Part 2

I had big plans to sleep in on my trip but Lauren and I were both wide awake at seven! I don't even wake up that early when I'm at home! We started the morning off with breakfast (which I also never do at home) before we headed to the spa! We basically ate and drank for two days straight! I think I was more excited about the spa than I was about cooking school! I LOVE getting pampered! Lauren and I got massages, facials, and pedicures. I had the most entertaining massage of my life. Usually I hate when my masseuse tries to chat during a massage, but this time it was completely different. My girl was big, prego, and she had a lot to say! I now know her complete life story. I was kind of waiting for a camera crew to pop out from behind a curtain and tell me it was all a joke! During my hour long massage she told me she is naming her child "Tigga Boo" My response was, "Umm, what was that?" "Tigga Boo, like from Winnie the Pooh!" Oh, of course! That makes sense! ha She also told me she was going to "Walk the baby out of her when (she) was full term at 32 weeks." I probably should have explained full term was 37 weeks but I just kept my mouth shut. Oh and her court date is coming up for beating her husbands girlfriend (he met her in the projects during his paper route) with a stick... She also put all two hundred pounds into my massage. When I would groan she would tell me, "Girl you okay! You can take it!" Ha I will definitely be requesting her when I go back! She was really good at her job and I want to see what happens in the soap opera that is her life!

After our massages LA and I got in the sauna so I could recap my massage for her! Lauren pushed some button and the sauna filled up with Vicks Vapor rub like steam. We lasted in the sauna for about three minutes! I kind of felt like a kid that was about to be kicked out of the spa for playing with the equipment and giggling too much! Next we had facials and pedicures. While we were getting our pedicures Lauren sent me a text that said, "I guess we know where Casey Anthony is hiding out now...She is giving me a pedicure." I looked up and sure enough Casey Anthony's twin was painting her toes! Cue the giggles again.
After the spa we went to lunch at a restaurant we had read about. The Food Network claimed it had the best pie or something like that. It was in the Ghetto, it smelled funny, and the pie wasn't really that great! I'm not sure I would recommend it! This is a picture of the famous pie we had to try!
Our next cooking class had a steakhouse theme! We made tall twice baked potatoes, roasted asparagus, fillets with Bearnaise sauce and bananas foster!

Our fancy potatoes! Mine actually got dropped on Lauren's back when it was being served! ha
I'll be honest, Lauren did most of the cooking this night. I did a lot of talking! She did a great job because everything was delicious! Except the sauce...
Chefs!
Lauren at it again!
I'm stirring the Bearnaise sauce in this picture... The Bearnaise sauce that ended up being inedible. It was so bad we had to throw it out! The teacher couldn't even figure out what we did to mess it up that bad! I should have just let Lauren do everything!
We forgot to take pictures of our plates before we started eating so this is the best picture I got! Everything was obviously really good!
Our fancy bananas foster! I'm not sure if I will be trying this recipe at home since it involves flames! I might have to leave this for the professionals!
I had such a great trip and I'm already looking forward to going back again! I would definitely recommend this little town for a girls trip or even for couples! B isn't exactly a chef but I think he would still have fun! Oh and the beds were very comfortable! They actually sold all of the bedding at the cooking school because so many people requested it! Thanks for planning such a fun gateway Lauren!

Even though I had a fun, relaxing time I could not wait to get home to these sweet little faces! I was so ready to be home to snuggle with them! I'm pretty sure they were too busy to miss me very much though! When I got home Knox was actually excited to see me but Ava wanted Gigi to hold her and not me! Little stinker! I guess she was punishing me for leaving! Brooks was asleep so I didn't get to see his reaction! These are a few of the pictures B sent me while I was gone.

Sweet Brooks! I think he missed his mommy!

Sweet Ava! Up to something I'm sure!
Knoxie trying out his new hat from Alex and Stacey!

Girl Trip Part 1

About once every few months I think I send an e-mail out to my friends saying we need to plan a girls trip. Usually nothing ever happens! We are all talk and no action! Lauren and I had been talking about going somewhere for a while now and we (not really we, Lauren) finally booked a trip and made it happen! It was very spur of the moment but I think those trips are the most fun! We made plans on a Friday and left for Mississippi on Monday. Someone told me about a spa and cooking school in Greenwood MS so we thought we would test it out! B's parents were nice enough to come help with the babies! I went to LR Sunday night to stay with Lauren so we could leave early Monday! The trip actually got off to a rocky start because of Laurens cat Lilly Wayne. I hate Lilly Wayne... Sorry LA! ha I am so allergic to cats! I don't even have to see them and my eyes swell shut and my throat gets scratchy etc! Lauren told me some BS about Lilly Wayne being hypoallergenic. Not the case! I'm actually just kidding. I don't hate the cat! I know Lauren is going to read this so I am just messing with her! After a late night trip to Walgreens for some benedryl, eye drops, etc. I was fine!

Our road trip started early Monday morning! It was actually not a long drive at all and we didn't get lost once! We took Scott's car on the trip and I'm so glad we did. It was so nice and it had massaging seats! I think LA and I might have worn them out! We also called all of our friends that weren't with us on the way. I'm sure they were all real happy about being stuck at work while we were heading to a spa!

We stayed at the Alluvian hotel. I never take pictures on trips and then I get home and can't remember where we stayed, where we ate, shopped etc. I tried really hard to document this trip so I could pass along all of the information to friends!
Lauren signed us up for "The Help" tour. The movie was filmed in Greenwood and a lot of the cast stayed at the Alluvian hotel. Our tour guide was very nice and showed us where everything was filmed. It was really neat to see! The church in the movie has a little cemetery next to it. When our guide was showing us the church he mentioned that Robert Johnson was buried in the cemetery. My dad is a big fan so I made the driver get out and show me his grave! Lauren was probably hating me because we had to walk through a soggy, muddy cemetery to get this picture! If you don't know who Robert Johnson is you should read about him on Wikapedia. His story is really pretty interesting! I wish I had taken pictures of more of the houses on the tour! I think this was before I decided to document my trip with pictures.
After our tour we had lunch at a really good restaurant, Delta Bistro. I wish we had eaten there both days! Someone said it was owned my Viking too.
After lunch we did a little shopping around the town, took naps and then got ready for our first cooking class! I had big plans to relax on this trip so I brought lots of magazines to read. That is something I never have time to do at home! Lauren and I were both laying in our big king sized bed in the room reading magazines and eating the chocolates they left on our pillow and and a group of women walked in our room! I guess the front desk gave them the wrong key! I'm sure they thought we were crazy since we were in bed at three in the afternoon!

Our class was "French Bistro". LA and I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe the instructor would cook and we would just watched but that was not the case. We had to be very hands on! Thank goodness Lauren and I partnered up with a couple so the guy could do the raw meat part of it! I'm not a big fan of raw chicken!

Our Menu for the night!
Lauren and I did a lot of wine drinking and picture taking!
I'm sure the rest of the class thought we were crazy but we really had fun posing with our food, taking pictures and sending it to our moms and husbands!
Lauren's mom wrote back, "Move over Emeril and Paula Deen, I'm so proud of you two" and my mom wrote, "Who would have ever thought the two L.A. girls would end up in a Mississippi cooking school!" I think this was funny to them because when Lauren and I lived in LA together we ate Hamburger Helper pretty much every night unless we had guests in town and then we went out to eat. Hamburger Helper was Lauren's specialty. One night she was making it and we smelled something burning. She just kept stirring while we sniffed around and then we realized her big fluffy pink robe was in flames! Instead of "Stop, Dropping, and Rolling" or throwing water on her we just screamed and jumped around. I think I might have hit her with a pizza box to put out the flames. We have come a long way..We've gone from Hamburger Helper to French food.

This was our before picture of Pierre... Our chicken (we had to name him). He was stuffed full of herbs, butter, garlic, and onions. The whole time we were cooking I kept thinking, "If I did this at home I would have so many dishes to wash!" We didn't take any short cuts! We used a million cooking utensils and all fresh ingredients! It was pretty fun playing with so many fancy tools!
Action shot of me chopping our chives! We also learned the proper way to hold your knife. Apparently I have been doing it all wrong! I'm lucky I still have finger tips!
Pierre after! Pierre took about 2 hours to cook! We had to baste him every thirty minutes. Lauren burned her arm trying to get him out of the oven! That was our only serious injury though:)
Hericots Verts! This is something I think I could actually make again!
Our pan sauce for the chicken.
Our yummy goat cheese salad!
Our finished meal! We were all looking forward to the potato thing! It looked so good! It was basically hash browns with herbed goat cheese and onions. I was in charge of the salting and peppering for our group. We didn't have salt shakers so I had to pinch it out of a little dish like they do on cooking shows! I guess my "pinches" got out of hand because we all took a bite of the potato thing and it was sooo salty! I felt terrible! Everyone ate it anyway but it really tasted bad! I think they must have choked it down!
This was our dessert! We made homemade crust and all! It was pretty yummy too!
Our first class was a success! We had so much fun and I really did learn a lot! One day if I have an extra four hours to spare I might try to recreate this meal! I'm definitely going to make the potatoes again so I can redeem myself!

Happy Birthday to my blog!

I just realized I have been blogging for a year! I wrote my first post a year ago on Caroline's couch in LR! I thought the babies would be born any day at that time! So glad they didn't make their appearance until two months later (in Fayetteville). I really can't believe I have continued to blog. My goal at first was a post a month once they were born! So far I've written 259 posts! I'm pretty impressed with myself! I really don't know why I keep blogging! Maybe because:

1. This is the only way I will keep up with the babies milestones.

2.It's the only reason I take pictures..I always think "Oh, I need to take a picture of this for the blog

3. My brain is mush. I don't even want to admit how many times I have had to look back at the blog for important information (like birth weights, when they started crawling etc.)

4.I sit in a house with babies that can't talk all day and I feel like I'm talking to my friends when I'm typing these posts

5.I pretend its a job and I try not to let myself get behind! "B, you have to put them to bed! I'm busy working!" (on the blog!) haha

6.I am such a blog stalker and I hate when my friends are slackers (Sarah, Allison, Emily hint hint) and I don't have new posts to read! I use to love checking blogs in the middle of the night when I was feeding!

7.I'm going to make a blog book. One day. When I have an extra three hours to sit down and actually do it!

This was my first post. Wow! How times have changed! Poor Coco and Layla.... So neglected now! Oh, and my pictures are still terrible! Funny I thought I would have time to take a photography class after I had the babies.

It is actually laughable that I am going to try to blog... I am not good at things like this. I have had a nice camera for 2.5 years and have not printed one single picture off of it. I'm also computer illiterate.. I was on myspace for about 2 months and during that time I managed to post my entire wedding album on all of my friends' pages. oops! I'm hoping this will be different! Fingers Crossed! If not, I think I will hand the password over to Caroline and she can be my blogger! She is the writer in the family so there would be fewer typos and misspelled words for sure! The only reason I'm even attempting this is so the trips will have some record of their lives! I definitely don't see myself sitting down cutting out construction paper for a scrapbook! This has to be easier! Right??? So please be patient. This could be my one and only post or maybe I will surprise myself and post every day! haha-that was a joke.
Pictures make everything better so I thought I would include the first two pictures I took with my camera. Btw, Im completely aware that the obsession I have with my dogs is abnormal. Brandon and I have already discussed that we cannot spoil our kids like we have spoiled the dogs! Two spoiled brats is enough. There's no way I could handle five!

PS-Be patient with the picture quality too! I'm definitely not a photographer! I have a nice camera (thanks B!) but I can turn it on, snap a pic, and sometimes upload them to my computer without pulling out the manual. That's about it. I signed up for a class at Bedfords but never actually attended. Maybe one day! Or I might just make Caroline take the class for me and be my personal photographer! haha

So far my three have been such good babies. Easy almost. Anytime people are around them they say, "Oh you don't know how lucky you are." I have always said, "I hope this doesn't mean they are going to be wild when they are older." Well, they aren't so easy anymore, I'm afraid I jinxed myself.. Knox has been awake for an hour and so far I have pulled a screw out of his mouth and a wadded up piece of a magazine. They are really in to everything! I'm really not sure why I bought them toys for Christmas because they won't sit still long enough to play with them! I take that back, Brooks plays with his toys. Ava just follows Knox around and Knox does whatever he wants to do. I should have just bought them cords, magazines, and a dog bowl. I keep them confined to our living room with gates but as soon as the gate is left open they all three sneak out! They know exactly what they don't need to get into and that is where they go first! The stairs are a new favorite... If I leave the pantry or the refrigerator open Knox crawls as fast as he can to get inside. The gate to the laundry room where we keep the dog bowls is another hot spot. Thank goodness for Knox's goofy helmet too. I use to hate that thing and now I love it! I wish they all had little helmets!

I don't know if my kids are extra squirmy or what? Or maybe it's because there are three and they are always going in different directions??? I hear people talking about their kids sleeping in their bed and their is no way that could happen at our house. They would crawl off immediately! My snuggle time with them is nonexistent now. Makes me sad! They must get this hyperness from their dad... ha

Here comes the mini bride!

Ava is going to be a professional flower girl by the time she is two. She has a very busy schedule for the next few years! My mom had a garage sale with a friend several months ago and her friend was selling a Monique Lhuillier flower girl dress. She just gave it to my mom and we thought Ava could use it as a dress up dress if nothing else! It's really pretty and in great shape! Ava is going to be in my cousins wedding in November so when Christina came over to visit we let Ava try on the dress and get a little practice in! It's crazy to think she is going to be walking down an aisle sprinkling flowers in 9 months and right now she can't even walk!

She looks like a little bride! Oh, and it doesn't have long sleeves, those are her pj's! ha

My little princess!
I'm already getting a little nervous about my three walking down an aisle together! Well I'm really just nervous about Knox.. and since Ava does whatever he does it could be bad!

Random

-I swear a day after I posted about my love for Hot Cheetos I read an article on the Internet about how they are banning them in schools! Apparently they are literally addictive. If I could find a link to the article I would post it! It said something like they give kids a high??? Something about the heat gives a boost of endorphins... So I guess I really am addicted and it's not my fault!

-Last week Christina came over to visit and I made her give me a hair lesson. My hair has looked the same my entire life so I decided I wanted a way to switch it up. She taught Caroline and me how to do big waves. I have been practicing every day on the waves! It took B about two days to notice my curls and he said, "What's up with your hair?" I told him I got a perm and my hair would look like that for the next three months.... He just rolled his eyes. I'm not sure he is a fan! ha When I was getting ready Saturday (we were going to the horse races) I asked him if I should curl it again and he said, "This is what you have been building up for isn't it!" haha I guess he thought I had been practicing the curls for a big reveal at the races!

-I have completely fallen off the diet coke wagon. I'm not going to go back to a diet coke a day I am just going to drink them when it is absolutely necessary! I just have too much to do and I need the extra boost of caffeine! One cup of coffee a day just wasn't cutting it!

-I have been such a picture slacker. I don't know what my problem is! I'm not going to have any pictures to document February! I think I have just been too busy to grab my phone or my camera!

-I am so excited about Razorback baseball and Wedington Liquor Softball! I really can't wait to take the babies to all of the games! I want to get the babies little baseball uniforms complete with the legging things!ha How cute would that be?

-I have been so tired lately! I think I have S.A.D. Seasonal Whatever disorder. It's not even cold but it just looks so dreary! I'm ready to see the sun again!

-Jennifer and I just caught Ava sitting in front of Layla barking. It was hilarious. She LOVES that dog.

V-Day!

We had a great Valentines day at our house! I can't believe I didn't take a group picture of the babies on their first Valentines day but I did get a cute picture of Ava's heart booty!

I made a special breakfast for B and the babies! Heart Shaped eggs! They were pretty good if I do say so myself! I never cook breakfast so when B saw his eggs he asked if that was his Valentines gift from me! ha

We were all feeling the love this year! I sent B to Walgreens the night before to get the babies a surprise and said, "Just don't get stuffed animals." He came home with three stuffed animals! ha I don't think he had much to choose from! I was such a slacker this year! I feel like I buy the babies stuff all of the time! I guess I should have wrapped some of it up for them for V-Day! I will do a better job next year when they know the difference! B did a lot better than me!! Ava and I got flowers and a massage gift certificate!

The babies have so many people that love them! They got surprises from Jenny and my dad, Nana and Poppy, and Caroline and my mom!

That morning my dad came over for a visit and then that afternoon Gigi watched the babies so I could go to the movies with friends to see the Vow! It was such a cute movie! I love going to the movies! Especially afternoon movies so I can drink a diet coke and not worry about being up all night!

When I got home Gigi had cooked us all a special Valentines dinner! It was sooo good! Salad, crab legs, steak, mushrooms, roasted brussel sprouts, bread, and peanut butter parfaits for dessert! Gigi really outdid herself this year!! She also brought the babies the cutest surprises!

How fancy are these?

B and his Valentine. He was mocking her pouty face!

We had a great Valentines Day at our house this year! Let the Easter decorating begin! haha

Important dates I don't want to forget!

January 17th-Ava said Baba (bottle)

January 18th- Knox officially started crawling and Brooks got his top right tooth!

Brooks' new tooth!

January 21st-Brooks started crawling and pulled up to a standing position for the first time!

I caught the first time he stood up on my phone!

February 2nd-Knox pulled up to a standing position for the first time

February 3rd-Ava slept in her room in her crib for the first time!

February 5th- Ava's top right tooth came in!

February 13th-Brooks' and Ava's top left teeth came in!

February 15th-Brooks climbed up three stairs for the first time! Thank goodness I caught him! I really think he would have kept going! Notice B spotting him while I tried to snap a picture!

February 16th-Ava stood up for the first time! Of course she did this in a crib that hadn't been lowered yet!

Smarty Pants!

My smarty pants sister got all of the brains! haha She is on the hunt for a teaching job and I thought I was doing her a favor! Apparently not! I promise she isn't annoying or braggy! I'm the annoying and braggy one! Way to go Carol! You are the key to my kids being geniuses! Just promise me you will tutor them!

Weekend Away

Last weekend B and I met friends in Hot Springs for a weekend at the races. It was the first time I have been away from the babies in FIVE months! I was so excited to get away and to sleep in for a change! We really had a great time! We went to dinner, went to the races, tried to sleep in (my body is trained to wake up early I guess), enjoyed not making bottles and changing diapers, it was so nice.. B and I of course talked about the babies constantly and missed them so much. Goofy B had me tearing up on the way to Hot Springs! He was telling me that they all had to go to the same college so we could get an apartment down the street from them! ha I can't even think about them leaving me one day! I tell them all of the time that they can live with us forever and I will cook for them, clean for them, do their laundry.. They really won't ever need to move out! The first day of kindergarten might be the death of me! I think B realizes more than I do how hard it is going to be because he is away from them all day. I guess I sometimes take for granted how lucky I am to get to snuggle and play all day long! (I am signing them up for mothers day out next year! Just two mornings a week! Keep your fingers crossed we get in! I think it's harder to get in MDO than the U of A!.

While we were gone Gigi kept the babies! I think they had lots of fun! I got several pictures to keep me updated on what I was missing out on!

Gigi said they all fought over their toys while I was gone. This is an action shot of a brawl... You would think Brooksy would always win because he is the biggest but that's not the case! Ava and Knox steal poor Brooksy's toys and he just lets them! And if he steals Ava's toys..Watch out! He is going to hear about it! We all are! I think they are all getting new teeth too. Poor Gigi! She might not ever agree to keep them again!

Oliver Hall turned one this weekend! Happy Birthday Oliver! I was so sad I missed the party but Gigi, Caroline, and Ryan took the babies so they wouldn't miss the celebration! It looked like such a cute party! I know the babies had a great time!
My babes! I think Knoxie was in shock! ha
Ava and her man! These two crack me up! Sarah told me Bennett is really in love! I think A is crushing pretty hard too!
My little Ava! I told B I think she got prettier while we were away. I think she definitely got more hair!

I guess the babies were so excited we were home that they didn't want to go to sleep Sunday night! We were all up until after midnight! Brooks and Ava woke up with two new teeth the next morning so I think that had something to do with the sleepless night!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Teeny Weeny Polka Dot Bikini!

We are ready for summer at our house! We have new bathing suits, new sandals, and shorts! Now we just need the sun! This is Ava's first bikini and I think it is pretty cute! I love that little belly poking out! I think she was feeling pretty cute too!

Hurry up summer! We are ready to play outside and in the pool!