Train-tastic!

My name is Elizabeth. I eat trains! Don't tell Hayes that I was eating his trains while he was taking a nap. He might have a nervous breakdown. They were pretty tasty. Between climbing up and down on mom and the couch, I was having and awesome day!



Donuts for Dinner

He is so excited about this donut he's about to devour....

Friday at school we processed almost 300 boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts as a fundraiser for cheerleading.  You would be SO PROUD to know that I only ate ONE.... at school... all day long.  When I headed home from school, we had a grocery stop planned.  I was talking about donuts and Hayes overheard me.... so when we stopped at Publix we bought a box.  Hayes had a bite of one before we LEFT the parking lot.  Then he ate TWO more for dinner.  And after that he had a piece of chocolate cake.  Daryk ate one donut on the way home.  I had 1 donut before dinner last night and 2 this morning for breakfast.  Hayes had 2 more for breakfast today!  He did eat real food for lunch and dinner today.  Thankfully the donuts were all gone by then.  And yes, that doesn't add up to a dozen... the wonder-sitter Jordan, had some today while she was keeping the babes!  Awesome.  I'm an awesome mom because we have donuts for dinner AND breakfast.  :)

My Village...

It truly takes a village. These are just a few of my village people. (pun intended)

Husband--though he's a default part of The Village, because he's the dad and all, he's still a vital part of the reason I'm still sane, the reason I enjoy my life and my children. He's also the reason I wash sooooo many loads of laundry. He is an AMAZING partner for this journey and possibly the best DAD ever.

This is BeBe. Extremely important part of The Village. She single-handedly entertains and loves these babies like they are hers. I mean, technically the ARE hers, but mine, really. She is the best go to babysitter and has rescued me from plenty of hairy situations with the kids and she's always my first check point when I need mom advice. I don't know that I would have survived this adventure in Mom Land.  Afterall, I'm perfect, so she did an amazing job, right?

 

She is married to Papa Jack and he LOVES my babies. He is always making them laugh and chasing Hayes around the 'circle' in the kitchen at their house. Never ceases to be a GOOD time and a good laugh. He he he...They are HIS babies just as much as they are mine and he is an ENDLESS source of YouTube for Hayes!

 
 
I have a couple of sisters...

First.... Kitty, who will likely tell me that this is not her best photo. It is the best Daniel photo I've got. She is the BEST Aunt Kitty my kids could possibly EVER have. She's our city aunt and she's also the consistent Skype/FaceTime conversation. Hayes looks forward to talking to Kitty and Diddle as often as possible. She is just as entertained by my babies as I am and she thinks they are hilarious.

 

 
And this is Leigh Anne.  She loves my chirrens too.  Hayes calls her YeYe and associates Chick fil A outings with her.  Anytime we drive by the red and white signs he immediately asks where she is!  I think maybe he knows....
 
Elizabeth clearly thinks the toy is more fun that YeYe.... her time will come soon enough.
 
 
 

MawMaw comes next.  She has helped take care of my babies and surely loves them!  She spoils them rotten and sends them home!  Lucky ME!  I love having her as part of the family because she keeps DAD in line.

This is PawPaw.  He teaches Hayes about fish.  I'm sure he will teach Elizabeth too, but for now just Hayes.  He was trying to convince Hayes to KISS the fish?  I'm not sure Hayes was on board with that plan, what do you think?  PawPaw is good for teaching about ALL things outside walking or flying in the woods and swimming in the water.  Hayes will NEVER ceased to be amazed by the beauty God created as long as he has his PawPaw.

There are LOTS of other folks in The Village, but they will have to come another day.  Blessings abound! 

Laundry Day

I sorted all of the laundry tonight.  I used all 4 baskets to separate it and I'd planned on taking it downstairs to start washing tonight, they had other plans. I got their help...

Hayes emptied all four baskets into the floor. 

Could you be mad at that face?!

It is difficult to fuss when I watch her giggle with delight as she throws the clothing around.

And the mess continues....

The wallowing begins...

PDub's New Cookbook

I got it finally!  Eeeeeeek!  You can insert all sorts of girly squeals and some fist pumping!  I was so excited to see the package on my table Tuesday night!  Daryk had purchased himself something this weekend and he felt guilty about it... I had to giggle knowing that my cookbook was on the way!  Needless to say, his guilt didn't last too long after my book arrived!  I cannot WAIT to break that thing in and start cooking.  I look forward to summer when I have extra time to prepare meals and make yummy food for my crew!  

Climbing

Baby girl has learned to climb and pull up on any object that is semi stable. She is only 8 months old! I don't want her to grow up yet! She only learned how to crawl about 3 weeks ago, but shows no interest in crawling. She would much rather walk around than crawl!

She picked up her brother's sandwich remains and ate what she could.  Nutella is her new favorite thing! 

She's not afraid to wear that Nutella either. 

Can you see those little bitty teeth!?  She has TWO on the bottom.  Sometimes when she's chewing on her own foot she catches her toes on the teeth and then cries!  She's pretty dramatic!

This is the SCARY place she likes to climb and stand.  The bathtub.  She isn't afraid though.  It doesn't matter that she falls at least once or twice in each bath or that she hits her lip or nose on the side of the tub.  She continues to climb.  Fearless. 

Elizabeth is SO curious and SO attentive to everything we do.  Nosy little girl, just like her momma!

Friday Date Night

Yesterday afternoon we went to the park after school. Both of the babies had a great time! Our neighbor, Victoria, went with us and Hayes entertained her. Elizabeth was quite content eating my car keys and her puffs. She was so happy just dancing in her stroller the whole time we were there! Hayes played on the swings, in the sandbox, and climbed every piece of equipment there. It was a wonderful way to end the week!

Just One Year

It is amazing what can happen in just one year. 




Our little family!

 



This little baby boy...

To this little guy....



Our family... and one to grow on...



Finally, this big boy...

And we added this sweetheart to the family...



Handsome Husband

Kinda like Chick fil A brownies... sweet, but a little nutty.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Home Again

I encountered some serious frustrations with my travels this week. You know when you travel, things just don't work right? Your body gets in a funk and such? My body thinks that the beach=endless eating all day long. WHY is that!? I'm pretty sure I ate all day every day while we were down there. I came home to a very frustrating number on the scale. Two days HOME and my frustrating number is gone and I'm back to a normal Carrie weight. I'm still trying to lose this baby weight, but I know it will come off eventually.

I found that I really missed my babies while I was gone. Don't get me wrong, I SO enjoyed my time away from them. I enjoyed sleeping in (until 8:30--ha ha) and being able to go & come as I pleased. But there is something about being a mom that changed me, forever. I got to FaceTime chat with the babies on Monday afternoon and I found myself teary eyed because I missed them so much!

I was so excited to see them upon my return on Tuesday afternoon. Hayes just RUNS and hugs my legs or neck (if I can get down there fast enough) and Elizabeth does that leg-kick-happy-grin thing that's just hilarious.

Things that happened once I got back...
1.  Hayes went to use the potty and stood up like a big boy! He loves doing that and thinks it is awesome. He doesn't like that the pee dribbles on those last few drops and gets on his toes. Not a fan.
2.  Elizabeth has learned how to display the champion pose. Indicated here....

She was celebrating the Cheerios she just consumed.

A week ago...

We celebrated a risen Savior.  I am so thankful for Easter with my family.  

Our family changes so much every year.  We add new babies and other friends join the party.  We lost our beloved Papaw last August and that was huge for us.  We were missing Caleb.  

Sean and Bethany were kind enough to join us and my MIL came with as well.

The egg hunt proved a huge success!  Hayes had a BLAST!  He found 'mo' eggs' as he would say.  He was surprisingly good at finding the eggs. Sometimes he even found the ones we missed.  

He even shared some of his winnings with Elizabeth.  He could tell immediately the difference between the hard boiled eggs and the plastic ones containing goodies.  No candy for us this year!  We tried to keep the eggs healthy.  Ish.

She really enjoyed eating grass and chewing on some eggs that dyed her mouth a shade of green that matched her flower hairbow.

 

Have I mentioned that she's mobile?  She's into pretty much everything.

I love my little family.  I am so proud of how we work together and how much fun we have together.  I love that Hayes has such a look of confusion, disgust, serious on his face.  I love that Elizabeth is smiling with her WHOLE body.  And most of all, I love that we are all there and having a fantastic time.  Even Daryk is smiling.   

Life is so much fun.