Abigail turns 7

I can't believe my baby girl is 7 years old.  

Seriously, I just blinked.

Brent and I got her a new bike.  She was still riding her little tiny bike, so this was a bit of an adjustment for her, but within a few days she was riding like a pro.  She has such short legs, poor thing, just like her Mom and Dad.

Of course we had to have a party and invite all her friends, plus some.  Her theme was sort of a mixture between butterfly 3D and an artist party. 

I found these really cute 3D decorations at walmart last month and they were super cheap, so I snatched them up. 

Brent was out of town training for his new job and missed Abigail's birthday.  He felt really guilty so he sent Abigail some flowers at school. 

She was literally beaming with happiness as she walked down the hallway to her classroom carrying her flowers.

Abigail and I decided that sending cupcakes to school for her class was old news, so we made these Oreo cookie lollipops. 

They weren't quite as simple to make as they looked on pinterest, but they tasted super yummy!!

The girls at Abigail's party painted little figurines.  They had a blast!

We had about 12 girls show up, which was just about right. 

 It was a tad chaotic, but what good party isn't!

Abigail and her BFF Elizabeth!

Don't forget about the peanut gallery! 

Audrie and Jackson had a good time hanging out with the big girls.

There's my sticker face 7 year old girl!!

Show and tell Monday

I'm linking up for the first time with Becky over at From Mrs. to Mamma.

This is an awesome blog I've recently stumbled across. This weeks show and tell is about babies.

If you're a first time visitor you should know I have three kiddos and plan to have no more. But I still thought it would be fun to link up today.

1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

Two baby names I really like but never used are Amelia and Maddox.

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

I have a girl and two boys so that would be a total of three nurseries I've decorated (yes I teach math).

However, I've never really done a girly girl nursery. When I was pregnant with Abigail we decided to let the gender be a mystery. So I guess my regret is never being able to do a really pink nursery like the one in the picture below. I found this on the kids pottery barn website.

I love the birds!

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart?

I have three kids ages 7, 5, and 1. I always thought 3 years sounded like a good gap between babies, but as you can see I never quite accomplished the three year gap. Two years apart is tough because that's two babies practically. Two cribs, two pacis, two in diapers. I'm not sure how I did it now thinking back.

But then four years is not great either because before Jack came along our lives were getting really easy. We had no diapers, cribs, pacis, highchairs, bouncy seats, or bottles.

So I don't think there is a magic number of years you should wait. It will have it's good and it's bad. Just remember your baby becomes a toddler in what seems like one minute, so enjoy your baby cuddles while you got em.

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is?
I'm a public school teacher, so I can tell you first hand that kids now days are not getting the stable home environment that they need. All parents love their kids, but parenting is more than just loving. It's hard work. It takes consistency, patients, and being the bad guy most of the time.

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo {can be your children or random}

This is my sweet little Jack in his nest!!

6. Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}

I'm pretty sure my pre baby self would have told you that I would never allow my kids to watch TV during dinner. Hahaha

I probably would have told you that I would never yell at my kids. Hahaha

There are plenty of things I knew I would do as a parent that I have actually done, but those aren't as funny. It's funny how little we really understand what we are getting into when we have kids.

Well that was fun! Happy Monday!!

my name is Jack

Hi there! 

My name is Jackson, but my Mom and Dad call me Jack Jack and my Nana calls me bubby.

I know what you're thinking.  Look at that sweet, incredibly handsome, innocent little fellow. 

But you might be surprised to learn that my newest favorite pastime is screaming at the top of my lungs whenever I feel the tiniest bit frusterated. 

I have absolutely no patience with toys that won't do what I want, or my mother who refuses to let me play with sharp dangerous objects. 

My favorite thing to do right now is go to town. 

As long as we are going somewhere I'll be a perfect angel. 

This is my big bro.  I really like hanging with him, even when he steals my toys or pushes me down for no reason.  I pretty much think I should be able to do whatever he is doing.

This is my Aunt Kelsie.  I think she's pretty cool. 

She just turned 21 and I think I forgot to tell her Happy Birthday!!

Like I mentioned before I can do whatever Austin and Abigail can do, so here I am riding my bike.  What can I say, I'm a natural. 

Well now, it's been fun chatting with you but I gotta go.  I'm sure it's almost time for my second poop of the day.  Yeah, I poop twice a day like clockwork. 

 Mommy and Daddy are so excited when I poop that they usually play a game called paper/ rock /scissors to see who is the lucky one who gets to change me. 

They really must love me a lot!

I want to move

- I HATE living in Louisiana. I'm sorry if this sounds totally traitorous to all those Cajuns out there, but I just do. Not to say that there aren't some great things about this state because there are, but they just don't out weigh the bad in my opinion. I wasn't born here and my family has no roots or background in this state.

Here is my list of things I don't like about living here in Louisiana:

1. Humidity: We literally cannot play or do much of anything outside during the summer for fear of heat stroke.

2. We really don't have much of a fall or winter. We could wear shorts and short sleeved shirts just about every Christmas. (this is such a bummer)  Our Spring is nice but only lasts about 2 weeks.

3. It's not pretty. Again, this is just my opinion. Some people might think pine trees and marsh land is pretty, but not me.

4. The preconceived notions that people in LA all live in swamps with alligators, wear overalls, are missing teeth, and are uneducated. I blame the news stations for this one. They always seek out the weirdest people to interview on camera.

5. The heat and humidity again, because that is a biggy!

6. Love bugs! Those of you reading this that aren't from around here might not have a clue as to what I'm talking about so I will clue you in with a few pics of these annoying flying beasts.



Don't be fooled by this innocent looking bug.



They don't bite or sting but they swarm.  Their chemical makeup is acidic and corrosive, so it's extremely difficult to get love bug guts off of your car.  Pain in the butt!!

This picture says Florida, but it's the same in Louisiana.  You might think this it's an exaggeration, but it's not.  Seriously it gets this bad. 

My ideal place to live would have these characteristics:

1. beautiful scenery

2. four seasons (no extremes) 

3. low humidity

4. within a days drive to my Mom's house

5. no love bugs

You see I'm not all that picky!

Randomness

- Things are super crazy busy around here, hence my lack of blogging. Although I do get on blogger almost everyday and read others posts. Reading blogs is part of my relaxation routine after Jack goes to bed.
1. Bath
2. Facebook
3. Blog reading
4. Bed

I look forward to this time every night. I know I know, you wish you had this exciting life. Don't worry maybe someday!

- Brent (the husband) just started a new job. We are really, really happy about this, but it could be long hours without Daddy around. In fact he is leaving for Pennsylvania this week for some training, so I'll be experiencing my first dose if single working mother. Pray for me!

-I took a long break from pinterest but I've recently found myself drawn back to the site to pin hundreds of holiday pins! I need to stop and actually do/make/cook some of these things!

-The following picture is just really cute, so I thought I would share.

-The next picture is really old, but I love it. Abigail and Elizabeth (the two in the middle) have been best friends since kindergarten. We LOVE Elizabeth and her family. I really hope they stay best friends forever. BFF

-I've mentioned in previous posts how much Jackson loves to play outside. This is him right after coming back inside from playing in the heat. He was so sweaty his hair stuck straight up. (he did have pants and shoes on outside just in case you were wondering)

Well look at that, two posts in two days!! What has gotten into me?

picture dump

This post is basically just a random modge podge of pictures I've saved up for just such an occasion as this (you know the occasion where you are too busy to put much thought into your blog post)

  Enjoy!!

Austin and his teacher on the first day of school. 

Jackson loves loves loves playing outside.  Too bad it's so stinkin hot all the time, and the mosquitos are poised and ready to attack as soon as we walk out the door, but that doesn't stop this little guy.

I have no words to describe this.  I almost called him my little pot head, but decided that didn't sound very good.

I love overalls on babies, or anybody for that matter.  These are already too small for him so I am on a look out for some new ones for fall.

Sorry for lack of posts lately!  I'm not giving up!!

Midweek confessions: it's been a long time

-I am already wishing for the time change. I'm ready to put my kids to bed at 7:15 and not feel guilty because it's so light outside still.

-I've been watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix. I know that alone is sort of a confession, but that's not what I'm ashamed of. I'm ashamed of the fact that I hid in the bathroom from my children, with my iPad so I could finish the season one finale in peace.

-Some friends of ours had a sweet baby girl recently and I started feeling really sad that I would never again get to experience all that. It's funny how easily and quickly you forget all the hard things about being pregnant and having a baby. I don't really want to have any more kids, but it still makes me feel sad to know that chapter of my life is over. I'm pretty sure I'll get over it.

-I have a crazy and illogical fear of bugs, especially the ones of a stinging variety. I've never actually been stung by any bee or wasp.

We recently discovered this huge nasty stick bug in Abigail's room. Brent wasn't home so I had no choice but to take care of the situation. I had the hibby gibbys all day after killing this monster.

-This confession post has been typed up and ready to be published for over a month.  I've just been too lazy to link up lately. 

Well that's it for this edition.  Hopefully it won't be months before I link up again. 

Happy Wednesday to ya!