Celebrating 6 Years!

Levi, Age 6

What is your favorite color?  Red
What is your favorite drink?  Chocolate milk
What is your favorite food?  Spaghetti
What is your favorite movie?  Ice Age
What is your favorite thing to do?  Something I've never done - go on a roller coaster - I can't wait to try it.
What is your favorite restaurant?  McDonalds
Where is your favorite place to go?  The Aquarium
Who is your best friend?  Kai, Samuel, and Naomi
What is your favorite song?  All the Ice Age songs
What do you want to be when you grow up?  Stay home and live with mom
What is your favorite thing to play?  Soccer and the car game on Mema's ipad
What is your favorite toy?  Doggie
What do you like most about being home?  playing with his toys
What is your favorite thing to wear?  Superhero shirt with the sparkly letters
What is your favorite fruit?  Bananas
What is your favorite snack?  Fruit by the Foot
What is your favorite book?  Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3
What is your favorite TV show?  Wild Kratts
What is your favorite animal?  Cheetah
What is your favorite thing to sleep with at night?  Doggie
What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Ride my bike
What is your favorite holiday?  Easter
Who is your favorite superhero?  Green Lantern

I'm amazed that I'm celebrating 6 years of this amazing kid being a part of my life. Everyday you bring excitement and wonder back into my adult world and help me see the things I too often look over. You surprise me with your unfounded wisdom and love for The Lord, and your childlike faith inspires me in my own walk. I love watching you learn and discover the world around you and feel privileged to be your teacher through the journey. Thank you for filling my life with Legos, superheroes, dirt, and more animal facts than anyone could ever know. You are a blessing to my life in so many ways and I hope all your dreams come true. We love you!!

Happy Birthday Shoog!!

Birthday Interview

What is your favorite color?  Pink and purple
What is your favorite drink?  Chocolate milk and juice
What is your favorite food?  Noodles (with butter & Parmesan cheese) 
What is your favorite movie?  The Little Mermaid & Tangled
What is your favorite thing to do?  Work puzzles
What is your favorite restaurant?  McDonalds
Where is your favorite place to go?  McDonalds
Who is your best friend?  Levi
What is your favorite song?  Jesus songs
What do you want to be when you grow up? I already bigger!
What is your favorite thing to play?  Princess Sophia puzzle
What is your favorite toy?  Princess Sophia puzzle
What do you like most about being home?  Poppy
What is your favorite thing to wear?  Princess dresses
What is your favorite fruit?  Blueberries
What is your favorite snack?  Goldfish
What is your favorite book?  Princess Barbie book
What is your favorite TV show?  Wild Kratts
What is your favorite animal?  hippo
What is your favorite thing to sleep with at night?  Her fox (thanks Samuel!)
What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Ride her bike and sit in the wagon

This year I have seen the biggest changes in my sweet girl, but I guess the year between 2 and 3 always is.  They really go from being our babies to being our "big" kids.  Naomi is definitely a blessing to our family.  She is smart, sassy, caring, sweet as can be, tough and strong, and she loves to laugh.  Naomi doesn't realize this, but she is my reminder that God hears me, knows my heart, and is faithful to His promises.  He gave her to our family at just the right time and circumstances around her birth remind me that God loves me.  He loves us.  So Happy Birthday to my daughter!  May the year to come bring us all closer to the Lord as we share lots of love and laughter.  

Happy Birthday Nomes! 
 

5 Years

Five years ago yesterday I had been in labor for 7 hours with nearly 12 more to go before they laid this beautiful boy in my arms. You are the most creative, generous, and loving little boy I know. Your curiosity, cheetah powers, humor, love for all things superhero, big heart, contagious smile and laughter have filled our hearts and home the last five years. We love you and hope you have the most amazing day with more blessings to come this year. Happy Birthday Levi!!

She's 2!

This special girl turned 2 recently.  I can't believe it.  It seriously feels like yesterday I was anticipating her arrival and then bringing her home and into our family, but it also feels like she has always been part of our family.  I'm not sure what we'd do without her presence in our family.  As you can tell she is as cute and sassy as ever.  She actually had a pretty crappy birthday as we spent the whole day in the car traveling back to Georgia from Texas.  She was in a great mood, but her Poppy was sick the whole ride so Levi & I did the best we could to make her day a little special, but there is only so much you can do for a 2 year old on a 17 hour car ride.  

To make up for it the following weekend we had her a party and celebrated her birthday right.  We always put balloons in their room the night before their birthday so we made sure to not skimp on that.  She was thrilled, and so was our dog and 4 year old.  Her party was later that afternoon complete with cake, presents, and lots of love.  Awesome Aunt Lou came the night before and helped with her cake, which I'm happy to report did not fall apart like it did last year!  Small victories!  Needless to say we made up for her spending her birthday in the car and she was spoiled!  She got a kitchen for her room, clothes, jewelry, puzzles, new cowboy boots, and her very first Barbie!  For the record she is loving every present she got and plays with them all pretty much on a daily basis.  I think it is safe to say that she is starting this second year of life off pretty good thanks to all the people in her life that love her so much.  

Happy Birthday Naomi!

 

She can't wait to open her presents.

Giving everyone kisses and thanking them for her gifts.

Because she had a birthday that meant a 2 year check up at the doctor.  We just went last week and she is growing like a weed.  Like her brother she in the 97% (36.5 inches) for her height, and she is a skinny little thing coming in at just the 30% (25.6 lbs.) for weight.  She is growing so much and everyday I feel like she is learning something new.  Here is a little bit of stuff she has been up to recently.

• She is my fashionista!  She loves clothes and on more than one occasion she has refused to put on what I have picked out and insisted on picking her own clothes out.  Usually she is pretty stylin' as you can see from the picture right above.
• She loves girly things like baby dolls, jewelry, make up, princesses, and shoes, but she also has a streak of tomboy in her has well.  She runs and climbs with the best, and she isn't afraid to get dirty.
• She adores her brother.  Yes.  ADORES!  She thinks he hung the moon and follows him around mimicking everything he does.  It is definitely "monkey see.  monkey do." around here. 
• She is quite obedient, but she has a stubborn streak that runs through her and it isn't a rarity to her the word "no!" come out of her mouth.
• She still sleeps in her crib, but don't worry she has figured out how to climb out and on more than one occasion has climbed in bed with me in the middle of the night.
• She is a great eater and loves pizza, crackers, spaghetti, chicken, bread, and juice.
• Her hair is getting long and I can put it in a pony tail and pigtails even though she hates for me to.
• She loves to watch movies, but rarely sits through and entire one.  I think 30 minutes may be the longest she's watched anything.  This girl likes to be moving.
• She still loves her nonnie (pacifier - we have no idea why she calls it a nonnie since we have always called it the paci).  We took it away from her, but we still allow her to have it at bedtime.  So far it has worked wonderfully, but I'm dreading the time we have to take it from her at night.
• She is interested in going to the potty, but we haven't done any extensive training with her.  We just let her go when she asks, but will probably train her in the next few weeks once we get a little more settled.
• She loves to read and sing, especially during family worship.
• She talks all the time!  She knows more words than I can count and is getting pretty good at understanding reasoning.
• We started our discipline more heavily with her in the past few months and I'm sorry to say she has already had her first (of many I'm sure) spankings.  
• She loves bath time and would probably stay in there all day if her brother didn't aggravate her so much in there.
• She is a bit whiny which we are trying to reign in.  I think it's a girl thing.
• She always wants her boo boos kissed, but as soon as she gets her kiss she is fine.
• She loves to brush her teeth and get her hair brushed after bath time.
• She loves Poppy, Gramps, & Granddaddy.  Mommy, Mema, & Grandmama, Bay, Lou, & Samuel are a close second.
• She loves to play outside, slide, swing, ride her big wheel, run, and rock in the rocking chair.
• She started sitting in church with us over the last few months and has done great transitioning into the service.
• She loves to go on rides in the car.

Birthday Fun

 Levi is 4!  I can't believe it.  We of course had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday with friends and family.  We were in GA the weekend before his birthday and had a party to celebrate with family and a few friends.  He loved it and got exactly what he asked for...a water hose!!!  I'm still not sure why he wanted it, but he had been asking for it for weeks so that is what he got.  He was thrilled and has asked to use it several times.  The only problem is that our rental property in NC doesn't have an outside water hookup for it :(  We are working on getting a solution so he can use it soon.  We also want to send a big shout out to Lou Lou for making his totally awesome monster truck cake.  He loved it!  He got so many wonderful things.  Lots of cars, a net for catching fish & bugs, clothes, a water hose, and the bird game!  Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

 Gramps even got his Batman car up and running again!

 Levi's actual birthday fell on Memorial Day this year.  Granddaddy, Grandmama, & Cara came up for a visit and we spent the day doing all the things that Levi loves doing in NC.  We went to the NOC center and watched some kayakers do tricks and then we went a visited a few waterfalls.  I made some cupcakes for us to celebrate his actual birthday and we had a mini party before they had to head back home.

 The birthday boy!

 Opening his presents he got a new fishing pole and 2 new VeggieTale movies!  Granddaddy & Grandmama also gave him a spray attachment for his waterhose!

 After Aaron's folks left we headed across the street to the park to grill our dinner.  Levi even caught a fish in his new net!  We had a great time together playing in the river and celebrating Levi's big day!

At the end of the day we had this awesome rainbow above the mountains in our backyard.  It was quite fitting for the wonderful day we had celebrating our son's birthday.  Levi is truly a blessing from God and we are so thankful he is part of our family.  His smile and humor brighten each day and his love for life is so contagious.  We love you and are so proud of our little guy!

The Celebration

My crazy little man is officially a 3 year old. I can't believe it. Three years seems like such a long time ago yet it feels like it was just yesterday that I held a beautiful baby boy in my arms for the first time. We had a busy weekend with family so we decided to have a small party with just close family to celebrate the big day. We cooked out hamburgers and hotdogs, enjoyed cake and ice cream, and Levi got everything that could be on the wish list for a 3 year old boy...cars, dinosaurs, and a boat!

Mommy & Poppy with the birthday boy!

the cake! presents!

Three

I can't believe my little Shoog is 3 today!

29 on the 29th

Last week I turned 29. I know...who would have guessed? A husband, two kids, a year away from 30 and I still feel like I'm 16 most days! I guess aging isn't an option so I'll just make the most of it. Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate...it was wonder-mazing!

The card Levi gave me...

Totally perfect for a 2 year old right?

And this pretty baby was a gift from my parents.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

Oh What a Night! - 80's Night!!

As posted earlier, Aaron turned 30 a few weeks ago. We finally celebrated his birthday with all of our friends this past weekend. Since Aaron was born in 1980 we had an 80's themed party. Yep, you guessed it everyone was expected to dress up in 80's garb. We had a great time. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the night.

Entering the 30's

I just want to wish my awesome husband a very

Happy 30th Birthday!

You are an amazing man, and I hope your birthday was amazing and that this year is filled with adventure and blessings as God leads you. We love you!!

*I'll be posting more pictures later of all our celebrating.

Celebrating 2!

Levi's birthday was last weekend and we had a blast celebrating the whole weekend long. Friday was his actual birthday and I took him out to lunch at Zaxby's and then to the park to play. He loves to swing. That night we went out to dinner with my family. Saturday morning we took Levi to the Yellow River Game Ranch. Levi loves all animals, and he had a ball feeding the deer and other animals. He thought it was completely awesome. That evening we had his party. It was just a small party with our family, but Levi had a blast and racked up on trucks and cars (anything transportation is a big hit with him). Sunday and Monday (because it was Memorial Day weekend) we were able to just hang out as a family and play with all his new toys. I absolutely cannot believe my baby is 2 year old! Who am I kidding - he isn't really a baby anymore. However, he is absolutely amazing. Every day I am in awe that he is our son, and that we are so blessed to be his parents. These have definitely been two unbelievably amazing years! In celebrating the 2 year mark here are a few things about Levi:

• He talks in sentences, and can usually repeat any word you ask him to. He quite possibly learns a new word everyday.
• He loves all forms of transportation: trucks, cars, tractors, lawn mowers, airplanes, bicycles, motorcycles, trains, and buses.
• He knows 5 of his toddler catechisms. (I hope to video him saying them soon to post for you to hear).
• He is in the 95% for height and 75% for weight. Tall and lean!
• Still loves VeggieTales.
• He loves animals. He can identify nearly 40 animals last I counted, and learns more all the time. Some of his favorites are doggie, deer, bugs, hippo, rhino, and cows.
• He is so curious, and asks "What's that?" constantly.
• He is a funny little guy. Even at this young age he already knows how to pull a fast one on you.
• He loves his friends and family. He always wants to know where Avery, Walker, Malia (church friends) Cara, Lou Lou, Bay, MyMama (Grandmama), and Mammy (my mom) are.
• He knows how to clean his room, and is usually quite obedient in getting it done.
• He loves outside. He would be outside 24 hours a day if he could. He loves to dig in the dirt, ride bikes, chase Dodger, pick flowers, mow the lawn, throw rocks, etc. If it's outside then he's game.
• He's 100% boy, and we love it!

Look Who's 2!

Two years ago today this face took my breath away... And he's still doing it today. Happy Birthday Levi! You have been the most wonderful blessing from God, and we love you so very much. We are amazed each day at how God works through you even at your young age. Our prayer is for you to continue to seek Him all the days of your life, and to live the life He has called you to. We can already tell He has BIG things in store for you. Love, Mommy & Poppy

We just want to wish Aaron's dad a very

Happy Birthday!

Hope you have a wonderful day and lots of fun celebrating!

This is my AMAZING sister...

She celebrated her 24th birthday on Wednesday. She is one of the most amazing women I know. She loves Jesus with all she is, and it is evident in every conversation we have. She is kind, soft hearted, compassionate, loving, independent, encouraging, upfront, honest, helpful, respectful, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I feel so completely blessed to have her in our lives and be able to share my deepest hurts and greatest joys with her. She is one of my best friends, and I love her. We celebrated her birthday this week with dinner, cake, and games, but I neglected to make a post wishing her a "Happy Birthday" on Wednesday. So I hope she knows just how much we love her and forgives us for posting this a little late. I hope she can also find it in her heart to forgive me for posting the next picture, but this is the side of my sister that I love the most. The FUN side. The side that always makes me laugh. I love that about her. We can joke, make complete fools of ourselves, and have a blast doing it! We just enjoy being retarded together, and who wouldn't want a sister like that? Thanks for bring the party wherever you go. You truly are an amazing part of our lives!

Happy 24th Birthday Lou!!

I (we) love Beth too - always and forever!