Perfection

We finally got our Christmas Tree today!  After going to visit Santa at the mall, we came home, got the lights strung and hung all of the ornaments.  The sequins, glitter, popsicle sticks, and painted puzzle pieces making up the many homemade ornamets may make our tree seem a little "unsophisticated" to some, but to me it's perfect!  All the way to the star at the tippy top, which Hope made in preschool out of construction paper and a toilet paper roll.

Size Wise

EJ:  "Mom, in our family Beck is the littlest.  I am the medium.  Hope is the medium-est.  You are the medium medium-est and Daddy is the biggest!:

She was so very proud of her revelation!

Halloween Festivities!!

2011 Halloween included pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving (Hope did her own from beginning to end this year!), a carnival at Hope's school (somehow I ended up pictureless at that one), a program and costume parade at EJ's school, and of course, Trick-or-Treating!

PUMPKIN PICKING:



PUMPKIN CARVING:

 TRICK-OR-TREATING

I could NOT get a good picture of everyone together. :0(

 EJ's PROGRAM AND PARADE:

Oh yeah, we also had some dirt eating.  YUMMY!

What a Difference...

Monday:

 High of 80 degrees

Wednesday:

High of 30 degrees

Junior

Hope "bridged" to Junior Girl Scouts a couple of weeks ago.  This will be her 5th year as a Girl Scout and she has grown so much since she was just a little Kindergarten "Daisy"!

 Not the best picture- but just a little 5 year-old on a Daisy field trip

Last time being a "Brownie"

 Crossing the Bridge from Brownie to Junior

Junior Girl Scout!

Let Him Eat Cake

Beck really liked his birthday cake!  His party had a "ball" theme and he wasted no time digging in.  He wasn't quite as excited as I thought he would be about a huge ball of sugar sitting in front of him.  He kind of just started eating it like it's something he gets every day.  He did enjoy it though, and kept asking for "mo", even when he still had huge gobs of chocolate in his hands.

one

Wow.  That happened fast.  Way too fast.  I blinked and the small little bundle that we brought home from the hospital turned into a walking, talking, smiling, giggling, ball-loving, noise-making, open-mouthed kissing, blanket cuddling little boy.

It's bittersweet, really.  The growing, the changing, the birthdays - it means all is well.  It means he's healthy and developing how he's supposed to.  So, no matter how many times I plead with him to stay my little baby forever, of course, I wouldn't change a thing. 

Sometimes I just wish time would pass a little more slowly...

September 12th, 2010
7 pounds 1 ounce
21 inches

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months 

 11 months

1 year old!!!

22 pounds 7ounces (50th percentile)

33 1/4 inches (90th percentile)

Caught Up!

I think I may now be officially caught up on blog posts. I was going to make a promise that I will never get so far behind again, but I'd hate to break a promise and that's just too much pressure. I'm going to try, however, to get back on track... Sometimes life just gets in the way!

Preschool

Mixed emotions (for Mommy) on EJ's 1st day of preschool.  I'm going to miss my girl on Monday and Wednesday mornings. :(  She LOVED it, though, and it is going to be so great for her!  She is going to the same preschool Hope went to and, although most of the teachers that were there with Hope have retired, our beloved Mrs. Gordon is still there!  And a good friend of ours is one of the other teachers.

EJ went right in on the first day, excited as can be.  She has 7 kids in her class - six girls and one boy!  Poor guy!

Some 1st Day Pics:

Labor Day 2011

Another fun-filled Louisville Labor Day parade followed by an always delicious lunch at 3 Margaritas!

Breakfast in Bed!

4th Grade!

Hope started at a new school this year since we moved.  There were a lot of nerves and a few tears, but she's doing great!  Just last week she got voted to be one of 2 Student Council reps in her classroom.  She was one of 13 in her class to run for the position!

Here are some 1st Day Pics:

We're very proud of our girl!

Messy Man!

Beck is, quite possibly, one of the messiest eaters on the face of the planet.

However, in my (completely unbiased) opinion, he is also one of the cutest!



L5 S1

Shortly after moving into our new house, Brandon had surgery for a herniated disk.  It included a day and night in the hospital; followed by 6 weeks of lifting, twisting, and bending restrictions.  He's really ready for the 6 weeks to be over so he can stop wearing his back brace and get back to more normal activity.  The kids and I are also ready for the 6 weeks to be over because he is not allowed to lift anything over 10 pounds, which means he can't pick them up, which means I cannot leave him at home alone with the kids unless Beck is asleep and is definitely going to stay asleep until I get home.  My mom has been over a lot to "babysit" everyone, so she will probably also be glad when the 6 weeks is over.  Hope has also been a huge help and if she is going to be home she can handle Beck and I can get out if I need to.  Big Pappy, I'm sure, is also ready for the 6 weeks to be over because he's been mowing our lawn every Wednesday.  This is a very kind gesture, as he hasn't even mowed his own lawn for the past 20 years!

Here are a few pics of the hospital stay. Brandon's going to love me for this! :)

 Pre-Op

 1st time up after surgery

 Testing out the stairs

"Will you stop taking pictures already?"

(or something not quite that nice)



Snow Mountain Ranch

Cabin, Horseback Riding, Swimming, Hiking, Scavenger Hunt, Trike Games, Mini-Golf, Alpine Slide

All squeezed in to one fun filled weekend in July!

Happy Birthday America!

Our 4th of July started with a bike parade with Big Pappy, GT and the boys, continued with a BBQ with jumpy castles and cornhole, and ended with fireworks at home with Grandmom. A great day!

Hope was loving doing our own fireworks. EJ was a little nervous at first, but then got into it. Beck LOVED the city firework show. Daddy was a little worn out by the end of the day!