Summertime Portraits 2015

My sister Jordan snapped some quick pics of us in June. 

I still need to get some of these framed. She did a great job! It was so hot and humid. I remember the kids kept getting close to bees. Asher wanted to run off and play. But we got some good ones. Thankfully Jordan is a patient Aunt. :) 

Violet is 8! I loved this dress on her. 

Zander is 4.5! My little handsome.

Asher is 2! This little guy has got his Mama's curly hair. 

Texas Bluebonnets

   We have been blessed to get see lots of beautiful bluebonnets this spring. 

There were so many on our weekend trip to Austin recently & a bunch close to our home.

 I had to take the kids for some pictures! 

(Austin, TX)

Violet

Zander

Asher

Zander Turned 4

Zander Paul turned FOUR on November 23 

We celebrated his birthday at our house. It was a Monster Truck them because he loves to watch Blaze and The Monster Machines. He got lots of fun toys at his party. 

I made a chocolate, dairy free cake with homemade marshmallow fondant. I had never used fondant of any kind before so that was a learning experience! But it was fun & Matt surprised me by helping out. He cut out the letters for his name & rolled out the fondant. Matt knows how to cook 2 things. Brats on the grill & smoked sausage in the skillet, lol. So it was fun to create the cake together. Funny story, I had a bag of food coloring gels that I borrowed from Jaley. I grabbed the navy blue & dumped it into the white fondant. It turned Magenta! The lids had been swapped. I almost cried and I pretty much threw a big, toddler fit. Then Matt added blue and we got purple. 

Zander loved his cake! He kept asking to peek in the fridge at it. There's something special about a homemade birthday cake. :)

Zander got a little shy while we sang "Happy Birthday". 

He had a great time being with his friends & family. It was a great day! 

I took him to the park for pictures a few days before his party. He got a fresh haircut too! Gosh, he looks so much bigger. He's very energetic & always making us laugh. A few nights ago, he was laying down with me and he cupped my check and said, "Mommy, I wub you & I fink I should take this off." Um, he was talking about a pimple. 

He loves counting and is very good at making patterns. I don't ever force him to do school work but sometimes he wants to join in with big sister. He surprised us & wrote "A B C D" all on his own. 

Oh, and his C's sound like "T". So, it's chocolate chip tookies, Santa Taus & Merry Tristmas! He's amazing and we love him very much.

Happy 4th, Zander!

Back To School Pictures

It's that time again!

We started our third year of homeschool a month ago.Violet is a second grader. Zander is doing preschool activities when he is up for it. He'd much rather be playing with Hot Wheels or outside. And Asher spends a lot of time exploring and climbing. 

We took school pics in front of our chalkboard wall in the hallway. The kiddos had fun telling me their favorite things. 

We are excited for the new school year! 

Mama, Let's Snuggle

Zander is our wild child. 

Most days in our home you will hear a lot of this...

"stop pulling Asher's ears" 

"get off the kitchen counters" 

"Bring back Daddy's keys" 

"stop scratching Violet"

"where are your clothes?!" 

"Don't color the walls"

But then he has these moments where he just melts me. Today he smiled big & said, "let's snuggle Mama." So, we laid down for a few minutes together. I told him he's such a good boy & I liked seeing him act so kind. Then he kissed both of my cheeks like he usually does. 

I'll never say no to snuggle time with my cute babies! 

Easter 2014

Our little family on Easter morning. 

I bought the boys matching outfits to wear. Then couldn't find Asher's right before church. I think I cried because I couldn't find it. Then Matt found it hanging in Zander's closet. (oops!) But we made it to church. Then we had both sides of our family come to our house for lunch. It was a great day! 

As you can see, Asher is always on the move!

Life is pretty Sweet

My family is sound asleep & I have a rare quiet moment. Feeling really happy and content. 

Thankful for God's love and blessings. 

Look at this scrumptious little cutie! Asher's first time to "sit with the pumpkins".  

Those big, brown eyes melt my heart. 

 Violet is now a first grader. This is our second year of homeschooling. We love it! 

So grateful for this season in our life.

 Zander will be 3 next month! Feels like his baby phase went by too fast. 

He wants a Jake & The Neverland Pirates birthday :)

 Violet & Zander decided to pull out a box of old clothes. They said it was a bubble bath. 

Of course, Asher needed to join them! 

Matt, Asher & I on our date a few weeks ago ;)

Summer 2013 has begun!

We got some warm weather here in Tx this weekend. So, Daddy got them a play pool, sprinkler and a slip & slide. Fun stuff! 

I pretty much stay inside with baby Asher. He seems to have a heat rash around his neck. Poor little guy. His face is irritated too. Not sure if it's just newborn acne or what. All of my little people have sensitive skin. Checking in with his Dr. in the morning. 

Violet & Zander have been enjoying their outside time. Today Gigi & Bum brought them snow cones. 

We are looking forward to all the joys of SUMMER! 

Still the baby

   
In about 13 weeks I'll be a mommy of 3! I'll have a 5 year old, 2 year old and a newborn. I'm nervous, no doubt about it. But also super excited to meet our baby boy. Speaking of baby that title still belongs to this little guy right here-ZANDER!

He's the baby on both sides of our family. Gets away with just about anything. When we point at my belly and ask where the baby is he points at himself! Then he says "baby" or "Dander". He's actually gotten better at saying his name. He used to say "Donder". hahaha.

I know it must be really confusing for him to see his mommy grow a huge belly and say it's a baby! When he's in a curious mood I tell him his brother is growing and sleeping in there, that they will be friends and have so much fun together. Sometimes he will say Asher's name. Makes my heart melt.

When Asher arrives I know there will be lots of love to go around for all 3 of my babies. I wondered and prayed how will I be there for 2 children whenever I was pregnant with Zander. Now I know. A mother's heart just grows.

This Little Fella Turned 2

 Since his birthday landed on Black Friday we decided to throw his party the weekend before.We had an Airplane Party! Zander loves airplanes. I'll have to post more pictures of his party once I get them all organized and narrow down my favorites. 

 We waited for a boy for a long time in this family! I'm 1 of 4 girls. Our daughter Violet was the first grandchild on my side and my niece Brianna was the only grandchild on Matt's side. Needless to say we were pretty excited to get a boy! It's really neat to have one of each and see how different they are. 

Zander loves to stay busy. He's usually chasing his sister Violet with a toy or hiding somewhere playing games on the ipad. Outside time is very good for him to burn off some of that energy. He's also very sweet and quick to apologize if he thinks he hurt you. I'm happy he still enjoys to be held and cuddled. It melts my heart to see his arms reach up to me and he will say "need you". His voice is just adorable! He calls Violet "ilet". We all can't get enough of his dramatic facial expressions. He certainly is a character. I'm excited for him to be a big brother this April! When I ask what's in my belly? He will say "baby!" So sweet. 

Zander Facts

1. Favorite cartoon is Chuggington

2. loves bananas

3. still not enough hair for a First Haircut :)

4.  he's a sneaky phone thief! haha!

5. loves Elmo

We love you Zander Paul!!! Thankful that I'm your Mommy. 

Zander is 20 Months

 My baby is now 20 months! 

He's a total toddler now. Always finding furniture to climb and things to throw! At his most recent check-up the nurse exclaimed "so much energy!" That's our Zander :) 

 He has a very silly personality and shows a lot of expression with his face.

 We LOVE his kissy face! This past week he has started saying "love you". So very sweet. 

 5 Things About Zander

1. He loves Elmo whom he calls "Melmo"
2. Favorite Food is bananas
3. Enjoys being in the pool
4. He loves to play with big sister "I-Let" 
5. 22 pounds & 33 inches tall

Zander is 14 Months

Check out my handsome baby boy!

He's been an official walker since before Christmas. He's super busy and loves to climb. Makes his mommy nervous every day. He can now hoist himself on top of the glass coffee table and stand proudly, yikes. I'm ready to get a soft leather one. You know the kind that opens and you can stash toys and stuff :)

He loves this Gloworm he got for Christmas. He hugs it and gives kisses.

One of his favorite things to do is find brooms or mops and then wave them around! Not good :) So, I got him the tiny, green set from the Dollar Store. But he still wants the the big ones.

We see you getting into the pots & pans! We had baby cabinet locks on the cabinet under the sink and he broke them off. He is one determined little boy.

His One Year Stats-
31 " tall
19lbs. and 15 oz.

He is still a tall baby in the 85th percentile. But he's very slim. The Doctor had so many questions. Wondering if he eats solids and how much. When I told her I was still breastfeeding she looked shocked! I don't think it's that uncommon. I know lots of moms that are still nursing. That is still the only way he will go to sleep. He eats 3 meals a day and snacks often. He tried milk in the sippy cup recently. He doesn't drink much of it. Still working on that. We had to get blood work done to check his white blood cell count after his hospital visit back in October. All came back normal. Thank God!

Zander is growing & learning. Thanks for stopping by!

Some Christmas Pics

My little ones are just too cute! I took some pictures of them all dressed up for our Christmas cards. Only 6 days until Christmas!

Baby Tiger First Birthday

My baby turned 1 last week! Zander loves to make a "tiger" face so this made a perfect theme for him. I had so much fun finding ideas on Pinterest.com for his first birthday. It was a little challenging to find cute-sy tiger birthday decorations. Glad my family and I are crafty!
My sister Jordan came up with these pretty invites. I just love this tiger cartoon! Her Etsy shop is called Jordyluxe. We used her design to print out labels for the treat bags and cupcake toppers.
Zander got to chow down on some homemade chocolate cake with butter cream frosting made by his GiGi! Well, he didn't really chow down. But he enjoyed smashing his fingers in it.
I made the birthday banner out of scrapbook paper and card stock. The letters were made with a Die Cut. Strung on ribbon and hung with thumbtacks. I made the Tiger Paper Lanterns using this fun tutorial. Just construction paper and glue! Then hung from the ceiling with twine. My 4 year old helped me shred the paper. I got the pretzel Tiger Tails idea from this blog. Turned out really cute! Added some shades of blue fabric and toy tigers to complete the table. Zander's tiger shirt came from Crazy8.

The tigers feasted on pizza, cake, ice cream, chocolate, Swedish fish & cookies! We had plenty of tea, water and orange sodas to wash it down.

I displayed his monthly pictures on twine and hung on the mantle. I painted the wooden clothespins white & blue. My mom made a subway art of his birth stats which I can't wait to hang in his room!
Added some frames of Zander now and as a newborn. The chevron treat bags, ice cream cups & blue striped straws came from Shop Sweet Lulu. Awesome service! They included a treat bag with taffy and a "thank you" note. I would order from them again.

The treat bags were labeled "Tiger Food". Inside were candy Swedish Fish.

The balloons were a hit with the kids! Look at my big boy taking some steps :)

I decorated his highchair with more scrapbook paper and crepe paper. His party hat came from Party City and was embellished with more of the tiger labels by Jordan.

Zander had a great first birthday! Babies grow fast and I think the second one grew faster ;) Sure felt that way.

All partied out and ready for a nap!