Five for Friday

Ok, I'm trying to bring back some normalcy to our lives and this post makes me think we are getting close.  Trying to do Five for Friday again.  =)

Five for Friday:
1.  This precious boy turned 4 on Tuesday and we celebrated our little hearts out.  Birthday party with friends on Saturday; mommy, daddy, and Miller reading to his class Tuesday morning and bringing cupcakes to the class; mommy checking Austin out of school early and having a special birthday lunch after school; and then a family party that night.  I think he was worn out after it all but it was so fun to celebrate this little guy and his precious life.


2.  We had a double header soccer game this week.  One last night and one tonight.  I can't say we have really improved on our kicking it towards the goal or really kicking at all but he still loves it so we are sticking with it.  If nothing else, its a fun time to hang out with my friends while our kids play.

3. Last Sunday night was beautiful here with the most amazing weather so we took a bike ride to a fun place to eat dinner outside and enjoy some ice cream. Definitely one of those nights that you smile about for a long time.


4.  On Monday we drove to Hernando, MS to meet my best friend for time at the pumpkin patch and realized when we got there that it was closed.  We headed back to their house and just played the morning away.  They live on quite a bit of land so the highlight of the morning was riding in the wagon on the back of the lawn mower around the property.  Yes, this 6 month pregnant lady was in the wagon with the kids making sure no one fell out.  It was quite comical.


5.  Yesterday I saw my sweet baby girl on ultrasound.  She is doing great.  Measuring 2.1 lbs and 27 weeks.  55%.  She is unfortunately breech right now so she is literally sitting/standing on my bladder.  My OB said she is pretty low because of being baby #4 so she is having a grand time kicking my bladder and putting pressure on my pelvis.  I will be monitored every 2 weeks between my Urologist and OB because a couple weeks ago I passed a kidney stone...yes, a kidney stone.  Definitely one of the worst pains I have ever experienced.  Both doctors feel like more than likely I will pass a few more during this pregnancy...awesome...I feel like a walking time bomb!  The things we do for our children. =)


Happy Friday homies!  Enjoy the weekend!

Boston Farewell BBQ

The weekend before we left Boston our good friends threw us a Farewell BBQ.  It was such a wonderful evening seeing the great friends we have made and having a chance to hug necks and say goodbye.  As I looked back on the pictures I was reminded of what a precious year that was in our lives and how very thankful I am for the relationships we built while living there.  Truly a gift!

My precious friend Christine who at the time was 9 months pregnant.  She now has a beautiful baby boy named Tate.

The kids trying to sit on the hammock.
Miller riding the bike with Poppy. Miller L.O.V.E.S Poppy and still talks about her. Both he and Austin wanted to name our baby girl Poppy after this precious little girl. I think we may have a match for the future.

I had to put all the pictures because they truly make me smile. He truly loves her.
I love the look on Miller's face in this next picture...its like he's saying, "Look at me and Poppy together!"

Isn't she gorgeous?!?

All the kids together.

Love this picture of the big boys holding their little siblings. Don't mind the dirt on our kids faces, they literally played in dirt the entire time we were there.
Such a wonderful night. We were given such precious gifts before we left as well. A scrapbook for the boys and a scrapbook for me with handwritten letters from the ladies in my bible study and playgroup. We were also given an awesome art print of Boston. We can't wait to frame that for our house.

I miss these ladies and their children.  I can't wait to visit Boston again soon!

Happy birthday Austin!

Today is Austin's 4th birthday!  I truly feel like he was just born yesterday.  The time is flying by at record speed.  On one hand I want it to stop but then on the other I love seeing his little personality shine through and see the little boy he is becoming.  Some things about Austin I don't want to forget.

He loves planes, trains, trucks, and cars.
He adores his little brother and is truly a wonderful big brother.
He is sensitive, loving, caring, and affectionate.  He always wants 1 more hug and 1 more kiss.  He is a visual learner and is constantly soaking up new things.
He is incredible with directions.  We always said if he got lost in Boston he could have found his way home.  He knew all the stops on the train and where to get on and off and how to get home from the train station.  He has a wonderful memory and remembers things that we can't even remember.  He loves everything Curious George.
   
He has a beloved blanket that has been with him since birth and truly brings him comfort.
He loves stuffed animals and has lots of them.  His favorite are Mimi the dog and Ellie the elephant.  He idolizes his daddy and wants to be just like him.
He says he wants to be a doctor and grow up to work with daddy.  He is a pleaser and loves praise.  He is not picky about what he wears and never cares to change his clothes.  He does love his rain and snow boots though and enjoys wearing them even when its 100 degrees and not raining.  He is a observer while also being a big talker.  He was a late talker but now talks nonstop.

He already loves his baby sister and enjoys talking to her in my belly and giving her kisses.

He loves sweets and desserts like his mommy.  He will eat anything and everything on his plate if that means he gets dessert.

He is rough, tough, and truly all boy.  He loves to run, jump, wrestle, and make believe.
He is loving playing soccer and enjoys swimming.
His favorite place is to be outside.
Our dog Sadie is his best friend and he loves to be around her.  He does not like change or new things.  He is hestitant about anything new even if its going to be great.  Usually he enjoys the new things once he tries them but it is always frustrating to get him to try them.  He doesn't do well with transitions so we are already praying for the big transition of baby girl coming.  He is truly a gift from the Lord and such a joy to be around.

We love you Austin and are so thankful the Lord entrusted us with you as our son.  We pray that you would grow to walk and love our Lord with all your heart and let Him lead your path in life.  We are so proud of you.

Austin's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Austin's 4th birthday with his friends this past Saturday.  He chose 8 boys that he wanted to invite to his party.  This was the first year where a few of his friends were not desiginated by their parents being our friends which makes me feel like my little boy is growing up.  He chose a construction theme which was fun and pretty easy to do since we had a lot of the supplies on hand with our trucks and toys.  I went to work by looking on the internet and finding inspiration from tons of different places.

The boys eating table.

Each boy received a construction hat with their initial on it. 
A Happy Birthday Banner I made by finding scrap book online for free and downloading it and then printing the letters on it. David hung the banner and I think it looked great.
I created a road down the center of the table by folding a black tablecloth in thirds and then creating the white marks out of white construction paper and adding some construction trucks to it. 
My precious boy with his beloved blanket.
I found a shirt on etsy that matched the theme but still looked a little more grown up.
The food table.

"Dirt cups" - chocolate pudding with crushed oreos on top with a gummy worm crawling out.

There were wrecking balls (cheetos), spare tires (chocolate donuts), rocky road (marshmallows with chocolate and heath bar), nuts and bolts (pretzels), construction cones (candy corn),and sandwiches.
I had to keep Miller out of the goodies all morning.
We decorated the hearth with a sign David made out of nails. I found this online and tweaked it a little by adding the blue bolts on the end. We added 2 cinder blocks with trucks on them along with caution tape.

I made the cake by following this tutorial.  I tweaked a few things like adding crushed oreos and cocoa pepples as the boulders.

The goody bags consisted of a chocolate sucker I made using a candy mold, a pull back truck toy, truck stickers, a muslin truck bag, and a truck chalk.

I made a wreath for our door out of caution tape.  I love Miller's face peeking out of the window.

Here are the boys ready to eat lunch.
Lighting the candles on the cake.

Austin being shy.

I am so thankful for precious friends in Austin's life.

Instead of gifts Austin asked for books that he could donate to the children at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I was really impressed by his maturity in understanding that other kids needed things more than he did. My mom did give him a couple gifts because she won't be in town to celebrate on his actual birthday. He LOVED his new Cars Lego Duplo set.
It truly was a wonderful party and so much fun to celebrate my big boy turning 4.  It truly seems like yesterday when he was born.

To see the rest of the pictures from his party, click here.

Credits:
Pull back trucks, construction cone candles, chocolate truck mold, childs construction hats - Amazon
Truck chalk - Etsy
Striped straws - Etsy
Boys shirts - Etsy
Muslin truck bags - Etsy
Inviations - Etsy
Online Scrapbook store
Idea for Nail #4  and cinder blocks
Paper plates, napkins, orange cones, table cloths, truck stickers, silverware - dollar store or Big Lots