Priceless

Bryce has started smiling so much lately and the best thing is every morning right when I lay him down to change his diaper I smile at him and say good morning and he now smiles back every time. The other day I was finally able to catch Bryce in a smile. It is not his best but we got it on record and that is all that matters!

Russ 32nd Birthday!

On June 1st Russ turned 32! It was a pretty quiet celebration being that we have four kids we don't get to get out much in fact we have yet to have any time to ourselves since having Bryce. All in all though I think we celebrated well for Russ. We had his parents over the weekend before his birthday and his dad and he went to the driving range and then came home to a meal he had requested of Mexican food. I made him tacos, homemade guacamole and chicken enchiladas with beans and my spanish rice. It was quite a feast for just the few of us but I think he enjoyed it and I know I enjoyed making it for him. It was one of only a few truly homemade meals I have been able to make since having Bryce. The little guy is so demanding that most dinners consist of whatever can be thrown in the oven and served fairly quickly. So it was nice to have my mother-in-law over to hold Bryce while I cooked. Then on the day of his birthday we had his favorite hamburgers from Mooyah's! and a little cake. One of my most favorite gifts the kids had given him was from our daughter Nichole. When I asked her what she wanted to give Russ for his birthday she said a bouquet of flowers, to which I explained that boys don't really enjoy flowers like girls do, so she said lets give him a bouquet of candy. Now this was a great idea I could work with, and I knew it would be a gift Russ would enjoy because he loves candy. So we bought all kinds of candy and a little balloon and a few other supplies and made the most adorable candy bouquet!I think no matter how much we age our children always make a birthday worth wile. The kids get such a kick out of birthdays even if we tend to dread that one year older.

Summer has begun!

The other weekend I decided to fill up some water balloons for the kids. This was the first time they had experienced the fun of water balloons and I thought this picture of Elizabeth said it all. They had such a blast! Although it took me almost an hour turning on then turning off the outside hose to just fill up thirty balloons, enough for each of the kids to have 10, only to have them popped in under 5 minutes and being left with "Aww mommy we want more!"

My kids are normal!

The other day the kids were outside playing in the backyard on the swing set. The weather has gotten nicer so they have been playing outside more. Like any kid they decided it was funner to play on the swings rather then swing on them. I was sitting inside feeding the baby watching through the window when I saw Nichole swinging the hard plastic swing at JT he was laughing but I was thinking to myself, "please be careful." Sure enough just like I had been afraid of JT put his hands down instead of catching the swing and it hit him smack in the face. He came running in to me and I could see blood on his front teeth when I had him open his mouth I was terrified his front tooth was pushed back. It didn't move but it looked awkward and out of place like it is sitting back from the rest of the teeth. It was already late in the evening and so I called the dentist but he never called back, who knows in my panic I may have never even left a message. Anyway I called the next morning and they got him in. They took x-rays and showed the tooth has been knocked out of place. The dentist said there is really nothing to do right now but keep an eye on it. The good thing is he is young and the tongue might push it back into place, and since it isn't affecting his bite then it isn't really a problem. All we have to do is keep an eye on it to see if it starts to change color which in that case it may need to come out. My poor little JT, and Nichole, she felt so awful for letting that happen. Hopefully she'll never do that again and hopefully JT's tooth can stay put. It was funny though because the dentist asked JT if he got hit with the swing and I commented that his sister swung the swing at his face and he said back with a smile "oh, your kids are normal then?" I guess they are!

Main Street Days

Last Friday we took the kids to Main Street Days in Grapevine, TX. It's just a little festival they put on in downtown on Main Street. There's vendors selling food and various items as well as a carnival and little shows. Last year we went and we remembered really enjoying it. This was our first big outing besides the mall with the baby. Well big mistake, we weren't quite ready for it. It was in the 90's that day but ridiculously humid. The sun was beating down on us and that was at 6 pm. The kids were fussy and the place was packed. I had some bottles for the baby but I am still nursing. Bryce decided he did not want a bottle at all, I tried my best to give him one but he refused, and if anyone has ever nursed a baby then you know that in 90 degree humid weather it is just not possible to cover a baby in a blanket and try to nurse. I tried over and over again to nurse as well but I was literally smothering the poor thing in the heat. So poor Bryce proceeded to cry and fuss the last hour we were there. We had a bunch of tickets so we decided to take the kids and let them go to the carnival. JT loves rides but was only able to go on a small train ride that they even said he was too small for but we coaxed them into letting him on and the long slide with me as well as the merry go round. We had enough left for each of the girls to choose a ride and so we proceeded to let them go on one. When JT realized he was not able to go on the last ride he decided he was going to have a melt down in front of everyone, and mind you I'm holding Bryce who by now is screaming, but were waiting for them to start the ride for Elizabeth. JT flipped out he was banging on the gate around the ride we tried everything to calm him, he threw himself down on the ground so there he is kicking and screaming hysterically on the pavement his face painting is smearing all over. We couldn't get him to stand up so we had to drag him to the grass so he wouldn't hurt himself. So there he lay rolling around on the filthy grass amongst cigarette butts and Russ and I were helpless. People were staring, we were mortified, we finally managed to get him in the stroller and buckle him in, where he continued to throw himself around. We have never seen him behave so horribly. But things have been tough on us. And we had to sit there amongst everyone because our girls were on a ride while this was taking place, and there were no restrooms just port-o-potties. And our car was parked streets away. I now understand all those parents I criticized before. I used to think there was something wrong with their parenting when I would see a child throwing a major tantrum, but we try our best. Russ and I do everything we can to discipline properly and to not allow the kids to get out of control but you can only do all you can and hope for the best. Throw in a new baby, multiple children and the terrible 2's and there is bound to moments of insanity.

Dance time

Recitals are almost here. My girls are so beautiful. I was a dancer myself for 9 years doing tap, jazz and ballet and I'm so excited to see my girls following in my footsteps. Yesterday was recital pictures at their dance studio so we had to get them all dolled up. They then did a little run through of their dances. Elizabeth is performing just one dance for tap and Nichole is doing both a tap and ballet number. Her other costume is so pretty, it's a brown and turquoise tutu. And Elizabeth is awesome she performs with such attitude, she really gets into it. One of the moms even came up to me after they did their little dance and said she thought Elizabeth was the best. I love these beautiful little girls!

My Birthday!

On Tuesday May 12th I celebrated my 29th birthday! Nothing too special just a nice evening with my husband and kids. We sat down and had dinner together and then enjoyed cake and gifts.


My Hubby brought me home roses and the most amazing cake, it's from a place called "Nothing Bundt Cakes" and they are to die for. They are so delicious, and come in different flavors with the most incredible homemade cream cheese frosting and they decorate them so cute. Being that I am a dessert fanatic this was the most awesome gift. It was a decadent white chocolate raspberry cake and he picked out the cutest decoration.


My girls did awesome with my gifts as well, Russ let them pick out some cute little jewelry because I like just cheap bracelets and earrings and it was hilarious because he said he let them do it all themselves. So it was very obvious I got a taste of what it was like to be 5 and 6 again. They had picked out all kinds of 1980's era sparkly bright pink bracelets and earrings. I was even given a pair of purple glitter sunglasses, something out of the golden girls. It was hilarious but oh so adorable, I just asked Russ that maybe next time he should insist mommy likes more of the black, silver, or gold jewelry.

And of course my husband is the sweetest gift giver. He surprised me with a beautiful citrine princess cut ring surrounded in champagne and white diamonds. Man I'm so lucky to have these beautiful and loving kids and such a giving husband in my life.