Catch up

Now that the birthday party is over it is catch up time!   I'm taking one week to relax and have a little vaca and then it's time to get busy and cross things off my to-do list (which is getting longer and longer every day!) I want to enjoy my summer and relax.. Not feel like I'm behind!  I'm not sure if I will ever be 100% caught up on everything but if I could just complete a few things I would feel so much better!  I have been trying really hard to simplify my life lately!  The easier things are the more time I have to spend with my babies!  I got my hair chemically straightened so I don't have to spend thirty minutes blowing it straight, I am getting my closet organized so getting ready will be easier, I some how talked my cleaning lady into dropping her price drastically so now she can come every week instead of every other, etc.  Just little things like that!  


Now for my to-do list.  I'm hoping if I write it here it will hold me accountable and I will get it done!  I think I need a deadline too!  Memorial day always feels like the official start of summer to me so I think that will be my due date!  Wish me luck! 


1. Finish Ava's room.  She's over a year old... It's definitely time for this girl to have a nursery! I still need to order pictures for her gallery wall over her bed, have a bumper pad made, make pillows for her couch, and finish her ottoman.  


2. Finish the boys room.  I still need to paint one wall and print and hang pictures of the boys, oh and hang two new mounted animals (not real animals). 


3. Organize the babies clothes and sell them.  Our neighborhood is having a garage sell on May 5th so I would love to have it all organized by then but I don't know if that will happen!  I have a ton of clothes to sell!  The closet under our stairs is overflowing with baby clothes!  I need to clean it out too! They are growing too fast! 


4. Fill out their baby books.  Every single page is blank.  Once again, they are over a year, it is time! 


5. Make photo albums of their first year.  I would love for each of them to have their own book with pictures of themselves.  


6. I also want to make a photo album of pictures from their first birthday.  I'm hoping this will be easy! 


7. Turn this blog into a book.  That has been the purpose of this thing all along.  I need to get it done sooner rather than later!  


8.  Finish my yard! I need to plant flowers, repaint pots, etc.  


I also have several other smaller goals that I would love to accomplish like working out more (Caroline and Brandon are leaving me in the dust!  They run every night!), updating the blog.  I still haven't posted Easter pictures, pulling my sewing machine out of the box and practicing, and cooking more (I can't remember the last time I made dinner!).  Another thing I would like to work on is taking the babies out more.  They need to get out of the house more than they are!  Now that we have a swing set in the back yard I don't feel like I need to take them to the park all of the time!  Maybe I will become a mall walker! 

Important Dates!

March 19th-Brooks played catch with me!

March 25th-Ava and Brooks went swimming for the first time! Neither one of them made it in the pool last year! Knox only took a quick dip. I think we are all going to be shriveled prunes this summer!

March 27th-Brooks' 6th tooth came in! It was the upper right tooth.

March 28th-Brooks stood up by himself for the first time! I think he stood for about a minute! Yahh Brooksy!

April 9th-Ava held her bottle by herself and drank the entire thing. Yes, my kids are super spoiled and won't hold their own bottles! Real convenient for me! I guess now Ava is Miss Independent. She even did a little showing off and held it with one hand!

April 10th- Ava stood up by herself! I let go and she stood by herself for a few minutes! I yelled for Jennifer to look and when I did it scared Ava, she fell, and she hasn't stood alone since! She might be crawling to Kindergarten! ha

April 13th-Ava learned the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider and learned how to blow kisses! All thanks to my mom's friend Betsy! She taught her both things in about five minutes and I've been working on them for weeks! I can't wait to see what they learn in mothers day out next year!

-I can't remember what day this happened but a few weeks ago Brandon was working late and Knox woke up crying. I put him in bed with me and pretended to be asleep so he would go to sleep. While my eyes were closed my precious baby kissed me! He is such a little lover boy! It was the sweetest kiss ever! He loves to snuggle too! When B came home he didn't realize Knox was in our bed and got in, which scared Knox to death and he woke up screaming his little head off! ha

Such a Boy

Brandon is such a boy. There are so many things he just doesn't get. Lately this has become very apparent... These are just a few of the conversations we have had lately.

B- "Ava doesn't need mink coats and leopard cowboy boots (Umm what?)" "Can't we just rent their clothes?" This is after I came home with a few shopping bags for A.

A few nights ago I was applying a little Latisse to my eyelashes and B asked what I was doing. I told him that Latisse makes them thicker/longer. His response, "Oh, it's fertilizer?"

One day I was talking to Ava and jokingly said, "Mommy doesn't know how to put makeup on blue eyes." B said, "That's okay, we can just get her a facial." I guess he meant makeover?!

For my birthday Brandon got me a gift certificate to have someone come over and organize my closet and put outfits together, etc. He obviously had a little help with this gift from my mom! I'm so excited about it but he is so confused about the process. The other day he said, "I mean, isn't that what Maria does when she comes?" First of all, Maria was our cleaning lady two years ago. She hasn't been to our house in that long... She cleaned our toilets and put up clean clothes and occasionally would move his winter clothes to the back of the closet during the summer and vice versa. She was our maid, not a stylist. Oh and B, our cleaning lady's name is Letty. Please don't call her Maria.

He also mentioned the dollar bill above the knee rule one day when I was getting Ava dressed. Are you kidding me??! She's not even one! Between B and her brothers Ava is going to be kept on a short leash! Poor thing!

And I wish I could remember the tirade he went on the other day when I mentioned I was signing the babies up for swimming lessons! ha It was something along the lines of, "That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of! They can't even walk and you think they are going to learn to swim?" "How much is this going to cost? I can teach them myself! Etc, etc, etc."

I guess B is just a typical boy but I love him just the way he is! ha I think we do a good job of balancing each other out! I remember in our premarital counseling we scored the highest on finances and family. It must be because I like to spend and he's a cheapo!

Knoxie's head before and after

You might have noticed Knox's helmet disappeared a few months ago. The doctor didn't give us the okay to quit wearing it, in fact, we haven't even gone back to the doctor... I missed an appointment and never called to make another one. So I guess I made the executive decision to be done with the helmet. I think his head looks better. Maybe not 100% round but once he has hair I think it will be fine! I forget he even wore it now! Was the helmet worth it? I think so. Would his head have rounded out on it's own? Maybe. It was definitely a pain sometimes but he didn't mind it as much as I did! I honestly think the worst part was taking him to Little Rock once a month for his check ups. I guess now he can shave his head when he is older if he ever feels like it!

These are the before pictures.. He started the helmet in November if I remember correctly!

And after...I think he quit wearing it around the end of February. So he wore the helmet for almost four months.

Knoxie I love your new head!

Em's Party!

Em's party was a few months ago but I never got around to posting pictures! I kept waiting on Caroline's pictures from her good camera! I guess my fuzzy cell phone pictures will have to do! The party was at the Greer's house and it was so much fun! Caroline and Jenny catered the party and the food was delicious! If you are looking for a caterer give them a call!

Sisters!

The theme for the party was "Love is in Bloom" The cupcakes were perfect!
Jenny and Carol hard at work!

I can't take credit for much, I think I made one black and white tissue paper flower! Morgan did all of the decorations and they were really cute!
She made moss covered initials for the happy couple!
Allison made the invitations and they were of course so cute! I wish I had a better picture of them!
She made the little menu cards too!


The Julep catering team!
These were our "Love Potion" drinks. They had a little of everything in them! A little Kool Aid, vodka, champagne, lemonade, cranberry.. Basically whatever we could find in Sarah's pantry!
The bride and Hostesses!
The yummy food!


It was such a fun party and a great way to kick off Emily and Matt's wedding festivities!

Happy Birthday Ava, Brooks, and Knox!

Knox Andrew Elliott

This is my first ultrasound and when I realized I had three little babies in my tummy!

Welcome to the world Knox Andrew!
You seemed so big compared to your brother and sister!
As soon as you came out Dr P said, "This one looks like his mommy!"
Your dad couldn't wait to hold you! I couldn't either! I kept asking them to hurry up so I could get out of the operating room so I could hold you!
This was the first picture I took of you!
This was the first time I got to hold you! You were probably eight hours old!
My sweet boy!

Our first family picture!
Hi Knox!
I love your big brown eyes! They were still blue when I took this picture but they were very dark blue!
Sweet yawn!
This was the first time you took a bath! You got to be unhooked from all of the wires! Look how skinny you were!
This is what you thought about your bath. You were not a fan!
I love this picture! Look at your skinny little legs and tiny little booty!
This was the first time you got to wear your own clothes! This was one of the first preemie outfits I bought you and it swallowed you!
I loved the dinosaur on your booty!
Snuggling Carol
You got to go home after 10 days in the nicu! Your brother and sister had to stay one more day! We hated to leave Ava and Brooks but we couldn't wait to get you home!
Your only night as an only child!
Family picture time!
One month old!
Your first baseball game!
You all slept the entire time!
My little cutie!
Two months old and not happy!
Ha
This is one of my 4D ultrasound pics of you!
I love this picture! You all look so cozy!
Sweet Ava and you!

My little sailor showing me your muscles!

Your first fourth of July!

Just hanging out watching tv.

Three months!
Four months!
Such big eyes!

Snuggling with Coco!

Pool Party!

Hi Knox!

This is one of the first times you sucked your thumb! You haven't stopped since!
My little Hog fans!

Your first road trip! I took this while we were stopped at a rest stop! I was sure we were all going to get kidnapped!

Just hanging out!

Five months!
Your Christening!
Such a big boy! You never cried!
Your first trip to the pumpkin patch!
Six months!
Your first Halloween and your surprised face!
Naked snuggles!
The three little pigs!
Your helmet!
You love your daddy Knoxie!
My big boy!
Your first Thanksgiving!
Seven months!
Six month pictures!



Your first Christmas! This was Christmas Eve and you were so excited about Santa!

Bath Time!
My little man!
My little men!
Family pic!
I love this picture of you! You were showing off your first tattoo!
Baseball fun with your dad!
You love to swing! The higher the better !
You are very passionate about sports and your Hogs! ha

Nine months!

Knox, you love Ribby!
Ten months!
I love this picture of you Knox. This is so you!
This one is pretty cute too!
My Easter baby!
This is the first time you had cake! You loved it!

Pool time!

Easter morning!

Oh Knoxie, my sweet baby Knox. Even though you were born two minutes after my oldest child you will always be my baby! You are the sweetest, most fun loving guy! You have a good time no matter what! Even when you get in a little trouble you just laugh about it and move on! You are always busy! You always have something to do or somewhere to be! I have to say you entertain yourself the best. You make everything you do just seem like so much fun! I know things might change but right now you are the leader of the pack! The only time I can catch up with you to snuggle is when you are really sleepy! Then you like your mommy and your thumb. You only pull the thumb out when you are tired! Your daddy says all of the time, "This boy loves his mamma!" And it's true! You get pretty excited to see me! You love your dad too! I think you know that you get to go on runs and wagon rides with him a lot! You really do have the kindest little heart! I can tell you get very concerned when another baby is crying! You love your brother and sister so much! I hope you all realize how lucky you are to have each other! You laugh all of the time and you still growl like a little monster! You love when I growl back! You also have a cute little dance you do when music is playing! You don't watch tv as much as your brother and sister but I think that's because you are too busy playing! Ava is the talker of the bunch but you can get pretty vocal too! Your voice is pretty funny! You are my best eater! You love food! I don't think we have found a food that you don't like! I also don't think I have ever filled your tummy up! I usually just get tired of feeding you and give up! Knox we love you so much and can't imagine what our lives would be like without you funny boy! Happy first birthday Knoxie!