Braden's Birthday

I can't believe my little man is 4 years old! He is still the loving, fun, energetic, active, happy little boy he has always been! We are so blessed that God chose our family to put him in. We love you little man. We had a smallish birthday party at the house for him, and we all enjoyed fun and time with friends.

Sweet 6

One Year Old Avery

Two Year Old Avery

Three Year Old Avery

Four Year Old Avery

Five Year Old Avery

Happy Birthday 6 Year Old! My strong, determined, brilliant, quirky, lovable, kind, considerate, spunky, pleasing Avery. You have truly blessed the past 6 years of my life. I'm glad I get to be your momma.

Braden's Third Birthday Party

This morning was fun to get together with friends to celebrate Braden's birthday. We opted for the easy route this year and had it at Burger King. Talk about easy set up and clean up! It was perfect! I think we enjoyed being with our friends as much as Braden enjoyed being with his! He especially enjoyed his "motorcycle bike" as he calls it.

I'm so very thankful to have such a fun, spirited, sweet, active, wild, crazy, and precious little man for our son.

(more pictures on facebook.)

Braden's Cake

The kids and I have been making Braden's birthday cake today. He requested a motorcycle cake this year. I figured, "hey! I made a giant castle for Avery on her birthday, a motorcycle should be a piece of cake!" (Pun intended..)

Well, let me be the first to tell you that, even though it didn't take as long, I thought the motorcycle was harder than the extravagant castle. Maybe because I had to cut pieces out and put them together like a puzzle.

At any rate, the kids and I had a blast being together, and it didn't turn out too bad. All that matters is that Braden thinks it's the best motorcycle cake ever.

Fair, Birthday Bash, and Halloween Festivities

To be completely honest, I'm so far behind, and I just don't have the patience to post a bunch of pics here, so I'm going to put more albums on my facebook account. Just wanted to put a few teasers here....

Alabama National Fair 2009

Braden's Birthday Party -- 2 Years Old!

Fall Festival at Church
Trick or Treating


Also going on: Volleyball season has come to a close. We made it to the State playoffs, one of the Elite 8 Teams present.

Kenny's football team is in the playoffs this year!

Just recently spent some time in Texas with my family. Although I was there for my Papa's funeral, it was a treasured time.

I have a lot to say, but I'm not in the mindset right now to say it all. I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful family. This is a joyous time of my life.

Birthday Money

This year Avery received a little bit of birthday money from Grammy and Pop and our good friends from church. It has been burning a hole in her pocket for a few days now, but she has been patient with me. She helped me do the grocery shopping tonight, so I told her she could look through the toy aisles and use her money if she found something she really wanted.

I was so proud of her during the choosing process. She saw something right away that she said she wanted. I asked her if she was sure, and we continued through the aisles so she could look at her other options. She stuck to her guns and was very decisive that she wanted the My Little Pony Amusement Park. (It helped that it was in the clearance section; when we got to the checkout, it was marked down even more!) Now when we go back, she has a few more dollars to buy another little pony to add to it.

She was patient while we finished our grocery shopping and during the trip home. Once home, she had to wait through supper, but was a trooper and hung in there. Daddy helped her untie and cut out all the pieces. She was very protective of her new treasure, yelling at Barlow and Braden each time either got within five feet of her. We had to have a few chats about tone of voice, etc, but the evening ended with her enjoying her birthday present that she bought with her very own money!

Avery at 4

On May 20th, Avery turned four years old. I knew it was coming, we have been talking about it for a while now, but when it got here it hit me really hard about how much she has grown up over the past short years.

There is a different, loving bond with each child, but Avery is extra special because she was my first. During the first pregnancy you check week to week to see what is happening, how the baby is growing, changing, etc. I remember aching with impatience, wondering what she was going to look like. Then the moment came. I will remember it always. The first time I saw her, held her, loved her. She put her messy little hand on my chest, and we cried together.

In that moment there was an instant connection; one that will never be broken.

She has always been a Momma's girl. Sometimes that wears me out, but mostly makes me proud and honored. We have a lot in common, which I know will haunt us during the teenage years of disagreeing, but for now it's fun.

Avery is a pistol in every way. She's fiesty, spunky, hilarious, beautiful and brilliant. I told her yesterday that if she continued to love Jesus the way she does now, and paired that with all of her other qualities, she will go far in life. I know she didn't understand what I meant, but she listened and filed it away to ponder.

Even though she's still young, she is so mature. When you have a conversation with her, it feels like you're talking to a mini adult. I have to backtrack sometimes and remind myself that she is still a child. She continues to amaze me and remind me of that through her innocence. I truly wish that we could all still hold the innocence that children do. They are so clean and pure. The world is a better place through the eyes of a child.

Princesses continue to be at the top of Avery's choice list of toys to play with, now accompanied by Barlow. He has taken to Avery almost more than to any of us. She enjoys taking him on walks with his leash.

Avery is a fantastic big sister. I find her tending to Braden (sometimes sweetly, sometimes not so sweetly), but it's normally when she is afraid he is going to hurt himself. When I tell her something might be dangerous, she immediately shares the information with Braden. They do play well together for the most part, but there are times when Avery wants to be alone and makes it well known.

She still helps with laundry, cleaning the kitchen, putting her dishes away, vacuuming, and now feeding Barlow and letting him out. She's going to be a great little momma someday. Sometimes I feel like she's growing up too fast, but then I realize she thinks most of those "chores" are games. The world is a playground for 4 year olds.

Kenny brought home balloons for her yesterday. She carried them around most of the afternoon, then that night after church. It is neat to me that she is creative and can take any item and turn it into something even more exciting than what it is meant to be.

I could write for days about how fantastic Avery is, as well as all of the wonderful things she does, but for now I will close with some words of advice from one of our happy books Bee Smart:

"Never stop learning or thinking things through; and you will be smart in whatever you do!"

Partay! Birthday Partay!

Pamper Me!

There are some perks that come along with getting older....It's nice to have a birthday in the middle of volleyball season. Gift cards from the team are fantastic!