RaceTrac

Today I was on a mission to find a hat for Hudson that he will actually keep on his head for when we play outside.  He pulls off all the sun hats he has and I think the straps bother him.  I just love guys in hats and I especially love seeing my baby boy in one!  He loves supporting the home team.  Let's go BRAVES!!!

Tonight we went to the friends and family grand opening event for the RaceTrac that is right down the road from us.  My BFF, Jen, said it best earlier today when she said, "If you had asked me 10 years ago if going to a gas station grand opening would be on my calendar I would have thought you were crazy."  I feel the same way, but not only was it on our calendar, we were super excited about it, too!  We have been anxiously awaiting for it to open!  This store is AMAZING.  The inside looks like a mini fresh market.  It has a coffee bar, tons of fresh food, a beer cave, and a frozen yogurt bar with more toppings than any yogurt place around.

At the event today, the girls got to spin the wheel for free stuff.  They both won a free frozen yogurt, which we were going to get anyway so the coupon was an added bonus!

We saw lots of our friends there.  Harper just loves Will and had so much fun making him laugh.

 We LOVE RaceTrac!!!

Hudson - 9 months

Hudson is 9 months old today!  He is growing and changing so quickly.  I can't believe that he still isn't crawling, but he is rolling everywhere and can usually get to what he wants by rolling, turning around on his belly, or scooting backwards.  For the longest time I feel like he was happy to sit back and take it all in, but now he's more interested in checking everything out and figuring out what's going on around him.

 At 9 months Hudson:

• generally sleeps 12+ hours at night.
• has been fighting his morning naps and has a much harder time falling asleep in the car, but will take a really long afternoon nap (2-3 hours).
• is starting to get frustrated when he wants to move around so I'm hoping that give him some motivation to figure out crawling. 
• is eating a lot of finger foods, but can be pretty picky about textures. 
• has several favorite foods: goldfish, yogurt melts, and Chick-fil-a nuggets. 
• pulls down his bumper and peeks at the door when he wakes up to wait for someone to get him.
• does a funny little dance where he nods his head when he gets excited. 
• has two top teeth and two more that are very close to cutting through.  
• laughs like crazy and his crazy sisters. 
• started saying da-da-da-da a lot today.
• thinks its funny to stick his tongue out and blow. 
• does a funny little squishy face when he smiles sometimes. 

Water Fun and a Movie Night

The best $10 I ever spent was on our blow-up kiddie pool.  Today I had promised the girls we could fill it up and let them splash around.  The water was really cold, but they could have cared less.  They had SO much fun and it made me so excited about all the summer fun I know we'll have.  Our neighbors, Calvin and Elizabeth, saw us out there and came over to join in the fun too.

The girls had fun testing out silly ways to go down the slide into the pool.

My day is ending with my sweet girl, Handley.  She filled up her marble jar and picked a movie night, complete with a milkshake, as her reward.  We're watching Strawberry Shortcake as I type and enjoying our special time together while Harper and Hudson are in bed.

Harper's Ice Cream Party

Today we celebrated Harper's 3rd birthday with an ice cream theme party.  We couldn't have asked for better weather or better friends to help us celebrate our little girl.  A big thanks to everyone for coming today!

Christy made adorable cookies and cupcakes for the party so the kids were in sugar heaven.

First we had lunch inside and then everyone made their way outside to play.  I borrowed some things from friends and put out a lot of our outside toys, too.  The kids had fun hitting the pinata and loved getting to make their own ice cream sundaes.

Harper was so excited about her party today and before the guests started arriving she kept asking me when some people were going to get here.  As soon as her friends started to arrive, she was thrilled.

She was especially thrilled to have her best friend from school there.  She and Parker have a very special friendship and it's so sweet to watch them together.  At one point outside, everyone was busy playing around the yard and Harper ran to the middle of the action calling, "Parker!!!  Where are you?!?!?" Then he came running out from where he was playing and said, "Here I am Harper."  Then they held hands and made their way to start playing together.  Tonight when I was putting her to bed I asked her if she had a good day with all of her friends and told her she was lucky to have so many people who wanted to help her celebrate turning three.  Then she looked at me with a big smile and said, "Yes, and I'm so happy Parker was there.  I love him so much." :-)

Getting ready for Harper's party

I've spent this week gearing up for Harper's birthday party this weekend.  I always say I'm going to do something small for the kids and it always turns out to be a lot bigger than I originally intended.  It's fun though...I love everything that goes into the planning and the kids feel extra special that it is all for them and their special day.

Mimi and Dadaw got here yesterday for the big event and we've been having lots of fun with them here.

Tonight after all the kids were in bed, I put my dad to work helping me get things ready for tomorrow.  He and Robby always like to joke about my drill sergeant ways and the never-ending list of tasks I have planned out for everyone.  I'm not really that bad. ;-) I just like to know that everything will be ready how I planned it and that we won't be rushing around at the last minute.  Plus, Handley has a soccer game in the morning though and all the grown-ups will attend with her (except me) so I needed to get as much done ahead of time as possible.  Stay tuned for pictures from her party tomorrow.

Harper's school celebration

Today Harper got to celebrate her birthday at school.  It's a really big deal to the kids because they get to decorate their birthday crown to wear all day.  I had my friend, Christy, make cookies and they turned out SO cute!  If you ever need special cookies or cupcakes, she is the one to go to!  Another secret about birthdays at school you may or may not know: teachers hate when you bring cupcakes to school because they are so messy.  This was the case when I was teaching and was confirmed by a comment Harper's teacher made to me today.  Cookies are much easier on everyone. :-)

Harper was excited about her cupcake cookies and was so cute when everyone was singing happy birthday to her.  She gets sort of nervous when she's the center of attention (which is so unlike her personality) and does this funny little thing where she twists her tongue.  

After the kids enjoyed their cookies they danced and sang to Harper's picks: Wheels on the Bus, Shake Your Wiggles Out, and Animal Action.

Harper is THREE!!!

Happy Birthday Harper!  I have a hard time believing that she is three years old.  In my head I still see her as a little toddler, but in reality she is growing up to be a sweet little girl.  Today we had a special day planned for her.  Handley decided to stay home from school so that we could have lots of fun with our birthday girl.  

This morning started off with a special chocolate milk cocktail, including sprinkle rimmed glasses (thank you pinterest for the idea). 

Then we met our friends, Jake and Reece, at Champion Kids to play.  It's an indoor gymnastics play place.  The kids all had fun bouncing on trampolines, sliding down the giant inflatable slides, crossing the balance beam, and swinging into the foam pit.  

After playtime we ate lunch at Harper's favorite, Chick-fil-a, came home for rest-time, and then went to our playgroup.  During playgroup Hudson got his first ride in the wagon, thanks to Handley and Avery for pulling/pushing him around.  

Harper getting in for a ride, and notice her new purse!  It was a gift from Jake and Reece and she has NOT put it down since she opened it earlier today. :-)

For dinner, Harper had requested pizza, so we had birthday pizza, complete with candles.  I think she had a really fun day and she kept telling me she was three so I know she feels big.  She's excited about celebrating with her school friends tomorrow and then her party at our house on Saturday! In this family, we like to celebrate birthday weeks. :-)

She gets to eat off the "birthday plate" and notice her purse...still right beside her. I made her put it down for a picture. 

At three years old Harper: 

• loves playing "lady and ma'am."  It's a game she created where she pretends to buy items and I have to tell her how much she owes and collect her money or swipe her credit card.  
• is sensitive and cries very easily. 
• runs everywhere she goes and is always falling down or knocking into things.  This has earned her the nickname of tornado. 
• loves watching Mickey Mouse and Clifford.
• likes playing "school" or "baby and mommy" with Handley. 
• mimics everything I do, including what I wear, chores around the house, things I say, and ways I take care of Hudson. 
• loves school and everything that goes along with it, including her teachers and classmates. 
• can pedal her tricycle. 
• likes to snack and her favorite thing to eat is popcorn. 
• is a ham and can put on quite a show. 
• knows exactly how to push Handley's buttons and although most of the time they play very well together, they can argue pretty well, too. 
• loves her baby brother and is super sweet with him. 
• has a love of life that makes her permanent expression a big smile.
• is a flirt and is definitely going to be the boy crazy one. 
• can be extremely stubborn
• loves everyone and I think the feeling is pretty mutual.  
• likes being silly.
• still likes to cuddle and sneaks in our bed in the early morning hours. 
• loves wearing jeans and flip-flops.
• carries her bag or purse with her everywhere she goes.