Can I share something sweet with you?

This was the morning of Alexa's birthday. She had already finished eating breakfast and I was running around trying to get her costume and treats packed up for school. I must have been in her room and I came out and saw this:

She had pulled one of her little chairs in front of Braden and was reading him a book while he was eating. I seriously thought is was the cutest thing I had ever seen! I am so happy they have one another. They can have their moments but it's amazing how much they truly love each other.

P.S. Please ignore the awful High Life door mat. NO this is not ours. Matt had bought it for the hunting shack and thought it would be funny to put it in front of our door knowing I would think it was stupid. :)

Also, can you tell our house looks like Alexa's room threw up balloons everywhere!? I have been tripping over them constantly since Monday but I don't have the heart to pop them all yet because they love playing in them.

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween! :)
(Pictures to come...of course.)

Flashback Friday

Flashback time....oh I know your excited!! :) I actually love looking back at pictures, especially when my kids were born...you know because I enjoy making myself cry, or something like that.

Does anyone else look back at old pictures all the time? Not like these are old or anything, just from last Halloween...but geez do my kids look different, crazy!

Here was the Princess and the Bee
(Braden only wore his outfit for about 10 minutes for pictures and he kept looking at me like 'what are you doing to me, lady!?')

They both look so little!

Speaking of that, now that Braden is 14 months do you think it's time to take his birth announcement off the fridge? :)

Every Princess needs a Party

Last Friday we had Alexa's 3rd birthday party. He request was: Princess. I saw it coming a mile away so I was way ahead of her and had already been planning. Alexa had SO much fun and it was cool watching her get into the whole birthday thing. She waited for her guests, actually opened her own presents this year and was straight up giddy when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her...it was great! We had a lot of friends and family missing though because of being sick which was a bummer, but we still had an awesome time!

We kept changing the menu and at the last minute we decided on hamburgers and hot dogs. Of course it ended up raining so poor Matt had to grill out on the wet deck. Don't feel too bad for him though, I think he secretly liked it...any reason to wear his "duck camo" makes him happy.

Alexa could not wait to open her presents, and somehow people seemed to know that she loved Princesses so we had a living room full of princess stuff. :) She was so cute, she kept handing me the cards saying "Who's this one from? Can I open it now?" She's so spoiled by her grandparents and aunts and uncles!


One present was a trunk full dress up clothes so after she was done opening gifts there was lots of princesses running around. Even Braden joined in the fun thanks to his Auntie Lisa.

Alexa was so unbelievably excited about her cake that she picked out. She could not stop smiling and laughing when we sang to her...she was way too cute.


And of course the Monday morning she woke up and found that her 'balloon fairy' had come and left her lots of pink balloons. She kept saying "My balloon fairy godmother came!"


Happy Birthday Little Princess!!

Footy Ghosts

It's been icky and rainy here so we have been staying inside doing lots of coloring, play-doh and crafts. I thought I would share a cute Halloween one.

You need:
Black paint
White paint
Some kind of plate
Construction Paper
And feet :)

Pour some white paint on your plate. Or you can use a brush to paint it on too.

Once the paint is on, make a foot print on your paper. Sometimes with squishy feet they get messed up so we did a bunch hoping we would have some good ones.

Once the paint is dry, use your finger to make eyes and a mouth.

And viola - you have some cute little ghosts to decorate for Halloween.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday to my Baby Girl

To my sweet Alexa,

I can't believe it has been 3 years since they laid that tiny baby girl on my tummy. You were so beautiful and so perfect and I couldn't stop myself from crying tears of joy. It seemed like we waited forever to meet you, and I can't even describe that moment when we finally did.

I remember after the nurses all left and Daddy was fast asleep on the couch, I held you close and couldn't stop touching your sweet tiny toes and kissing your adorable little cheeks. I promised you that I would love you more than anyone has ever loved another person. I didn't think it was even possible, but each day that passes that love grows more and more.

I had no idea that the simplest things that a little person does can make me so incredibly happy. The way you giggle, how you cup my face in your hands to kiss me, the silly faces you make, the sweet little way you say I love you mommy, and the way you make everything fun. The passion you have for life is so amazing. People comment all the time what a happy little girl you seem to be, and you truly are. I pray that you carry that love of life forever.

And now here you are 3 years old today. You have grown into an amazing little girl and I thank God every day for you. We called you baby girl when you were in my tummy and now even though you sometimes remind me that you are not a baby anymore, you will always be my baby girl. Only when you have your own children will you understand what you mean to me and your Daddy.

The last three years have been the best years of my life. And although I wish I could bottle you up everyday so that I never forget one single thing you said or did, I can't wait to watch you keep growing up. I can't wait until you go off to your first day of school, leave for the Prom, go to college, get married and have your own babies. I am so excited that I will get to be part of it all. Just don't grow up too fast! :)

So today on your birthday I just want to tell you how much we love you. The day you were born our lives were changed forever. You made me a Mommy and there's nothing better than that!

Love you forever baby girl,
Mommy

So much for my little helper

I turn my back for 10 seconds and I have a thousand straws all over my kitchen floor. Aren't you suppose to be helping me Braden!?!

Don't Forget Me

I feel so out of the loop right now. I am trying to get caught up on Facebook, Twitter, Blogger...I mean seriously, how did people live without the Internet!?! :) Anyway, it was such a busy week last week that I just didn't have time to do much else besides clean, take care of sick kids, clean, grocery shop, plan a birthday party, clean, go to the doctor, laundry, clean. There was a lot of cleaning going on. I love a clean house anyways (that does not mean it always is, I just like it like that) but after having all those germs around here I was in ultra cleaning mode. All you natural cleaning product lovers close your ears eyes - there was a lot of Lysol spraying going on around here! (P.S. I love natural cleaning products too, but sometimes you just need something stronger, like for instance, after everyone has swine flu in your house.)

We also had a trip to the doctor, always a good time. The kids were finally feeling better but then they seemed to get worse again. Apparently, the most common side effects our pediatrician has been seeing in kids after having the flu is ear infections and pneumonia. Yup, we got those...yes, both of them. My poor kids, especially Alexa...she got hit hard on this one. But we are on some meds and everyone seems to finally be getting better. I am really hoping that once you get this stuff you are less likely to get it again, other wise this could be a long winter!

Anyhoo, what I really wanted to say is that we are still alive. I feel like I haven't updated in years (4 days actually, but it feels like a long time.) So I hope you didn't forget about us. You couldn't do that, could you!?! :)

Also, we had Alexa's birthday party on Friday and it went great! She had so much fun and and was so excited about everything. Man, I love that girl. Anyway, I will be getting around the pictures soon and posting them later. You're just going to have to hold your horses, k? :)

Until then I have some more cleaning to do. I love having people over and hosting parties but I have to say, I don't enjoy all the cleaning before and after. At least I have some extra hands around here to put to work. Braden....he's on dishes duty!

Wordless Wednesday

Because it's been awhile

Since I shared some pictures of one of my favorite obsessions.

Sleeping babies.

I love watching my babies sleep.
So peaceful.
So cute.

It just makes me happy!

See, aren't you happier now too!? :)

Disney LIVE

For Alexa's birthday, her Grandma Terry had bought her (and Matt and I) tickets to go see Disney LIVE that was in town this past weekend. We were really bummed out that we had all gotten sick and didn't think that we would be able to go. Well, Alexa's fever finally broke Saturday afternoon which was 24 hours before the show started so we decided she was in the clear and went. Alexa was so happy that we got to go, we had been talking about seeing Cinderella for weeks! We all had so much fun, and Alexa kept talking about how much she liked her special date with Mommy and Daddy. So cute! So after lunch at Champps we headed to the Xcel Center for the show. Before we went in to our seats Alexa picked out a cool light-up spiny Cinderella toy which I have pretty much been listening to since then. :) I'm sure I can speak for Matt too when I say that we really liked our special date with just Alexa too.


Along with Cinderella we got to see Micky and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Tigger, the Toy Story characters, and some other that I can't remember right now.




She loved every minute of it, she sat so still the whole time. Except when she was up dancing to the music! :)

Update

For those of you who have asked here's a quick little update....

H1N1 really isn't all that fun, who would have known, UGH! Apparently that is what I had and a couple days later Alexa got it and now it looks like Braden is also joining in on all the fun.

Alexa has had a fever for about 48 hours now. We have not been able to break it but alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen per the doctor has been able to keep is just under 101 which has been good. Yesterday was pretty rough for her, she would go through periods when she would just lay on the couch shaking. It's so heart breaking, so hard seeing your baby like that. But the good thing is, although she still has a fever, she is doing much better today. Despite being so sick for the past 3 days she is in good spirits, such a happy little girl.

Braden started getting a fever yesterday and it has continued today. He has been coughing a lot but there hasn't been any other symptoms yet. We are praying that it doesn't get too bad for him since he is in the high risk category.

Other than that we're doing ok. I am finally starting to feel a little better myself. I am going crazy sitting in our house though! It is very rare that we go more than a day without going somewhere or doing something, so I think we all are feeling the cabin fever here. :) Matt stayed home on Thursday to help with the kids which was great. It's really hard to take care of two kids with the flu when you have it yourself! :) Let's just hope he doesn't catch it now, I think it would be a miracle at this point if he doesn't...but we can hope!

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has been asking about us, we appreciate it. We will all be back to normal soon! :)

Dropping like Flies

My cutie babies are now sick too.

Would you pray, think happy thoughts, or send healing vibes for them?
Also maybe for Matt too since he is the only healthy one and needs to take care of all of us. :)
Thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

When Mommy is Sick

I'm sick. I'm not dying...yet, but I feel so icky. My chest hurts, my throat is killing me, my head feels like it might blow up any minute and I have had a nasty flemy cough for the past two days that makes me want to throw up. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

So, what do you do when you are a stay at home mom to a 1 and 2 year old, your husband won't be home until 10pm and you have no sick days? Well, I'm no professional but here are a few things that have worked for me...

*Keep everyone in jammies - all day long. You're not going anywhere anyways so you might as well skip the whole precess of getting anyone dressed. This also helps at bedtime when you are all in pjs already. Combing hair or brushing anyones teeth is also not necessary...don't worry, you'll do it tomorrow.

*Try convincing child that they may also not be feeling that great. Make it fun and exciting by making up a little "sick bed" on the floor and allowing them to watch a movie.

*Load up on lots and lots of meds.

Alright, I am actually not doing this one since I am still nursing Braden. I am trying to take as few pills as possible, but my head feels like a tornado. Anyone have any good semi-natural cures for this?

*And if all else fails...go to your Mom's house so she can make soup for you and your kids.

Bad phone picture, but there's my Mama making me some creamy chicken noodle soup with dumplings today! Thanks Mom! :)

The Big Reveal

Okay, it's not that exciting but here's what how our pumpkins turned out.

The one on the far right was drawn on by Alexa, all by herself.
(Matt helped with the mouth.)

Can you see what it is?

Here are the kids Mr. Potato Head pumpkins.
A princess for Alexa
and
A pirate for Braden.

And this is a pumpkin that Alexa made at a local flower shop a couple weeks ago.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. We ended up throwing out all the pumpkin seeds but after reading some comments talking about them I am kind of bummed. I love salty things! :) Next year we will have to try it out, or maybe this year if I can convince Matt he should carve just one more pumpkin! :)