Catch Up Time!

I know it's been a really long time since I have updated, and that's due to quite a few things happening in the last 6 months or so.

Since moving to North Carolina, it has been a roller coaster ride! First, I found a teaching job, teaching 4th grade science and social studies. Second, after only being in NC for 3 months, my husband told me we were going to have to move, YET AGAIN!!!! He was gong to have to leave right after Thanksgiving, leaving me to take care of the 2 kids by myself for the next 6 months. That was a very tough decision for me, because right before he left, we found out I was pregnant! So that added to the stress of what was happening. Well, the pregnancy ended in miscarriage on New Years Eve. Although it was hard, I knew that God was in control.

On to happier times though! My baby girl turned 3!!! I cannot believe that it has come so quickly. It really crept up on me, and I just stare at her in amazement that 3 years ago, on March 21st, 1:46 p.m., she was born into this world 10 weeks early and not breathing on her own! My little 3lb 13 oz is now a rambunctious almost 37lb 3 year old! She is a total princess!!!!

This picture is the cutest! Austin LOVES his piece of birthday cake! He found it so amazing that he got it all over himself! It also helped that Abbie was laughing at him the entire time! He is my little man now, since he definitely doesn't look like a baby anymore, although, he can still very much act like one.....I may have a drama king on my hands! He is my cutie pie though!






For Abbie's party, I decided to go much more low key this year. We had a very relaxing party at the house. We invited her daycare friends, and a few showed up. We went with pizza, cake, and ice cream. Now the cake was fantastic! It was a tiara cupcake cake that Abbie LOVED!!!! It had lighted princess figures on the top! The only part she didn't like was the candle lighting...since she is afraid of fire (due to a small heater fire she saw back in January).

Now look at my little ham!!!! She loves the camera! She is eating her cake and ice cream along with her 4 friends that showed up. She is so into princesses, we got her a princess table and chair set for her birthday..and to this day, she is still loving it! She even wanted that little ribbon saying "Birthday Princess"....can you tell she is loving the attention?!!?!?

Abbie got up extremely early the morning of her birthday, wanting to open her presents early! I let her open most of them before her friends got there, but made sure to hide a couple for the party itself! Here she is taking a picture with the presents before she opened them!

Now in order to tell you about Abbie, I must tell you she is the love of my life, the light of my day! Even when she is putting gray hair on my head, I can't look at her without smiling! She always tells me "Mommy, you are happy with me!" How can you not love that?!!! She has been growing slowly, but it's noticable now. She has gone from a very chunky little girl to realy being well proportioned now! Her cute belly is going bye bye! Here she is sporting the new shirt she got for her birthday! I love this Eric Carle shirt! She also has the Grouchy Ladybug shirt too!

She still likes the Backyardigans, but she is getting into Disney Princess and Disney movies. Cars is top on the list right now! She is still a singer at heart. She sings anything and everything! She has pretty good pitch too!!!!

The second love of my life is Austin. He is quickly making his way to being 2! The pictures here are him at 18 months old. Like I said earlier, he is defintely a drama king! He cries over everything! He can scream like a girl too...and he does when he REALLY wants his way! He has now become a runner! It took him almost 18 months to start walking. Once he started walking, there was no turning back! Because of his numerous doctor's visits in the last year for just his ears, prompted the doctor to finally wanted to put tubes in his ears. They went one step further, and took his adnoids as well. On March 31st, he went in for his surgery.

Doesn't my little man look soooo small here? He had no clue what was going on, other than he was in a place that was very unfamiliar to him. The hospital gown they gave him was still too big for him! He brought his favorite stuffed dragon with him to help with the stress. He came out of the surgery in about 45 minutes, and was very very sleepy. He seemed to be almost back to normal the next day! Other than the aweful smell coming out of his mouth (which is normal). He hasn't had an ear infection since!

So, as I look at my children, I know that I am blessed to have them. They are the cutest little people ever!!! I guess I am a little bias though!

SMILE!!!

September Has Come And Gone

What can you say about my two?! They are like two peas in a pod! They are always hanging out together, whether it's playing or just sitting there! Abbie has gone from sucking her two middle fingers to imitating Austin.......let's see how long that lasts!

Seems to me that the more they grow, the more alike they become. They always want the same thing, and it seems that what they do want there is only ever one of them...so the fighting and arguing begins!



As time goes by, I can't believe my little man is no longer a baby, but a little boy in a baby's body! He is starting to become sooo independent, it almost makes me sad. I know they all grow up, but sometimes it just seems way to fast. As a preemie, he was so small and fragile. He needed a constant hand and a helping hand. Now that he is finally a year old, it just seems sometimes it is slipping away! I mean, I know I have quite a few years before he is totally independent, but I just miss those days of holding him sleeping peacefully and praying to God that he would turn out ok! He has gone from a tiny 4 pound baby to my cutie pie one year old!


It's hard to imagine him being one, but here he is! He is crawling like a pro, and now.....standing up on his own like a pro! If he is motivated enough, he can even shimmy his way down the couch...scooting his feet underneath him! I think he will be walking no later than Abbie did, which was 14 months of age.


He is a very curious boy...well, what boy isn't?!!! He is into everything...and I mean everything! I remember just the other day, the house got really quiet, so I knew he was up to something....well, I found him in the laundry room, eating away at the cat food! He was enjoying every minute of it! I scooped him up, and he was just a giggling and laughing at me! I couldn't help but laugh, even though it was disgusting!

Then of course, September 20, my little man had his first birthday! He had no idea what was going on, but he had so much fun with all the new toys! Here is Austin the morning of his birthday. We decided to do gifts in the morning, and then have cake and ice cream after naptime....because we all know what sugar does to naptime!


Even though he didn't know what was going on, he sure knew it was something good! His smile just makes me melt! It's soo nice to see it, since it took almost 9 months for him to really show it! Yep...you heard right....9 months! As I have said before, he was a really really cranky baby, and up until around 9 months, I don't think we say many smiley moments! Now that we see them, I capture them! It also amazes me how happy he is now...almost as if we never had a horrible 9 months of crying and screaming! He loves to laugh and play...and when he laughs, he makes me laugh too!


Since family couldn't come to his birthday party, it was just us here at home. I just didn't feel like making a huge deal and having all kinds of people over. We did that for Abbie's and spent more time worrying about things than having fun! As a small little family, we celebrated his first birthday and had a great time! Abbie was scared of the lit candle, but other than that, we enjoyed ourselves! I guess it's a good thing she is scared of something like that. I mean, we don't want her playing with fire later on in life!


He at first didn't know what to do with his piece of cake...which to me is hilarious! He loves food when you put it in front of him, but he just blindly stares at the piece of cake! Josh gave him just a littl e bite of his cake, and once he did that, he went for it like white on rice! He grabbed the entire piece and shoved it in his mouth! Now, he is one to just take a bite or two of something, and then do away with his food...but his cake, he ate the whole thing!


In looking at the pictures, do you think he liked his cake?!!!

YUMMY!!!!!

PLEASE GIVE ME MORE!

Here are the two kids in the tub that night. They were caked in red frosting from forehead to chin....good thing it's easy to wipe off! Now days, they absolutely love taking baths together! Austin gets a kick out of splashing around with his older sister. Abbie loves the fact she is bigger than someone!

Along with having fun in the bathtub, Abbie loves showing off what letters she knows! She can identify the letters: A, O, I, M, T, C, and R. I am more than proud of her for knowing them already! She comes home from daycare each week knowing a new letter...I absolutely love this daycare! They are doing wonders with her....and she is so going to be ready for pre-k when she is old enough. For being 2 1/2 years old, she is doing so well! She has more than caught up to her age group. I actually think she is ahead on many things now!

She also love to play! Here she is with bubbles....finally able to blow an actual bubble out of the stick! Want to know why she is playing with bubbles?!!?!?!!?! She went POO POO in the potty all by herself for the first time!!!!!! And I mean by herself! She kept telling me she had to go, but then she would run around the house and laugh at me. Then, as I am cleaning the last of the bottles for the night, she ran into the kitchen and made a dead stop and says, I gotta poo poo. Next thing I know, she is yelling for me from the bathroom, saying "Mommy, I poo pooed!" Sure enough, she had! I was sooooo proud of her!!!!

Since that day, she has done it again at daycare, and once right before bed! I can't wait till we are completely accident free! Oh what a lovely day that will be! I would say we are about 90% of the way there!

For your enjoyment, here is a little video of her dancing!!!! We were finally able to get her on camera!

The Busy Month of August

I know I am very behind in catching up with my life, but you know how things go when you have two kids, a husband, AND a job! Auguest seemed to be a whirl wind of things happening all at the same time! Between spending time with family and getting myself started at my new job as a 4th grade teacher, I really haven't had much time to do any extra stuff, so sadly to say, my blog got left behind.

For the first part of the month, I was spending much of my time with my two little ones, since I would soon have to go back to working a full time job. I spent every minute I could with them. This is what most of our afternoons looked like. How I am able to get them both in my lap and get a book read is amazing to me!

Austin is becoming speed demon on hands and knees! He loves to race his way across the house! He loves to crawl on and over everything....this is why he is sitting on the puzzle box! He is trying as hard as he can to find his own independence. He wants to stand and move around, this I know. He just hasn't gotten it yet! He is just a month shy of being 1 now!

As for Abbie, she is all about anything and everything!!!! She found one of daddy's shirts and just HAD to wear it! She played dress up with it for hours! She is just too cute!

My two kiddos.....what more can I say about them?! They are the cutest thing on earth!

Austin Is Becoming A Little Man

Just like Abbie, Austin is growing up faster than I thought he would! Austin is becoming a little man, instead of a little baby. I just don't know how I am going to handle both my little ones growing up so fast!
My little man is soooo different from Abbie. He is not much of an eater, and sometimes it takes everything we have to get him to eat some baby food! He loves sweet potatoes, and most of the fruits, but boy when it comes to the veggies.....just wait for the spitting and spewing! Yesterday he got his first taste of cool whip! He was refusing to eat his green beans, hence them all over his face and bib! I decided to see if he would eat the cool whip, then the green beans...IT WORKED!!!! I know I can't do that everytime he won't eat his veggies, but I know he enjoyed it! I will tell you that he absolutely loves any kind of cracker! He will shove the entire thing in his mouth and just gum it and chew it to nothing! His most favorite is Nilla Wafers! You should see him go to town on them!

Here is Austin right after a bath the other night! Opinions are very welcome here, as I ask who he looks more like....me or Josh? He loves his bath, especially now that we have him in the big tub, where he can splash around. He got too small for the baby tub, so we had no choice but to move him to the big tub! Every night I walk in with nice dry clothes, and walk out like I have ridden on Thunder River, drenched from the water fall! You should see when daddy tries to mohawk his hair!!! Once it has dried that way, there is not getting it to straighten out!!!

Now, just like Abbie, he is growing up much too fast! I look back and see him as a scrawny 4lb baby in the NICU, and now he is growing and learning so much. Although he still isn't crawling

yet, he is getting closer and closer each and every day. He can move his knees, just not his hands! Not quite that coordinated yet! He is babbling more and more each day. It really warms my heart when he talks to me! He will wiggle and wiggle, then say babababa and mamamama, wawawawa, yayaya, and then smile his big smile! Let's not forget that with every smile, you get a tongue too!

Along with his verbal skills and his motor skills, he also has a new addition in is mouth! His first tooth has finally broken through his gums! It broke through a couple days before he turned 10 months old. In those few days, he has already learned how to use it!!! I think we are in trouble when he gets more in!

All in all, my babies are growing up way too fast! In two months, my little one turns 1!!!!! In my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would have two little ones running around that were so close in age! In looking at the near future, I am right around the corner from having a 1 year old and a 2 1/2 year old! Oh how time has flown by.

Abbie Is Growning Up

I've come to the realization that my kiddos are growing up way too fast! Abbie is almost 2 1/2 years old, but going on 16!!!! She has totally got a mind of her own, and the attitude to prove it!


Abbie loves her food! She will eat almost anything that you put in front of her. When she was younger, she wanted nothing to do with lettuce, even when drenched with her favorite ranch dressing. Now, she asks for it!!! She has one rule to eating most of her food though...it HAS to have some kind of condiment on it....most the times is either ketchup or ranch dressing. Tonight was a little different! In order to get rid of the cool whip that we acquired, I added it to the top of her peaches! She LOVED it!!! I had just missed getting a picture of her with cool whip all over her nose and chin. She did however ham it up to the camera the minute she saw it! That's my pretty little girl!




Yet another thing she has finally come to try is corn on the cob. She loves corn, but it had always been the kernels. Our neighbors grow fresh sweet corn, and were kind to give us a bunch. Abbie saw the corn and just went nuts! She even helped take the husk off! This is the first time she ever ate a corn on the cob! She couldn't get enough of it! She ate the entire cob and wanted more! Of course she was following daddy's cue, and decided that doing the typewriter bite was so much more fun! I had a blast just watching her go to town on the corn!

Now I know I have already said how much her singing warms my heart, but I need to say it again! She does more than warm my heart! She is a very musical little girl and sings much of the day. Even her daycare loves her singing all day long! They make it a point to sit and listen! I finally got her on video singing!!!! She is singing "Little Baby" (Hush Little Baby), Fwinkle Fwinkle (Twinkle Twinkle), and of course ABC's! Please don't mind me in the background! We have made it a tradition to say our prayers at night then sing Hush Little Baby before she goes to bed. Miss that, and she won't go to sleep!

My Montage 7/24/09

In two short years my baby has grown up soooo much...almost too much too fast! I don't miss the screaming and crying of her infant days, but sometimes to have that little bundle in my arms again.... She is my pride and joy! She is one of the things I wake up for in the morning and she is one of the last things I think about before going to sleep at night. How I love this little girl!

Fun Surprises!

Do you remember a time in your life that you were truly surprised? I mean in a good way? I sure can remember the night I got engaged! Josh and I were going to a fancy restaraunt, Magnolias, in Birmingham one evening. We were getting dressed up and everything! I put on a beautiful blue satin dress and got my hair done. He pulls up in my driveway in a stretch white limo!!! Then, on the way home, he dropped to one knee and poured his heart out! It is a day I will never forget! Much like today....it is a day I will never forget!

My little man, Austin, is a very fiesty little boy. He does things on his own accord and is very independent (well, with most things)...even at his age! He will do things in his own time, in his own way. He loves to fling his little arms and legs anytime he gets the chance. Put him on the floor, and his looks like he is trying to swim away!! I bet if I put him in water, he would swim like a fish too! He loves to wiggle around; put him on one end of the room, and he will be on the other side in one minute!

Today he gave me such a fun little surpise! No it wasn't a huge poopy diaper either, although I did get one today! He has been hard at work with trying to crawl and trying to talk. It's all right there, just waiting for the brain to turn that little lightbulb on! He knows when he is doing something great. He hears me and Abbie everyday cheering him on and clapping and laughing with him. While playing on the floor today, out of the mouth of my little man came something I have been waiting to hear for nearly ten months! Rolling and wiggling around, "bababamamabababa" came out of his mouth!!! He has now found that handsome voice of his!!!!!!! Since that moment, he has been "talking" up a storm! But, if you ask me, his first word was "mama", not "dada"!!!

I got this whole thing on video, which is really surprising! Everytime he sees the camera, he usually stops everything he is doing, so this was a special moment! We clapped and gave him all the encouragement we could this morning! He giggled and wiggled, and smiled ear to ear! He knew it was a new thing that we would soon learn to love! Now only if he could crawl already!!!

On a different note, my little sister Sarah is coming to visit us this Friday!!!! I am more than excited for her to get here! I haven't seen her since Christmas, and I know she is just going to flip the minute she sees Abbie and Austin! They have grown soooo much since the last time she saw them! Austin was just 3 months old and about 6lbs and Abbie was 21 months old!! Can we say big difference, now that he is almost 10 months and 16lbs and Abbie is now 28 months old and a whopping 31.5lbs!?!?!?!? I don't think we really plan to do much, but it's nice to hang out with someone that isn't a little kid!!!

I know Friday, we are going to visit with the next door neighbor (actually the one across the street). She has horses that she is going to let Abbie pet and talk to! Abbie is going to love that! She has been so curious about those horses across the street for awhile now, and we are finally going over there Friday. The neighbor came over today and brought us some freshly picked sweet corn and told us to come on over! I'll fill you in afterwards!

Well, my free time is up....kiddo number 1 is waking up! Guess I'm back on duty!

My poor little man :(

Today I have learn a really valuable lesson.....life never turns out the way you want it to! I know I should have learned this many many many years ago, but I guess I wasn't really listening until now.

My children suprise me everyday, and my guess is, is that they always will! I try very hard to make things go the way I want them, and sometimes they do. You know, the easy things...I want the laundry done today or the dishes need to be washed, dried and put away...they go my way because I make them go my way! All I know is that my two kiddos will never ever be that way! I am very certain of this!

Abbie is the midst of potty training....well, I think she is more training me! We started this process almost 6 months ago, to no avail! I was stressing and finally came to the conclusion, let her do it on her own! I was tired of pulling my hair out wondering why she wanted nothing to do with it. I mean, I know diapers are a comfort thing, and it's much easier to just do the deed in the diaper....but I'm tired of buying diapers and I am definitely tired of changing them! Now that I have let her go her own pace, she seems to do much better! I'm not saying that she is perfect at it yet...far from it, but at least she now understands that panties are NOT for pee peeing in. It's a start that I will take! She even can now tell me that she has to go, and many times go to the potty on time! Let's take today for example. I changed her when she got up this morning and guess what, I didn't have to change a wet or dirty diaper until bath time tonight! Now keep in mind, I am constantly reminding her if she feels a "twinkle" in her belly, she needs to run run run to the potty! Some days are good, others are aweful, but I am learning to manage! But I do know that she WILL be potty trained by the time she is 3!!!!

Austin is in a very exciting stage in his life as well. My little man is now 9 1/2 month old and really making my heart sing! He is a much happier baby now, thank goodness!!! I don't know how much longer I could have taken the crying and screaming all day long! Just recently, he has been lifting himself on his hands and knees, eagerly trying to crawl forward! You can see his little brain just working on the problem at hand...a toy too far in front of him to reach. He pops up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, back and forth.....then stop and stare....and wonder how he can get there! He hasn't quite gotten that far yet, but I think in the next week or two he will have it mastered enough to scootch forward. If he were like Abbie, all I would have to do is put kid cheese puffs on the floor, and away he goes...but he isn't in LOVE with food like she was! Now I know what you are probably thinking....he should already be crawling...walking...well, with him being a preemie, born 2 months early, he is actually developmentally now 7 1/2 months...so pretty good for him I would say.

Today he went for his 9 month well baby check up. I really hate piling both kids into the car for a 30 minute car ride and another 30+ minutes of waiting involved at the doctors office. Today wasn't too bad though....only had to wait about 10 minutes! Record time for the doctors office. My little man grew almost 3 inches!!!!! He is now up to 27 inches long...which if Abbie keeps growing at her snail rate, he will catch up to her very soon....only 6 inches to go!!!!! He is still a tiny tot though in weight, weighing in only at 15lb 6oz!!!! No wonder he just moved into 6-9 month clothes! He still doesn't register on a normal weight chart!!!! We got lucky though, because he didn't need any shots today!!!!! Yeah!!!! No cranky baby for me!!!!! But................we didn't get off so easy! My poor little man has a very bad ear infection in both ears! I was shocked! He has been his happy little self, not showing any signs of his ears hurting at all! I feel so bad for him! He is now on meds to fix it, so hopefully he will be an even happier baby in about 10 days!

Other than two needy little ones today, it has been a good day! I got confirmation from the principal of Pinkston Elementary that I will be recommended for the teaching position that I interviewed for! That made my day, I can tell you that! On July 13th, she is going to recommend me to the board (she is on vacation until then), so hopefully soon after, I will get the call to come sign my contract. This is a great opportunity for me! I am in a grade that I think I will more enjoy, 4th grade! It's a big change from kindergarten! I am sighing with relief at everything that is happening!

Maybe just maybe life will be great tomorrow!