Happy Easter!

We had a nice Easter weekend. Saturday was the easter egg hunt at church, complete with bouncers and slides. Avery enjoyed them all until the big kids took over and got a little rough.

Sunday morning before church we had a mini egg hunt in the house. Avery ran around saying, "another one!" She picked each up, one at a time, ran to put them in her basket before heading back for more finds.

That evening we went to small group at Brooke and Jerry's house. They were so kind to have another egg hunt for the kiddies.

Beach Trip!

Thursday before Spring Break started, Kenny said, "maybe we should go to the beach next week." Of course I got excited for the opportunity to get away, have some fun in the sun, and I knew Avery would just love it!

We got there Tuesday afternoon after a trip in the car with Avery saying, "momma, I want to go to the beach" every five minutes for the entire three hours. Once in Gulf Shores, we went straight to the sand. Avery loved it! She ran in circles saying, "this is fun!" Braden thought it was pretty neat too, but decided he needed to take a nap while Avery and daddy played in the water. After taking a wave to the face, she decided it was time to build sand castles with momma instead.

Unfortunately, Wednesday morning welcomed us with rain and wind so we went bowling. Avery was all about it for five frames, then busied herself with other things. I bowled on to victory over Kenny! That afternoon, the rain stopped, so we took Avery by the beach again. It was frigid, so Kenny took Avery to look for seashells while Braden and I stayed snuggled up in a blanket. That night we went to Lamberts, home of the famous throwed rolls. Kenny and I enjoyed it, but the kids had other plans. Avery was spent from the day with no nap, and Braden didn't like all the noise. So, after a rushed dinner we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the whirlpool. Braden layed beside us, and Avery soaked her feet. After American Idol's castoff, we were off to bed.

Thursday's weather proved to be much nicer, so after checkout, we went back to the beach. Avery was unsure of the water at first, but finally dipped her feet in and let the waves slap against her legs. She thought it was fun to let the waves chase her back up the beach, and would momentarily let go of daddy's hand to do her running, but soon was back in the safety of Daddy's arms. At one point she was brave enough to sit down and let the water come to her. Meanwhile, Braden slept in my arms.

After a fall that broke open one of her existing scratches, letting in stinging salt water, Avery was finally ready to go "back to Montgomery." I spent the trip home in the backseat. Can we say cramped?

I know there probably is a lot that I'm leaving out, but I'm working off of three hours of sleep. Maybe Kenny can fill in the spots where I left out.

Have You Ever

I know most mommas (and daddies) can say that they have been peepeed on, pooped on, spit up on....

Can you say that you have had squash

in......your eye?



Last night, whilst trying to defend the baby food jar from Braden's right jabs, along with successfully getting the spoon into his mouth before he pushes it back out with his tongue, he sucker punched me with a left upper hook!

Needless to say the jar of half eaten food went flying into the air, bounced off the table, then chair, then me, then floor, and landed right side up.

All the while, food was flying faster than the jar was bouncing. Who knew all of the places it would land. There I sat, my eyelashes were matted together like Braden's eye during the pink eye episodes, and I also had it on my temple, in my ear, and my hair. I continued to find squash as the night drew on.

I've never felt sexier.

But it's all worth it for this little man.


Tell me some of your stories!

Who's Who?

This one is easy...more to come.

Yummy Sweet Potatoes; Sweet Siblings

I like my food momma! We have also discovered that he likes squash just as much as sweet potatoes. He's not a big fan of cereal anymore. I guess it doesn't have enough flavor!


When Braden fell over, Avery said, "oh dear! It's okay momma, I caught him."

Her juice was too cold so we needed to "wrap it up so my hands won't get chilly."

Four Months Old

I'm 17 lbs 3 oz. (My weight last month was not accurate...I was really 16 lbs), and I'm still in the 90th percentile.

I'm 27" long, putting me in the 95th percentile!

My head is 44.5 cm, keeping me in the 90th percentile.

My doctor likes to say, "He's just big all over!"

I've been eating cereal for a little bit now, and momma says I get to start veggies now too.

My ear infection has cleared up, but now I have fluid on the other ear.


I also have pink eye..in both eyes, and am congested.

I like to lay on my tummy in my boppy and watch the toy monkey walk around.

Avery still cracks me up all the time.

My favorite thing to do is flirt with girls. I'll give men a smile, but girls are prettier and more fun to laugh with.

My momma is wrapped around my little finger.


Naps are getting longer and more consistent, but now I like to wake up a lot in the middle of the night. Momma says she's really tired so I need to work on that.

I'm really alert to everything around me.


I still like to be held, but I will be content to sit and watch.

Books are quickly becoming some of my favorite things to look at; especially the ones with the bright colors.


I can grab things in my lap, and have started to reach for some things held in front of me.

I went to my first track meet this month, and will be going to several more.

I took my first extended road trip, and will be taking a longer one soon.

I am still a very happy baby, who makes his parents feel very blessed.

Life in a Nutshell

Hey guys! How's it going?!

Avery's showing Braden how things work....

After painting her toenails, Avery insisted that we take a picture to document it. Spring weather = pretty toenails. (Complete with a tomboy scratch!)

First frenchbraids....

Cutie patootie practicing her wink!

Boo..Part Deux

I really don't want to sound unappreciative, but....

There is a man who lives down the street from us who goes to church with the neighbors who live to the right of us. Last mowing season, he would come along and edge our yard, along with our neighbors. He never asked, and never wanted anything in return. Of course I thought it was a very nice thing to do and always intended to bake him brownies.

He's back. Today. The day after no naps. During naptime.

Avery was in the dozing stage of almost asleep, but not quite yet. Not anymore!

Why do these people feel the need to get their (and our!) yards into ship shape the second a blade of grass rears its head? Why?!

BOO...

...To those neighbors who decide to mow their yard during naptime, thus making it...not naptime.

Glad They Don't Remember Everything

This morning I got Avery and Braden ready and told Avery I would be right back. I ran to get my makeup and clothes on because we needed to run some errands.

Braden was laying on the floor where I changed his diaper and Avery was playing like she was tickling him when I left the room.

Suddenly I heard Braden's hurt cry and sprinted back to the living room. Avery looked scared too and I think I yelled, "what did you do to him?!" Then of course she started crying and was terrified.

I couldn't get Braden to calm down like he normally does when I pick him up so I kept asking Avery what she did so I could look at him and know where to check. I saw his bumpo chair and thought maybe she dropped it on him.

Then I realized when I picked him up, he was not where I had left him. He's a big boy, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't learned to crawl or roll to the middle of the floor all by himself. Avery was so upset and scared and brought the chair to me and through tears cried, "here's his chair..I'm so sorry!"

I heard he was getting fussy before the chaos started, so I assume she was trying to help calm him down by putting him in a different seat. She pays attention to what Kenny and I do when he gets fussy, and was just trying to help me out. We talked a long time about what things she can and can't do to help when I'm not around so Braden wouldn't get hurt. She said that she wouldn't want to hurt Braden ever. My sweet girl.

I wish I hadn't overreacted and hollared because then both of my kids were scared.

Life has gone on and we're all still alive. They probably don't even remember it, but for about two minutes both of my babies needed to be held, and I had to choose which one it would be.

Notable Quotes Exercising in Circles

Today when I was getting ready to exercise, I put on socks and shoes. Avery watched and said, "momma, where are my socks and shoes? I need them to exercise." We could go no further until they were on and secure. As I tied hers, she said, "momma, make sure yours are tied too."

Then we turned on the fitness channel. They were doing a step aerobic thing. Avery started jumping around. I said, "I wish we had a stepper so we could do this one."

Mid-jump, Avery tossed a, "next time we go to the store, we can get one, okay?" over her shoulder.

Since it looked like a really good workout, I tried to do it without a stepper. Turns out the leader started doing stuff that you can't do without one, so I stopped. Avery said, "momma, keep going."

I said, "we can't do this one."

She said, "yes you can momma, you can do it!"

My little encourager.

Also, you can see the latest of the misfit pictures. My mom sent another box of hand-me-downs from her friend, and as we went through them, Avery kept putting on the clothes she liked a lot. Her final choice: Barbie nightgown and fuzzy frog hat.

Her latest drawings include lots of circles, all sizes and 'shapes' (even though they are all circles...) Before this, it was just lots of straight lines all in a row. I tried to capture a picture, and you can barely see all the different colors of circles on her chalkboard. After she draws one picture, she erases it and says, "Let's draw another pretty picture."

Surprisingly enough, even though that picture also includes an array of circles, they do look different.

PattyCake Designs

As many of you know, we've been experimenting with many different avenues of this business stuff. I won't even begin to list it all, but now I'm trying something else! I learned about this from my friend Brooke, and my MamaKat. The site is called Etsy.com, and it is a site where you can have your own store and list items that you have created and designed on your own.

I'm thrilled about it, and can already see that several people have viewed my items! Maybe this will be an answered prayer!

So, when you have time, drop on by or send others my way to http://www.pattycakedesigns.etsy.com/ and do a little shopping!

First Cereal!

Hmmm...what is this coming at me!? Well, that was new and different.
Ok, this is getting old...
Yummy!
Thank you, Momma for my new treat! It makes my tummy feel nice and full!

Flying Emotions and Sibling Love

I can fly! Check out my legs!Avery's broad range of emotions. (She put the leash on herself...not I.)

I love my brother. He makes me "waugh."

Flippin' Out

Avery always says cute things. I love watching and finding out how her mind works by hearing what words she puts together.

This morning we were playing with all of her balls. She was rolling them to me saying, "this one is yours, this one is mine, this one is yours." Well, to mess with her, I kept flipping one of them back to her with my hand. I wondered how long it would take to 'frustrate' her that things weren't like she wanted them. She continued to say, "no, momma; this one is yours."

I'd flip it back, followed by, "no, momma; this one is yours."

Finally she said, "Don't flip it, momma. It's not a hamburger."

I'm sure it's one of those things where you have to be there, but it was hilarious to me.

P.S. I just wanted to get one sweet picture of her smiling. Well. These are what I got instead.

Bits and Pieces

So, I feel like a hermit. I haven't been to church in two Wednesdays and one Sunday. Last Friday evening I realized that the kids and I had not been out of the house since Tuesday! Madness!

What's the cause of this home-bodiness? We're all sick. Well, everyone except Kenny. Isn't that how it always works? Maybe he's the one bringing it home from school. That's it; he's the carrier!

I finally broke down and took the kids to the doctor on Monday because they both had relapses with high fevers over the weekend. Avery's snotty nose and cough is just viral, as well as Braden's but he also has an ear infection. Funny how Avery can go over 2 1/2 years without EVER having an ear infection, and Braden can only go 3 months. Hope this isn't a taste of things to come. I believe my fever was due to a touch of the flu, and I also have the snot and cough. Gross.

Needless to say, we're all drugged up in the Simpson house, and life is good!