Sweet Siblings

I know they are mine, but I really think they are the three most precious children ever!! Moments like this melt my heart and Im so glad that the Lord chose to bless me with them!

Terrible, I mean, Terrific Two's

Brooklyn finally got the memo that she's officially a two-year old now and we've had the "pleasure" of experiencing a few minor tantrums as of late. Seriously, they're not bad and ironically still cute in a weird way...but tantrums nontheless.

For instance, my favorite way to fix Brooklyn's hair is in pig tails. I can't help but take a picture everytime I do. This particular day though, she was not feeling photogenic and she was sure to let me know. She crossed her arms, pouted her lips and very clearly said "I don't want pictures. I in bad mood!" There's that great vocabulary she has again....creeping up to haunt me! Wow! Can you imagine the teen years?

Yesterday, Brooklyn wanted to jump but only if Maddie got OFF the trampoline. Maddie, reluctantly obliged and Brooklyn was happy as could be! I was able to snap a few cute pictures as she went around and around the edge of the trampoline. As soon as I stopped her though to pose directly at me, another adorable meltdown happened! This time, looking at me was more than she could handle and she just had to cry and cover her eyes! Haha!

And just because it's cute, here she is watching Monster's Inc with her sunglasses on! 

Summer Haircut

I promised Maddie after her recital that we would get her hair cut. Bless her heart, she has long, thick hair like her mama and it can really hurt her head at times! So instead of going to dance class this Monday, we went to the hair place instead and chopped it off! She loves it and it looks so precious on her. Makes her look like the big girl she is!



Spring Recital 2013

Maddie has loved her first year of tap and ballet at Dance-n-Drill! She's worked so hard these last several months and learned a lot! This past weekend was the annual Spring recital and we were all so anxious to see Maddie, along with the other kids, perform for their family and friends. The day started off pretty hectic. We were up early so I could fix Maddie's hair, makeup and get her dressed. This was my first experience as a "dance mom" and I knew that I wanted to spend the day as stress free as possible, so my cousin came over to watch the babies so I could just focus on and enjoy Maddie. We stopped at Brookeshires on the way so Jaime could get Maddie a bouquet of roses. On the way out of Whitehouse, I panicked when I realized I had forgotten Maddie's flower bow for her hair. We made a mad dash back to the house so I could grab it. In my attempts at locating her hair bow, I lost the safety pins I needed to pin her fairy wings on. I was a wreck and almost started crying because I was so on edge! Finally, we made it to the auditorium in just enough time for the doors to open (so we were there in plenty of time) with the flower in Maddie's hair and I was able to get safety pins from my mom. Nothing else to worry about!
Maddie sat with us for a while until it was time for her to go sit with her class. When I dropped her off, her eyes started to water like she was about to cry. She said she was cold and I could also tell that she was very nervous. The auditorium was packed and I knew that she was in complete "shut-down" mode. I encouraged her and told her that she was going to do great and a sweet volunteer dance mom gave her a sweater to put on her arms so that she could warm up. I went back to my seat and just prayed that the Lord would calm her fears and help her to have a good time.
The show started and all the classes were so cute. These little ladies worked so hard! When the curtains openend on Maddie's class, I got so excited seeing my big girl up on that stage. AND, she did great! Seriously, her class was so put together and Maddie didn't look nervous at all. I was extremely proud! After the show was over, we saw Maddie in the back of the auditorium jumping up and down and smiling as we made our way back to get her. She said she had so much fun and couldn't wait to do it again! :) Dance is over for the summer but she says she wants to keep dancing and also wants to play baseball! She's such a good mix of "girlie" and "athlete". I can't wait to see all the things that she trys as she grows!

Maddie with Railey. I babysat Railey as a baby and have watched her grow. Until just recently, we went to church with her and her family. Now, she babysits MY kids! Railey is also a Golden Girl at Dance-n-Drill and on the Whitehouse kick squad. Maddie was so excited to see her and I think that helped calm Maddie down. Railey helped her backstage and they took some pictures together!

Performing

After the show pictures with daddy and mommy AND Papaw and Nana. Forgive the quality but it was rough looking into the sun....thus the squinty pictures and the dancer in her grandfather's sunglasses! :)

Love my ballerina girl!

New Beds

Now that Brooklyn is two, we decided to get her out of the crib and free up some space in the girls' room. We transitioned Maddie at 2 as well, so decided to stick with that age. I really wanted to get this extra crib back to the person we borrowed it from (back when we found out a baby Easton was on the way and refused to buy another crib) and only have our, ONE crib in my house! So that's what we did! Maddie had a day bed but we put it up in the attic and ordered two new, matching beds online and set them up over the weekend. I still have a few more decorations to do and I need to change the window valence, but the room is otherwise set. The main colors are pink and blue but Brooklyn has some pink and brown things thrown in from her original nursery colors after she was born. I can't bare to get rid of them so Im just incorporating it too. When Maddie is done with her recital, Im going to shadow box her first dance costume. it's the bright spring colors of pink and blue so it will be perfect! I found some bedding I liked....blue top cover with polka dotted spring colored sheets. Brooklyn has done great in her new bed. Yes, she gets up and down and we have to correct her and take her back to bed. But eventually, she realizes we are serious and stays put. It's pretty precious actually and I think she will get the hang of it pretty quickly!

Sign that a college friend painted for Brooklyn when she was born. See....just can't get rid of that!

The names look off which bugs me, but it's actually pretty even....promise.

First night in her big girl bed!! She was so excited!

Playing



In Your Face

Being the amazing teacher and coach that he is, Jaime was the "excited" recepient to a few pies (23 to be exact) in the face this past week at his elementary school. A kindergarten class won a challenge through the school and all got to pie Coach Crouse! The kids and I drove over to watch the fun! While Jaime was covered in pies, a sweet lady handed Maddie one all made up and told her to get at the end of the line. When it was Maddie's turn, this lady whispered in Jaime's ear, "this one is a special pie", and......

Slam. Right in the face. Yep, Maddie got her own dad. And it was hilarious!

Outside Fun

The weather has been in true East-Texas form, lately. It's not unusual for me to run my heat in the morning and my air conditioning in the afternoon. It's crazy! When it's nice outside (and sometimes even when it isn't), I try to get the girls out as much as possible. They love playing outside and they really love eating outside (Im pretty fond of that too because that means one less time I have to clean the table and sweep the floor)!



Easton 8 months

My boy is well on his way to the one year mark and this mommy isn't too happy about that! Why must they grow so fast?! I continue to enjoy Easton on a daily basis and really do love watching him grow, despite the fact that I also love him being a baby! He's over 8 months old now and such a handsome guy. Seriously....he's just a good lookin' boy! He won't have his next well check until next month, but here are a few things about him as of late:

-probably 20-21 pounds, Im guessing. Yes....he's SOLID!
-wearing a range of clothes. Some 6-9 month things fit. He mostly wears 12 month though for the room. Rumor has it, he's worn an 18 month size shirt too, and it fit fine. :)
-still nursing and loving it. Mommy has to get put on some preventitive migraine meds soon though so Im trying to wean. I nurse him usually 3-4 times a day but am trying to cut out the middle feedings and do 2. Then go down from there. I still produce a good amount of milk and am trying to avoid another battle with mastitis. He has recently accepted formula in a bottle during the day as a good 2nd choice, so we are moving in the right direction. Ive been so grateful to nurse my babies for a good amount of time. I'll be sad when Im completely done. But Im also looking forward to less headaches, literally! :)
-eat 3 meals a day (stage 2 1/2 or 3 foods) and enjoying baby snacks (crackers, puffs, yogurt melts, etc...)
-naps well (unless his sisters are being too loud!) and takes a morning, afternoon, and early evening nap. I usually nurse him around 7:30 in the evening and by 8:30 or 9, he's typically down for the night, waking up again around 6:30 to nurse again.
-getting on his knees and rocking back and forth, but NOT crawling yet. This has been much different than the girls and Im learning to accept that he's just gonna do it when he's good and ready! He's the 3rd baby, a boy, very relaxed and has a big gut! All that combined, and I think that explains why he's in no rush to crawl! He has, however, mastered the art of rolling around to get from one place to the other! :)
-has very sensitive skin and I have to watch the kinds of bath soap and lotions I use. Have to use hydrocortisone cream at times to help with some eczema places.
-has two bottom teeth and working on 4 top ones.
-loves to splash during bath time
-learning to clap and will do it if he hears you say "yay"!
-making the da-da noise
-we just moved you to a new rear-facing seat. The carrier just wasn't cutting it anymore!
-loves laughing at your sisters and pulling their hair
-when you get excited, you start kicking your legs and moving your hands like your starting up a motorcycle. It's adorable!

Minnie Mouse Party

This past weekend was Brooklyn's 2nd birthday party at Papaw and Nana's house. We had so much fun celebrating our sweet girl. She loves Minnie Mouse which was an easy theme to work with. I wanted to do simple since Easton's big one year party will be here before we know it! Brookeshire's did a cake for me with a MM print on it and my cousin, as always, did shirts for all 3 of the kids. It was perfect!

We love you so much, little bit!

Prep for Dance

Maddie's first dance recital is coming up! I can't wait. A few weeks ago, she had her pictures done and looked beautiful! It was my first time fixing a bun and I was really nervous but it turned out pretty good, if I say so myself! She hates the bun because she has so much hair that we have to use a lot of pins to keep it in place. Naturally, she has a headache when we are done. I've promised her that after her recital, she can get a hair cut!

Doesn't she look pretty? Ha, and sassy? :)