It's a Sign

You know how you hear about those people who see Jesus' face in their pizza, or on one side of their grilled cheese sandwich? Well, I had a moment sort of like that about 5 minutes ago. See, I was feeling the need to munch, and had just gone to the store this morning to replenish all the necessities...you know like, eggs, bread, toilet paper, ice cream. Yes, ice cream. It is a necessity in our house, and specifically Blue Bell coffee ice cream. Anyway, I peeled off the lid and this is what I saw.Okay so I did add the little slit for the second eye, but seriously, what can be better than opening a brand new carton of ice cream and having the happiest face you've ever seen smile back at you? It's a sign that I should get off the blog.....and go eat some more.

How we entertain our baby brother

Here is the way that I found Ava with Levi yesterday morning. I was so proud of her because she was talking to him and showing him things and he was soaking it up big time. I think she is finally figuring out how to interact with him without smothering him.

And this is how I found Elle entertaining Levi yesterday. Yes, I know Levi will hate me one day for this, but it's quite hilarious at this time and worth the repercussions later in life.

The one that DIDN'T get away!

We went fishing this evening at our favorite fishing hole. The recent floods cleaned it out really well and as an added bonus, left a whole lot of bass that weren't there before. I fished with minnows tonite, something I've never done before. First cast, caught this one.

Last cast, caught this one!! The guys said it was between 8 and 10 pounds. I could not have been more excited! Just ask Shawn how I act when I get one this size out of the water. I'm pretty sure that all the neighbors knew I caught it. The best part about this one was that the son of the guy who owned the property had tried twice the day before to catch it. It broke his line the first time and snapped his pole in half the second. The only way we knew it was his fish is because it had 2 other hooks in it's mouth when I reeled it in! Never had that happen before! I had an awesome time and I have to say if it wasn't for my hubby, I wouldn't have caught anything because I was just not willing to stick my hand in the bucket of minnows and grab one and then hook it through the middle. Ewwww. Yes, I know that's sort of contradictory, but I'm a woman so I have that right.

Almost as big as Levi!

Rice Cereal

Today was a monumental day in my baby's life. Today he began the wonderful journey with his taste buds! We fed him his first taste of food (and I use that term lightly.)

Yes, I was truly as excited as my face looked. I can say that I've been very pleasantly surprised to realize that no matter how many children you have, it's just as exciting as it was with the first baby, when the others experiences their firsts!

Hmmmm...not sure...this is interesting....what should I do with it? (He smacked his lips together and made the cutest noise, yet kept a poker face for most of it.)

K, um, yeah, maybe not so much.

No really, I think I'm finished with whatever you just did to me. (Insert one gag here, and we're done!)

So, Biggie Boy only ended up eating about a teaspoon worth of rice cereal and really I don't blame him. That stuff is nothing to get excited about, but I'm pretty sure it won't be long before he's gobbling up all kinds of things. I am so thrilled about the months to come. Every day is a new adventure and I'm so delighted to be the ringleader of each one!

D.O.B. Anniversary

Monday was Ava's actual birthday and we had a family birthday for her. It was such a fun way to end the weekend of festivities. I still can not believe that she is four years old. She keeps saying at very random times "Did you know I'm four years old now?" Too cute!

First, let's back up just a bit...this is the gum she got for her birthday. After this picture was taken, she got even more, which was added and filled the pitcher up just about all the way.

And this is how I'm maintaining sanity. Each child has 2 buttons a day, which represents two pieces of gum. They can get a piece whenever they want, but they have to put a button in the cup when they do. When both buttons are in the cup, all done! And mommy doesn't have to decide every 4 seconds if you can have another piece of gum! It's working great!!!!

So the morning begins at 7:05 with a chocolate donut, a candle, and balloons.

Later when Elle got home, it was time to open presents. This is stick on earrings that she wanted really bad!

Here's a "bubble gum" necklace.

This picture cracks me up. In the middle of opening presents, she abruptly stopped and said "OH NO! I need my headband on!" and up the stairs she ran to get her headband.

She got some guns too....she loves them of course.

She also got very excited about play cupcake kitchen toys. She has made a lot of cupcakes since Monday!

And here's the howdy girl (as she calls herself) posing with her birthday banner.

After a quick dinner, we headed to our friends house to do some fishing with Ava's new Dora fishing pole.

It worked great! She caught a perch pretty quickly and then both girls lost interest in fishing altogether.

Here's Levi taking his first fishing lesson. I could barely reel the line in because of all the grabbing he was doing!

I caught a bass! There was a few really large ones in there, but they weren't the least bit interested.

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish....

...a pool party and gum is Ava's wish! Yesterday we celebrated our sweet Ava's 4th birthday with a party at the pool and loads of gum! I am still floating on air with how wonderfully the party went and how every single thing just worked out great! It made all the work so worth every bit of it. Anyway, enjoy seeing bits of the party through my lens. Tomorrow is her actual birthday and we have some fun things planned for her that I'm sure I'll blog about too!

The treat boxes filled with gumballs

The grown ups can party too!

Getting the cupcakes ready

Ava's cake

Make a wish sweet girl. I'm pretty sure the answer to her wish is all around the outside of her cake :)

The cupcakes :) Used colored chocolate to make the gumball machines. Easy and great effect!

The grandparents with their grandkids

5 months old

Levi turned 5 months old yesterday. I'm pretty sure that his whole life will be summed up in one word to me; bittersweet. I love watching him change and grow and experience the world, but I'm so sad that he's getting older every day. I love to hold him and cuddle him and rock him to sleep. I love all his drool and gummy smiles. Some other things I love about him: when I get him out of his crib, the toes of his PJ's are always wet and his right foot toes are always wrinkly from the slobber. When he sees the light come in his room, he squeals and when I lean over his crib he starts kicking his legs really fast and smiling. He has a stuffed giraffe that sleeps with him and he loves to hug it's neck. When I rock him to sleep, he moans, groans, and hums loudly and then all the sudden stops. All of this happens in about 2 minutes. He is very easy to put down for a nap. When he yawns, he lets out a really loud sigh as if to say "boooooring!" He gets most vocal when everyone leaves him alone! He still hasn't let out a good laugh but he does chuckle a lot which is adorable. He makes grey look adorable. ( I caught myself saying "He looks so cute in that!" the other day when he just had on a plain grey onesie. He loves to chew his fingers and toes and I see him sucking him thumb sometimes too. He can almost roll over onto his tummy, but only if he wants to see what's on TV! I have to pretty much turn the TV off when he's awake because if it's on, he will contort himself into any position so that he can watch. He adores Elle. She is amazing with him and knows just how to be around him without annoying him. Ava, well he's intrigued by her, but cautious. She loves him so much that she has a hard time not being 2 inches from his eyes, but he still likes her to be around...just not too close. Anyway, I love that baby like nothing else. He has been an absolute joy and I am thankful to God every minute of my day that he allowed me to have one more baby!

Sloshes in Golashes

Dorky title, I know, but I couldn't stop myself. If you haven't heard from the 1 billion people on facebook that it's raining a lot here in central Texas, let me be the first to tell you....it's raining in central Texas. That in and of itself is pretty exciting, but this is some serious rain. It was bad enough that the entire school district canceled school because the buses were flooded as well as many of the roads around here. It seems that we are about extremes here. Either we are in extreme drought with constant burn bans, or we are flooding. I am a bit obsessed with seeing the after effects of an overabundance of rain so I was excited to get out this morning and check out all the creeks and drainage ditches. The girls were gung ho too and Levi, well, he just was happy to be alive :) Enjoy the pictures.

Trios

I love when things accidentally come together at just the right time! Today I planned on doing a blog update titled "Trios" as you've read, and I just realized that today is September 3rd! Love it! And yes, I'm easily amused. Anyway, I have been completing a lot of little photo projects lately that represent the completion of our family. I wanted to share them with you and then realized that I have been seeing trios in other places in our home too. I also added some random things that are of interest to me in my life right now and just knew you'd all want to see them too ;) Enjoy!

This is a shot in my pantry. Three boxes of cake mix for Ava's bday as well as two cartons of bubble gum and a stack of plates and napkins. She is having a pool party/gum party and she's very excited!

I received these three froggies at my baby shower for Elle and I remember thinking at the time, "That's perfect if I have three kids!"....six years later, it's been fulfilled! They sit in my craft room and watch me while I work.

We have both of the girls body parts collage hanging in the bathroom and it was time to add Levi's to the collection.

And the final body part collage. I think it's my favorite too, as far as the artistic side goes.

This is a picture taken of each of them within a week of birth. Elle's was taken at the hospital and Ava and Levi's was about 5 days old.

Took each babies picture around the 4 month mark.

These are my three latest figurines I've added to the collection. One I got on extreme sale, one I got for half off because his tail had a crack on it, and one I paid for full price! Got a great deal on them and LOVE them.

Obsessed much? Yes, I think so.

In other news, I bought this yesterday at the grocery store. But I'm in denial and refuse to actually open the box. (see below)


This baby can NOT grow up.