Catch Up

I can't believe I haven't blogged in a week, but nothing big has really been happening. Just the say old day to day stuff. I can't believe June is almost over. However, I'm glad summer is going by quickly. I hate the heat and I'm ready for some cool fall days. But we still have to get through July and August.

I have decided to start couponing. I have been thinking about doing it for a long time but just never got the motivation to do it and now I can't figure out why I didn't start sooner. I got my binder and I've been clipping tons of coupons on Sundays and so far I've only made a few shopping trips but I'm happy with the savings that I'm seeing. I still have a lot to learn but so far, it's really helping. I will by no means be an "extreme couponer". I will NOT stockpile tons of supplies and food just because it's on sale. But I love finding good deals now and getting enough that will last so that I won't have to pay full price.

I also completed a project that I have been wanting to do. I bought some chalkboard paint and painted a large picture frame that I wasn't using. We hung it in the kitchen to write Bible verses on. My hope is that it will be a reminder to all of us but also to teach Emma some verses as she gets older.

The girls are still as cute, stubborn, fun, strong willed as usual. Josh and I were just talking the other day about how Emma has just started talking so much and really having conversations with us. We are in the process of getting her into private speech therapy since we moved and I'm hoping that it will help her even more. I think the main are she is struggling in is forming sentences. Instead of saying "Mommy, can I have a snack?", she says "mama, snack time". She still gets her point across just not in true sentence form.

Ryleigh is growing up so fast. She is really starting to look like a little girl, and not my baby. She has her own little personality and mostly keeps to herself. She is still my little sidekick and I am probably her favorite person. She is still doing wonderful with putting herself to sleep. The girls both go to bed at 7:30 and get up around 7am. They also nap from 11:30-1:30. They will both go to sleep on their own and I can't even remember the last time I really had to get up in the middle of the night. As they get older I can't help but think that we don't have babies anymore.

This weekend is July 4th aka my dad's birthday. Autumns birthday is on the 5th so we will be celebrating x3 this weekend. We always have a big cookout and I'm looking forward to seeing all the family.

Emma turns 3 in two months and 3 days. The past several months I thought I was going to do a Minnie Mouse party. Emma loves Minnie Mouse so I knew it would be perfect. After I got the party planned out, Emma informed me that she wanted a Hello Kitty party. She is BIG into Hello Kitty now, so I have switched gears and am now starting to plan again. I am really looking forward to it.

I think that has us all caught up. Hope you all have a great Monday.

Father's Day

Would you believe that this past weekend was Father's Day and I didn't take one picture of Josh?! Where is my head lately?? It was just a busy weekend and I wasn't thinking. Saturday after the girls got up from their naps we had to go grocery shopping because Josh's parents and his brother Sam came over for dinner. Josh grilled some brats and hamburgers. They were soooo good and it was great to visit with everyone. The girls love with they come over. They completely forget about mommy and daddy and enjoy playing with "new" people. Sunday morning me and the girls took Josh out for breakfast at Tex &Shirleys. Josh picked the place of course. It was really good and we haven't been able to do that in a long time. After the girls nap we headed up to Stokesdale to spend time with my family. When we got there we had planned on swimming but it was getting windy and the radar said there was a lot of rain coming. So we decided to play outside a little bit instead. But around 4:30 or so the sun came out and so the girls, Autumn, William, mom, and dad decided to swim for a little bit before dinner. Ryleigh stayed inside playing with Josh. I think he was perfectly happy because he got to watch the US Open. (his perfect Father's day) :) After dinner we headed home and barely got the girls in bed in time. For Father's Day the girls and I put together a picture frame to hang in his office. I forgot to take a picture of it though. I got a picture frame from Target that had a white frame and a white mat and held an 8x10 picture. I used washable paint and put the girls footprints on the mat and then I picked out pictures to put inside. I wanted to make a collage and I'm so glad that Autumn could do that for me. It would have taken me all day to get it right. So I picked out 3 pictures of Emma and 3 of Ryleigh. It turned out really good and I loved it. Josh did too. He is so excited to hang it. We had a great day and I was so glad to spend this weekend with the Father's that mean the most to us.

::burned fingers&a monkey on the bed::

Sunday night while we were at my mom and dads house we were cooking dinner and Emma came up to my mom and said her fingers hurt. We looked at them (thinking that she had smashed one or something) but they seemed ok. Later on that night my mom was moving them around and Emma never complained that they hurt so I didn't think much of it. The next day she had blisters. She had burned herself on something but I wasn't even thinking that it was something at moms house. I assumed it was at home and I went around everywhere trying to figure out where she had burned them. Last night I noticed the blisters were getting bigger so I decided to call the doctor. I mainly wanted to know what I should do to treat them and also what happens when the blister pops. I had never dealt with this before on a 2 year old so I just wanted to get her checked out. I took her to the doctor this afternoon and Dr. Lowe said she had 2nd degree burns and that we should keep a close eye on them. Normally she would dress them in guaze but with Emma only being 2, she wouldn't leave them on anyway. We still don't know what she burned herself on. We were standing at the stove the whole time and Emma never screamed or cried or anything. Dr. Lowe said she could have very easily touched a piece of metal outside and since its been soooo hot, that could have done it. I guess we may never know. But they don't seem to really bother her. I just hope they heal quickly.

A couple of weeks ago Ryleigh started climbing up on Emma's bed to play. I found her sitting on it one day playing and was surprised that she could get up there with her short little legs. It has become her favorite spot and she will stay there a while and play by herself.

Climbing up....

Almost there.....

Finally!!

She will run from one end to the other and also check out all the scews. Most of the time she puts a ton of toys on the bed and just sits. It won't be long before she will be in a big girl bed!

silly girls

TGIF!

As a stay at home mom I really really look forward to the weekend. I absolutely LOVE staying at home with my girls but sometimes gets overwhelming to me especially since its summer now. By 9:00 its already 85 degrees outside and its hard to stay outside for any length of time. My little Ryleigh has some allergy issues and can't stay outside a long time anyway without getting all red and puffy. So I am constantly trying to find new things to do with them but finding fun cheap things to do inside are few and far between. So I feel like we do the same thing every single day and it seems like the days just creep by slowly. So by the time the weekend gets here, I start getting really excited. Even if we don't do anything that particular weekend, it means that Josh will be around and atleast I have someone over 2 years old to talk to. Makes the day go by a lot faster. I really enjoy being able to spend time as a family. It seems as though by the time Josh gets home from work during the week, its time to fix dinner, clean up, give baths, and then bed. But even if we do just stay home all day, I love being able to spend everyday with my girls. I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to Fall though.

Sweet Summertime

We had a a great weekend. Saturday we went to my mom and dads house. We usually go on Sundays but Autumn and William were out of town this weekend and my mom and dad were keeping Chey and Hailey. So we just went Saturday so that the girls could play together and so we could help with the girls. We had a great time but it's difficult keeping up with all 4 girls and keeping them happy. Ryleigh is starting to like the pool and Emma LOVES it. She puts on her swimmies and swims around like a little fish. Josh worked on Sunday morning and after the girls naps we made a trip to Sams Club and Lowes. After dinner Josh mowed the yard while me and the girls played outside. After Josh got done with the yard I stripped the girls down to their diapers and let them enjoy their first snowcones of the summer.

emma::ryleigh

Here are some pictures that Josh and I took on the beach this past weekend. We took them down at the Point.(where Josh and I were supposed to get married...but it rained) It was so close to bed time but I think we got some good ones. I hope we can get some good family pictures when my whole family goes to the beach in September. I am by no means a great photographer or editor, Josh will edit them better than me I'm sure, but I couldn't wait to show you. Enjoy!