Happy Birthday Alexa!

Our little girl is almost 1!!! We celebrated early since her birthday is on Wednesday. Here's a bunch of pics from the day. I made both cakes because of Chase's egg allergy. They were really yummy! (Not to toot my own horn or anything!)

Alexa with her paternal great-grandmother

Alexa and her cousin Nonah

Riding her new bike

The party guests...

Mmm...cake...

Her smash cake

The birthday cake

Me, my mom, my sister-in-law and our girls

The birthday princess

Fun Weekend

We took the kids for a fun weekend at a local train station. They got to go on a short ride and take in the sights. Chase loved the train and couldn't stop staring out the windows. He's really gotten into Thomas the Tank Engine so we thought he would enjoy this. Plus, he's getting a train set for Christmas so he'll have a greater understanding of the toy thanks to an experience with the real thing. It was nice to get out and do something different. The train car we were riding in was used from 1918-1925 so that was cool!

Blessings

I wanted to write this post today because this picture shows two of my greatest blessings. We have bad days like Saturday (see previous post) but we have tons of really great days too. These two kids have taught me more about myself than anything/anyone else ever has. It has stretched me and matured me and humbled me. I thank God for them daily and today I am reminded to be ever more thankful as this sweet little boy fights for his life www.mycharmingkids.net.

I have followed this blog for quite some time but never posted hers to mine. My heart is so heavy for what she and her family are facing right now. This woman has blessed me with her honesty and humor about parenting. It's good to know I'm not alone with my struggles. I love her photos too.

And because her little Stellan is fighting for his life I cannot help but hurt with her, my sister in Christ, and pray for the whole family; and give thanks for what I have been blessed with.

Saturday Morning Surprise

I was up off and on last night with a very congested and yucky feeling little boy. The last time I remember waking up was 5am to help him blow his nose. We'd both had a rough night and I figured I would let us all sleep until 8am because we could all use the sleep. Howard had to work this morning so he was already gone by the last time I got up with Chase.

Chase woke me up crying right before 8am so I got up to tend to him. When I opened our door I smelled the very distinct smell of mint. Not something you usually smell that strong in our hous! I looked in on Chase, who was hiding in his room, and found sprinkle stains around his mouth. I know enough to be very worried at this point! I raced downstairs and almost passed out. I hit our family room first, followed by the kitchen and living room. Oh my word! There was sugar, flour and sprinkles on every possible floor surface and the furniture!!!

I think the towel means he tried to clean up a little?


My baking cabinet was open and there was baking soda, flour, sugar, sprinkles, vanilla extract and peppermint extract(the source of the smell) poured out all over the floor. Thank goodness he wasn't able to open some of the extract bottles or it would have been worse! And my food dies were buried in the flour so he didn't mess with them!

The pictures don't even do justice for how much sugar and sprinkles was spread across the floor.

You can't see it in the pictures below but the entire floor was covered in little, white sprinkle balls.

It took me an hour to get everything vacuumed off. I needed that time to calm down because I could barely contain myself. It gave me time to think and pray and come up with a punishment that would (hopefully!) have impact. It also gave me time to gain perspective. Someday, not yet, I will look back on this and laugh and be grateful I took pictures. Just not yet...

Peek-A-Boo

Our little cutie-patootie is up and cruising all over the place. It won't be long before she's tearing after that brother of hers!

Phillies

You are all probably wondering what happened to us...Well, the Phillies were playing for a playoff position through October and so rather than blog we watched. Since the Phillies got all the way to the World Series we're still watching...and hoping... I'll be back soon with new stories and pictures. Tonight the Phillies play with a 3-2 deficit facing them. We'll be cheering and holding our breath and hoping for something incredible. ;-)