Catching Some ZZZZZ's!

The last few nights have been tough with the Soph-ster. She is teething and likes to wake up in the middle of the night and won't have it any other way then to be with Hank and I in bed!! Thank God for extra room! And thank God I can get comfortable during the time Sophie DOES allow me to sleep! :)

Hank and I have been sleeping on several different styles and kinds of mattresses over the last two years. First we were on the Queen size pillow top mattress that was mine from my college days. Then we were blessed with a King mattress and headboard from my aunt. But it was a Orthopedic Backbracer and little more firm that we liked... so we added a feather topper and made do. It was actually very comfy to me! But Hank said it made his back hurt. When we sold our house this past summer, we had to store all of our furniture and moved into my parent's house. We slept on their guest bed for nearly 5 months. It wasn't orthopedic, but it also wasn't a pillowtop mattress. So we added the feather topper once again, and felt comfortable. Next thing we know, my parent's buy one of those adjustable massaging mattresses for themselves and offer us their nearly new King-size pillow top mattress! We have really enjoyed it! At first, we added the feather topper, but quickly decided it was too much! Now, I think we've found a good fit for us!

Does anyone else have a hard time finding the right fit when it comes to mattresses?

Can you read this?

I was going through some pics on the computer and ran across this one that Hank and I took on our Christmas trip to Disney. We chased this women through a Burger King parking lot to get a picture!

Heads Up!

I finally got this blog approved for PayU2Blog and I wanted to let you guys know that you will see some sponsored posts on here. I will do my absolute best to make these posts relevant to our everyday lives, but they will not be labeled in any way! This is a small way I can contribute to our household, and I get to do it by updated my blog, wish I love! So I hope you enjoy reading!

Heartbreaker Champs!

As some of you may know, I'm currently one of the two coaches for the 13-year-old Alabama Juniors volleyball club. We played in our second tournament last weekend... AND WON!!! We are the champions baby! Here is my cute little team wearing their Heartbreaker Chamption t-shirts!

Cheers

Do you know...

...what you get when you put a red Gameboy in the microwave for approximately 5 seconds on Valentine's Day?
You get:
1- spanked
2- a few favorite toys go into 'toy time-out' for a few weeks
3- smoke
4- a really bad rotten egg smell!
5- a dead Gameboy that get's thrown in the garbage
6- a microwave that proceeds to cook things from the inside out!!

Love Bugs

We spent Valentine's Day delivering homemade Valentine's to some of our favorite people. To Grandma and Grandaddy... then we made a stop at Gi Gi (Great-Grandma) and Papa's (Great-Grandaddy) house, but they weren't home, so we left it on their door and to cousins. Then we delivered Daddy a special Valentine's Day lunch at work.

I love teaching my kids to show love! I think that's what Valentine's Day has become to me... a way and a reason to tell those that make my life so very special just how much I love and appreciate them.

Forever Young

I can't really believe it... and I know you won't either seeing as how I'm unbelieveable young looking :)... but I just turned 30. With really very little fanfare. I spent the day being loved and reminded of how very blessed I am. One of my favorite memories of the day would have to be when my little boys gave me my gift. A ring. Now to some it might be a simple, silver, and cubic zirconium ring. But to me, it will always be a reminder of the look of love and adoration in a little boy's blue or brown eyes. They chose it for me. Just for me, and I love it. And, this photo is another birthday present from my wonderful husband, who knows that I would want to capture the moment forever and took the time and effort to have the digital camera ready. Tres told me that he 'just knew' that I 'had to have' diamonds for my birthday. And he told me that I needed three since I had three 'kids.' I'm training him up right, ladies!
That night, we got all of my family together at my parent's house for a birthday celebration. Mom made lasagna and we had cheesecake for dessert. They put black candles on it! Come on... I'm 30... not retiring! :) Then they served it up on leftover Christmas plates... I thought it was funny! I guess when you get old like me, you don't need pomp and circumstance, huh? I had so much fun laughing and talking with my family, that I only ended up taking a few pics. And guess who those were of? You guessed it... my kids! Go figure.

Can you please tell me how come I still remember taking this picture like it was yesterday... and that was 15 years ago.Photo courtesy of my old college roommate and friend, Amy Lee... also pictured. We were quite a pair. I am wearing a purple windsuit... and let me just tell you that it was highly fashionable back in the day. I am also rockin' a serious perm, people with some pretty hideous bangs! No wonder I didn't date much in high school!

Kitchen Overhaul!

Hankie has been hard at work on our never-ending home improvement project otherwise known as our new house! We moved our washer and dryer from a closet area in the kitchen down into the basement, and converted that closet space into a huge pantry.
We've updated light fixtures and replaced light switch covers. We changed out the stove and dishwasher to stainless appliances and have plans to purchase a stainless fridge soon. We received a new kitchen sink and faucet for Christmas from my parents. Can you believe the previous owner didn't have a sprayer on their sink? And Hank has spent a lot of time sanding and painting the kitchen cabinets to give it a brighter look. He did a wonderful job!! Then we updated the hardware and hinges. Just look at the difference!
Also, we mounted a small television in the corner near the fridge, and added a microwave cart on the other side of the fridge to free up as much counter space as we possibly could! I'm starting to really enjoy my kitchen! And it seems like my little family loves to be in there too. The boys will sit at the table and do arts and crafts, watch tv, play toys, and eat of course.

Thank you, Hankie, for working so hard on our home. You put every bit of excellence into it and I love you more for that.
Now we just need to add some new flooring and finish painting the trim and it will be a brand new kitchen!

I told them that meant they had to clean their own room, put away their own clothes, and tuck themselves in! They folded pretty quickly! :)

Snow, Cupcakes, & Crafts

I was the 'party mom' for Tres's Valentines party at school yesterday. So I was in charge of cupcakes and an art and craft project for each of the children to take home to their parents. I was a little bit out of my element... as some of you may know... I am not very crafty!! So I panicked for a short time, then called up my fav SIL and she gave me an idea.
I got Tres up this morning to get him ready for school, and as I was fixing his breakfast I look outside and was totally shocked to see snow!! It was so pretty and unexpected!
So while I was making cupcakes, I let Tres go outside for a few minutes and run around in the falling snow. Then Hank took him off to work, and I continued getting all the stuff ready for the party!
Bryant got to go and have a special lunch with Grandma by himself, while Soph and I headed out to deliver cupcake joy to the 4K class.What I saw this morning as I pulled out of our garage! Can you see the snow? It looked so much more vivid that morning.Let's party like it's 2008!! Wooo Hoooo! I went with chocolate cake and vanilla icing with a Hershey Kiss to top it off! I thought about doing something fancier... but it would have been to try and impress the other moms more than the kids, so I stuck with what I knew would get eaten!
Icing mustaches... classically funny!Sophie gets her party on! Here are the crafts! "'Thumb-body' loves you!" The little heart is made out of thumb prints. I laminated them and added magnet tape to the back so that it could serve a purpose instead of just adding to the numerous other color pages we get every week! :) We did a variation on this at my house for Grammy and Grandma too!

Why?

Why is it that anytime I feel sick to my stomach and tired, my mind automatically thinks 'pregnant?' Hank had a vasectemy after Ms. Sophie surprised us, and we have been SUPER careful since... but I found myself purchasing a test today just to make sure. I mean, all three of my kids were easily, and not purposefully conceived. It was a definite negative... but just talking to Hank about it made me about have a nervous breakdown! :) I mean, that would be 4 kids in under 6 years and that's just not cool to me. That would put Sophie at 14 or 15 months. Again, not cool. Thank you, Lord, for knowing how much I can handle!

Children's Theatre

I totally remember the field trip to Children's Theatre when I was in elementary school. They did "Three Little Pigs." So when it was time for Tres to head to the Children's Theatre, I was a little bummed that I couldn't go! Tres requested Hank, and I needed to stay home with the other two. But it was really good Father-Son time. We have really tried to make one-on-one time a priority this year. Anyway, he had a blast! They performed "Jack and the Beanstalk" for the kids. Only they cleaned up some of the language that we grew up with. Like the infamous line, "Fe fi fo fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman." They changed it to, "Fe fi fo fum, I smell a boy." Just doesn't have the same ring to it, but I get why they did it!
Then, because they got finished a little sooner than expected, Hank took Tres to get his favorite... Mexican. Specifically Del Toro! That child loves their food.

Our Angel

Sophie has been a part of our lives now for 6 months and 4 days! I can't believe it's been half a year already! Unbelievable. She is such a joy, and a wonderful way to complete our family.

She had a six month check-up today... as well as a round of shots. She weighs 13 1/2 pounds and she is 24 inches long. While she is on the small side for most babies her age, the ped said she is perfectly proportionate and that he is happy with her growth. She is a petite little thing... which we all know does NOT come from my side of the family! So thank you Boemers!

Her hair has really started filling in again. It is a dark brown color. I still put bands and bows on her, though and I will until she can handle it in her own hair. Her eyes are a gorgeous gray-green. They may eventually turn brown, but for now we like that all of our children have different color eyes!

Her birthmarks are still there and prominent. I thought they might fade, but they haven't.

She sleeps like a champ! She will go at least 10 hours at night and sometimes up to 12. She naps twice a day for anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 3.

She still nurses 3 or 4 times a day. She also eats one container of baby food sometime during the day, and eats cereal mixed with fruit at night before bed. Once we started cereal consistantly, her reflux pretty much vanished.

She is SUPER sweet! She laughs and smiles easily. She loves to be around her brothers and commotion. She loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Bryant (and Tres too sometimes). Bryant will sit and play with her for an hour or so at a time, and I love how sweet he is with her. Tres will sing and dance for her too... her own personal entertainer. And bedtime just isn't bedtime without a kiss from Sophie.

People call her a number of different things. The list is as follows:
A-boo (Tres & Bryant)
Sophie (this is the one I lean on most)
Ava
Sophie Girl (Bryant... although he pronounces it more like 'Soapie Gul')
Soapie (yes, it stuck)
Fi Fi (Mrs. B)
Angel Girl (me)
Pretty (Hank)

She and her Daddy had a slow start as far as bonding goes. With this being our third child, and with her being a breast fed baby, she has been all about Mom for a while. But since I've started volleyball, and she's with Dad and brothers two nights a week, they formed a bond over.... Ritz crackers! He said he tried it as a last resort cause she was screaming and now she knows the box and gets excited when she sees it! That night she seemed to register that Dad was cool, and since then it's been a lot easier for him. He's even managed to get her to sleep at night without me!

She can sit up unassisted for longer periods of time now. And she prefers to be sitting rather than laying down. Gone are the days of the swing and the bouncer seat. She rolls over both ways. I lay her on her back at night and she ends up on her tummy by morning. If you hold her hands while she is laying down, she pulls herself to a sitting position. And she seems to be trying to get her knees up under her these days when she gets frustrated with a toy or object out of her reach, and she can get herself turned around in a circle on the floor!

She still loves her car walker and now loves to kick back in her high chair.
We've tried the Johnny Jump-Up too and she seemed okay with it.

She wants what you have no matter what it is, and will doggedly reach for it until you are tired of it! And if you surround her with toys on the floor she will play for a while before she wants to get up. But her favorite 'toys' at the moment are her newly discovered feet!

She is beginning to teeth and drools a lot! Thank God for bibs!
She loves to give love too. I think she sees enough hugs and kisses around here.

Her most obvious accomplishment to date is the FULL development of her lungs. I call this video "Yakety-Yak! Don't Talk Back!"And if you've ever talked to me on my cell phone, I can bet you've heard her too! This is constant unless she is nursing or sleeping!

I know this post is long, but I so don't want to forget my last baby! I'm sure there's tons more, but I need to go and get her now!

Party Plannin'

Tres and Bryant have been busily planning Bryant's fourth birthday for months now. He had a choice this year between having a party or going to Disney for a long weekend, since we have annual passes. But, in the end, the party won out! Somthing about cake, presents, and a pinata that swayed him, I think! Wink!! I wanted to find some super cute stuff for his party this year. He has determined that he wants a Super Hero party. He wants all of his little friends to dress up, and he wants to be Superman. This was the best part to me... the other day in the van, after a lond discussion, Bryant announced that he wanted to have his party at the park down the road from our house. Why, you may ask. Because it's called 'Heroes Park!' Isn't that just clever of them? Anyway, I found a good site for goody bags and party favors, but wasn't thrilled with their invitations... they were a little too generic for me. But I found this killer site that specializes in all kind of invitations...birthday invitations, baby shower invitations, thank you notes, party invitations... you name it, they got it! Here is one I found for Bryant's party: While I was on their site, I also found the PERFECT invitation for my sister-in-laws baby shower!!These are the exact colors she's using in her nursery for little baby Brody! Then while I was at it, I checked out their first birthday section... and I can't choose between the following! The prices are not that bad! A set of 10 for $12.00 in most cases... and they are personalized for your party! I love this site!

Hmmm...

He must've had some kind of weekend!

"Memories... in the corner of my mind...

misty, watercolor memories of the way we were!"

I'm sitting here at my dad's office today filling in for my Mom. I've been thinking back on what it was like when I worked for him. I used to bring Tres to work with me. From the time he was 6 weeks old on, he was a 'shop baby.'

I brought Sophie with me this morning and she was fine... except that she kept 'talking' when I was on the phone. It was very distracting! And she only napped for maybe 20 minuntes... so I took the little stinker home at lunch and put her to bed there where Crystal was watching Bryant for me.

Tres had his field trip to the Children's Theatre to see 'Jack and the Beanstalk' today. He requested that Hank go with him, so Hankie switched shifts with someone, and was able to go. I think it was a fun time for both of them.

When I went home at lunch time, Bryant was too busy playing with Crystal to even acknowledge dear old mom! :) That's a good thing. And a good reminder to me that I don't have to be everyone's all in all.

Well, folks... the time is fast approaching when I will no longer be in my twenties! One week from today, I turn 30. How is that possible, when I don't feel 30? I keep telling people that it's just a number, and that is honestly how I feel! But seriously... how is it possible?

I have my first volleyball tournament this weekend, and I think my little team is going to do so good! I have some really sweet girls on my team. And I have been able to take Tres and Bryant individually to be my assistant coach to different practices. But say a prayer for Hankie... this will be a long weekend for him with all three kids. Thankfully, my tournament is in Hoover and he can bring them up to see me or bring Soph to eat if he needs to. This is a trial run for the rest of the tournaments. Only two are out of town, so that much is good news! The other 4 are in Bham.

Family Game Day

Saturday night we had the best time getting to know some new friends from church! We invited them over for dinner and the kids had so much fun with their two kids. Their little girl could win a Dakota Fanning look-alike contest and is so sweet and cute! Anyway, I showed her my blog and she was thinking about starting one up too. How fun!

After our company left, we got all got into bed since we had church. Well Tres decided to get up 3 times in the night with an upset tummy. And then once we were all up for Sunday morning, decided to up-chuck on the kitchen table, floor, hallway, and on into the bathroom. Needless to say we did not make church! But we did get in a little family time.We pulled out Tres's Magic Kingdom board game and set it up. It was a lot of fun to play. The kids were actually very good at playing it! They had to visit park attractions and try to do it all first. I guess it helped that they were so familiar with Disney, huh? Smile! Bryant rolls the die! He actually won the game. But he was so funny, cause he kept making his silkie pick up and roll the die.Tres came in second! I was very proud of him for not getting upset that he didn't come in first. He just kept playing, until he beat Daddy!After the throw up incident, Tres was fine. He rested and drank a lot of fluids, but he's back to normal now! It was either something he ate or a really quick bug!

I realize...

that without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to You. For I desire to come near to You, God. I must [necessarily] believe that You exist and that You reward those who diligently seek You [out].

This is a short and sweet prayer from Hebrews 11:6 [Amplified Bible]. This one is easy to remember and quick to plant roots in your heart and spirit.