Happy 3rd Birthday, Eden!

 Happy 3rd Birthday, Eden!!

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since we made the flying trip to Nashville to be there when this little cutie was born!! She is so much fun to be around!

 Is this cake not amazing?!? My sister-in-law, Leanne, made it! She is SO stinkin' talented!

 Wheee!!

 Matt and Brisco going down the slide! Love Brisco's face in this picture ... so calm and relaxed!

Lydia decided to pull the fondant off of her piece of cake and lick it! It was so funny! I could tell she didn't feel good because she hardly touched her cake. =( She never refuses cake!

Glad we were able to be there for a little bit of the party to help celebrate!

1st Major Ear Infection

Well ... we almost made it 3 years without a major ear infection. =( We are thankful that has not been something we've had to deal with, but bummed that Lydia has been sick. She woke up last Tuesday with a nasty runny nose that would not go away. It seemed like that and a little cough was all it was. No fever and no fussing about her ears hurting. We put her in bed Friday night and she started whining ... and whining turned to crying ... and crying turned to straight up screaming. =( We were up most of the night with her. I felt awful because there was nothing that I could do to help her. The doctor wanted to see her ... so we took her in and turned out she had an awful ear infection. =(

On our way to my niece's birthday party. Lydia cried all morning because she didn't want to go to the doctor and wanted to go to Eden's party. It was pitiful! It was @ Jump!Zone and she was so excited. Thankfully she got to jump for a few minutes when we got there before it was time to leave. She did however get a "stick" from the doctor that tasted like grape that she really liked!

 Putting ear drops in a VERY active little girl is not easy! She does fine for the first few minutes, and then she starts asking "Is it done yet?!?" Thankfully we've been able to keep her occupied with Dora or one of her readers.

I'm ready for her to get feeling better ... but I have loved the extra cuddle time with her!

Thankfully after 5 days of antibiotics and ear drops she is starting to feel normal again. Hopefully by the time she finishes her medicine she will feel 100%!!

3 Under 3

Lydia and I spent last week in Searcy hanging out with family. We had a GREAT time! My brother Matt, sister-in-law Beth, and nephew Brisco were down visiting from Michigan and it was so good to see them and spend time with everyone. We had not seen them since August. Brisco has grown so much since then! There were 3 kids under the age of 3 in the house ... so needless to say, there was NEVER a dull moment!


I was awful at taking pictures ... but I did get a few!

Is he not the cutest?!?

 Eden and Lydia took a "hike" to the fish pond after their nap one afternoon. They loved walking through all the leaves and sticks to get there. It was so fun watching them!

 Taking a little break!

 5 out of the 7 great grandkids!

 Of course we had to make a trip to Fro-Yo while we were in town! Brisco LOVED it as much as Lydia does!

 The girls played so well together and had so much fun. They are both FULL of energy and it was rare to see both of them sitting still!

 The girls got their birthday presents from Uncle Matt, Aunt Beth, Brisco and Gordie while they were in town. I wish I had a picture of their faces when Matt brought the presents in! They were so excited!!

 I wonder what it is?!?

Meet Sophie and Gracie! 

 Building a tower with Aunt Beth out of Granna's tupperware!

 Brisco hanging out with the girls while they color.

I am so thankful Lydia and I were able to spend the week with everyone. Jeff had to work so he was only up for a couple of days. =( And we really missed Craig and Tiffany being there! Hopefully we can all get together in late July/early August!! Can't believe that there will be 4 little ones then! Crazy!

19 Weeks

19 Weeks with Lydia ... and 19 Weeks with "Lil Bit"

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: about 6 inches (the size of a large heirloom tomato) and about 8 1/2 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 9 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity jeans because they are so much more comfortable! Some maternity shirts but some regular.

Gender: Can't wait to find out! Hopefully Thursday, March 3rd!!

Movement: Starting to feel movement a lot more often! Love all those little pokes! They are not strong ... but still love the reminder that there is a living baby inside of me!

Sleep: I'm sleeping better than I was. Have to get up several times a night to use the bathroom. =(

What I miss: Nothing really ...

Cravings: No real cravings yet. Not really wanting many sweets ... which is unusual for me!

Symptoms: Tiredness
Best Moment this week: Feeling a lot more movement!

I feel like I look a lot bigger in this picture ... but I think that it's because it was taken late at night. Guess we'll see how it compares to next week! =)

Valentine's 2011

Jeff and I were able to spend Valentine's weekend at a marriage conference at our church. It was an incredible conference and I am so thankful we were able to go. It was called "The Art of Marriage" and was through FamilyLife. If you are ever able to go through this ... I highly recommend it! My mom and aunt kept Lydia and she had a blast! We enjoyed the nice break and time together to strengthen our marriage. It's so easy once you have kids to put your kids before your spouse, but we are TRYING to remember that we have to put God first, then our marriage, then our kids.

Lydia enjoyed a night out with Granna, Gigi and Mary Evelyn and Caroline. She LOVES these girls and feels so big when she gets to play with them. They went to one of Lydia's favorite places in Searcy...  Fro-Yo! =)

Our sweet little Valentine girl!

All day long on Valentine's Day, I kept asking where she wanted Daddy to take us out on a date. Everytime I asked her, she would say "I want peanut butter and jelly"! Silly girl! Finally, she told me that she wanted to go and eat pizza ... so pizza it was!

Dinner Date!

My sweet girl!

After dinner, it was time to go home for presents!

Looking very intently at her Dora card!

She wanted Daddy to read it to her right away. She was super excited when she realized there were stickers in there!

PRESENTS!

Jeff surprised me with half a dozen cupcakes! 

Yummy!! 

18 Weeks

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Size of baby: about 5 1/2 inches (the size of an green bell pepper) and about 7 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 9 lbs

Maternity Clothes: Wearing maternity jeans because they are so much more comfortable! Some maternity shirts but some regular.

Gender: Can't wait to find out! Hopefully first part of March!

Movement: Starting to feel movement a lot more often! Love all those little pokes! They are not strong ... but still love the reminder that there is a living baby inside of me!

Sleep: I'm sleeping better than I was. Have to get up several times a night to use the bathroom. =(

What I miss: Still no energy! I did not nap any the last week (either because of work or traveling) and it is really starting to wear on me! I've been completely drained by dinner time. Hopefully that will change soon!

Cravings: No real cravings yet. Not really wanting many sweets ... which is unusual for me!

Symptoms: Tiredness
Best Moment this week: Feeling a lot more movement!

Just Another Day In The Snow!

Lydia woke up Thursday morning and the first thing she asked to do was to go out and play in the snow! Thankfully she was okay with waiting until it warmed up just a little bit. It was only 15* outside ... with a windchill of about 8*!! YIKES! When she could wait no longer, we bundled her up and out they went! I decided to sit this one out! So I stayed inside and picked up a little and let her get a little one on one time in with Daddy!

All ready to go!! The sun was SO bright reflecting off of the snow, we figured she probably needed to wear her sunglasses. Is she not the cutest?!?

Filling up her bucket!

Love this picture!! She was pretty good about getting around on the ice! Our street was a solid sheet ... but she handled it like a pro.

Snow soccer?!?

After they had been out about 45 minutes or so, Jeff finally convinced Lydia it was time to come in. I fixed them lunch, a nap (for all of us!!) and a little baking!

Hard little worker

She stayed pretty occupied after her nap until about 4, and then she started asking to go outside again! So Jeff and her bundled up again and went out while I fixed dinner. I hated missing out on all the snow fun, but it was just WAY too cold for me!

They had a blast and stayed out until almost dark!

Enjoying yummy breakfast for dinner after playing hard in the snow.

Then it was time for a warm bath ... and BED!! She was one tired little girl!

Crafts and Snacks

When we found out there was a possibility of a BIG snow coming, I decided we needed some fun stuff to do inside! Lydia loves to do crafts and loves to help cook/bake so I got a few things to keep us busy. 

Working on a little Valentine's craft!

 She loves using stickers!

After lunch, we made some yummy rice krispy treats!

 Me and my little helper!

 She loves to help out when ever we are in the kitchen making anything. Hope that her love for cooking and baking lasts!

 Eyeing the HUGE jar of peanut butter!

 Helping stir in the cereal!

 We like to spunk up our rice krispy treats by adding peanut butter and m&m's. When we poured in the m&m's she immediately grabbed one out of the bowl and ate one! 

 Yumm! Look at all the yummy goo on the spoon!

 Mmmm ....

After dinner, we made our second batch of snow cream for the season!

 Helping to stir up the snow, Eagle Brand and vanilla ... patiently waiting to eat some!

Mmmm ... Finally!! Snow cream with Valentine's sprinkles!

We had a wonderful day and look forward to another fun day tomorrow! More crafts and snacks on the agenda ... and of course, more playing in the snow!