The pink dress story

So most of you know that my mom passed away 5 1/5 years ago. I miss her everyday, but during special times in my life, I miss her even more than words can say. Being pregnant and having a baby is one of those times when a girl just needs her momma. Whether it be for advise, babysitting, pampering the mother to be, or just a simple hug when you're feeling bad, mom's have a way of making everything all better. I know that my mom is looking down from Heaven and that she is so happy there that she wouldn't dream of coming back. But I am blessed to have had her for the time that I did. Even though I want to be selfish and wish her back here with me, I try to focus on the good times that we had and the WONDERFUL memories that we made.



One of those memories, was my pregnancy with Tyler. She was so supportive through everything. I loved having her by my side. From the moment I told her I was pregnant until the day she left to meet Jesus, she was there for me and Tyler.





Even when I wasn't sure about being pregant and I thought it wasn't the right time for me, God has a perfect plan. I remember praying to God that I wasn't ready for this and I did't think I could do it. But he comforted me during those times. As I was praying one day, the name Alexis Haleigh, just popped in my head. I just KNEW that was God telling me that everything would be ok and that this baby was a girl. I came to terms with the pregnancy and realized that not only was this what I needed, but my mom needed it too. It was something for her to look forward to after her bone marrow transplant. She had a picture of my belly up on the wall of her room at Tulane. I'll never forget that first ultrasound. My mom came to Hattiesburg to be with me when we got our first glimpse at our little angelbaby. However, when the tech told us that Alexis was not a girl, we weren't convinced. We believed with all of our heart that this baby had to be a girl.

However, after numerous ultrasounds, I decided they were probably right and resolved to shopping in the tinee tiny boys section, if you can even call it a section! Mom, wasn't so sure. She insisted that I buy a few pink outfits, just in case the 15 million ultrasounds were wrong. I remember her saying that buying their coming home outfit is so special. And if Tyler was born to be an Alexis, I would have to send someone else to buy "her" dress. So, even though I thought it was a bit silly to spend so much money on a dress for my baby boy, I decided that she was right. I wouldn't want to miss out on bringing my girl home in the dress I choose, so I went ahead and bought "the dress." I had been dreaming of this dress all of my life and it took awhile to find "the perfect one" So, when Tyler was in fact a Tyler, I didn't return it. This dress has survived my apartment fire and hurricane Katrina. But it is still just as pretty and perfect as when I first laid eyes on it! Perhaps the most exciting part of having a girl is being able to bring her home in this dress.



Although my mom didn't pick out the dress, she saw it and loved it just like I did. It somehow makes me feel more connected to her, knowing that she has seen and loved this dress like I did! She even gave me a pink bib for my baby shower. And even though at the time, I thought she was being a tad bit silly, today I am so glad that she did. Now my sweet little Alexis will have a little something from her mawmaw!

IT'S A......

So I would be super happy whether we were having a boy or a girl, just as long as the baby is healthy. Being diabetic, I have a 25% higher risk of delivering a baby with birth defects and heart problems are at the top of the list. I have already been blessed with 2 healthy children and I thank God for that each night. When I found out I was pregnant with number 3, I was excited and scared all at the same time. I pray each night for the health of my baby no matter what the sex.

All, that being said, I have always wanted to shop in the pink section and buy cute little baby dolls. Even though I only have 2 boys, I still often look in the girls section at all the pretty dresses and girl toys. But now, I will finally have a reason to go to that section.

We are offically TEAM PINK!!!

Trick or treat 2010

Tyler and Caiden had a blast dressing up for trick or treating. Tyler was Iron man, of course. I must say, he was the best Iron man I've seen. He had fun posing for pictures in his Iron man suit. He put it on Saturday and I had to MAKE him take if off so it wouldn't get messed up before Sunday, lol. He did however, wear it ALL DAY Sunday.





Caiden on the other hand, wasn't so concerned about his costume at first. I thought I might be able to convince him to go as the cute little spider I found... or the awesome monkey... or the precious robot... But, no. My little ball of personality insisted on being a COW, lol. He put on his suit just before we left. But I did manage to get a few pictures of him too.



Poor baby bit his tongue while eating his candy. How pitiful is that?



But it didn't take long to turn that frown upside down!



The first house we trick or treated was Tyler's friend's house. We invited his friend to walk around with us and they were so well behaved.





Not only did the boys have a ton of fun, but they loaded up on candy!





Caiden discovered that he LOVES smarties! He even went around feeding the rest of us!

What's for dinner: Halloween part 3

I have had so much fun making themed dinners, Kyle might better watch out. I'll be making him eat heart shaped pancakes all through Feb, lol!!! Here are a few more of the creations I have served the boys.

The witches fingers, were a hit! They are basically breadsticks with pepperoni fingernails. I then sliced them in half and stuffed pepperoni and cheese to make a pizza sandwich. But you could make an type of sandwich you like. These go great with a fresh salad.



For halloween, our neighborhood is really packed and they get started early! So we opted for an easy dinner. I made Ham-witches! They were super cute, and tasty!



Now, I guess it's time to start planning Thanksgiving and Christmas themed dinners. Feel free to suggest some if you know of any.

Halloween week:What's for dinner part 2

I can never pass up Holiday themed cinnamon rolls. I can't enjoy them, but the boys sure do! Tyler ate 5 1/2 rolls for breakfast. Now that is a growing boy!!!

Of all, the delicious Halloween foods we've had, I think this was my favorite! Monster mouth tacos are not only super cute, but super tasty too. They were deginitely a hit at our house.

My favorite time of year...

So, just to be clear, Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. But I do love the fall, which is the beginning of "decorating season" as my mom called it. I don't like the scary stuff, but I do have tons of pumpkins around the house and we will carve one tonight for Halloween night. I love being able to celebrate all the little things with the boys and see how excited it makes them. Holidays are always so much more fun when viewed through the eyes of a child. This year, we have a Halloween menu for the whole week leading up to Halloween. The boys have loved coming to the table to see what new creation, or creature, I have come up with for dinner. The first night, we had mummy dogs and pumpkin chilli. The mummy dogs were my favorite. I loved the little eyes peeking out.

The next night, we had creepy crawly macaroni and spider bread. This is just macaroni and cheese, I used the sprial kind, with carrot shreds and sliced up hotdogs. I normally wouldn't serve hot dogs 2 nights in a row, but I made an exception for this meal. The spider bread was a little tricky, but they turned out pretty cute!

Last night, I took it easy and just served ham-witches cut into the shape of pumpkins, with orange cheetos of course!

Mom and dad's surprise...

Mom and dad have a surprise for you
but to get the answer, you must add the clues.
To find the first clue, look down low.
Find a toy that's used to tow.


You found a new toy for you.
But wait, are there more than two?
Now to find something neat,
look underneath mommy's seat!


You're doing good. You're doing great!
Mommy's craving a piece of cake.
What does mommy use to bake?
There you'll find a treat to take.


I love to read; I'll tell you why.
You learn so much; you ought to try.
There's something new upon the shelf.
Take a look now for yourself.


Now it's time for our review
Have you figured out the clues?
An extra toy, a bottlepop candy,
A bun in the oven, a book about a brand new baby?

You guessed it right, oh what fun.
Our little family wasn't done.
God is sending someone to play,
our new baby is on the way.

Busy bees

Kyle and I have been busy little bees! We are currently working on our bathroom makeover. After 10 years of the duckies, I was ready to see them go, lol! We have been looking for a curtain we could agree on for over a year, but we finally found one we both liked. We put a new mirror over the sink and I think that makes the biggest difference. Of course, the new wall color is pretty awesome too!

A day with GG

The weather was so beautiful today, we just couldn't resist another park visit. But this time, we decided to pick GG up and have a picnic in the park! GG was more than thrilled to have special time with her grandbabies! And Tyler was equally excited to have someone to talk to about his newest toys, mighty beans and finger skate boards! He showed GG all about his mighty beans, which are like the old mexican jumping beans we used to play with as kids, except they are decorated like characters.



We had to make a quick pit stop at Walmart and I just couldn't help posting this sweet pic of the two of them lost in conversation.



As beautiful as the weather was, it began to heat up rather fast. The boys were so hot, they wanted to cool down on the swings. But wait, is that Tyler in that swing???
I thought my days of pushing him on the swing were over, lol!



After a bit of a cool down on the swings, the boys decided to climb the big web. Well, actually Tyler decided to climb and Caiden decided to copy! But I thought his effort was cute.



After we finished with the park, we headed over to mom's grave to decorate it for Halloween. My mom's favorite day of the year was October 1st because that was the beginning of "decorating season" She loved this time of year so much and now all of her kids share this love. Before mom passed, she made us all promise to keep her grave up and to decorate it for her! So I let the boys pick out some appropriate Halloween decorations for her. They wanted to put up a bat, but we couldn't find anything that would work. We did, however, find a package of spiders that was perfect! And, of course, we put out a pumpkin too. The boys had fun decorating and playing with the spiders. I am sure that mom was smiling down at the sight of her boys playing so sweetly at her grave!

Park day for the homeschool group

Today we met some new friends at the homeschool groups park day. Both the boys had a great time. We brought happy meals and ate with friends, then the kids ran loose onto the playground. This is one of our favorite playgrounds. It is so neat with all of the hiding places. Of course, that can also be a drawback when you can't see the kids. For that reason, I have to follow every step Caiden makes and I can't be with Tyler the whole time. But he didn't really want me tagging along behind him and his new friend anyway. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to snap any pics of him on this trip, but I assure you, he had a great time too.







Actually, the only reason I was able to snap a few of Caiden is because he was trapped on the train, hahahaha!



He wasn't really sure what to think of this moving floor! At first he was a little scared, as I imagine anyone would be when the floor beneath you begins to move. But, he quickly found a smile and even more quickly found a way off of there!



Worn out from all of the fun we had today!

Just a few more pictures from another walk through the hood. Tyler really enjoys riding his bike. Right now, they are developing the end of our street and there isn't much traffic out there so we let him ride out there when we walk.



Caiden and Kyle were watching dragonflies up above. Caiden kept calling them birds, lol.

On our family walk through the neighborhood, we couldn't resist the urge to climb onto the tractor we saw. There is always some sort of construction going on and we love to investigate the big machines. (And, no this isn't the first time we let the boys climb on heavy equipment, but we monitor them closely)




Tyler is so cute riding on his scooter, I just couldn't help taking his picture.

Just had to post this sweet picture. Caiden always wants help drawing pictures. Tyler stopped his breakfast just to help Caiden draw!

Just us

So for some reason, Caiden decided tonight that he would sneak into my seat and eat my dinner. He loves red beans! It was so stinking cute b/c he thought he was being bad! I couldn't help snapping a few pics to share.