Tuesday, May 26, 2009

BIG kids!

OK, so we have had some major milestones in house over the past week or so. First milestone: Ava is now sleeping in a BIG bed! She slept in a twin bed at the beach and did great!! No transition issues at all! So when we returned we decided to just go ahead and take down the crib. Yes, that means we no longer have a crib in our house! She is doing great with it, doesn't get up, and seems very comfy! YAY for our big girl!






Second milestone: J.Riley got a bike with training wheels for his third birthday back in February. Well, he has been practicing, practicing and practicing some more and he has finally got it!!! Just in time for the summer! He loves riding around with the neighborhood kids and his ultimate favorite is to go out after it rains and ride through the puddles! We are so proud of him oh and he wants to know when Daddy is going to build him a "jump" to go off of??


Sunday, May 17, 2009

More beach pictures!















Isle of Palms, SC






We just returned from a wonderful week on the Isle of Palms, SC. We spent some fun time playing in the ocean, building sand castles, finding all kinds of sea creatures and make memories with our friends the Harmans! J.Riley fell in love with the waves. He wanted to be in the water at all times and of course Ava was the complete opposite. Loving the sand and not wanting much to do with the cold water. We also brought with us two angels from above babysitters my sister Lisa and her friend Taylor. It was great to be able to have a few adult nights out and be able to enjoy some of the yummy restaurants in the Charleston area. They were so much help, I am not sure I will ever be able to go to the beach without babysitters! They helped fix meals, carried things and children to the ocean, let us have a few evenings out, entertained, and just plain put up with us! WE LOVE YOU GIRLS, thank you for making our vacation one that we actually enjoyed! The weather was not always perfect so we got to do things like visit the aquarium and the Children's Museum. The kids had a blast! We can't wait to go back!

Mother's Day Gift










We are back from the beach!! We had such a great time! I had the pleasure of spending both Mother's Day and my Birthday at my most favorite place to be. Being at the ocean was such an awesome reminder to me to BE instead of to DO. In my everyday life there just never seems to be enough time in every 24 hour period to get everything done on my to-do list. To be a mom is to be responsible, mature one, right? To get everything done that we need to get done, each and every day of the week right? I tend to take life way to seriously sometimes. I let my to do list become so ingrained in my head that I forget my to do list in my heart.

Mommy-to-do list: 5 loads of laundry, (check), run errands (check) wash the kitchen floor (check), Vacuum (check), make breakfast, lunch, dinner (check, check, check), oh and don't forget to shower and get dressed!

Mommy-to-be list: Loving (how do I do that?), Joyful (even with piles of dirty laundry on every floor of the house?), peaceful (with the kids fighting?) patient (yeah, right!), kind (toward whom? I'm the one with all this stuff to do?) gentle ( so I shouldn't yell at the top of my lungs?) faithful (when am I suppose to squeeze in time with Jesus?)

Being away from at least a few responsibilities, seeing the huge ocean (God's awesome creation), being Mother's Day, and realizing that my children are at the age where they actually want me around, they love me and they want to play with me!! In just a few years this time with be gone.

I realize that I can't be child like twenty four hours a day. I have grown up, and I have responsibilities. But of if I don't take the time to be child-like and have fun with my children, I am going to miss it.

So on this Mother's Day I am going to do my best to start waking up each morning with my to BE list instead of my to DO list. And twenty four hours a day is always enough time to BE what God wants me to be.

THE Gift!! J.Riley and Brent have been working on my gift for months now! They started building our vegetable garden in March and J.Riley and Ava helped mommy plant the seeds just recently. We planted, red and yellow tomato's, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and lettuce. I am so excited! I will post more pictures in a few weeks so you can see if our garden is actually growing!