My Sprinkle!

My lifegroup class has started a new approach to baby showers recently for moms who are having their 2nd baby, 3rd, adoption, and so on. We pick a restaurant, bring a gift, and fellowship.  It's such a great way to celebrate new babies without the fuss of putting/paying for a shower (I hope that doesn't sound rude) and we enjoy a girl's night out too.  It's the best way to do it in my opinion!

The girls picked Saffron for my sprinkle, which was so sweet!  It's my favorite place in town...their sushi and pad thai are just to die for!  It was such a great night with the girls, the fellowship was good and of course all the goodies they brought for little Charli were fabulous too! :) I love my group of friends!  

And there are many more little babies that will be added to our group soon, just wait until you see the number, and you'll understand why the restaurant sprinkle is such a good idea! :)

Heather (adopting from China) and her daughter, Marlee

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Our table of girls! 

Kristi (just had baby Cameron), Kristal (expecting and fostering), and Becca (just adopted Kabaina from Ethiopia) 

Courtney (expecting), Brandi, and Kelly (expecting) 

Whitney, Joanna, Ashley (just adopted from Korea), and Sonja 

The whole group minus Deanne and Jennilee.  Love these girls! Thanks for a great night of fun! 

      

Ansley's 2nd trip to the Skating Rink!

Be still my HEART!  I have been wanting to take Ansley skating again for several months, but the timing just hasn't worked out.  So a few weeks ago we decided to just GO!  There were about a million other things we needed to be doing (getting Charli's room ready, finishing Ansley's big girl room...and the list goes on), but we knew that weekend would be our last chance to go before Charli arrived.  I'm so glad we did because Ansley was so excited to skate and I could tell a big difference in her skills from the previous time (she was 18 months old), she could walk and skate all by herself this time!  I was beside myself!  It was just so surreal.  After teaching countless other kids how to skate, my most proud moment was watching my Ansley do the simplest little march (the first skill we teach the beginners).  The cutest part about it was her sweet little hands...the way she held them out was just precious!  I know I sound like such a nerd!

Also, I'm so glad my mom was willing to make the trip so we could have these pictures of our little outing.

Ansley said the funniest thing while we were putting her skates on..."Mommy, we gotta get some pink skates for me!"  Oddly enough, I was going to buy her a pair of pink boots once I knew she liked to skate.  Apparently my white skates just weren't her style. :)

How cute is she in those skates?!

Her little tongue was out the entire time she skated! 

She loved for me to hold her hands and skate 

Look closely....Beatrice made her way out on the ice too!

And Jason livened things up with his fast bucket skating.  Ansley just loved it!

This day was of course a treasured one and we can't wait to get her back on the ice.  Next time maybe Charli will want to skate :)

Turkey Time!

Well, it's that time again!  Turkey season is in full swing and Jason headed out to the farm the first morning he could.  Usually around this time he's asking or should I say bugging, if I want to join him, however with Charli on the way and having Ansley it just wasn't the best timing. Whew!  The thought of sitting in the blind this year with a constant stitch in my side (more on that later) does not seem like much fun.  Thankfully, on the first morning at 6:30 a.m. he called one in and got it!  I say thankfully, because now he won't be going out every morning to try to kill one (that means more sleep for me :)).  Here's a few pictures of his big kill!

Ansley was so excited and of course Jason was a bit proud too!

She kept wanting to check out his feathers 

And then she realized what an ugly, strange looking face he had.  It turned into a little science class :)

Jason can't wait until Ansley's a little older to take her on a big turkey hunt with him.  However, I'm not so sure I'll EVER be ready for that day! Ha!

    

Beach Party at South!

Our Parents As Teacher's friend, Amanda helped organize a beach party bash at South Elementary for the kiddos last week.  They really put a lot of thought into making it really fun for the kids by having sensory activities, treats, and also lots of physical play.  There was a sand and water table, a volleyball net with beach balls, balloons, sidewalk chalk, paint and other crafting activities.  Ansley loved it!  We actually had a really hard time prying her away from it all.  She just didn't want to leave!
Here are a few pictures from her fun filled evening.

We jumped right in with the fishing activity.  She spotted the food immediately and insisted we start there. That's my girl!

It went a little like this....grab your fishing rod (the pretzel), dip it in the cheese, and try to catch a goldfish.  It was fun and yummy! 

Next up, sand castles (Ansley was adamant about bringing her princess pail she got for Easter from Mimi and BB)! 

Checking out the sea animals in the kiddie pool 

She loved seeing the little crab aka Sebastian from the Little Mermaid :)

Then it was balloon spatting time??? Ha!  This was one of her favorite activities.  She was all over that gym floor trying to keep up with her balloon! 

Daddy and Ansley making a starfish with glue and sand. 

And then for her little "hand crab".  She was soooo proud! 

What a fun night!  It was a great evening to get out as a family and allow Ansley to just play.  Best part....it was free!  

Easter 2012

We had a very busy, but wonderful Easter weekend!  It was filled with lots of Easter egg hunting, candy, outdoor play, and of course, the celebration of our risen Savior!  Ansley was definitely on cloud 9, asking us after every fun activity..."wha we gonna do next mommy?" She was cracking us up!  Saturday we headed to my aunt and uncle's church, Harmony in Marble Hill for Easter egg hunting.  They put out 15,000 eggs!  The fields were covered!  It was so fun for the kiddos.

This girl was loving it!

Can you see the massive amounts of eggs around her? Wow. 

The purple eggs were her favorite...she was pretty selective. 

Precious. 

My sweet girl 

Our little family 

We were emptying eggs and Ansley found a few tootsie rolls to munch on, as you can see. 

My cousin, Laura and her daughter, Chiara helping us sort.  It was a big job with all those eggs! 

She had picked up several resurrection eggs and some eggs with little things in them, such as a stone (the stone that was rolled away), praying hands (for both Mary's that prayed for Him), dice (for the people gambling for his clothes and so many other examples).  They did such a great job explaining it all to the kids.  This is Ansley telling my cousin Cassidy why her egg is empty...He's alive!! 

Look at all those eggs! 

My cousins, Shelby and Cassidy with Ansley as she digs in the giant tub of eggs. 

After our fun Easter egg hunt at Harmony we went to visit the Easter bunny at Bloom (it has been an Easter tradition).  However, she was NOT having it, so we took a few sugar cookies for the road and scooted on out pretty quickly!  After a much needed nap, we headed to P & P's house so Ansley and Brynn could open their Easter baskets.  Let's just say, the princesses the girls got were a BIG hit!!  That's all Ansley seemed to care about for the rest of the evening.

Uncle Jason and baby Brynn

Ansley playing with her new princesses

Pamaw reading to the girls

On Easter we had a wonderful church service and then headed to my cousin's cabin for lunch.  We love to go out there because it's beautiful and there's so many things to do.

Ansley and Jansen opening their Easter buckets from Mimi & BB

Ansley with M & B 

We had to have one with Jansen too! 

Ansley and Daddy fishing on the dock (please note the skirt on Ansley...she refuses to wear anything but a dress these days.  Even when going to the cabin.)

She loves to be outdoors! 

Aunt Laura was helping with the little fishing buddies this time 

After a fun afternoon at the cabin we went to Pamaw and Pappaw's for dinner and another Easter egg hunt.  Ansley, Brynn, and Brooks had so much fun!

This is baby Brynn's new snarl.  She loves to scrunch that nose up now.  It's just too cute!

Here they are after their successful hunt.

She was so happy about getting more peeps!

Easter was so fun this year and the best part was that Ansley could verbalize why we celebrate it.  We are so thankful for our risen Savior!!

Baby Brynn's Birthday Bash!

We just celebrated Brynn's 1st birthday (I can't believe she's already 1!) and it was so fun!  Whitney did such a great job of planning and really made her owl theme adorable.  She had little chocolate nests, cupcakes made into an owl shape, Brynn's cute smash cake, a year's worth of pictures, and other cute decorations.  It was so sweet!

The smash cake that Whitney and I worked on 

   The birthday girl and Ryan & Whit

Uncle Jason wanted a few licks of Brynn's frosting. Ha! 

Presents! 

This little piano was a big hit among the kiddos.  We had to enforce the sharing skills. Ha! 

Happy Birthday sweet baby Ben!  We love you so much!