My Favorite Dress

This morning was chaotic for me. Sunday mornings are always busy with Josh leaving early for church meetings, leaving me with getting myself and all three kids ready for church by 8:45am. I'm late every Sunday. Today I was about 15 minutes late. When we got there, I couldn't sit with Brent like we planned-Robin & Brent always help me since Josh sits up front, but someone took our seat because of our tardiness- so I sat in the back corner by the folding wall that separates the chapel from the gym. The boys discovered that they could crawl behind the chairs and hide. They got too loud. We headed out to the foyer. We only lasted three minutes tops. Ian took off down the hall, then kept playing with the lights. He's been having a stuffy/snotty nose, so I decided to just go home. I wasn't going to let this spoil my morning. Afton is finally in size 3-6 month clothes and she was wearing my favorite dress off all with the cutest felt flower bow I've made so far, so when we got home I took her outside and took some pictures while the boys watched through the window so I wouldn't have to chase Ian down the street.

Isn't she a doll?

This picture made my heart stop.

She's the smiliest little baby too!
Thank you for brightening my morning, sweet Afton.
And thanks to the man upstairs for giving me a break from testosterone and sending me this gorgeous little girl!

Three Baby Cousins In Three Months

We had a big family crab boil to welcome Meredith and Andrew's little boy, Brady. He's just two weeks old now. He was born August 10th-7 pounds 1 ounce.
He made Afton look like a giant.
They were in town for a few days, so we had a great time hanging out and letting the kids play together.
This is all of the cousins taking a quick break from playing hard outside-hence the red faces.

Ian had fun playing with cousin/new big sis., Peyton and his good friend, Erik.

Dakota couldn't be more in love with his new baby...

...SISTER!! That's right. Annie Claire has arrived. She was born August 27th at 10:21am. It was a fast and easy delivery for Robin. She was 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long.
She's adorable.
Robin and Brent are two happy parents!!

So SWEET!

So Mimi went from having 4 grandchildren to 7 in just three months' time! Wowsah!!

We're waiting...

...for our new friend to be born any minute!

Afton now gets to play with...
Left: Lane Asay-Born August 18th

Brady Tittsworth (Meredith & Andrew's)-Born August 10th

Halle Huddleston-Born August 22nd

Nathaniel Wheeler-Born August 18th

Last I heard, Robin was almost ready to start pushing. Come on little one!!

Only 5 Year Olds Get To Play With Transformers

I just realized that I didn't post any pictures of Ayden's birthday party, so here it is.

This year was fun because Ayden chose the theme and gave his input on all of the party planning. He narrowed it down to Spongebob or Transformers, and we went with Transformers Animated. This was a little bit of a challenge for me because the movie is so popular right now, which made the animated series party supplies hard to come by.

My mom made the invitations. At first Ayden's face was photoshopped into Bumblebee, but Ayden was a little frieked out by that and said he wanted his face outta there. His Grammy obliged, even though that meant more work and another trip to the library b/c her internet was down. They turned out AWESOME!

I found Autobot and Decepticon rings and the cake toppers on birthdaydirect.com which turned out to be a great party supply website. Great prices-fast shipping-happy mom!
I made chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate chips: delightful. Want the recipe? Just follow the directions on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa canister and mix some mini choc. chips in the icing.

Ewik wikes dat! (As Ian would say. He loves this kid!)

The food went FAST! That's what happens when you provide 100 Chick-Fil-A nuggets. They were sitting where the empty space is on the table.

That birthday banner has been used at least 5 times now. I added pctures of the TF Animated characters in between each letter.

Josh's cousin, Summer, holding Afton with her cute little swimsuit!


We had the party at Mimi's because she has a big carport and a great yard. It was HOT, but bearable in the shade. There were about 20 kids and I don't know how many adults in all. Ayden got ELEVEN transformers and many other great gifts. He didn't want to swim at all or do anything else. He just wanted to rip into those gifts! We had a great time and can't wait until the next birthday party.

Sidenote: I have become the official transforming expert in our household, because some of those are HARD to do. Especially the big Optimus Prime from Mimi. The first time I transformed him, it took TWO HOURS and I told Ayden he would have to remain a truck for at least a week.

Out Of the Mouths Of Babes

Tonight we added singing songs to our bedtime routine. Ayden's request was "I Am a Child Of God" which is a song that the children learn at church. We did just the first verse, and when we were finished he asked, "Mom, what's a stew?" At first I gave the obvious answer, "It's kinda like soup." But I then started wondering what made him ask such a random question. I thought through the lyrics of the first verse, and voila! Toward the end it goes "...teach me all that I must do" but he heard it as "teach me all that I'm a stew!" I'm still laughing.

Heirloom Bonnet Number Two

Here's another one of Great-Grandma, Afton's bonnets that Baby Affie modeled at church today.
Love it!

9 down, Eternity to go.....

3-5-9

Today is a big day at hour house.

Afton is 3 months old... Ayden is 5 years old...

and I've been married to this guy for 9 years.

Do I feel it all, you ask?
Yes I do.
I am TIRED!
But more than that, I am HAPPY!!
I love my family.
I love the life that we have built together.
XOXOXOXOXOXO

Back To School

Ayden had his first day of Kindergarten today. We're packing his lunch this year, so I won't worry as much about him eating nuts or fish. He LOVES his TF lunchbox. I don't feel like this year is super monumental because he's in the same class with the same teachers-Montessori style teaching groups kids ages 3, 4 & 5 together to create a "family" environment. We are, however, thrilled about his new school. It is beautiful! It is so bright and airy and modern. He also has 3 of his closest friends nearby that he'll see in passing. On our way home today he told me he misses his old school and wants to go back. That old school was so old, they're leveling it (if they haven't already). I can understand why he misses it, but I'm sure he'll adjust to the new school soon.

What's she Smiling about?

Her room is finally clean enough to show off!
Thanks to Amy, Doug, Izzy, & Tristan for the motivation (they visited over the weekend).

The cutest bedding ever. Her name above was crafted by me and my niece, Morgan.
Morgan also helped me decorate the entire room, including advice on where to hang things and how to hang the quilt. You should go into interior design, Morgan.

Ayden drew this owl at school, so it HAD to be a part of the decor!!

I had to get a shot of the salmon colored curtains. Grammy sewed some blackout curtains on the back of them, so her room stays nice and dark.

I found this Moses basket at Ross for cheap, so I made it into the stuffed animal/doll bed.
Now direct your attention to the floor. Josh worked really hard on the brick pavers. The previous owners of our house had carpet over it-crazy, I know-so we ripped it out and Josh had a gazillion white paint spots to clean off. He had to use a mop and paint thinner (P-U!) and then glossed it with some concrete sealer. Now it looks beautiful!!

The other corner.

Close up of the shelf. Mimi gave Afton the LSU cheerleader doll.
It's her very first dolly!

My friend, Erin made this birth announcement.
I just added the picture and frame. Love it!

And last but not least, the changing station.
This changing table and the crib have both lasted through three kids now!
Robin, Meredith, and Mimi got the "Child of God" plaque and Josh helped me stamp Afton's hand for the shadow box, which came as one of the gifts from Josh's work shower. The tour is over for now, next stop: the boys' room. (I just typed this entire post with one hand because Afton wants to be held. I was actually pretty fast. Talk about skills! Also done during this post: I changed the laundry, nursed Afton, burped her, tried to put her in her swing to no avail, fixed Ian a chocolate milk, and stopped him from calling Argentina about three or four times.)