A Few Randoms...

Here are just a few random pictures I liked of the kids. These ones didn't have a special day to go with them :)

 

On May 17, 2014, we all three went to Aunt B's baby shower. There wasn't anyone to babysit the gremlins so I had to take them with me. I know that is NOT proper etiquette for a baby shower but desperate times....

It was a beautiful shower and B and Nick and Baby Ella got so many awesome things. They had a car full of stuff. Charlotte was in love with all of the toys in the toy room at the Dressler residence. Clearly Charlotte and Brooklynn became fast friends.

 

Just a normal day in our house...

 

Giving each other a kiss. I wish this wasn't blurry.

These two steal my heart some days...

Best Friends Forever.

A Week With Emily

We babysat sweet Emily for a few days during the first week of April. Aunt Kathy also came up to visit us that same week. We got to spend time with two of our favorite people!!

 

Aunt Kathy came on Tuesday to visit us. It was Alex's day off. I had taken Charlotte to the allergy doctor for an appointment and taken Emily with us. We got home and Aunt Kathy came to visit and stay. Mom and Dad were out of town so she stayed at their house and kept the kitties well fed. But she spent a chunk of her time with us.

 

Tuesday afternoon I took pictures for a friend of Mary's. She had a sweet baby girl named Peyton. I took Emily with me. She was my partner in crime while my two crazies stayed with Alex and Aunt Kathy.

This child... she is so beautiful :)

Sweet baby Peyton was such a beautiful, easy baby to photograph. How sweet is she????

After pictures, I took Emily to her momma and then headed home. Alex and Aunt Kathy had dinner under control. Mary, Chad, and Uncle Poop also joined us for dinner. It was a great night of hanging out and eating.

 

The next morning, Mary, Aunt Kathy, Emily, the kids and I headed out to go shopping. Naturally it was raining like crazy but, you know...

 

We headed to Kohl's and to Target (our favorite place to go). It was fun, chaotic, and I was ready to get home.

Emily had a front row seat to a show with the crazies during her Target ride.

That afternoon we sat around the house while it rained and rained and rained.

Charlotte is eating her toes in this picture.

 

Aunt Kathy headed home the next day. It was a fabulously fun week. We had Emily the next day as well. She loved her time with us. :) And we are finally getting to where she will nap at my house as well :) (There is generally too much going on for her to want to take a nap.)

 

Thanks for coming to visit, Aunt Kathy. And thanks for letting us take care of Emily, Jodi. She is just such an amazing girl...and so tolerant of my gremlins.

We Love These Boys

Great, long lasting friendships that can withstand distance, time and life circumstances are very rare. Tracey and I met in college. We lived on the same floor our freshman year. We were both from small towns. She was pretty, nice, and funny. Fourteen years later, we are still friends. In fact, we are more like sisters than friends. We both have kids that are 18 months apart...her two boys are a year older than my kids... Mitchell a year older than Charlotte and Carter a year older than Sawyer. So this time when we are together we have a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 1 year :)

 

We came straight from gymnastics class home and they got to our house right after we had arrived.

 

Charlotte said we NEEDED to go to the basement. (or "bayment" as she calls it)

This handsome guy. Always hanging out on the sidelines. He is not outgoing like his sister but he does love to watch.

How old does he look???

This picture is one of my favorites. He is so handsome. And it looks like he is posing for me.

They all play so well together.

Peek A boo

I made a cake for Charlotte and a cake for Mitchell. Their birthday parties had to be on the same day so we couldn't attend each other's parties. Therefor, we needed to celebrate again!

I didn't have a #4 candle so he got a one :) And he totally didn't care!

Carter helped him blow his candle out.

The big #3!!

She was so very serious about licking the icing off of the #3.

Present time!!!!

Thomas sunglasses!

 

A movie, Thomas swim gear, and Thomas sunglasses!

Bath stuff :)

A "pwincess" scooter!!!

We always try a group photo. It varies as to who wants to cooperate and who doesn't.

 

This guy.

I love him.

Our four beauties!

Time to wrestle and giggle and be obnoxious!

 

We love our time together. It always goes way too fast. We love playing together and laughing and being crazy. Thank you Tracey and boys for coming two hours one way to see us for a few hours. We love you to the moon!!

Playing With Eliza

We were so excited that Eliza and Erin came over to visit us! They were in town hanging out with Miss Diana. Eliza loves other kids and loved coming over to play with the crazies. Naturally my two kids come on very strong but Eliza was able to hang!

 

By the end of the visit, they were all sitting and laughing and eating.

How cute are they all????

Sawyer loves girls!! He loves loves loves Eliza. Hearing Eliza say her version of their names was so adorable!

How amazing are those boots????

We are going to try to get together each time they come back to visit. We love when we get to see them and love even more when we can do a real playdate!!!!!

 

Thanks for coming over, friends. We are thankful for you!!!

Sick Days At Home

Our little man with Croup felt pretty bad for a few days. I didn't take him in to the doctor because there is nothing they could do for him unless he got so bad he truly could not breath. So, I just monitored him. We slept sitting up on the couch. We had a vaporizer. I gave him whatever medicine I could. We did hot baths with the shower running every night before bed. We did lots of liquid....or whatever he would drink....which wasn't much. The sound of his cough was so yucky and bad. He was so miserable. Days 2 and 3 were the worst. He barely slept and didn't want off of my lap. Charlotte ended up just getting a runny nose for a few days. It wasn't a big deal.

 

Here was our sick boy.

We could tell when he started feeling better because the goofy guy in him came out.

The kids were playing zoo. Charlotte was the zookeeper.

 

I would say she is the cutest zookeeper I have ever seen. Just sayin'...

 

This was the first day in a few days that they finally started playing together again.

They were so cute pulling these around the kitchen.

And then Sawyer just HAD to ruin her little zoo parade. :)

Poor poor buddy.

 

It took over a week to get him feeling 100%. It took a month to get him sleeping through the night again :) Perfect. But we made it through and we made it without having to drag him to the doctor.

A Snowy Day At Home...Photoshoot

This crazy winter and all of the snow we are having! (And to know that all of this was just the beginning really.)

 

On Saturday January 4th, it snowed quite a bit. I am pretty sure it snowed like 8 or 10 inches. So that meant that we just stayed home on Sunday in the warmth and safety of our own home.

 

I decided it would be a perfect day to take a bunch of pictures of the kids in white t's... I mean, clearly that would be the outfit of choice.

 

We used Sawyer's room because it has a HUGE window in it.

"The snow plow will be here at any time."

"I didn't do it."

"Does anyone have anything I can get into?"

"Um who's dog is this?"

This little missy had been throwing a fit in the hallway. The power struggle is so much fun at almost three years old.

 

She finally agreed to come in and get her picture taken and play with Sawyer.

"I will come in but I am not smiling."

 

"I hear you talking, Daddy, but I am not listening."

Charlotte: I got you, Buddy!

Sawyer: I will eat you.

"You're right, Mom. This IS fun."

"CHEEEEESE."

"I think I am hilarious."

"This is a fabulous quilt that Aunt Meem made for me."

 

I just feel like there is something evil spinning in the wheels in his head in this picture...

 

Almost a real smile...

 

 

And there is a real one.

So funny!!!!

Sometimes when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I can see her as a teenager. This is one of those pictures.

 

 

Charlotte: Any dogs out there?

Sawyer: Just the killer pitbulls at the end of the street.

Sawyer: I love getting my picture taken.

Charlotte: I finally got this booger I've been working on.

They are always wrestling with Daddy.

Little bit of snow here...

She has the best Daddy. EVERYTIME it snows, he makes her (and Sawyer who was sleeping during this picture) snow ice cream.

And he always adds plenty of chocolate and candy.

And he always enjoyed it himself.

 

I have tried it but opt out of the snow ice cream. Some people say it tastes just like ice cream. I say it tastes like water ice cream sprinkled with dirt.

 

We did have a great day at home. I am so thankful for days like this. Sometimes it's a blessing to be snowed in. An excuse to not have to do anything....