Ben's Birthday

So for Ben's birthday we ended up doing a simple party at home. Just the kids & me plus 20 others! Ben is so difficult for me to surprise because one way or another he ends up ruining it, usually by accident.

But this year I got him!!

Ben

Today is my sweethearts 33rd birthday!!!!

also Josie's birthday

Today is also Josie's 2nd birthday! We were set to have a birthday party until she threw up yesterday. So she and I stayed home today and cuddled to make sure she was over the sickies, we don't like to share germs. =] And the party is on schedule for tomorrow! We went ahead and gave her one of her gifts. She loves her dog!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I don't have my Mother's gift with words so I had to have some help. I love you Mom!

Each year I’m extra happy on your birthday;
Your day reminds me of God’s gift to me--
A mom who gave her all to raise me right,
A mother like the one I want to be.
-Joanna Fuchs

Mother, I wish you the best on your birthday;
No one has earned it like you.
You provide the love that makes our dream
Of a happy home come true.Your family loves and reveres its Mom;
You enrich everything you come near;
You’re our rock, our beacon and our pleasure,
And everything we all hold so dear.-Karl Fuchs

"Being a mother has never been an easy role. Some of the oldest writings in the world admonish us not to forsake the law of our mother, instruct us that a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother, and warn us not to ignore our mother when she is old (see Proverbs 1:8; 10:1; 23:22). "The scriptures also remind us that what we learn from our mothers comprises our very core values."

-Thomas S. Monson, "If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear," Ensign, Nov. 2004, 116

Welcome Lilllian

Congratulations to Stormy & Rockey on the birth of their little princess. She's already getting quality Nana time as you can see. =]

birthday parties

So princess Carlise turned 4 last week and already seems older. How is that?! She informed me that she wanted a princess party & even told me who to invite. And she wants a chocolate cake with pink frosting. As you wish...

Saturday was Twilight party #2. After a quick location change we invaded my MIL's home and stayed for a few hours. It was a surprise birthday party for Lyndsey, but it got turned into a surprise for my birthday, too! It was a great surprise especially since I had to tell Lyndsey about it just to get her to show up. =] We of course didn't accomplish much at the party, but we got a much needed break and had some great laughs. Ben even said we should do these more often. That's good because it's going to take forever to finish this mostly black puzzle.

Benjamin is 32

Today is my beloved husband's 32nd birthday! We bought him a 3-burner propane grill - the first one for us! I asked what he wanted for dinner and since he knows I can't cook well and he wanted to spend it at home with our children, he requested simple chicken alfredo. Well, this man works hard for us all week and loves spending every minute he's not at work with all of us, so that simple dish wasn't going to cut it for me. But I'm no cook and called Olive Garden and ordered To Go!

On the menu for us: Braised Beef & Tortelloni, Chianti Braised Short Ribs, Zuppa Toscana Soup, Chicken & Gnocchi Soup, a Jumbo Salad order (that came with 12 bread sticks), 12 more breadsticks (that I didn't know came with the entrees), and fresh-made Alfredo dipping sauce.

And dessert is Cheesecake from the Atlanta Cheesecake Company. Yeah, I splurged on all of it, but we still had some tax money and he deserves it!!

So, we love you and hope we made your birthday wonderful!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

First off, Happy Anniversary to Ian & Jessica! We love you!!!



and Happy 1st Birthday Josephine! She was very happy when she woke up and seemed to know the day was going to be all about her. We can't believe it's already been a year. This birthday was actually exciting to me (normally I cry over my babies getting older). Ben & I don't celebrate Valentine's day, but we do celebrate our sweetheart, Josie.This is our 1 year old nursing. It's a major milestone for us, a first, and we love it! Another first - I'm not pregnant for the 1st birthday.




Here she is opening up presents with Grandma. She loves books!








And Chocolate!

Wesley is 2

Wesley is officially a 2 year old. I can't believe our little man is another year older. He hasn't grown that much, only 34 1/2 inches tall and a light 25 lbs. 7 oz. But his mannerisms do show us that he's growing up. We didn't do anything too special for his birthday today (the party's not until this weekend). He had a well visit with the pediatrician who said he looks great and no worries. I did take some pictures of him in his birthday diaper. (Thanks Anna!)And we picked Ben up from work and went out to dinner to celebrate. We even had the hostesses come around and do their clap & chant rendition of happy birthday for Wesley. He got a smirk on his face when he realized they were singing just to him, but the attention became too much and he slouched in his seat to hide his face. He was embarrassed, but he was sooo cute about it that Ben & I just had to laugh. He is definitely Ben's kid!
This is my favorite photo that I took today. It took a couple tries, getting him to focus where I needed, and lying on the driveway. I'm slowly getting better.

Miles

On Sunday, my younger brother Miles turned 18! I can't believe he's already 18. AND that in a year he'll be on his mission. Anyone else shocked/surprised that he's actually that old?

JaNae

JaNae's birthday is August 13th. When Josie was born she had these cute shirts made up for the kids as Charisma's. They say "Aunt Nae Is the BEST!" In honor of her birthday I dressed the kids in their matching shirts. I even took pictures. But I forgot to post them because she was working on her birthday & I knew she wouldn't get them. better late than never, i guess.

Happy belated Birthday JaNae!

Off to a Good Start

Well, it's my 25th birthday today. I've got the birthday blahs. It just doesn't feel like a celebration. Well, maybe it'll get better. It's off to a good start though. Josie slept through the night giving me 9 hours of sleep.

Watch Carlise grow-up

and don't pay attention that there are 8 months of pictures that I just discovered are missing!!

Edit: added some pics that Mom had =]

Our SuperPrincess

Our oldest turns 3 today. As I sit here reflecting on all the different aspects of Carlise I can't help but laugh and smile. Which leads me to realize that even though the good, sweet, happy moments definitely outnumber the bad I find I allow myself to keep all the emotions from the bad moments and often let them overshadow the good parts of everyday. I must work on that. Anywho, through a link on Abby's blog I found this site for Ava. Reading it definitely made me appreciate our princesses even more. Now to my list.

Living with Carlise is sometimes like living with a over enthusiastic cheerleader. She loves to go to stores. Specific requests are Wal-Mart, Sam's, & Target. The way she says "milk" is hilarious to her Daddy. so much so that he asks her to say it almost daily. Carlise loves dresses! She asks to wear one everyday. But she loves to be "nakie" even more and quickly strips down once we've gotten home from being out. There is a funny voice she uses when talking to Josie. It's her imitation of my baby talk voice.

Birthday Planning

Carlise is turning 3 in less than 2 weeks! I will no longer have 3 under the age of 3. Wow. I have been at a complete loss as to what kind of theme to do for Carlise. Well, I finally found it today.
Rainbow Brite it is! I saw this cake pan at a thrift store today and for 98 cents thought it would be awesome. I liked Rainbow Brite as a child and it's so colorful that I think Carlise will like this theme as well. Off to check out e-bay for party supplies.

I am here!

Sorry folks. I have been here and I've been reading your blogs, just haven't felt like posting anything on ours. Let's see what we've been up to last week.

Monday- SIL Aubrey called me to tell me our Toys R Us was selling their car seat, stroller, highchair, swings, and pack n play displays for 50% off!! So she very lovingly came over to watch Carlise & Wesley so I could go score a deal. I got a double side by side umbrella stroller that's made by Kolcraft (love the ease of their lock) for $40. It's already been put to use a couple times. Now, to sell the tandem double stroller.

Tuesday- I don't think i did anything. I was going to go walking with George, but she was suffering the insufferables.

Wednesday- I removed 4 boxwoods from my front yard. We recently decided that we didn't like them and we're going to replace them with something that has color! 7 more to go. I averaged 30 minutes per bush. And I was incredibly sore the next day. My hands & feet especially hurt from using the shovel.

Thursday- I took Josie to the breastfeeding support group so I could get her weighed. She was 14 lbs. 11.4 oz.

Friday- we took Zoey to the vet. She's been eating her fur off because of some skin allergy. We took her last time the week Josie was born and they gave her an allergy shot and she was good for a month. She's pretty bad now so we take her back in two weeks for another allergy shot. We also went and cleaned the church. It was our weekend, but the women in the other families and I decided to do it before Saturday so we could enjoy our weekend.

Saturday-We went to C.J.'s 1st birthday party! He was such a cutie even though he didn't feel too good. I can't believe that little man is already 1 year old! we got to see Stormy on the webcam while we were there and that was pretty cool.

Jason

Happy Birthday Jason!!

Benjamin!

Happy Birthday Benjamin!!!

Aubz

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

Mom

Happy Birthday to my Mom!
even though she never reads my blog

She's too busy with everything else. That's okay, she deals with my ramblings every time I call so, it's like she gets my blog in audio format. Gotta love her!!