We're Moving!

Yesterday we got confirmation that we will be moving in two weeks. Josh and I have decided to rent a house for a couple of years or so until we can buy our dream house. We need more space and something that is not on the third floor. We will be moving to Kernersville. It's technically a Winston Salem address but its in Kernersville. We are really excited but I'm also terrified. I feel so unprepared. I am very Type A and OCD and I hate for things to be out of place so the thought of having everything packed up and not knowing where everything is, is killing me. I just don't even know where to start. Luckily we don't really have a ton of stuff to move. The house that we are moving to is 4 bedrooms 2 baths and has a garage and a big backyard. What I love most about it, is that all 3 of our bedrooms are on the first floor and the 4 bedroom/bonus room is over the garage(will probably be Josh's office). I like two story houses but with two little girls I think it will be much easier to have everyone on the first floor. Then I don't have to worry about going up and down stairs with them all the time. I'm just excited that I will be able to take the girls outside anytime I want and let them play and run. It will be great to have a little pool or slip n slide for them this summer. The girls will also be getting their own rooms. They have done a great job at sharing a room and we actually don't have any problems getting them to sleep or anything but it will be nice for them to have their own space. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition and will only take a couple of days to get everything back in order. I will definitely post pictures once we move. Wish us luck!! :-)

sick little girls

The past couple of days have been a bit tiring. Both of my girls have some sort of allergy/cold issue. I'm not really sure which one. They have both had runny noses, coughing, congestion, etc. and been extremely whiny. It gets worse at night time and Emma has been waking up crying which is very unlike her. She always sleeps through the night. Ryleigh's coughing gets worse at night and luckily she is able to sleep through most of it. I hope it passes soon and they start feeling better.

I kept Autumn's girls yesterday morning while she went and got her hair cut. They really enjoyed having Cheyenne and Hailey here. It's a little hectic having 4 girls 3 and under by myself, but its also fun and I love that they are so close in age. I can't wait to see them all playing outside and at the pool this summer. It's going to be so much fun.

Speaking of yesterday morning, it was snowing!!!! We had steady snowfall for a few hours and it was so pretty. It was so hard to believe it was snowing at the end of March. I love snow and I can't wait till next winter. Gotta get through this awful spring and summer first. I absolutely despise hot weather.

But anyway, a lot of rambling, but just not a whole lot going on. We've been staying inside mostly so that the girls can get better. Hope you all have a great day.

:birthday::sick::pez::

Yesterday I turned 24! We spent the morning shopping with my mom. First we went to Kohls and I was able to find a few cute things for Ryleigh and then we went to Swoozies. Afterwards we met Autumn for lunch at Casa Vallarta. I love Mexican food but Josh doesn't so I don't ever get to go to a Mexican restaurant unless it's with someone else. It was really good and I loved being able to spend my part of my birthday with my mom and Autumn. I wish Katie could have come, but she had to work. :( Josh came home a little early from work to spend some time with me and then told me that he was taking me out on a date and that his mom and dad were coming over to watch the girls. He said he set this up last week, so I'msurprised he didn't tell me before then. But anyway, we have only been on one other datesince Ryleigh was born so it was nice to get away and actually be able to have a conversation at dinner. We got home and I quickly noticed Ryleigh had a fever. So we checked it and she was at about 100.7. I gave her some medicine and she slept last night from 7:30-5:45. Once she got up she was still at 101 and now she is coughing, nose running, and has thrown up. She looks like she feels so awful and all she is doing is whining. I feel so bad for her. After we got the girls to bed Josh and I had a piece of birthday cakeand I blew out a candle.

This was take with my phone so it's small and blurry. :(

It was a great end to the day. I just wish my little Ryleigh wasn't sick. :(

While Ryleigh was napping this morning I let Emma have the PEZ that we got her at the store last night. I thought she would love it and she did. She kept saying"duck duck quack quack".

I am taking Ryleigh to the doctor at 11 this morning so hopefully they can make her feel better. Hope you all have a wonderful day. Only 2 days till the weekend!!

Already Monday?!

Weekends go by sooo fast around here. I just don't know where the time goes anymore. Although it was short, we still had a great weekend. Josh always works Saturday mornings at Iron Play and usually doesn't get home until a little after lunch time. It gets old having to be by myself every Saturday morning but the extra money is good so I can't complain too much. After the girls got up from their naps we went out to run some errands and picked up some dinner at Bill and Leah's in Kernersville. It was so good. They have some of the best hamburgers and hotdogs. Yesterday we went to my mom and dad's house like we do every other Sunday but this time it was to celebrate my birthday.(which is Wednesday) I was so glad that everyone was there. Katie even took off work so that her and Bradley could be there. It wasn't as nice outside as it had been Friday and Saturday but we still went outside and played a little bit. It does the girls good to run around because once all of us are in the house, things get hectic. For some reason, my girls do not want to behave when we go to Nana andPapa's house. I don't know if it's because there are so many people or what, but hopefully once it gets warmer and we are outside a lot more, it will get better. We had grilled chicken, salad, and pasta salad for dinner and my mom and dad got me a cake from Ganache. It was so yummy. I also got some really great gifts. Katie went to my new favortite store...Swoozies...and got me this cute picnic basket.

It is collapsible and also insulated. It will be fun taking this on picnics and also on the beach. She also got me a really cute vera bradley notepad box, and a happy birthday goblet filled with "the best cookies ever".

My mom and dad got me this awesome watch that I asked for. I found it online a month or so ago and I was so excited. I have been wanting a watch for a while but I didn't want something expensive and I wanted it to be comfortable. So I got this watch....

I absolutely LOVE it. It is made by Rumba. They have several different kinds. Just go to www.rumbatime.com. They come in every color imaginable. And the best thing is this watch was only $14. It is made out of silicone so it is comfortable and you can just wipe it off if it gets dirty. My mom even got her one in yellow.

My mom and dad also got me a gift card to Old Navy and The Hollifields gave me money to go towards a bathing suit that I've been wanting, so I got home last night so order it, and guess what?!? They are sold out. So frustrating. How can you be sold out of bathing suits in March!! I'm hoping they will have some more soon so I'm not losing hope yet. It's just frustrating that you have to buy a bath suit in January to make you have one for June. It's crazy!!

But anyway, I had a great time celebrating with my family and I'm so thankful for each and every one of them.

Josh left a little while ago to go to Charlotte. He has a seminar there and will be gone until tomorrow night. :-( So it's just me and the girls. I plan on getting some things done around the house this morning and then maybe go out this afternoon.

Hope you all have a great MONDAY!!

Picnic at the Park

This morning we met Autumn, Chey, and Hailey at Oak Ridge Park to play and have a picnic. It was so nice outside today. The girls had a great time playing and then we sat and ate lunch at the picnic tables. I can see many more picnics in our future this spring and summer. :-)

Ryleigh's Cupcake

Scroll down to see pictures from the rest of Ryleigh's Party. That post got too long so I wanted to do a post that was only Ryleigh and her cupcake. She didn't really get messy but she seemed to enjoy it so thats all that matters.

Ryleigh's 1st Birthday Party

Ryleigh's party was so much fun. We had it at our church because that was the place big enough to hold all the people. We had a little over 30 people come and it was so great to have everyone there to help us celebrate. I did her party with pink and green. The party started at 3:30 but me, mom, dad, and Katie got there at 2:00 and spent an hour and a half decorating. I love how it turned out. Some of these pictures were taken by Autumn andsome by Josh.

This sign is from Swoozies. I put it outside the church and we tied some pink and green balloons to it.

This is the food table. I made cupcakes and we also had pigs in a blanket, teddy grahams, ham and swiss sandwiches, a cheese tray, and chips and dip.

I framed this picture for the food table. It was taken by Autumn at her 1 Year cake smash and it was also the picture I used for her invitation.

I used some ribbon and wooden clothes pins to display some pictures of Ryleigh from when she was first born until now. It was so fun to look back and see how much she has grown.

Katie got this picture frame for Ryleigh at Swoozies. I love that everyone at the party was able to sign it and it will be a great keepsake to show her when she is older.

Ryleigh got some great new toys and clothes. She got three big gifts that the kids enjoyed playing with at the party. She got a scoot and zoom radio flyer car, a cozy coupe, and a seesaw. The bigger kids did not want to take turns but they had fun pushing each other around.

Little E

I can't believe how long it's been since I updated on Emma. I guess once you get past the monthly posts, it's hard to remember to update. Anyway, Emma is a little over 2 1/2 now so here is what she is up to:

-wearing 3T-4T clothes, size 7 shoe

sleeps from 7:30pm-7:00am and naps at least an hour and a half every day

-counting from 1-10

-she is improving with her speech. she is still behind where she should be, but we think she is making great progress.

-her favorite person is still her daddy. She says "I Love You Daddy" ALL.THE.TIME!!! It's frustrating sometimes but really really cute.

-She loves playing with Ryleigh. She calls her "Ry babe...or Ry Bear"

-she loves playing outside

-she is very very stubborn. her favorite word now is "no". if she doesn't get her way, she lays on the floor and screams until someone acknowledges her

-she loves reading books

-she still uses her paci for sleeping and little does she know, its getting ready to go bye-bye

-she wants everything that Ryleigh has.

-she loves Mickey Mouse

-she LOVES the Hollified family. all day long she says "Chey, Hay, Aum, Wilm" (thats close to how it sounds I think)

-she can make most any animal sound you ask her. my favorite is the monkey...she says "oo oo ah ah"

-she has decided that she no longer wants to sit in a booster seat and wants to be in a big girl seat. so we put it away and she is doing pretty good.

-she lines up everything. (her snack, books, chairs, toys, baby dolls, etc.)

-she has the sweetest little smile and big brown eyes

-every night before bed she always gives us a big hug and kiss(depending on who puts her to bed)

-she loves to sing

I'm sure there are many more things I could put. She is a busy little girl and loves to do anything. Sometimes I think she is in her terrible twos, but then sometimes she is as sweet as she can be. She is so much fun to be around though and always puts a smile on our faces.

Emma, mommy and daddy love you so much.

My 1 Year Old

Well, Ryleigh is now 1. It's just so hard not to get a little sad when I think about that. She's no longer my little baby. She is a little toddler. But, I love watching her walk around and explore new things. She is turning into a wonderful little girl. Her party was yesterday and it went great. I will have some pictures up soon. Josh took most of the pictures at the party and we still need to convert them and sort through them. Maybe tonight. Anyway, I thought I would do a little post about what Ryleigh is up to at 1 year old!

-still wearing 12-24 month clothes, depending on what it is

-goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up any where from 6:15-7:00

-She had her LAST bottle last night. It was a little sad but since I never got to breastfeed her, that means I have been washing bottles almost everyday for the last year and I'm so glad to be done with that.

-She is riding forward facing in her carseat. We switched her a couple of weeks ago (a tad bit early) and she LOVES it. She likes being able to see Emma and us.

-She still LOVES cheerios.

-She is walking great and is very steady. A few days ago she finally figured out how to stand up by herself.

-She doesn't like to sit still or cuddle.

-When she doesn't want to be put down, she stands there and hangs her head with her lip poked out. It's the cutest and saddest thing ever.

-She loves to play with Emma.

-I think her favorite toy is a phone. My mom has a little play phone at her house and Ryleigh will play with it forever. So I got her one for her birthday and she also got one from Aunt Jill. She has played with them non-stop since last night.

-She has cut herself down to one nap a day. I don't think she is ready for this, but I have tried to put her down earlier so that she can have 2 naps, but she isn't ready to go to sleep. So as of now, her and Emma both eat lunch around 11:15-11:30 and then go down for naps. It works out great, because now I can finally get a shower before lunch time.

-She still loves the Backyardigans, but she also loves Mickey Mouse.

-She has the sweetest smile.

-She will say dada and mama, but nothing else...yet.

-she loves to swing.

Ryleigh, we can't believe how fast this year flew by. We love you so much. You have brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. Happy 1st Birthday sweet girl. :-)

1 Year Ago

Exactly 1 year ago today, I was full of anticipation. I knew that in less than 24 hours that my little girl was going to be here. Having a scheduled c-section was so nerve wrecking. I kept looking at the clock, counting down the hours. I barely slept at all that night. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am and I didn't want to oversleep. I got up that morning and surprisingly was very calm. Both Josh and I took our showers, got ready, carried everything to the car and drove to the hospital. We were both just ready to meet Ryleigh. We talked about everything that was going to happen and how we couldn't believe the day had finally come. My pregnancy with Ryleigh was full of problems and hospital visits, and worrying that she was going to come early. But we had finally made it to March 13th. My c-section was scheduledfor 7am and I was prepped and ready to go. But then my doctor came in and told me that they didn't get the right blood work and that we couldn't start until he got that. So the lab tech came to get blood and we waited, and waited, and waited. It seemed like forever. I was so overwhelemed with emotions and just couldn't keep it together. Finally about 8:30 they came and got us and we went to the OR. At 9:03 a.m.,we saw Ryleigh for the first time.

I can remember it like it was just yesterday. As I think back on the past year, I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful and beautiful little girl. She has developed such a sweet personality. She has been a mama's girl ever since she was born and although sometimes it gets exhausting, I wouldn't want it any other way.

There is no greater feeling in the world than holding your new born baby for the first time and knowing that God chose you to be her mother. What a blessing.

On a Mission

Only 2 days till Ryleigh's big party! I can't believe at this time last year I was packing my hospital bag, cleaning like a mad woman, washing newborn clothes, washing bottles, and getting ready to welcome my 2nd daughter into the world. I wish time would just slow down sometimes. It makes me so sad to see her turn 1 but also so happy because I know I'm going to love watching her grow up and I know that God has great things in store for her.

I always have everything done way too early than I should. I am a planner. I make lists and storyboards and always know exactly what I'm doing. This time it was a little bit different. I had Ryleigh's party all planned out months ago and then I had to do something else because the funds were just not there to do everything I wanted to do....so I'm saving that for her 2nd birthday. So I decided to go with something different. I found some party napkins at Swoozies a couple of weeks ago and I LOVED them. So I am decorating for her party around those. Lets just say....this is going to be a colorful party. I'm so excited though. There is nothing I love more than to throw a big party and celebrate with the people that mean the most to us. I tried to tone it down a little this year and it was really hard, so I mostly just got the basics that I would need. Up until today, I had NOTHING for the party. I mean NOTHING!!! I was going a little crazy. So this morning Katie and I got everything we needed. I was a WOMAN ON A MISSION!! I picked her up at 9am and we went to Target, Hobby Lobby,Party City, Swoozies, the Apple Store(for Katie), Chick-fil-a, and Babies R Us. My little girls were rock stars and did great. With the exception for Emma, who had a mini-meltdown in Party City. It seems as though when I go out by myself with the girls, Emma does wonderful. She will ride in the big part of the cart and just look around and play with stuff that I put in the cart. But anytime Josh or Katie goes shopping with me she screams for them to carry her. And she is a heavy little girl. But anyway, they did great and I was so happy Katie was able to come with us. It helps so much having someone else there to help with the girls.

We are having Ryleigh's party in the new fellowship hall at our church because with it being a little cold here, thats the place with the most room for all the people coming. It will be fun though. I can't wait to start decorating!!

Emma's 1st Haircut

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Emma really needed to have her bangs trimmed and hair cut. Yesterday my moms sister Gail did it for us. Emma has had her bangs slightly trimmed before but I would consider this her first real haircut. She stood in the chair and did great.(but HAD to have her paci to stay still) It looks so much better. I made sure to save a little curl for her baby book.

Spring is Coming!

Last Sunday was absolutely beautiful outside. While we were at my mom and dads house we got to play outside and it was so nice. Emma had a great time going down the slide, riding the power wheels, and playing on the ball hopper. My mom and dad got these cool ball hoppers from Toys R Us and they are the perfect size for toddlers. I can see them playing on these for hours this spring/summer.