Sambo

Sam's 1st love: Mommy.
Sam's 2nd love: Stairs.

Disney on Ice: Dare to Dream 2013

Last night we had a girl's night out with Katie and Abby at Disney on Ice! It was so much fun! The girls really enjoyed it. The show featured The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella and Tangled. Finley was mainly concerned about when Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald were going to come on the ice. They are her favorites :) Tangled was the best part of the show. They had an aerial act and it was awesome. Disney always gets it right! We got popcorn, cotton candy and some Disney swag. Finley dressed up as Snow White. She has never seen Snow White and doesn't really differentiate between princesses, but I pulled out all her costumes and she picked that one. We had a great time and will definitely get tickets the next time they come to Huntsville. We came home and Finley went to bed in tears because she didn't want Abby to leave (also because she was exhausted).

All the princesses and their princes came out at the end for the wedding of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider :)

 Of course we had to get one of those spinning things that light up.

 Me and my bug :)

 Best buds!

My babies

So glad to have my camera back so I can snap pictures of my babies :)

Summer Survival: Day 1

Technically Finley's last day of MDO is tomorrow, but what I call Summer Survival starts today. Summer Survival is the time of year when MDO is out for summer and it's up to mom to fill every hour of those long, hot summer days. It's nice to not have to get up and get Finley to school, but the minute she wakes up every day she wants to know what I have planned so I have to be prepared. I plan on taking advantage of all the days we have before it gets so hot you can't leave the house unless you are going to the pool or some place air-conditioned.

Today we went to Browns Farm with the Chatams to pick strawberries. The boys just hung out in the wagon eating Goldfish and when those were gone they had fun running up and down the rows of strawberry plants. The girls did a great job picking. I was so impressed that they listened and only picked ones that were completely red. The weather was perfect! A trip to McDonald's for lunch wrapped up a perfect playdate.

Strawberries for our neighbors and strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight! What a great start to summer :)

Mother's Day 2013

We all had a great Mother's Day! We had lunch at Todd Pub and then went to a barons game. It was just us girls! Joey took Sam to his moms so we could spread out the Mother's Day love. It was nice having only Finley at the game. I could tell she was loving all the attention. She walked around looking for Babe Ruff and finally found hm and we got a picture. We visited the gift shop, the ice cream stand and the playground. She did not want to leave even though she only watched about 3 minutes of the actual game. The new Regions Park is gorgeous!!! I hope everyone takes care of it so it will stay that way. We were sad Daddy didn't join us, but we will definitely make another trip there soon. I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!!!

Mother's Day was extra exciting because Joey got me a new camera lens!!! Mine has been broken for about 2 months and I have been so upset about having to take all picture with my phone. Finally, I can take real pictures again! Yay!

A Week in Winter

Our book club selection last month was A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. I loved it! I read another book of hers called Tara Road after I finished. It was good too. A Week in Winter was a slow paced, easy read. We aren't able to meet this month, so we will pick back up in June. We are doing a really fun book club activity my friend Katie mentioned where you cast the book as a movie. So fun!

Quickie...

Lots going on...

1.) We put our house on the market!
Long story short. We needed a bigger house. We put our house on the market. We got an offer 6 days later. We countered. They countered. We countered. They countered. We stuck to our guns. We couldn't find a house in the school district we needed. We took our house off the market. They came back and agreed to pay what we asked. We said no. We're staying here. We'll try again next year.

2.) For the 2 weeks our house was on the market, I cleaned it all day, every day so that took up a lot of time.

 3.) Finley has had gymnastics and soccer practice on Wednesdays and games on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

3.) Joey finished up another semester on his quest for his MBA. Yea!

4.) I went on a beach trip with my pledge sisters. We had the best time despite a stomach bug. Jennie was a trooper and we still managed to have fun.

5.) Joey got to go to the Final Four in Atlanta.

6.) We got to see the Commodores at the Huntsville Classic fundraiser. They put on a great show! I love how they are old school. They had matching, bedazzled outfits, they had short, choreographed dance numbers, they introduced the audience to everyone in the band. They had lots of audience participation. It was awesome!!! She's a brick....hooouussee :)

7.) It has warmed up and everyone is well so we have had playdates galore! We've been to Open Gym at Matrix with Allison and Jackson, we've met up with Katie, Abby and Will to go to Bridgestreet or the mall, we went to Krista's house to play, "the girls" (our neighbors) have been over to play.

8.) I've had a few girls nights out, a few book club meetings and Joey and I have been out on a few dates. We've kept our baby-sitter busy. 

We've had a big time the last few weeks! I'm so excited for summer and all the summertime activities we have planned! Come on warm weather! We're tired on runny noses and stomach bugs!

Pre-K

Finley was accepted into the pre-K program at JVES! So excited!!! I have heard wonderful things about the program and I think it will be good for our entire family. Finley isn't great with change. She needs to be told in advance about changes and then eased into them. I think this program is great because she is in a real school with other school aged children. SWEEM has been great. They are structured and loving, the parents are involved and caring and the kids are products of that, but the pre-k is only half days/4 days a week and I think for her to transition to kindergarten year after next, she needs to go more often so it isn't such a shock. Her teacher is a masters level teacher with 14 kids and two aides and she'll go M-F from 7:30 to 2pm. Huge change! I ran into a teacher at the school last night and she said her class eats next to the 4 year olds and that the first 2 weeks all the kids are sitting at lunch crying, but after that they are all smiles and having a ball. I'm interested to see how it goes. Another plus is that the program is free because it's public school so I can afford to send Sam to MDO a couple days a week. Big plus for mom! I have no worries about him. He is a social butterfly and begs to get down and play when we pick Finley up. This fall will hold some big changes for us, but I'm excited for them :) Wish us luck!

Now, what will I do with all that free time? Go to lunch with friends, lay on the couch and read a magazine, shop? Let's get real. I will clean the house, do the laundry and maybe squeeze in lunch with Joey once a month. On the bright side, I will be doing all those things in peace and quiet :)

Finley's 4th year :)

4 year stats:
Height: 38 1/4 inches
Weight: 33 lbs.
Clothes: 4T
Shoes: 8

Finley is a petite little thing, but her growth is right on track. She had to get 4 shots (3 sticks) and a finger prick yesterday at her appointment. It was pretty bad. She doesn't remember ever having shots so she wasn't sure what to expect. I told her it would hurt, but only for a minute and then we would go to McDonald's for a milkshake :) She cried big tears, but by the time we go out of the room she was fine. Now, her biggest concern is getting the band-aids off. One time I had to take her band aids off and I pulled them off really fast. Let's just say that when it comes to taking off band-aids, she and I have different opinions on the best method. She had her vision and hearing checked. Her nurse and I had a big laugh during both. Instead of raising her hand when she heard a sound, she would just say what sound she heard. It was like she didn't understand why she would raise her hand when she could just tell us what she heard. Good luck to her teachers in the future ;) We'll work on that this summer. Then, during the vision test, her nurse was pointing to a star with her finger and asked Finley what it was and Finley wasn't sure because it was really small. She kept asking and asking so finally Finley said in an exasperated voice, "It's a finger!" I think for now her vision is fine, but it's only a matter of time. Joey and I both wear contacts and I started wearing glasses in the 3rd grade. Hopefully, she can at least make it until then without them. I'm thankful for a wonderful pediatrician and her awesome staff!

We survived the 4 year appointment!

 A milkshake makes everything better.

Finley talks NON-STOP! Literally. I have started trying to help her practice being quiet, but it has been a huge failure. Joey and I are talkers so I don't know what we were expecting. She says the funniest things! I need to start writing them down. She loves to read books to us and to Sam. She loves her little brother so much. She always wants to know where he is and what he's doing. Every day when I get her from school she asks him if he missed her. She loves to go in his room and "get him" when he wakes up from his nap. They love to chase each other. She still knocks him down and gets irritated when he cries, but she also gives him lots of hugs and kisses and she always introduces him to people wherever we go.

Quick list...

LOVES: reading books, gymnastics, Angry Birds, the iPad, swinging, chicken nuggets and french fries, spaghetti, when Daddy picks her up from school, Taylor Swift, the grandparents, jumping at the mall, puzzles, using the Swiffer mop (woohoo!)

NOT SO MUCH: anything green (as in food), wearing bows (too bad, you're wearing them), dresses (heartbroken, I only make her wear them to church), doing what Joey and I tell her to do

A little hope for other moms of girls..Since Finley turned 4, I have seen a huge improvement in her behavior. Yea! I heard 4 was better and it is so far. 3 was a rough year. I wasn't sure we were both going to make it out alive. We did and I think 4 is going to be a great year for us all :)

Finley's 1st soccer game!

Finley had her first soccer game today. It was hilarious! Our team is the Orange Tigers and it's co-ed. Finley complains that the boys won't let her have the ball and that she just can't do it. She runs around the field and tries to keep up with the other players, but she is the smallest one on the team and those older boys are fast! Most of the boys are focused, but the girls are more concerned about the fact that their names are on the backs of their jerseys. At one point during the game, Finley and Mary Francis were discussing the outfits in the middle of the field. I realized that every team at the YMCA has some token characters. Every team has...
-a kid that cries the entire time
-a powerhouse
-a kid who wanders aimlessly on the field (we have a few of these)
-a kid who is bigger than everyone else but is afraid of the ball
-a kid who falls down constantly (this is either the crier or the powerhouse)

When the other team kicks off and her team goes after the ball, Finley will wave her arm to everyone on her team as if to say, you go ahead and then after everyone has run past her, she will run after them. It's hilarious!

Things overheard on the field today:

"Mommy, those boys won't let me have the ball!"
"Mommy, my bow is falling out!"
"Mommy, scratch my leg, it's itching under my socks!"

Soccer is a hoot and I'm so glad we signed her up.

Sam is 1!

See how I put an exclamation point in the title to try and seem excited about my baby turning 1? I have tried to be happy about it, but I just want him to be a newborn again. He may be my last baby and he's not even a baby anymore :( He is running all over the place at all times. He is definitely all boy as they say. He loves things with wheels and he likes to ram things into walls. He likes to search and destroy. When Finley lines things up or stacks things up, he runs over to it and furiously swings his arms until he's made a mess of things. It's hilarious! He loves to scream and when you act horrified because it's ear piercing, he smiles and laughs. You FINALLY got your 1st tooth! It's the front bottom one and the one next too it will be coming through soon, I think. He loves to be tickled and thrown in the air. He loves to be outside and free to roam. He loves opening and closing doors and drawers. He loves bathtime. He is so good in the car and was quiet the entire way to Birmingham last weekend. We all call him Bubba ;) I try to call him Sam so he doesn't go to school known as Bubba. We used the last scoop of formula the night of his birthday and he had his first taste of whole milk the next day and you would have thought he had been drinking it all along. He loves his paci. He hugs everyone. He will just randomly come up to us and give us a big hug. He is the sweetest thing and everyone that meets him loves him. Sam, you are a sweet, precious baby boy and you make us all so happy. You were definitely meant to be in this family and you were created just for us. We love you, Bubba ;)

1 year stats
Height: 29 3/4
Weight: 21.7 lbs.
Size 4 diapers
Size 12-18M clothes
Size 4 shoe

Sam's 1st and Finley's 4th Birthday!!!

On Saturday we celebrated Sam's 1st and Finley's 4th birthday! Sam's birthday was on Saturday and Finley will officially be 4 on April 2nd. I really liked the combined birthday party and I will continue to do it as long as the kids are okay with it. I did feel bad when I realized everyone brought 2 gifts. I will have to find a way to keep that from happening every year. Anyway, we had their party at my mom's house in Birmingham. It was a pirate/princess party! We had a great time! Finley was so excited!!! She didn't understand that it wasn't her actual birthday and she didn't understand that the party was for both of them, but she was happy anyway. We had a treasure hunt, the kids dressed up as princesses and we opened gifts. Our friends and family were very generous and we came home with two cars FULL of gifts. Thank you to everyone who came and made their birthday great!!!

Thank you to Pinterest for the food table :) Side note: I have the banners and the pirate ship sails if anyone wants them.

 My MIL made the cupcakes and they were delish!

 I'm so thankful we managed to get one family shot.

Finley's favorite part of birthdays is when everyone sings Happy Birthday. 

Sam eventually had his cake EVERYWHERE!!! 

 Opening presents!

My cousin's wife, Angie, took the pictures. I texted her 30 minutes before the party and asked if she would bring her camera. Mine decided to stop working on the day of my children's birthday party. I wanted to cry! She was so sweet to bring her camera and snap some pics. They turned out great! Thank you Angie!!! She is a photographer in Birmingham if you are ever in need. She is amazing!!! angelablakephotography.com

Hands Free Mama...Puh-lease!

If I hear one more word about hands free mama I'm going to scream. Why do we feel the need to constantly make ourselves and others feel guilty about doing things for ourselves. Not only do we give up careers, our looks, our figure, our social life, our relationship with our husband, but now we aren't even allowed to look at our phones while the kids are playing on the playground. We can't drive the car we want because it's too small, we need an SUV. We can't live in the house we want, it's too small we need something bigger. We can't even eat our own meals, we have to share with little hands that reach up the instant we get a bit of food. I don't know about you, but I can't even talk on the phone because the kids are making too much noise or want a juice box or need a snack or have to go potty. For moms that work, you have the added guilt that you aren't with your child all the time. For SAHMs, you have the guilt that you aren't contributing to the family's income and people think you sit on your butt all day. ENOUGH!!!!!! How about this...let's just say that we are all doing our best and when we aren't doing our best it's because we are human. I'd like to go on record as reserving the right to play on my phone while my kids are entertaining themselves FOR ONCE. I don't need a reminder that I mess up. I make mistakes every day, several times a day. I love my children. I brought them into this world, I have nurtured them, fed them, worried over them, hugged them, kissed them and wished they were newborns so I could do it all over again. Call me crazy, but I don't think being on the computer or looking at my phone while they are playing 5 feet from me is going to reverse any of that. If you truly want to encourage someone, tell them how your son ate glass shards out of the dust buster you left on the floor. Tell them about when your daughter said "For the love of God be quiet" and after you got onto her for saying it you realized she heard it from you. Now that's encouragement.

Finley's 1st soccer practice

Saturday, Finley had her first soccer practice. She was so excited about it! She got all her gear on and we headed as a family over to the YMCA. She is a Tiger :) We haven't gotten jerseys yet, but I think they are orange. When we got there she immediately made friends with one of the two other girls on the team. They played together for a while before practice. I'm the Team Mom :) I passed around a sheet for everyone to sign up to bring a drink and snack for all the players at each game. Once the coach got there they did a few drills, but he quickly set up a scrimmage game and they played scrimmages for the rest of the practice which I thought was a good idea at this age. Finley was didn't kick the ball a lot, but she ran after whoever had the ball and you could tell she was having a great time. There are a whole lot of boys on the team and you can tell this isn't their first year. They are fast and I couldn't believe how well they controlled the ball! There were a few skinned knees, a few tears and a few kids staring into space or taking the ball to the wrong goal, but most of all there were a lot of laughs. I think we have a great group of parents who are just excited to watch their kids play. We can't wait for her first game!!! Go Tigers!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Aside from dressing the kids up in cute Valentine's outfits, we aren't big on celebrating Valentine's Day. I took treats to Finley's school for their party and I made a pathetic attempt to get pictures of the kids in front of a fabric banner I made. I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

Bill Cosby

Joey and I went to see Jerry Seinfield in Birmingham on one of our very first dates. Joey surprised me with Bill Cosby tickets a couple weeks ago to celebrate 10 years together (not our anniversary, just how long we've been dating). It was awesome! If you ever have the opportunity to see him, do it. All night Joey and I were looking at each other and laughing because everything he says about marriage is so true and it is so funny to hear him talk about marriage in general and his relationship with his wife. He had a lot of good stories about being a parent too. I guess it was so funny to us because we are in that place in our lives where you have to laugh about it :) Otherwise you will lose your mind. Thanks Bill Cosby and Joey for a great night!

Read Between the Whines

It's a great name for a book club, right? My friend Katie wanted to join a book club and when she told me I wanted to do the same. We both love to read and we both need a night out each month to keep our sanity. The solution? Start our own book club. We have about 10 members and we meet the first Thursday of every month at a different restaurant to discuss the book we read, talk about what's going on in our lives and have a margarita or two :) I'm so excited to have this time away each month. Our first book was Safe Haven. We chose this book mainly because the movie was coming out and we thought it would be fun to read it one month and go see the movie the next month.

I thought Safe Haven was just okay. It was very predictable and a typical novel for Nicholas Sparks. It wasn't bad, just very predictable. There was a twist at the end, but I thought it was strange. I won't spoil it for anyone who may want to read it.

In other book news, I just finished a book called Hopeless by Colleen Hoover. I've read 2 of her books and loved them both. This book was so good! Read it!!! Just don't read Safe Haven right after. It's kind of weak compared to Hopeless :)

Sam - 11 months

Sam, you are 11 months old!!! I'm so excited for all the fun that comes with turning one, but I can't help but long for your newborn days. As weird as it seems, the newborn stage is my favorite. Coming in at a close second is between 1 and 2.

You are walking everywhere. You have really gotten the hang of it now and there is no stopping you! You love to follow your sister around and push your walking toys and your sister's little chair all over the house.
You are talking up a storm. You say dadadada and babababa and you love to screech and scream. We all think it's so funny and we like to take turns screaming :)
You love to touch people's faces and give them big open mouth kisses. You like to lay your head on our shoulders when we first pick you up as if to say I love you. It's so sweet! You smile all the time and are so happy. People always comment on how happy and smiley you are and how easy going you seem to be. They are right!
You love to feed yourself and your favorite foods are pasta pick-ups, cheese, chicken and turkey, bananas and pancakes. Your sister is so good about breaking off little pieces of whatever she has and sharing with you. She always asks me, "Can brother have some?" You don't seem to like any kind of juice or water, but you'll drink a little bit. You still drink formula.
You are sleeping great! You go down around 7:30 and wake up between 6:30 and 7.
Still no teeth :( I don't really care whether you have teeth yet, but it would make feeding you so much easier. I feel like you eat the same things over and over because I have to find things you don't have to chew.
You still have trouble with ear infections (separate post)
You wear a size 4 diaper and 12M clothes.
You weight about 20 lbs. and are about 28 1/2 inches tall.
You can clap your hands and you have really started dancing a lot when you hear music or the sounds on your toys. 
You make us happy, happy, happy!

Can't wait for your 1st birthday party!

Sam's Baptism

On Sunday, February 17th Sam was baptized at Huntsville First United Methodist. It was a great day! He was so good! The baptism went smoothly and our family was there so it was extra special. They put some pictures of him up on the projector screen and then the pastor walked him around the fellowship hall so everyone could see him. Afterwards we had lunch and cake at the club. Sam got several Bible story books and a Bible with his name engraved on it, some picture frames and a cross to hang in his room. The Lord blessed us with this beautiful baby boy and we promise to raise him to serve the Lord and support him as he tries to follow a righteous path. In these crazy times, I know it will be not be an easy thing.

The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel, Samuel." Then Samuel answered, "Speak; for thy servant heareth." I Samuel 3:10

 Finley's favorite part of the day was cake.

 Sam liked the cake too.

Us :)

 Our family.

Finley's Baby Book

I realized last week how important it is for me to update this blog and keep track of the kids milestones. Last week I was in a baby store and I saw a really cute baby book. Since Finley is going to be 4 in a month I thought it might be time to buy her baby book and start working on it. Ya think?? I came home and got right to work. I couldn't believe how much I had forgotten! I used my blog, home videos and Facebook to fill in the blanks. Who says Facebook is a waste of time? I need a few more pictures and a copy of her birth certificate and it will be done. I'm going to start on Sam's as soon as I finish Finley's because I don't want to get behind again. I felt terrible about forgetting things I thought I could never forget. On the bright side, I had fun reminiscing about when she was a baby and writing little notes in the margins about how I had so much fun designing her nursery and how she got embarrassed when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. I decided that I'm going to do a second little book about all of her firsts. There were so many that weren't in the baby book. First time on a n airplane, first time to face forward in the carseat (a big one for us), etc. With all that said, I'm going to try to do better, even if it's just a sentence or two about something funny or memorable that happened that day. I know what you're thinking, you've heard it all before ;)