The Pop Up

We took the pop up camper on another excursion. We only had one free night so we took off to Turkey Creek with our good friends, the Odoms. We had a wonderful time. Olivia asks if and when we are getting the camper ALL the time so to say she was excited about our overnight trip would be an understatement. To say she had a good time would be another extreme understatement.

 

I guess it's safe to say that this girl LOVES the outdoors. She had the best time swinging, playing in the dirt and walking around in the dark with the flashlight.

 

Our view from the camper. You just can't beat it!

Building sweet memories with our children and enjoying God's creation. Well worth the money we spent on a pop up. Our two year old is counting down til the next time we go for us.:)

My Girl

My girl is growing up way too fast. These past 2 1/2 years have flown by and I just know I'm going to have a 16 year old before I can blink my eyes. She definitely keeps us on our toes and laughing until sometimes we are crying. She also has a mind of her own and a strong personality and spends SOME time in the chair in her bedroom (some days more than others).

 

I thought I would share some funny things she has said recently. If only I could remember every single one of them. Half the time I'm laughing hysterically at and with her and the other half I'm shocked that she could use certain words in sentences or understand fully what I'm telling her. I'm a little biased but she's one smart cookie.

 

***Every time I get her out of her car seat I always have to put her shoes back on because for some reason she likes to take them off. Every. Single. Time. I finally got tired of it and asked her why she did it and to please not do it anymore. She replies by saying "But mommy, then I can't see my pretty toenails!!"    What.a.girl.

 

***I think every 2 year old goes through phases of loving certain movies and wanting to watch them a gazillion times. Well, we went through The Lion King phase and that's all she wanted to watch. In Sunday School her teacher was teaching about Noah's Ark and had two of each animal out on the table for the children to see. Olivia looks, throws her hands up in the air and yells "THE LION KING!!!"  I mean, sorta.

 

***Olivia has been really into eating lunchables lately. She eats almost all of it every time so we really don't argue when she says she wants a lunchable for meals. We are just happy she's eating something. One day after lunch I am putting her down for a nap when she yells "wait mommy, the cheese". I had no idea what she was talking about until she goes over to her play kitchen and pulls out the block of cheese from her lunchable from inside the microwave. Oh goodness.

 

Never.a.dull.moment. 

 

This is her school picture. She's so grown.

Love, love, love my girl.

8 Months

Is it already that time again??? Time to give the monthly update on our little guy because another month has passed. Crazy how time flies when you're having fun and keeping up with 2 very busy children.

 

Ford is such a delightful baby. He is smiling in 99% of the pictures we take because that's about the percentage of time he is happy, content and giving us that big grin. He is now on 100% formula and takes 4 eight ounce bottles a day. He eats baby food three times a day or more like I am trying to convince him to eat it and that it's yummy. He's not buying it too much so we are trying to move on to real food. He has enjoyed yogurt, baked beans, goldfish, cheerios (which he loves) and puffs. When we feed him something he really enjoys he makes this I'm so happy humming sound as he chews away. Silly boy. While camping (update on that soon) he slept through the night for the first time in what seems likes ages. I'm not sure if it's teeth (which he has 8 of) or what but he wakes up at least 2-3 times a night needing his ninny, lovie or just some snuggling.

 

He is growing like a weed and weighs around 21-22 pounds and wears size 4 diapers and 9-12 month cloths. He is catching up quite quickly with his big (or should I say small) sister which only outweighs him by a mere 3 pounds. He loves his activity gym, to chew on plastic spoons, Lilly, the fish, playing on our bed, his teething bell, riding in the car and stroller, playing on the floor, his lovie and ninny and to be rocked before bedtime. Poor guy is having some trouble figuring out the whole crawling situation (or lack thereof). He hasn't yet mastered rolling over, scooting or any other movements. If you look at the last picture of this post you will see what happens when we have tummy time. He decides that it's rest time and puts his head down. We have one laid back, lazy baby. As for now, I am enjoying the stationary Budah that is still sitting in the same spot when I come back into the room. Hoping for more achievements in this area next month.:)

 

I will leave you with some too cute not to post pictures of our big, stationary 8 month old.

Fall Fun

We had a weekend full of Fall festivities.

Friday night we took Snow White and Sleepy to Boo at the Zoo.

 

Take one....it was past Sleepy's bedtime and he turned to Grumpy quite quickly.

 

Take two...the purr of the train soothed Sleepy into a better mood, I guess.

 

Saturday morning we ventured to the Pumpkin Patch. We left the house extra early to beat the crowd and be done and back home before nap time. Well, that's not exactly what happened. We got there and discovered we had no money so we drove back home to get money only to come back and the line literally be a mile long. So we decided to forgo the actual hayride and look at and pet the animals only to discover we couldn't capture any pictures with our camera due to not having a sims card in the camera. It was just not our day. So, we left and went to have pizza for lunch. The kids didn't know any difference.:)

 

I think the sun was too bright for one of these sunflowers.:)

 

Ford was a happy camper with whatever we were doing, hayride or no hayride.

Hopefully, we'll have better luck next year!

A Full Weekend with the Crew

My parents, sister and her boys came to town for a long overdo visit and we had a busy weekend planned. It's fun to plan special things while they are here and create special memories. Olivia always looks forward to seeing them and I am sure Ford will too one day.

 

First thing we had planned was camping. Yes, I said camping. We camped Friday night at a park close by so Hays, Pops and Ford could go back to the house for sleeping. We had hot dogs on the grill and s'mores for dessert.  A good time was had by all.

 

Our next adventure was the state fair on Saturday afternoon. We had a great time eating our way through the aisles and ending the night with some fun rides for the kiddos. It's always wise to leave the fair by sundown and that's exactly what we did.

 

This girl loves a good carousel ride. She always looks for the giraffe so we had to do some explaining why this one only had horses. She was thrilled either way and opted to ride once with her daddy and a second time with her Nano.

 

Pops toting around the chunkster. We had to take turns holding the little (or should I say BIG) stinker because he has gotten so darn heavy.

 

The last thing scheduled for their trip was church and celebrating Dalton's second birthday.

 

He seemed to really like his birthday cake or at least the icing, that seemed to be the part he enjoyed the most. Happy Birthday, Dalton!!

 

This is the best picture we got of all four kids. Everybody is looking up, nobody is crying and 3 out of 4 are smiling. These are the days that you are very thankful for the small things.:)

Sibling Love

Olivia and Ford playing in Olivia's room one morning this week.

Olivia has really surprised me in how she has fulfilled her big sister role. Before Ford arrived I was really worried that she might be jealous or not understand why we sometimes can't give her all of our attention. It's funny how kids can surprise you. She has been the exact opposite. She is always so concerned about taking care of him and his whereabouts. This morning she woke up and pitter pattered to our room to my bedside (which she rarely does, she usually calls for one of us to come fetch her) and said "mommy, I awake and hear Ford, go get em". She is always wanting to make sure he has his ninny, lovie, toys and baby food. They also just started interacting more and playing together. One morning this week they were playing first in his room then hers for at least an hour. It absolutely melts my heart to hear them giggling at each other. I just stood outside the room and listened, I think my heart had as big of a smile that my face did. I pray they will always be the best of buds.

Random

 

The two little ducklings in the wagon.

We have been spending lots of time outside these days soaking up the cooler temperatures and some good ole vitamin D.

I just can't get enough of him. This age is just so sweet and full of giggles, smiles and being stationary:). If I had a pause button I would be using it right now.

 

Have y'all ever had Christmas in October?? We have due to mommy not having any laundry done.

I looked in both their drawers the other night searching for pajamas and found nothing. So, we pulled out the Christmas jammies. :) It's just how we roll sometimes....

 

I mean, seriously where is the pause button???

 

Our Saints finally pulled a win the other night. Don't ya think they need this cutie pie on their team???

 

This furry, four legged pup was our first baby. More often than not she gets mistreated around here. Well, not on this particular night. I am pretty sure she was feeling like the queen of the house. It may have only lasted a short amount of time but I'm sure she appreciated it nonetheless.