It's Been WAY too long!!!!

I have gotten behind on my blog before, but I don't think I have ever gotten this far behind.  Makes me sad, really.  I love faithfully blogging about every event that goes on with our little family.  But, sometimes when you are busy living life, you don't always have time to record it right away.  As most of you know, we have had lots of changes in our home.  Cory took a new job causing him to travel a lot.  I am trying my best to hold down the fort while he is gone as well as continue with photography.  I am not complaining though.  Life is good.  We are blessed beyond measure!

So here I go playing the catch-up game once again.....

A few days before I took these pictures, I was laughing to my dad about how he had planned to turn my little girl into a tomboy and hide frogs in her pockets to scare me.  I said "Ha!  She's such a little princess, she'd never fathom the thought of touching a frog"  Kids sure do have a way of proving us wrong don't they???

She's definitely a princess, but one with a FROG!!!

Here are a few random moments of the kids doing their normal day to day thing....

This day we went on a rock hunt.  First we decorated wrappers for our empty water bottles.  

Then Eli put on a crazy had (completely random, I know)

 Then we went out and searched for some tiny little rocks that would fit inside our bottles

After that, our bottles were turned into shakers and we had a dance party!  It was a blast!

And now on to Easter...

We spend Good Friday evening at my brother's house.  My dad fried fish that was Deeeliscious!  We also managed to get a few good pictures of all the grandkids.  Not without a few out takes, of course.  This one is my favorite. LOL

We also had an Easter Egg Hunt

Our biggest treat, however, is when we found out Cory was coming home and we'd get to celebrate Easter with him!!

Eli actually woke up with a fever, so instead of cooking, we shared a very non-traditional Easter lunch.... take-out Mexican!

And we also took advantage of Cory being home and took a few family photos.

Did I mention Ben was here too????  Could our day be any better?!?! 

 Landry and one of her VERY favorite people!

 To top it all off, my best friend Libby popped in for a quick visit.

Me and my Love :)

Enough catching up for one post.  More posts to come....

Some Surprise News!!!

It's been ENTIRELY too long since I posted!!  I will catch back up, I promise.  Let's start with a fun announcement!!!

Eli's Birthday

Just as I have said before, I really want my kids to feel celebrated on their birthday.  Christmas is Jesus' birthday, so we focus on Him.  But on their birthdays, we celebrate them, a special person whom God knit together in my womb for a specific purpose!

So here is how we started the day:

Recognize these decorations from Landry's party.  I promise you'll get to see them again for Eli's party.  That's the benefit of using the same colors for both parties :)  I put them up the morning of his birthday, just to make things feel festive.

In order to avoid a sugar-induced coma, we bypassed the birthday cake pancakes and just went with the traditional chocolate chip pancakes.

 I don't think Eli minded one bit!

 Throw the kids in a bed with balloons and they are more than satisfied.  That is until the balloons run out.

 We also celebrated with Eli's class.  We brought special cupcakes.

 Look at my little sweetheart!  How could you not love that face??

 Here is Eli's buddy, Mason.  His hair is pure awesomeness!!

 And here are Eli's other little friends enjoying cupcakes, or should I say icing.

Later that evening, we took a trip to Barnes and Noble where Eli loves to play on the train table.  He even got a special package from Daddy containing a book with a special birthday note inside.  It was an all around special day!

Eli is 2

How time flies when you are having fun!  Eli turned 2 yesterday.  I would have written this post then, but we were too busy celebrating :)  I'll write about that later. 

 I know I have said it before, but oh man, does this little boy have my heart!!  

Today, I thought I would share some of my favorite things about Eli:

-Eli loves to sing.  He can pretty much pick up on any tune he hears right away.  He goes around singing constantly. And although you may not understand a single word he is saying, you can pick out the tune for sure

-Up until a couple of months ago, it always sounded like he was speaking in German.  He could pretty much talk to a wall, but it was definitely in German. LOL

-His smile can light up the room and warm up the coldest of hearts.

-As soon as he sees Cory he roars

-When he has done something wrong and you tell him to go apologize, he goes up to the person and leans his head in to them as if he is asking for a hug

-He loves his momma :)  I'm taking all the hugs and kisses I can get now.  I would seriously keep him this age forever!

-He loves to make you laugh.  When he does something to make you laugh, he likes to do it over and over again

-When we pray before meals, he gets really excited when we say "my food"

Simply put, he is amazing!

My prayer for Eli:

Dear God, Thank you for the responsibility and privilege of raising Your child.  I pray that you guide me with every step of the way.  Help me to teach and train him to be a follower of You.  I pray that you are already stirring in his heart and creating in him a desire to follow You.  I pray that You will use him in wonderful ways, a mighty warrior for You.  I pray that he will keep his joy and his engaging personality, and it will be because he has You in his life.  I pray that you are already molding him to be a wonderful Godly husband and father one day, and that you are already preparing a wife that he will lead one day.  Help Cory and I to be Godly examples to him of what a husband and wife should be to one another.  Thank you again for this precious gift.  In Jesus name I pray, amen

Phone Pics....

...And Videos!

While the pictures off my phone are not the best quality, they do capture some moments I may have otherwise missed.  I try to send pictures and videos to Cory almost everyday, so he can see what we are up to.  Here are some pictures and videos of life lately, according to my phone.....

Lan went to the dentist and was the most amazing patient!  I was SO proud because I had dreaded this day.  She got an excellent report and even got to meet Bippo the Hippo

She has also become a pro at coloring, when she really wants to.  Look at one of her pieces of art.

 Fashion never rests at our house.  This is how Landry went to church one Wednesday.  She laughs at the philosophy "less is more".  Future Lady GaGa?  Lord, I hope not. LOL

 Coldstone date with my two favorite kiddos

 When Ben was in, we took him to Mahoney's in New Orleans.  The Pot Roast Sub is to die for!!!

 Smile!  Landry learned about healthy teeth at school

 We had tornado warnings in our area.  We set up an area in the hallway where L snoozed the entire time

 I've started curling my hair sometimes.  Who knew you could use your straightener to curl your hair?!?

 Getting a start on party planning for Eli's Birthday.  Here's what I have done.  I've got to get myself in gear!!

Here is the picture I sent Cory the morning I found out I was pregnant.  I woke him up with the picture and a text that read "You're going to be a Daddy....AGAIN!  How's that for a good morning?"

 Cory had a little elf leave packages for the kids and me.  Did I mention, he also arranged for me to have a massage on the same day?

 After having "Bieber" hair for a good while, we finally got Eli's hair cut...

 ....now the fauxhawk is back!!

After our oven door fell off, we decided it was time for a new range.  Because our old one was from 20-something years ago, it was hardwired to the wall.  My handyman hubby took a couple of trips to Home Depot and installed our new range like a pro!

 We LOVE Cherry Berry, especially with friends :) BTW, Landry is always asking me to fix her hair like Tinker Bell.  That is the best I can do.

Landry took over my phone and took a few pictures.  One was of me, and yes I am wearing a Barbe t-shirt that is more than 10 years old.  Anyone else still have theirs?

We used my phone to video my first Ultrasound :)  Listen to that little heartbeat!

And finally, Landry got a jumprope from Dollar Tree.  Here she is demonstrating to me how to "jumprope"

Need a Good Laugh? Or a Good Cry?

I made this video and sent it to Cory for Valentine's Day.  Since the word is out about our new addition, I thought I'd share it with you.  It's pretty humorous and cute :)