round here

We got some relief from the hot weather, and we've been celebrating with trips to the park.

I finally have a little girl who brings her tigger baby doll along. I love that.

I love being at the park with my kiddos.

I think my kiddos love it too.

And, I think this was Mr. Carson's first ride in a real park swing.

He's always so peaceful.

And, yes, his outfit has owls on it....yes I picked it out and yes I love it.

So sweet & So happy.

We also added some new animals to our family this week. Meet baby zebra, baby lamb, and baby lion. Emma loves these figurines more than anything. We had a gift card to spend at Toys R Us, and out of the entire store, this is what she wanted...the babies to go with the mommas that she already had. All mommas need babies right? The other option was the $400.00 jeep that seats two. I went with the animals :)

I splurged and bought Carson a Sophie the Giraffe. I'll admit that I wanted her too. She's been a part of our family for 24 hours now, and I am sold. She's a wonderful teether, perfect for an infant to grab, she squeaks, and she's safe to chew on. She's visiting us all the way from France, so if you need a wonderful baby gift, here's my vote.

Here's Sophie in color. You can read more about her here.

Our sweet neighbor brought over a new book for Emma and Carson. We love Max & Ruby at our house.

And, it's been autographed by the author herself, Rosemary Wells. I was excited about this one too. What a special gift.

The new animals have obviously made themselves at home.

And Carson is still going strong with the purees. I made a whole new batch this week...apple & sweet potato yogurt, mango yogurt, acorn squash & sweet potato with brown rice, just sweet potatoes, just mango, just peaches, just pears, and of course in celebration of fall...pumpkin apple cinnamon oatmeal. We've all been stirring pumpkin into our yogurt and oatmeal. It's so yummy and healthy too. You should give it a try. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors ever. On another note, my ten year class reunion is just around the corner. It's so hard to believe.... We've enjoyed our week and we hope y'all enjoy your weekend. Cheers to the fall.

randomness & a craft

We shop at HEB, and Emma gets a balloon each time we go. She usually releases it into the sky when we get home. We had a long conversation about heaven the other night at dinner. She told us that in heaven we would all have wings, and she would have all of her heb balloons too.

We've been dealing with phone technicalities, so I wanted y'all to know....

I finally got a new cell phone, but I don't get a cell phone signal in my house. It's because we have tech shield in the attic. The tech shield kills our cell phone signal. So, we get no missed calls, voice mails, or text messages while in the house. This applies to Rob too. So, if you need to get a hold of us, it's best to call the home phone when we're home and the cell phone when we're not. In case you haven't heard back from us, that could be why.

I also can't continue a cell phone conversation from my car to the house. My call will drop in the garage :) It's delightful. Not to mention that fact that I usually have two kids to unbuckle, one kid to carry in, sippy cups, trash, one ginormous purse, water bottles, and a whole slew of other junk to bring into the house with me. I've tried chatting in the driveway, all the while Emma's in the background going, "Let me out." And, if you know her at all, she know she's persistent. It's pretty much impossible to chat and do the above. In short, when I hit my drive way, my conversation ends.

One more thing about phones....we aren't alerted when we receive a voice mail at home. So, I have to remember to periodically check them. Sounds easy. It's not. Either that or I am just a failure. There have been many times I've found a two week old voice mail on the home phone :) I know my husband sells cell phones for a living, but could we make this any more difficult?

Last phone thing, I promise. We are getting a new home number too.

Rob and Emma had some sort of cough and cold last week. For once, it wasn't me, and as awful as it is, I was thrilled. Rule number one of motherhood should be: You will never be able to crawl into bed sick, ever again.

Everybody thinks Carson is a girl. Even if he's in a baseball outfit.

And news flash, Emma's stuffed Tigg and Giraffe are REAL. On accident, she left home without them today. You would have thought we were at a funeral. Crocodile tears would be putting it mildly. "But, I love them.... & they are my babies.... & I promised them they could go to Chick-fil-a with me.... & they are at home crying right now.... & I miss them very much...." I attempted to convince her that Tigg and Giraffe were at home having a picnic together in the playroom. I even faked a phone conversation with Tigg, where Tigg said he was okay and asked Emma to please stop crying. When I hung up the fake phone, she had one question for me, "Did you talk to Giraffe too?" And, I wonder why I'm exhausted at the end of the day.

Emma has an imaginary friend. Somedays her name in Lena. Other days her name is Sarah. Most of the time, Emma calls her Little Sister. Emma has complete conversations with her, buckles her into the backseat of our car and. and. and. Use your imagination. Emma does.

Okay, so enough randomness. Here's a craft for y'all. It was fun & we already had everything we needed at home.

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

1 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 200. I use my kitchen aid stand mixer and dough hook. Add the salt and flour. Mix well. Then, add the warm water. Mix until doughy. Put some wax paper down on the counter, and sprinkle very lightly with flour. Roll out the dough (a little thicker dough is better than too thin), and use the cookie cutters of your choice. Use a straw to make a hole in the dough~for ribbon later.

Bake them on parchment paper for two hours. Turn the oven off, and let them sit for one additional hour.

If you run out of parchment, like I did, you could bake them straight on the cookie sheet. Mine turned out fine either way.

I did most of the mixing and baking part the day before. Then, left it to Emma to paint.

She just loves a craft.

We used acrylic paint and glitter, and she had a blast.

One batch should be sufficient. It made more ornaments than you can see on the tree. Here's the finished product...

This craft could apply to any holiday...Valentine's, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. I think they would also be cute tied on packages for Christmas.

riding & jumping & growing up

She actually cooperated with the camera today. I couldn't believe my eyes.

I guess she is growing up. She's four. Can we still count that as a baby?

And, she still loves to jump in puddles.

And, her latest thing is pigtails. I do them for her every morning. Although, we need more hair bows and clips that have two to match.

She amazes me everyday. She always has some amazing thought to share or some very deep question to ask. She is always thinking, and I pray that I am answering her right.

Growing up, I tell you. She had her very first sleepover the other night. It's sort of like a right of passage for a little girl, don't you think? She was so excited. We packed her bag together, talked about what would happen, and I wondered if she would really stay. It seems like yesterday I was packing my bag for a fun filled slumber party. I kept the phone next to my bed all night, but there was never a ring. She was fine, which was really no surprise. She is so confident, and I love her.

he's seven months now.

And to be quite honest, once I figured it out, I cried. Where oh where has the time gone? Let me recap myself to help with the mommy brain you on the past month.....

My little buddy's schedule is always a great place to start...

7 am~Wake and Nurse

9 am-11 am~Morning Nap

11 am~Nurse and Baby Food, usually one or two cubes

1 pm-3 pm~Afternoon Nap/aka the Holy Hour at my house where both children are asleep :)

3 pm~Nurse and if I've got it together (which I usually don't), I feed him baby food again

7 pm~Bathtime

7:30 pm~Nurse and to bed. Yes, he still sleeps swaddled, in a sleep sack, with his so loved paci.

10:00 pm~Dream Feed

Morning wake up is a little sketchy. Sometimes I hear him at 5 or 6 am. I go in, give him his paci, sometimes reswaddle, and hope that he goes back to sleep.

In the evening, he can be a little fussy, especially if his afternoon nap isn't quite up to par. If I'm running errands, sometimes he'll crash for a quick catnap in the car, around 5 or 5:30.

As for his skills, he can roll over, but usually chooses not to. He can sit up now, but I can't leave him sitting alone. He would fall over :)

As for the baby food, he seems to like it so much more than Miss E did. So far, he has had avocado, sweet potato, butternut squash, peas (which he doesn't like), carrots, applesauce, peaches, pears, bananas, and baby oatmeal. We have had kind of an odd issue with bananas, so I am limiting (not eliminating) them for now, trying to figure out what's going on. He also eats Baby Mum-Mums, Organic Puffs, and drinks water from a sippy cup, well sort of anyway.

He babbles now, and Emma just laughs. Ba-ba-ba and wa-wa-wa are his two faves.

Size wise, he is wearing a size 3 diaper, some of his 3-6 month clothes, but also some of his 6-9, 9-12, and 6-12 month clothes fit too.

His favorite toy is my Target bag of wipes. They crinkle and he just loves that. He also loves bath time and anything that lights up. All things aside, he would rather be held than anything else.

I can sit him in his bumbo, next to his big basket of toys, and he will be content for quite a while. He will eventually empty out the entire basket, one toy at a time. It's neat to watch him explore.

I recently got a new sling. I can throw it on over my head in a flash, and Carson just loves it. He sits on my right hip and won't say a word. So, so happy.

No teeth yet, but teething for sure. Some days are just miserable.

I have enjoyed our little buddy so much. He smiles all the time and has a wonderful laid back personality. Emma can make him laugh like no one else can. He just cracks up at her. She is pretty entertaining, so I can see why he is so amused :) The past six months have been so much fun...too fast, but still so, so fun.

she's really four.

I can't believe it. She and I celebrated the morning of her real birthday by going for a two mile bike ride. She rode. I ran. It was nice for it to be just the two of us.

When we came home, I made her chocolate pudding and sprinkles. And, we sang again :)

It's the little things that make little ones so happy.

Rob was still reading. He's not happy that he's reading. He's laughing at me for taking his photo.

Buddy was happy, as usual.

And, Emma enjoyed her chocolate dessert, as usual.

All the while Rob was still reading.

Here's my baby girl on her birthday.

And, then she turned one. That first year is so magical.

The clocks ticked faster and then she was two.

Last year was her third birthday. This one really seems like yesterday to me.

And now she's four. She challenges me every day, but I love her to pieces. It's been a wonderful four years, and I thank the good Lord everyday for blessing us with Miss Emma. She fills our home with laughter and has brought our family so much joy, now if only she could grow-up a little slower...

it was her birthday eve

Well, her party was over, but we were still celebrating.

And, so was she.

Rob spent most of the weekend reading this book. Don't kid yourself, it was a required read from his boss. Kind of ironic right? He made it work, but it's kind of hard to fit reading into a birthday weekend, all the while dealing with two kids under that age of three almost four.

I can't believe she's four. My how the time just passes us by.

And, Buddy, he's almost seven months. That's enough to make me cry.

She's a free spirit. I am learning to accept that about her.

She loves life.

And her spirit is just amazing. Love you Memms.

Guess fun in the front yard is officially over. I just got a letter in our mail box from the HOA. It says that we should immediately remove the yellow pool from our front yard. I know it's not the prettiest, but come on, we have two little ones, and we live in the scorching south. I guess the fact that our yard is perfectly groomed doesn't count....

F-O-U-R

It was Emma's big birthday weekend.

We kept it super low key this year, which is oh so hard for me to do. I even let Miss E pick out her own plates :)

We ordered pizza for dinner, which was her request.

And, then I let the girls make dirt cups.

It was a slumber party. And, it was both of the girls' first. one. ever. They swam and ate twizzlers too.

We all hung out in the front yard.

It's obviously still hot here. Cooler weather, c'mon!

Buddy is so much fun :)

Mama C. arrived to join in on the celebrating. Emma was soooooo excited .

After swimming, baths came next. Note to self: shaving cream + food coloring = super cheap fun for little girls.

They had a blast. Let's just say that there were several towels involved in the clean up.

I brought Miss E home a balloon bouquet. I followed suite with the princess theme.

Her cake was a fruit pizza, and the raspberries disappeared so very fast.

A yellow bow of course, because her favorite color is yellow.

I wonder what she wished for...

After fruit pizza, the girls had strawberry milk and watched The Princess and the Frog. Thanks Aunt Lindy and Uncle Dill!

I let them stay up late. It was a special day :) Normal bedtime is 8:30, so I think they were put to bed around 10 or 10:30. I thought they would fall right to sleep. I. was. wrong. I am pretty sure that the sugar plums didn't dance until after midnight, and at 5 am, when Carson woke for his paci, I heard them chatting through the door :) So, bright and early the next morning, Emma asked for blackberry pancakes. They are her favorite.

She loves pancakes.

Emma's best friend had to leave pretty early, so it left just Emma to do arts and crafts with Mama C. They painted their own zoo, while Rob and I ran out to buy Miss E her birthday gift from us.

It was a new bike. "A big girl bike" she would tell you.

She was super excited.

Can you tell?