Embroidery

Now that everyone I've made gifts for over the past few months has finally gotten their goodies, I can finally post some pictures for Tammy and Steph to see what I've been working on lately.

Gift Basket for my good friend Gina's baby girl Leanora

Burp-cloths and Blanket in Gina's Basket

Gift Basket for my sweet friend and neighbor Karen's baby boy Aidan

Burp-cloths in Karen's Basket

Baby Blankets sewn for our Cousin Daniel and Shannon's baby boy Matthew

Yes, I realize the picture is sideways~ Sorry!~ but the towels for my niece Erin's graduation are still cute

Dish Towels and Napkins for my awesome long-lost buddy Lyndsie who just bought a house~ Congrats Home Owner!!

Burp-cloths for my amazing friend from college Brendalyn's little girl Olivia

So, I'm thinking of maybe starting a small thing on the side doing this, but I'm not totally sure if anyone would actually buy these. What is your input on them?

Girl's Night Out/Baby Shower

I have to confess... I've become my sister Anne {whom I absolutely adore!}. It's not at all a bad thing; I'm just becoming more and more social. I've organized a couple of Girl's Night Out for our neighborhood, and they've all turned out really well. The reason I say I'm becoming Anne is because when it comes to planning these parties, I ask myself one simple question... "What would Anne do?" Then I merely do whatever I think Anne would do in the situation!

At the last Bunco, Karen and Gina were chatting about how uncomfortable they were being preggo {Karen was 39 weeks and Gina was 33 weeks}. The portion of the conversation I heard was about how happy they were to get out without the kids and just chat it up with the girls, which gave me the idea to combine our GNO with a baby shower for them! Super smart of me huh?

I made the reservation at Fulin's {uber-yummy Chinese} and got underway with the planning of the party! Since Karen had a boy and Gina's having a girl, I decided to go with the "Sweet Baby" theme and have it be like a candy shop. I think it turned out really well! It was a great night out with the girl's and lots of fun to see Aidan.

Gift Table (at the beginning)

Cupcakes from Hello Cupcake {the best!} and Sucker Bouquet Treats!

Karen and her beautiful baby Aidan

Karen and Gina opening up the many, many gifts!

Gina's super excited about the wrapping :)

Karen and Gina opening up their gifts from me

Insanity

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

~ Albert Einstein

August 25th, 2009

Enough said!

Terrible Two's

The terrible two's are officially here! Nolan is CRAZY which is making me CRAZIER!



I almost don't know what to do with him. He's into everything, can open all of the doors, and can get practically everything in the house. He *loves* to hide out in the pantry, climb up on Brennan's top bunk, play in my dark closet, and {his new favorite} hangout in the garage!



We've all seen his handy work with the donuts~ and it's not just donuts. He's emptying out the cupboards, leaving all of my small appliances, towels, and pan lids lined up across the kitchen floor. And heaven help me if Brennan or I don't put our bowls away in the sink! He climbs up on the stools and gets whatever he wants off the counter. I've found him a few times dancing on the counter or the kitchen table. And all he does is laugh!



Which brings me to our mess of the week:

I'm trying to get back into the swing of clipping coupons, so I had a huge stack of coupons clipped, but not sorted because I had to feed and change the baby. I was gone maybe 5 minutes in the nursery... when I came out to this:

Looking on the bright side, I guess I'm glad he didn't decide to play with the scissors or dump out the coke right?!?

*side note: even as I sit here and type this, I can hear Nolan getting into the pantry and things going bang!*

Army Man Ian

Ian's starting to "Army Crawl" and scoot his way around the house. He' s even started getting up on his knees and rocking!

What am I going to do now that they are all mobile?

The Cast is OFF!!

It's true!! The lovely red cast if off~ never to be seen again {silent prayer for that to be true}.

I just have to say that Nolan was such a trooper while he was wearing the cast. He never cried about it and just dealt with it. I almost think that it gave him a super-hero complex {meaning that he didn't think he could be hurt again}. BC {before cast}, Nolan didn't really try to climb things or jump off things, but while that cast was on, he became a terror! He threw himself out of the pack-n-play at Papa's & Gigi's, over the gate while he was supposed to be sleeping, and up and down tables & chairs. The sound of the cast hitting the floor scared me to death~ I thought that we were going to end up back in the ER getting a new cast because he'd broken it again! I don't know where this new-found courage came from, but I wish it would go away!

When we went back to the orthopedist for the third time, they did another set of x-rays to determine if the break was healing. It looked great! I didn't realize it before, but kids breaks heal extremely fast. It was only 4 weeks from the accident to cast removal~ it wasn't nearly as long as I thought that it would be.

Here's the funny part of the situation {and only something MY child would do}. When they take off the cast, they use this really loud and scary saw to cut through the cast. I'd never actually seen one until this, and it freaked me out. I was sure that Nolan would be kicking and screaming~ but not my child! My child, instead of screaming as all of the other kids do when they see this saw coming, Nolan bursts out laughing hysterically! I guess it tickled his leg/foot and they had to hold him down because his laughter was making it hard to cut. When they got done, the doctor said that it was the easiest removal he'd ever done on a child.

So I had to throw in this picture of Ian. He was so scared of the loud saw. Can't you see the fear in his eyes?

Never Underestimate the Determination of a Two Year Old

So I know you're thinking "what is this and what does it have to do with a two year old?"

So here's your answer:




It all began last night. On the way home from karate, I got a sweet tooth, so I zipped by Krispy Kreme and picked up a couple boxes of donuts for a treat and breakfast in the morning. Since it was so late after we finished dinner, I sent the boys to bed without a treat. Nolan was NOT happy about that one.

Sometime last night, Nolan woke up and decided to help himself to the donuts. Somehow he managed to take the box off the counter and put it in the living room. He proceeded to take every glazed donut out of the box, take a sample of each one, and lined them neatly on the coffee table.

When I woke up this morning, I woke up to this wonderful sight of half eaten donuts and a very proud toddler, who on top of the donuts also managed to make himself a bed on the couch and turned on the tv. Though it wasn't Mickey or Manny (it was the news), he was awful proud of his accomplishments!

Up Ward Football

Brennan's been dying to play football, but I've been a little hesitant about it. There is just something about little boys wearing all of this protective gear that scares the daylights out of me. So when my friend Casey told me about Up Ward Flag Football through the baptist church, I was excited that Brennan could play football without the worry of getting hurt.

As luck would have it, Brennan got on a team with Gabe and Asher! They've been practicing hard the past few weeks for the games on Saturdays. Though we missed the first game, we were able to make it to the 2nd game of the season... hopefully, we'll be to all of them!

Brennan played center quite well!

Waiting for the play to start

Just a note: I really like this program. It teaches the kids the fundamentals of football in a safe setting. They learn a scripture a week and have prayers at all of the practices and games. Even though it may not be the church we attend, I'm glad that he is part of something that is so focused on Christ and sportsmanship!

Kind of a random picture~ Caleb (Gabe's brother) was out dancing to Cotton Eyed Joe... Only in Tennessee

2nd Grade Already?? Seriously...

Today, Wednesday August 5th, Brennan started 2nd grade. The past few years, I've worried and cried and stressed that he was going to have trouble the first day adjusting to a new school, but I didn't have to worry about that today. I've not had nightmares or daydreams about him not having any friends. It has been a total load off my mind! Hopefully, we can stay here a few more years!

{Can you believe how much he has grown?}

{Notice the lack of teeth}

{Waiting patiently for the bus~ which comes a little later than last year}

{Brennan and Ms Laura- The best bus driver EVER!}

Time for an Update

For those of you who have been interested in what is going on in our little lives, here is the update:

* Ian just had his 6 month check-up. The doctor told me that I have a very healthy baby boy!Ian weighs 21 lbs 2 oz and is 28" long, which puts him in the 90% of infants. I don't mind that he's big, just as long as he's healthy and happy. His newest nicknames are Chuckles {you should hear his laugh} and Smiley {because that's usually what he's doing}.

* Nolan had another x-ray done on Monday which showed that the break is healing on track. We get to go back in two more weeks to have it x-rayed again and if it is healed, the the cast comes off~ Yippee! Next week, Nolan and Ian start in a Mother's Day Out twice a week. Nolan will be in a preschool class where he'll get to interact with other kids. Hopefully, it will help him with communication. This week is a make-it-or-break-it week for Nolan. Only the basic necessities~ everything else will need to be asked for. We're trying to see if he'll just start talking! So far, he's been super stubborn. He knows exactly what we're saying, yet refuses to talk to us. It is so frustrating! I'm hoping that after a few days of no Mickey or Chocolate Milk without talking will make him want to say something, ANYTHING, to me. I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and the pacifier is gone too. Do you think I'm expecting too much from my 2 year old?

*Dylan went back to his mom in Oklahoma. It was lots of fun having him here. I know that the entire family sure does miss him when he's gone, but we'll get to see him again soon. Don's court issues got worked out so that we get him for the entire summer next year. It will be wonderful!

*Brennan started school today {which is another post}. He's enjoying Karate {super close to being an orange belt} and Football {flag football through one of the churches here}. He's sad that summer is over, but excited to make new friends and ride the bus with his best friend Gabe.

*As for myself, I'd like to make a resolution, and I figure that if I put it out there, then maybe I'll stick with it. So... here goes:

I am cutting back on my two biggest vices:

Coke & Facebook.

Now, this is not to say that I'm going cold turkey, only that I'm going to partake of them in moderation. So instead of spending hours messing around on Facebook at night, I'll check my messages and leave comments on occasion. I will not spend the hours playing games or looking at someones youtube blog. I've realized that I'm just wasting time... time that I could be using to write my blog, read, scrapbook, or play with my kids. As for the Coke, I am going to decrease the amount. Instead of 5 or 6 of them a day, I'm going to aim for 1 or 2.

That being said, I'll let you know how it goes.

Together in Little Rock

After Disney, we went back to Papa and Gigi's in Little Rock to pick up Nolan and Ian. I have to take a second and give a shout out to P&G~ THANK YOU!!! Without them, we wouldn't have been able to go (Nolan can't get his cast wet and all it did was rain!).

I just thought that the pictures were too cute not to post!

{Nolan reading while Brennan's watching T.V.}

{Nolan loves the toys at Gigi's}

{Ian is just getting so big!}

{To say that Dylan loves Ian is an understatement}

{When we left for Disney, Nolan wouldn't even stand on his broken leg. When we got back, he was walking and running with his cast on.}

The Magic of Disney

A few months ago, Don had the brilliant idea to take the older boys to Disney World for our summer family vacation {Papa & Gigi kept Nolan & Ian}. I must say that it was AWESOME! The boys just loved it! And I'm sure it's going to become a family tradition.

We spent 5 days at Walt Disney World Theme Parks and got to ride on nearly every ride we wanted to. Because we stayed at a WDW Resort, we could use the parks Extra Magic Hours. Using those extra hours, we got through the Magic Kingdom in just 5 hours instead of taking up 2 full days! It was wonderful! Our days were super lazy and usually involved going back to the resort to swim in their awesome pool {complete with pirate ships and cannon slides} and then take a nap so the boys ~ and ourselves~ were refreshed for the fun evenings.

Our trip began with a super fun, super early Sunday morning flight from Little Rock to Orlando. The boys were up early {think 3} because they didn't want us to leave without them. Our flight was at 6 am and we were in Orlando by noon. We caught the Disney Magical Express Shuttle from the airport which took us right to our resort and even delivered our bags to our room for us! Super convenient!

We decided to stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort because they had these awesome Pirates of the Caribbean themed rooms. We got to sleep in Ship beds {see pic}, store our clothes in crates and trunks, and the fridge was in a barrel. They coolest thing? The bathroom was separated from the room by a Jolly Roger Flag and the tub was engraved with a picture of the Black Pearl! The boys were in Pirate Heaven!

After checking in, we decided to go to Epcot and see all of the countries and fun rides. When we arrived, it was raining. Bummer! But not enough to get us down~ we rode Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Mission: Space {Dylan's fav}, Test Track {Don's & Brennan's fav}, The Sea's with Nemo & Friends, Soarin' {My fav}, and Living with the Land. We ate dinner at Le Cellier in Canada. The food there was AMAZING to say the least!

{Don, Brennan & Dylan outside Spaceship Earth aka "the golf ball"}

{Don, Brennan, and Dylan outside of Canada}

{Epcot had these great KidCot fun stops where the kids could make things}

{Dylan & Brennan inside Bruce the Shark just outside of The Seas with Nemo & Friends}

After visiting Epcot and watching their fireworks, we took the Monorail over to the Magic Kingdom for their Extra Magic Hours. I've decided that this is their best idea ever!! We rode Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Haunted Mansion, and It's a Small World in about an hour~ something you could never accomplish during the day!

After crawling into bed around midnight, we were up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast with Donald and Friends at the Animal Kingdom's Tusker House. The boys were so excited to see Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey in their safari gear.

{If you can't tell, Donald is Dylan's fav while Goofy was Brennan's}

{the answer to your question is no, I didn't plan on everyone wearing green... it's what they put on themselves!}


{After meeting everyone, they did an African dance while the kids played African instruments}

While at Animal Kingdom, we got to ride Kali River Rapids {both boys fav}, Expedition Everest {both parent's fav}, Primeval Whirl, Finding Nemo- The Musical, The Boneyard, Tricera Top Spin, and DINOSAUR {I will never, ever ride that again... it scared the boys and myself to death!}.

{Outside of Expedition Everest~ they have no idea what they were getting into. They both HATED it. Dylan was even in tears}

{Finding Nemo- The Musical was absolutely amazing. This is on the top of my list to see again}

After spending the morning at the Animal Kingdom, we went back to the resort, went swimming, and took a long, long nap. When we woke up, we decided that we'd head on over to Downtown Disney. After all, what is a trip to any Disney park without going to the Lego Store? While out, when had dinner at T-Rex Cafe {which is like Rainforest Cafe, only themed to dinosaurs}.

{note the dinosaur in the background~ and our erupting dessert!}

We were so tired from the day before that even though we had planned on going back to Animal Kingdom, we just went back to the resort and went swimming again~ I think my boys were fish in their previous lives.

After a good night's sleep, we were up again to take advantage of some more Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom. We were able to ride all of the rides in Fantasy Land in less than an hour! We rode Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Stitch's Great Escape, and Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Once it started getting busy, we headed back to the resort for ... more swimming!

{Don, Brennan, and Dylan on the Tea Cups}

After our usual naps, we got ready for lots of fun at the "Spirit of Aloha" dinner show at the Polynesian Resort. The food was plentiful and tasted fabulous and the show was wonderful. The boys even enjoyed it!

{all you can eat coconut bread, Hawaiian salad, pineapple, ribs, chicken, rice and veggies... YUM!}

{they taught the kids to hula~where's Brennan?~and the fire-eater}

The next two days were spent in Hollywood Studios... I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this was the boys favorite park. They loved practically everything about it! Brennan was fascinated by the bushes and trees shaped like characters, and Dylan loved the big sorcer's hat. They both loved it so much they got tattoo's of Sorcer Mickey.

{Notice the brooms and Mickey behind Brennan (outside the Brown Derby)}

While at Hollywood Studios, we got to ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster {twice}, Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, Muppet*Vision 3D, Star Tours, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, The Great Movie Ride, and Toy Story Midway Mania. To say that Brennan and Dylan loved the Toy Story ride would be an understatement~ we rode that ride 5 times!!!

{waiting in line for Toy Story Midway Mania}

{I know you can't see it, but Mr. Potato Head was an anamatronic doing all sorts of crazy things}

{waiting to see Woody and Buzz, they had scenes from the movie... though I think that Brennan thought that he could really put Dylan on a rocket into space!}

{more scenes from the movie... watch out for the claw!}

{the boys finally getting to see their heroes Woody and Buzz}

While at Hollywood Studios, we had reservations to see Fantasmic!, but it ended up getting cancelled due to the rain. Even though our vacation ended on a bad note, 90% of it was great! We can't wait to go again next year!