It's Been Awhile....

A lot has been going on here over the past few months.  We are finally in our new fall routine.  Colton has started kindergarten!!!  Ella is quickly approaching her second birthday, I can't believe it!  Emma no longer wears a diaper....they are all changing so much!  Instead of recapping the last few months, I am just going to start blogging again regularly. 

Colton is playing fall baseball.  He has really started liking baseball.  He has the same coach as he did in the spring and many of the same players so they are really having a great time.  They have started throwing the ball to make outs.  Colton plays first base and made his first out from a catch the other day!  He was so excited and proud of himself! 

Emma has started taking ballet.  She is taking with Sophie so they are having a blast!  She has already learned so much, I am very impressed.  We think it's also going to help with her coordination.  I can't wait for the recital in May!!

Ella...well Ella is all over the place!  She is into everything!  She is so smart, still not talking much.  She talks, we just can't understand what she's saying...but she knows!  She LOVES playing with her brother and sister!  She has started saying their names, "CoCo and sis sis"....

Pics to come soon! 

Update Coming Soon!!!

Regular blogging to resume this week! It's been a busy summer!!

Summer....just getting started...

We seem to have had a busy summer so far. I have still been recovering from surgery but we have been on the go. The first of June, we headed home to New Orleans for a few days while Nate went on a golf trip. The kids did great on the drive there and back. We had a great visit and the kids got to see both of their great grandmothers. We came back on Sunday and Colton started a week long of VBS. One in the morning and another in the evening. He loved both of them!

We have been going to the pool a lot too. I will add pictures soon. I have my hands full when we are there so I haven't been able to take many pictures. I am hoping to get Nate to go with us soon so I can get some good pictures. Colton has picked up right where he left off last summer with his swimming. He is doing great! Emma, on the other hand, has been a little afraid of the water. She gets in the baby pool and plays but has been very weary of the big pool. Little by little she is getting better. She was like a little fish last summer so I know we'll get there. Ella is doing great too. It is so different from last year, when she just played in her playpen. She has no fear of the water, which is sort of scary. I am trying to find the right floaties for her, the ones I have just don't seem to hold her up. When we are in the big pool, she does NOT want to be held, but can't float alone. She does pretty well in the baby pool. She doesn't like to get too far from me, but she's like that a lot of the time anyway.

I am sooo sleepy tonight so I will add some pics tomorrow!

The Graduate

My little boy is graduating!!!! I can't believe it, Colton is graduating from Pre-K on Thursday! We got his little cap and gown this week. I will post some pictures of him in it once we get the tassel. It seems like just yesterday he was starting nursery school and now he is graduating and going to Kindergarten. He is getting so big and he is so smart. He is really into numbers and time right now. He is always telling us what time it is, what time he woke up, etc. He can also add, subtract and multiply! We are about to start working on reading to get ready for Kindergarten. I will post pics soon of the cap and gown!

Our last couple weeks....

Most of you know I have been in the hospital. I had a hysterectomy on the 21st of April. I developed an abscess Monday and was in the ER Monday night having every test done to find out what was wrong. The CT scan revealed the abscess and I was admitted and immediately started on IV antibiotics. My WBC was over 20,000 when I was admitted...yikes. Within 12 hrs of starting the antibiotics, it was down to 14000. We were so relieved I was responding to the treatment. Infections are scary things. I was petrified, in pain and missing my babies. They had gone to bed and woke up and I was gone. I hated that....

more to come later...going to bed :)

Ella, too funny!

Ella has been on the move lately. I have to really watch her every second. She is into EVERYTHING!!! She has also figured out the stairs. I have gates at the top and bottom, but they do get left open sometimes, since Colton knows how to operate them. I am adding a video of her escape, it's so funny! Don't forget to pause the musice below...

Ella has also really started playing independantly. That is, when she doesn't have a sibling messing with her. When they are gone, I always see her entertaining herself. Yesterday, i was catching up on my talk shows and she was playing on the floor. All of the sudden, I heard, "beep beep beep"...I looked and she was pushing Colton's street sweeper and saying "beep beep beep" as she pushed it...it was too cute! Here is a short video of that!

Weekend Update....

I don't have any pictures to add, but I did receive my battery charger in the mail today, so I will be back to posting pics soon. We have had a super busy weekend. Nate and I had a wedding reception to go to Friday night. We were both so exhausted we were actually home by 10 and in bed my 10:3o! Wow, how times have changed!!!

We had to be at the ballpark today at 10:30 for Colton's game, which started 30 min late. I am not going to ramble about the drama at the ballpark today, but needless to say it was frustrating. Our boys played excellent, the best they've played yet. Colton made the last out..the game clock said 30 sec left..we assumed, after playing for 90min that the game was over. Well, the ump said they had to play another entire inning. At this point our team was up 22-15. ( a little side note, the first time we played this team, they beat us by 10 runs!). After the ridiculous extra inning, we ended in a tie.

I have to say, in my heart, our boys won that game. They were exhausted for the last inning. And the parents on the other team was a whole other issue. TRASHY is the only word to describe it. At one point, a father came out of the dugout to yell at the ump...these kids are FIVE!!

End Rant....sorry...but we had a great time...it was a very exciting game. Colton is playing great. His coach said he is the most improved player and the best hustler on the team. He plays the pitcher spot most innings and he did play once at first base! I have to brag a bit...he really is good!!! He hit a triple today that knocked in 3 runs!! In our game thurs night, he hit a grand-slam home run!!! I am so proud of his hand-eye coordination. To be able to hit the ball from a pitch at barely 5 yrs old, is amazing to me!

I really want one of those FLIP cameras so I can film some of his game and upload it.

Tonight we went to the Simpson's for Reid's 4th birthday! The kids had a great time. They had a jumpy castle and they just ran around and had a blast. Sam cooked hot dogs for the kiddos and steaks for the adults!! YUMMY! Ella cooperated and went to bed in her pak n play so it made for a relaxing evening. They live in our neighborhood so the drive home took about 20 seconds!

All in all, we have had a great weekend so far and still one more beautiful day to go!!! Hopefully I will update tomorrow with some pics!

busy weekend, gorgeous weather

We have had a super busy weekend. We had to be at the ballpark super early today. Colton had a 9AM game. We won the game and Colton played great! He really loves playing. You can tell some of the kids who do not want to play, their parents probably make them...but Colton really loves it. He really seems to be a natural athlete (like his mommy, lol! ) He picks up a sport so easily.

The bunny brought him a basketball, which he is constantly playing with. He was dribbling in the driveway this afternoon and I was so impressed! He was doing it one handed and everything. Nate is going to put our goal up in the driveway soon! He is going to play basketball in the fall. I am going to do my best to keep him off the football field!!

We also had a birthday party to go to early this afternoon. Colton had a great time at Storyville Station. It was a neat party!

The weather has just been perfect this weekend. We have been enjoying playing outside. I am hoping to spend a lot of time outside tomorrow too. I know the sweltering heat is just around the corner! I wasn't able to take any pictures today since I left my camera battery charger in LA. Mom is sending it to me! I did include a cute pic of Emma from earlier in the week. She is really into playing dress-up and wearing jewelry...I guess I am in for it later :)

Ella's funny face and other tricks!!

I had to post this video...it's too cute! Ella is so funny when she does all her tricks!!

15 month check up!!

My sweet baby Ella turned 15 months on March 8th. I almost forgot she needed to go to the doctor for a checkup! We finally made and poor baby had to get 3 shots :( Ella weighed 23lbs 12oz and was 30 1/2 inches long! She hated to have the nurse measure her...she screamed..loud.

Ella can say, Mommy and Dada...she can also say Daaady. She knows where her nose is. She loves to play "how big is the baby!?". Ella also makes the funniest face. She opens her eyes really wide and raises her eyebrows...Colton taught it to her. Well, we just say, "do your face" and she does it...it's hilarious!!

She also waves bye-bye and claps for herself. She doesn't say too many other words, I think the fact her brother and sister always are around plays a big part in that! They always are talking for her. She does love to play with them though. She sits on them and grabs their shirts, she thinks it's hysterical. She loves to take toys from Emma and run away. She thinks that's so funny!

Ella is extremely attached to me. A lot more than the other two were. I don't mind though since she's my last baby :( She also cries every time we get into an elevator. It's so strange....I cannot believe how fast she is growing!

Happy Easter!

We have had a pretty low key Easter weekend. Colton had his best buddy over to play Friday, since they were out of school. It was a beautiful day so we played outside, until the wasps forced us inside :( Saturday night we dyed eggs. Emma asked me if the Easter Bunny could come live with us. I asked her where he would sleep, she said in your bed Mommy.

Colton and Emma woke up super early today! They were so excited for the bunny! The bunny hid eggs inside due to the wet weather we had yesterday. They had fun hunting for them! Colton got a new basketball so Nate took him to the neighborhood court to play after lunch. We are planning to have an early family dinner and just enjoy the beautiful day! Here are a few pics from the weekend....

Big Boy Baseball!!

Colton has graduated from t-ball to coach pitch ball. He loves it...They had their first game Saturday. It was a little rough. They were all running to get the ball, not playing their positions and no one was hitting well.


We had our second game Monday night and it was like a different team! Colton hit the ball at every "at bat"...he didn't have to use the tee once. ( They get 5 pitches then have to hit off the Tee)...


Emma and Ella had fun at the game Saturday, I will post pics from that in the morning. I am going to try to upload the video from his Monday game, I was so proud of him!!!

Spring, Finally!

Friday, we headed to the zoo! Finally it was a beautiful day! This spring break week has been cloudy and cold. So we were all excited to head to the zoo. Even though half the state was there, we still had a great time! The kids just liked being outside. Our zoo is not great but the scenery and atmosphere is. I can't wait to finally take them to the Audobon Zoo, hopefully in a couple weeks.

We met several friends there so everyone had a buddy to see. Even Ella saw her boyfriend Brody! We stayed about 2 hrs and that wore all of us out! The picture of my car, is from my awesome parking spot!!!! Couldn't get any closer!!

Finally potty!

Emma is FINALLY interested in the potty!!! In fact, the process has gone from 0 to 60 in a matter of days! She went from no interest to total interest. While we are not totally there, but she has made public outings, staying dry. We have used just our "big girl" panties at home! I am thinking of sending her to school Wed in her big girl panties!!! Nate laughed at me, said, well, I won't be the one who has to clean it up! If she makes it nursery school w/out an accident, I think she can get her Barbie reward! I bought this hot pink little car for her barbie dolls, she knows about it and can't wait to get it.

When she first got interested in all this, I was using M&M's as a reward. That quickly got out of control because she was using the potty just to get the M&M's....Jill gave me an out. I told her the M&M's were going to turn her teeth black. Well, she sure didn't forget I said that! In fact, I had to beg her to eat an M&M again..she kept saying that they would turn her teeth black....now if she has one, she looks at me and says, "Mommy, Jill was just kidding. They not turn my teeth black".

Today, we only had one "poop" accident. I really just don't think she's ready to do that on the toilet, I think she's scared. She knows when she has to go though, and that's half the battle! We told her she can just tell us and we can get a diaper. That seemed to work for Colton. He went on the potty when he was ready.

Funny story though, when she had her accident today....She said to Nate, very serious, "Is Dora upset with me??" Then, when I saw her a little later, she told me, "Mommy, Dora is not happy with me right now. But Daddy cleaned her up and she is feeling better now." I had to turn around I was laughing so hard! She is so funny!! I had told her not to tee-tee on Dora because she wouldn't like it...I guess she remembered that!

(Her brother took the pic at the top, one of his photo sessions w/out my knowledge. Even though her eyes are closed, I love the picture!)

The plague...

I took the kids to visit my parents in NOLA this weekend. We left Friday morning and the drive down was great! Everyone was so great and I only had to stop once! We were hoping for a long, fun weekend that included visiting great-grandparents and riding the street cars....little did I know....what we were in for... WARNING, graphic content below!

We got there about 2:30 Friday afternoon and all was well. About 2 hrs later, Ella had a super dirty diaper that leaked, enough said. Well, 2 hrs later she did it again. I just thought it was something she ate. Then Emma had a messy one as well. Again , I just thought it was the Chick-fil-A. Well at 4AM, Ella vomited in her crib....then I knew it was more than something they ate. I held her for an hour and no more vomit so I put her back down.

The morning brought more messy diapers and then vomit from Emma. Colton got sick Sunday night during the night and my mom and I got it in some form as well. Thank God my dad went out of town midday Sunday and didn't get sick. Poor Megan and Chip have come down with it now too! It was just awful....we didn't do anything! We just stayed close to home and we finally came back to Alabama Tuesday.

We are heading back down in a couple of weeks for Spring Break so hopefully it will be a better trip. We are planning a Zoo trip and a trip to Global Wildlife. I only managed to snap a few pics with all of the sickness...here are a few of the ones that turned out viewable....

We did manage a trip to Cafe Du Monde...thank goodness for the drive-thru!

Poor sweet baby spent a lot of time in her playpenShe fed the dogs A LOT!

Snow Day!

We had another snow day Friday. It's weird how my children think it's normal for it to snow. I don't remember it snowing when I was growing up....I think maybe it snowed once..... They got out of school early so we went outside to play in the snow! They lasted about 20 min and then got too cold so we headed in for some warmth and relaxation! Here are some pics from the day :)

My sweet Ella..

My sweet baby is under the weather :( She woke up from her nap yesterday with 103 fever! It has not really broken much and was 103 again this morning. She is her normal happy self so I'm not too worried. But I do have a cute story to share about her from the other night....

I took this pic this morning...sooo sad :(

Sunday, we didn't do much, it was soooo cold out. So I told the big 2 they could skip their bath. Ella always seems to need one as she is such a messy eater! So, I took her upstairs and put her in the bath. I thought she'd love being in there by herself...no one to take toys from her, etc. Well, I put her in the tub, she grabbed the 2 pink ducks she likes to play with, and scooted to the back of the tub. ( When all 3 are in the tub, she sits in the back). So, she sat back there and just stared at the door. I guess she was wondering where everybody was! Colton came and hopped in with her and she was so happy to see him! She loves her brother and sissy so much!

More pics....

I am currently working on some slide shows of the kids....with older pictures...I have been gathering them, now I have to resize, etc....it's a work in progress but it's coming.....

WHO DAT!!!!!

We are soooooo excited about the Saints going to the superbowl!!! It's something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime! I grew up going to Saints games and this is just such a wonderful thing for the city, it's just amazing! We let the kids stay up to watch the NFC championship. Colton has really gotten into watching sports. They were running around yelling "touchdown Saints!" ...they were also looking for Uncle Neilson because he was at the game! Never saw him though :(

Neilson did say the quarter was unreal! He'd never seen anything like it...people just dancing in the street, unbelievable energy!

Back to Colton and his sports watching....that night, when he was going to bed..he said, "Mommy, I wonder if the Colts beat the Jets?" It's so funny how he knows all the teams and everything!

3 years ago....seems like yesterday!

My sweet Emma is 3! I can hardly believe it.....seems like yesterday....
















Another update with more old pics and birthday party pics later today!...hopefully!

Through the years.....

Colton's 1st Birthday!

Here are some pictures of Colton over the past 5 years......I will do more later...I am tired!

5 years ago......

I was blessed in becoming a Mom. My sweet little boy Colton was born January 12, 2005. I can hardly believe he is 5 years old! He is just growing so fast. He impresses me EVERYDAY with how smart he is. The things he knows is amazing.....he picks up on so much and LOVES to tell me things he's learned. Happy 5th Birthday sweet boy....mommy loves you so much...more than you'll ever know!

It's Carnival Time!!!

Love this season....I can just smell the cotton candy and flambeaux's! I think we are going to take the kids to their first parade this year! We have been so busy these last few months so one of my resolutions is to get back to blogging regularly! I am going to add a collage of Christmas pics sometime this week. I have had enough holidays and am ready to move on.....we are getting ready for a "snow day" tomorrow, so maybe I'll get to catch up then. No school and maybe no work for Nate...so we'll see! Here are a couple of family pics I managed to get this year...turned out pretty good! We never take family pictures....

Happy Birthday Sweet Ella!!!

My sweet baby had her first birthday December 8th! I cannot believe she is already 1. She is growing up too fast! And now she's walking....everywhere! We had a very low key birthday for her. She opened her presents in the morning and we had a family dinner with cupcakes before heading to the kids Christmas program at school. She really didn't even like the cupcake but ate a little bit of it. She loves playing with her big brother and big sister and is really such a sweet baby. She smiles and laughs all the time....sometimes, we are not sure what she's laughing at! Here are a few pics from her birthday......

I promise to catch up on everything by the end of the weekend!