SCARY how much Sailer is looking like Noah..oh my goodness! I ran across some pics of him at this age the other day, and my jaw dropped. Maybe I will post some soon so that you can compare...it's very sweet, but unbelievable!

Pass The Cereal!

Here's Sailer trying rice cereal for the first time....a few weeks ago, our doctor told me to try putting rice cereal in Sailer's bottle to thicken it up a little (we had suspected that she had a little reflux, but she doesn't). After about a week, I stopped that...it was pointless. Plus, I felt it was too early for her to have it anyway (isn't it funny how we, as moms, make our own rules with the second child?) But, now, we are trying rice cereal with a spoon...she likes it....A LOT!!!!

I'm not sure how much Sailer is actually getting...most of it is clenched in her fist and up her nose....hehe!
Sweet Girl...LOVE HER SO MUCH! :)

"The Bumbo Lean"

This is how Sailer likes to chill in her Bumbo....I call it the "Bumbo lean." Hehe!

She's not a total fan of the Bumbo yet, but she still is all smiles!
This is what happens after a few minutes in the Bumbo....ahhh, sleep is a beautiful thing. (I had to take this pic the other night...I thought it was so sweet. I had laid Sailer in her crib....she was getting a little fussy...it was close to bedtime, and I went in a couple of minutes later, and she was OUT...she even kept her pacifier in her mouth, which is RARE. She was so beautiful and peaceful...she had had a long day...playing)

Noah's Smart Cycle!

I have to say, I am SO glad that we saved one of Noah's gifts from Christmas for times like these....lately, Noah has been getting bored of many of his toys, so we decided to unpack this gift from Big Daddy and Dede. It's given him something new to play with and it's awesome. It's called a Smart Cycle...it plugs into the TV, and he drives and picks up his ABC's, numbers, etc. It's fun for him, but his favorite thing to do with it is to ride it while he is watching a movie in his playroom. It's funny b/c it looks like he is exercising while watching TV. :) And another funny thing...he likes to pedal backwards instead of forwards....oh, geez!

I'm SERIOUS when I play....:)

We got Sailer some teethers this week....we've been suspecting that she is in the beginning stages of teething. She is CONSTANTLY trying to put her entire fist into her mouth..and she almost can! She's gagged herself a few times, so we thought...we've got to get her something small that she can hold and chew on. So, here ya go! Then, we discovered that she becomes super serious when she is playing with something NEW. She kicked very fast in her seat, her lips were pursed together...she was concentrating.

I was drying my hair...I looked down and what did I see? My little girl has turned her teether into a bracelet! Surprise! Surprise!
Then, she got so excited, that she threw the pink teether on top of her head...I have to say, my little girl is pretty entertaining. It took me twice as long to dry my hair, b/c I couldn't stop looking and laughing at her! :)

Sparklers!!!

Jason had to work ALL day on the 4th (AND all weekend...I know...bummer!)...he was also on call the whole evening of the 4th, so I spontaneously drove over to my parents with the kids. It ended up being one of the most relaxing evenings we've had in awhile. Jason did finally get to come join us and he brought SPARKLERS! Of course, Noah loved them!

Sailer....Not too excited about sparklers this year....:)