celebrating rachel's 29 + ??? birthday!

we've got a night off from the kids! YIPPEE! my mom and harold graciously offered to keep the kids overnight so we could go to our friend rachel's birthday party. we got all dressed up (and yes...i wore cute heels) and brought the kids to my mom's condo. the kids were very excited to be there. especially when they got their surprises.

before we left, mom snapped a few pictures of us.


she even came downstairs and got a few pictures of us with jimmy and melinda. we haven't had a picture of the four of us...i don't think ever...so it was nice. especially since we were dressed nicely and had our faces made up!

---> insert pictures here of the party. still waiting on rachel to email them! <--- and these are the pictures mom took of the kids while we were gone.

the kids had a great time at grammy and harold's, and we had a great night out. thanks mom and harold for helping us out with the kids. we really appreciate it! and a big happy birthday to rachel! so glad we were able to celebrate your special day with you!!!

my happy lil guy!

how can you not have a great day when you get to see this sweet face all day?!?!!?! brandon is such a joy to be around. i just love how he giggles and squeals with excitement when i talk to him. i'd love to say that he's just a mama's boy and just gives me that reaction, but he is like that with everyone! and look at how cute he looks in his outfit crystal!!!

brandon @ 5 months

our hefty little five month old!

showing me how strong he's getting!

he was trying to sit up on his own! this kid is trying to grow up too fast!

hi sweet baby boy! mommy loves you so much!

sissy loves you too! and it's obvious that you love her too. look at your sweet face!

you like sitting in the bumbo seat! now all you need is a remote control!

what a cute little face you have!

deep in thought!

thanks rickey and pawpaw for the cute outfit he wore today for his pictures in the garden!

and last but not least...his 5 month stats!

• weighs 18 3/4 pounds and almost 28 inches long
• is blowing raspberries (guess it's time to bust out the bibs!)

• enjoys having his diaper changed. he gets so excited! and i love that jared always helps me throw away the dirty diaper!!!

• goes to bed between 7:30-8:30pm and i usually have to wake him up to go take jared to school

• loves playing in the jumperoo

• just got his bumbo seat and he seems to enjoy sitting in it. i think he feels more a part of the family!

• still has more hair than the other two at this age!

• has the sweetest disposition

• gets a HUGE grin when he sees his daddy

• is so easy-going

• still eating 5 - 8 oz bottles a day of similac advanced early shield formula

• loves riding in the car when he has jared or lauren sitting next to him

• loves to put his toys in his mouth

• starts to push his bottle away around six ounces. i usually have to fight him to finish it

• loves the bath, but hates laying down to take one. but he's not ready to sit up in the tub yet either!

• will follow me around if he sees me holding my camera

• still sleeps in his pack n play when mommy or daddy are too lazy to put him to bed in his nursery!

• LOVES to watch mickey mouse clubhouse. squeals in delight when mickey mouse says anything!

• likes to lay in his crib and watch his mobile.

• enjoys going to the ymca childwatch while mommy works out. those girls spoil him rotten! and they always say what an easy baby he is!
• loves to chill out on his pottery barn kids froggy chair. this is where i usually get a lot of giggles!

mat time

with the fun festivities of yesterday, we were all exhausted and slept in this morning! yeah for that! brandon woke up and had a bottle and then we busted out the other playmat. he has been spending a lot of time on his outerspace mat, so i thought he should get some time on the other one. i love this one because it plays music and has a big mirror. brandon really likes the music and the little flowers that light up!!!

he loved playing with the little links. he must have chewed on them for 20 minutes!

why are you bugging your eyes out at me brandon?!?!?!

sissy sees mommy's camera is out and in use, so of course she wants to jump in a picture with her baby brother!


and of course, all his hard play tuckered him out!!!

bbq at joy's house!

when joy invites you to a party....you go. you drop whatever other plans you have and you go! because joy knows how to party. and so do her friends!!! we were celebrating memorial day and stacey's birthday! we had yum food including joy's incredible brownies. i did eat one...okay...maybe two...but i did better than the last time. i think at her last picnic i ate a baker's dozen! ha ha!!!

i just loved meeting all of joy's friends. it's funny how sometimes we meet people and struggle with "fitting in"...but not with any of these folks. it was like we knew them forever.

the girls:

we got to have a little reunion with john and felicia and their kids. we hadn't seen them since they had their third baby. way too long, especially since they live in the neighborhood next to ours! their oldest daughter, sydney, is gorgeous. she is super smart too! and hunter has grown like a weed! and madison...well, she's a little handful like lauren!

me and felicia

their kids were all great and it was just a fun time!

one of joy's friends, laura, has a little girl named mylah. mylah was attached at my hip most of the afternoon. she was such a doll! i introduced her to lauren and they became friends pretty quickly. mylah also loved it when i took out my camera. she and lauren hammed it up several times for me. isn't she the cutest thing?!?!?!

and this picture just makes me laugh


today was also special because it was the first time that joy was getting to meet brandon. we have been trying to get something on the calendar forever!!!

he loves his milk chocolate mama!

and one of me and my sweet friend

and felicia insisted on getting a family picture. so glad that she did because it turned out pretty good!

THANK YOU joy for including us in your celebration today! we are blessed to be friends with you and your family. your friends are super sweet and we look forward to many more get togethers with you all! thank you for brandon's sweet baby gift. i love personalized gifts so much! i will definitely save one of them forever!!! love you girl!

giddyup horsie

oh great! mommy has her camera out again! guess i could show her how much i love my horsie!

i seriously don't think this little dude could get any happier!

boing! boing! boing!

brandon is really loving his jumperoo. probably one of my other big favorites that we've purchased. he will jump and jump and jump until he wears his sweet little self out! gotta love a kid that can entertain himself while mommy does chores or tends to the other kids! he really is the perfect baby!

meeting dion

tonight i made the trek across town to go see kelly and meet her newest little one. we had such a good time visiting with each other, and i enjoyed cuddling with dion. he's soooo tiny in comparison to brandon! it was nice holding a newborn again! her husband came home from a night out with friends, and we ended up staying up even later visiting. thank goodness i had planned on staying over the night! here are a couple of pictures of kelly and her sweet boy!

thanks for having me over kelly! and thanks flamur for cooking me a fantastic lunch. it was nice getting to know you more! i look forward to many visits and playdates in the future!

my little thumbsucker

mommy and brandon are doing a little tummy time today! he loves playing with some of his new toys! he's getting really good at reaching and pulling them towards him. as you can see, he's gotten over hating tummy time. all smiles and coos here! it's so neat seeing him interact more. i definitely miss the baby baby stage, but i'm enjoying each special moment that i get to spend with him.

and of course, i had to get a picture of his chubby little legs! the little rolls just crack me up. wish mine were as cute! ha ha

brandon can take or leave his pacifier. apparently because he's found his thumb.
he's my first thumbsucker. james' mom said that he was a thumbsucker as a baby/little kid. she told me that she hopes that brandon doesn't have to get threatened by his big brother to get him to quit! i would include the story behind that, but i don't want to embarrass my sweet hubby! :)

i love you a bushel and a peck

lauren's big spring recital show is in just a few hours and i have literally spent two hours curling her hair. just when i get it all finished, what i just curled 20 minutes ago has fallen out! i'm glad i didn't wash her hair before i started otherwise it would have been worse. i practically used a whole bottle of hairspray! i should have gone and bought some aquanet or something equally potent! anyway.......

daddy is not a big fan of little girls wearing makeup, and i see his point...so i was very careful how much i actually put on. i barely put on anything actually...just enough so that lauren could see that she had it on and wouldn't feel left out around the other girls. i did use my lipstick that doesn't come off for like 3 days. she was super excited about that. i did have to use that as bargaining for pictures outside. she did ham it up for me. and i promise you...all of these "poses" were of her own doing. i just kept clicking the big silver button on the camera!

here is our prima ballerina!

look at that hand on her hip. she's something else!

as if one hand on her hip wasn't enough...

just when you thought she couldn't get any sassier.......

actual dance step in the "i love you a bushel and a peck" number

this was her "ending" shot!

giving our regards to broadway

performing to "i love you a bushel and a peck" from guys and dolls

their ballet number

lauren receiving her first trophy!

i moved to the front of the auditorium to take lauren's picture receiving her trophy. when mrs. brenda called out lauren's name to come get her trophy, at the top of jared's lungs he yelled out, "THAT'S MY LITTLE SISTER!!!!" it was so cute! he's so proud of her!

lauren with her trophy and roses from mommy, daddy, jared and brandon

mommy with her tiny dancer

daddy and lauren

and a picture of lauren and her proud big brother!