Ethan's monster party

Today we celebrated Ethan's 4th birthday with a monster party!

The kids LOVED the slide bounce house.

Patiently awaiting cake cutting time

Ethan requested a monster party months ago. He loved his monster cakes and all his monster friends came to celebrate.

Austin and Madison are meant for each other!

Morgan is always fun entertainment for the kids

Cousin Jake came with Gege and Granddaddy to celebrate Ethan's birthday!

Opening presents with 20 little kids help is quite entertaining! Seeing me try to get up from the floor is entertaining too.













Happy Birthday Ethan!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Today our little man turns 4!

He is going to celebrate with a pajama party at school and going out to eat with Grandma, Grandpa and the family tonight. When I asked him what he wants to eat for dinner, he said "cake". Sounds about right!

For a trip down memory lane, click on the links below.

Look how much he has grown in a year!

Four years ago he was born!

Pictures of the little man ages 0 to 3.

Happy Birthday Ethan! We love you!

Lauren's baby shower

My friends hosted a baby shower for me and baby Lauren today! I feel so lucky to have such great friends who are always there for me. We all had a great time and it was the perfect way to celebrate my baby girl!

My friend Sarah decorated the cake and it turned out adorable!

34 1/2 weeks - Only 4 weeks left!

It was so much fun opening presents for my baby girl! I even got to sit in a pink chair while I did it. :) I love all the thoughtful gifts and I felt so happy to have my friends around to celebrate!

Naps with Ethan

Austin is a great napper. He never misses a nap and has no problem falling asleep, unless his big brother is in there to distract him. Every day the boys get in their beds to take a nap around 1 and every day they talk and play instead of going to sleep. My latest solution has been to give them 15 minutes to attempt to go to sleep in the same room before I give up and take Ethan out. Without fail, Austin is fast asleep within 5 minutes of Ethan's exit.

Being the exhausted, pregnant momma that I am, I have been laying down in our bed with Ethan during nap time. If he has silence and no distractions, he falls right to sleep. We have never let our kids sleep in bed with us at night, but I must admit I love my naps with Ethan!

sleepover

The boys spent the night at my parents' house Friday night. They were so excited to pack their bags and couldn't wait to ride in Grandma and Grandpa's car. They had a great time eating Grandpa's Belgium waffles for dinner and donuts for breakfast. To say they were spoiled would be an understatement! They were so worn out when they came home Saturday, poor Austin fell asleep in this uncomfortable position on the recliner!

Thanks for giving us a night to ourselves Mom and Dad!

brrrothers!

my new best friend

I don't like sewing. Really, I don't. I have made dozens of baby blankets, curtains and other projects even though I get no enjoyment from it. I do love picking the fabrics out and designing what I want to make, it is the actual sewing part that I dislike. I still have to make Lauren's blankies, hem her curtains and sew new basket liners before she comes.

The main reason I don't enjoy sewing is because I can never make anything perfectly. There is always some imperfection that I notice and it's really frustrating. Maybe I should take a sewing class and not rely on my high school home Ec class memories.

I don't think I've ever sewed anything and not used the seam ripper pictured above. Even though sewing is not my favorite thing to do, I do love the fact that I am making things for my family that they can keep and use forever. That is, if they don't fall apart first. :)

from shaggy to cute!

We took our shaggy headed boys to get their haircut Sunday. We decided it was time to get a real cut instead of me trying to hack it into a hair style.

Before

During

After!

quintuplets!

I met Ethan and Casey while in college at Texas State. We met again a couple years ago while dedicating Ethan and their daughter Elliot at Riverbend.

Their life is changing dramatically very soon with the birth of their quintuplets that may happen any day now. They have an older daughter and now have four baby girls and one baby boy on the way.

Any time I feel uncomfortable during this pregnancy and want to complain, I remember Casey and can't even imagine what she is going through. Please keep them in your prayers as they embark on their new adventure! You can read their story here.

my latest obsession

I didn't get cravings when I was pregnant with Ethan and Austin. I never once asked Eric to go get me something special to eat and I didn't crave anything in particular. I was pretty easy. All that has changed with Lauren.

I now love McDonald's Cinnamon Melts. For only 460 calories, I get to eat a little taste of heaven. Oh, and it must be served warm and with a Coke. Horrible for me, but oh so good. I must admit I have even had dreams about cinnamon rolls recently. How crazy is that? The best part about the Cinnamon Melt is they are served all day long. Try one - you may just fall in love too!

gracious friends

My dear friend Erica gave me her awesome rocking chair for the baby's nursery. It is a very nice, comfy rocker that is perfect for nursing and snuggling a baby. The chair was denim, which would have worked perfectly if we were having a boy, but it stuck out in Lauren's pink and green room.

Loving the rocker, I called to the rescue my sweet friend Amanda to help me attempt to make a slipcover for it. I had visions of a giant piece of fabric tucked into the corners to make it look halfway decent. Little did I know, Amanda was a pro and the slipcover would end up fitting like a glove!



11 hours after we started, the finished slipcover is AWESOME! I still can't believe we made it. I use the term we very loosely. Amanda made it and I assisted her by handing her pins.

I am forever indebted to Erica and Amanda for being such gracious friends!

7 weeks to go!

I still can't believe we are going to have one more of these! The room is almost done and we are getting everything ready, but I don't think it has really set in that we are going to have a newborn baby girl in 7 weeks. I still feel like I have too much to do and not enough time or energy to do it. This week I plan on finishing her room so I can relax a little! Pictures to come soon!

Austin's tummy

I found Austin asleep during his nap with his blankie tucked under his shirt. I guess he was trying to look like his mommy.

Happy New Year 2009

We spent New Year's Eve at Sammy and Chris' house this year. We have spent every New Years with them for the past 7 years. Last year she was 8 months pregnant, and this year, it was my turn. The boys had a great time playing with their new friends and roasting marshmallows.

Our New Year's Eves sure have evolved!

After we put the kids to bed, we headed next door to ring in the new year with our neighbors. We had a great time eating, singing, and hanging out. It was a fun night and we look forward to an exciting 2009!