Crawling

I almost forgot to tell you all that a few days ago Ryleigh started crawling. She's been army crawling for a while but she is now on hands and knees. She is still slow and cautious about it but she has figured it out. She will still drop to her belly some and army crawl but it's getting less and less. I'll try to get a video soon if she will do it long enough.

Speaking of Ryleigh, it is 9:00 in the morning and she is STILL asleep. This never happens. I guess she must have been really tired. She slept from 8:00pm-4:00am, then ate, and has been asleep ever since. It's nice to have a little break this morning though.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

It's beginning to look a lot like.....

CHRISTMAS!!

I am super excited that it is finally here! Thanksgiving is over and that means it's time to put up our Christmas decorations. Josh and I put up our tree today while Emma was napping, and then we decorated this afternoon. Ryleigh didn't care one bit about the tree, but Emma LOVED to help with putting on the ornamants. She put them all in the exact same spot, but that's ok. After she put one on she would quickly run back and get another one. It was so much fun having her help this year. Even though only the top 3/4 of the tree is decorated it is still beautiful and it finally feels like Christmas in here. As you walk in our front door, we have some built in shelves that I love. That is where I put the nativity scene. Last year it was above the fireplace, but we mounted our t.v. there, so I had to find a new place and I think it worked out great. I am so proud of this set. My mom gave it to me last year and she hand painted it back in 1993. She did such a great job and I'm glad that I have it to put out every year. Only 29 days till Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving day was great. Because the girls needed naps, we weren't able to go anywhere until the afternoon. We always have dinner with my side of the family, so we went to my mom and dads house. We were in charge of bringing the turkey so Josh spent a large part of the afternoon frying one. I was so glad to see everyone but it gets hectic. Our girls are our first priorty and after getting them taken care of and making sure they ate, there just isn't a lot of time to visit. But we had some good food and we were all together, so that's all that matters. As much as I enjoy Thanksgiving, I am glad it's over because now it's time for Christmas!! I took some pictures but most of them didn't turn out good because I caught a lot of people in the middle of a big bite or something so here are just a couple.

Daddy carved the turkey!

Emma looked so cute in her little owl dress

Thankful

I am thankful for so much. There is no way that I would be able to sit down and list every single thing because it would take a lifetime. But here are some of the things.

-I'm so thankful to the Lord for not giving up on me. I don't always lead the life that I want to but he is right there with me all the time making me strive to do better.

-I'm thankful for a wonderful husband who puts up with me. He is always there for me through thick and thin. I love him more and more each day.

-I'm thankful for two wonderful and beautiful girls. I love them more than anything in this world. I never thought I would love being a mom as much as I do. I know that this is what I was meant to be.

-I'm thankful for wonderful family. Josh and I both have wonderful families and we are so thankful for the support and help that they give us all the time.

-I'm thankful for our sweet little puppy Blake. He has been with us a week now and I'm sohappy that we got him. He will make a great pet for our girls.

-I'm thankful that the Lord is taking care of my mom and getting her through this tough time.

-I'm thankful for a roof over our head and food to eat.

-I'm thankful that during these tough times for our country, my husband has a great job that he loves.

These are just a FEW of the things that I am thankful for. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will be spending Thanksgiving at my mom and dads house this afternoon. I can't wait to see all my family. It's very rare that we are all together under one roof these days.

Our Weekend

Would you believe that I didn't take any pictures this weekend? We just didn't really do a whole lot. Saturday was a lazy day for us. We had no plans and were just able to hand around the house. We enjoyed playing with the girls and with Blake. We also straightened up the house a little bit. Yesterday morning I did a little bit of cleaning and then we went to my mom and dads house for a little bit. They were watching Cheyenne and Hailey for Autumn so all the girls got to play together. It was around 70 degrees yesterday and it will probably be one of the last nice days we have so it was great for them to get to play outside. Cheyenne, Hailey, and Emma rode the golf cart around with Nana and collected leaves. I think that was the highlight of their day. We put Ryleigh in the baby swing and she fell asleep within a few minutes and slept a whole hour! We took Blake with us since he is still so little and can't be left at home for too long. He wore himself out chewing and sniffing everything. He got home and slept most of the rest of the night. Today is a major de-cluttering day for me. I don't know how in the world we have managed to collect so many toys! They are literally overtaking our house. The girls play with the same toys over and over so I'm going to put a few of the big ones up in the closet. I already have a whole garbage bag full of toys. Josh and I are finally starting to sell a few things on Craigslist that just don't get used anymore. We sold the pack n play and also our highchair yesterday. Ryleigh moves so much that she wouldn't sleep in the pack n play anyway and we don't plan on really traveling anymore until next spring. The highchair we've had kind of sitting around. It took up a lot of space so we got Ryleigh a seat saver a while back and finally got rid of the highchair. I still have several things still for sale though so I'm hoping it will all go soon. I'm so glad this week is Thanksgiving. Josh is only working today and tomorrow and then he'll get to spend the rest of the week with us. It will be a nice little break. We plan on putting up our Christmas Tree and decorations this coming weekend and I'm so excited. Although, we are a little scared of how well Blake and Ryleigh(who is all over the place) is going to do with the tree. Emma didn't care for it much last year but I don't know if she will this year. But I'm still excited about putting it up.

Hope you all have a great Monday!

I Love Shutterfly!

I have seen so many people blog about Shutterfly and how much they love it and why not be able to do it and get FREE Christmas cards? The Holiday season is fast approaching. I love shuterfly and how easy their website is to use. I have used them for thank you cards, invitations, birth announcements, holiday cards, calendars, etc. I love the calendars because it is so easy to make one and they turn out so great. For our Christmas cards this year I plan on using pictures of the girls that my wonderful sister Autumn took. She is a photographer and takes wonderful photos. I have so many pictures from throughout the year that it's going to be so hard to narrow it down. But with shutterfly you can put multiple photos so it will be easy. I can wait to start creating our cards through shutterfly. Here are a few on my favorite designs.

I love this one because itso kid like.

I love this one because you can add multiple photos from the year.

This one is great for someone who doesn't want a traditional Christmas card.

This one is so precious for a someone with a newborn.

I love the chocolate brown with red and blue.

This one is so fun.

Here are some of my favorite products from Shuttefly.

Holiday Cards

Birthday Invitations

Desk Calendars

I don't know how I will ever choose which Holiday card to go with. They are so many great designs. I better get to it.

Happy Shopping!

My Girls

Last week me and the girls went to Autumn's house while her girls were at school to do some photos. Emma was not in a good mood and we only got a couple of her but Ryleigh did pretty good that's why there are so many of Ryleigh and only a few of Emma. Thank you so much Autumn! You always do such a great job and I love having these little special memories of my girls. This first picture really captured Ryleigh's personality. She gives the biggest smiles and scrunches her nose as hard as she can. The second picture is the best one we got of both girls. I hope one day to get a good picture of both of them together smiling, but it's so hard to do when they are this young....oh well.

Busy Day

Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. It was the first full day that I had with the girls and Blake by myself. I don't think I sat down all day. I knew that it would be hard taking care of all three of them while Josh is gone but I don't think I realized how tiring it would be. The girls did really good yesterday. They were really happy for the most part and we enjoyed playing together. I'm having all of the little puppy problems with Blake right now, but I know that he just needs some training. He is getting up every hour and a half to pee, and he usually goes right back to sleep. But I'm not really sleeping good so I haven't really been able to get well rested and then busy days make me very tired. Katie and Bradley came by to visit before she went to work so that they could meet Blake. I knew I had to go out to PetSmart so I decided to take the girls to see Katie at Longhorn. I normally don't take them by myself to a sit down restaurant but they did wonderful. We went early so that it wasn't crowded and we could get in and out faster. It was the first time I've left Blake home alone and he did ok I guess. He was whining when I got back, but that's fully expected. For a while now, Ryleigh has been trying hard to sit up from a laying down position by herself. She could make it half way but never all the way up. Sunday night, my parents came by for a little bit to visit and while they were playing with Emma and Blake I put Ryleigh in her crib. Usually I can just lay her down and leave the room and she'll roll around for about 10 minutes and then go to sleep. I noticed it was taking her a lot longer so I checked the monitor and she was sitting up. I thought maybe she was able to grab onto the bumper or something to help her but as I found out yesterday, that's not the case. She can sit up all by herself. I was so happy that she learned how to do this but I knew what was coming next. I was still trying to get her asleep when my parents left and when I went back into her room, she was standing up bouncing. Then I had to figure out how to lower her crib. It wasn't hard, just to me a little bit to get everything put back together.(normally, that's Josh's job) This has made nap time a little more challenging because when I have put her in her crib, she immediately sits up and starts playing. I have had to actually go in her room and lay her down and stay with her for a few minutes until she starts getting sleepy or closes her eyes. I know that this is still pretty good for her going to sleep, but not what I was used to. She is also starting to bring her knees up a little bit when she army crawls so I have a feeling maybe a few more days and she might be really crawling. We'll just have to see. Today is going to be a rainy day I think, so we will probably just stay home and do laundry and clean. I don't want Josh to think I didn't do anything while he was gone. HA!

Early Christmas Present!

Meet Blake! He is our new little puppy! He is a miniature black and tan dachshund....aka "weinie dog". He was born on September 22,1010, which makes him about 7 1/2 weeks old.He is about 5 lbs right now, but will grow to be about 11 lbs.

He has the cutest little floppy ears and little legs. He is full of energy and loves to chase Emma around the house. Emma loves Blake and she giggles and laughs at him all the time. Ryleigh is still warming up to him, but I'm sure she will love him too. Yesterday, we drove to the North side of Charlotte(about 2 hours) and picked him up. He and Josh are already best friends. He slept on Josh's lap most of the way home and he was so happy. He is CKC registered and comes from parents who are CKC and AKC registered. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have wanted a dachshund since I was about 10 years old, so when we found out we could get one, I was ecstatic. Josh needed a little more persuading because he knows that we have our hands full with two little ones already. But he knew how much I have wanted one and was willing to let us get him. People have asked me if we are crazy for getting a dog while having a 2 year old and an 8 month old. All I can say is "Yes". I know we are crazy but I also know that you only live once and this is a dream of mine that we couldn't pass up. We love little Blake so much and we are so glad he is part of our family.

Almost the Weekend!!

The past couple of days have been pretty good around here. Yesterday morning me and the girls went over to Autumn's house to have some pictures done. I was hoping to get one of the girls together since I haven't been able to get one since Ryleigh was born. Emma just wasn't in the mood. I think we only got one decent shot of her the whole time. Ryleigh did pretty good. She was a little bit more fussy than usual. But once I got home, I figured out why. Her top gums are just as red as they can be and I can see her top two little teeth getting ready to break through. These two teeth seemed to be bothering her more than her bottoms one did. Last night she was running a temp of about 101 and she slept horrible. I've been keeping some tylenol in her and she has napped really good today, so I'm hoping tonight will be much better.

This morning Emma had speech therapy. She has it every Tuesday and Thursday. Josh and I aren't really too sure that it's helping a whole lot with her speech much but it is giving her some one on one learning time. During the day it's difficult for me to really sit down with Emma and spend a lot of time teaching her things. I do the best I can but it's hard with Ryleigh. She really enjoys spending with Mrs. Christy though.

I'm so glad that tomorrow is Friday. The weekend is almost here and it's so nice to have some help around the house. Although this is the weekend I've been dreading all year. Next week is the CGCSA show in Myrtle Beach that Josh goes to every year. I usually go with him. Last year me and Emma went and had fun hanging out in the hotel, shopping at the outlets, and sightseeing, but I have no desire to try and handle both kids in one little hotel room for 3 days. Josh is leaving Sunday night and won't be home till Wednesday night. I'm kind of dreading it but I know we will be fine. We sure will miss him though.

I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left from today till Thanksgiving. This year sure has flown by. I have been working on the girls Christmas list and it is totally stressing me out. I want to make sure I get them things that they will love but kids are so funny about loving something one minute, and then not touching it again, so we'll see how it goes.

Hope you all have had a wonderful Thursday!!

Beautiful Tuesday

This morning Emma's therapy got canceled so I decided to take the girls out. There is a new store that just opened right up the street from us called Christmas Tree Shops and I had been dying to check it out. This store is a-maz-ing!!! It had everything you could imagine and they were actually pretty cheap. Can you believe there are only 45 days till Christmas?!?!?

While we were out Autumn called and asked if we wanted to meet her and the girls for lunch. We met at Red Robin and it was so good. All of the girls did great. Sometimes I wonder if we are crazy for going out with 4 little girls, but it beats sitting at home and for the most part, they normally do pretty good. Autumn even ordered the girls a little cupcake after lunch. Emma really enjoyed hers!A while back I ordered some bows for Ryleigh. I have been looking for ones that would stay in her hair since it's still really thin, fine baby hair. I found some that were guaranteed to work. When I got them, most of them were a little bigger that I thought and they looked kind of funny on Ryleigh so Emma wears them now. I did get one snap clip that had a cute little butterfly that looked so cute and actually stayed in her hair. As I looked at the bows I was thinking to myself....this can't be that hard to make. So I did a little research and figured out how to make some cute little bows. I haven't really had much time..or money for that matter to really get into this but I've made a bunch so far of one type. I have different colors so that I always have one to match. We are going to Autumn's house in the morning to have some pictures done for Christmas so I made some little red bows just in case I needed them. I'm still learning but I really enjoy it so far. Right now BOTH of the girls are napping [i love when that happens]...so instead of getting caught up on cleaning and laundry...I'm blogging....oh well

Stew at Iron Play

For the past several years Josh has been working at Iron Play Golf Course on the weekends. It brings in extra money and he loves it. Now that he is in sales he misses being out on the golf course and he really doesn't even consider it work. He does a great job there and is complemented all the time on how great the course looks. This past Saturday they had a big stew there and we were invited to come. It was really chilly that day but we had a good time and Emma loved playing on the putting green with the footballs.

Scootin' & Standing

Ryleigh is becoming more mobile by the day. She hasn't started crawling yet but she has perfected scootin' across the floor. She can even turn herself in circles too. She is not usually happy sitting in one place. She always lays down on her belly and tries to get to everything around her. This morning she managed to get into the little crawl through tent that Autumn let us borrow.

Ryleigh can pull up on things into a standing position. She has been trying so hard to pull up on the couch but can't do it yet. There is nothing for her to hold onto and it's a little too tall for her but I don't think it will be too much longer before she's cruisin around the couch.