Streaker!!

Tonight Addison stripped down to her birthday suit while standing up in her highchair in anticipation of taking a bath and she thought it was quite hysterical! Couldn't help but laugh at that adorable little giggle!! I should have snapped a photo to show her future boyfriends...LOL!

A Girl & Her Dog

One day during Spring Break, while Addison & Austin were taking naps, Brooke and I decided to play around with the camera and take a few pictures of her and Gizmo. The personality of this little pooch and his ability to pose for the camera is amazing! I am so happy that we made the decision to get him to be a long-time pal for the kids.

Gizmo showcasing his singing talents

Pirate & Princess Training

This week during Spring Break, we have spent a little time in The Haile Village Center at The Little Shop partaking in a few of their super fun classes for kids. Today the kids underwent a little training to be a Pirate & Princesses. They got to have relay races for booty(pirate lingo for $), go on a treasure hunt together and then Austin learned how to walk a plank and sword fight, while the girls had their nails painted and hair sprayed pink. Afterward we stayed for an ice cream social. Earlier in the week, on a stormy day, they all became trained to be Superheroes. I really love this kitschy little store and all they have to offer and plan to bring the kids over and over again.

Walking the plank

That's Our Boy!

So, as most everyone knows, Austin can be a bit of a handful! Most of the times I completely understand though as he is sandwiched in between two girls and is ALWAYS surrounded by estrogen! The past 2 weeks, however; have been a complete exception to his typical behavior. He has been wonderful at school, at Sunday School, and any other activity her partakes in. To say that I am so proud of him, I find to be a complete understatement! Last week he had a report come home from school that read:
"Best listener in the Busy Bee's class! Today, Austin was a leader :)"
I literally almost cried when I read it! The look of accomplishment on his face when I shower him with kisses, high fives, and compliments after receiving such praise is priceless!!
The past few weeks his Sunday School teacher has made a point to tell me how great he was and how much of a helper he has been.
Yesterday at CHEERS, Mrs. Patti, made it a point to find me and tell me(in front of Austin) how wonderful he has been in class and how great of a help he has also been.
Then, to put add the cherry on top, Austin got up in front of the entire Church congregation during the Children's Chat portion of the Lent service, and told everyone(via microphone) how he says Grace at the dinner table. I didn't get to witness this special moment(tear) as I was setting everything up for Lentapalooza, but my boss, Monique, told me that he did it and how great he was. He even volunteered to clean up the mess on the tables after we were all done baking chocolate chip cookies as part of out Great Grace Gala cooking lesson. He was rewarded with the 1st cookie out of the oven!

I have always said that out of all 3 of our kids, Austin has the most sincere heart, and he truly has proven it over the past few weeks! I LOVE that kid!!

Another Surgery...

Brooke has to have her tonsils & adenoids removed and tubes put in. I scheduled her surgery today for April 21st. That is one year and one day after Austin had his tonsils & adenoids removed. Lets hope April of 2012 doesn't repeat history and we find ourselves at the surgical pavilion with Addi on April 22nd.

Gizmo: A little girl's best friend

Gizmo has been such a wonderful addition to our family(albeit we could do without the multiple accidents per day) and he has become Addison's best buddy. Every morning we have the opportunity to spend a few hours at home, you can be sure Gizmo is right by Addi's side. She treats him just like one of her baby dolls, and the best part is....he lets her! She feeds him pretend food, pushes him around in the stroller, and even gives him a bath in the baby center. She makes sure to let everyone know that he is HER puppy and does not like it when he tries to sneak a few moments of shut-eye to recharge his little puppy batteries. The other day my Mom was over for a bit in the morning and was able to witness the incredible bond between Addison and Gizmo. At one point she had put him in the doll crib and he began to cry, so I quickly rescued him. When she figured out that I was holding him, she came over and snatched him from me, promptly hugged him, kissed his head and proclaimed "Its o-tay Gizmo, I know Mommy's mean!"
My Mom looked at me and instantly began to crack up!

Brooke's Fancy Nancy Soiree

Happy 6th Birthday Brooke!!

Brooke's birthday fell on President's Day this year, so she had the day off from school. We kind of just laid low around the house for the day and I gave her all of her new outfits. She had talked about wanting an IPod, but when we took her to Target that evening, she chose a bright pink Nintendo DSi. We felt it could do so much more than an IPod and would entertain her for hours(the one thing we didn't bank on was her brother and sister wanting one too!) So, if you are reading this...we are taking up a collection for Austin's birthday ;o) After Target we went to Chili's for dinner and then stopped by my Mom & Dad's so they could see her. The funniest thing about that night when we talk about it is Brooke will say "Mommy, I was FREAKING out the whole time they were singing to me at the restaurant! I just don't like people singing to me and everyone looking at me." I laugh when she tells me that because it is exactly how I feel too!!

Today was Brooke's big party. I put the most thought and effort into this birthday party than I have any other for any of the kids. I got it in my head that I wanted her to have a true girl's party and a true girl's party is what she got. We based the entire party around a Fancy Nancy Tea Party theme centered on a pink, purple, and orange color scheme. Brooke invited 5 of her best friends from school, although 1 couldn't make it. Her other guests included her cousins(Lyce couldn't make it) and a few of her other long-time friends. I also surprised her by inviting her friend, Lena, who she went to school with last year and has been longing to play with again. She didn't know I invited her until she was standing at the door, party dress on, and present in hand.

For the party I bought China for all of the girls to eat on and decorated the table for a sophisticated and glamorous lunch. The girls all came in their party dresses and my sister, Monique, adorned them all with bright eye makeup. For their favors, I made them all Fancy Nancy necklaces and matching bracelets.

IT made me smile so big to see these little girls all sitting at the table and acting like they were 36 instead of 6. Their mannerisms were spot-on and at the end of the meal I think there was only 2 cake crumbs on the floor. I truly could not believe how grown up these little girls acted!

This party will definitely be one of my favorites for a long time to come!!

My Mom & I made the bunting for the party






I made the bunting for the cake. I LOVED how perfect Sam's decorated it!

Meet Gizmo

In January, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to give Albert back to the Rescue and allow another family to adopt him. After spending 5 months getting to know him and loving him, we realized he just wasn't the right fit for our family and small children. It was a heart wrenching decision to make because we had grown to love him so much, but we knew it was the best decision for both him and us. I myself had a very difficult time dealing with giving him back, especially when Addi would cry and ask "Albert go bye-bye? Why??" I miss him, but am happy to report that a week later he was adopted by another family with teenage children :)
We had spoken to the kids in depth about getting another dog that would be the perfect match for us, and were lucky enough that one of my sister's friends had bread her Shih tzu and had a litter of puppies available. We picked out the fattest, most personable puppy of the bunch and on Tuesday afternoon we brought adorable little Gizmo home! The kids are absolutely in love with him to the point the keep count of how many times each one of them has held him and then fight over it. He accompanies us in the morning for the ride to school and sleeps on Brooke's lap the whole way there. So far he has been such a wonderful little puppy and we are so happy that we made him a part of our family!

His new favorite sleeping spot

His Furr-Real kitty girlfriend

The Hands That Built It

I finally got my Christmas present! Thanks honey for the awesome deck & Dad for helping finish it today! I found a website online that gave step by step instructions on how to build a deck. All I had to do was type in the measurements that I wanted and it printed out a blueprint of the plans, including all materials that would be needed. Jeff took a trip to Lowes and got to work. I couldn't be happier with the results and can't wait to enjoy a few family dinners out on it. Now I am looking forward to him making the benches and planters to finish the back yard off :)

Addison turns 2!

Is it really possible?!? I remember still being pregnant and miserable(no offense to my sweet little girl) with her and imagining what she was going to look like and now 2 years have flown by in the blink of an eye! We celebrated Addi's special day a few different ways, but that shouldn't surprise anyone as it seems our birthdays last 1-2 weeks around here, but hey, I'm not complaining! We went to Downtown Disney on the 8th with Nana & Papa & Kimby, which was so nice, especially since it was Papa's birthday that day. It was also the day after we said goodbye and buried Grandma, so creating happy memories after such a loss was a welcome distraction. We ate at the T-Rex restaurant, which was awesome! Its a lot like the Rainforest Cafe, but with Dinosaurs, so the kids loved it!



On her actual birthday, Granni & Grandpi & Mimi came over for dinner and cake(it was a delicious brownie, cream cheese, strawberry, chocolate syrup concoction). Addison unwrapped her gifts from us and received her favorite present of all, Alberta...the realistic treat-eating, treat-pooping dog! The laughs we had over the things this dog did were just great!






We had a small little family party, with two of her best friends included, Collin & Payton, at our house. It was so nice and low key and not too overwhelming for a 2 year old. Addi picked out a Dora cake at Publix for the occasion.



On President's Day, we took the kids to Disney to celebrate since they had it off from school. It was kind of a rainy day, so the park was not busy at all!! We were able to see and do so much and had a wonderful day overall....despite the rain!



With the realization that we no longer have any babies in the house(or diapers for that matter), I can admit that I am a little sad and can only hope that time will slow down for a little bit in order for us to take in each day one breath at a time and enjoy these little miracles that we have created!

Potty trained at 23 months

I have to start out this post by saying how very proud I am of our littlest munchkin! On December 6, I slowly started potty training her and it consisted of bringing her to the bathroom when she woke up in the morning and before her bath at night. During winter break I made the commitment to get her FULLY trained. On December 22, we put her in pull-ups, and by Christmas Eve she was wearing big girl panties! All in all over the course of those 4 days of HEAVY training she only had 1 accident and to date I believe she has only had 3 pee-pee accidents and 3 poopy accidents! Both Brooke and Austin were trained at 2 years/8 months, so this is such a treat for me! As I document this today I can proudly say that we have a potty trained(almost 2 year old) little girl! :)
Her birthday in 2 days will be such a wonderful celebration of so many things!!

Why did the chicken cross the road?

We saw some random chicken sitting at the intersection of 53rd & 441 this morning on the way to school. Perhaps she was trying to give us the answer to that age old riddle?!?! :) This was by far one of the funniest and most random things that I have seen......EVER!!

Nala is on the mend!

After 7 days and some loving from Granni, Nala FINALLY started eating again yesterday!! We truly believe she is on the road to recovery, although she does have some permanent damage from the seizure, but are feeling quite blessed she's such a fighter!!

Nala Jean

Late this morning, I walked in our room to find Nala unable to walk and twitching her eyes uncontrollably. She lost control of her bowels and threw up all over herself. Jeff rushed her to the vet and they "think" she had a seizure. She can't walk or breathe very well and her eyes won't stop twitching and they think she may have brain loss. Monitoring her until 5:00 to try to figure out a prognosis. Very sad day after Christmas! We are praying that she will recover, but if not we will celebrate the 14 1/2 years that we have spent loving her!

Santa Picture

Tonight we took the kids to the mall to see Santa and get our annual Christmas picture with him. Last year, they took the most amazing picture that could have been on the cover of any magazine!! This year, well.....let's just say, it didn't go so well, and we will leave it at that! After 2 different attempts, with dinner in between them, here is what we ended up with:




Addison was more than petrified of the jolly 'ole fellow and I only wish we had our own camera with us so I could document the many ways we tried to get a picture with ALL 3 kids in it. Oh well, there's always next year, right?!?