Alyssa

Alyssa.  Our first child.  Strong, independent and wise.  And brave.  She may very well be one of the bravest people I know.  Except when it comes to the dark or being alone on one side of the house.  But you throw life at this girl, and she faces it head on.  She's so courageous and I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming.

We went to Calloway Gardens with the Fraziers before Christmas.  We drove through the "Fantasy in Lights" and visited the Butterfly Garden.  So beautiful!

This picture pretty much sums up Alyssa's relationship with her baby sister- she loves her and Ayden Claire adores Alyssa!  I know it's not always easy to be the oldest but Alyssa is truly the BEST big sister.  She's so helpful!

We took the girls fishing at Lanark one day this spring and Alyssa caught the biggest fish I've ever seen!  She was so excited.  It was catch and release so he went back to the lake to live happily every after with all of his fishy friends.

<3 this little girl!  She stole our hearts almost 10 years ago.  Wow, how time flies!

Wes and I just love this picture of Alyssa!  It is SO her!  A little bit of attitude and sass with a beautiful smile and those innocent little dimples.  And the leftover 4th of July tattoos.

Alyssa Grace will be 10 in four days and it just doesn't seem real!  Have we really been blessed with her for a decade now?  Have I really been a mommy for 10 years?!?  Unbelievable.  What I do know with certainty it that I could not be more thankful for this little girl. 

Anniston

Anniston....our sweet, sweet Anniston.  She is holding steady her place as "middle child"- once was the baby and remembers that she was once the baby but now that spot is taken by her baby sister BUT she gets to be a big sister, too!  She had lots of exciting things happen this year.....

.....It snowed!  Twice!  I mean really, how often do you get TWO snow days a school year in Alabama???!??

.....She got glasses!  Pink glasses, of course. 

.......and she lost her first tooth on her 6th birthday!

.....She got a hamster!  She'd only been asking for one for months leading up to her birthday.  So, here's "Pluto"- the Chinese Dwarf hamster.  And shockingly he's still alive, 6 months later. 

....She was asked to be on the preteam at gymnastics!  She takes at the Armory in downtown Montgomery and they have been around forever and have some excellent gymnasts.  Anyone who knew Anniston when she was 8 months old and started walking (I promise, we have video!) knows that Anniston was destined to be a gymnast!  :)  She LOVES to tumble and stand on her head.  I've really never seen anything like it- she watches entire episodes of Hannah Montana in a headstand.  Crazy- but we love her.  And I sort of have hopes that one day Wes and I will be driving to the Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa to watch our baby at her Alabama gymnastics meet!  ;)  Roll Tide!

....She made All-Stars at the end of softball season!  Did I mention she's athletic?  ;)

....And she ran away from home, sadly.  Fortunately, she came back!  We would have really missed our precious little blondie!  (Please note she had totally dressed herself!  She looks a little homeless in whatever this is she was wearing!!!)

....and of course, what's a year without some slumber parties with besties??? 

And now our lovely, eccentric middle daughter is in 1st grade and loving it.  I never thought I'd see a day that Anniston went anywhere for any amount of time without me.  :(  But, it's a good thing, I know.  She loves me in such a special way- she just LOVES!  She is such a fun little girl and there are days that I just don't know where in the world she came from and I just have to shake my head....

Ayden Claire

What a year for our "baby"!  Ayden Claire has really come into her own this year and her personality is just contagious!  She is the happiest person on earth, I'm positive.  She literally bounces when she walks!  I say quite often, "I just don't know if this house is big enough for Ayden Claire's personality!"  I could really eat her up- she amazes me and I adore her.

Ayden Claire tried out ice skating for the first time this year.  She quickly decided she likes the carousel better!

Heading to one of many birthday parties we celebrated this past year.  She LOVES her friends!

Checking out Daddy's helicopter!  Well, it's not really his, but it might as well be to the girls.  They totally think he's the coolest!

Playing at the Archive Museum in downtown Montgomery.  Don't her eyes just sparkle???  :)

And now her 3rd birthday is right around the corner!  SO hard to believe.  I can hardly remember a time without our little AC.  She just completes our family so perfectly!

Fences

Last weekend we went to Jill's house to build a fence.  Yes, a fence.  My dad and brother were coming up to build the fence Jill had been wanting since buying their house so Wes and David were enlisted to help.  Wes was actually excited!  Nothing like male bonding over a privacy fence in Alabama in July.  And build it they did!  They worked two days straight in 95+ degree summer heat and went through about 75 gatorades between the 5 of them.  As the final boards were being nailed in to complete the fence, I started singing the line from the song "Signs"- "You put up a fence to keep me out, or to keep mother nature in...."  I always liked that song!  "Signs, signs, everywhere are signs, blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind, do this don't do that, can't you read the signs...."  But back to the fence.  And then I started thinking about where we build fences in our personal lives- do we put fences up to keep certain people in or out, where do we place fences or boundaries with our children?  Everyone builds fences in different places....some closer to the house and some further away.   Especially with our children!  Still following me?  Some parents put fences around their children VERY close to home in hopes of protecting them.  In my opinion, and its just an opinion, that is okay but it really limits their view of what is beyond that fence.  I don't want my girls to wake up one day and step outside of their fenced in life and be shocked by what is beyond their backyard.  But, on the flip side of that, I don't want them to have too big of a fence too soon.  So I think we put up our fence somewhere in the middle....probably a little closed in when it comes to some things and we expand the limitations with other things.  I think at times my oldest daughter is a little sheltered and naive in ways.  I try not to keep her totally in the dark but on the other hand I don't want her to worry about things that 9 year olds shouldn't worry about!  It's a balancing act and there is a fine line as a parent I try to walk.  Preparing your daughter for life and protecting her from life all at the same time.  It seems impossible at times yet day after day that's what I try to do as a mom.  My dad jokingly told Anniston once the fence was completely finished that "We're going to take it all down now!"  One day (and not as far off as I'd like!) all the fences Wes and I have put up for our girls will be taken down.  It will be up to them, as adults, to place and decide their own boundaries and what they will accept and let in and keep out of their lives.  My prayer is that we've prepared them for that and when they test new things and find some unacceptable, they build their fences accordingly.  And I also pray they never build fences around their hearts- guard them, yes, but don't fence in all that you have to give. 

This picture really has nothing to do with fences, it was just taken in Jill's kitchen while the guys worked outside!  Isn't Kendra the cutest little mommy to be?  Can't wait to meet baby Kai!

Did I mention that I helped as well....?  :)

Summer 2010

Besides the biggie this summer, MOVING, we've also done a lot of other fun things!  Once we got settled in and unpacked for the most part, I was ready to enjoy summer with my girls!  I LOVE summer time, I love the heat, the pool, the beach, sunny days, swimsuits, barefeet, sprinklers, frozen drinks, popsicles, cookouts, late nights outside with neighbors, sleeping in, sleep overs, lazy days....did I mention I LOVE summer?  It's my favorite season.  A lot of people in the south dread and hate summer.  Not me.  Bring it on!  So after spending a few weeks getting moved I felt like summer was slipping by and I wanted to make the most of what we had left.  I knew we wouldn't be going on a big summer family vacation but we tried to plan several small getaways.  We saw several movies- Toy Story 3, The Karate Kid, Twilight: Eclipse, Ramona and Beezus and Grown Ups for Wes and me, which was hilarious by the way.  We took an overnight trip to Huntsville with my dear friend from high school, Kristi and her boys Brylan and Kyler.  We went to the space center and then spent the night at a hotel and the next day went to Botanical Gardens which was beautiful!

On Father's Day I took the girls to see Wes since he was working at LifeFlight.  We surprised him with Burger King for lunch and he gave the girls the grand tour of the base house and the helicopter.  Needless to say, they think their Daddy has a pretty cool job!

We also went to Panama City with one of my best friends Rethelle and her children Jordan, Tyler, and Jerrica.  Now, I haven't been to Panama City too many times.  Once was senior trip and another time was spring break.  I'm pretty sure there was way too much alcohol involved each time so the memories are slightly blurred.  But we managed to find our hotel, which was less than we'd hoped for, and we managed to find our way to the beach and Applebees and several tacky souvenir shops.  We had a blast and the weather was great.  It was a perfect weekend getaway!

When the 4th of July rolled around, we headed back over to the old 'hood- neighborhood that is.  We just LOVE our Taylor Crossing neighbors.  We made 7 years of wonderful memories on that street in that house and with people who will forever be like family to us.  So we went back and cooked out and shot fireworks with everyone.  It was great!

Notice the tatoos on their cheeks?  They may still be there NEXT July 4th!  :)

The rest of the summer was spent with days at the pool and playdates with friends.  It was one of the busiest summers we've had yet.  Now we are down to the last week before school starts and Alyssa will be gone to camp the entire week. I guess we'll finish up school supply shopping and getting ready for 1st and 4th grade and start looking forward to the cruise with Chet and Cristy in November!!!

Playing Catch-Up!

Wow!  Where do I even begin.....?  Almost a year ago?!?  Obviously it was a very busy year.  Alyssa started 3rd grade which proved to be less than we had hoped for.  Anniston started kindergarten (sniff, sniff) and LOVED Mr. Hodum.  But we'll get to that in a minute.  Back to Alyssa.  Her teacher was, well, lets just say not quite what we were used to!  After many frustrations and tears and 9 weeks of school, Wes and I met with the principal to discuss the situation.  We expressed some concerns and she responded by recommending we place Alyssa in a new class.  Tough times.  The new teacher was better.  And I'll leave it at that.  We survived 3rd grade and now we are anxiously awaiting to find out who her 4th grade teacher will be.  School starts in less than 2 weeks!  Anniston's kindergarten year could not have gone BETTER!  She had a great class with the BEST kindergarten teacher (okay- there are a LOT of great kindergarten teachers at her school, but Mr. Hodum holds a very special place in my heart!).  Mr. Hodum has taught both Alyssa and Anniston and I PRAY we are fortunate enough to have him teach Ayden Claire.  He is one of a kind.  Fun, funny, unique, silly, creative, and did I mention fun?  All the kids love him and lots of the parents do as well.  I could write an entire seperate blog just on why I love kindergarten and Mr. Hodum but I won't.  Because I'm trying to "catch-up" with this blogging thing!  We did get a call yesterday from Anniston's first grade teacher.  I am SO excited that Ms. Autrey will be her new teacher.  She is SO loving and she even talked to Anniston on the phone and told her she was going to be in her class!  I have a feeling she will also be very dear to me by the end of the year. 
Okay, so enough about school, because right now its still summer!  For 12 more days that is.  I guess after we got back from our cruise we got busy with the holidays- Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Exhausting!  Even more exhausting with 3 little girls!  :)  But we survived.  And then we decided to put our house on the market.  It was an idea we'd tossed around off and on for several years.  And it was one of the hardest decisions ever!  We loved our house and really loved our neighbors so it was NOT an easy decision.  We just really wanted to pay off some debt, get something slightly bigger and get in to a little better neighborhood.  Not that I was scared or that we lived in a bad neighborhood by any means- we just weren't sure it was where we would want to be forever.  We listed it in February and got a contract in April.  Now would be a good time to throw this in- the family who bought our house has 3 daughters about the ages of our girls, the mom's name is Kelli, and their oldest daughter's name is Alyssa.  Crazy, huh?  I think they were definitely the buyers that were supposed to have our house!  We quickly put an offer on a house we had been looking at and wanted and after much stress we closed the first week of June on both houses and moved.  We moved 7 years worth of stuff and 5 people from one house to another in about 72 hours.  Stressful?  Slightly.  Add to it that at the time Anniston was playing All-Star softball and practicing EVERY night and had a tournament the day we closed and that weekend that was an hour away....  And Alyssa had started cheering with the Armory and had practices twice a week.....  And Anniston had made the preteam at gymnastics....  And poor little Ayden Claire was somewhere in the crazy mix!  But, fast forward a month and a half and we are pretty settled in and the new house is feeling like "home" and we really do love it here.  Maybe I'll put a picture in the next blog post!
About the time that we were in the midst of selling our house and buying a new house, I had some other extremely stressful things come up.  If you know, then thank you!  Because I only got through things from the calls and talks I had with you, and you know who you are.  I learned a LOT about myself and who I am and how strong I can be during this time.  It was not the way I wanted to do it, nor would I wish it on anyone but I am stronger than I ever knew (and I always thought I was a pretty strong woman!) and I know I have the best friends and family and support ever!  I also know that my family is THE most important thing and at the end of the day, as long as we have one another, we can survive ANYthing. 
I have a lot of exciting things I'm looking forward to in the near future.  I'm having something done that I've always wanted to do but was too scared to and never would have spent the money on.  Hopefully I'll be happy with the results!  :)  I am SO looking forward to becoming an Aunt again in September when my sister Kendra has her baby!  I am going to start keeping Jill's boss' baby boy sometime around December.  His name is going to be Anderson, which I just LOVE (it's an "A" name!) and I can't wait to love on a sweet little newborn baby!  I may put Ayden Claire in a mom's day out at the begining of the year.  We'll just wait and see, I'm not really in any rush but I know she would LOVE it!  She is going to miss her big sisters being home everyday once school starts.  She just adores them both!  Oh, and we are planning another cruise for the end of November which is almost as exciting as becoming an Aunt again! Almost.  We had such a good time last year and said we wanted to try and do it more often, maybe once a year if we could.  And we can this year so we are going!  I can't wait....nothing is more relaxing than laying out by a pool and being completely surrounded as far as you can see any direction by beautiful blue water....  Ahhh....  I leave you with this quote one of my best friends sent me recently.  I've heard it before but I still love it-
"As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back!"

Cruise to Cozumel

Wes and I decided to celebrate our 10 year anniversary by going on a cruise.  We'd never been on one; in fact, we hadn't been anywhere without our kids in 10 years!  We were SO excited.  Kendra came to our house Thursday to keep the kids and Jill came Friday- it takes a village when you have 3!  We were able to easily relax and enjoy the cruise knowing the kids were in good hands.  Thanks, sisters!  We had such a wonderful and relaxing time.  We were incredibly lazy!  Laying by the pool....eating whenever we wanted withouth having to cook it or clean it up....having the bed made and turned back for us....WOW!  We enjoyed it so much- we will definitely not wait 10 years to go on another cruise!

Wes driving to Mobile, where we boarded the ship! I thought it was too funny that they had the life jackets set out on the bed for us so that was the first thing you see! "Welcome aboard. Hope you don't need these....." :) We had to do a little safety drill about what we would do if the boat sank. Comforting. I am still not sure how they were going to squeeze EVERYone on that big ship into those 10 smaller boats along the sides of the ship....

This was a picture of the sunset our first night on board and a lighthouse we passed on our way to Cozumel.  We had to play shuffleboard- we played it so many times when we were in Jamaica 10 years ago!  It's "our" game!  We had to fight off several elderly couples to play.  Apparently shuffleboard is popular among people twice our age!  While laying by the pool on our first day at sea, I saw someone having a Pina Colada.  It looked so yummy and cold I had one.  It was the so delicious I had to take a picture of it! 

We arrived in Cozumel, Mexico Saturday morning.  We spent the day doing very "touristy" things- shopping and being haggled by the store owners and then we went to a public beach and snorkeled!  I loved Cozumel!  The water was so beautiful and I enjoyed the shopping and bargaining!  We got the girls each a Mexican dress and Mexican baby and maracas.  We got Jill and Josh some Tequila and Kendra and David some Amarillo.  We had authentic Mexican at an open air restaurant in downtown Cozumel.  Yummy!  It was such a fun day!

This was us all dressed up for the formal dinner night!  We don't get all dressed up a whole lot normally, so it was fun!

Each night we came to our room to find not only the bed turned back for us but also these cute little towel creations!  This was my favorite- a little bulldog!  Cute, huh?

After 4 days of this view, it was time to get back to reality- job, 3 kids, cooking our own dinner, carpooling, homework, cleaning....  I was actually looking forward to reality on that drive home from Mobile to Millbrook.  Reality is nice.  But, so is a 4 day cruise getaway!

Terrible 2? Never!

On September 14th, 2009, it happened.  Ayden Claire turned 2.  I couldn't stop it from happening even if I'd wanted to.  I love babies and everything that comes with the whole "baby" phase and all of my girls will forever be my "babies"; however, I know that they can't forever physically stay babies.  I would like for the hands of time to slow just a bit- the years just seem to go by entirely to quickly!  Ayden Claire's birthday fell on a Monday- 10 days after Alyssa's 9th birthday, 3 days after the Taylor Swift concert, 4 days after our 10th wedding anniversary and 3 days before Wes and I left for a cruise.  Did I mention her birthday fell on a Monday?  Needless to say, it was quite a hectic week!  We decided not to have a party this year.  Now, that doesn't mean we didn't celebrate- we just celebrated amongst ourselves.  I was very torn about this decision- I love birthdays and I love parties.  I love all the little details and try to make them special.  But.  We just didn't have time this year.  Honestly.  There wasn't a free weekend the entire month of September and with family being 2 hours away and her not really having a lot of "friends"....you get the picture.  I hope she doesn't hold the whole "turning 2 without an official party" thing against us and  need therapy down the road over it.  Back to celebrating- Ayden Claire woke up to us singing "Happy Birthday" around her crib. She wasn't quite amused enough to take her thumb out of her mouth, but she was amused nontheless.

I love this picture of her looking out of the corner of her eyes. I think she looks just like Anniston in it- and I normally don't really see a lot of Alyssa or Anniston in her.  I just see Ayden Claire!  But this one reminds me so much of Anniston- maybe its the way her hair almost looks blonde!

I made muffins for breakfast and we sang and blew out candles- she needed practice before the real deal!

Then we got dressed to take the big girls to school.  I had found this birthday dress at TJ Maxx months ago- for $5!  It was perfect for Ayden Claire- very princess-y and pink.  And on sale.

She had lots of fun in her birthday dress!

She loved her new baby doll! 

We went to O'Charley's to eat.  My mom went with us and the balloon man was there so of course we had to get the birthday princess a crown!  Afterwards, we came back home and had cake and sang a little more "Happy Birthday" and blew out candles once more before bedtime.  Party or not, I think Ayden Claire had a great 2nd birthday!

Happy 2nd!  Mommy loves you!

"I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living

my baby you'll be."

~Love You Forever

Alyssa and Anniston's First Concert- TAYLOR SWIFT!

When Anniston turned 5, we celebrated in Disney World. Obviously, this isn't the norm for us and the way we spend birthdays. It just worked out that we could go around Anniston's birthday and I said if we were going to go around then, I wanted to be there ON her birthday and I wanted her to think we were there FOR her birthday. I do, however, think birthdays are a big deal. They don't have to be Disney, expensive, or extravagant; but they do have to be SPECIAL. After all, we are celebrating the BIRTH of someone. I mean, wow. That's a big deal and I believe in making birthdays special. I sing "Happy Birthday" at least 20 times throughout each girls birthday- its the first thing they hear when they wake up and I sing it as I tuck them in on the night of their birthday. So, back in March when I found out TAYLOR SWIFT (our FAVORITE singer!!) would be in Birmingham the week after Alyssa's birthday, I knew I had found her present. But wouldn't you know it, tickets went on sale the week we were in Disney World- without internet access. I was more than a little bummed to get home and find out they had not only gone on sale, but also sold out. Big time bummer. Well, I did what any crazy determined mom would- I went to a website and bought overpriced tickets to the sold out concert. And our seats were horrible but neither Alyssa nor Anniston complained and we could hear her just fine! We had a wonderful night with our big girls!




Alyssa and Anniston all dressed up and ready to go!



Heading into the BJCC!


Waiting for the show to begin- we were SO excited!


See that little bitty, tiny blue speck? Yeah, that's Taylor. :)



We <3 you, Taylor Swift!

Bribery

Did I mention before heading home from the beach we stopped at The Wharf in Orange Beach Labor day weekend? Not because we'd totally bribed the kids with Zip-lining in exchange for cooperation during Saturday evenings pictures. Or, maybe so. Either way, every one was happy. We first rode the ferris wheel. It is not my favorite thing to do, but, where the family goes, I must follow. Alyssa had wanted to zip-line since seeing it earlier in the summer. At first Anniston didn't act like she wanted to do it, but the second she saw a BOY who appeared SMALLER than her, it was on! She would not be outdone! So, in the end, both older girls zip-lined across the Wharf's parking lot and then enjoyed a little time on the ropes course/treehouse. I think I'll pass on the ferris wheel next time- I'm zip-lining!