Wow!

Where has the time gone! I haven't updated my blog in over a year...really? That is terrible but life has been crazy busy and I just don't have time to sit down at the computer anymore and post updates. So, the last year....well, where to start. Gavin turned 6, Audrey is 5 and Sutton is 2. Gavin started kindergarten and I can't believe it's already almost over and Audrey will be beginning her adventure with kindergarten in the Fall.

Sutton has definitely hit the terrible 2's but is the sweetest, funniest kid ever as well. I've always heard the third child is the loudest and funniest of them all. He's got quite the competition to compete with. He is talking like crazy saying new things everyday. I favorite color is yellow so he points out everything yellow that he sees. He has just recently started pointing out slugbugs and snails when we are driving, it's hilarious. He also has to point out every truck, bus, firetruck, 18 wheeler that we see so it's a pretty busy car ride wherever we go which is a lot these days.

Audrey has all the sudden turned into such a big girl, it's crazy how fast she has grown up. She has the memory of an elephant and brings up the most random things that she remembers from so long ago that I barely remember. She loves to do art, coloring, painting, beading, cutting, glueing, etc. She's my little artist. She also of course loves her babies, barbies, makeup and all her girly things. Poor Gavin gets suckered into playing barbies or her dollhouse but he really doesn't seem to mind most of the time.

Gavin, Gavin, Gavin...such a big boy. I can't believe he is going to be in 1st grade in the Fall. He loves, loves, loves school especially getting to see his Grandma everyday (Steven's mom teaches at his school). We are moving the kids to a new school in the Fall so he is pretty sad about not getting to see her, as is she but I think it's for the best. He loves to read and it's so fun to hear him reading everything he sees and watching it figure it out on his own and seeing him learn. He had a big lesson today about money. I told him he could buy something today with his own money and he walked up and down the isles and would stop and look at something and say, "Oh Wow, this is $10, way too much money" and he would keep walking. He had a big realization about how much things cost and how it feels to spend your own money that you have saved up. So he ended up finding something for $17 and I told him he could pay me $10 when we got home and I would pay the rest. After we left the store he said, "Thank you so much mom for letting me pay you $10 and for you paying the rest. I will give you a $10 bill when we get home." He was so proud!

Ok, that is a little snipit of an update. I will post some pics soon. I haven't decided if I'm going to just pick up from now or if I dare go back to last year and update it all. Sounds like a lot of work to me :)

Crazy Week!

I have had a pretty crazy week so far. My nerves are on edge for some reason...maybe it's b/c I know I will be in Mexico soon. The other day I almost lost it and it takes a lot for that to happen. I was in the middle of cooking dinner for the kids and they were all in the kitchen with me, doing something cute so I ran and got the camera to take a picture. After taking a few shots I set the camera on the counter and went along with my business. Sutton then toddled over and saw the strap to my camera hanging down so he grabbed it and pulled my brand new Nikon off and it shattered on the floor. I almost started crying but tried to compose myself in front of my children. Gavin was worried that I was mad at Sutton so I had to explain to him that it was my fault for not putting the camera back where it belonged and I was not mad at Sutton at all. About 15 minutes later I was picking up after dinner and I looked at Audrey's DS and found a piece of pasta smooshed into the back of it where you can put Gameboy games in, I think. So I had to dig that out and there is still remnants of it b/c I couldn't fish it all out. So, while Gavin was in timeout for this he yells at me that Sutton is splashing around in the toilet which, come to find out is his favorite thing to do. Yuck! It was so hard for me to just breathe and not yell at the kids or go outside and scream. I needed a glass of wine...pronto. Steven got home shortly after and looked at the camera b/c I didn't even try to mess with it, I just set it back on the counter after the catastrophe. He said that we only needed a new lens and that the camera itself was fine. Whew!!! That's only about $100 or so. Big sigh of relief.

For some reason the rest of the week has been super busy. I'm not sure what I've been doing but I sure haven't had a lot of down time. Running errands....that's all I ever do these days. Returns...why do I have so many things to return??? Good question.

I started going to the gym with my dad this week too and that's been super nice not having to fit in a workout in between Sutton's naptime and getting Gavin and Audrey occupied for an hour. Not to mention I'm getting a little burnt out on watching Jillian videos. I took a step class yesterday with him which was a lot of fun. He is a step pro and I told him I had only taken one step class before in my life and it wasn't pretty so I never went back. So halfway through the class he came over and told me he was very disappointed, he was expecting me to be way more of a klutz than I was. Thanks Dad!! He said it took him a year to get as good as I was. What? I'm sure I wasn't that good, I felt lost most of the time. As soon as I would get a little routine she would go on to a new one. Anyway, I'm excited to be able to go to the gym and have the kids taken care of. What a nice break it's been.

Soccer practice tonight....Whew Hoo! Not looking forward to sitting in the cold and possibly rain with all the kids and no Steven there to help. He is working late. Boo!

Sickies

Ok, we are all well.....at the moment. What a terrible week last week was. Poor Steven didn't get to have much of a birthday celebration b/c we were all down for the count. Sutton got sick Sunday night in his bed, Audrey was sick all Tuesday night, Gavin and I got it Wednesday night and Steven got it Friday night. It was the most terrible experience. I've never seen anything like it. Steven had to stay home on Thursday from work to take care of all of us. Audrey stayed on the couch most of the day and slept and Gavin and I were in my bedroom until about 4 in the afternoon and then we ventured in the living room to join Audrey. At one point during the night with Gavin, he was sleeping on the floor next to my side of the bed with a trashcan and he had just gotten sick. He looked up at me and said, "Mommy, are you feeling any better?" I said, "No, Gavin, Mommy still doesn't feel so good". He responded with,"Well of course I'm not feeling better", in the most pitiful voice ever. Such a sweet boy. It's so hard to watch your babies get sick with the tummy bugs b/c there really isn't anything you can do to help them. Hopefully, we can have one full week without any doctor visits. I had to take Sutton back to the doctor last Monday b/c of his ears. He is on his third round of different antibiotics. I need to go ahead and make a ENT appointment and get it over with. Tubes in the ears....not fun but needs to happen. I guess it's a boy thing in this family. Audrey didn't have to have them but Gavin did. Steven and I's Mexico trip is creeping along here soon. We are so excited to have a vacation, it's been so long. Give me a beach and a frosty drink and I'm in heaven. I have more birthday celebration pictures to post.....check back soon.

Sutton's Photo Shoot

Sutton and I were just having a good time taking pictures one day. He looked so cute playing in front of the window. At one point he was lying on his belly looking out the window with his feet in the air. I missed that photo op but it sure was sweet. My little heartbreaker.

Audrey's 4th Birthday

I have lots of pictures from Audrey's fun-filled birthday celebration. She opened gifts from us at home early Sunday morning, on her birthday. She was so excited and couldn't believe that I got her the Barbie bride that she saw at Target one day weeks before. She loved her new sandals, dress and Hello Kitty pajamas too. I still think of Miss Audrey as such a baby it's hard for me to comprehend that she is 4 years old. Time sure does go by so quickly. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!!

On the afternoon of her birthday she had her party at Pump It Up. She was so excited to see all her friends from school. It was a wild time with lots of kids running and jumping for 2 hours.

After the party we came home and she opened her gifts. She got a pink Nintendo DS from Grandma and Grandpa, now she can play games like Gavin does. She was so excited!

Sutton's 1st Birthday Party

For Sutton's first birthday party we had a few friends and all the grandparents over to celebrate. That is what we did for Gavin and Audrey so I thought we'd just stick with that plan. Sutton really started walking the day of his birthday, it is so cute to watch him wobble around. He picks his little legs up so high like he is taking a step up some stairs each time and of course he is so incredibly proud of himself.

Your statistics on your birthday at your 1 year doctor's appt were

• Height - 31 inches (51%)
• Weight - 20 lbs. 7 oz (13%)
• Head Circ - 45.5 (21%)

You are such a big boy these days and an independent little guy as well. You can say Dadda, Momma, Bubba, Ball and Bath. I'm probably leaving some out but that's off the top of my head. You are eating everything I put in front of you. You love every kind of fruit there is and are getting quite picky about your veggies. You absolutely love balls. We think you may be the athlete of the family b/c you walk around with Gavin's basketball and you bounce it, we think you are trying to dribble already. The first thing you say every morning when I get you out of your bed while looking around on the floor is, "Ball?" You also love taking a bath. I was changing your clothes the other day not even near the bathroom and you looked at me and said,"Bath?" Nope, not bathtime right now. Your little personality is developing more everyday and is so stinkin cute. You love to give hugs and sugars which consists of more of a head bonk than a kiss but I'll take it anyday.

We are so lucky to have you in our family and look forward to many more birthdays to come.

Sutton's 1st Birthday Cupcake

For Sutton's actual birthday we were going to have dinner at home, I was going to let the kids decorate cupcakes and we were going to celebrate. Well of course it didn't happen as I had planned. I got a call from Steven while I was right in the middle of baking the cupcakes and someone wanted to show the house. Of course, the entire house was a wreck not the mention the kitchen. So I started cleaning and trying to get the kids to help....that's always fun. We ended up driving through McDonalds and taking the cupcakes to my dad's. We ate dinner, sang Happy Birthday to Sutton and all had cupcakes that weren't decorated. Sutton didn't know what to think about the cupcakes. He wasn't all that interested in them. I just gave him a mini cupcake without icing (probably why he didn't like it, he needed some icing). Gavin and Audrey loved watching him and helping him blow out his candles. Happy Birthday to my baby boy!!! I can't believe you are one already!!

Smores

Gavin asked at lunch if we could have smores after playing in the snow, we didn't have everything so I stopped at the store so we could have some yummy smores. It's not the same made over the fire but it will do. The kids ate em up and I had a few bites myself even though I'm working on the beach body these days. Ha!

We are going to Mexico in March over Spring Break for Lizz and Kevin's wedding. We can't wait!!!! The kids are staying with Grandma and Grandpa and they are so excited. This will be the first time leaving Sutton for longer than a night, which hasn't happened very often either. I'm ready to just sit in a lounge chair with a drink in my hand for 3 days. Ahhhh!

Snow Day!!!!!

The kids awoke this morning to a blanket of snow out their window. You could hear them talking about it in their room before they came out. They were so excited to come and tell us they couldn't stand it. Audrey has been a little sick the past few days but I let her play for awhile, I just couldn't make her stay inside. It will probably not snow like this again for years. They had so much fun, as usual. I cannot believe how much we got. It hasn't stopped all day, huge snowflakes. It just puts me in a good mood, not to mention makes me want to eat and snack all day. Ha!! These are a few of my favorite pics from this morning. I'm having so much fun learning about my camera and playing with the pictures.

Update

We have been quite the busy little family these days. Gavin is in school everyday now and is loving it. I can't believe he will be starting kindergarten in the Fall. What happened to that little boy? He is also playing basketball which he is getting the hang of. My cousin Chris put together a team to coach and invited Gavin to play with his little cousin Gregory. He is having a good time learning and practicing at home with his new basketball goal that Papaw got him for Christmas.

Miss Audrey is about to be 4 at the end of this month. Wow! How time flies, my baby girl is growing up so fast. She is still taking dance and loving every minute of it. She prances around the house and wears her dance clothes as often as possible. She recently asked us if she could play soccer so we signed her up for soccer beginning in a few weeks. I can't wait to see how it goes.

Sutton is also about to have a birthday this month. I am always shocked at how quickly the first year goes. It's just not fair, I look back at his baby, baby pictures and wish they could stay that small for just a little while longer. He is getting so smart and learning new things constantly. Just today, I taught him what a tiger says. When you ask him he roars really loud. He is into everything and not quite walking yet. I will catch him taking a step or two without holding onto anything and when he realizes what he is doing he will sit down. He is quite the busy body as most one year olds are.

Other news, we put our house on the market about a week ago. Yes, I know, didn't we just move here? It's been almost 2 years. We have come to the realization that we could really benefit from having another bedroom. It gets quite cramped in Gavin and Audrey's room now that they share their space. It would be nice to have a room for everyone. Also, with Gavin starting school in the Fall it would be fantastic if we could get in a better school district. We would love to send him to private school but with 2 little ones following shortly behind him the funding would get quite expensive. So, we'll see what happens with the house and if we get any bites. We've already shown it a few times so keep your fingers crossed.

That's about all I have to report for now........time to go watch my shows and shut my eyes.