Phone Dump

The past few weeks have been such a blur! My children are growing up faster and faster every day it seems. All three of them just blow me away with how grown up they seem. When I was a kid, I felt like I would be a kid forever. I couldn't wait to grow up! Now that I'm a mother, I feel like my kids are growing up too fast! They will be adults before I know it! Funny how it seems so different from a different perspective.

These pictures are from a few weeks ago. For Christmas, Santa brought Jenny "Just Dance 4" for the Wii. Jenny loves it! Aiden isn't usually a big fan, but he played with her this night. His facial expressions crack me up!

 Jaime and Aiden got their haircut a few weeks ago. The place we go to has a basket of suckers for the kids. Aiden always gets one after his haircut, but Sophia had never had one before. She wasn't happy waiting for them to finish with their haircuts, so I gave her a sucker to distract her. She loved it!

This picture is from one of Aiden's games. Somehow I only brought two chairs instead of three, so Jenny sat in the stroller when Sophia wasn't using it. 

Just a random picture of Aiden and Sophia. Sophia loves to sit on this bench. She isn't tall enough to put herself on it. She tries. She backs up to it and then tries to sit, but she always ends up sitting in the floor in front of it. Poor girl!

Sophia decided she wasn't ready for bed when I wanted her to go to bed, so she stayed up with me and watched TV and we took pictures of ourselves. 

Silly girl! She loves to sit in front of this door at my parent's house and look outside at their dogs. My mom and I were standing outside and looked up to see her doing this! 

Sophia loves to sleep with a stuffed animal. It doesn't matter which one, but she does have favorites. Right now she likes Elmo, Tigger, Jenny's puppy, or her Minnie Mouse.

We went to the movies last week and saw The Croods 3D. We took Sophia with us too, but she slept through most of the movie. It was a cute movie! We went to Movie Tavern where they serve you dinner while you watch your movie. It was our first time going there. It was pretty expensive, and the food wasn't that great. We will probably just stick to the regular movie theater next time!

Jenny brought this box home from her mom's house last week. It was a spaceship she had made to bring home for her and Aiden to play in. I didn't expect it to be big enough for anyone but Sophia to fit inside of. But somehow she and Aiden figured out a way to get in there together! They used the toy from Sophia's walker as their steering wheel and control panel.

This girl has a love for books! She has lots of different books that she loves to "read". She also really enjoys when I read to her. When Aiden was younger, he would never sit still long enough for me to read to him even though I always wanted him to. I just love reading to Sophia!

One of Sophia's favorite places to play is in Jenny and Aiden's room. Jenny and Aiden also love to have her in there. The rule is, their room has to be clean in order for her to be allowed in. It doesn't have to be perfectly clean, but there can't be any small toys in the floor that she could choke on if she put them in her mouth. They have been pretty good about keeping it clean enough that she can go in. On this day, it wasn't clean enough. So they shut their door while they quickly cleaned it up so that she could come in. Sophia was not very patient, and was very vocal while she waited outside of their room. 

I took this picture of Jenny one day last week when she and Aiden were playing Just Dance 4. I wasn't trying to take a picture of them dancing together, but I was holding Sophia at the same time and she bumped my arm so this was what I got. I started to delete it and take another one, but at second glace, I couldn't help but notice how skinny Jenny looks! We have been trying to make changes to her diet and spend more time outside and being active. It is paying off! She has come a long way in the last year, and we really haven't even made major changes. I am so proud of her! 

I haven't really talked much about this on the blog, but since I use this blog mainly for documenting our lives, I figured I should mention this since it is a part of our life. Jenny has urine reflux. It isn't a big deal, but it does cause her to get lots of urinary tract infections. We have been giving her a daily antibiotic for a few years now to prevent infections, hoping she would outgrow the reflux. Unfortunately, as of late is hasn't been working well and she has been getting more infections than usual. Her last one was pretty bad, and she became dehydrated and had to spend several hours at the hospital getting fluids. I took this picture of her and I while we were waiting for them to bring her IV.

 Sophia's first time on a slide!

I was making dinner last week and Sophia kept trying to get me to pick her up. So, I gave her a couple pots and a plastic whisk to play with. She loved it! I think her big sister and big brother may have been a little jealous.

Spring break is next week and so far the weather is looking very nice! Looks like we will be spending lots of time outside and having a good time!

I have been such a slacker lately when it comes to reading. I try to set a goal of one book per month, but so far I haven't even read one book! I have started reading The Hunger Games a few times, and then I always get busy and stop reading. I started it again today, and I am hoping to read it everyday during nap time.

We went shopping with my mom last week, and we went inside The Disney Store. I showed Sophia this stuffed Minnie Mouse and let her hold it. I had no intention of buying it, so I put it back on the shelf. When I put it back, she immediately started crying! So, Grandma did the only logical thing - she bought it for her! Is this girl spoiled, or what?? Haha! :)

This is how I feel like I have spent the last few days. Doing laundry! I can never get caught up. With five people in our family, it seriously does feel like it is five against one when it comes to the laundry. It is never ending!

I just can't get enough of this sweet girl! She is so close to walking on her own, but she just hasn't gotten brave enough yet. She has taken a few steps on her own a couple of times. So it is only a matter of time before she starts walking by herself. I am excited to see her walk on her own, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for her to be walking yet. First of all, she will be much more difficult to keep up with. Second, she is my baby!! She shouldn't be old enough to walk yet, should she?! I am in total denial mode that she has a birthday coming up....ON THURSDAY!! I just can't believe it. 

I gave Sophia a cookie last week thinking that she would bite it. Instead, she shoved the entire cookie in her mouth! This girl doesn't mess around when it comes to sweets!

 While we were out shopping last week, I may have bought way too many clothes for my kids! I always buy too much. But hey, I got good deals, so that has to count for something. 

 Keeping me entertained while I work on laundry. 

Somebody found my markers! When I took the marker away from her, this is the face she gave me. Haha! This child is going to be a handful when she is older, I can see it already!

That pretty much sums up the past several weeks at our house. Some days it is crazy busy around here, some days my kids get along well and everything gets done. Most days my kids argue all day long, nothing gets done, and everyone goes to bed early because this mama needs some alone time! No matter what, I wouldn't change it for the world! It's not a perfect life, but it is my life, and I think it is as close to perfect as I need. Hope you are all having a great week!

First Day of April

It is finally starting to feel like Spring around here! This seemed like it was the longest Winter ever, so it is nice to enjoy some warmer weather!

We woke up this morning to a sweet face peeking out at us through her crib rails. As much as I am ready for Sophia to have her own room, I know will miss her once she is not in our room anymore. Poor Jaime has a cold, so we spent most of the day in the house. He was off from work today, so it was nice to have him home, even if he didn't feel well. 

I am using this week to do some spring cleaning. I am hoping to have it all done by Sunday so that we can enjoy next week. Next week is Jenny's spring break. We have lots of doctor and dentist appointments scheduled next week, so I want to try and take advantage of the time we are able to spend doing fun things. I definitely don't want to spend the week cleaning! Today we started with cleaning out the van and washing the outside. If you know me well, you will know that I have never ever had a clean vehicle! It is usually always full of things that don't belong. When I was younger it was things like: trash, extra clothes, shoes, etc. Now that I have kids it is usually: trash, toys, sippy cups, clothes, jackets, shoes, video games, etc. This time it was particularly bad because it hadn't been cleaned out in a while! Between Girl Scouts and Aiden's baseball games, plus all of the other things in between, it had gotten out of control! Jaime and Aiden cleaned out the inside while Sophia took a nap and I cleaned a few things inside the house. After Sophia's nap, we went to the car wash where we washed the outside and vacuumed and cleaned the inside.

After the car wash we went to the park so that Aiden could practice baseball with Jaime. Jaime doesn't really like baseball, and he has never played before. Where he is from, soccer is more commonly played. So he and I helped Aiden together. Jaime even said that he thinks that Aiden's baseball bat might be the first real bat he has ever swung! Aiden wasn't too thrilled about coming to the park to practice. All he wanted to do was play on the playground. First he practiced throwing and catching the ball, and then he practiced hitting. Eventually we told him that after he hit the ball three times, we could go to the playground. There's nothing wrong with a little bribery if you as me! Especially since it helped him to be more serious - and it wasn't long before he hit the ball three times!

We headed to the playground where he had a blast! Sophia played on the swings, and tried out the slide. She really loved swinging, but she wasn't too sure about the slide. Haha! We put her on a slide last week for the first time, and she liked it. This slide was a little different though, it was steeper. I think it made her a little scared. 

Once it got so dark it was difficult to see, we came home and had a late dinner of sub sandwiches. Publix makes the best sandwiches. I think I might like theirs better than Subway. Aiden and Sophia were up past bedtime, so hopefully they will sleep in a little tomorrow. I doubt it! 

Tomorrow is day two of spring cleaning. I haven't even decided what I am going to clean yet. Whatever I do, I also need to do the laundry too. After our busy Easter weekend, the laundry is out of control! Funny how it seems like whenever I focus on a certain area, like today I focused on the van, it seems like all of the other areas of the house fall apart and get out of control. Most of the time I really feel like it is impossible to have a perfectly clean house all of the time. This stay at home mom stuff is much harder than it looks! 

I hope you all had a wonderful first day of April and I hope you didn't fall for too many April Fool's Jokes!

Easter Weekend 2013

*This post is pretty long, and full of lots of pictures!*


Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Christmas is probably my most favorite, followed closely by Easter. After all, as a Christian, Easter is the center of my entire faith! Easter has also come to be a day where we spend time as a family, and create memories together that I hope will last a lifetime.

We started out by having an Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's house on Saturday. We had 40 eggs between two kids. It is so much fun seeing how much they truly enjoy looking for the eggs. They get so excited when they find one, and their little faces light up with joy!

After the egg hunt we had a traditional Easter lunch with ham, potato salad, and green beans. Yum! Jenny loves potato salad, and this was her first time to eat the homemade kind. She said she liked it better than the kind you buy at the store. 

Sweet cousins.

Allie Kay, my niece - already almost two months old! The sweetest, most beautiful niece in the world! :-)

I hope these two grow up to be best friends!

Aiden had a game that afternoon, so we took a break from Easter activities to watch his baseball game. He played well! He needs some more practice on catching the ball, what to do after he gets the ball, and what to do after he hits the ball. 

After Aiden's game we came home and ate leftovers. Then we colored some more eggs with Aunt Jillian. 

After we colored eggs it was getting late and time to come home. Everyone knows that the Easter Bunny doesn't come until you are asleep! We came home and the kids rushed to get their pajamas on and get ready for bed. We waited close to an hour to make sure they were fully asleep, and then The Bunny went to work.

The tradition in our house is that the night before Easter, we set our our Easter baskets in hopes that the Easter Bunny will fill them while we are asleep. This year, we were also hoping that the Easter Bunny would bring a basket for Sophia since she didn't have one. Last year on Easter she was only four days old, so she didn't get a basket.

 The Easter Bunny put out a trail of eggs from their rooms to their baskets! He also hid 20 candy-filled eggs around the house.

The Easter Bunny came! He brought Sophia a basket, too! 

Jenny and Aiden woke up bright and early this morning, before the sun had even come up! We woke up Sophia and headed out into the living room to see if the Easter Bunny had brought anything.

After emptying their baskets, we all got ready to go eat breakfast with my parents, my brother, my SIL, and my niece. 

After breakfast we went back to my parent's house and just hung out as a family. We went on a walk around the neighborhood and played Old Maid with Jenny and Aiden. It was just a fun time to be together as a family!

We had a wonderful Easter! We have so many reasons to celebrate and be thankful this year! We are incredibly blessed - Praise The Lord!! Christ is Risen! My Redeemer Lives! I am just beyond thankful for His sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" 
1 Peter 1:3

 "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said..." Matthew 28:6