Tagged!

Ok, I've been photo tagged. I'm supposed to pull the fourth picture from the fourth file on my computer, so here it is. These are J1's sweet little fat toddler feet when he was only 17 months old. We took a trip to California to see Grandma B and Grandpa M. This was J1's first time to ever see the beach and he loved it! It's hard to believe that little boy is going to be seven years old this year! I'm going to tag Lorri, Kelly C., and Dani.

My Baby is 2!

Today is "L's" 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday to my sweet pea! Mommy loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

This is one of the first pictures we ever got of her...she was just 4 months old. She was 5 months when she came home and she's already two...it's hard to believe how quickly the time has gone by. We actually celebrated this past Saturday with just a few close friends and of course, LOTS of Elmo! This girl just loves her some Elmo.




She also got a tickle-me cookie monster, which she loves...but I think the "adults" had more fun playing with it : )


L had a blast opening her presents (with a little help from her friends, Abby and Sky.) She really didn't have a clue about the whole "birthday thing", but loved eating pizza and playing with her friends and her brothers.

She got a really pretty blue outfit and some ELMO books from Grandma Marie (plus lots of smooches)

And a great baby doll stroller from Grandma Bonnie in California...(long distance smooches to you too!) She didn't get the whole "doll" stroller idea at first either, but when she caught on she had so much fun pushing around her baby...and then, not long after that, ELMO got the prize spot in the new stroller : )

Special thanks to all our Aunts and Uncles too for sending "flat presents"...we can't wait to go shopping! Much love to all of you. We are just so blessed to be this little girl's family!

Spooktacular Halloween!

We had a great time Halloween night. First we got the kids dressed in their costumes...

L was Minnie Mouse (the hair puffs were perfect ears), J1 was Batman (with muscles of course) and J2 was a ninja...or as he says it "inja".

My dear friend, K, had a Harvest Party at her house and as usual, K went all out and made the night really special for all the kids and their families. She had

little pumpkins for the kids to paint.

This is K's daughter "M" with "L", she is just the sweetest girl and is always so wonderful with the younger kids.

Then the kids played a game called "apple shmear" where you basically bat rotten apples with a tennis racket...it was hilarious! Then we all went out trick or treating. I would guess there were about 40 or more kids, so the neighborhood was really hopping with all of our little "goblins" out running from door to door. The kids had a blast and so did we. Thank you so much K and D for having us all over and allowing us to leave your house an absolute mess : ) Hope you all had a blessed night!

Wine-ing about Sonoma!!!

Okay, So I was sent to Sonoma California last weekend for work. I know, I know...it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it : ) The shoot was awesome...the crew was fantastic, our talent couldn't have been more accomodating and the weather was amazing. Here are a few pictures from our shoot out there...we were shooting promo wraps for the Dream Home that my company gives away every year. I can't show pictures of the home, but here are some of the shoot. People are always asking me what I do for work...well, I gotta tell you, I am blessed with an awesome job! I write and produce for a major cable network and it really is a blast sometimes.

We shot at two gorgeous wineries in Sonoma and did a little wine-tasting after work with the crew.

This was our director and our producer in Sonoma...

they were fantastic...and lots of fun. The best part of the weekend though, was that one of my best and dearest friends, Donna, was able to fly down from Oregon to meet me and hang out for the weekend! That's her on the right.

It was sooooooooo great getting to spend time with Donna and catch up. I miss her and her family terribly since they moved away. She is truly an amazing woman and friend and I'm so glad that we got to spend time together this weekend.

Thanks so much for coming, Donna! I love you girl!!!!!

And thanks too to my amazing husband and Mom who took awesome care of our kids while I was gone. I love you both so much!!!

Hooray for Fall!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I just love Fall in East Tennessee! The smells, the colors (not as great this year because of the dry conditions), beautiful crisp weather, the leaves, pumpkins, Halloween and long sleeves! We've been going on "nature walks" and collecting leaves...then we iron them between sheets of wax paper and put them in the window to make little "stained glass" leaf art. So fun...just like when I was a kid!

And of course...one of my absolute favorite things to do in the fall...take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch. We went this past Saturday and had a blast. Grandma M, and some of our friends joined us for a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time.

Look at these two little cuties! Such buddies...and their Moms are our good buddies too. We all went on the hayride together and picked out our pumpkins.

Here's my Bestbud, D and her daughter (The future Mrs. J2)

And, just because I actually got them to "pose"...a sneak peek at J and J's Halloween costumes...

aren't they just hilarious, really getting "into" their characters. We are going to a really great Halloween party that night with all the cool stuff...crafts, apples, and of course tricks or treats. In the words of the great Charlie Brown, "I got a rock". Actually it should be "I gotta rock!"

I just love this time of year and I'm grateful to God for giving us this time and the glory of His creation.

Big Girl Bed!

Sniff, sniff...EGpapa and I took down the baby crib the other night. Kindof sad...6 years of having babies in that crib and now it's gone and there's a "big girl" bed in L's room. L is not known for liking to be confined and was launching herself out of the crib, so we decided to get her a bed before she hurt herself. I was really hoping she would stay in the crib for at least another six months or so, but oh well...my strong willed daughter had her own plan and timeline as always.

I've had several people say "why take down the crib...you'll just adopt another baby!", but my response is "No way!". Much as I've loved my babies, I don't think I want to do the baby thing again. If God decided that adoption is in the plan for us again...we would probably try for an older girl. Although, God does like to play tricks on me in my advancing age : )

I'm just so grateful to have had three wonderful babies in this crib...and they were all such great sleepers. Now, I'm grateful to hear another set of little footsteps coming into my bedroom in the morning and three very cuddly, silly kids in our bed. God is so good!

My super silly, sassy, sweet girl!

My baby girl is so funny! She has definitely hit the "terrible twos" at 22 months...she is quite sassy and very stubborn. Last night I refused to give her her dessert until she ate her food, so she picked up her plate and proceeded to dump the entire thing on the floor! The dogs loved her for it, but she was not happy when Mommy put her in time out.

She is really so funny though...the girl of a thousand funny faces and who loves to sing and laugh really REALLY loud.

"L" loves to hide in her brother's closet...in the laundry basket and giggle her head off when I "find" her.

Diapers go on your head, right?

"Rock Star, baby!!!!!"

Each and every day, I thank God for this funny, sweet, laughing, loving, awesome little girl. I am so blessed to be her Mommy. I just sit in awe of her and marvel at the fact that I get to be the recipient of her giggles, kisses, hugs and even temper tantrums.

I just don't know where she gets all this silliness?!!!

We all love her so much...especially her big brothers!