Let me hold on longer...

I can't believe our baby is TWO. It just feels crazy that she is talking, playing babies, eating all by her self, starting to go potty, counting and just being such a BIG girl.

About a month ago we went on a date night. Our sweet friend watched the kids and put them to bed. I hadn't felt good when we got home so after saying goodbye to our friend I went on upstairs. I asked Scott to check on the kids and put shut their doors. (we do at night)

Scott came upstairs kind of flustered and said he almost just freaked out. I said, "What's wrong?" He said when he checked on our baby girl, she wasn't in her crib. So he turned on the light to look better. She definitely wasn't in her crib, but he shortly found her stuck between several stuffed animals (think E.T. in the closet) on her toddler bed. Apparently, the kids told our friend that she slept in the bed not the crib.

It was such a funny feeling. We'd put the toddler bed up hoping to switch her over, but I was hesitant. She'd never tried to get out of her crib and I thought hey, why mess with a good thing. I was worried about her staying in bed or getting up in the middle of the night. But that first night, she did perfect. The next morning, she was still quiet so I peeked in her room and she was sitting on her bed playing with her dolls.

The next night putting her to bed in her BIG GIRL bed I felt a little wistful thinking about how this had all happen so quickly. It seemed like the last part of her being our baby. I just knew the next morning we'd wake up and have to be taking her to her first day of kindergarden. I teared up and rocked her before laying her in bed so that Scott could read to her.

I took this picture.

Then I couldn't help but think of this poem by Karen Kingsbury about our children's lasts.

I didn't document, take a moment to remember or actually even realized the night before was her last night in the baby crib. How many other lasts have gone by that I didn't even notice. Her last bottle, last night with the passy....I think I am READY for the last diaper! : )

This poem was written for a little boy with some specifics that might not be true to our own children, but I'm sure many of you will find it touch your heart.

Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts;
First smiles and teeth and baby steps, a sunbeam on the burst.
But one day you will move away and leave to me your past
And I will be left thinking of a lifetime of your lasts.

The last time that I held a bottle to your baby lips
The last time that I lifted you and held you on my hip,
The last night when you woke up crying,
Needing to be walked,

When last you crawled up with your blanket
Wanting to be rocked.
The last time when you ran to me still small enough to hold
The last time when you said you’d marry me when you grew old.

Precious simple moments and bright flashes from your past
Would I have held on longer if I’d known they were your last?
Our last adventure to the park, your final midday nap
The last time when you wore your favorite faded baseball cap.

Your last few hours of kindergarten, last days of first grade,
Your last at bat in Little League, last colored picture made.
I never said goodbye to all your yesterdays long past
So what about tomorrow? Will I recognize your lasts?

The last time that you catch a frog in that old backyard pond
The last that you ran barefoot across our fresh-cut lawn
Silly, scattered moments and bright flashes from your past
I keep on taking pictures, never quite sure of your last.

The last time that I comb your hair or stop a pillow fight,
The last time that I tuck you in and pray with you at night.
The last time when we cuddled with a book just me and you,
The last time you jump in our bed and sleep between us two.

The last piano lesson, the last vacation to the lake
Your last few weeks of middle school, last soccer goal you make.
I look ahead and dream of days that haven’t come to pass
But as I do I sometimes miss today’s sweet precious lasts.

The last time that I help you with a math or spelling test
The last time when I shout that “Yes! Your room is still a mess!”
The last time that you need me for a ride from here to there
The last time that you spend the night with your old tattered bear.

My life keeps moving faster, stealing precious days that pass
I want to hold on longer, want to recognize your lasts.
The last thing that you need my help with, details of a dance,
And the last time that you asked me for advice about romance.

The last time that you talked to me about your hopes and dreams
The last time that you wear a jersey for your high school team.
I’ve watched you grow and barely noticed seasons as they pass
If I could freeze the hands of time, I’d hold onto your lasts.

For come some bright fall morning, you’ll be going far away
College life will beckon in a brilliant sort of way
One last hug, one last goodbye, one quick and hurried kiss,
One last time to understand just how much you’ll be missed.

I’ll watch you leave and think how fast our time together passed
So let me hold on longer, God, to every precious last.

Pickin' Time

I wanted the kids to do soo many things this summer.

Some things just hasn't happened.

But we have picked blackberries!

There was a few reasons I wanted to do this with the kids.

Child labor, being one. Seriously, pickin' blackberries was made for kids.

: )

But for reals, I remember pickin' berries growing up and I want my kids to experience this too.

Also, I love me some blackberry cobbler!

They got the hang pretty quick.

"No, L, not the red ones. Only the darkest ones."

Look at how hard they are working!

Even little sis was doing her share.

Sadly, this only lasted for ten minutes and twenty berries.

After that they were gone, swinging and running around.

I couldn't blame them, I was tired of pickin berries too.

But if I wanted my cobbler I had to keep at it.

Finally, my bucket was full enough so I decided to get some shots of the kids on the swing.

Aren't they so cute!

We are soo thankful that Grandaddy Herman has blackberry bushes!

My babies might not be the best pickers, but they sure did like eating the berries!

New Kids on the Block had a bunch of hits, chinese food makes me sick...

name that song?!?!?!

classic summer song.

been humming it lately for some reason.

that and this stupid song from dora...dang it *boingy boingy bing will make these rocks to sing

what, really? who writes this stuff and what were they smokin'?

this is going to be an incredibly random post.

just some summer stuff:

cheap lemonade isn't the same...give me Simply Lemonade or Country Time any day!

One thing on our summer list was to let the kids do a Lemonade Stand....hmmm.

not sure that is going to happen.

this happens five minutes after we eat breakfast.

and five minutes after we wake up from afternoon nap.

toys toys everywhere....and we just got her a kitchen for her birthday with a

bizillion little pieces of plastic food.

nice.

garlic, cheese, salt - what is there not to like?

bisquick you make life soo much better : )

this was one of the few times we've played outside lately.

sooo hot!

if we do go outside it has to involve some form of H2O

random.

that is me these days.

this summer is flying by and I can't seem to hold onto it tight enough.

we've had some fun times lately and I have soo many great photos to share.

be back soon.

4 cuties on the 4th!!!

Our 4th was super low key and relaxing!

We went to my in-loves house for dinner and a pool party!

The cousins were soo cute all decked out.

They had a blast with each other!

We swam the afternoon away and were definitely ready for bed that night.

Summer exhausts me.

Here is our patriotic family!

I know this is way behind, but I loved the pictures too much not to post.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

More Slippin' Than Slidin'

One day we brought over this slip-n-slide (that we've had since we first got married) to my parents to see how the kids would do with it. My parents have this huge slope in their front yard that worked perfect!

They did a little more slippin than sliding, but they LOVED it!

Emerson joined in on the fun too!

She by far had the best technique and flew down the hill!

Little Man was quite creative in how he got down the slide. Some worked better than others.

Thanks Nana and Papaw for the hill and all the water!

Baby is TWO!!!

does that mean I can't call her Baby Girl anymore?

this was last year.

3 days after we got her she turned one.

one.

so much happens and changes between one and two.

she is such a little girl now.

she talks like a BIG girl and even used the potty today.

what happened this last year?

where is my baby with her rolly polly legs wrapped tightly around my hip as I packed her EVERYWHERE...where is that baby?

don't get me wrong.

i'm excited for all that is to come and seeing her grow.

but it just happens in a flash.

she will always be my baby.

i'm so blessed that God decided this sweet girl was meant for our family.

it's so funny to think that 2 yrs. ago on this day, I had no idea that I was already a mama.

don't you know that I would have loved to see that fresh, newborn sweetness.

but that isn't how God wrote our story.

i am thankful for this girl... my baby girl who is now becoming a little girl.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

we celebrated this joyous day with birthday cake for breakfast, presents and lunch/playing at chick-fil-a!!!

P.S. This is her birthday invitation, which we are having Sunday afternoon.

Obviously, the white parts are just for privacy. I thought our little dashboard hula girl is pretty dang cute!

What's for dinner?

I love this bowl!

My sweet husband brought it home from Africa long before we were dating.

Doesn't he have such great taste?!?!?!

Speaking of taste, my kids have been loving salads lately.

So I've been making them as often as I can. I love the Spinach and Argula mix from the the Marketside Brand *wallyworld*

It's yummy and paired with roma tomatoes make such a good salad.

Just top with some of your fav cheese and dressing.

Besides them scarfing down the salads, I also had a chicken dish *of course pretty much always chicken* This one is Cheesy Chicken. Simple. Mix canned chicken, cheddar chicken and spices. Spoon into crescent rolls and lay bundles on bottom of casserole dish. In saucepan melt cheddar cheese, cream of chicken soup and butter, then pour over bundles. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

YUM-O!!! Please feel free to leave any favorite recipes in the comments because I can always use some inspiration. Thanks.

Embracing summer: Fort Style

So I love all seasons, but this heat is driving me nuts!!!

Our front yard doesn't really have any shade except in the little wooded area between our house and the neighbors. When we married and bought the house, we called it the jungle because it was out of control. We worked on it before spring sprung and all the green got crazy again. We even took down several of the small trees that took up all the ground (no room to walk through it). It's still been hard to keep up with because there are soo many plants and stuff. But The Man cleared it really well so the kids could have a place to play.

I thought I'd make some pennant banners to hang up to define the area a little more. I did this during their nap! I also brought out their little table and chairs to have snack when they woke up.

Here is the fort, wooded fortress, clubhouse and the many other names we've called it. It needs a grand and magical name. Haven't settled on one yet.

* and yes Little Man has on a police hat and rain boots. What's a mamma to say?

We even had our first visitor to the new "play area".

See it needs a name!!!

Anyways, I was watching Fynn and when they all woke up we ventured outside.

It's a pretty big area and I think it could actually have some walls or something.

Not sure Little Man appreciated the decor, but my baby girl couldn't stop touching the flowers! She is a girl after my own heart.

This is looking up from the blanket where we were reading books.

I love a canopy of branches with sunlight leaking through.

It's soo glorious!

I even made banners with their initials for their little chairs.

Fynn getting the hang of a cup with no top. He's so stinkin cute!

GiGi reading books to the littles. I also got some cute maternity shots of her, but that is another post.

So there is the cute little space that we tried to niche out in our tiny property. Though our kids are technically "city kids", I want to give them all the charms of country life. I'm pretty sure my childhood wouldn't have been the same without all the spaces that kept me (my sis and our friends) busy for hours and hours.

And if it weren't for Embrace the Camera, I would not be adding this photo. No fixed hair, no make up, nasty t-shirt.... yeah, awesome, right?!?!

Oh well, I want them to not just remember these spaces, but that I was right there playing with them!

Two years later....

I just love when a project takes longer than usual.

But even better, when it takes TWO YEARS longer than you thought.

So here are just a few details of a two year ordeal for the Man and I.

I can't wait to share the finished products but I have to get the decor perfect to share the whole thing. : )