busy week...

We're in full swing of summer around here and I'm WAY tired but I'll throw a few pictures up and then go to bed! These were late last week, so I'm not too behind...we did a pretty significant kitchen re-do this weekend (more on that later), but we LOVE the new look. We've also done LOTS of sprinkler/pool days, Elise had VBS at our church last week and she had a blast. It wore her out (yay!) and she learned a lot, so that's great.


I got a haircut, which was WAY overdue, and that was fun... yay for a little pampering and 10 minutes extra under the hair dryer with a People magazine. (shhh! don't tell Adam!)

This is a deer in our backyard. We see him/her there (or in the next door neighbor's yard) all the time and the stinker eats our wild blackberries...grrr...but the girls LOVE it, so I can't complain too much.

Ainsley playing in the kitchen...so I guess she's about 8 gallons or so...

baby steps...

Ok, he's not actually TAKING STEPS, but little man Mitchell is getting closer to walking. (Which, like everyone said we would, I AM DREADING!!!) With Elise, we COULDN'T WAIT for her to walk. It was fun, such a milestone, a great achievement, etc... but with #3, all I'm thinking is, "I can barely keep up with him as it is...he's going to get into EVERYTHING that the girls put on tables to keep away from him...he's my last little baby, I want him to stay small and crawl forever...". You get the idea. But, he's progressing and I guess I'm ok with that. He's so adorable that I can't help but cheer him on. =)

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a very low key Independence Day and it was so nice.
As I'm looking through iPhoto, I don't even have a single picture of Mitchell dressed in his red, white, and blue...oops.
We had some friends over and made some GREAT food. We love 'entertaining'- especially when it's with people as laid back as we are (ok, Adam is laid back. I'm so NOT. But I'm working on it, ok?! I WANT to be laid back and I can be calm and relaxed while people are over, the house is getting trashed by little kids, etc... that counts for something, right?!).
Anyway, the girls had 'won' RingPops at a birthday party the day before and we let them have the special treat on Sunday afternoon- so that's really all you can focus on from these cute pictures. This was AInsley's first RingPop ever and Elise's 2nd...so it was a major treat and you can see their SUGAR-induced JOY in their eyes!


Again, this IS Ainsley's smile!

10 months old...

wow. I'm constantly amazed at how time just DISAPPEARS with these adorable kids we've been blessed with! I feel like Mitchell should be about 6 months old, not TEN! Seriously, how is he almost a YEAR OLD!? Anyway, we love his little toothy grin, we love his 'old man hair'...also referred to as a "Skullet" around here sometimes- Google Image that for some great pictures. He's SUCH a happy baby- really only cries when he wants to eat or if mommy has wondered away for more than, say, 20 seconds. He's grown to love the church nursery on Sundays (especially days when I don't dress him in little shoes that are 6 months too small which leads to close to an hour of screaming and deep crease-marks in his chubby feet...) and ADORES his big sisters. Elise has been a great second-mommy to him since Day 1, but lately Ainsley has been sweet and loving towards him also, which is impressive, because you just don't see that much sweetness out of Ainsley. =) He's such a fun addition to our family and we're thankful for him every single day.
When Ainsley and I went to wake him up this morning, I took a camera to try to get a cute shot of him sleeping, but these ended up way cuter than a sleeping baby! I mean, sleeping babies are adorable, but that can't beat the way his little eyes light up when he thinks he's playing a game of "come and get me" with mommy...


This was just seconds after the door opened...he was barely awake and not too sure about visitors to his comfy lair with the awesome monster sheets...

Not five seconds later, he's comin' to get me. grinning like crazy...



Just seconds after that, he's up and babbling, our happy happy boy!

He was actually clapping here- his new favorite trick. The wall behind him looks a little 'teal'...it's not- it's a deep "Admiralty Blue"... somewhere between UF Gator Blue and navy blue...just fyi.

Then I hoisted Ainsley up in bed with him for a second and she said that she wanted to cuddle... she actually put her arm around him and kept saying, "hi Mitchy...like my pretty outfit? Smile for mommy, Mitchy...". Precious.