Naughty or Nice?

Yes, I put a "naughty" shirt on my

sweet,

nice,

baby girl!

It made me laugh

and

*she*

has no idea what it says!

Really, does she

look

like she has a naughty bone in

her little body? {Grin}

Santa Baby...

I promise...

I only left her there to snap four...

maybe five pictures.

Then I
snatched
her up out of the big, scary, red mans' arms!

Wordless Wednesday

I Heart Faces - "Sweet Dreams"

This weeks photo challenge is "Sweet Dreams". This is one of the sweetest dreamers I have ever seen!

Head over to I Heart Faces to see more sweet dreamers.

Kaylie

My sweet Kaylie...

*You*
are 5 years, 2 months, and 6 days old.
know how to swim.
can write your name.
can write all of the letters of the alphabet.
want to learn how to ride your bike without training wheels.

*You*
are tall for your age.
have the most beautiful blue eyes.
have the cutest face.
look just like your daddy.
have two dimples.
like to sing and want to be a singer (or a hair stylist) when your grow up.

*You*
love to help others.
can't wait for Monday's so you can go to dance class.
love going to pre-school and to church.
like to tell me stories "with your mouth" (stories that you make up).
have the book "It's not easy being big" memorized and can "read" it to me.

*You*
adore your cousins.
miss your Nana and tell me that from time to time.
are a mama's girl.
are very smart and sometimes surprise me with the things that you say.
are full of energy.

*You*
ask to call your Nani and Grumps almost every night.
would play outside all day if you could.
love your baby sister and are very protective of her.
say your prayers every night.
are full of life.
are a precious gift from God.


*You*
have a knack for imitating people and can imitate Aunt Lisa, Miranda, and Alyssa to a tee.
still suck your thumb.
make me laugh.
love to dance with your Daddy.
are mischievous.
think the Cowboys are playing in every football game we watch.

*You*
always blink when I take your picture.
love to ride the carousel.
make me so proud.
sleep soundly.
are a little mama.
are my sunshine.

*You*
are strong willed.
are afraid of heights.
love to wear dresses that twirl when you spin.
will catch a lizard or a frog, for me, if they get into the house.
brighten my day with your smile and laugh.
have brought more joy to my life than I ever could have imagined.

*You*
are beautiful, thoughtful, kind, and wonderfully made, and *I* am so thankful to be your mama!

What a difference a year makes...

My sweet Madeline,

*You*
are 13 months and 4 days.
are 20 pounds.
know and use the sign for milk.
can say Daddy, Mama, Radar, Eye, Alyssa, Hi, Uh-oh, belly, and Da-da (That's what you call your baby. We're not sure why.)

*You*
walk, no, run everywhere.
start to dance when you hear music.
give the sweetest baby hugs.
are a daddy's girl.
love your sisters baby doll and hug it while you sleep.

*You*
have the biggest blue eyes.
make the funniest faces.
run to the door looking for your daddy when I tell you he is home.
are very charming.
have learned that a high pitch scream/squeal will get my attention and quickly.

*You*
pretend like you are shy and snuggle your face in my neck when a stranger talks to you.
love to play with your sister.
swing your right arm in an exaggerated way when you walk.
still give kisses with your mouth wide open.
are an answer to my prayers.

*You*
are the most precious, sweet, beautiful baby and *I* am so thankful to be your mama!

Do you see it?

What...

about...

now???

The curls!
Look at the baby
curls
in her hair!
Aren't they
precious?

Halloween Pictures

Kaylie helped me carve a Tinkerbell Pumpkin!

She dressed up like a cowgirl for the fall festival at her pre-school.

Halloween night she dressed as a kitty...

and here is my

little

Pink

Leopard.

This picture was taken

after

we went

trick or treating.

She rubbed her

nose and whiskers off.

Wordless Wednesday

Pumpkin Patch

It was very hot and HUMID here today! {sigh}
The high was 85 degrees and it was still 80 degrees at 8PM.
Despite the lack of fall weather, we had so much fun searching for two

perfect pumpkins!

Madeline found herself a teeny tiny
Pumpkin

...and Kaylie picked a small

but, very nice

Pumpkin.

Did you know

...that yellow pumpkins

are tasty!

I think, I took home the two cutest pumpkins in the pumpkin patch {wink-wink}!

Happy Birthday Mom

Little Sis, Me (preggers with Madeline), and Mom

Today is my mom’s 55th birthday;
Unfortunately, she will never be a day over 54 years and 3 months.
I won’t be able to give her a gift or a hug today.
I won't be able to watch her eyes light up as her granddaughters’ wish her a happy birthday.
We won't be celebrating nor having a grand party this weekend.
I won't be able to call her at work and sing an, out of key, version of happy birthday.

Instead, my girls, my niece, my sister, and I will head over to my parent’s home and visit with my dad.
Maybe we will look through pictures of past times together.
I'm sure that we will talk about some of the wonderful memories we have of her.
We could even blow some birthday kisses up to Heaven.
As silly as it sounds, we are going to bake and decorate some cookies for Nana’s birthday, mainly because I think the girls will like that. She loved to bake and decorate sugar cookies with her granddaughters.

For a moment today, I will allow myself to be sad.
I will think about...
How I wish she were here.
I will think about...
How it breaks my heart that my children will grow up without their adoring Nana.
For a moment today I will think about...
How grief-stricken I am that my sweet Madeline will not be bragged about,
Or hugged and kissed all over.
Or about how she will not be lovingly rocked and sung to sleep,
Or even have any memories of her Nana.
For a moment today I will think about...
How my little sister and I still need our mom.
For a moment I will think about...
How my Dad is lost without his wife of 34 years.

But, I will pick myself up.
I will remember...

That she is in the presence of God.
I will remember...

That she treasured every single minute she spent with her granddaughters, however brief that time might have been.
I will remember...

That,I believe, she is watching over Madeline from Heaven.
I will remember...
How grateful I am to have had such loving mama.
I will remember...
How blessed I am to have two parents who stayed married through all of life’s highs and lows and who were still very much in love.

Most of all today and everyday, I will remember and thank God for sending His Son so that I can, one day, see her again!

Par-tay!

We celebrated Madeline's

first

birthday today!! {Huge GASP}

We had a fun filled party!

I'll be posting more soon.

But for now,

I just wanted you to see her Birthday

tutu

{Huge GRIN}!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Cute Little Thief...

On a recent trip to the mall, we stopped by one of our favorite stores, the Disney Store. We shopped around for a bit and then left. About five minutes after leaving the store, I looked down and noticed Madeline was holding something orange...
and it had...
black stripes...

...yes, my baby took a stuffed Tigger from the Disney Store. How did I miss that? I'm still trying to figure out how she got her hands on it.

She was so cute and really did love that tiny stuffed Tigger.

We did return Tigger to his rightful place among all the other stuffed animals, and not only because it was the right thing to do. The last thing we need in our house is another stuffed animal!

Peachy keen

Madeline loves peaches! Mmmmm.

I know it looks like she is handing it to me,

but I promise,

she was

chowing down

on that peach!

Lowe's kids workshop

We love to go to

Home Depot and Lowes kids'

workshops.

We went a couple of weeks ago and built a

drum.

I

love

the way Kaylie made sure everything lined up!

She was dangerous with the hammer!
I had to keep telling her to move her fingers
out
of the way.

Nana's dress

My mom (Nana) made

this dress for Kaylie,

when she was about 10 months old.

She also made a baby dress for Alyssa.

Oh, how I

wish

she were here to sew a

pretty, pretty

dress for Madeline too.

Baby Hugs

Recently, Madeline has started giving out

hugs.

She runs up to me,

wraps her tiny arms around my legs

and squeezes.

Before I can blink, she is off and running,

to bigger and better things.

I love that sweet baby and her

baby hugs!

Free Initial Tee

I mentioned, my friend, Melissa in my last post! Guess what??!! She is giving away an item from her etsy store!!!! Yay! Go check out her blog for more info!

Cupcakes at Pre-school

I took cupcakes {yummy} to Kaylie's pre-school class, in celebration of her fifth birthday.

These were so much fun to make!!

My girl will be 5 on Saturday! {gasp}

I should mention, if you like Kaylie's "5" shirt you have to visit Melissa's ETSY store! She is a very talented and creative friend of mine!! She recently moved to Kentucky {tear}.

She did not make this shirt; unfortunately I didn't think to order one from her in time! This was my poor attempt to duplicate one of her tees! I actually "Liquid Stitched" the "5" on...lol! Melissa's tees are much better quality! I assure you she does not use liquid stitch! Please check out her store! I just love her stuff! Check out her blog too! She and her husband have four fabulous kiddos and she always has something fun to blog about!

CO2

Today, I received a Fed Ex package that included a few blocks of dry ice.

Kaylie...
and her Daddy{grin}...

had a lot of fun playing with it!

It's all about Kaylie

We went to Kaylie's "open house" at her pre-school on Friday. Yes...my girl is starting pre-K. I can't believe it! Anyway, she was so excited that her teacher gave her an assignment to do over the weekend. She couldn't wait to get home and do her "home work". Haha!

Sweet and Sassy

Kaylie and my niecy girl, Alyssa, got their hair cut at "Sweet & Sassy" today. They both have a flower, and lots of glitter in their hair, and they smell of cotton candy. {Yummy} Oh, what a fun day it was! I heart my girlie girls!

Coupons, coupons and more coupons

Okay, so I admit it, I'm a little crazy when it comes to organizing things. Especially my coupons! I use baseball card holders to keep track of my coupons. My coupon binder also has a compartment for all of my sales flyers for the week.

Today, I spent $20.48 at CVS. I had $23.89 worth of coupons! Here is the best part...I earned $18 worth of Extra Care Bucks to spend at my next visit!! So, basically I paid $2.48 for $44.xx worth of products.

I also went to Publix and spent $64.05, and I SAVED $64.54 {grin}. I had $36 worth of coupons and saved about $28 with BOGO and advertised sales! So, it pays to be organized...right?

She's walking!

I can't believe my baby, my nine month old baby, is walking! She is walking everywhere and prefers walking to crawling. I think she will be running in a week. What do you think?

Beach Vacation

Back in July, my in laws took us, Mike's three brothers, and their families on wonderful week long vacation. We stayed at a beautiful beach house. The beach was our back yard! Here are a few pictures from our stay. We all had a great time!! Thank you Nani and Grumps!!!