The dress Daisy is wearing was actually mine, when i was about her age :)
Cake time!
They were like, um...whats going on...?
Presents!
This ones for Daisy....
Yayyyyyyy!
And this ones for Sam!
Yayyyyy!
(we got applause for every present :))
i want!
(Sam spied his big Dump Truck from Gma and Gpa)
What better place than the back of his dump truck to feed baby a banana?
Its hard to believe that our little Sam and Daisy are already 2. I look back on photographs of them and Liam, look at them now and think- when did THAT happen?!
Happy birthday my little loves.
May your 2nd year of life bring many adventures and much much much love and happiness. Always!
And to think, when they turn 3 we'll be in Miami! A beach Birthday! :)
...and our post Turkey Day shenanigans in the A, here and there and everywhere...
Good times
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I made enough pumpkin pies to last to the new year, including this lovely and delicious GF/CF version for the Birds, which they loved. The crust was really good!
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Chris and Margarita arrived a few days before Thanksgiving via New York City's finest China Town Bus-line. God bless those 2 and man do i feel loved for the trek they made to come spend the holiday with us.
Overnight snow fell, and they must have brought some of that up north, down south.
It was just a light dusting mixed with more ice and icey rain than anything else, but to me it was like waking up to a mini winter wonderland.
I was happy that Georgia gave me this last little bit of "real" winter, before we make our journey back to Florida at the end of December.
In early November, Jason accepted an offer for a job that will be taking us to live in Miami Florida!
We are excited, although it is still a bit surreal. Even if we are only weeks away from the actual move. I dont think it will really sink in until we are driving away.
I am looking forward to living only a few hours away form my mom and siblings in Orlando. (With high hopes of some of them making their way over over the next year or so to live!) i also have family in Miami that i haven't spent much time with in many many years and its really awesome that we are going to be able to connect and reconnect :)
We will miss Jasons family dearly and I am glad things like skype are available now so the birds can still see their grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncle and cousins.
I am really going to miss our house too! I mean this was our first ever home that we owned and although we bit off a little more than we could chew with renovations and such...its still...home. All our babies were born living in this home. Aww. Sniffle*
Honestly though, the only anxiety i really have is pulling Liam from a teacher/school and therapists he loves. I know he will be fine but it pulls at my heart strings just a lil bit. His teacher is really awesome and when we spoke she went out of her way to reassure me and remind me that Liam is the master of surprising us ALL the time, with how well he really adapts/catching on/learns/goes with the flow.
All I can do is let go of any of these silly worries and fears and let God take over and just know that in time everything will fall in to place once again.
I really feel like over the past few months that a path has been slowly carved for our little family...and we are truly heading in the right direction.
Sure things wont always be peaches and cream (duh, we have 3 kids 4 and under, 2 old dogs and 2 crazy cats) but that is life and we are truly so grateful to have this opportunity to spread our roots in some new soil.
I will miss my Atlanta. The city where I became.
This year has been so full of blessings.
I am Thankful for my husband, who is my best friend and my love. I am proud and happy for him, he has worked so hard for us, even before the birds were in our nest. This opportunity in Miami is one he deserves a million times over, and i know he will be incredibly successful in this new adventure. He always is!
For 8pm-? alone time with J. For date nights. For family run time (jason or i yell out- Family run time! And we all make a bolt for our bedroom, jump on the bed in the most creative yet safe way possible so as not to squash a kid and proceed to tickle/snuggle/laugh/play/pounce/get jumped on/kicked in the face/etc...until someone gets hurt or is over it. lol)
I am thankful for our children who force me to be the best person I can be.
For our early morning dance parties.
For dinnertime's when everyone eats everything i put on their plate without protest. (lol)
For wine. Because dinnertime/bathtime/bedtime is always so much more fun with it!
For cool nights and open windows.
For adventures.
For Daisy's beautiful little voice saying mama and dada and bun-nee (She loves her bunny!) and Sa-Ee and Lee and that she thinks all bugs are bees (Eesa BEE!) or fuwhy's (fly's) and that when she really snuggles into me she hums and says "so nuwhy" (so nice) that she loves to give kisses to her daddy all the time and that no matter how rough her brothers can be with her sometimes she will still always bounce right back to them (if shes gotten hurt i'll say are you ok? after lots of kisses and hugs from mama... And she'll give me a smile and say OH-KAY! OH-KAY!and continue to want to play with a laugh and a twinkle in her bright little eyes. For making me fall back in love with all things hello kitty and my little pony and Disney and princess and princesses. For my excitement for the day that i can share some of my favorite things that i loved as a girl like Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The BAabysitters Club, all things Roald Dahl and Madeline L'Engle, The Chronicles of Narnia.... (I hope all my kids love books as much as i did). For your love of Neigh's (horses) and all things animal (just like her mama) and for sucking your little thumb and using bunnys ear to rub on your nose at the same time (just like mama did when she was a wee girl but with a little blanket instead).
For my sweet little Sammy. For his giggly little laugh, his big koala hugs (he is SUCH a snuggler, he grabs on to your neck with a squeeze like he MEANS it lol). his love for all things trucks and cars (he loves standing at the window and watching cars go by...if we are outside and a truck/school bus/mail truck goes by he RUNS to the fence to watch with complete curiosity). how he gets in between Daisy and Liam when they are not getting along to protect his twin sister. how he goes out of his way everyday to connect and play with his big brother. for his totally rad dancing skills (i am thinking we need to get him in front of some breakdancing videos asap lol). for the moments when he pretend feeds his stuffed dog or plops it in one of his dump trucks or daisy's play stroller and rolls it around the house. for his little attempts to talk ( Dada! Aaaaaaaaa Da! (All done), and Go go go! For his little hand gestures when we sing itsy bitsy spider. for being the peek a boo and hiding go seek master. For his crazy/precious/hilarious facial expressions.
For my Liam Oliver. Little light of my life. For teaching me about what life is really all about. For always surprising me with just how amazing he really is. For our snuggle time. for your big beautiful genuine smile. for your all telling beautiful eyes. for your deep love of all things yo gabba gabba, team umizoomi and wonder pets. for singing old mcdonald had a farm together and when you chime in with ee-ii-ee-ii-oo... call out owl, or meow, or pig, or cow. for singing along to the wonder pets song -whats gonna work, (you say- TEAMMMM) work. for singing the ABC 's with me (he starts at D and goes to I then sits back and listens to the rest, so presh)for all the of hard work you do in therapy and school (you are the hardest working 4 year old i know!). for how far we have come! for tickle time and run time with daddy. for our one on one adventures. for teaching me about strength and pure joy and never giving up. For those beautiful moments that you bond with your brothers and sister. For the way your daddy looks at you, so full of love, so proud of our little man. For making us a Family, one September morning 4 years ago.
For my Clayton, for inspiring me so many years ago to become someone that you would be proud of one day. For becoming such an incredible, talented, sweet and handsome young man. For our moments spent together. Our adventures had and to be had and really great memories already made together. For having you in my life all these years.
For my entire family.
All of our friends.
For life.
I am so proud of our crazy little crew and we are blessed to have a life so filled with love.
Blessings to all :)
Happy holidays!
Love and light,
A
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That one time i accidentally left a chair right next to the counter where the toaster oven is and Sammy got a hold of daddy's tape measure...climbed up said chair...placed said tape measure INSIDE toaster oven and turned it on.
Yeah.
I was in my bedroom putting away clean laundry, when i smelled something mighty funky. Mind you, by this time all the kids including Sam had made their way into my room and we were all hanging out.
