decorating the tree

the babies had a blast decorating the christmas trees this year. we have a normal tree, then the babies have a little tree that they can enjoy! it was so cute hearing ella kate and josiah talking to each other about it. i plugged the babies tree in and ella kate said, "whoa! that's amazing!" i wish they were dressed a little cuter for the pics, but hey... we were lounging that day, josiah was sporting his turkey hat and ella kate was loving her hot pink chap stick!when we decorated the big tree, we put miley in bed and let josiah and ella kate stay up and help us. they thought they were big stuff... getting to stay up late and eat cookies! they were hilarious! ella kate only wanted the pink ornaments and put them all in the same spot. josiah didn't care which ones he had but he also put them on the same branch. then, i asked if he could be the helper boy and pass the ornaments to daddy to hang up high and he said, "sure!" he would get the ornaments and give them to bill saying, "here's ah' one for yoooouuu! and here's ah' one for yoooouuu!" too cute! then bill asked ella kate if she wanted to put the star on top and when he lifted her up, josiah ran away saying, "i be wight back!" he came back with the little star topper from their tree:) he wanted to be apart of the star topping experience..cute boy!

the holidays begin..

trying not to sound too much like scrooge over here, but if i am honest with you, i am ready for the holidays to be over! they remind me too much of my sweet nonny who passed away in august, and it is too much and too hard right now. every year, my family would spend thanksgiving and christmas at my grandma's house, and now that she is gone, it just doesn't feel the same. however, we ended up going to her house for thanksgiving this week but it was hard. really hard. my aunt still lives there, so we wanted to see her and spend time with our family. i hadn't been to the cemetery since her funeral, so since we were in town, we swung by there on our way to her house. i know she is gone and i see her name on the stone, but it still doesn't seem real. i honestly thought that she would live forever.. i needed her to live forever. these past couple of months have been so hard. i didn't realize how much i needed her in my life. i needed her encouragement, her advice, her love, her jokes, her laughter, her voice... i just needed her! there are people in our lives who can impact and change us in ways we never thought possible, and my nonny was that for me. she loved me and cared for me more than anyone else ever has! she has been the biggest cheerleader and support system for me and bill and was rooting for us when we felt all alone. she was so proud of ella kate, josiah and miley and she loved them all equally! no one got extra special attention, they were all her pride and joy:) when we pulled up to her house, i took a deep breath and braced myself. i knew it was going to be hard. ella kate knew where we were and started squealing in the back seat. she immediately asked where nonny was. nonny was ALWAYS on the front porch waiting for us with her apron on. man, i miss her! i absolutely love her house, though. it reminds me of a fairytale cottage, tucked away in the woods.... lots of trees and flowers, lots of birdhouses, lots of finishing touches of nonny! my dad built it for her right after my grandad passed away 30 years ago, and my sisters and i have always loved it. growing up, we would spend weeks at a time with her at her house. it was always so special. but not anymore. as soon as i walked into her front door, i had to walk back out. it wasn't right. it wasn't nonny's, anymore. now, don't get me wrong... i absolutely love my aunt and love spending time with her and my cousins, but i wanted to go home. while we were there, i got something so bittersweet. nonny was sewing us all patchwork style christmas tree skirts as a surprise christmas and finished them all before she passed away. my aunt had found them and gave me mine and i LOVE it! it is my absolute favorite! it doesn't exactly match my decor or would have been something that i would buy, but it came from nonny... and it was something that she made for me! and for that reason it is the best present i have ever gotten and i will keep it and use it forever!so, back to thanksgiving... i have been so blessed and have so much to be thankful for! i am thankful for my salvation and for the salvation of my family! i am thankful for bill and how he completes me in every way! i am thankful that we have 3 beautiful, healthy babies... that we have not tried to have:) i have so many friends who have struggled with infertility, and i am thankful that i am a fertile myrtle and do not know what it feels like to "want" a baby... because bill basically sneezes on me and we get pregnant:) i am thankful that my family is healthy. i am thankful that my parents are believers and love the lord and love each other, i am thankful that my sisters are my best friends, i am thankful that the lord blessed me with giving me nonny for 25 years. she has changed my life and i will forever miss her!

blah..

why can i not be consistent with this blog?? it's not like there aren't hilarious and crazy things happening in our house everyday that i would want to share with everyone... it is just that i can't find the time to write, or if i have the time to write.. i usually end up doing laundry or showering or catching up on facebook....you know the important stuff:) so, i'm sorry! i really want to get back into the groove of this blog thing!

but i will leave you with this:

tonight in the bath tub, ella kate was wanting to rinse her hair under water but couldn't stretch out because miley and josiah were in her way. so she huffs and puffs and says, "momma, i need to go under but there are too many children in here!"

have you seen a cuter baby?

look at this sweet face! our smiley miley is so sweet and so much fun! i know that i always say it, but she really has been the best little booger:) she is 13 months old now, and her personality is starting to bloom more and more! she now looks at things that are off limits to her chubby little hands, and says "no!" for instance, she will get right next to a bath and body works wall flower plug-in and point at it saying, "no, no, no!" and she is starting to use her manners, with a sweet little, "tay-tu" (thank you) when we hand her something that she wants. she also likes to "hi" and "bye" to people we pass.. she is just so fun! when we pick up ella kate and josiah from mother's day out, she starts squealing and kicking her legs with excitement! i love it, because ella kate and josiah are both just as excited to see her and baby eve after school! josiah likes to kiss them both, and ella kate always tells them how much she missed them! these are some sweet times... crazy times for sure.... but sweet just the same:)here are is another pic of the babies tonight while waiting on bill to come home from work. they look so big, miley is walking (not constantly, but she can), and josiah is pulling ek in the blocks wagon. ella kate wanted me to take her picture tonight by herself... look at how long her hair is!! i tried to take josiah's picture so he wouldn't be left out, but he would have none of it! so.. i will have to try and get a cute one of him next time!

i'm gonna get fired!

i am afraid that after today, i will no longer keep my niece eve anymore! her parents will no longer trust me:) let me just fill you in on what just happened.

here is the situation: it is nap time and i am making all 4 of the babies take a nap today. sometimes i will let ella kate stay up and hang out with me while the other 3 nap, but not today!! i have been having some pretty bad lower back/hip pain lately and today it is hurting like crazy... so i wanted to sit on the heating pad and relax without chatty kathy in my ear:) so miley is asleep in her crib and josiah is down in his room and i put eve and ella kate together in her room. eve sleeps in a pack and play and ella kate will of course, sleep in her bed. i threatened ella kate before i left the room, that she was to stay in her bed and leave eve alone in hers, and sleep.... or else! so about 45 minutes have gone by and i never heard a sound. not a giggle, not a cry, not a bounce off the wall.... nothing! just as i was getting comfy on the heating pad, i heard something scratch ella kate's door. usually, when she wants to come out of her room, she knocks on her door, but this was not a knock.... it was something different. and different is not good, so i got up and checked on them. when i opened her door, i had to try my hardest to keep a straight face. this is what i saw: eve's pack and play completely toppled over upside down, eve walking around ella kate's room with a tea set in her hand and some nasty, wet, shiny goo all in her hair, ella kate, NAKED, jumping on her bed and other various toys and wet spots scattered on the floor EVERYWHERE! where should i even start?!? i calmly ask ella kate to come here and i ask:

"ella kate, what is going on?"

ek: "nuffin!"

me: "why is baby eve's bed upside down?"

ek: "because her wanted to get out!"

me: "what is all in baby eve's hair?"

ek: "soap."

me:"where did you get soap? where is it?"

ek: "it's hiding from you!"

me: "well, you better find it and give it to me right now!"

she scurries over to her bed and underneath her covers, pillows, and teddy bears, she grabs a small tube of orajel that was hiding. where did she get that?? we don't even use that stuff!!she brings it to me and look the empty bottle, then i grab eve and take one whiff of her poor head..... menthol! yep. that is what is was! now, back to ella kate....

me: "where are your clothes, ella kate?"

ek: "i took them off... they got all wet!"

me: "how did they get wet?" (praying that it wasn't pee!)

ek: "my juice got on them!"

after a huge sigh of relief, i see her juice cup, with the lid off. why does she do crazy things like this??

me: "well, because you showed me that you can't handle having your cup in your room with you, you aren't gonna get to bring it to your room anymore! ok? now, what did i say was going to happen if you got out of your bed?"

ek: "i get a spankin'.." as she tries to cover her bare bottom with her chubby hands....

and well, you can guess what happened next! then i cleaned poor baby eve up, got ella kate some dry clothes and put them back into their beds, to try it again! let's pray they go to sleep, and that sissy isn't upset when she comes to get her sweet baby after school!

conversations with the crazies

on the way to school one morning, ella kate was chewing gum in her carseat.
ek: "hey momma! mrs. hope and mrs. ann dont like for us to chew gum at school."
me: "oh, ok! well, lets make sure to spit it out in the trashcan before we go inside!"
ek: "well... hey! i got a great idea! maybe i can hide it in my mouth and they can't see it!"
what?! she is 3!! how did she even think of that!?!


i could tell that miley was working on a poopy diaper across the room. i asked ella kate to go over to her and smell to see if she had a dirty diaper. she took one sniff of miley and said, "EWW! she smells horrible!" i asked her if she would mind changing her for me and she said, "no way!" so i said, "i thought you loved baby miley!" and her response was, "well, i dont fink i do today:)"


we have been really hard on ella kate and josiah lately with all of their bickering and struggles with sharing. so, we have been pulling them aside and talking to them about their actions, then proceeding with their punishments. however, josiah is too cute when we get onto him. for instance, we will say, "josiah were you not sharing your toys??" or "josiah are you being ugly to your sister?" and his response is ALWAYS, "because" or really with his lisp it is "becauth" :) it makes NO sense but he has heard ella kate say "because" a billion times, so no matter what the question is, that is always josiah's answer!"

bumpin up and down in my little red wagon..

i think i mentioned earlier that i keep my sisters baby eve ,who is 14 months old, during the day! they love their "baby eeb"... she is a cutie and it is fun seeing her interact with ella kate, josiah and especially miley:) they are only 8 weeks apart and i am sure they will get into LOTS of trouble together as they get older!!

anyhoo... today was BEAUTIFUL outside, so i decided to pull them around the neighborhood in our wagon. they loved it... were a teeny bit cramped... but still loved it:)

i, on the other hand, am POOPED!! :) i'm so out of shape... but thankfully naptime is close so i will be fine:) it was a great day!

picture day

this is the typical miley stance... love it! (has nothing to do with this post, but i love her!)so today was picture day at ella kate and josiah's mother's day out! ella kate wanted to pick out a dress that she could wear with her sleebs (tights) and josiah could care less what he wears, so i threw on a color that i thought he looked cute in:) i was afraid that josiah would NOT want to stand and pose to have his picture taken by a stranger, but they said he was a champ and smiled so cute:) on the other hand, i KNEW ella kate would do it, but i didn't know how big of a CHEESE she would say. when i picked her up, i asked her how she smiled and she showed me the biggest fake smile, with her nose crinkled up and her eyes closed! i knew it... but what can ya do??! :)oh! and i wanted to tell you that this morning when we were leaving the house, ella kate was the first to open the front door and stopped in her tracks saying, "whoa!! there is something spooky about this place, momma!" she was talking about all of the fog:)

happy halloween!

this year for halloween, we had a georgia tech cheerleader, snow white and spiderman/venom guy:) cute, cute, cute! we took the babies to both of our parent's house to trick or treat and get some candy! we only went to about 5 houses altogether, but josiah LOVED it and was a pro at saying, "chi-chi!" (trick or treat!)

tinkerbell

ella kate (and if i am honest with you, josiah too!) are huge fans of tinkerbell! although ella kate says tinka-bay-elle in her sweet, southern little voice and josiah sticks with t-bell:)
her new movie is out on dvd and we can't wait to get it! if ella kate can fill up her chore chart with stickers, bill promised to buy it for her! so she has been following me around, asking to help me with sumpin' :)

on another cute note, miley is starting to pick up on the word, no! so now, when i get onto one of the babies, she chimes in with her, "no, no, no!"