Our Awesome Little Family

Sweet Emma Paisley turns ONE!!

2010-11-19T11:44:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it? I swear it was just yesterday I was bringing that sweet girl home, and now she's one? Where does time go? Where's that pause button?! We love this little girl more than words can say. I remember when we were told we were going to have a little girl, tears just fell down my face. I hope to be her best friend, and I hope she loves me as a mother as much as I love having her as my daughter.

We celebrated Emma's actual birthday by lunch at Red Robin (shocked?) and some cake later. I was debating on whether to wait until her actual birthday for her to eat cake, but I just didn't think it'd feel like her special day without some cake! (It was the first time she's had something sweet. Other than fruits!!)

Here's some pictures of Emma's actual first birthday party.

I tried to throw the sweetest first birthday party a girl could have, Emma is just about the sweetest little girl in the world and she makes me smile everyday. My family is truly my happiness, and I hope that I make them happy. I love this little girl to the moon and back 15 million times.

Happy (late) Halloween

2010-11-19T11:34:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry this post is so late, but I wanted to share some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes.

The morning of Halloween started out a little tough with Kolton waking us up puking everywhere. His fever spiked, he puked, he was mopey for a minute, and then he was fine. It was the craziest thing. He must have known that if he didn't start feeling better he wasn't going to get any candy later. ha! So once we got him straightened out, Emma decided she just flat out wasn't in the costume Halloween trick or treating mood. So the whole hour of trying to get the kids dressed was utter chaos, melt down, craziness. Buuut we pushed through and thank goodness we did because the kids looked too adorable in their costumes. Once we started our trick or treat trek, they started to change in moods and started to enjoy it. By the last house Kolton go the idea of what was going on, so I'm sure next year will be even more fun. lol! Here's some pictures of my adorable witch and handsome vampire.

Don't they both look sooo happy? ha!!

Happy (late) birthday, Kolton James-Allen!!!

2010-11-04T08:14:00.004-04:00

A very special boy turned two years old this past week. :)

Two years ago on October 29th my adventure of motherhood started. Kolton James-Allen was brought into my life, and he's had my heart dancing ever since. Despite the struggles he had when he was first born, I couldn't ask for a healthier, happier, more handsome TWO year old boy. Where does the time go? This little boy lights up my days with his silly grins and giggles.

Since Kolton had a first birthday party to himself last year, we decided to let Emma have her special party instead of throwing them a joint party (since their birthdays are so close) But Kolton had one very special birthday. We woke up early that morning to a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, and after stuffing our faces we opened all the cards and gifts everyone sent him. Adam and I got him a train table and Kolton seemed pretty excited about it.

After we played, had a yummy lunch, and took a much needed nap (the kids did, of course mommy was getting everything ready), we headed out to dinner. My parents were able to come and visit so they came along with us. We went to Kolton's favorite place -Red Robin (yumm..)

After Kolton stuffed his face of onion rings, corn dogs, and fries they were sweet enough to bring out a sundae for him and sing happy birthday. The waitress we had was one that we've had several times, so she remembered us and said she'd "hook the birthday boy up." They were so sweet to him.

He loved them singing, but I think he enjoyed the sundae even more.. lol

After dinner we came home and let Kolton enjoy the dirt cake I had made for him.

I had such a fun day with my two year old sweetie, and I hope he had an awesome birthday. We love you Kolton!! :)

A rootin' tootin' good time!

2010-10-24T20:11:00.003-04:00

As one of Kolton's birthday presents (that's right in less than a week he'll be 2) we took him to see Disney's Toy Story 3 on Ice. We were kind of testing the waters with something like this, but we couldn't pass up the chance of atleast trying. Kolton LOVES him some Toy Story so it seemed that he would be fine. (We tried taking him to the movies and it just didn't work out. We had to leave RIGHT when the movie started. Why do they make previews so long these days!) So we had a friend keep Emma so we could have Kolton feel even more special having all of mommy and daddy's attention, and not taking the chance of Emma being fussy during the show. Which worked out perfectly. Apparently Emma is much more okay with being away from mommy than I thought? ha! Kolton had a blast. From the second we walked into the building and he noticed Buzz and Woody items were everywhere he was in heaven. He kept pointing and shouting and getting so excited. He took his picture with Buzz and Woody too, it was the cutest thing ever. Once we got in and the show started he just sat on our laps watching in amazement. Adam and I came to an agreement that we probably could have cried any second of how amazed we are and proud of him. Our little boy is growing up so fast, and now he can do the things that when he was born we wished he'd be able to do. Like sit through a movie and enjoy it. We love that little boy so much and he (and his sister) tug at our hearts every day. I hope he had as much fun as we did just watching him (and I'm sure he did)

Here's some pictures that I took with my phone and a little video. I started to be a little picture crazy at first, but then I forced myself to put my camera away and enjoy our time with Kolton.

An amazing weekend.

2010-10-18T07:50:00.007-04:00

Our weekends have been packed full with events for the past couple months. My friend the other day said "You sure go to a lot of birthday parties!" Ha! I suppose we do. This weekend we didn't have any birthday plans, but we still had something pretty spectacular to do. We participated in the Light the night Walk in DC. It's the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's walk and fundraising event to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. My friend Melissa organized it in memory of her boyfriend's childhood best friend whom he lost to leukemia.

Let me just back up a few steps for you and tell you that we were a little nervous about how the kids were going to do. The walk itself didn't start until 7 and as we all know that's usually when my kids are in bed. We met at the metro at 5, which again we were nervous that Kolton would be a little freaked out. Boy were we wrong. He loved it. He kept saying "Choo choo!" Once we got to the city we tried to find someplace to have a quick dinner before going to the event. It was so crazy, it was like every place to eat was close.. except for McDonalds. and I'm pretty sure every person from DC and the surround area was in that McDs. We did have one small (Ha!) melt down from my son in there. You should know that my son is in l-o-v-e with balloons. Well, there was several people with that balloons, and he wanted them. So after a (very) quick bite to eat, we took of to the event. First stop..

The balloon tent!

From there we were ready to rock and roll. The city was pretty much closed off to us, and we just walked in memory and honor of all the survivors and in support of all those still struggling and families who support them everyday. It was pretty magical seeing the city lit up with all the balloons.
After the walk they had a band, bouncy houses, face painting, and food stands from a local restaurant giving out chili, chips, and water. After we ate some of the chili we headed back to the metro where Emma fell asleep in the stroller and Kolton flirted with Melissa. lol! Once we got back to the car both kids slept the whole way home AND slept until 8:30 the next morning! I think it's safe to say they had a blast, too! I'm so proud of how well they did, and thankful they can experience stuff like this with us. I swear these babies have done more in their 2/1 years than I did until I was 18!

We felt so lucky to have a hand in such an amazing event. Thank you so much Melissa for putting it together!

Are they twins?

2010-10-16T10:29:00.005-04:00

I couldn't tell you how many times I've been asked if the kids are twins. I swear, probably atleast 2 times EVERYTIME we go out. In the store, while they're in the stroller.. heck we'll be in the Starbucks drive thru and they'll ask if they are twins. It use to be where people who knew they weren't twins -like friends and family- would even think it's hilarious, but now THEY even say they look like twins. I get it though, especially the older Emma gets.. they do look ALOT alike. Like in this picture..

and the other day while I was waiting for friends to show up for our lunch date I sent this picture to my husband and he responded with "They look like twins in that picture." Ha!

Many of my close friends know that we were originally pregnant with twins with Kolton. Adam and I just can't help but think of the irony that is of our situation. About a year later we have Emma who is a spitting image of Kolton. From looks to personality. I believe everything happens for a reason, and in my book they might as well be twins.. I was just given a year break before the REAL chaos began, ha!

I tell you what though, they are two peas in a pod..

Lazy days..

2010-10-16T10:19:00.002-04:00

Isn't this what life is all about?

Get your pumpkin patch on!

2010-10-16T10:01:00.011-04:00

Just recently we made a trip to a local REAL pumpkin patch with some friends. You know me, I love me some fall so I think I was more excited than most of the kids! We met two other friends with their kids there. Adam didn't have to work like the other husbands so we had him tag along with us to be a extra set of hands.

It was SO fun. They had a petting zoo, hayride, corn maze, and the kids even got to pick out their own pumpkins to take home. I just loved seeing how much fun Kolton was having with his best friends, and how much of a big boy he is. It still boggles my mind how fast he's growing up! The weather was perfect for the day too! After all the awesome pumpkin patch activities we walked to the country store they had on the "farm" and ate some ice cream. I got the pumpkin soft serve and it was DIVINE! We were in such a great company, and had such a great day.

And of course Emma was there with her best friend Avery. I ADORE seeing these girls together. I just know they're going to be best friends!
Isn't this the cutest picture ever? It looks like Emma is telling Avery a secret and Avery is saying "Whaaat?" Ha! I love it!

We had such a great day, and we're already planning our next pumpkin patch trip!

I've got a feeling..

2010-10-05T22:00:00.002-04:00

that I have some pretty amazing friends. A very dear friend made me a video of Emma's first year. I'm so thankful to have such close friends who care enough about me and my kids to do something like this. The thought of making one for her crossed my mind, but honestly I completely forgot about it with the manics that go on daily. Having this given to me as a gift makes my heart do backflips. It reminds me that I have some awesome people in my life that I wouldn't trade for a million bucks. Two million... maybe we'll talk. ;) Ha! Kidding.

Anyhoo, she did an amazing job on capturing all my favorite pictures, including Kolton, and picking out the perfect song. To my amazing friend --I owe you big! :)

Emotional

2010-09-26T07:23:00.005-04:00

My husband and I were talking last weekend about life before kids. I asked him if he remembered what our weekends were like pre-kids, and he just laughed. At that very moment we were on our way to a friend of Kolton's 4th birthday party . So that very moment my husband was missing college football. We then laughed about the irony of birthday parties, zoo trips, and whatever else you do to keep kids from going stir crazy in the house taking place of college game day, shopping, going out with friends, and whatever else adults do to have fun. To remember the days where we could just pack a bag for us and drive 3 hours to the beach and not have to worry about 28 bags of diapers, bottles, snacks, juice, and then make that 3 hour road trip turn into 6 because someone is sick, wants out of the car, or needs a potty break (that's usually me ha!). But also do you know how many times I'll ask Adam "What was life like before kids?" ...boring! Sure, I'm sure all the stuff we did was fun, but none of that has much substance once you have kids. While we're cracking up at Kolton doing a funny dance or Emma growling like a monster, or Kolton wearing his rainboots to bed and Emma dancing to the Calliou theme song, or even when Kolton is throwing a fit because his Mr Potato Head wont cooperate (as he's doing right now) or when Emma is keeping us up all night because her teeth are coming in... even THEN I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing.

And I'm sure you've all noticed we have two birthdays coming up. Kolton will turn 2 on the 29th of October and Emma will turn ONE on November 3rd. Have you noticed that I haven't talked about it AT ALL. Other than talking about her party, I can't bring myself to talk about my babies getting older. I'm VERY emotional over it. I want Emma to stay the sweet cuddly baby she is, and it seems like every day Kolton gets more independent and doesn't need his momma anymore. Of course it makes me very proud that Kolton is growing up and becoming a smart little boy, but really where does the time go? Kolton is starting to say so many more words and it make me so proud. Emma is so close to walking it's unreal. Didn't I just bring these babies home?! REALLY!

Another thing I'm emotional over? NOT having a teeny tiny baby in the house. I know, I know.. we wont even go there.

So, anyhoo. I had a friend say to me yesterday "Adam must really love you because he's missing football!" ha! I had dragged my husband out to DC for the millionth time this month. He did miss football, but I guess it's because he realizes that football doesn't matter when you have family.. No? Okay, well I'm sure it's because he has the ESPN APP on his phone AND the fact that the most important game to him (WVU vs LSU) didn't come on until 9pm.. lol

So, yes.. we do devote alot of time to our *FAMILY* but we wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Our Awesome Little Family

Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

2010-09-13T17:08:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty sure there isn't one individual that doesn't LOVE pumpkin. Well, maybe a few here and there, but you have to admit yourself it's pretty good. I'm not sure if I love it more because it's yummy or because it's a sign of fall. Have you ever had Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Muffins? Holy, moly. They're the bomb. My husband was genius enough to find a copy cat recipe and made them this weekend. And they were as well THE BOMB! The recipe makes 24, and I'm pretty sure Kolton ate 15 himself! They were THAT good! So I just had to share the recipe with you.

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

1 box of spice cake
1 15 oz can Pumpkin Pie
1 3.4 oz box vanilla pudding
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 tbsp. sour cream
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 c. brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

mix cake mix, pumpkin, pudding and vanilla

Add sour cream, eggs, oil, spice

Once combined scoop one large scoop(pampered chef large scoop)into lined cupcake cups. sprinkle each one with brown sugar and place on stone, or cookie sheet. bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.

We found the recipe here. If you notice it calls for a 30oz can of pumpkin puree, after reading reviews that suggested that it was too much we only used a 15oz can and it was PERFECT! You have to try these. It's easy and I swear you'll feel cozy just smelling them bake!!

DC Housewife

2010-09-13T16:38:00.003-04:00

All of my friends are probably tired of hearing me talk about my love for Washington DC, but I can't help it. I LOVE that city. Any chance we have to go there, I grab it. Adam had an extra day off after my family left so we decided to head into the city and see what we could get into ( I mean there's only a million things to do!)

First we hit up the Smithsonian National Zoo. This zoo/park is pretty cool AND it's free! That's right, you only pay for parking! Kolton has been to Disney World, but he was only 6 months, so now he's at the age where he can enjoy things like this, and boy did he! I forgot my good camera at home, because this was a last minute decision. But you know what, I'm actually glad I forgot it. I sometimes consume myself with trying so hard to snap every expression that *I* don't actually get to enjoy it. I did snap some with my camera phone.. you couldn't really expect me to not take ANY pictures!? But for the most part we walked, we talked, we took notice of everything, we really enjoyed everything, and we enjoyed watching Kolton&Emma enjoy everything. Have I said that I love my little family :)

After we left the zoo we headed to Georgetown Cupcake and grabbed lunch at a yummy BBQ place named Rocklands. It was SUCH a good day, and I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful city at my fingertips and a beautiful family to enjoy it with. I don't want to leave here feeling like I didn't take advantage of it. I tell Adam our future plan is to have our beautiful house in Savannah, Georgia and a condo in Georgetown. The kids will go to college in Georgetown and they'll stay there and we'll come visit them. :) Who knows maybe you'll see me on Real Housewives of DC one day.. ;) Ha!

Labor Day Weekend.

2010-09-13T16:15:00.008-04:00

For Labor Day weekend my sister and her family came to visit us. We always love having company, but I enjoy having my sister and her family so much. She has 3 kid, my niece Mackenzie and my 2 twin nephews Maximus and Matthias. Kolton LOVES playing with his cousins! We took advantage of the weather and mostly played outside. It was also the opening day of college football, so Adam grilled and we watched more football and played outside. And of course we did the mandatory Bert's Diner milkshake run! The house is pretty loud when all of the kids get together, but they all play SO well together, and I LOVE it. I wish they could have stayed longer, but they'll be back for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. :)

While they were here I snapped some pictures for them. They haven't had professional pictures taken since before the boys were born, and I wanted to take some for them. I'm sure you can imagine with having 3 kids, a full time job, my sister just finished up school -it'd be a little hard finding time. Plus, my sister pointed out, everytime they had it planned, someone would fall and get a bruise, black eye, scratch or something and then they wouldn't be able to have them taken.. so I did it! I'm in no way professional, but I've had several of the pictures I have taken printed, and I think their pictures turned out great. Here's a few..

We had a great weekend with my family, and I can NOT wait until they come back until Thanksgiving. Emma will probably be right in the mix of chaos with them then!

More (very) little projects..

2010-08-24T18:39:00.005-04:00

I'm probably the least crafty person you will ever meet in your life. Really, ask my friend Jenifer about a lamp shade I made out of bamboo.. it was AWFUL. I'm pretty sure she's still embarrassed for me over that lamp. I did however win Ms Art my senior year... but it was kind of a joke. And the art teacher was FURIOUS that my classmates voted me. So yes, I'm horrible with anything crafty. So when I do get something that is a little decent -I'm pretty proud. It helps that I read lots of DIY blogs and copy their steps word for word (and my stuff still isn't as good as their's) but I'm pretty happy with two projects I did.

First is a canvas that was in our kitchen. When we first moved in the previous owners left all their decor for us and it was a chef themed, but when we redid the kitchen we took it all out. So I tried to fancy it up.

The before

The after

and here's this another I did today.

I've been trying to figure out something to do with that wall. I was telling Adam the unused wall space in this house drives me nuts. I knew that I wanted to get that picture printed. I was thinking about getting it put on canvas but I wanted to see it on an 8x10 before I paid that much money. The picture was taken with my Canon Rebel and I just wanted to make sure the picture wouldn't distort being blown up that big. (and it didn't!) I like this so much, I might not even get it printed on a canvas! I found the decals around the frame on clearance, so between the 12 dollar frame, the 3 dollar print, and the 5 dollar decals I did two projects today for 20 bucks! ( I had everything already for the first project)

2010-08-18T11:13:00.005-04:00

Lately I've been reading blogs that show cute home decorating projects like this one or this one. I get two ways when I read these type of blogs -motivated and -jealous. Mostly jealous though. I get jealous for several reasons.. these people seem to have TONS of awesome stuff just hanging around the house they can fix up or distress and toss in a corner and it looks awesome, and another reason even if I had awesome stuff hanging around I'm not nearly crafty or chic enough to know how to fix it up and make it look awesome. However, this morning I realized we had some pictures of Em's 7 month photo shoot that needed to be put up. So I had a bright idea to put them in the foyer. My foyer kind of drives me insane. It's not big enough to put a buffet table or something in, but yet it was lacking some sort of furniture. So I decided to steal one of the end tables from my upstairs living and see how it worked in it. I'm pretty sure I love how it looks. Atleast until I can get a table that REALLY works in the area. Here's how it turned out.

I plan on getting a vinyl quote to put above the pictures. Please don't judge my "designing" (Ha!) skills. I'm not Martha Stewart, but you have to admit it doesn't look too bad, right? (I wish I had a before picture!)

Also, here's the space I took the end table from. Which just so happens to be my next project. I need to find something to do with the toys that are taking over my living room.

Boots

2010-08-11T07:32:00.005-04:00

Kolton's current favorite thing besides balls and balloons (his favorite movie is Up) is shoes. This boy LOVES shoes. It's borderline an obsession. So when I found these Toy Story Rainboots on sale I just had to pick them up. I knew he'd love them, but I didn't think they'd be plastered to his feet constantly.

Kolton was pretty persistent about what he wanted to wear to bed last night. We were okay with the fact that the top and bottoms don't match, but really, he had to have the boots. We knew were weren't going to be able to get them off his feet for bedtime so we went ahead and laid him down with them on. I thought "Oh, he'll slip them off when he realizes how difficult it is to sleep with shoes on." WRONG! When I went to check on him I found this -

I tried to slip them off his feet but he immediately woke up and said "Shoes!" You have to pick your battles right? So he slept with his boots on last night. Haha!

2010-08-11T07:15:00.006-04:00

This past weekend we took a trip to Arundel Mills -one of my favorite malls in this area. The kids love it because all the decor inside is brightly colored, so every time we go we get a good couple hours of shopping. And that's a good thing because this place has TONS of stores. We always find ourselves hitting up the baby stores first, and then we shop for ourselves. I told my husband next trip we make will be focused on OUR stuff because the kids have ENOUGH clothes!

While we were there we ate at Chevys. They have THE BEST guacamole. You can literally smell it down the mall!

I'm pretty sure this picture doesn't even do it justice.

I always love getting out with my family and going shopping is a plus too. ;)

Recipe

2010-08-02T07:53:00.003-04:00

I think this might be something I start doing, the whole recipe sharing thing.. Don't get excited. I don't cook that much, and if I do it's usually instructions on the side of the box I'm following, not a recipe.

However, I do really want to share this recipe with you. It's "The Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas"

These are SO good! Adam isn't a big fan of Mexican (crazy, I know) so he wasn't too thrilled at me trying the recipe, but once he tried it he said "Wow. I think this might be the best thing you've ever made" Really?! A Mexican dish is your favorite? That shows how good they are! The recipe is fairly easy. It does have a lot of steps, but don't be discouraged. If I can do this recipe while chasing 2 crazy kids around, you can too! (I was going to do step by step with pictures, but I figured you could just look at Pioneer Woman's)

Ingredients

* FOR THE SAUCE:
* 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
* 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
* 1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
* 2 cups Chicken Broth
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
* 2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
* _____
* FOR THE MEAT:
* 1-½ pound Ground Beef
* 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
* 2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
* ½ teaspoons Salt
* _____
* FOR THE TORTILLAS:
* 10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
* ½ cups Canola Oil
* _____
* TO ASSEMBLE:
* 3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
* ½ cups Chopped Black Olives
* 1 cup Chopped Green Onions
* ½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Whoo loves a good deal?

2010-08-02T07:42:00.003-04:00

I just had to share this with you all..

One day last week I ran to the dollar store to get our dogs a little bag of food to get them through until I was able to make it to Costco (Costco is a little bit of a drive, and remember we've all been sick). Well, as I was in there I noticed they sold clothes! Of course I had to check out the kids section, and they had this cute little onesie.
I'm in love with owls these days! It was only 2.50! How awesome! Whooooo doesn't love a good bargain. (ha, get it whooo?)

Kaboost

2010-07-31T08:45:00.004-04:00

Since we've passed the high chair on to Emma and Kolton's refuses to sit in a booster seat we decided to get him a Kaboost. It's pretty much like a chair lift, and it's awesome. My friends have one and I thought it was the neatest thing ever. Now Kolton can sit at the table comfortably.
(This picture cracks me up. It's like he's saying "Get outta here mom! I just want to eat in peace!")

Btw, I'm sorry for such the poor quality on most of my photos. I use my camera phone alot now, and I just use those pictures.

Teefies!

2010-07-31T08:25:00.003-04:00

Is it just me, or do my kids grow at rocket speed? I mean, who is this big girl right here?

Can't be my daughter. My daughter is a teeny tiny baby girl. My baby girl most definitely doesn't crawl everywhere..cruise everywhere.. or even have a TOOTH! I can't believe it! We didn't even know that she had a tooth actually break through. She was a little fussy for a day and that was it. I mean, she handled it way better than her brother... (sorry Kolt!) But yea, one teefie has popped through! It's still so tiny I couldn't get a picture of it. But as you can tell from the photo Emma's already putting it to good use of eating everything (as if she didn't before)

Recipe

2010-07-31T08:17:00.003-04:00

One thing that people may not know about my husband is he loves to cook AND thank goodness he's a GREAT cook. He loves finding new recipes and trying them out, and more times than not they turn out great. If I could have him do all the cooking I would!

I've been wanting to share his recent recipe that he got from here

Ingredients

2 slices white bread, crusts removed and crumbled

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 teaspoons OLD BAY® Seasoning or 2 teaspoons OLD BAY® 30% Less Sodium Seasoning

2 teaspoons McCormick® Parsley Flakes

1/2 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 pound lump crabmeat

Directions

In a large bowl, mix bread, mayo, OLD BAY, parsley, mustard and egg until well blended. Gently stir in crabmeat. Shape into 4 patties.
Broil 10 minutes without turning or fry until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle lovingly and liberally with OLD BAY. Smile. Serve.

And can I just tell you how yummy these things were? We have a great area next to where we live that we always go because they have THE BEST crab cakes. After having these, I'll never order another crab cake at a restaurant again! One, my husband made them for literally half the price of an entree AND they taste just as good, if not better!

(I'm not sure how easy or hard it would be for you to find jumbo lump crab in your area. We just checked at our favorite butcher and they had tons of choices. However, we do live where crab is common)

Being Dr Mom

2010-07-26T18:25:00.002-04:00

It's my least favorite part of the Mommy job.. being a doctor to my babies. Only because I HATE seeing them sick. Emma's being snotty sounding for the past week and I just chalked it up to teething, but yesterday while we had company Kolton just laid around all day and even they knew that was a sign of him not feeling well. I enjoy the cuddle time that comes with them being sick, but hate to hear the horrible breathing and see the snuffy nose. My poor babies.. fingers crossed they heal soon.

Here's Kolton watching a movie with mommy with his sister's Minnie doll, lol

and here's Emma totally exhausted.. she just fell asleep in her jumperoo..

Our weekend..

2010-07-26T18:01:00.006-04:00

Every weekend I say "We're going to have a LAZY weekend this weekend! Stay in PJS and relax ALL DAY!" and every weekend, we DON'T! Usually by Saturday morning I realize the kids (and me) are getting stir crazy so we have to find something to do. A couple of us and our kids decided to take the kids to a little playhouse that my friend found. It gave the kids something to do while us adults could enjoy A/C ! :) The playhouse just so happened to be down the street of the Bethesda location of Georgetown Cupcake.. you know, the infamous DC Cupcakes show on TLC. So I knew we had to get some before we left town! We got to the playhouse earlier than our friends so we decide to ride by Georgetown Cupcake and see how long the line was.. shockingly it wasn't bad at all.

So after the kids played, all of us adults decided that we wanted cupcakes. So we waited out in 110 degree weather for these cupcakes. and can I just say it was worth every bit of sweat!? We got a couple flavors, Red Velvet (their signature), Peanut Butter Fudge, and Salted Caramel. While the red velvet was ok, the salted caramel was amazing. Hands down my favorite thing ever!

Then Sunday we had some friends over so we (everyone but me, ha!) could watch the race and grill out. Sunday was a lovely day of grilling out and being lazy with some good friends. I couldn't tell you who won the race, but we still had a good time.

By Sunday night we were all totally exhausted, but it was one of the best weekends we've had in a long time! I'm so thankful for our wonderful life and all the awesome people in it!!

Hot Mess Emma...

2010-07-19T15:34:00.002-04:00

Emma has many nicknames, but only occasionally is one mentioned. Emma is teething like crazy these days and I can honestly say for the most part she's doing fine, but some days she's pretty cranky and there's no satisfying her. Those are usually the days we don't bother going out of the house and we just stay lazy in our PJs.

Emma started this new thing of when she gets excited she claps. I think it's the most adorable thing, and I had to share it. She does it all the time, but this video is from one of her "Hot Mess Emma" days...so please excuse the fact she looks like a hot mess.

Also, excuse the random tennis shoe laying around. Anyone that knows my son knows he's obsessed with putting peoples shoes on, so he had that out playing with it.

...knock on wood...

2010-07-16T13:35:00.003-04:00

Well, I've been holding off on an update about Kolton and his big boy bed, because I didn't want to jinx it. But it's been a good couple of days and I think it's safe to say it WONT be going back to a crib. He's done such an amazing job. I didn't expect it to be this easy, but I'm so glad and proud of my little man. We were a little nervous about the morning time. Usually I'm awake when he wakes up because I've been up with Emma, but we worried if some odd chance he wakes up before us and goes and destroys the house (I'm almost positive everything is baby proofed). I told Adam not to worry, that I figured Kolton would wake up and cry until someone comes and gets him. Boy was I wrong. The first day Adam and I was in our room and we heard his door pop open, and here he comes running into our room. WHAT A BIG BOY! It's the cutest thing. He just wakes up and comes out of his room like, "Oh good morning everyone!" Ha! That's another thing, I swear he wakes up in such a better mood. Here lately he's been going to bed about 8/9ish and waking up about 7ish. I'm not sure if he was just getting too much sleep (Is there really such a thing?!) before, or what..but now he wakes up refreshed and cute as a button.

To celebrate how great he's been doing we took him to get a surprise. Taking an almost 2 year old (wow, really?) into a toy section is hilarious. He was so torn on which thing to reach for he was going a mile a minute. Although Kolton's go to is "BALL! BALL!!" that kid wakes up saying ball and goes to sleep saying ball. It's hilarious. We talked him into get a Mr Potato Head, and so far he likes it. Having him keep the "choking hazards" (as Adam calls the teeny tiny parts) away from his sister is a little difficult though, lol.

Here goes nothing..

2010-07-14T19:40:00.004-04:00

So, I think I'm the last person to jump on the Twilight series bandwagon, but I'ma give it a-go. I've watched the first movie, and it was good. It didn't make me want to pitch a tent outside of the movie theater and wait for the next movie to come out...but it was good. Every person I've told that I'm just not that into the series says "You HAVE to read the books!" So, my husband order the books for me, and I'm going to start them! I've been wanting to start back reading, and even picked up a book while Kolton and I was at the library but I just haven't been that into the book. So maybe Twilight will be better?

Here's the book that I picked up, ever heard of it? Should I keep reading?

sheeeeeezball

2010-07-13T20:18:00.003-04:00

This weekend we had a few items we needed from my favorite place...COSTCO!! I LOVE that place! They have the best shopping carts EVER.

You can go to that place and leave with a full belly from all the samples they give out! The kids got hungry while we were looking around so I grabbed a couple samples of yogurt and cheese for them. Oh yeah, that's the beauty of Costco.

Oh and my son's new favorite word? Sheezbaaall...

Love Light Room!

2010-07-13T20:07:00.003-04:00

My husband recently got me Lightroom (the photo editing software) and I'm in love. I've always been interested in photography, and I'm taking pictures of ANYTHING so now I'm even more excited to be able to edit my own photos. Here's a couple... (Now, believe me I have a lot to learn about the software so hopefully my pictures will only get better)

"It's apart of growing up, and you're not a baby anymore.. You're a big boy!"

2010-07-13T19:54:00.005-04:00

Hearing my husband tell my son that tonight about broke my heart. You see, the reason he was telling him that is so he understood why we switched his crib to a big boy bed. That's right, big day in the Bragg house.

I'm not sure why, but my husband and I decided that it was time Kolton be switched to a big boy bed. He does so well in his crib, and here lately he'll grab his mickey and blanket and head to his room like he's trying to tell us he wants to lay down. So we thought maybe this will give him the option of laying down...? Maybe? So far he's doing great. But like I said it's the first night, so we'll see. The first night SHOULD be the hardest, right? And fingers crossed that I don't wake up in the morning with my son helping himself to tearing up the house?

Now I'm on the look out for cute toddler bedding. We're thinking about doing his room in Toy Story for now.

and just for the record, these two will ALWAYS be my babies.. ;)

It's hard out here for a baby..

2010-07-10T20:15:00.002-04:00

Tonight at dinner Emma kept falling asleep in her walker. At first I wasn't sure what she was doing, and kind of panicked and made sure she wasn't like choking or anything, lol. When we finally realized she was falling asleep I grabbed the camera. It's so funny that she did this, because Adam and I just talked about how we didn't believe all the people on America's Funniest Home Videos when they show the videos of kids falling asleep in their high chair, because Kolton's never done it. Well, Emma did! Ha, check it out. And please excuse the music in the background, that would be my son watching Alvin and The Chipmunks. (that's right, my daughter ate in her walker and my son watched TV while he ate dinner. Don't judge me.)

One-on-One

2010-07-10T19:48:00.007-04:00

My friend and I were talking about how we think it's important to have individual time with different children. Each child will have it's own interest, and letting them have their own time with Mommy or Daddy will make them feel extra special.

Even though Kolton&Emma are young, I still try to do this. I feel like there was a bond made with Kolton and us before Emma was here, so I want to give her one on one time, but also I feel like when I was tired and pregnant with Emma, it costed Kolton of some of his only time. Either way, I want to start by giving them individual attention now. As long as I have a helping husband that gets to bond with the other child, I think it's only going to be a positive decision. :)

So after naptime yesterday Kolton and I headed to the library and farmer's market. Our library has an awesome play area for kids. I left Kolton in the stroller while he played with the toys. I think the workers were already eyeballing my rambunctious toddler already, so I can only imagine the havoc he'd cause if he was turned lose. He enjoyed all the gadgets and toys they had though. He even sat and read a couple books. He loved the Barney book, and they had one with pictures of Cheerios in it and he kept trying to pick them up and eat them, ha! I picked up a book for myself, and then headed to the farmers market. The FM is ran by the local Amish farmers in the area and they set up right in the library parking lot. We picked up some potatoes for dinner and checked out everything they had. I tried to show Kolton the different fruits and veggies they had, but every time he saw a melon he'd say "Ball!" He was heartbroken when we got to the car because momma didn't buy him a "Ball!". It was so hot outside, so we ran to Wawa and picked up some juice and headed home. Every moment I spend with this little guy I'm more amazed on how fast he's growing. I'm trying so hard to soak it up.

Earlier in the week Emma and I went to town to doing a little shopping. While in Mississippi I had seen a cute chalk board at a local boutique and didn't pick it up. I'm not kicking myself in the butt for not getting it, so I wanted to look for one or atleast the stuff to make one myself. The stores we hit up were all in a plaza so I just put Emma in the stroller and we went from store to store. She's such a good baby! She stayed so content the whole time and just looked around. Hardly made a peep. After all the looking around (and walking in the blasting heat) we (or momma) decided to make a stop at Starbucks. This was the first time my sweet girl hit up Starbucks with me, but I guarantee it wasn't the last. We had fun. I enjoy having her as a little tag along.
Here's my sleepy girl on the way home. She was so tired...

Happy Birthday!!

2010-07-09T19:18:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday to my niece Mackenzie! :) Mackenzie is so important to her Uncle and me (as well as "the brothers") I was in the delivery room with my sister when she was born, and I just adore the fact that I was so involved in her birth. She's just about one of my very favorite person. She's sharp as a tack and sassy as can be. I hope you have a very great birthday my love, and enjoy your pool party at Nana and PawPaw's house. You know the Bragg family wishes we could be there!

This pictures was taken when Mackenzie was going on two years old! Today is her sixth birthday!! My how time flies!!

Down a notch..

2010-07-09T12:29:00.003-04:00

You don't know how excited I am about this post! This is my sweet Paisley girl's first ACTIVE video debut! I had put her down for a nap and could hear her playing in her crib. I grabbed my phone to video her being silly, not expecting to see what I did. Check it out..

This is already the second level. Her crib only has 3 levels, so we'll be moving her to the last one. She's a monkey already, just like her brother! What did I eat/drink during my pregnancies to make my kids so wild? ;)

Also, Miss Emma thinks she's sneaky. She's starting a collection of pacifiers behind her bed.

My favorite day of the week!

2010-07-09T12:00:00.003-04:00

It's amazing the amount of stuff you can get accomplished before noon if you wake up early. My day usually starts about 6am and I have majority of my stuff finished before naptime. Then at naptime I can catch up on my dvr (if I'm lucky to have both kids down for a nap). We have a pretty consistent routine in the Bragg house. I always tell Adam the normalcy of our lives would blow alot of people away. My high school friends always crack up at seeing me as a mother. It's much different than when I was a teenager. Isn't that what it's about though? Growing as a person, and maturing.

Anyhoo. Every Friday we treat Kolton to lunch from one of his favorite restaurants. Usually we'll leave from the gym and grab him something to go from somewhere. Today however, I skipped the gym and went shopping (ha!) We had to run some errands so I decided to take the kids to the mall while I exchanged some stuff, and afterwards let Kolton play in the play area they have. I love seeing him interact with kids his own age, and he reminds me alot of when I was a kid (or atleast what I remember) He's not shy one bit, and he tries to make friends with everyone. After he played his heart there we grabbed some lunch at Chic-Fil-A! Now the kids (and mommy) are enjoying some peace and quiet while they nap. :) I swear, every Friday is so enjoyable. It's my favorite day.

(sorry the photos are such poor quality. I took them with my cellphone.)

Rats!

2010-07-08T11:57:00.004-04:00

We all know about The Cookie Mama, right? Well, during our MS trip I was able to not only MEET her (jealous, I know!) AND enjoy her adorable cookies. Check out these cookies...

My friend Jenifer was awesome enough to hook us up with these cookies. Each cookie design has a back story that's hilarious to us. So the cookies were extra special.

Here's the two cookie monsters FINALLY getting their cookies (I'm not sure who was more excited Mac or Adam)

Make sure you check out The Cookie Mama's site!!

Down in Mississippi Up to No Good

2010-07-08T11:46:00.006-04:00

We have some very good friends that we met at our first base who live in Mississippi. They're about to make a move to Little Rock, Arkansas where my friend's husband will be stationed as an officer! We're so proud of them, and it had been a couple months since we've seen them so we decided to go see them in their hometown of Columbus, MS before they leave.

The downtown of Columbus is my favorite. It's the historic district and has cute boutiques (my favorite). Besides a little bit of shopping and lots of eating, we mostly just enjoyed each others company at the Jones' house or swimming in Jenifer's parents awesome pool! Here's some pictures of the trip..

It was so great seeing the kids interact. Jenifer and I had ran out to get some coffee (just like old times) and I asked if she'd ever imagine that there'd be a day that our kids would be just as close as we were. ;)

Thanks so much for having us Josh, Jenifer, and Mackenzie (and pups)...see you in 6 months ;)

Well, hello there!

2010-07-08T11:27:00.005-04:00

Wow! Has it really been 7 months since I've posted something? Don't let me fool you, I'm not really that busy -ha! I plan on starting to post more often (heard that before, eh?). I really want to keep my family updated and keep a "journal" for my memory.

So let's skip the song and dance and get right into the updating!

We have actually been staying a teeny bit busy with two wild rascals (and our two fur rascals) The kids are growing like weeds and getting smarter each day.

Let's start with Kolton first

Of course, I think he's a genius but he is quite the smart boy. You know that saying "Too smart for you're own good"? Well, that's Kolton. He's more interested in exploring and seeing what he can get into than play with blocks or some other boring toy. He loves to be outside. Running, climbing, chasing the dogs, playing in his little pool..anything that keeps him moving. He's ALL boy. Snips and snails, right? The only time you can get this boy to sit still (a minute or two) is while he's watching his favorite movie Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakal! He loves to dance, so everytime music comes on he shakes what his momma gave him! Kolton is at the fun age, where he's learning something new everything and enjoys it. I love seeing the excitement on his face. Sometimes if you catch him at juuuust the right time he's quite the cuddle bunny. :) He can sign several words -milk, more, and please. (We decided to teach him sign language to help him communicate with US better, and it's been a life saver!) He can say no, sissy, Gracie, ball (his favorite), and several others.

Now for my sweet Emma girl

Emma just turned 8 months (Can you believe?) It's hard for me to grasp that in less than 4 months I'll be celebrating her one year old birthday. Feels like we just brought her home. Emma has been SUCH a great baby since day one. She's developing quite the personality and she's just as smart as her brother. She's crawling and starting to pull up and stand. The first thing you notice (other than how dang cute she is) is her gorgeous hair. She has the best hair a baby could wish for. It's a chocolate brown color with some curl/wave, and 99% of the time she has a bow in it. ;) She's sleeping through the night. (Her and Kolton sleep about 12 hours at night. Yes!) She'll eat anything you put in front of her (seriously!) Just recently she ate THREE hushpuppies! So I have to keep an eye on her when her brother is around, he likes to share his big boy treats (We're sticking to the no sugar rule for her too). She's in a big girl convertible carseat and does better than when she was in the carrier. All in all she's a wonderful baby!

So there's a little update for you on the kids and like I said, I do plan on posting more often. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-05T20:42:00.004-05:00

One word: snowww!!!

The whole time we lived in Georgia every winter we'd talk about how much we missed snow. When we moved back up north last year and experience snow again, we were over it really quick. Snow isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it sure does make those December days cozy and worth staying in the house. I think when we don't have anything stopping us from doing crazy running around on the weekends we miss great opportunities of just staying home and hanging out as a family. Today it snowed (as you can see) and both the kids are sick, so we decided to just stay home this weekend. This is probably the most enjoyable weekend we've had just the 4 of us in forever. We stayed in our PJs, put up more Christmas decorations, did some crafts with Kolton, and was just plain lazy. I love it! I love my family, I love my cozy house, and I love being lazy. It was the perfect day!

The paper snowflakes we made!

Jumping the Gun

2009-12-03T10:47:00.004-05:00

As I said before Adam returned to work this week, and we're on day four of it being just me with the kids while he's there. Can I just tell you how nervous I was. I mean, they're my kids and I *knew* I could take care of them, I just didn't know if I could. Does that make sense? Although Adam was a huge huge HUGE help the past month I was ready (even though I was nervous) to get into a routine and see just how well I'd do. Honestly, I don't think it could be going any better. Sure, I'm probably jumping the gun. I'm sure there will be a day that I'm about to pull my hair out and be asking for volunteer babysitters so I can go get a couple cocktails, but right now -it's great. We've developed a pretty good routine and we stick to it somewhat. And of course we've had a couple melt downs, and of course at 5 oclock the house house begins to shake with Kolton being hungry and ready for bed and Emma being hungry and ready for bed, but all in all we've had a great couple of days. I really enjoy my kids. I love being a stay at home mom. I love spending time with them. Playing with them, running after them, seeing their face light up with they learn something new. Many of my friends have glamorous well paying jobs and although I'm jealous of the swag they may score from Versace (ahem, not fair) I'm never jealous of their jobs, because no matter what anyone says my job is way cooler. I mean, who wouldn't rather have free snotty kisses compared to a designer clutch. Ha! So let's use this as a little documentation I can look back on when I have one of those not so great days. Because on this day although I have two kids feeling worse than I am (we all have a cold) we were able to sleep in until 8am, have a great breakfast together, I was able to clean the whole upstairs while the kids were AWAKE, I was able to take a shower, and now I'm able to doodle on the laptop while eating my lunch in peace because both kids are asleep, and guess what? They put themselves to sleep!! Oh what a great day it is. So before one of them wake up I'm off to enjoy my yummy lunch..

Happy One Month Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!!

2009-12-01T20:08:00.003-05:00

CORR: Okay, I'm having a little debate with my husband. Dec 1st was 4 weeks since Emma was born. 4 weeks equal a month. However, she was born Nov 3rd. So there for Dec 3rd would be a month birthday, right? So ignore the date on this post. I think I messed up. Oops.

It's been one month since our sweet baby girl has made her appearance. She's ridiculously precious and we're so thankful for her. In the words of Adam "she's already a heartbreaker". She actually gave me a huge grin today (which I *know* was NOT because of gas) and I'm hoping that's a sign that I make her as happy as she makes me. I totally adore my sweet Emma Paisley. Happy birthday sweet baby girl!! Mommy and Daddy love you!!

Things are great!

2009-11-24T22:02:00.003-05:00

Well, as you can imagine things are somewhat chaotic around the Bragg household. Although Emma pretty much sleeps all the time, Kolton is full throttle all the time. He surely keeps us on our toes. Adam has been here with me the past 3 weeks and has been a huge help. He goes back to work next Monday and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do without him! I try not to think about that just yet, and savor the time I have now with him, lol.

Emma just had her two week check up and the doctor said she's growing great. She's 8lb 14oz and 20.5 inches long. 50 percentile on everything which is just fine with me. The doctor did say that she had developed some thrush in her mouth and put her on mouth drops. I recently had an infected tooth and had to be put on antibiotics, so since I *was* breastfeeding her, it developed thrush in her mouth. The doctor says its not painful to her (and if it is, she doesn't make it known) and it's almost cleared up from the couple days of using her medicine. She's an absolute doll, and if you catch her at the right moment she's a total cuddle monster. Most of the time she likes to just sleep and be left alone. Kolton is still doing great with her and adores his Sissy. I don't think there is a day that goes by that Adam and myself say that we're truly blessed with our children and our life. Life is good!

On our way to the doctor:

See, full throttle all the time:

Happy Birthday Emma Paisley!!

2009-11-08T18:44:00.007-05:00

At 8:38 on November 3rd 2009 Our Awesome Little Family got just a little more awesome. Emma Paisley was born.

She was 20 inches long and 7lb 13.6oz

Kolton is being an amazing big brother and totally adores his little sister already. He gives her kisses all the time! I couldn't ask for a better family. I have two beautiful children and amazing husband. Life is good!

Update on Emma Paisley

2009-10-29T20:21:00.002-04:00

Well, it's not going to be long and Emma will be here! We're getting close, and I'm starting to get really excited. I hadn't had a chance to really think about it lately with being so busy with Kolton's birthday, but it's starting to hit home.

I had an appointment with my csection doctor Wednesday to go over my paperwork and to get all the information about my csection. So here it is; Tuesday Nov 3rd I go in at 6am. They'll start my IV and do my blood work, make sure everything is good to go, and then the csection should start about 8am. Hoping everything goes great and smooth Emma will be here before 9am! How exciting huh?! This is all going according given she doesn't decide to come on her own. Which frankly, I think I'm going to carry her until then. So more than likely Emma's birthday will be Nov 3rd! That's a good day, I think!

From what the doctor's can tell she's doing good. Her heartbeat is always great when they check it, I just recently had my amniotic fluid checked and that was great, she's moving around lately... So everything seems great! I can't wait to meet that little girl! The newest addition to the Bragg Family! :) I promise to post pictures as soon as I can!

Happy birthday to my sweet baby boy!!!

2009-10-29T19:56:00.004-04:00

Can we just say that time goes entirely too fast? I swear it was just yesterday I was bringing Kolton home. I wish time could just stand still for a few moments so I have a chance to soak it up. We've been so blessed with the most extraordinary boy in the world. I have no doubt that his sister will be anything but either. I never knew I could love something so much. I want to make that boy as happy as I ever can, if he only knew how many times he puts a smile on my face. It's only fair for me to return the favor. So yes, the first year went entirely too fast. I'm not sure I can handle every year going this fast! Next thing I know he'll be a 13 year old boy! Ah! Help me!

Anyhoo. Sunday we threw Kolton his first birthday party. We originally planned to have it in West Virginia with our family, but I couldn't make the drive. I didn't want to chance going into labor before Kolton's big day. I think we made the best decision too. We had the party at our house in Maryland and our friends from my husband's work and their families came to help us celebrate! I'm so thankful to have such great friends here! We had a great time, too. The kids busted a pinata (I had no idea how vicious kids can be over those things!), we ate tons of pizza, and Kolton got his first taste of sugar! At first he didn't want to have anything to do with it, but after we pretty much forced a bite in his mouth it was game on! So all in all Kolton's party was a great success and I'm so appreciative of all our friends who came!

This morning when we woke Kolton up we had his present from Mommy and Daddy for him. We got him a LeapFrog Musical Table, which I think he likes alot. He recently started this thing where he dances when he hears music so I think it was a good toy for him. We were going to get him a Mickey Mouse Power Quad, but we couldn't find it so we'll see if Santa will bring that to him for Christmas. Then we took him out for a birthday lunch to Red Robin. He had a yummy lunch of fries, grilled cheese, and some of Mommy's grilled chicken! After lunch we took him to Toys R Us. He had received some birthday money and we decided to let him pick out a toy. He picked out the infamous Corn Popper! Ha! Lucky us, huh? We picked up an ice cream sundae for him on the way home and after dinner we let him have some ice cream for the very first time. He liked it, but I'm not sure if my son is going to be into sweets that much. Which is perfectly fine with me! I hope he had a great day, and I know he wont remember this day at all but this birthday will be no different than the next birthdays he has. Every birthday is going to be special and a point to him will be made that we're happy he is here with us. We are truly bless with such a great child and there is not a day that goes by that Adam and I think about how lucky we are. Happy birthday our sweet baby boy!! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!!

My little pumpkin at the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T21:03:00.002-04:00

We recently relandscaped our landscaping (okay, did that make sense?), anyway and I wanted to get some pumpkins for our front porch. We decided to take Kolton to the pumpkin patch and let him explore. He had a blast. He'd go from pumpkin to pumpkin pointing "Mom. Mom. Mom" (That week everything was Mom, this week everything is Dad) You can see him pointing at the pumpkins in some of the pictures in the collage. I must say it broke my heart a little watching my little boy walk around so carefree. He didn't need momma to hold him or anything. I put him down and he just went along his way. He's becoming less dependable on me... now if we can just have the diaper situation taken care of? ;)

Here's some pictures of our time at the pumpkin patch. We picked up a couple pumpkins for decorations and we're still deciding if we want to go back and get more to carve. We picked up 2 big pumpkins and 2 baby pumpkins, how cute huh? We also picked up some beautiful Mums for our flowerbeds!

Wrapped around her little finger already..

2009-10-21T20:33:00.003-04:00

A couple weekends ago Adam, Kolton, and myself went to a local festival here. It's nothing big, but Adam and I went last year and they have the best apple dumplins so I insisted we go back this year. Besides having those yummy apple dumplins, it has a petting zoo, bands, and it has little stands of local vendors. One of the stands was two ladies selling homemade bows. I love me some bows, but all the ones I saw were for bigger girls so I decided not to get any. We were about half way through the vendors when Adam said "I'm going to go get Emma a bow" He had seen a bow that he wanted to get her while we were there and decided to go back and get it for her. I thought it was so sweet. If you know Adam he's the most macho guy when it comes to anything girly, so for him to make an effort to buy a bow for her is pretty sweet! :)

Here's the fabulous bow he picked out!

Catching up!

2009-10-10T19:09:00.006-04:00

I feel so awful that I haven't updated my blog in ages. I have tons of pictures I'd like to share, but I always lose track of time and by the time I do realize what time it is -I'm heading to bed! I just wanted to play a quick catch up with you all and update you guys on how life is with our awesome little family.

Well, our awesome little family will be adding the new addition Nov 3 if Emma Paisley doesn't make an appearance by then. I have a scheduled c-section with the same doctor that performed Kolton's csection. I absolutely loved my csection doctor and I just had to schedule Emma's with the same doctor.

We're totally excited and pretty much ready for her to come. I'm just waiting on her diaper bag to come in the mail, and I have to pick up a few odds and ends and that's it! We have another 4D ultrasound scheduled Monday and I can't wait to see how much she has changed and who she looks like. Remember the first set we had from a couple months ago?

As for Kolton he's growing too fast. He turns one in less than a month, and I can't believe it. He's already walking and does so many things that shock me. He's keeping momma on her toes, that's for sure. I'm interested to see what his sister's personality is compared to his. I will not know what to do if she's calm. He just cut his 3rd and 4th tooth. Poor little guy is so limited on what he can and can not eat plus he's a picky eater so you can imagine the heck we play at meal time. We're still working on the sippy cup, but we've made the transition to milk. He's front facing in his car seat too. Like I said, he's such a big boy already!

We're getting ready for Halloween too, and I can not wait until everyone sees his cute costume. We're keeping it a surprise though. So you'll have to check back for pictures. :)

I promise I'm going to do better with this blog. I know alot of my friends and family back home are interested in it and read it to stay up to date. I'll do better, I promise! Just cut me some slack, October has been the busiest month of my life! Shew!

We're also officially finished with her room, so here's the final picture!

Emma's nursery

2009-09-17T20:16:00.002-04:00

We're about 95% finished with Emma's nursery. We just need to hang some stuff on the wall, and that's it. I can not believe it's ready. It feels literally like yesterday that I was taking the pregnancy test! Now I'm 33 weeks and have another room in my house for another one of my children. How crazy is that?

We worked so hard on her nursery. Okay, Adam worked so hard on her nursery, and it totally paid off. We're in love with this room. When you stand in the hallway in the perfect spot you can see Emma's nursery on one side, and Kolton's on the other. It's so amazing! You see one blue baby boy room for the most perfect little boy, and you also see one pink nursery for the most perfect little princess. Ah! How much fun is this going to be!!

How precious!

2009-09-17T17:16:00.003-04:00

You just have to love girl stuff, have to! I mean, how could you not look at these little crochet bands, flowers, and bow and not totally melt. The flowers clip on to the band, so you can match them with whatever band you'd like. I'm wanting Emma to come home from the hospital wearing one of these bands, I'm just on a mission to find her something that matches them.

I just had to share the cuteness!

Officially?

2009-09-13T08:15:00.003-04:00

I think we can officially say Kolton is walking. Well, can it be official if he can only walk barefoot or with socks on? He hasn't quite mastered walking with shoes on, but still. Walking like this at 10 months is pretty dag on amazing if you ask me. My friend called it a "Zombie Walk" and I think that's the PERFECT definition. Sometimes when he gets excited while walking he'll start to "growl" (or whatever you want to call it) and it's for sure a Zombie or Monster Walk!

Here's a video to show how well he's walking. :) Enjoy!

Love me some handmade gifts..

2009-09-08T22:08:00.003-04:00

My best friend and her mom (Momma Lyn!) were recently able to come and visit with us while on their way to NYC (you know, the VERSACE internship I was telling you about) and of course they came bearing gifts. Momma Lyn is one of my absolute favorite people in the world. She's hilarious and obviously so thoughtful, on the trip to my house she knitted Kolton and Emma each a bib and a wash cloth. I -love-love-love-love em. Dear Momma Lyn if you're reading this I think you need to make more trips to my house so 1) I can see your beautiful face, 2) You can teach me how to sew, and 3) You can bring me more awesome homemade goodies! :)

I just love having awesome people in my life!

Straight from The Big Apple

2009-09-08T21:51:00.003-04:00

My best friend just recently moved to NYC to intern at VERSACE! I think what she's doing is totally amazing, and I'm so proud of her. She always send me and my family the best gifts (seriously, she's the best gift sender!) and I just recently received a package from her that was THE BEST! It had all kinds of goodies, but my favorite was 2 onesies (one for Kolton and one for Emma).

Here's Emma's...

how flipping fantastic is this?!!? Kolton's is absolutely adorable too, but it was in the wash when I took pictures of Emma's and I'm too impatient. I wanted to post pictures of them now. Auntie Erin is the coolest! Thanks Moon!!

One step at a time..

2009-09-08T21:37:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to give you all an update on Emma & Kolton. We recently just had a check up and everything is going great with Emma. I go next week to see the doctor who performed my c-section with Kolton (and who will also do Emma's if that's what I decide) to talk to him about the best option on whether I should elect for a c-section or not. It's a tough decision, and I have Kolton to think of now. Between the doctor, Adam, and myself I'm sure we'll make the best decision. Can we believe I'm 8 months pregnant! My how time flies.

Speaking of time flying, Kolton just turned 10 months August 29th. He's eating regular food, same thing as mommy and daddy, he's eats baby food very seldom, he's using a sippy cup, he only gets 2 bottles a day -one in the morning and one before bed, and he's walking!! Every day he walks more and more. It baffles me. Today while I was cooking dinner I turned to check on him while he was in the living room, and he just walked into the kitchen like it was nothing! He's pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever laid eyes on, he's so-totally-amazing. Love that boy!! Here's a video of him taking his first bit of steps. This was taken last week and he's walking SO much more already. He's keeping mommy busy!

LONG over due!!

2009-09-08T21:26:00.003-04:00

A million weeks ago my very awesome friend Jenifer sent me tons of clothes for Emma and Kolton. I've been quite busy lately, and when I'm not -I'm lazy. I'm long over due for a thank you (even though I've already told her) for all these goodies, I mean happies!. She literally hooked Emma up. Let me tell you, I went to Old Navy and literally could not buy my daughter anything because every new item was what she sent me! Thank you so much Jenifer, Josh, and OF COURSE Mackenzie!! You guys are amazing!

Ooooh toodles..

2009-08-10T15:21:00.003-04:00

I really hate letting Kolton watch TV. I swear up and down he's not going to be a TV junkie (like his momma) However, us mommies know that when your child shows such attention to something, you can't help but give in to them. While I'd clean up after Kolton's breakfast or why he'd play in his playpen I'd put the TV on Disney. Usually he'd pay absolutely no mind to it and continuing doing whatever. However, as of lately, he can NOT get enough of Mickey Mouse. The second he hears Mickey's voice, or the start of any music he rushes to get in front of the TV. I think it's the cutest thing ever that he has found something he likes so much!

Cruisin...

2009-08-04T20:38:00.002-04:00

The doctor asked me if Kolton was walking along side of furniture (aka cruising)

And he does!

Here's some pictures I snapped of him walking around the furniture "chasing" Cooper. Cooper kept moving from him and he didn't like that!

Check ups -thumbs ups

2009-08-04T20:29:00.003-04:00

Kolton, Emma, and I all had check ups Monday. All is well with all three of us! My belly is getting bigger, my back is starting to hurt a little more, and I stay exhausted. But who's complaining? Emma's heart rate was great, and she's moving and kicking like crazy. Kolton is growing like a weed, his weight and height is right on target, and his motor skills are right on target (and some advanced) His doctor told me to get ready, he'll be walking soon. Which I'm actually excited about. I know he'll be into a lot more things, and I'll be busy with him (like I'm not now?!) but he wants to be SO mobile and I think he'll just enjoy being able to walk. He's 29 inches long, 21 lbs, and his head is still 19 inches. Last time we were there she was a little concerned with how big his head was, but it hasn't grown anymore, and his body is catching up to his head. Woohoo! While I was filling out the baby survey of all the things your child is able to do, I came to the conclusion I have a baby genius on my hands. Ha! Don't we all say that ladies?

I love the weekends.

2009-08-04T20:09:00.004-04:00

I wish everyday was a lazy Sunday. Monday through Friday seems to always be busy, and our past couple weekends have been pretty busy to. It seems like it's been forever since we can wake up Saturday morning and say "Okay, what do we have to do today? Nothing!" and oh, that's such a good feeling. Although we had to run to a friends house for Kolton's 9 month pictures, the rest of our weekend was planned to just be lazy. Which is my favorite. We did a little shopping, grabbed a bite to eat, and was lazy bums. Sunday was no different, however I just have to share with you guys this yummy dinner we had.

Before Kolton came along it wasn't a thing for my husband and I to waltz into any restaurant. Now we have to constantly think about the menu, if they're kid friendly, how fast the service is before he has a Monster fit (who? My son doesn't have melt downs, lol!) Well, we happened to stumble upon a place that said on the sign "Calypso Dock Bar and Restaurant" I see bar and think, oh keep on moving, but I asked the guy if they were kid friendly and he said "Absolutely!" When we first walked in I seen high chairs and thought, oh shew! A boy he was not lying when he said they were kid friendly. They absolutely ate Kolton up! They gave him crackers, would stop and talk to him every time they walked past the table, and even gave him a little hat. So there's one thing out of the way, excellent service. So how was the food? Can I just say the menu didn't impress me too much. It looked like someone just printed it off the computer, so I wasn't expecting anything special with the food. But holy goodness, it came out with a 5 star presentation. My husband and I both got crab cakes, and they were the best crab cakes ever. (Sorry Fiddlers in Savannah Georgia!) I was only suppose to get one cake with my dinner, but the chef gave me an extra one since it was small. Uh, it was NOT small! We will going back there for sure!!

That was my great lazy weekend!

My handsome little boy eating up all the attention.

He wouldn't keep the hat on!

Yes I took a picture -it was THAT good!!

Looking for the goods

2009-07-31T21:17:00.002-04:00

We recently started feeding Kolton different foods. We've tried chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries.. all kinds of yummy foods. He pretty much likes everything BUT the cubes of cheese we've tried.

Apparently it's not enough though. Here's my baby boy looking for something to eat-

Finally!!!!!!

2009-07-31T17:04:00.002-04:00

I'm very pleased to say my husband and I have officially decided on a name for Baby Girl, and it couldn't be more perfect.

I've been dying to monogram something for Baby Girl, so the second my husband told me the name I started making her something. Soooo... here it is, Baby Girl's name!

Emma Paisley!

I have wanted her first name to be Paisley from the very beginning, but my husband refused. He said he didn't like it as a first name. Little did I know, he loved it as a middle name. He paired it with Emma that he suggested a while back, and voila! The perfect name for our perfect little girl! :)

If you're wondering what exactly that is that I made for Emma, it's going to go in the picture frames I purchased to match her bedding. I can not wait to start her nursery! (which is still going to be a couple weeks, but still!)

So, I'm very happy to share the name with you guys!!

Filling that closet up!

2009-07-27T21:58:00.006-04:00

This weekend we went shopping with the family. We went to this cute indoor outlet mall and found TONS of bargains. Although us three got lots of goodies, our main intention was to buy Baby Girl some clothes, and boy did we ever. Like I said, we found such a great sales and hooked Baby Girl up! I'm pretty sure my sister in law will never want to go shopping with me again. She learned really quick I have a particular style that I like, and anything else doesn't go. She raised atleast 200 outfits and I turned down atleast 195 of them. If I heard her say "Well! I tried!" once, I heard it a million times. Poor thing! We just want our cute Baby Girl wearing the cutest, right? lol!

So anyways, I have lots of friends who live far away, and I'm using this blog to share EVERYTHING to do with Kolton and Baby Girl. So I want to share the clothes we found for baby girl with ya'll. :) and I will continue to do so. So I hope you like to look at baby clothes as much as me! :)

More thank you's!

2009-07-27T21:38:00.005-04:00

My sister in law got this ADORABLE shirt for Baby Girl. I'm pretty sure this is what she'll be wearing when she comes home from the hospital!

She also got her this outfit. She said to me "Now, I don't want to hear you complaining about what it says. You didn't like the purple one, and that one said I love Mommy!" lol!

Oh! I just have to show you these awesome PJs she bought Kolton!

Also Adam's Grandma Geneva makes beautiful baby blankets. She made Kolton a blue and white one, and I was really hoping she'd make Baby Girl one. Well, of course she did! She sent it with his parents this weekend, and I was so ecstatic! I took a picture of it, but of course it doesn't do it justice. Trust me, it's wonderful and I can't wait for my sweet baby girl to be wrapped up in it!

So thanks to the both of you! Everything is wonderful and I know Baby Girl will love it! :)

Things that make you go "Awww!"

2009-07-27T21:29:00.004-04:00

Adam's parents have been making an effort to come down once a month and visit with us and Kolton. They want him to know who they are, know his routine, and for him to feel comfortable with them. He's taken to them very well, too. There's no denying it, he adores his Paw Paw Bragg. It's so cute watching them two together. My father in law doesn't normally show his emotion, and when Kolton brings him to doing silly things to make him laugh it really melts your heart! I snapped some of these pictures of Kolton playing with them before they got back on the road.

Boy's best friend

2009-07-27T21:16:00.003-04:00

As much as my dogs drive me batty, I have to admit they are SO good with Kolton. He tortures those dogs sometimes, and they just take it. I mean why wouldn't they? He drops chicken nuggets, puffs, and whatever else on the floor like crazy, they're his personal clean up crew! Nowadays it's so hard to get a picture of Kolton that doesn't include the beagles. They're literally right on his tail all the time. I think it's so cute. He jabbers to them all the time, too. They are for sure his little buddies!

Little Stinker!

2009-07-27T20:59:00.005-04:00

I'm going to predict that alot of my post about Kolton will be titled "Little Stinker", and actually I can't remember, but I may have already had a couple named that! He has lots of nicknames but I find myself calling him "Bubba" or "Stinker" the most.

Anyway. That little stinker about gave me a heart attack while I thought he was playing in his play room. I was straightening up the house getting ready for the in laws to come and I walked to his play room to check on him -no Kolton. Sometimes he crawls from his playroom to his bedroom so I checked there -no Kolton. So I turned around to see where else he could be and there he was.. in my bedroom playing with the most random toy. It's a lap desk. A lap desk that's suppose to strap to your car seat when you go on long trips. That way you can color and everything. Yes, it's meant for an older kid. His great grandma bought it for Christmas, and he LOVES that thing. Instead of a security blanket, he has a security lap desk. Little Stinker!

Thank you!

2009-07-22T20:41:00.004-04:00

I wish I was able to share everything that Kolton received as gifts. Clothes, bibs, burp clothes, homemade blankets.. EVERYTHING! He was well taken care of, and I have a feeling Baby Girl is going to be no different.

The other day I received a package in the mail -or should I say Baby Girl did? My friend Courtney sent some goodies to Baby Girl.

She bought something like this for Kolton when I was pregnant with him that said "It's a boy" and I think it's so adorable his sister will have one too.

and we know how much I love PJs!!

Thank you Courtney! I know you love buying baby stuff, but we appreciate it!

Tippy Cup

2009-07-22T20:35:00.002-04:00

I told myself that at 9 months I was going to start being VERY strict on Kolton with the sippy cup. I'd LOVE to have him off his bottle by a year. Every now and then I'd give him a NUK training cup. He wasn't fazed by it at all, and would drink out of it just like a bottle so I started to be a little more relaxed about the sippy cup scenario. But then the other day I decided to give him one. His MawMaw bought him TONS and I wanted them to start getting some use. I didn't think much of it, handed him his sippy cup while he enjoyed some snacks. I turned by back to wash some dishes, and when I turned back around this is what I seen...

then he flipped it upside down and started to chew on the bottom. It's a little bit different than his training cup, so I guess he's not fully ready for it just yet. Wish me luck, I'm going to keep trying!

Is this crib made of ... wood?

2009-07-22T20:22:00.004-04:00

My son has just about ever single dodad that Target, Wal-Mart, and Babies R Us sells for teething babies. Everything! However, their not good enough for him. He'd rather chew on blankets, bibs, straps, belts.. ANYTHING! Now we can add another thing to that list. HIS CRIB! I hope this is safe, because my little man has been chomping away at his crib!

oh and books!

and stuffed animals!

Nursery items beware! Because who knows what's next!!

I cracked the case!

2009-07-15T11:00:00.003-04:00

I figured it out. When I look at Kolton I see a perfect combination of myself and Adam. However, I hear people say he looks JUST like his Daddy all-the-time. Which is just fine, I have a very handsome husband, and I know it's a compliment to my son. However, he DOES have some traits of his momma!

So anyway, I snapped this picture of him yesterday and he could not look anymore like his daddy. So I figured it out. Kolton has my lips. And that's it. I thought maybe he had my eyes, but check out this picture of Kolton. Tell me it doesn't look JUST like Adam!

Just for confirmation..

2009-07-15T10:39:00.003-04:00

After having one doctor tell us we were having a boy, and then a radiologist tell us we're having a girl I took matters into my own hands and scheduled a 4D ultrasound. We love seeing our baby any chance we get, and it aggravates me how greedy people our with doing ultrasounds at the hospital I'm seen at. So, we had this great place recommended to us by some friends and they had an awesome monthly special that included a -gender validation! Uh, yes please!

We had such a great experience with it. The sonographer was SO nice and did an amazing job. She was so dedicated and determined to get great pictures of our baby. 24 weeks is fairly early to have a 4D ultrasound, because the baby's skin is still fairly thin (however, we were doing it mostly for the gender validation) but she was able to get some amazing pictures.

She told us that the baby is long and skinny, and couldn't look anymore like her brother. We can already tell she's going to be absolutely beautiful. Ultrasounds amaze me. To be able to look ahead and see what the baby will look alike is amazing and SO fun. She also said the baby is laying really far on my back, which explains the back pains I get sometimes.

But yes, this 4D ultrasound was amazing. We plan on going back around 32-34 weeks and seeing how much the baby has changed.

Oh, and she confirmed it's definitely a..... GIRL!!!! Bring on the pink, baby!!

...now, on to a name. lol

Terradactyl Monkey Boy!

2009-07-11T13:17:00.003-04:00

A couple days ago Adam went to check on Kolton while he was playing in his playroom. My husband caught the little stinker standing up on one of his toys. That toy is a playmat. It's meant for the baby to be on his back and look up at it and swat at the toys. Not use it as a monkey gym. Needless to say, that toy is taken apart and out of his play room. He's our little monkey!

(sorry the video is turned, I tried to fix it but couldn't)

Also, here's a video of him being silly in the tub. Now you know why he's called terradactyl baby?

Riding in style!

2009-07-10T21:47:00.004-04:00

So Monster Boy has been upgraded. He's officially a big boy. Well, I don't know about all that, but he's in a big boy car seat. He's still rear facing, but he's in a convertible car seat. Although he could have probably stayed in his infant car seat a little while more, it was just unnecessary and we felt he was beginning to be uncomfortable in it. Well, I can say one thing.. he HAS to be cumfy in this one because we don't even make it out of the drive way and he's OUT! He looks like such a big boy in it, too!

Our 4th

2009-07-10T21:24:00.003-04:00

Adam and I wanted this 4th to be special for Kolton, seeing how it was his first one! We met some friends at Bolling AFB and sat by the river and watched the fireworks. These fireworks were not just any fireworks, they were the ones being let off by our Nation's capital! I (of course) didn't have my good camera so I wasn't able to get a great picture of the fireworks and the monuments, but trust me when I say the fireworks were nothing short of spectacular. We had such a great 4th! The weather was absolutely beautiful, we had great company, and Kolton actually stayed awake for (half) of the fireworks!

Baby Girl's closet

2009-07-05T22:01:00.006-04:00

Can I just tell you how stinking excited I was when we headed to Macy's on Friday? They were having a huge baby sale and I was rocking and ready to buy every pink item in that store! My husband had the cute idea of us each to pick out something for her.

My choice was this CUTE plaid dress with a flower on the front for her to wear next summer.

and the hubs choice was actually 2 dresses that came together (he's such the bargain shopper)

and the other dress

He was so cute. He said the reason he bought those dresses is because the watermelons crack him up. He also said to Kolton "I don't know why we're buying your sister dresses. She can't show her legs until she's 35!" lolol How funny huh?

We got her some other things, but you know we had to get her some PJs right? (We also found the PERFECT PJs for Kolton too)

Cute. Real cute.

2009-07-05T21:51:00.004-04:00

You know those things as a Mom you just can't wait for your child to do. The second they do it you pick up the phone and call everyone?

Well, the other day I was laying Kolton down for his nap. I ran downstairs, tossed a load of clothes in the washer, ran back up stairs, and noticed he was especially quiet for a little boy who fights sleep. I thought to myself there was no way he's asleep already. So I tip toe to his room (just for the SMIDGED of a chance he was asleep), open the door, and peak in.

Here's what I seen.

my little monster boy STANDING up in his crib! Who knew this little booger could even pull himself up!? So I snapped pictures, called the folks, started bragging..you know how us mothers do.

oh, but little did I know that what was once cute is now a pain. So much for laying him down in his crib while he's still awake. He just thinks it's a party all time time. And that's besides the fact we're nervous wrecks thinking of him hurting himself!!! He already has a bruise on his head from hitting himself on the crib!

So yes, jokes on me. It's cute, REAL cute!

Let freedom ring!!

2009-07-04T11:57:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! Can I just say I love the 4th of July. Beside fireworks being my favorite, it's such a special holiday to my family. My husband has served in several wars overseas and protects his country everyday. I'm so gracious to him and the men and women who put on their boots everyday and protect us so we can have the freedoms we do!! Kolton and I (and baby girl also, of course) have a great hero living with us and we appreciate all he does for us!

So I hope you all remember the reason for the holiday, and have a fun AND SAFE 4th!! :)

Say cheeeeese!!

2009-07-01T20:15:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned before, Kolton officially has 2 teeth! They're so hard to get a picture of, but I managed it today!

he LOVES that camera strap. So much that I'm probably going to end up taking it off my camera. I can not get a good picture because he's always attacking the camera to get it from me. Oh, and here's what happens when I take the strap from him.

a million toys in his play room, and he'd rather have the camera strap. Kids!

What a surprise!

2009-07-01T18:29:00.006-04:00

Surprises:

1) I tried an applique again, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
2) I made something that is gift worthy.
3) and what I made is for my niece's birthday party next weekend.

I thought I'd share a picture of the shirt. Like I said, I think it looks pretty good. Seeing how my sister doesn't read my blog, ahem, it wont ruin anymore surprises. ;)

I LOVE this thread!!!

What a great day!!

2009-06-29T20:24:00.004-04:00

It's days like today that you have to stop and realize just how lucky and thankful you are.

First things first, today is Kolton's 8 month birthday! Can you believe, because I can not. I'm SO thankful to have that little booger in my life. He makes us laugh and smile countless times! He's absolutely perfect in every way! He's crawling, talking like crazy, has 2 teeth, eats baby puffs like crazy..TONS of other stuff that shock me. I still think he's a newborn! lol So anyway, HAPPY 8 MONTH MY LITTLE MONSTER BOY! Me and Daddy love you very much so!!

Also, we had an ultrasound today. It was our official ultrasound to measure everything, make sure everything was fine, and to CONFIRM the sex. Well, heart beat and measurements were good. Baby looked good. She kept calling it a wiggler. Oh she kept calling IT a SHE, well that's because IT is a SHE!! We're having a girl! How crazy, huh!? I can not begin to tell you how excited we are. We know we're blessed either way with this baby, but to just have a little girl is amazing! Our family MIGHT just be complete!

Also, Kolton couldn't tag along with us to the ultrasound. I was so upset! I really want him to be involved as much as possible, but they said he wasn't allowed in the room. So last minute I asked a friend to keep him. Can I just say this is the first time we have left him with anyone? However, I knew the person we were leaving him with would be great to him. So that's a pretty big monumental moment for us too! lol

Oh! and I don't know if she taught him this trick, but he started saying "Mom! Mom! Mom!" So great job Tara! lol Thanks!!

So as you can see, it's been a pretty eventful day! :)

Monster loving his pool!

2009-06-25T21:24:00.003-04:00

Today was a pretty nice temperature outside, so we decided to blow up this cute frog pool my sister got Kolton and let him play in it. He had a BLAST! He laid on his belly the whole entire time and flapped his arms and legs like he was actually trying to swim!

I know what he's doing..he's trying to get good so he can go "simmin" with his friend!

Not as easy as it looks..

2009-06-25T21:14:00.003-04:00

I tried to do appliques today with my machine. That's pretty much Jenifer's specialty and I LOVE them. She's made Kolton so many cute things, and she talks about how easy it is. Well, excuse me miss smarty pants, it's NOT! ;-)

Actually, here's what happened. When you embroider something, the fabric is attached to a hoop. Well I was trimming the fabric away and I accidentally let the fabric shift. So when I went back to stitch the border on my "K" the outline was all messed up. Does that make sense? Probably not. Anyways, I wanted to show people my oops. AND that it's clearly not as easy as it looks.

See all the fabric on the outside of the light blue thread? Well, that shouldn't be there!! I LOVE that fabric too, can you believe my husband hates it!!?

Momma's 1st Bib..

2009-06-24T23:12:00.003-04:00

for Kolton's 1st 4th of July!! I think this turned out so good.

Big thanks to my friend Jenifer for recommending tear away. Also for the locals that read this, I recommend Southern Maryland Sew and Vac. It's located in Clinton, those people are SO accommodating and patient with all my questions.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!

2009-06-24T22:16:00.006-04:00

Here lately Kolton's been trying to sit upright (and wiggle) while taking a bath. I can say a million and one great things about my son, but one thing he's really struggling with is sitting up. He can do it. He just gets so excited and gets distracted and lunges at stuff. I'm sure by now he should be sitting up while getting a bath, but he still lays on his bathfoam during bath time. However last night I got very brave and let him take a bath in his big boy tub. It was sort of a practice run for us both. You see, I'm getting more and more pregnant by the day, and getting him in and out of the tub is getting difficult. So I knew we had to have a new system.

It worked out pretty well. He loved it. He sat up great. He splished and he splashed..ALOT! Boy did we make a mess! lol But we had fun. I snapped some cute pictures of my Monster Boy! :)

Checking out the faucet...

Getting the faucet!!

He LOVED splashing!

Gone Fishing..

2009-06-24T13:10:00.004-04:00

Here's some pictures of the latest thing I'm working on.. can you tell who picked out the design?

I'm going to put it in a frame and hang it in his office for him.

Look what I can do!

2009-06-22T21:24:00.004-04:00

I'm so proud of my two recent projects. I'm really loving this pretending to be crafty thing. I say pretending because my embroidery machine does almost all the work.

Saturday afternoon I went to an embroidery class. I wanted to use my machine so bad, but I didn't have the slightest clue on how to. So I signed up for the class and learned some pretty good things. I still have a FAR way to go. I'm still waiting on Jenifer to come and teach me some things! Now she has skills and she taught herself! She has some pictures of her stuff on her page, check it out!

So anyway, I tinkered around with it a little and made a dish cloth and burp cloth! Now, remember this is my 2nd and 3rd project and I have a WAYS to go. But for those who know me know I have every right to be proud of this!!

and something for my little Monster Boy:

..two days in a row!

2009-06-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

It takes 21 days to break a habit, right? So does that mean it takes 21 days to START a habit? If so I have 19 more days before I can say Kolton officially puts himself to sleep, but for the second day in a row he put himself asleep!!

I laid him in his crib while I ran to check my email. After a couple minutes I realized he was being awfully quiet, so I popped my head in his room and seen this..

..my baby boy sleeping! He didn't even cry or whine! He's growing so fast, in 2 weeks he will be 8 months! Can you believe? Wasn't it just yesterday I was bringing him home? Wasn't it just yesterday I had his bassinet in my room? Now, he's sleeping in his own crib in his own room holding his own bottle crawling, laughing, "talking".. I mean, really son SLOW DOWN! Just because you're having a baby brother join you soon doesn't mean you have to grow up so fast. Mommy can handle to babies, I promise! I'm just so proud that he's *finally* learning to put himself to sleep, but still he needs to slow down on growing up so fast! Lol!

Disney Pictures

2009-06-15T14:43:00.001-04:00

You probably noticed I didn't post the rest of my Disney pictures. I figured I have a bunch on my Myspace and Facebook, so if you really want to see them, just check them out on there. lol There's far to many to post on here again. I'm just too lazy, and I have more things to blog about!

Recipe Time.

2009-06-15T14:07:00.004-04:00

There isn't it too many things I make that are ridiculously yummy. My husband says I'm a better cook than I give myself credit for, but I think he's just being nice. Anyway, I was telling my friend Jenifer about this recipe. I pretty much forced it down her throat and I hope she really makes it for her husband, I know they will all love it! So I figured I'll force it down all ya'lls throats!

The coffee shop at our old base use to sell a Key Lime Cake. It was probably the best cake I've ever tasted in my life. I got sick of paying 4 bucks a slice for it, so I looked up the recipe on the internet, and what do you know? I found the exact one. AND you could just about make the whole cake for 4 dollars! I should also say I'm not the biggest fan of lime, and I still adore this cake! So PLEASE try it!

It's usually done in a 3 layered cake, but I made it as cupcakes this wkend. I snapped some pictures of it for you guys, because I love the way it looks after it's cooked. It's the coolest green color. It just looks yummy! We're thinking about doing a paticular theme for Monster Boy's first birthday (ah, am I really thinking about his first birthday already?!) and if we do the one we want, these cupcakes will go PERFECT with it! :)

Here's the recipe, and below are the pictures:

1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (3 ounce) package lime flavored gelatin mix
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cups confectioners' sugar

Combine cake mix, gelatin mix, oil, eggs and orange juice. Pour into three 8-inch cake pans. Bake according to instructions on box. Allow to cool, then frost.
To make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add lime juice and confectioners sugar. Mix well.

Let me know if you try it, and if you like it!

Life is just sooo tough for a baby...

2009-06-15T13:54:00.004-04:00

Can I just say that I'm so proud of my Monster Boy? For the past couple of nights he has slept until 8am. Considering his usually time to wake up and party is 6:30am; 8 is AWESOME! Also, considering he's cutting 2 teeth, and he's sleeping that good? Bless his heart, for sure!

Anyway, Kolton's mawmaw and pawpaw bought him a walker, which is absolutely adores. That thing is seriously a Godsend. I can put him in it, clean the house and he'll just tag along and keep me company. Love that boy.

So today he was in his walker and I look over and I see him with his head down. He starts to babble when he's falling asleep, so when I noticed he was doing this, I thought "there is NO way" he's going to sleep. One reason, how the heck could he fall asleep in that position? Two, he NEVER falls asleep on his own. My Monster Boy is spoiled when it comes to sleep and has to be patted or rocked to sleep. So I gave him a couple minutes and sure enough, he was asleep. I grabbed the camera and snapped a couple pictures, I just knew I had to document it! Who knows when it'll happen again?! lol And then Daddy carried him to his room for a good nap. He's actually still sleeping as I type this. (knock wood)

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

2009-06-15T13:42:00.002-04:00

Seems like I'll be having lots of snips and snails in my life!

We recently went to the doctor for a check up. My doctor was nice enough to do an ultrasound for me to see if we could tell what sex Baby Bragg 2.0 is. Of course, she's not a radiologist so she couldn't technically confirm it to us, but oh my husband confirmed it himself. The second she put the thing on my belly, my husband seen his SON! My husband blurted "Oh, it's a boy!" lol What can I say, the boys in my life are NOT shy. The doctor said "If I was to *say* what I *think* it is..it'd be a.." and before she could finish my husband said "BOY!" lol Another boy! As we all know, I did really want a girl. Wait, let me rephrase that. I want a healthy baby. Period. But a girl would've been awesome. But you know what, it's totally okay. I love my baby boy I have now. He's a hoot, and I just know with two crazy boys they'll keep me busy. I love it. I'm going to be that mom with 27 boys and then FINALLY get a girl. lol

I went out to lunch with a friend and we were discussing her boys. She didn't know at the time I was pregnant and I was asking her if she was dissappointed that she never had a girl (she has 3 boys) and she said the kindest things ever that at the moment I could have cared less if I was pregnant with a boy or girl (I didn't know the sex at the time either) ..but she said "Of course not! I love my boys! and they are MOMMA BOYS!" She's so right. There's just something so special between a momma and her son. :)

Also to answer the million dollar question we've been asked twenty million times, are we going to have more? Well, first let's get through this one. Then, if everything turns out great with this pregnancy, labor, delivery, and so on..then sure. Like I said, if I'm the mom with 27 boys and then finally a girl..then so be it!! lol

She once again wasn't able to get a good ultrasound picture for us. HE (ah, isn't it great to say he, and not it?! Now we need a name) wouldn't stay still long enough!

Hip hip hooraaay!

2009-05-22T12:10:00.005-04:00

Okay, all season I've been wanting to put up a blog for Kris Allen from American Idol. However, I have refrained because everyone I've ever rooted for gets sent home the second after I say I'm rooting for them. I didn't want to jinx it for him! He is probably the most stinking adorable thing, he can sing SO well, and I know for sure when he puts out a CD his music is right up my alley.

Anyway, Wednesday he was announced this year's American Idol! I haven't watched AI in a couple of seasons, and I'm so glad that I tuned into this season. They had really different vocals and alot of great talent. Plus, my guy won! Yay!! So anyways, let's celebrate Kris Allen is our AI!

He did a version of Kayne West's Heartless that was GREAT. Anyway Randy said he liked the version better than Kayne's and The Fray's. I didn't even know The Fray had a version out! So I looked it up, and can I just say Kris' and The Fray's sound almost identical! Both are great versions!

Here's Kris':

and here's The Fray's:

PS, how funny is this. Every since I was a little girl one of the names I loved and wanted to name my son was Kristopher Allen. HA!

Taking a dip..

2009-05-22T12:00:00.003-04:00

Even though our trip was in April, shew it was hot! After we spent a very hot day at Magic Kindom we decided to take the kids to the pool. It was actually the first time Monster Boy had ever been in a pool so I was SO excited to bust out the dyno-mite-dinosaur swimming trunks!

The water was a little cold and there was an obnoxious kid splashing water so it didn't last too long, but we were able to get a picture of my chunky (NOT FAT) boy taking a dip his first time!! :)

2009-05-22T11:45:00.003-04:00

For Mother's Day Adam and Kolton bought me a Babylock Ellageo Sewing/Embroidery machine. I'm the least craftest person on the place, but I've wanted a sewing machine for a long time. My husband took the smart route and bought me a machine that pretty much does everything for you. I'm still learning but I just wanted to post a picture of my first project. I monogrammed a washcloth with Kolton's name. I'm so excited on how it turned out!

Our Resort

2009-05-22T11:29:00.003-04:00

While at WDW we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. It's a moderate resort on Disney grounds, and has a NOLA theme to it. I absolutely LOVED our resort. Our friends were staying at Riverside and had stayed there several times before, but when we tried to get into that resort it was all booked. So I was kind of leery at first because, one our friends didn't know too much about French Quarter and two, why is their resort booked and our's isn't?! Anyway, it was absolutely adorable. They were so accomendating there. On about the 3rd night Kolton threw the remote behind one of the beds and we couldn't get to it, so we called the front desk and they sent housekeeping, ahem, I'm sorry MOUSEkeeping right up with a new one..at like 9pm at night! It had the most awesome pool and the food court was really good too. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of food court though. It had Mardi Gras mask, beads, and other Mardi Gras themed HUGE items hanging from the ceiling. So thanks to the Jones for giving us the heads up on where to stay. It was awesome!

WDW Officially DAY one: Magic Kingdom.

2009-05-22T10:05:00.008-04:00

Our official day one started off on the perfect foot. My friend had the great idea that going to Magic Kingdom through the week would be the safest bet because there would less people, as opposed to the weekend. Can I just say how right she was? Adam and I took Kolton back on the Sunday before we left and oh. my. lord. the lines were awful. So anyway, going on a Wednesday was perfect.

We split up for a moment while the boys went to go get Fast Passes (that is what they're called right?) and us ladies -and Monster boy- walked to see the castle. After all, that is what it's about!

If there is one thing you can say about WDW and mean every ounce of it; is they do not cut corners. Everything is GRAND and BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely LOVE Magic Kingdom. It's pretty much in a league of it's own. We took Kolton on his first ride, Snow White. I can't wait until he's older to pick on him about that! We also took him to a 3D show that he LOVED! We came to the conclusion that his favorite is Donald Duck. After the show he grabbed a Baby Donald off the shelf and wouldn't let it go.

So precious.

We eventually grabbed lunch and found this place with great hot dogs and corn dogs. They had yummy sauerkraut too! They had a baseball theme and had this cute statue out front.

The boys went to ride Splash Mountain and Kolton and I split off to get his ears made. Which is what I was so excited for. They turned out so cute. (There's a picture of him with them on in the collage)

One of my favorite things at all the Disney parks is the parades. They are just too cute and so much fun.

Like I said Magic Kingdom was a great way to start the trip! We had so much fun between riding the rides, eating the food, seeing all the characters, to just even seeing how excited the kids got watching everything!

2009-05-16T11:04:00.002-04:00

I was going through pictures of when we first brought Kolton home and it amazes me so much how much he's grown. He's holding himself up, "talking" holding his own bottle, just so much stuff he's doing on his own. Every day he amazes me so much, and I couldn't ever explain how thankful we are for that little miracle. I remember every split second from the hospital. I remember thinking how unfair it was that hours had passed before we could hold our sweet little boy, and then when we finally had the chance he had wires attached. I look back on that and just think about how thankful I am of his health today. I couldn't ask for a more amazing child and having him around gets me so excited for the next. Every day I say I'm just going to have a houseful of kids. Kolton keeps us on our toes, that's for sure, but he's the most precious thing in our life and we will never take him or any of our other children for granted.

My little sunshine...

2009-05-11T21:56:00.002-04:00

Friday evening Adam decided to do some yard work and I wanted to clean out the car, so I figured what a better thing than to take Kolton's jumperoo outside and let him soak up some sunshine. Well, Kolton had better plans. He wanted to take a nap, he could have cared less about the sunshine.

Here he is keeping us company outside, so not impressed.

Keeping you updated.

2009-05-11T21:43:00.002-04:00

Last week we had a check up for Baby Bragg 2.0, which included an ultrasound. I was less than 14 weeks so at the time she couldn't see anything to determine a boy or girl. All things look great right now. Good heartbeat and he/she is a MOVER! She could only get one picture of him/her because he/she wouldn't stay still! He/She seems a little like his/her brother already! She said next time I come in she'll see if she can see anything. Either way I'll be sent to the radiologist in about 4 weeks and that will be my official ultrasound. Of course a healthy baby is our main concern, but we're keeping our fingers crossed for a girl. :)

I keep trying to post the ultrasound picture but it's showing up all crazy, so I'll try later.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2009-05-10T15:53:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to take a minute to say happy mother's day to all the wonderful mommies I know! I couldn't ask for a more special reason to celebrate mother's day, Kolton. He means so much to me and he is the best son ever. Seeing him grow and all the silly things he does makes me smile so much. At such a young age he already has me and Adam laughing so hard all day. He makes me so excited to have another one. He means the world to me and his father and I couldn't have a better reason to celebrate this very special day -my first mother's day!!