603 Boxes!!

Helen is in Girl Scouts this year as a Daisy - her first year. She is loving it and having a blast!! She was espically excited about selling the cookies. I think she asked every single person at church! She did so good selling them and Chris and I are so proud of her! Her goal is 800 boxes so she could get the prize of a Nintendo DSi. Right now she is at 603 boxes and when the cookies come in and we do some booths (you know the ones outside of Wal-Mart and other places you see them selling them), she should meet her goal!! Thank you to all of you who bought cookies from her and helped her get so far!!

Sweet Moments

We never had the girls sleep in our bed when they were babies. We didn't want them to get in that habit. We thought we had done good and didn't have anything to worry about. Little did we know, that is a habit that can be picked up. When Helen was about 3, she would wake up in the night and come crawl in our bed. Half the time, I didn't even know she was there! Eventually, Chris would bring her back to her bed. She would come back, and so on. The other two caught on. Now we have a queen size bed and there is just not room for 5 people in it! So when we put them to bed, we would tell them to stay in their bed and not come to ours. And they would listen. Sometimes we would forget to tell them and they would come, haha.

But sometimes, it is a treat. Not just for them, but for me as well. Sometimes when only one of them is awake, we will let them go to bed with us. Last night it was Allisyn. They go to bed at 7:00. They share a room and a bed so it is usually around 7:30-8:00 before they get to sleep. I got out of the tub at about 9:15 last night and Allisyn is sitting on the couch, wide awake and in the best mood! So we played with her and read with her and watched Shrek 3 (her FAVORITE thing to watch!). It was fun for Chris and I both to have that one on one time with her at the same time. About 10:30, she was still going strong but we were tired so she came to the bed with us. Now when Chris's head hits the pillow, heis ready to go to sleep. So that makes it extra fun for me and whomever is in the bed with us. We laugh and play and giggle and I love it! It's a sweet time I rarely get with my girls where it is just her and I. No distractions - sisters, TV, books, toys - just the two of us.

Anyhow, do you want to hear how the night went? I woke up at some point and got up to bring Allisyn to her bed and Helen was asleep on the floor at my feet. Left her there and put Allie in her bed. She came back at some point but I didn't realize it until Aubree woke up crying - she was scared in her room by herself. I told Aubree to come lay on the floor and I put Allie on the floor too. Guess we forgot to tell them to stay in their bed last night. But that's okay, sometimes exceptions to the rules make good memories - the very first thing I saw when I got out of bed was all three of my girls sleeping like angels!

Questions, Questions, Questions

You know those stats you hear about a 3 year old on average asks 400 questions a day? I now believe it. I don't remember it too much with Helen, unless I have just blocked that out, haha. But Aubree.....she is (as usual) a different story!
We were driving in the car today and she was just nonstop! "Where are we going?" "Why are we going there?" "Why can't you look at me?" "Why do you have to watch the road?" "Why don't we want to get in an accident?" "Why are you going so fast?" "Where are we going?" "What have you been doing?" And then push repeat. Just constant. Then I say "Aubree, why do you ask so many questions?" "Because I like to." Then I start asking her questions to which she answers "I don't know." I told her she can't answer questions like that and of course she wanted to know why. I said "Do you want me to answer your questions like that?" "No." Haha, I didn't think so!
I try to answer all her questions with real answers and not just blow her off. I know she is soaking everything in and constantly learning and I want her to know how to answer a question to the best of her ability. What I don't like, though is when she asks me the same questions over and over, already knowing the answer. That's when I start asking her the questions.
She is a wild child with her very own unique personality and I love her soo much!

The Fair Surprise

Two days in a row - I'm on a roll! Haha!!

Back in November we had a yard sale and we told the girls we would go out to eat and to the movies with the money we made. I also made some cookies for them to sell and they made about $25. By the time they put some in their piggy banks and saved some for church, the older two had $5.00 to spend. Well, it turned out there weren't any movies playing that were appropriate and I had seen the fair was in town. We told them we weren't going to the movies but we had a surprise that was even better. Of course they couldn't believe anything would be better than the movies but we promised it would be. Helen LOVES surprises - I mean if you tell her to close her eyes for a surprise, she will close them tight and NOT peek at all! So we went to Smokin Pig which they love but it's all the way on the other side of town so we rarely go. They kept asking where we were going but we wouldn't tell them. As soon as Helen saw the lights she kept asking if that was where we were going and we told her it was. They were so excited, they started screaming! We didn't think Aubree would know what it was but as we were walking in from the parking lot, she kept squealing and saying how excited she was! I really think that is the most excited she has ever been about anything! Allisyn of course didn't have a clue and she was kinda tired already so she isn't smiling very much in the pictures. These are some of the best pictures I've gotten of Aubree, though - if you have ever tried to take a picture of her, you know why, haha. (She has gotten much better about getting her picture taken though, as long as she is in the right mood :))

Every ride was their favorite until we made them ride the next ride, then that became their favorite!

I love that they are holding hands in this picture! Aubree gets kinda scared in things like this but Helen always takes care of her! One time we went to Chuck E. Cheese and Aub followed Helen all the way to the top of the jungle gym thingy. Then she was too scared to follow her back down so Chris had to climb up there and get her! It was pretty funny!

I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Aubree ever! Just pure happiness!

I don't know about Chris but this was one of my favorite "parenting moments". I knew the girls would be excited and have fun, but I had no idea they would be THAT excited! It is an awesome feeling when you bring that much joy to your children! It might have been even better than Christmas. Maybe. Or it might be a tie :)

Very New

As I am brand new to blogging, I have no idea what I am doing as far as designing it. I will do my best in making it look good but any pointers or tips anyone has woul be greatly appreciated!

Now, having gotten that out of the way, I guess I will start at the very beginning and play catchup. Chris and I met in Montgomery, AL at the end of 2002. We were set up on a blind date by our very good friends, Mike and Carrie Johnson. They decided we needed to meet and agreed to go with us so it wouldn't be so awkard. Well, Carrie was out of town on the night we were all supposed to go out and I sure enough wasn't going by myself! So my best friend, then Melissa Gray, now Melissa Steis came with us. We met at Mike and Carrie's house and then went to Firehouse Subs for dinner, then back to their house. When the night was over, Melissa and I left and on the way back to the dorm, she asked if I liked him. I was like "Yeah, but I don't think he liked me - he didn't ask for my number." I was kinda bummed. A few days later my phone rang and guess who it was. Yep. He "has his ways" and got my number! We got married in May of 2004 and the rest is history in the making!

Our first baby was due on our 2 year anniversary and thankfully, she waited a few days. We named her Helen after my Granny and Chris's grandmother Pam-Pam.

This is the earliest pic I have of her on this computer, just over 1 year.

Helen was a very easy baby. Her first night home from the hospital, she slept all night - midnight to 6 a.m. I was so excited! She nursed well and easily, slept well, adjusted to change very well, handled her transistions like a pro! Very sweet baby, never knew a stranger and we couldn't love her more!

When she was 6 weeks old, we moved to Valdosta. About a year and a half later, we were very excited to find out that Helen was going to be a big sister!

Aubree was born at the beginning of August of 2008. Again, earliest pic on this computer. Sorry!Here she is just over 2 years old.

Aubree was not as easy as Helen was. She didn't nurse very well right away. And throughout her first year, I would have to have a bottle for every feeding because I never knew if she would nurse or not. Sometimes she would just refuse and want the bottle. I never understood it - it was the same milk! Needless to say, she weaned herself at 10 months. She was very clingy going through a phase that drove all of us just about crazy!!! She would scream if anyone had her besides Chris or myself. She is much more shy than Helen but once you get on her turf, you will see a new side to her!

When she was about 8 months old, we were surprised to find that she was going to be a big sister - 6 months ahead of schedule!!

March 2010, we welcomed Allisyn into our family.

Here she is 8 months old. She is right smack dab in the middle of the other two. Helen has curly hair, Aubree's is straight as a board and Allisyn's is sometimes curly, sometimes not! She too slept all through the night from the very beginning ( I am very blessed, I know!) In fact, she slept so much, I would end up having to wake up up to eat in the mornings (and by morning, I mean 10:00)! Now if you know me, you know I DO NOT wake my babies up to eat. Then they get in the habit of waking up in the middle of the night to eat and I need my sleep, lol! But this girl would sleep!!! 12 hours at night!! She was truly one of those babies that "eats, sleeps and poops". The other two were not like that at all!!

I know this got pretty long but we are caught up now. Here is a current pic of my 3 girlies!!