Look What I Made....

So recently I have been sewing some clothes for Henley! I had done this for Christian too, but I am having soooo much fun with girl clothes! I decided that I would invest in a embroidery/monogramming machine! I love it and I am able to monogram, embroider and applique! There are of course classes that I am going to take, but they have not been offered again since I bought the machine! In a few weeks there will be a class that I can take, but I can not wait for that! So in the meantime I have become obsessed with figuring it out all on my own! I have to admit that I have ruined a shirt or two, but now I am getting the hang of it!

I wanted to post some of the things that I have made for my family and friends who do not live in Birmingham! I am excited about this and can not wait to make so much more!!! I have tons of ideas and outfits to do for Henley. I have a lot of shirts for Christian too! Brian just rolls his eyes at me, but who knows i could make some money one day doing this for friends etc...! I have not made the shirts to match the pants yet because I am appliqueing them, but when I finish I will post more pictures!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Preston!

A year ago on September 16th are darling nephew entered this world! We celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago, but with my whole household being sick I have not had time to post! It is so hard to believe that a year has passed and he is turning one! It is even harder for us to believe because Henley is three weeks behind him! They grow so quickly! Julie and Steve had a great birthday for him at their home with family to celebrate the big day!

Being the great chefs that they are Julie and Steve made a delicious meal. We had beef tenderloin, salad, mac n cheese casserole and corn on the cob! Yum! The festivities began around 5:00pm and our children had not had any naps that day, so we of course were playing everything by ear. Meaning that at any moment Christian could have a complete meltdown and we would have to leave early! He did do just that, but we were able to keep him under control long enough to watch Preston dive into his birthday cake! I always love watching the little ones expressions and looks of confusion when you place a cake in front of them! Preston was not so sure at first, but once Julie put a taste in his mouth...game on! He absolutely loved it and I am pretty sure his big sis did too! Bennett helped him finish it off and then he was off for a bath! We were soon gone because are kids needed to go home and get to bed! However, we wish we could of stayed longer to help celebrate!

Preston is an absolutely adorable boy to be around and is always so happy! We are so blessed to be in the same city that we can watch and participate in each other's children's lives! It has been so fun to watch them at every stage and see the changes and milestones they reach! We love you Preston and are so glad you had a wonderful birthday! Hopefully, your sister will let you play with your toys soon! :)

What nice teeth you have...

It has been over a week since this happened, but I am just getting around to posting it. Christian had his first dentist appointment! I had been weary of taking him because I was not so sure what would go down once we got there! However, the dentist that was recommended to us by a friend was wonderful and his first experience was perfect! I had been explaining to him all week what a dentist was and that they would look at his teeth and make sure everything what it is supposed too. Christian's favorite word right now is "WHY" and usually asks that for just about anything. I can not begin to tell you the conversations that go on in our household sometimes. Brian and I just start making up random stories sometime because we get so tired of answering why mommy, but why daddy? Agh...it can be annoying! On this particular day the question why, kept repeating and repeating out of his little mouth. Somewhere along the lines Santa Claus and all children's dentist became very close friends! I now have a three year old that is convinced that he must behave and brush his teeth for the dentist. The consequences of not doing this will lead to Santa not bringing him any presents ! Apparently, the dentist has a direct line to Santa Claus and will let him know about all little boys who do not brush their teeth! So now every night when Christian brushes his teeth he looks at me and says, "Santa bring me presents?" Now, the funny part of this is that he does not get Santa/Christmas. I think he is waiting for Santa to just show up and bring him a gift! :) It serves it purpose!



The dentist office is very kid friendly and was like Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch! The parent has the option of going back with the child if they want too and of course I did! Christian got to pick out a new toothbrush and stickers. They sat him on the chair and told him step by step what they were going to do. WHY...WHY...WHY was all he said to them. He listened and did everything they asked of him to do. They brushed, counted and checked all his teeth. Once they were done he received a gold coin for good behavior! Christian of course asked for two coins and with his sweet face...got them! He has always been a child who thought one is great, but two is better! The office has a machine that you stick the coins in and get a prize! I think he was having so much fun playing, that I had to drag him out of there! Christian got rave reviews on his teeth and I was happy because it was much more simple than I thought it would be! I forgot my camera that morning, but I had my phone. The pictures are not the best quality, but you get the idea! I have not been able to downlaod them to my e-mail, but I will soon and post pictures!

Thank Goodness for Moms Day Out!

It was two weeks ago that my darling babies started and returned back to school! Since there was no school on Labor Day this was a short week and thus taken me awhile to write this short blog! I think that I was the one who was anticipating the start of school more than Christian. I do not think Henley knew what was coming! When Brian and I told Christian that school was starting back he quickly told us that he did not want to go to school! In fact, when we went to meet the teachers he was very upset and did not leave our sides the entire time! However, he is all talk because he happily returned to school and there were no issues at all! The only confusion was that he wanted his sister to stay with him in his class, which I thought was too sweet! When I dropped him off he told me, " Momma big boys do not cry at school!" How cute is that? Now, when I took Henley to her class there was just a complete meltdown! I was expecting this because my daughter is utterly ridiculous when it comes to momma! If I am remotely near her and she knows it than she will cry and cry until I get her! However, when I leave her with a complete stranger that she has never been around you can only guess what would happen! When we got to her room the teacher offered to take her, but I told her that it might be better if I put her on the floor with the other kids to play and sneak out! There was no signs of being scared and she was playing when I left. I thought wow... that was not so bad! I continued down the hall and then I heard it, this horrible cry that would of broke most moms hearts! I just laughed and thought uh oh she just realized momma was not there! I knew she was in good hands so I just left to run my errands. I am friends with the director so I called and talked to her about 45 minutes later to check on Henley. I was told that she cried for awhile until they went on a walk outside and she seemed to enjoy that. Later when they came back in she had to be held the whole time to stop her from crying! Poor baby! I feel bad for her because this does happen to be at the beginning of her nap time! We decided to pick her up early for awhile and let her adjust to the program. Last week she did not go because we both were sick with a head cold. Next week will be interesting and hopefully she will adjust quickly! I need my free time! I took these pictures on the first day of school and nobody would sit still for a minute! We were already late so this is the best I could do!

The Big 3!

Three years ago on August 29th at 7:15 in the morning our sweet baby boy blessed our lives! We are forever changed and our hearts are more full than one could ever imagine due to it! I have to say, life has gotten more challenging as he proceeds to grow and push boundaries with us every minute of every day! Brian and I are both stubborn and hard headed and there is no doubt are child has come by these traits naturally! He fights us tooth and nail for everything! There is a battle everyday over clothes, eating, not beating up his sister, naps and the worst of all BEDTIME! I am mentally exhausted after a day with him! The constant rebellion against what he is supposed to do and not do is nerve racking! However, that being said I would not trade it for all the sweet loving things he does and says on a regular basis! Here are some of our favorites:

-Mommy/Daddy hold me all day/night

-He will point to our arms and say, those are my arms!

-His great manners he almost always says thank you mommy

-The sweet way he talks to Henley when she wakes up from a nap. He asks her "have a good nap Henley? Have sweet dreams?"

-How protective he is of his family. That's my Henley, my mommy and my daddy

_We always ask him "Who is your best friend?" He tells us Mommy, Daddy and Henley

He has such a big heart and is such a good snuggler! I would not trade a thing for any of it!

On the morning of his birthday Christian woke up to find his big birthday present downstairs! He received a big boy bike with training wheels! He had picked it out a few months ago and he had no idea he was getting it! I think he was a little shocked when he saw it and was not so sure what to do! It was cute! Immediately the phone started ringing that morning with family members calling to wish him Happy Birthday! His Nene and Poppy were the first to talk to him. He kept them on the phone while he opened his gift from them! It was a tractor that actually moves! It has an electric arm that moves up and down and can pick things up and dump them out! A huge hit for Christian and all his friends that saw it when they were over for the party! I believe there were some fights over it later in the day!

Now, on to the party we had to celebrate or big boy turning three! This year his birthday fell on a Saturday and that is when we had his party! I invited all his friends from school and a few others he has in the neighborhood. There was a great turnout and we had around twelve kids at the party. Christian is into tractors big time so we originally thought we would have a tractor party. However, when I started doing some searching everything was John Deere tractor decorations and I have to say, very ugly! He likes yellow tractors and John Deere is green. I decided he did not really need a certain theme party this year, but I would make him a tractor cake! Yep! I did it again and made his cake this year too! I really enjoyed doing it and makes me feel like I have made something really special for him! I am getting quite skilled at making and decorating cakes! It is so much fun to see the outcome of your hard work! My mom did this for my sister and I and I think I will continue the tradition with my children! It is a lot of work, but worth it!



























Since August is always so darn hot we decided to rent a huge double water slide for the kids and adults! We chose a slide that we the parents could go on too when the kids were all gone! I have to admit that it was a lot steeper in person then it looked on line. Some of the kids were quite skeptical of it including our own birthday boy! Brian actually dragged him up kicking and screaming determined that he would like it once he went down! That was a bad assumption because Christian was not so excited to go down the slide for the rest of the afternoon! We had some friends with slightly older children who were tearing down the slide like crazy and we even had some fearless little ones too! Christian had a few friends who went down the slide like it was nothing, some friends needed you to go down with them and some never went down again after the first time! It was absolutely hysterical to watch the faces of the kids going down! I think they all had a great time regardless! Henley loved going down the slide with her daddy and so did Porter who is one year old! They might be dare devils when they grow up! We also put out the slip and slide for the ones who were not so keen on the slide and that was a hit as well!

We had hot dogs, chips and home made potato salad (which took forever for me to make) I had no idea what I had gotten myself into with that under taking! I got a lot of compliments on it and everybody wanted the recipe, so I guess that made it worth my time! :) Once everyone was done eating we got the cake and sang Happy Birthday! I do not think I have ever seen Christian smile so big in my life! I think he absolutely loved being the center of attention! I have no idea what parent he inherited that from??? We all had cake and ice cream and the kids all continued to play in and out of the house! Some people wanted him to open their gifts, but I actually tried keeping that to a minimum. I think it just gets to overwhelming for them and you just need a more controlled environment! My parents bought him this big jumpy from One Step Ahead so he opened that and we blew it up for the kids to play in! It is about as big as our play room so I am going to have to find another place to put it! He received a great gift from his Aunt Heather, in fact the only gift that has any educational benefit what so ever! Thanks Heather! I will be very appreciative when he is able to spell words! His Aunt Julie and Uncle Steve gave him the DVD Shreck and a CAT tractor that makes all kinds of sounds and movements! He got so much stuff I am not sure what I am going to do with it all!?

As if the day was not full of fun...it was only going to keep lasting because cousin Bennett was staying over for the night! Julie and Steve had a Wedding shower they were throwing at their house so we offered to keep Bennett for the night! We figured that it would not be to bad because they both should be worn out from the party! However, they were like two little energizer bunnies that just kept going, going, going! Julie and Steve snuck out around 2:30 and Bennett was none the wiser! She had fun playing and helping Christian open some more presents. She had one little meltdown where she wanted mommy and daddy, but we diverted her with one of her favorite movies Shreck! Julie had told me that she might want to take a nap, but she was showing no signs of that happening! When it was around 4:30 we decided we would just keep moving until they passed out! We packed everybody up on the golf cart and went for a ride around the neighborhood! Some of our best friends live down the street and had been at the party earlier so we dropped by their house to see what was going on. They were all outside playing so we stopped and joined in on the fun! Susan has three boys so Bennett was the only little girl playing with all 4 boys (Henley tries to join it, but she is to little)! There are quite a few toys to play with at their house with three boys, so Bennett was in heaven with some of them! They have this monster truck that is electric and she LOVED it! We were not so sure if she could steer it, but we helped and she did not do half bad! I think she would love mommy and daddy to buy her one for Christmas! Later the ice cream lady came by and we got everyone some ice cream! Brian and I were laughing because we knew Julie would hate to have her eating this messy stuff with out a bib on to protect her clothes! Sorry Julie I hope the stains came out!? We could not deny her sweet little request to have some!

It was 6:00pm now and we decided that it was time to go home and get baths and go to bed! They had a long day and were worn out! We went home had baths, ate dinner and off to bed...so we thought! Julie had told me that Bennett was easy to put to bed and that all I had to do was tuck her in with all her blankets and she would go to sleep. Christian was watching a movie downstairs, so I took Bennett up to Christian's room to watch Shreck and I figured she would be out quickly! I was wrong because she protested and told me she was not tired at all! Bennett told me she wanted to sit in the bed not lay down and watch her movie! It took a little convincing, but I finally got her to lay down. Once her little head hit the pillow she was yawning and I knew it would not be long! My child on the other hand was downstairs fighting it like a mad man! We had a child every hour on the hour fall asleep. Henley at 7:00, Bennett at 8:00 and Christian at 9:00! Me at 9:30!!!! It was a great day and we all had so much fun! We thoroughly enjoyed having Bennett around and it is something we should do more often! Christian did not want her to go home the next day! In fact, that morning when he woke up he was not screaming for mom or dad, but for his beloved cousin Bennett! Thanks to everybody for making it such a special day! Happy Birthday to our Big Boy! We love you so much!!!

Climbing, Climbing, Climbing

Henley is quickly approaching her first birthday and is a baby who is very much into anything now a days! She has been crawling and pulling up for awhile now, but no interest in walking! Well about two weeks ago she became obsessed with the staircases in the house! We have had to shut all the gates again and really watch her because she is sneaky! We have already had a tumble and some big bruises and bumps! I am sure there will be many more to come!



She loves the stairs and just laughs and giggles as she climbs them. Usually she is after her brother or Brian who have gone upstairs for something! I can not take my eyes off her because she will dart off to the front staircase in the house! We have two staircases and the one in the front of the house has a large opening with nowhere to attach a gate of any kind...and believe me I have searched the Internet for something! I have to make sure all access is cut off for her to the front of our house and that is a pain! Oh Well now she has finally started cruising around as of last night so maybe her interest will be a little diverted! One can only hope! :)