Audrey's Birthday

If you know me, you know how much I LOVE birthday parties. I spend hours planning, preparing, and making every little thing perfect. Since we just moved here we decided to not have a big to do for AK's bday because we really don't know a lot of people. I am still broken hearted and hoping Audrey does not feel the same way. We did make it a big deal and celebrated her all day!! We skyped early that morning my family who was all home for Thanksgiving. They never let me down, party hats, banner and all!! Thank you for making it so special guys!! We usually do not get our girls a birthday present and if we do it is something little. Their party is our gift to them. Since there was no party, there had to be a couple of gifts. Daddy got her Just Dance 3 and an iTunes gc, sisters got her soul surfer, and I got her a shirt with of course, a peace sign. We had pancakes and watched Soul Surfer twice. If you have a daughter rush to the store immediately and buy her this movie, so good!! That evening we went to Brixx for pizza and to see the muppet movie with our precious neighbors. Thank you to everyone who made such a fun but hard day so memorable! We love you all!!

Interview with an 8 year old

Favorite phrase: "Mady, I'm not gonna tell you again!"

Favorite food: steak, corn, green beans

.

Your favorite person: Jesus

What do you want to be when you grow up: cheerleader, mom, nurse

Favorite color: purple

Favorite song: Cowboy Casanova by Carrie Underwood

If you could go anywhere in the world: Africa, Heaven

Your best friend: Lex'n

Favorite snack: smores

Favorite movie: Soul Surfer

Favorite book: Big sister, Little sister

How could I forget?

This little stinker turned 7 months!! Can you believe it? It amazes me how fast time passes.

This month:

-You continue to be just like your sisters, up on all four's but no movement. You want to crawl so bad though!

-You celebrated your first Thanksgiving which happened to be the very first I ever cooked.

-You had your "official" first table food, mashed potatoes. You love them!!

-You have had a cold and cough most of this month and it kills me.

-You continue to be a complete joy!

I love you Hadlee Grace!!!

Blessings

On this day, 8 years ago I was given the greatest blessing. A beautiful 5lb. 110z., 18in. baby girl. What a blessing she has been!! Happy Birthday Audrey Kate!! Your mama loves you more than you will ever know!!

Happy Thanksgiving

"I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high." Psalms 7:17

The Best Halloween EVER!!!

Why, you say? My mom and dad came to visit the week of Halloween!! We picked my mom up from the airport on Sunday before Halloween and my dad the following Thursday. I cannot tell you how amazing it was having them here. We ate lots of good food, watched movies, shopped, and a lot of just being together. After we dropped them off at the airport Mike asked if I thought maybe they could just move in HA!! Thank you Dad and Mom for coming to visit us!! Can't wait for the next time!!

I joined a military mom play group and made these cake pops for the Halloween party

We had a W theme this year: 2 witches and a watermelon :)

My 4 favorite girls

Mom and the girls made cupcakes and decorated with these really cool stencils. Can you see the owl?

Dad wrapped precious up and M kept calling her baby Jesus :)

Dad found these awesome costumes on clearance at Wally. They have now become their daily attire.

AK put this on and automatically asked if she could be Miranda Lambert next year.

6 months

How can this precious girl be 6 months already? What a blessing she is!!

This month:

-You sit up by yourself now

-You are rolling all over the place

-No way will you sleep all night. This is nothing new to me, your sisters were exactly the same

-No sign of teeth yet

-We have not had a 6 month well check but several sick visits. Your allergies are really getting the best of you. You had your first breathing treatment and antibiotic this month.

- You weigh, wait for it, 24 POUNDS!! I even made the nurse reset the scales and try again.

-The greatest thing of all is that you are a huge mama's girl.

I love you Oompa Loompa!! I am so blessed to be your mama!!

Can you guess who this is?

Since we've been here we have........

learned how to braid,

seen some awesome beach houses,

gone to the beach,

had lunch at a precious little pharmacy with a soda fountain,

spent many an hour on the water table,

had lunch at Hymans,

cut our own hair :(

had pirate day,

and visited daddy at work.

Charleston

What can I say? It is just as wonderful as everyone says it is! People ask me how I like it and honestly, I love it!! It's not home, but it is great!! It is beautiful, the weather is great (right now), the people are wonderful, the drs. are even better (believe me, we have already been to a lot of them), and we have found an awesome church to worship. I couldn't have asked for anything better when I can't be home.

These mums were absolutely beautiful!!

King St.

For Dida and Ernie :)

I love this!! The harbor, you can see a cruise ship at the port and a Navy ship in the background.

The road to Charleston

Honestly, I am completely exhausted even thinking about writing this post. The 3 days of driving 2 cars and one of them carrying myself and 3 children has definitely left my heart with a little build up. The first day we drove 10 hours to Searcy, AR where all of my siblings live. This is the part of the trip where I took the only pictures because really, the condition we were in the following days was ridiculous! We decided to stay 2 nights in AR just to break it up a little, mostly for the girls.

2 hrs. from our first destination

after church on Sunday

Nate spun Madelynn around over and over, it was quite entertaining :)

The guys made a tree swing with a laundry basket

We had dinner at my favorite place in Searcy, Doc's. I had to take a picture of everyone at the table and everyone's personality was captured well I might say.

The parents, as I like to call them. They keep the rest of us grounded while the real ones are not there.

Madelynn, of course always crazy

My sweet girl

Haha

Yep, that's Mike super annoyed I am taking pictures

Oh, how I wish I could have taken these from the pumpkin patch

worn out

We left bright and early Monday morning and drove through Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and ended the second leg in Atlanta. We rewarded the girls by taking them to the American Girl store in Atlanta. I am so sad I didn't get a picture but you can be rest assure they had a great time. The next morning we got up and drove the final 5 hours. I cannot even tell you how glad I was to be there and dreading the next time I had to make that drive.