Brooklyn Turns 2!

My baby girl is officially a TWO year old-wow! Her birthday was this past Thursday and we had a fun time celebrating! Her party isn't until this next weekend, but I tried to do things just for her on her actual birthday. We had to start off the day with her 2 year WC, so after dropping Maddie and Easton off at Nana's house, we headed to see Dr. Smith. We sang the Doc McStuffin's song the whole way there! :) She had a great check-up (seriously, it was probably the easiest check-up ever for one of my kids) and Dr. Smith and his nurses had such a fun time with her. She was acting "extra" cute that day and we all got a few chuckles out of the visit! She's bumped up to 50th% on height and weight (33 inches and 26 pounds) and is doing great in all of her developments. Just like Maddie, Dr. Smith said that her vocabularly was above and beyond where most 2 year olds are (especially for a 2nd child) and he was quite impressed with the cute conversations he was able to have with her, himself!

After seeing the doctor, we went to Walmart where she was able to pick out some things she wanted. She got some new sunglasses, The Lorax movie and some pink cookies! We then picked up Sonic because she wanted french fries and chicken and went back to Nana's house. When we got home, they watched The Lorax and then went to bed for naps. My good friend (Aunt Mel) took half a day off from work, and came over to our house and played with both girls outside for quite a while. Then, later that night, we all enjoyed some birthday ice cream. I think Brooklyn had a great day because she crashed once it was time for bed! I am looking forward to her Minnie Mouse party next weekend!

In closing, here are a few facts about you right now:

-wearing 24m/2T bottoms and some 3T tops just so you have growing room
-size 5 or 6 shoe
-you've pottied several times in the potty but it's usually because it's our idea, not yours. Wearing size 4 diapers.
-holding conversations with people and saying complete sentences. You also repeat lots of things that you hear mommy and daddy say. Typically, we hear these expressions the most when you are angry with your sister and proceed to "get onto her"! :)
Things you can say are: I don't know, I can't remember, I want breakfast, I hungry, Where's______ (fill in the blank: Maddie, Easton, Daddy, Nana, etc....), see you soon, see you tomorrow, I love you, I want kiss and hug, and the list goes on and on. I will have to do a post all about the things you say and the conversations we have!
-You really enjoy introducing your family to other people. My favorite thing right now is when you tell people who your brother is. You always say "This my buddy boy" while pointing to him. Melt my heart....it's precious and you always get a good response from others when they hear it too!!
-love your sister and brother
-still a mama's girl
-love Minnie Mouse, Doc McStuffins and Sophia
-can actually count to 10 (but will only do it if it's your idea. when we ask, you refuse!). This has been yet another thing that has completely shocked me!
-VERY girlie! You love anything to do with dance, make-up and princesses. You also don't like to get your hands dirty and insist on having a napkin at every meal so that you can clean up!
-have the cutest little run, ever!
-extremely polite! If you say yes, we correct you, and you'll come back with saying yes mam(or sir). If we've done something for you, you always (without fail or encouragement on our part) say "thank you so much" and typically rub our face or our arm while you say it! It's precious!

Brooklyn-you are such a sweet heart and we love having you in our family as baby girl #2! We waited so long for you and you've proven to be well worth that wait! Love you baby girl!

Easter 2013

Spring is in full bloom and Easter has already come and gone! What a great weekend we had!

It started on Good Friday when we went to church for a GF service. It was a powerful message put together as if we were at Christ's memorial service. Such a neat idea! We heard from Jesus' mother, Mary, along with other important people. In conclusion, on a red piece of paper we all wrote down things that we struggled to let go of, in our own personal life, and then one-by-one went to the front and nailed it onto a cross. The cross was covered in red and it was so emotional. Let us not forget that Jesus shed his blood on a cross and died for every single one of those sins and struggles!

By the time Sunday came, the weather was rough! We made it to church in enough time that we actually avoided the down pour. Others, were not so lucky.....yikes! The kids looked so cute in their new Easter outfits and had enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny when they woke up earlier that morning. I don't like for their baskets to be "too made up". I think simpler is always better, especially when you remember that it's not what's most important on holidays such as these! All the kids had gotten new baskets and I thought they turned out so cute. Like I said, I like simple, and as candy-free as possible. So, the girls got: a few jelly bean filled eggs and each received a chocolate bunny. Then they each got a new thermos (Maddie-Tinkerbell and Brook-Minnie Mouse) and The Lorax book to share because they both love it. Easton nicely played along for his 1st Easter and he got: a chocolate carrot, jelly bean filled eggs, puffs and a new sippy cup I wanted to try out for him! :)

After church and naps, we went to Papaw and Nana's house for an egg hunt and Easter dinner! It was such a fun time!

Great Friends

When I started work as a probation officer, I took over a gentleman's caseload as he moved on to a different unit. To make a very long story short, I got to know him and later on his wife. Over the past 4 years we've spent time investing in the relationship and so have they! It's been amazing to have another married couple in our life to be friends with. Not only that, I've become very close with his wife and she is like a sister to me! I just love her. I desire to have these kinds of people in my life-someone who reciprocates the effort to make time for one another and someone we can share life with. It's been a struggle for me over the past few years (and even more so over the past few months) when it comes to the "married couple" and "girl" friendships I have in my life. I don't have any sisters and all of my sisters-in-law live very far away. Obviously, outside of the Lord, my husband is my best friend and my kids are everything, but I've still felt a void personally as a married wife/mom. I believe that we were created to have community with other people and I love making relationships BUT also growing those relationships and not just letting them fall by the waist side. And call me selfish, but I would hope that the other person would desire the same thing with me. Nathan and Tiffany have been such a blessing to mine and Jaime's life. Recently, my sweet friend drove to my house to tell me personally that she was having a baby-something we had prayed over for them for such a long time! AND, it's a sweet little boy. Can't wait for him to get here!
We've had countless dinners together, they've watched our kids for us, came to Maddie's soccer games, birthday parties, and the list goes on and on. They are the epitomy of true friends and I am so, so grateful to have them in my life. For my 30th birthday, they gave me a list of 30 things that had to do with our friendship. It was SO sweet! They're the best!

30!!!

Yesterday, was the big 3-0 for me and it was seriously a day I've been dreading for at least the past 6 months or so!  My twenties were so great and it made me sad for that span of years to "come to an end". In the past 10 years I: got married, graduated college, had Maddie, started working as a probation officer, bought our first home, had Brooklyn, became a stay at home mom and most recently had Easton! I have been so blessed and have had so much fun! I've also been really sappy! But the weekend really turned out wonderfully and all thanks to my sweet husband that put in the extra effort to make me feel loved! Jaime planned a surprise party (I actually figured it out and knew everything, days before :) ) for me on Saturday night at Chuy's with my family and friends. He lined up child care for the little ones, too. It was a great time and my family and dearest friends took the time to come out and celebrate with us! The theme was obviously "30" and some really creative people had a good time with that theme! :) We ate lots of good food, opened gifts, ate cookie cake and talked! I had such a good time and I was so grateful to Jaime for all he did!

Im really curious to see what my 30's will hold! Jaime and I have been praying about many things, lately, and Im anxious to see how things will continue to unfold. We know that the Lord is leading us to build for our next home and we feel that in the next year or two, we will build our dream house out on my parents land (versus buying a bigger house in a neighborhood). We both also have the desire to watch our family grow again and try for another baby at some point! I love having all the memories that my 20's provided and (though Im still emotional!) Im looking forward to the memories that will be made over these next few years!

Maddie's 5th Birthday!

Madison Elizabeth is now officially a 5 year old!

In preparation for the big day, I asked her what she wanted to do. She quickly told me that she wanted a rainbow party at the "Sonic she could play at"! So that's exactly what the girl got! My cousin, as always, created some cute invites and made both the girls some rainbow shirts to wear! I prayed that the weather would be good for her party since all she wanted to do was run around and play outside. It ended up being a little cool and windy, but NO rain and nothing we couldn't all handle! Maddie had such a great time and got lots of fun things. She had family, a few church friends, and her best friend from dance class show up to help her celebrate! I think it was a big success!

The 13th was her actual birthday,and we spent the day playing at the park and getting "blue-sprites" from Sonic. That night, Papaw (who couldn't be at the party) came over for her special birthday dinner and a few more presents. She had requested:

fried chicken with honey
string cheese
carrots and ranch
sprite
chocolate chip cookies

And that's exactly what she got!
She also got to go bowling with Uncle Alan and Erica! The fun never seemed to stop for this sweet girl! So glad that we've had the past five years to watch her grow into a little lady and we look forward to all the other fun things to come!