Breakfast with Santa

We got to go to Breakfast with Santa at James' work. It was fun. The kids got to do crafts,face painting, play in the bouncy house, see a magic show,see Santa and got a gift. Christian did not like sitting on Santa's lap...I had to take a pic anyway!! LOL

15 months

Christian you are 15 months old today! We got permission from your doctor to turn your carseat around (since you are so big!) and you love it! You are 32lbs (can we say future line backer?!!!) and are 34 inches long (you will probably be taller than your big brother!) you are wearing 18-24 months. You love eating yogurt, bananas, pancakes, cheerios, puffs,and muffins. You will try almost anything and if you don't like it you make this face like what is this? You are taking lots of steps on your own (and laugh as you do it) but you are not completely walking yet...you are so laid back that you just take your time on things...you are pulling up everywhere and are crusing along the furniture. You can say hey, bye, mommy, daddy, dog, tide (we say Roll and you say Tide!) You have started to blow kisses and wave. You love watching your brother and sister get off of the bus....you just laugh and scream because you are so excited to see them. You are very good natured and for most of the time a very happy baby. :) We love you!

Catch Up

I cannot believe it is Nov. 1st. Time is just flying by...and life is busy!! On Friday we went to two pumkpin patches. The first one was at a farm and it was such a disappointment and we really did not get the pics we wanted. So we decided to go to the one in Dothan that we had found last year....much better. And well....trying to get all three to take a pic can be madness at times!

                   

 

Christian did much better this time sitting in the grass. He just looked around and played with a leaf for ever. I could not get him to look up much to take a really good picture.





After the pumpkin patch we decided to go to the park. The weather was awesome and it felt so good to be outside. Christian loved the swing. He just smiled and laughed. Later he decided to take some steps on his own walking back and forth between James and me. It was such a blessing that we both got to see him to his first steps. He just laughed and laughed while he did it. I tried to take some pics but he was so fast...I should start calling him Dash! LOL



On Saturday we went to the fall festival. The group that organized it did an awesome job and everything looked so good. Austin even won a cupcake at the cake walk. He was so happy about that. Em went as Dorothy and Austin as Indiana Jones. We had a shirt on Christian that had a mummy on it and said "I love my mummy."



We have been busy taking Austin to doctors/specialists. He is ADHD. We will also be testing for audio processing disorder. He is doing well in school...grades and behavior wise. He has great teachers that are willing to work with him. He does not care for spelling so that is like pulling teeth to get him to study...LOL. It breaks my heart when he gets off the bus sometimes as says kids make fun of his voice or his speech. I am hoping that gets better soon. I know that God has a plan for this special boy. We just want to give him the tools he needs to get through this life. Em is doing well in school and loves science and math. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up.....we are getting too close to double digits....sigh. Christian is growing by leaps and bounds. He is wearing 18-24 month clothing. I really think he will be walking or make that running by Thanksgiving. He has another molar busting through so he is not sleeping very well at night....so neither is momma....so I am thankful for caffeine!

James is currently the interim student minister at our church. I love our church....it is really a family. We have awesome people to count as friends. I love seeing what God is doing with the youth and the church. It is such a blessing to be there. Really all of the trials that we have been through the last couple of years and been so worth is to be here at this place and turned out to be such a big blessing.....a total "God thing" that we ended up here. I am so thankful for the way God has really blessed us.

 

Just Because He is so cute!!

One year

I took this pic of baby boy sleeping in his crib last night....it was his last night as a "baby"  .....of course he will always be the baby no matter what! I can't believe he is a year old today....sniff...tear...sniff.  He don't even realize it I am sure....but this momma is a bit sad today....while I am excited that he is growing up and changing...I can't help but miss that sweet newborn and those little baby days. Here is a look back a year ago today...



Happy 1st Birthday sweet baby boy! I just hope this next year slows down a bit!

This and That........

Yes...I am a terrible blogger. Life is CRAZY ya' all.  Here is life in a nutshell these days:

*Em is loving third grade. I love that she is excited about things...she loves reading and science. We already have had the discussion over and over again about the solar system and Pluto. James and I don't care that "they" (whoever they are!) have decided it is not a planet....it has been a planet forever! I mean how can you learn the planets if you can't do the "My Very Educated Mom Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" bit? That was always my favorite bulletin board to do! I am praying she does not have to do a model this year....it could get ugly!  She is growing up too fast....she starting talking yesterday about college, getting married and having kids...so as I am proccessing what she is telling me....she then says but it all has to wait until she is 30 to date anyway! Good girl...she remembered the rule! LOL

*Austin is doing well in first grade. His reading is much better....or should I say getting him to read without having a tug of war about it....he loves math so doing math homework is no problem for him. We have had some testing done with him and will get the results in about two weeks. More about that later. But he loves his teacher and his friends so that makes school fun.

*Christian will be a year old on the 15th....7 days from now.....this momma is not ready!!! Wasn't it just yesterday this sweet bundle was born? I can't believe how fast it has gone. Sniff...sniff...tear...babyhood is gone and enter toddlerhood.....so bittersweet when it is your last baby. He is crusing big time in the playpin and around the furniture. It won't be long before he is walking! And since football season has arrived I have taught him to say tide after I say ROLL........he says is so sweetly...Tide! Then I say touchdown and he throws his hands up! Gotta start early!!! Still haven't decided on what to do for his birthday yet...I guess I need to get on that! He has also been fighting a double ear infection..so some nights are just not fun....but I would not trade it for the world....I love power rocking with him (hmmmm...that could be a new sport!) Sleep is overrated anyway.



*I had gotten word last week about a friend that had passed away suddenly. I was so shocked and heartbroken ....and were so many of our friends from the youth group days. I had been trying to get up with him for a while...I just wish I had tried harder. I went to the funeral on Sunday....drove through some very bad weather thanks to tropical storm Lee ....but so thankful I got to go. I got to see so many from my "Carlisle Family" that mean so much to me and I got to say goodbye to a sweet friend. His funeral was one of laughter and tears. Many funny memories of him............he was so full of life and loved to pull pratical jokes. He has the best smile and laughter. I think he would of loved it. I know he loved Jesus and I know where he is and that I will get to see him again someday.

*James has had the opportunity to fill in working with the youth at our church. What a great group of teenagers! And what a blessing they are to him! I got to go in for a bit last night...love how they get into the lesson. We are really blessed to be apart of a great church and great people to be around! 

*A bit of cooler temps have arrived....I am not quite ready for Summer to be over...just the high temps....give me temps in the 80's and this southern girl is fine with that...I am not ready to give up my flip flops yet!

11 months

My sweet baby is 11 months old.......it just seems like yesterday that he was just a newborn. How times flies! I really need it to slow down!! LOL    Here are the stats :  *25 pounds  *31 and a half inches long * says mama, dada, hey, ni-ni (nite-nite), ba-ba, and I know there is another one...but I can't remember at the moment! *gives kisses * can give you five * loves music * still rolls where he wants to go * loves to look at books * pulls up here and there * very calm and go with the flow * thinks his brother is very funny * loves to go in the walker * loves cups * rolls both of his feet at the same time * is wearing 18-24 month clothing * sleeps on his side * loves to throw things * thinks the dog is funny too * is pretty much happy all the time!  I cannot believe my baby is going to be a year old next month. It is bittersweet. I am so thankful that God blessed us with this sweet baby boy!!!

First Day

It is the first day of school!! They were so excited to go back!!

What I am loving Wednesday

  

Have you discovered Pinterest????? Oh my...it is awesome!!! I love love all the DIY ideas that I have for Christmas....ideas for when I go back to teaching....and ways for organization!  Like:

 Love this idea of using scrapbooking paper in those plastic bins!

 Love this bucket too! Would make great teacher gifts! And I can use my cricut ...as soon as I find the plug! AHHHHHH....I cannot wait to try this!!!!!

 I even found a recipe for crust like Pizza's Hut. Cannot wait to try this! We love pizza at our house!

And this is some Bama stuff I need to try to make like this:

 I would love to make this for some many people....and there are so many ideas of what to put in it too!

And I really need to learn to sew....there are tutorials too....because I want to be able to make some of these items to:



What I am really loving though.....is being able to spend time with the monkeys before school starts back up....I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by!!

 

 

10 months

Little man is 10 months old. I really can't believe how fast the time has gone. If I don't document now what he is doing...I will never remember it! LOL

 

 10 month highlights...*You weigh 25 pounds and are 31 inches long....you are in the 97 percentile  *You are wearing 18-24 month clothing    *You say da-da, ma-ma, hey,ba-ba (bottle), nii-nii (nite-nite), and your new one is uh-oh which is so cute the way you say it.  *You still love Mickey Mouse and Phinneas and Ferb. You also love to watch chica on sprout.  *You are still just rolling around to get where you want....you love to stand though! It won't be long before you are walking! *You have eight teeth....you are not quite eating table food but we are working on it....we have been trying some step 3 foods.  *When you don't like a particular food...you stick out your tongue ...scrunch up your face and your body shudders...we need to get that on video...LOL.   *You love to clap...especially when you are eating something you love or something makes you really happy. *You love cups...love to play with them...we are working on your sippy cup...I think you would rather play with it than drink it. *You still think your brother and sister are funny. You smile and laugh when you see them.*You are sleeping a bit better at night. You usually wake up twice on a good night...LOL. You still sleep on your back...sometimes on your side...you won't sleep on your tummy yet...you don't seem to like it. *You love to sit with daddy is the lazy boy when he gets home....you usually fall asleep there....so does daddy...LOL!  *You love books and love it when we read to you.

You are such a joy and a treasure! We are looking forward to celebrating your first birthday soon!!

Still here..........

I can't believe how this week has gotten away from me .....and that I have not done a post until now. I have a certain ten month old that is cutting teeth and is getting more mobile...so he is keeping this momma busy! Of course throw in the eight year old princess and his six year old superhero loving brother who loves to bug play with his sister....and well...life gets a bit crazy. Then this has been a busy weekend. We spent Saturday at the waterpark with our church family. It was so much fun...and no I did not take my camera and yes I wish I had. Little man did not like the kiddie pool...but loved the wave pool...so that is where we spent most of our time with everyone.  Em and Austin did go down the slide a couple of times...and thankfully it wore them out later! LOL   I am so glad we went!

 I aim to do better with blogging  this week ! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Thursday Ticker

Tonight is date night!!! We are celebrating 10 years of marriage! Mrs. Peggy (co-worker of hubby) and her hubby have insisted that they watch the kids so we can go out tonight. How sweet is that? I cannot remember when the last time is we went out on a real date...LOL.  Here is a picture from our wedding.....My father-in-law performed the ceremony!



Only 163 shopping days left until Christmas...LOL. I need to start early this year. I like some ideas that I have come across and think they would be awesome to make....this bag was from tidymom.com

 I think it would make a great gift and it is easy to make!

Or this monogrammed canvas from artsy-fartsy mama.com (yes...that is the name of her blog!)



Or this...Ellen from Creative Passage  actually printed on her canvas using her printer! I gotta try this!



The countdown to football season begins....51 days until Alabama Football begins. While I still love the Noles...it is just not the same without Bobby....sigh....but I still support them and cheer them on! But we are a divided household and I do cheer for Bama too....and Bama football is like a staple in our house.... (picture is from al.com). 



ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

So glad it is Wednesday! It has been a busy week with Em and Austin at soccer camp everyday. So today's post will be short.

I cannot wait until I can get over to Dairy Queen and try one of these:



Triple chocolate....mmmmmmmmmmm.....when Austin first saw the commerical he said. "Bring it on!" LOL

 Love Redbox rentals...yes I am late to that party...but we finally tried it and love it! We have rented the last Shriek movie and Karate Kid. If you buy Orville Redenbacher's popcorn you get two free movie rentals with redbox

I love that Christian loves these....we had tried the banana flavor first ...which he was not crazy about...so then I found strawberry and banana which he loves! And since he has two more teeth coming in (a total of 8 now)....he is doing better about chewing and trying some table food. His doc said he is in the 97 percentile of his height and wieight. (He is now 25 pounds and 31 inches long).



Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

Totally Tuesday

The heat index for today is 105....and 100% humidity. Oh my word....I don't remember it being this hot is a while. Thankfully the kids have soccer camp inside the gym!  Of course I should not complain too much...I was 6 months pregnant this time last year! LOL  And I would rather live here then say Alaska!  I am tempted to show Em and Austin how hot it really is when they get home this afternoon from soccer camp by frying an egg on the sidewalk...but I can already hear the ewwwwwww....from Em (she does not like eggs...and then she is such a girl...LOL)  and Austin would think it is awesome.. and lets do some more....but then I would probably have to clean it up....and then I would be like ewwwwwwwwww....LOL. Maybe I will just pull up a video from youtube and that way hubby still has eggs for breakfast in the morning.



It is a good thing that I have some of this hairspray! (You can get it at Walmart). It is wonderful to use in this high humdity.  I will probably need the umbrella today or a boat too...LOL...I will be glad when we can just have a couple of sunny days....I really want to take the kids to the beach soon.

I am so behind...but I  have finally discovered Pinterest. Be still my heart. I have found so many ideas.... and love it that I can save it there and not on my computer!