Flashback Friday!

The weather was actually decent for the majority of the week. We spent many afternoons outside! And with warm weather means new spring/summer shoes for my girl and Noah in just his shirt and undies. 😉 My boy LOVES to wear just his undies, maybe it's a guy thing. So most of my pictures in warmer weather will mean that it's Noah in his underwear.  Great pictures to show future girlfriend right?!

Sunday was also my best best friend's birthday and we celebrated with dinner on Tuesday. It was nice to go out by myself and have daddy watch the babes.

I also got proofs for sweet spring pictures from Noah's school! Love!!

{On a side note my sister is coming in town this weekend to visit! Can't wait to see her and Noah is so excited to play with her!}

Flashback {from the week} Friday

One weekly post I'm going to start is just posting the pictures from our week every Friday (we'll call it flashback friday). This will give me a "scheduled" post each week :) Enjoy!

Monday was St. Patrick's Day so the kids were sporting their green. The weather was actually starting to feel like spring this week so we spent a lot of time playing in the backyard. Noah also enjoyed taking lots of "selfies" this week while in the car. Haha. We spent our Friday at the zoo. Waylon even took the afternoon off to join us! We had a great time!

Valentine's Day {playing catch-up}

I just wanted to be sure that I wrote about Valentines Day for my memory.

I LOVE Valentine's Day! I do. For starters, I love getting flowers and sweet cards duh! But I also love showing others love. I love getting small goodies for my hubby and kiddos. And I love taking special somethings to the kids grandmothers to make them feel special too. 

This year, Waylon and I celebrated our 14th Valentine's together. That's right 14! It really is crazy to think that we have been together for almost half of our lives. We started dating as freshman in high school at the age of 14 and 15 and got married at 22 and 23. We are now 29. Crazy to most people! Now has it always been all smiles and roses?  No. But I wouldn't change the way my life worked out. I consider myself lucky. I found my soulmate, the man God put on this earth for me to share my life with, at the age of 14! Pretty neat if you ask me :)

This year we went out for our Vday date the Wednesday before actual Valentine's day. We wanted to avoid crowds and preset menus (I'm kinda a picky eater). We had a nice, relaxing evening kid-free. Thank you Grandma! :) 

We headed to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot. Yumm! I absolutely LOVE this place!! It was nice to sit and talk with my husband and enjoy a leisurely dinner. Parents will know what I mean when I say leisurely. You know, the dinner where you aren't cutting up food as fast as you can for your hungry little ones, the dinner where you aren't dodging little hands that keep reaching for your shirt before you've wiped them, the dinner where you aren't attempting (with little success) to hold a conversation with your spouse while also trying to hold a conversation with a three year old, the dinner where you aren't scarfing down your food because the kids are done and you know it's only a matter of time before they become restless and are ready to get up and run around, yeah you know. I laugh as I write that because in all honesty not all dinners with my kiddos are like that but you get what I mean. It's so nice every once in awhile to just sit and enjoy a nice, calm meal and conversation.

On Thursday, the 13th, Noah had his class Valentine's party.  It is always so sweet to see all of the kids eating together and going through the special treats they receive from classmates and teachers.  I love watching him interact with the other kids and catching a glimpse of what he is like at school.  My boy is just getting so big!  This was a first for me, putting together goodies for the kids and decorating a Valentine box, and I LOVED it!  I sometimes still cannot believe that I'm actually a mom and doing these things.  Seriously the best role in life!

{I only wish they would've told me they were going to take a picture this day at school so he wasn't wearing his big tiger shirt haha oh well he's still cute!}

Successful Valentine's Day this year for sure!

I'm still here

So yeah...once again I've been so bad about making the time to blog.  Oops.  We are still here and still just living life.  Since my last post (Caroline's bday party) we have been keeping busy with Valentine's day parties, Noah starting soccer, school, doing fun things as a family, and now getting ready for Easter.  I'll be doing some catch-up posts only for my own memory and to share some pictures.

A quick synopsis of events in our lives: Valentine's day was great and Noah's class had a fun little party.  I absolutely love his school and I enjoy seeing how much he loves it as well.  Honestly, Waylon and I were pretty nervous about how he would do his first year in a school setting, and he has done exceptionally well. Noah also started soccer in Febuary (another post on that later).  Let's just say that he's getting there little by little.  Caroline is as crazy and wild as ever!  That girl is just too smart and gets into everything.  Waylon and I already look at each other most days with that 'oh this girl is going to give us a run for our money' look in our eyes.  But with that wild and crazy nature is also a very sweet girl who loves to gives kisses and cuddle the doggies.  Now I am preparing for Easter festivities.  With Noah being almost four, I am trying to put together fun crafts and traditions to teach the true meaning of Easter.  It's important, in my opinion, to teach kids the meaning behind holidays and that they aren't all about candy and presents.  I am all about the fun stuff, trust me, but it's important to lay the foundation of our religion and faith early.  More posts to come on things that I plan for him (and Caroline to watch for now).  

So I am telling myself now, for sure, that I want to journal our lives and share it with family and friends as well.  I am going to try my hardest to blog semi-regularly.  Stay tuned for the unloading of pictures very soon :)

Party Time!

I came up with the theme for Caroline's first birthday party last fall.  I LOVE planning birthday parties for my kiddos, so I always try to figure out a theme early and get started with the planning and purchasing of party decor.  Caroline's room has a ballerina theme so I just tied the theme of her party into that- my little ballerina girl.  She obviously is not quite as graceful as a ballerina just yet, but she does love to get her groove on.  I also made the decision awhile back that I was going to have her party in the morning time, breakfast time.
So armed with my ballerina theme and menu I set off to two of my favorite places for party ideas...Pinterest and Catch My Party.  Duh!  I absolutely love these sites because you can get ideas for ANYTHING...food, decor, party outfits, cakes, invites, etc.  I started putting things together a week before the party to try and change my normal procrastinating ways in order to have the party ready.
The morning of the party went pretty smoothly.  My very bestest friend Ashley, who is an AMAZING hostess of gatherings, came early to help set up all the food and drink and she made it look fabulous!! I don't know what I would do without this girl!  My sister and mom are always big helpers as well! Love them and thank you to all three of you!! The party was a success!  I am so grateful for the wonderful people that our children have in their lives and to everyone for making it out to celebrate Caroline!

The invite:

The decor:

 My amazing sister created this and it turned out absolutely perfect!

 Party favors: Chocolate bars and lollipops

Mimosa Bar

 Monthly pictures banner.  It was sweet to see how my girl has grown.

Main table.  Again my sister did a fabulous job on the ceiling.  I had a vision and she made it work!

 Breakfast is served!

Donuts, donut holes, pigs in a blanket, fruit cups, and a mini cereal bar

 And of course cake/cupcakes (This was not my first option on a cake design but it turned out cute)

 Additional beverages

Birthday outfit. This was one of the best pics I got at the party. She was a busy girl. More coming from her 1 year photos

Cake time!  I totally expected this girl to eat her cake simply because she LOVES her food, but she even did better than I predicted :)

 "Hmm maybe I'll just see what this feels like first"

 And the taste test "Yum!"

 "This is so good" Haha again she is my chunky food loving girl!

Lots of loved ones at the party but here are a few in pictures 

Aunt Erica- party assistant :)

 Grandma and Caroline

 Caroline and her Mimi (Waylon's mom)

 The Ashleys and Aunt Erica.  My bff on the right was my party assistant extraordinaire!

 Made me so happy that my brother, Uncle Matt, took a few hours off from his shift to come to the party for Caroline.  He's a Dallas firefighter who is single if there are any single ladies out there ha!

Noah was too busy playing with his cousins to want anything to do with pictures

Again the party was fantastic!  God has truly blessed Waylon and I with some wonderful people in our life.  Thank you to all who came to celebrate our little girl!

Invitation:  HPaperCo via Etsy
Birthday 'one' shirt: Olive and Birdie via Etsy
Tutu: Tutu Fairy via Etsy
Cake and cupcakes: Target bakery
All custom banners, labels, cake topper, water bottle covers, favor labels, thank you cards: Little Apple Desgins via Etsy

Happy Birthday Caroline!

So my baby turns one today!  When did that happen??!  It feels like yesterday when Waylon and I were heading off to the hospital at 5:30am to go have our baby girl.  I just cannot believe how fast time passes.  Caroline's birth was fairly easy so you could say she has been nice to momma from the beginning.  She was born via c-section because of her size compared to my size.  Many people have differing opinions on c-sections but both of babies were c-sections because of their size and both times I had a good experience.  When Caroline was born she weighed a whopping 9 pounds 2 ounces!  No wonder I got such strange looks from people as I was nearing the end- my belly looked like a freak show.  Haha  It's funny because at the time, I didn't feel humongous.  I mean obviously I felt big and was getting somewhat uncomfortable towards the end, but nothing seemed completely outrageous.  Only now when I look back at maternity pictures do I truly see how big I looked to others.
Thinking back on my pregnancy and the past year with our sweet girl, I feel truly blessed.  It is pretty incredible to look at both of my babies and remember that I was their 'home' for the first 9 months of their little lives.  They grew into tiny humans in my belly and that is just amazing.  God gave me the gift of children and I am so glad that I now get to spend the majority of my time at home with them.  Being a momma has truly opened my eyes and my heart to so many new things.  I never knew love like this before having babies.  Everyone says it (and I agree) that you do not know what it is like until you actually have kids.  The love and devotion and protectiveness you feel is truly indescribable.
Caroline has been such a blessing to our family.  She is a wild, crazy little girl and she loves to cuddle as well.  I cannot imagine what our family would be like right now without her.

A few facts about Caroline at one year old:

          - weighs about 25 pounds and is about 29 inches tall.

         - wearing size 18-24 month clothes and size 4 diapers (almost to a size 5 my chunky girl)

         - loves to play with the dogs (hug them, pet them, throw their toys for them to fetch)

         - says mama, dada, yay, up, uh-oh

         - LOVES food (again with being a chunky girl)

         - loves her brother (and bothering her brother when he's trying to focus on something)

         - very steady on her feet and has now started to run around the house (loves playing chase)

         - not quite sleeping through the night still but that's okay bc I enjoy the cuddles

         - starting to drink whole milk (but still won't take it by itself just yet)

         - quite the daredevil- this girl is pretty fearless and while I like that about her, it also scares me

         - very lovey when she wants to be :)

Cannot believe this was a year ago- headed to the hospital for the big event!

One of our first pictures together

 Such a big girl now- playing at the park with big brother

Happy Birthday my sweet Caroline!  Thank you for making me a mommy for the second time!  I love you to the moon and back!

Now it's party time!  Cannot wait for this weekend and the girly decoration explosion that is going to take place at our home :)

Wrappin up the Week

Okay so obviously I need to get a little better at this blogging thing. I am going to try to make it a point to blog at least every two days, and I'm telling myself that it is going to have to wait until after the kids go down at night because it isn't often when they nap at the same time (like right now so I better type fast).  We had a great last week.  The weather was pretty nice, Noah and Caroline were getting along well, and I got to see some of my old coworkers when I subbed on Friday afternoon.  The past weekend consisted of a trip to Fort Worth and lots of crafting for Caroline's upcoming birthday party.  So excited!! But also a little sad- how is my baby already one?!  It does NOT feel like it's been a year since I was in the hospital having her.  Time pleeeaasseee slow down.  It makes me sad thinking that this may be my last baby to turn one.  The hubs and I are on the fence about baby #3 and I can only pray about it and go with what God has planned for my life.  There aren't any type of complications holding us back or anything, it really is just us wondering if we want to take it back to the newborn stage with another or stop here and enjoy the ride :).  Only time will tell....I'm sure there will be more on that down the road of blogging. I really had fun with the kids last week, I mean I always have fun with them but last week just seemed to flow smoothly and it was nice getting out occasionally for fresh air.  Now onto the recap of our week in pictures- enjoy!

Noah prefers actions shots (gotta take what I can get).  

And they thought it was hilarious to share Caroline's little car.

Our second 'first birthday' party of the month: sweet Liam :) Liam is the son of Waylon's cousin.  How cute are these two? And how precious is Liam's ourfit??!! Love!!

 After the party we explored the Stockyards with our cousins.  Petting zoo fun!

 Kinda blurry but they seriously love each other <3

My amazing sister is working on a special part of the party decor and I'm trying my hand at being crafty.