Bwess my widdle baby

Yep. Sweet Carolina had tubes put in this past Thursday. Having five ear infections before you are nine months old will do that to ya! She did great - the worst part was ME having to get to the hospital by 6:00 a.m. (Have I ever mentioned I'm not a morning person?)

When we got back to the waiting area and let her crawl around on the bed, she went CRAZY! She was spinning around and was pulling up on the side rails constantly. Then, the nurse came and gave her some "elixir" as they called it (Motrin and a little somethin' else ;) and she became much calmer . . .

Here she is pretty relaxed while we are waiting.

I'm so glad that we went on and got her tubes - Lawton had them at 20 months and they helped him a lot. (Chad actually had two sets of tubes when he was little, so I'm not sure that this is our last surgery with our ENT!) The doctor said that her right ear (the one that has given her most of the trouble) had lots of thick, glue like fluid in it - so she is bound to feel (and hear) better! Now, I wonder if she will become more annoyed at Lawton now that she can hear more clearly how loud he really is! Time will tell! :)

She went Angelina on me

Bless her. A week or so ago I was getting out of the shower and curious baby that she is, she tried to crawl in and see me. Her hands slipped on the wet shower floor and busted her sweet precious lip. :( (Get it now - doesn't she resemble Angelina?) Oh, and did I mention that her 9 month pictures were scheduled for an hour and a half later? Ummm . . . I rescheduled those within ten minutes of the fall.

Here's another VERY unflattering view of my sweet baby. Don't hold it against her.

But never fear - we went last week and had her pictures made - without a busted lip!

Playing with those toesies!

The girl wouldn't smile (open mouthed, laughing, showing her sweet gums with the lone tooth) like I wished and knew she could. Instead, she had this "Froggy smile" as I call it for almost the entire time. Our photographer was doing everything but standing on her head to make her laugh - but she just did the "Froggy smile". That's okay, though. It's her. After all, her smile already has a name she does it so much.

I wore this dress in my one year old pictures. I didn't want her to wear it in her 12 month pictures, though, because for her panel picture she will be standing up. I think it will be a bit short! She is also wearing my gold bracelet, my gold ring, and my mother-in-law's gold heart necklace. Wouldn't it be special if her daughter could have her picture made in these things one day? :) sniff.

Still "Froggy".

The girl needs her lovey. Bad.

So sweet and half asleep. :)

Obviously, I know I am in jeans. However, when I get this printed, it will be a tight crop. (I'm not fancy enough to know how to crop in on my computer). I had a picture with Lawton when he was nine months in this same sweater and he was wearing a cream sweater one-piece outfit. I'm trying to be very fair. . .

And this picture just makes me laugh. Our photographer, Wendy, told me to look somber because Carolina was being so solemn. The only problem? I can't look somber - I'm about to bust out laughing! And my baby fuzz hair that is coming in . . . ugh. I will say that I think this is the first picture where I can say she looks like me. Maybe? What do you think?

This makes me laugh. . . every.single.time.

Are there certain movies that always "getcha" every time you flip through the channels? How does it seem that the SAME movies are on all the time? Cast Away, Hitch, and any Stephen Seagal movie (when Chad has the remote {which is ummm, always.}) always suck us in. Stephen Seagal captivates Chad to relive the 80's/early 90's bad movies where every single storyline seems the same. . .but I digress. (Does anyone else's husbands like these movies?)

Tonight I got sucked in.
This clip makes me laugh (out loud) every single time. This one is pretty good, too.

These two clips remind me of my inaugural Zumba class for the first time this past week at the Y. yeah. I can't dance. And I went to a Christian school K-College. At Zumba I thrusted and shook things that I didn't know could do such. I felt like a Singarama reject. However, it was fun - and you bet that I didn't look at myself ONCE in the mirror for fear of humiliation. In my heart I was just as good as the instructor - and in my real-life-reality-check-mind I knew I looked like a fool. (and did I mention the fact that a gray-haired sweet lady was right behind me bustin' a move with her purple turtleneck tucked oh-so-neatly into her purple sweatpants? precious.) But it was a super workout! (and my back hurt the rest of the day from all the booty shakin'!) Just call me Alberta Brennaman.

"Queen Elizabeth"

This dress was, (of course), one of my dresses when I was little that my mom made. It is still in pristine condition - I love it and for some reason it makes me think of Queen Elizabeth - or some queen in history. (I'm not into history, okay?)

Can you tell that the style 30 years ago was to wear the dresses short? I'm pretty sure I was about 18 months old when I wore this. Ummm, she's nine months old.

My precious, wiggly, curious, "queen".

Handyman Hunter!

Hunter turned five yesterday! Wow! Time flies and my sweet nephew is heading to kindergarten next year. . . sniff! Here is Carolina and the birthday boy!

Isn't this cake AMAZING??!! Emily is crazy good at cakes! Hunter loves to build things and {seriously} built his own lemonade stand all by himself. A construction party was perfect for him! He is so creative and handy . . . and five!

Brothers (and two of the cutes nephews around!)

Here is Lawton participating in a little obstacle course. They had to wheel some bricks in the wheelbarrow around some cones, saw a couple of times, drill a little bit and then hammer twice. There was some serious competition! :)

Here is Gran-D (holding future son-in-law Max {according to his siblings!}) and Nana holding Carolina. The four of them held down the fort in the kitchen!

Uncle Brent helps Lawton saw a little bit at one of the stations.

Here Lawton drills all by himself - he thought he was big stuff! (and notice the concentration in his face!)

If you hold your tongue just right, you can hammer a nail! Do you notice a trend with tongues and my kids?

Fun Construction Party! Happy Birthday, Hunter! We love you!
Oh yeah, isn't this the cutest hiney around? I just wish the same could be said about mine . . .

Carolina sends her love. . .

Guess what Sis finally got? Yep - a tooth! (Lawton had at least six teeth fully in by now - not to compare or anything. ha! He had also already had his first haircut by now, too. Carolina is nowhere close in the hair department!)

This tooth feels funny!

I love my bear!

Introducing . . .

My new blog! Well, actually, I have been working on it here and there for about a month now but haven't "released" it yet. I still don't have it quite how I want it, but several people (my family) have told me to go on and share. They are probably right - it might never be how I really want it to be . . . I hope you like it, tell all your friends about it, and visit often! I won't tell you anymore - go check it out yourself! (and give me some feedback, too!)

Super News! (and do you want some cake, too?)

First of all, I just read Julie's update on baby Jacob. God is good and he is working! Keep checking in and praying over this sweet baby and his family! God is listening and answering!

I also wanted to share and spread the love for my super talented sister-in-law, Emily! She has started a cake blog (with a little nudging ;) to share her creations with the rest of you! Go check out her blog HERE! She is so talented!!!

Yummy!

You never know what end up in our mouths at home! :)

Lawton loves his chocolate!

Carolina thought that Batman was very tasty!

And her shoe - decadent!

My boys . . .

This warms my heart on a cold winter day . . . I love my two boys!

Lawton loves his daddy!