Birthday Party

Before Madelyn's birthday party, she had wanted to get her toes painted, just like Mommy's!!

We had a great time at Madelyn's birthday party, in spite of a little rain. Here are some of my favorite pics.

This one is thanks to Erin!!

Jelly bean cupcakesMadelyn and Izzy

Birthday hugs from her friend Will

Presents
And More presents....
Aubrey and her 2nd cousin, Whitman

Once we were home, we had fun with all the new toys! Aubrey even wore the Uniqua ears!!

My 2nd Birthday!!!

Now that I'm a big girl, I've decided to take over Mommy's job of posting for the day.
As you can see, I did not want to waste anytime today by posing for a picture. So this was the best we could do.....

I'm not sure what all the fuss was, but overall I had a pretty good day. We woke up and went to PawPaw's house (the sitter) to play with my friends Luke, Cooper and Maddie. Daddy picked Sissy and me up and we played until Mommy got home from work. Mommy ordered pizza and I ate 3 pieces!!! My favorite part is the "Shake" that I get to put on it (parmesan cheese). Mommy gave me a few jelly beans which really gave me energy to run around the living room in circles for about 15 minutes. Then it was bathtime which I LOVE!! Mommy had to clean all my bath toys last night because I think it's funny to poop in the tub, even though Mom tries to put me on the potty right before my bath. Tonight, mom had me soaped up all good before I decided it would be fun to poop again. SO, my bath wasn't very long.

After eating toothpaste, I ran in the den and poured over Daddy's cup of water. Then I wrestled with Mommy while she tried to put on my jammies. Mimi and Poppie knocked on the door a few minutes later! Mimi had an ice cream cone that looked like a clown. I liked to lick all the icing off the cone best!

Mommy keeps putting Sissy on the chair, even though she's been rolling off the last few days. So Mom put her on the play mat and got all excited when Aubrey would roll from her back to tummy - Big Deal - I can do that too!

Aubrey also learned today that if she kicks her feet while sitting in her bouncer, she can hit the toys and make the music play. SO I tried to hold the toys so Aubrey couldn't do it!


Well, I guess that's about it for my birthday. Mommy keeps telling me we're having a party Saturday, but I'm not sure what that's all about. Tomorrow night Mommy is going out with her girlfriends, so Daddy will be alone with Sissy and Me. That means I'll be able to pull out every toy I want to and not have to clean up!! I bet I can also cry a little so he lets me stay up late to watch Wow Wow Wubbzy!!

It's Night night time now. Until next time.

Travel

Ok, so I'm asking everyone for some help. Clint and I are planning a 2nd honeymoon for later this year / early next year. I REALLY want to go to the Sandals Grande Antigua, and I"m looking for the best deal. Should I just search the internet? Call a travel agent? DO I book early or wait until closer to travel time??

Any advice is welcome!!

Recipe of the Week and Looking Back....

Well, I've decided to steal a great idea from my friend Erin. She's been posting a recipe each week that she likes, and I"ve enjoyed reading them so I thought I'd do the same. I'm going to share some lowfat recipes that I've been enjoying thanks to my diet. I finally got back on it this week as I went back to work, and had a successful week losing 3.4 pounds. So my first recipe is one that I LOVED. Here goes...

Chickenetti

1 cup fat free, low sodium chicken broth
16 oz spaghetti, cooked (I used whole wheat)
4-6 cups cubed and cooked chicken
10 3/4 oz can fat free cream of celery soup
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1/2 lb 2% Velveeta, cubed

1. Put chicken broth into a crock pot. Add spaghetti and chicken
2. In large bowl, combine soup and water until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients, then pour into slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on low 2-3 hours

YUMMM!

The other morning I went to wake up Aubrey and found this sleeping angel....



Our first week back at work was actually pretty painless. Everyone made me feel very welcomed; they all brought in breakfast on Monday, and had "Welcome Back Summer" signs all around. I even got a beautiful boquet of flowers. The girls seemed to adjust pretty easily as well.

We've been getting ready for Madelyn's birthday party. I can't believe she's almost 2!! We did some shopping this morning and when we got home decided to try out Aubrey's Bumbo seat.




When I got on the computer I started looking at old pictures and just HAD to show some of my favorites. Some of them made me laugh out loud!!

Halloween

Playing in the snow
At the beach - I'm not sure what she's doing here...



And my favorite - Madelyn the Grump



Well, the girls are crazy and it's time to start the bedtime routines.

Weekend

Well, I finally got the camera out this weekend. This is all dressed up for church this morning. I LOVE the dress Aubrey's wearing. Thanks to Ray's mom!!


I could get lost in those big blue eyes!

Being silly...
Note the new bouncer seat in this one. Although we tried over and over to convince Madelyn that she's too big for Sissy's seat, she didn't listen and finally broke the old bouncer. Oh well!!

3 months!!!

Well, I've been a total slacker the last month with the blogging. Since I decided to go private with the site, I didn't want to post for a while, and then time slipped away from me..... I've also been slacking on the picture-taking again, so I PROMISE to take some more pics and post them this weekend.

Anyway, I can't believe my baby is all ready 3 months old!! And today was my last day on maternity leave :( I definitely have mixed emotions about going back to work. While I can't imagine not being able to hold and love on my Aubrey any time my heart desires, I'm looking forward to seeing my friends again. It will be nice to have adult conversations instead of reading "Llama, llama red pajama" again (although it IS a very cute book).

Aubrey went to teh doctor a week or so ago and is weighing in just under 12 pounds now. She is laughing and cooing all the time now, which is fun! She has a lolly that she loves, and I'm sure you'll see it in pics as she rarely is without it. She has also perfected the art of getting her thumb in her mouth. We'll see how that goes. She started sleeping completely through the night about a month ago, so that will make it easier going back to work! She usually is asleep about 9:30 at night until about 7:30 in the morning.

Last month was our big Daytona trip. I was extremely nervous, but the girls did GREAT for a 800 mile trip EACH way. We invested in a portable dvd player for Madelyn, so she watched that about half the time we were on the road. Madelyn was pretty apprehensive about the beach the first 2 days, but by the 3rd day she loved going in the ocean with Nana or Daddy (Mommy doesn't like the water much!!). We got down there and our camera wouldn't work, so I'm waiting to get some pics from Nana and Mimi so I can post them.

Much congratulations to my beautiful sister-in-law Amanda who got engaged a few weeks ago! We're super excited and can't wait for Houston to become part of the family.

This weekend should be a slow on in anticipation of the craziness next week.

Stay tuned for pics......