Happy Birthday Daddy!

May 8, 2011 was the day.

Poor Evan- every year he has to share his birthday with so many other events. This year his birthday fell on Mother's Day. On the actual holiday. Not just around Mother's Day, but on Mother's day. Last year it fell on the day of Peyton's first birthday party. The year before, it was just after Peyton's birth, so it was filled with doctor's visits, bilirubin checkups and altogether chaos.

This year we were smack in the middle of closing on a new house and celebrating a college graduation (see next post for details on that). Not to mention the other million things happening, but we tried to celebrate as best as we could.

We went shopping, one of Evan's favorite things to do. :-) We drove to Raleigh on Saturday (the day before his actual birthday), and went shopping at South Point. Wow- can I just say that we LOVE that mall! Evan found all kinds of stuff for the house at Crate and Barrell, and then we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory- Yum!

For some reason, I did not get any pictures of the birthday boy, but we did snap a few of the babies enjoying dessert with my phone. :-)

Happy birthday to the greatest husband I could ever hope for, the best daddy to our babies, and my best friend in the whole world. I love you baby!

Evan...

You are a hard worker.
You are a great daddy.
You are the best husband.
You are a smart man.
You love to shop.
You love to enjoy new foods.
You do not enjoy being home for days at a time. haha
You are my best friend, and
I love you!

Our Favorite Little Redhead is 2!

On May 5th, Peyton turned two! I still can not believe it! I can not believe that our little cinco de mayo baby is growing so fast. It seems like just yesterday that we met you.

So tiny, just 6 pounds and 6 ounces...

We fell in love with you instantly.

And, oh, how your brothers adored you (and still do)

Our sweet baby boy.

Our sweet little redheaded baby boy.

Because of all of the hubbub that was going on at the time, we decided to just have a nice little family party for our big guy. We got him some Elmo balloons (they didn't have any Yo Gabba Gabba ones... what's up with that?).

We had a nice dinner of Tacos at home that night. Peyton insisted on having salsa on his taco, and he actually seemed to enjoy it.

Of course, he had to do it... All. by. himself! :-)

We immediately knew EXACTLY the cake that we would get for him. Now explaining this cake to the folks at the cake store, that was the hard part. They wanted to charge us $100+ bucks based on what we were saying (but they were not understanding), so we decided to ease up a bit and go with a basic round cake with a screen shot image of Peyton's favorite green dude... Brobee! He (of course) LOVED the cake, after all... it was CAKE. :-)

He could hardly wait to dig into that cake!

The Happy birthday song was taking forever...

He decided he would have just a *little* piece as we sang.

He had a nice little birthday. He got a scooter (which his brothers broke before he even got to enjoy), and several other neat little toys, and a new Big Boy Elmo bed set complete with a toy shelf and a table and chairs. But I think the rest of us lucked out even more... we got him. And such a fantastic little gift he has been.

Peyton, on your birthday, you...
Had a huge smile
Wore size 18 months, even though the waist on some of those clothes were still just a little big. :-)
Wore size 3 diapers
Loved Yo Gabba Gabba
Loved your sister and your big brothers
Loved to snuggle with your Night Night, a yellow blanket that daddy's friend Michelle crocheted for Tyson before he was born, but you are the first one to ever show any attachment to it
Still sleep in your crib, you have no interest in moving to that big boy bed

You are so lovable and we are so blessed to have you.

Mommy and Daddy (and Tyson and Landon and Chloe) love you so much!!

So Much Time Has Passed...

Wow- it has been a while since I have updated this blog! So much has happened since my last post... Peyton turned 2, Evan had a birthday (29 again), Nathan graduated college, grandma Duff got married, Nathan proposed, we moved, Nathan moved with us (haha), the kids started a new school, summer started... Life happened. And we are so thankful. I am going to try to update about all of these happenings, but it may take a little time as I have to work on this and work stuff during the babies' naptimes, assuming that they cooperate and nap at the SAME time. Our little family is so blessed. :-)

A Minnie Mouse Birthday Party!

To celebrate our baby girl's first birthday party, we had a Minnie Mouse themed bash! Evan and I have been planning this party for many months, first debating on whether we should do a red and white more traditional Minnie, or a much girlier pink and white Minnie. Then we had to decide on the menu, the time of day, the activities, the guest list and everything else that goes along with a birthday party.

We decided it had to be pink and white! After all, our girl loves some pink (at least we think she does). For the invitations, I hand made a Minnie Mouse head that flipped open and had the party details on the inside. We stuffed those along with tons of Minnie confetti into the envelopes and sent them on their way. :-)

We did very little in the way of decorating, just adding this banner and some pink plates and dishes, etc.

As people came into the house, we had a small table welcoming them that contained some mouse ears and some marshmallow jewelry/ accessories for the kids. The girls got marshmallow necklaces and the boys got marshmallow neckties.

For the menu we had:

Mickey's Chicken Salad Sandwiches (these were cut out using our Mickey cookie cutter). We also threw in a few pimento cheese sandwiches for variety.

Minnie's Munchies (cheese balls and popcorn)

Donald's Quackerific Cookies (Mickey shaped sugar cookies sandwiched together with strawberry icing)

Goofy's Gourmet Goodies (some yummy triscuit concoctions Evan made)

Daisy's Strawberries and dip (straight from the strawberry farm- Yum!)

Pluto's Cake Pops

And at the beverage station, we had

Minnie's Perfect Pink Milk, water, and some polka dot punch (strawberry infused lemonade with cheeries frozen in ice cubes for the polka dot look), and some soft drinks- all served in cups with pink sugar tops

Peyton really enjoyed the sugar tops. :-)

For dessert, we of course had cake!

Chloe loved her cake!!

She sat in her chair and ate that one piece of cake for almost an hour. :-)

For the activity, we decided to do an Easter egg hunt, since it was the day before Easter.

She never moved from this spot, but boy did she wind up with a lot of eggs!! :-)

Instead of doing goody bags, we opted to go with a treat that could be enjoyed by adults and children alike. We made Minnie apples and homemade strawberry jelly.

We had a fantastic time. I could not think of a better way to celebrate our little princess. :-)

Happy Birthday to Our Sweet Little Girl!

Today my baby girl turns one. This is a bittersweet day for me as I know that this is our last little person. But, she is turning from a loving baby girl to a beautifully sweet little girl. I could not ask for more than that.

My dear Chloe, you have been such a blessing. I remember one year ago so well. I remember Mommy and Daddy walking often trying to encourage you to make your entrance. I remember going to the doctor at 35 weeks and 6 days pregnant and the doctor telling me that I was already 3 centimeters dilated. We were SURE you would come early! But... you wanted to do things YOUR way. No matter the amount of planning that I did, you were not going to budge without medical intervention. Your due date was April 20, 2010. That day came and went with no baby. The morning of April 21st, mommy and daddy went to the hospital for an induction. The fantastic Dr. Brown was on duty, and we got things started a little after 8 am. When they checked me a short while after admission, Dr. Brown was surprised to find that I was 6 centimeter dialated. And so the pitocin began. Four hours later (and one shot of pain meds, but no epidural), you decided to grace us with your presence. You were a beautuful 7 pounds 15 ounces and had a head full of perfectly highlighted brown hair.

(our fantastic OB nurse, Karen, made this bonnet for you)



Your brothers all loved you instantly.

In your first year of life you have brought us so many smiles, lots of laughter, and many, many learning opportunities. You see, mommy and daddy did not know what to do with a little girl. (Truth be told, some days we are still not sure what to do. haha) You have a closet full of pink clothes, you have a few baby dolls, which you play and cuddle with every so often, and you have three adoring big brothers and a mommy and daddy that love you more than we could ever imagine.

Chloe-

You got your first teeth at 6 months old. They were the two middle bottom teeth.

You love to eat whatever the boys are eating- like this morning, you had a poptart.

You almost never turn down a chance to eat anything. haha

You took your first steps just a few days shy of your first birthday, although so far you will only walk TO mommy, and you try to not do more than a few steps at a time. haha.

You can clap your hands and say "Yay."

You know how to wave bye bye and say "bye."

Your favorite game is to throw something and then say "Ut-Oh!" as if it were an accident.

You are wearing size 12 months clothing, size 2 shoes, size 3 diapers, and lots and lots of hairbows.

You got your first haircut (by Peyton) at 11 months, thank GOD you have so much hair it was barely noticeable. :-)

Your first halloween costume was a Pink fairy.

You love to ride in the stroller, especially where there are things off to the side that you can grab.

You love to play in your water table and come back soaking wet most days.

You love to stand in the windows and wave bye bye to daddy and your big brothers as they leave for work and school.

Your first birthday party will be a Minnie Mouse theme (pictures to come soon...).

You are our baby girl, and we love you forever! Happy happy birthday, sweet girl!

Great Day for a Walk

We have been wondering if Miss. Chloe was ever going to walk. Each of her brothers took their first steps at 10 months, and here she is, a week shy of her 1st birthday, and she has shown very little interest in putting one foot in front of the other on her own. I have been working with her, Evan has been working with her, she spends lots of time in her walker and in bare feet, allowing her time to feel the floor and to maybe, just maybe, think about walking. But honestly, if you have someone that is willing to carry you every where that you want to go, would you walk??
Well, Friday came, just six days before she turns the big 1, and she finally felt like maybe walking could be fun. We played and played and played. She stood up, sat down, stood up, sat down, over and over and over. You see, she has mastered standing up from the sitting position, even while in the middle of the room with nothing to use to pull herself up on. So... then she stood up, and took two steps right into my arms. I cheered and hugged her and she just beamed. Then, she did it again. I cheered and loved on her again. So... she did it again, this time taking three steps. Peyton had been watching my reaction each time, and this time he decided to join in. We both cheered and clapped for her. She clapped for herself. We all three said "Yay!!" She kept repeating this over and over for about ten or fifteen minutes before finally deciding that she must be rewarded with some dinner. :-) (It was about that time anyway...) It was such an exciting day for all of us. The only bad part was that daddy was at work, in a meeting, and he could not share in the excitement. But... she has repeated it for him a time or two since then. :-) Our little girl is growing up!

(She was four months old here)

So Much Going On!!

Boy, this has been a busy time for us. The great news is that we were approached by an awesome couple that wanted to rent our current house for a whopping 48- months! This has certainly been an answer to prayers for us- we are SO ready to move closer to Evan's work. So... with that news, we were on the hunt for a new house for our little family. The Raleigh area is so huge, this was such an undertaking for us. First we had to decide WHERE we wanted to live; then we had to find a house big enough for our family. Let's just summarize this by saying we did A LOT of online house shopping. We spent one full Sunday in the car with all four kids driving around several areas looking at houses before figuring it out- Clayton was where we belonged. We found two neighborhoods that we liked and narrowed our search down. Evan, the babies and I spent a day in the one neighborhood that we had not visited but knew was a top contender. We had it narrowed down to two houses there, and then we took the plunge. We made an offer on the Model home there, which was not for sale (hee hee). After a tiny bit of negotiation, we had a deal. The next day we took the boys to see the house, which they loved the fact that it had a long driveway and a dead end road they could play on, and they were sold. I am not even sure that they saw their new bedrooms. haha. We set a closing date of May 13th- which brings a whole new set of things to do... whew...
In the midst of all of this, we are planning the very first birthday party of our own little Miss. Chloe. The handmade invitations have been mailed, the 500+ Easter eggs for the Easter egg hunt we will have that day have been stuffed, and the details of the party have slowly come together.
In the coming weeks, our schedule is a blur... The boys start Spring break tomorrow, then Chloe's birthday is next Thursday followed by her party on Saturday. The following Friday we will be travelling to Jacksonville for my mother in law's wedding, Evan has to attend graduation that Sunday, and then we do the final walk through on our new house that next Thursday, which also happens to be my little Peyton's second birthday. The following day our fantastically brilliant nephew graduates from college, followed by Evan's birthday and Mother's day (they fall on the same day this year). Four days later the packers come to pack up the house (on Thursday), we close on Friday, and we move on Saturday. Whew!! I am exhausted just thinking about it. The boys will then start at their new school the following Monday. What an exciting, yet exhausting time in our family's lives! And through it all, we are seeing the Lord's hands as he guides us each step of the way!

Well, now I need a nap. haha. Until next time...