Let's Get Mommy

Hey sis, look, there's mommy. Let's get her!

Come on, we're almost there!

Gotcha!

Sis, where did you go?

Here I am Peyton!

Sisters

Some people are blessed with sisters from their parents, and some of us are blessed to have found friends that we can call sisters.

One of my dear friends is dealing with the loss of her brother. It seems unfair and unreal. He was only 22 years old. He had served and survived two tours overseas, but passed away in his home after an outpatient surgery last week. He had two children and another baby on the way. As all tragedies do, this makes you stop and think about what is really important in life. As we've all come together to try and help our friend through this awful time, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life. These women are my sisters.

There have been weddings

There have been babies

With more on the way

We've had fun together

We love each other's children as if they were our own

I love these women. I am forever grateful that God put each of them in my life. I couldn't ask for better friends, and my girls couldn't ask for better aunts. I believe there are certain things in life that a woman must have, and amazing friends are at the top of the list.



Rub a Dub Dub

Peyton's in the tub

Peyton's eating the tub

Peyton's trying to escape from the tub

Pretty much sums up every bath now!

And yes, Peyton's baby bathtub is on the floor of my bathroom. I had to give both girls a bath when Nick was gone one night, and found this was the easiest way to do it since Peyton wasn't sitting up that great at the time. I give Bailey a bath in our garden tub while Peyton crawls around the floor. Then I give her a bath in her tub while Bailey splashes and plays. Works out great. So well that we've continued to do this even when Nick is home. He takes one kiddo and I take the other, but we still do it in the same room. But someone thinks she's too big for her tub now and tries to crawl out. I'm a little nervous about putting her in the actual tub though. She sits up great, but she gets a little lazy sometimes. Guess we'll stick with the little one for a little while longer and then try our hand at the big girl tub a little later.

Birthday Party!

Nick has told me I'm not allowed to plan two big events back to back again. The first weekend in October was one of my best friend's baby shower which we had at my house, and last weekend was Bailey's 4th birthday party, also at our house. I don't think I was very fun to be around. I let myself get overwhelmed by all the little details that go into any party/event. And I felt like such a bad momma. I realized a week out from Bailey's party that I never sent out invites! Granted, it's pretty much all family and our friends that come, but still, I felt awful. I also really hadn't figured out exactly what we would be doing for her big day. I had come up with the idea about a month ago that I wanted to do a "drive-in movie" party. We would get a projection screen and watch a movie outside. I had all kinds of cute ideas for popcorn bags, invites, party treats and games. But I knew we would have to start the party late in order to be able to watch the movie outside, and I didn't really want my 4 year's old party to start at 7:30.

Then last week I decided I wanted a bouncy house for the party. Yeah, a week before I make this decision. After convincing Nick that we needed the bouncy house, I start making calls trying to find one that's available. The first 3 places I called were booked. I finally found a company that was over an hour away from us that had one available. At the end it was $10 more expensive than the closer locations, so I booked it. After I booked the bouncy house, I decided we'd do kind of a carnival theme for the party. Not sure how an outdoor movie works in connection to a carnival theme, but oh well! I'll apologize in advance for the number of photos in this post, but I just loved them all so much! Thanks to my step dad for taking all the photos while I played :)

The bouncy house

Oh yes, the adults got in on the action too!

Even pregnant ladies...don't worry, we all fussed at her later!

And we had face painting, thanks to aunt Brittany!

Tough boys

Peyton kicked back and taking it all in

And the cake that I planned and planned and planned. Yes, I realize her name looks like a serial killer wrote it.

Really bad iPhone photo, but each tier of cake had 4 layers. Devils food chocolate cake and french vanilla sour cream.

Those are some worn out kids! And yes, I participated in the face painting also...I was a kitty cat

I should have known that given the option of sitting still and watching a movie or playing in the bouncy house, the kids would choose bouncy house. I think they sat there with me for all of 5 minutes. Oh well. The movie ended up working so well that all the adults decided we need to have our own little party with an outdoor movie!

The next morning we gave Bailey the last present from us...

Waiting for the surprise

A new princess bike!

What a big girl!

And that wraps up Bailey's birthday party! I think she had a great time, and we appreciate everyone that came out and celebrated with us and spoiled our princess!!