dear nasty cough,
could you please leave my kids alone?! the croup has left them, yet you seem to linger and torment us all!
thanks,
tired mom...

a little bored here...

this week has tried my patience and creativity. ella kate and josiah BOTH have croup and we have been thinking of fun, indoor games to keep them occupied! my kids love to be outside, but it has been too hot and when they get hot, they cough more, and more, and more.... so besides enjoying a popsicle outside today, we have been playing inside:) we have colored every page of every coloring book that we own, we have played with and eaten lots of playdough, we have put stickers all over ourselves, decorated cookies and then licked all the icing off to start over again, built forts and then torn them down and devoured almost 3 boxes of popsicles:) fun times, i tell ya!! :) here are some pics of our popsicle fun-ness outside today. ella kate decided to share licks with our basset hounds dudley and lola... lovely! and miley skipped on the frozen treat and enjoyed some puffy cheetos instead:)

ella kate gets mail:)

checking the mail is one of the highlights of my day, EVERYDAY! i love getting catalogs, magazines, notes from friends... anything but bills:) ella kate has caught on the fun and today she actually got a note in the mail! i gave her her letter and went to put the other mail on the counter. she runs to me so excited and says, " hey momma!! i got stickers and note from NONNY!!!" this made me smile, because nonny was SO good at sending cards and packages in the mail for the babies... at least once a month she would send them something.

i took the cute card and read it to ella kate, it was from her class at school:) they were telling her that they missed her and had been praying for her to get well soon... she still loved it, even though it wasn't sent from heaven:)

thank you mrs. hope and mrs. ann... you made ella kate's day!

sick, sick

sorry i have been behind on the blog, AGAIN!! but this time.. i really do have an excuse!

saturday night, ella kate went to sleep about 730 or so and then woke up crying around 10. i went into her room and saw her gasping for breath and totally freaking out. i tried to calm her down, while bill was calling our doctor. we weren't sure what was happening... an allergic reaction to something, or what?? the dr could hear ella kate wheezing in the background and told us to bring her into the ER to get a shot to help open her airways. while she was there, she started coughing and sounded like a barking seal... croup! the dr. immediately knew what it was, monitored her for a while, then sent her home. and let me tell you... this croup stuff is NO FUN! it is not too bad during the day, but the night time is HORRIBLE! i feel like she was up every hour coughing and crying and gasping for air all week!! but, thankfully she is feeling much better! however, this morning, i woke up to another wheezer with a raspy bark... and his name is josiah! good grief! i had been busting my hiney trying to lysol and disinfect EVERY square inch of my house, but it was inevitable! now, i am praying that baby miley will be fine and not catch this mess, too! if only i could send her to someone else's house to stay for a couple of days until the croup has left!! oh... wishful thinking:) besides, i would miss her too much!!

our trip to lowes

this afternoon we all loaded up to lowes to pick up a few things. it is funny how a few things take an HOUR to get.... bill loves that store! anywho, while bill was talking with one of the appliance guys the babies were getting restless, so i pushed the buggy up and down different aisles to keep them moving. on one of the aisles was this sweet, little old man. ella kate said, "aww... mom, he is SOOO cute! i think him's name is poppy!" it was sweet, but he didn't hear her. on another aisle, josiah spilled his bag of cereal that he was eating. it fell straight through holes in the buggy and all over the floor, which was then rolled over by the buggy because i wasn't paying attention. but, to make matters worse... he was eating frosted shredded mini wheats, so you can imagine the mess that it made and all the little pieces that were EVERYWHERE! not to mention, the look on one of the store clerk's face. i had to smile though, because josiah kept saying, "oh.. sowwy, sowwy, sowwy, sowwy!" (sorry)

smiley miley

just look at this sweet face:) i could kiss those cheeks all day!! miley is looking more and more like bill.... and i love it! it is so neat to have a little bill smiling at me all day while he is at work! ella kate used to be bill's mini-me... but i think miley is taking the cake now:) although dont get me wrong... ella kate and bill have the exact same personalities and humor... life is fun!! and of course i can't leave out our sweet josiah, he and bill are definitely inseparable... but jos looks more like my side of the family!

one month later..

it has been one month since my nonny passed away, and i miss her more and more! i still catch myself calling her on the phone wanting to tell her something funny or for her to encourage me in her "sunshiney voice" that she had. i wonder when the hurt will go away. i feel like everytime i talk about her to someone, i start to cry. right now, i feel like she is everywhere....everywhere i look is a reminder of her. every song on the radio, every bird chirping in the trees, in the sound of my babies' laughter, in the blueness of my daddy's eyes, in every frappuccino from starbucks.... i see my sweet nonny! i still can't believe that she is gone! bill had a few days off from work for labor day and he asked me what i wanted to do. without skipping a beat i said, "hey, we can go see nonny..." then i remembered that she wasn't there. she was always our "go to" spot if we needed a getaway. every anniversary (except this past one), bill and i would load up and drive to her house. we never saved up the money to go some place fancy to spend our anniversary, but to be honest... even if we had the money, i still think we would choose to go see her instead! her house was so cozy and warm. to all of us grandkids, it was home! she would make yummy breakfasts every morning and even though our pants were busting, she would be encouraging us to eat more:) she was the absolute best cook, EVER! she made amazing, down-home-southern food that would put Cracker Barrel to shame! man, i miss her...

i often think of the last time that we saw her... it was about 3 weeks before she passed. totally last minute, and everyone except bill and my brother in law eric went. i am so thankful for that trip. it is kind of hard to do last minute trips with 3 kids so small and only one vehicle... but god made it happen and for that i am so thankful! she lives about 2 hours away in pendleton, sc... so we got there in time for lunch and then headed outside to let the kids play on the slip and slide. it was so hot outside that day, but nonny was enjoying squeezing every last drop out of her great grands! it was so fun! i was able to get some cute pics and i have been clinging to those pictures, since she left. after a couple of hours out in the hot sun, we started to load up and head home. we hugged her and my aunt faith so tight and i will never forget what she said to me. "kristen, i can't believe y'all made this trip for your old nonny! i am so thrilled and so blessed! you just made my life!!" i kissed her one last time and hopped in the van to head back to augusta. a short ways down the road, my sister erin who was riding with me, realized that she left a cooler of baby eve's bottles. so we turned back around and headed back towards nonny's house. when we pulled back up, nonny informed me that i had also left the pack and play and something else... (go figure.. i forget everything! and didn't even know i had left it!!) so we reloaded the car and i got to hug her one last time! i think that the lord knew that i would need that extra hug and lovin' from nonny to get me through this. god is so good! i often relive that day in my mind and i am so happy that we made that trip and that that trip made her so happy!nonny, i miss you still... and it hurts so bad! thank you for changing my life and loving me so... i love you more...

.

i think we have done this before..

today josiah wanted to push miley around in the babydoll stroller.. although he was having a hard time moving that little chunk around:) here is a pic of ella kate pushing josiah around in her baby stroller when he was a baby!

barbies and babies

i don't remember ella kate playing with baby dolls or barbies at this age, but miley LOVES them. of course she doesn't "mother" them like ella kate does... who feeds them, reads to them, punishes them, dresses them, cuddles them, puts them to bed... you name it! but miley will sit there with a baby and look at it, kiss it, throw it around and talk to it. today in the car, she held on to a barbie the whole time we were gone. it really is cute:)

i dont even know what to say..

tonight after the babies' bath, bill was drying off ella kate. he was wearing gym shorts and no shirt and was resting/sitting on the toilet to dry her off better. (the lid was down and he was NOT using the potty:) ) well his bare chest was right in ella kate's view and she looked at him and said so sweetly, "hey daddy, i like your boobies!" bill was quiet for a second and didn't know how to respond:) so he just said, "ummm... ok, thanks!" the she smiled and said, "can i pinch them??" he busted out laughing and said, "no! you can't pinch them.. let's talk about something else!"

11 months..

our baby girl is 11 months old already! she is cruising everywhere and into everything:) miley is working on her 4th tooth and loves, loves, LOVES to eat:) her favorites are yogurt, spaghetti, potato soup, applesauce... you name it! she is still super smiley and super sweet! we love this girl:)

eat her up

this afternoon, ella kate was just so darn cute! i kept laughing at her silliness:) at one point she was telling me something and i said, "ella kate you are so cute! i could just eat you up!" she looked a little concerned and said, "hey momma! i'm not a lunch, i'm ella kate!"

a little change of scenery

miley is still a little under the weather and my spirits have been a little down, missing my nonny and all... so bill thought that it would be good to go down to the riverwalk and feed the ducks. the babies had so much fun and i was able to get some cute pics! we told ella kate where we were going, and she jumped up and down so excited! she looked at bill and told him, "one time.. when i was a little girl, yaya took me and 'siah to feed da ducks. and it was sooo fun!" it cracked us up.. she just turned 3 and is already remembering times when she was a little girl:) here are some of the pics!

his sister's influence is too much!

josiah has now taking a liking to ella kate's 'dancing' shoes... what are we gonna do? they love to play dress up together... however, ella kate likes to put on EVERYTHING at the same time! maybe we should invest in some boy dress up clothes.. like superheros or other costumes. i am a little bothered with the fact of him wanting to dress up as a "kwincess". (princess according to josiah)

silly 'siah

josiah has been saying the CUTEST things lately! his little personality is really starting to develop and i am falling in love with this boy all over again! he really is a sweet kid:) it seems like he went from our most challenging kid, to one that we THOROUGHLY enjoy being around! he is a cutie!

tonight in the car ella kate and josiah were tickling each other in the backseat. it always starts off as fun and then one of them ends up having enough and it turns into drama. well, they were giggling and laughing so loud and then josiah calls out, "hey momma! 'siah hit me!" apparently he is so used to hearing ella kate tattle on him, that now he is so confused and ends up tattling on himself!

also.. we were given a dvd that had a variety of cartoons on it. dora, blues clues, lazytown, little bill and max & ruby. the babies hadn't even seen several of these cartoons before, but now have fallen in love with them. as a matter of fact josiah came up with a sweet expression and said, "hey momma! mac-th and roothee? mac-th and roothee?" hearing him ask to watch max & ruby with his little lisp is hilarious!

fun friday..

tonight was like a breath of fresh air!! miley has been sick for almost 2 weeks and tonight was our first outing, in what seems like forever. we went and played with some of our most favorite people... josh and mandi and their precious little girl carson. the kids had a blast and i got some really cute pics..

bossy lil' baker

just now, i asked ella kate if she wanted to bake some brownies with daddy and her response was, "well... maybe if you say PLEASE!"

so.. i'm taking the plunge!

i have this artsy part of me that i am beginning to let out... i really enjoy sewing and creating stuff for my babies. i have had so many friends and family members encouraging me to try and sell some of my stuff., but i always just thought of it being a hobby. lately i have made some dresses for my girls, hairbow holders and pacifier clips. i also have been trying my hand at making diaper folders.. (smaller than a diaper bag, but still big enough to hold diapers and wipes to stash in your purse..) here are some pics of what i have made for my girls... let me know what you think.. or if you might be interested!!