Noah is 1!

Oh big man!  What would we do without you?!  You are one now, seems like such a big milestone.  I cannot believe a year ago I gave birth to my biggest bundle of love!!  You are such a sweet joy to be around!  You LOVE your siblings.  Anytime they come into the room, your whole face lights up, and you put your arms out to them for a hug and a kiss!  What a little lover you are!  Anyone you meet you want to hug and kiss, or head butt(that seems to be your other sign of affection!)!  You are so rough, yet so gentle.  For as young as you are, you sure do love to tackle your siblings!  They all know you can take them down quick!  You like to play cars with your brother, but you are really more of a ball boy!  You get sooo excited when you see a ball! You love to throw it, and chase it around the room!  You also love your doggies!  You refer to them both as good girl, they seem to love the attention you give them!  You are such a good talker for being one!  You are constantly surprising us with new words that you have learned!  Your current favorite phrases are: "go get it" (often said when you throw the ball across the room!), "good girl" (your name for both dogs), "all done", and then you have so many single words I don't even think I can list them all!  You are working on standing up by yourself, and you crawl ALL over the place!  You are starting to walk, but you don't dare to let go, although you can cruise around the house with your walker one handed! Funny boy!

Your siblings insisted since you have a summer birthday that you needed ice cream cones!  We settled for ice cream cone cupcakes.  A twist on cake, and ice cream!  I would say you enjoyed yourself!!

 You figured out you could reach them, and helped yourself to some frosting!

 You were a bit hesitant to try them, at first!

 I'd say you decided it wasn't so bad after all!

All done, next up, a bath!

We love you sweet boy! We are looking forward to what this next year will bring us!  You are our little lover, and our big man!  I cannot wait to see how that manifests itself as you get older!  You are my biggest one year old to date, but man are you cute!  We cannot get enough of all those lovable rolls!  They just make squeezing on you such a delight!  We pray that you will get to know the Lord, and love Him!  We also pray you will continue to have such a good relationship with your siblings, and continue in your sweet loving spirit!

 Presents are WAY more fun to climb on then to actually open!

 You were pretty excited to get some blocks, so you could play with the big kids!

Happy Birthday Noah! Here's to the next year!

Avery Turns 2

My sweet girl! I cannot believe you are 2!!!  You are such big stuff, for a tiny little thing.  Short and Sassy!  You know how to hold your own around here, and you are also not afraid to voice your opinion.  You are smart, funny, and oh so serious!  You always know when to make us laugh, and man can you make us laugh!  You also are the most empathetic baby!  Any time anyone is hurt, or sad, you run to them, and make sure they are ok.  If they have an owie you kiss it better, if they are just upset you give them a hug, if they are sulking well then you sit next to them with your little arm around them and rub their back! There is no one like you my sweet child. I pray you keep your sweet, empathetic spirit!  What a joy and a blessing you are to our family!

We got to spend your 2nd birthday at Mimi and Papaw's house! Just like we have been able to do with your big siblings.  Oh man did you have fun-although being my more serious child you did run off to play by yourself several times.  I think the amount of people there may have been a little overwhelming for you! Of course your party was HUGE! Lots of friends and family came to celebrate YOU!  We celebrated with a huge brunch!  Of course because Mimi was in charge of the food, we knew it was going to be good! And she didn't let us down!!

 Your cute watermelon bowl that Mimi made!

Momma got to make you a cupcake cake!  You LOVE cupcakes, so we figured this was the perfect way to make sure you got cupcakes!  We of course had to shape it like a princess dress, being that you are such the little princess!  And it HAD to be purple.  Your new favorite color.  Not sure if that was put on you by big sister or not, but you seem content in knowing it is YOUR color.  You definitely make sure we all know anything purple MUST belong to you, because who else could have something in your color!

Princess Dress Cupcake Cake!

 Blowing out your candles

 Mmmmm...yummy!

Time for presents! You are a spoiled and loved little girl!  There were so many presents for you to open!  You loved them all!  You got lots of stuff for your baby doll (your new favorite toy), and were so excited! You also got coloring stuff, little people, clothes, jammies, underwear, dress up stuff, a rolling backpack (another favorite!).  When all was said and done, you were tired and definitely ready for a nap-of course after you tried out and opened all of your new toys!  What a pleasure it was to have all of our friends and family there to help us celebrate you being you!  We love you sweet girl and cannot wait to watch you continue to grow!  We pray you will grow to love the Lord, and continue to throw us all into giggle fits, and keep caring about others!  

Happy Birthday Avery!

 Present time

Noah and Athaiah decided they wanted to help you open presents!

Athaiah turns 3!

My sweet little peanut!  How are you already 3? I wish that time would slow, you are getting so big, soo fast, I wish I could keep up!  You are still a mommy's girl, and I hope you stay this way forever.  You are my sweet and sassy little girl!  Always keeping mommy and daddy on their toes.  You are smart beyond your years, and can speak like an adult! I am constantly amazed at how quickly you can pick up on new ideas, and your concept of words and sentences!  Watch out world, Athaiah is coming for you!!  You are such the little momma to your siblings, always making sure they have what they need and if they don't getting it for them (usually all by yourself!).  From the second your feet hit the floor you are a running bundle of energy, and enthusiasm.  You have such a happy spirit, and I pray you will always keep it! You are a girly girl to the MAX, but aren't afraid to get dirty(although you will promptly clean yourself up!) You are my snuggle bug-always have been, some things never change, and I hope they never do.  I can always count on you to climb into our bed in the middle of the night, and to want me to snuggle or rock you to sleep for nap time. And randomly throughout the day to climb into my lap or beg to be picked up because you just need a quick snuggle.  I love your affection, and you give it to everyone so freely.  It always brightens our days when you offer up your snuggles so freely!

 Momma's girl forever!

 Birth to Now~ I cannot believe how you have grown my sweet girl!  Time flies!

 Rockin' her new shades from Auntie Lolo and Uncle Robert! Always a fashionista

 Baby Blankets! From her Oma and Opa!

 Big Girl with her Big Bike-complete with a purse and baby carrier of course!!

You requested a birthday cookie cake this year, and you got it.  You couldn't have been happier.  Always an original thinker!  You also requested meatballs, noodles with cheese, corn, and cantaloupe!  Such a well rounded meal for a sweet 3 year old to pick up!  You also picked to have strawberry pancakes for lunch-which turned out fabulous( if I do say so myself)! Great IDEA! We love you sweet girl, and we cannot wait to see where life takes you.  We pray that you will continue to learn, and that you will one day learn all about God and His love for you, and become a part of HIS family!  Keep growing strong my sweet one, and stay positive! 

 The cookie cake that you picked for mommy to make-had to have pink m&ms in it, yes I was a good mom and picked out all the pink ones(good thing your birthday is close to Easter!) And of course baby had to have some too!

We love you sweet peanut! You are have always been my skimmy immie(as you say!) Weighing in at 32lbs, and 39.5" tall!

Eli Turns 4!!

How can it be big man?  Time sure has flown by!  You are FOUR! It doesn't feel like you should be that big already. I can remember like yesterday the day you entered this world, making me a mommy for the first time!

You are my sweet little man.  The one who holds the doors open for all the ladies in your life(your daddy has been teaching you well, my son!). You are the first one to run to someone when they are hurt, and offer them a hug and smooch to make it all better!  You are such a ray of sunshine in our lives.  Always keeping a smile on your face, and on those around you. Your understanding has really taken off lately.  You are very concerned about doing what is right.  You also love to read your Bible story every night, listening soo close to everything that is said, that way you can get all the answers right in the end! Your sense of humor is also taking off which is keeping us in stitches!  I love hearing you tell us all your knock-knock jokes.

Cars!  You love cars, and constantly ask daddy which ones he is working on at work-and what he is doing to them.  Your face lights up, when you and daddy get to play parking lot together!

I love watching you interact with all of your siblings, you have such an amazing gift and relationship with each one of them.  You and Athaiah are best buds(for the most part!), Avery is your little princess, you give her anything she wants(even when mommy tells her no!), and Noah is "your" baby.  You love on him, and want to help do everything for him!  You are such a big helper around the house, always asking mommy if you can help with the dishes, begging to set the table, to dust, and to sweep!  What would I do without you around here?  You keep me sane, and on my toes.  You help me learn more everyday, and challenge me to be a better mom for you and your siblings.

You were very specific this year, in what you wanted for gifts and food.  I am happy to report you got everything you wanted(and more!).  For your cake you wanted a blue, slimy(ganache frosting!) cake, shaped like a number! For your meal you wanted Mac n Cheese(momma's homemade kind!), Green Beans, Strawberries, and Birthday Potato soup! (Don't worry we split it up into two meals for the day!)

 For presents you wanted a monster truck, a clock with red numbers, and an airplane.  You insisted that was all you wanted!

We love you to the moon and back!  Happy Birthday my sweet boy! Keep on smiling!

ONE!

My baby turned ONE!(well about 2 weeks ago she did, I'm a bit slow per usual) I cannot believe it.  The joy that we feel for her and the love that we have for her is so overwhelming.  She is the perfect little addition to our family.

 When she "arrived" a year ago!

 Birthday Cupcakes!

 First Taste-not quite sure

I'd say she LOVED them! The whole time she said "yum"

What is she:

She is our little, chunky pumpkin! The shortest in the bunch-also having her weigh the least at one(who would have thought my heaviest baby would be my tiniest one year old!) 29" and 20.8#

She has always been our serious child-NOT any more.  She is developing such a funny little personality.

She loves to giggle, and make other people giggle at/with her! And oh the faces she will make to get you to laugh at her! HA, I wish I had some pictures, but they change so fast you have to be careful not to miss them!

She loves to dance-oh man does she love to dance.  You turn on the music and her whole body rocks out!

She is opinionated! Yep.so.very.much. She may not be able to "Speak" but she will let you know what she wants, and what she wants she wants NOW!

She loves her siblings, and they love her.  There is nothing like some good sibling lovin' in this family!

She is determined!  She is determined to learn how to walk-currently she cruises around the furniture, the walls, ANYTHING that can help her walk, she will find it and she will use it!

She is starting to talk! Words she can say: mama, dada, dede(Decafe), kitty, yum, we are still working on getting the siblings names down but if you ask her to look for one of them specifically-she will point to the correct one!  She can sign: milk, thank you, eat, and more (we are working hard on please, she loves to just yell!)

She is our baby with the most hair! I love it! I'm not always sure what to do with it, since we have always had bald, blonde babies. BUT we love it!

She LOVES her daddy!  She is the 1st baby in this family to LOVE their daddy SOOO much.  He comes home and she squeals and runs to the door, if she isn't the first one kissed on and picked up oh man watch out-daddy gets a good scolding.  She loves mommy too, but she is the first one to truly be all about daddy!

She makes our lives complete.  I think we would be so lost without this wonderful, chunky, bundle of love! The one who makes us giggle, and sit down to snuggle! Our little pumpkin!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin! We love you soooo much!

Turning 2!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our wild, sweet, little peanut!  You have brought us so much joy and we cannot imagine life without your constant energy and chatter!  Athaiah you are a bundle of energy, constantly on the move!  You speak so well it is unbelievable.  In fact, you have been known to speak for your brother at times, and you know no stranger.  You are a mommy's girl still-but love your daddy and get so excited when he comes home or walks into the room! You LOVE shoes and that is probably an understatement, you walk around all day putting on new shoes, and it doesn't matter who's shoes they are, so long as they are shoes! You are a blessing to our family. We love you to the moon and back!

We were blessed to be able to go home for Athaiah's 2nd birthday and spend it with family and friends! Thank you to every one who came out.  These are just a few pictures from the party!

 Cake Time!

Pretending like she won't make a mess!

 Thankful we removed the shirt! My messy girl!

  This is my favorite picture of the afternoon.  This is our family with all of our grandparents-so the kids great grandparents! They are all still living and we are blessed beyond belief that they have been able to share in our children's lives.  This picture will forever be a treasure around here!  Thank you to all of you for making such an impact on our lives, we are blessed to call you our grandparents!

 The birthday girls! My baby sister's birthday is the day after Athaiah's. Very glad we got to see her that close to her birthday this year! No matter how old you get and how many children I have-Alyssa you will always be my "baby." I can't believe what an incredible woman you have turned into.  I love being able to call you my sister!

This is the birthday girl the next day in one of her new outfits.  She was so excited to get so many wonderful presents.  She spent the next day looking through them all again and playing with them all! Thank you again to everyone that came out.  It was GREAT to see everyone of you and to be able to catch up a little.

Happy Birthday Peanut!

Athaiah is 1!

My baby girl is 1! Where has the time gone?

We had some cake a week early...she barely got messy-no fun.

We decided to try again-still hardly messy, this was on Sunday the day after her birthday.

Here is a picture of the birthday cupcakes!

The family was a bit under the weather on her birthday so we pretty much hung out around the house.  We did manage to make it out of the house to go to Logan's for dinner(mommy was craving their yummy rolls), and we went to Target while we were there to pick her up a present.  Yes, we really are that lame.  We waited until her birthday and then took her shopping!  She got a stroller for her babies, and 2 pairs of jean shorts-since it is pretty much shorts weather here already.

All about our baby girl:
She talks-a lot...here are some of her words: momma, daddy, brother, dede(decafe-the dog), kitty, ucky, no, mine(you can tell someone has a big brother), bye, hi/hello, thank you, yum, ow, uh-oh, and she giggles and smiles a lot!

Since turning 1 she loves her daddy-It's about time little girl!

She loves fruit and can't get enough...if you walk through the produce section with her she says yum as loud and as furious as possible and doesn't stop! She is forever trying to get into the fridge and pull everything out! Gonna have to keep an eye on this little one.

She is trying to walk-she won't stand up by herself yet, but pulls herself up on everything, scales the couch and loves to walk behind any of the push toys! She doesn't sit still for very long, she is almost always on the move.  She is going to keep the rest of us on our toes!

She thinks her brother and her dog are the best thing ever and is forever chasing the two of them around the house giggling.

She loves to snuggle!  Mommy's favorite, she will still curl up like a newborn(you know with the legs all pulled up under her) and just lay on my belly!

What a wonderful little blessing she has been to our family!  I can't wait for what is to come...but really time needs to slow down-these kiddos get soo big so fast!  I have only been able to get a couple of pictures and she is so active, so below are the only two official 1 year pics we have so far!

I love my babies blue eyes!

This was an "accident" picture, Elijah wanted to sit next to her and this is now one of my favorites. Especially since I didn't have to pose them like this is just happened!