the countdown is on . . .

we better think about baby-proofing again . . .
because we are no where close to having a baby-proof house!

there's no doubt . . .

these little girls love their baby brother!
they just cannot get enough of him.

quote of the day and there are still good people out there . . .

"mommy, we are cleaning our room so you will be happy!"

little shrimp

*******

because of this i needed to cancel my merchant account because i will not be able to do the required testing that this new law requires.

when i opened my merchant account . . . i signed a contract for 3 years. well . . . i was just a little more than a year from reaching that 3 years. and the wonderful people at the company that i used for my credit cards waived my $300 early cancellation fee! it doesn't get any better than that! i hope they know how wonderful they are!

competition . . . birthday . . . infections . . .

i don't know if have ever been more ready for a monday or not . . . it has been a non-stop weekend for us!

competition today in baton rouge . . . the girls did so well! my little miss smiled the whole time and shimp is really getting the whole competition thing down now! (they don't actually compete . . . they are in an exhibition category.)

today is this special guy's birthday . . .

he requested this super yummy fruit desert pizza for his cake . . . if it wasn't for him we would be total junk food junkies! this recipe came from one of our old neighbors in missouri . . . and it is so good!

by the end of the night my little shimp was complaining about a headache and a painful ear . . . and i'm complaining about a breast infection. oh the joys of little ones! and i love every second of this crazy life of ours!

happy birthday sean (aka daddy) . . . you mean the world to us!

good times . . .

first soccer game . . .

giving mr. smartypants . . . who guesses every single gift . . . his birthday present a day early . . .

then is was time to head to a birthday party that was from 1-3. except we didn't come home until 9 . . . that has to be a good time!

in 4 short months . . .

this little guy has become the most important thing in these girls lives!

this little guy has completely stolen the hearts of everyone who knows him!

this little guy made his place in our family and we don't remember what it was like without him!

this little guy has grown way too big . . . way too fast!

it worked . . .

having 4 small children in the house . . . i'm sure you imagine the amount of effort it takes to keep it picked up. and i'll be perfectly honest . . . i do not like to clean. so . . . my house more often than not has toys scattered throughout.

so i came up with a great idea. when you open our front door . . . you see the entry hall and that leads to the kitchen. so my great idea was this . . . keep the kitchen and entry hall spotless so when people come to the front door they see a clean house.

the girls were off school today and shrimp had a birthday party to go to. since i always feel guilty bringing the extra kids to the party . . . i asked my wonderful neighbor (who has a daughter in shrimp's class) if she minded if shrimp tagged along with her to the party. of course . . . she didn't mind!

so . . . now back to the point of this story! she just dropped my little shrimp off and when i opened the door she said . . . wow look at your house it looks great!

little did she know that if she looked into the living room it looked like this . . .

disclaimer: we have been moving things around in the house . . . which is actually why it's a complete mess. i don't like cleaning . . . but i do like to keep a clean house.

'twas the night before . . .

my side of the family has lots of christmas traditions . . . and of course we are continuing these wonderful traditions with our little ones.

santa needs cookies . . . and santa needs awesome-ly (yes . . . that's a word in my dictionary) decorated sugar cookies! under normal christmas circumstances we would do homemade sugar cookies . . . but this year time wasn't exactly on our side. before we headed to missouri . . . shrimp came down with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug. and then it wasn't long before it hit every other person in our house. so . . . when we were feeling better and finally made it to missouri we weren't left with a lot of time before the big guy arrived. so this year it was premade sugar cookie dough and just simple white icing and lots and lots of sprinkles!

after the cookies were decorated and santa had a plate waiting for him . . . and the girls were on a super duper sugar high . . . we had some fun taking pictures in their new jammies. if you can't tell by these pics . . . we have our hands full! and i wouldn't have it any other way!

my favorite christmas memory is the story. we would all gather on the couch with my dad and listen as he read the night before christmas. sean read from the same book we grew up with. and as you can see . . . the girls were all ears. ok . . . maybe not . . . but one day they will cherish these memories the same way i do!

the program . . .

the pro . . .

this was our little angel's 2nd christmas program. i think watching little nursery school children sing christmas songs is just about the cutest thing ever!

the newbie . . .

our little shrimp couldn't have been more excited to be in her first school program!

i don't think there were any other children that picked their noses more than ours! we were so proud! not to mention i was so proud when i looked at shrimp and her dress was pulled up and both hands were in here tights scratching her bottom! talk about a proud mommy moment!

after the program . . . since they were dressed to impress . . . i had to get a few photos of them together. i could look at these pictures all day . . . they aren't perfectly posed . . . or smiling in all of them . . . or even looking at the camera for that matter . . . but to me these pictures are perfect! this is our life . . .

1. 102_9029, 2. 102_9030, 3. 102_9027, 4. 102_9026

overwhelmed . . .

fortunately the only reason i'm overwhelmed is that i don't even know where to begin catching up! there have been lots of great things since then and now . . .

maybe i should forewarn you that posts might become long . . . and overloaded with photos!

hi, my name is emily . . .

and i used to blog here. remember me?

wow . . . time sure does fly when you're having fun! i think i have lots of catching up to do . . . and i think i will get started on that later tonight!

oh . . . merry christmas and happy new year! i guess i'm a little late on that . . . huh?!