Happy 2nd birthday, M and P!

My 'babies' are officially toddlers. Where is the pause button? I so love this age, though. I went through their preemie and newborn clothes Labor Day weekend, and I'm amazed how small Mac and Paisley were. Little miraculous blessings. Aren't they all?! 

We celebrated their second birthday with none other than their current favorite, Mickey and Minnie. This party was much lower scale than last year, and I'm happy with how everything turned out. My sweet friend Tedra took pictures of the party memories for us. We had our closest family and friends there to celebrate and play with us. We are so blessed. 

Here's a photo flashback for fun...

Newborns (4 days old):

4 month olds:

One year olds:

19 month olds:

And look at them now: 

Mac and his 'cheese' face. Stinking cute, I tell ya. 

We had two weekends of celebrations. The weekend before their birthday Mimi and Geep came for the day. Mimi and Lilly Scott made cupcakes while M and P took a nap. Here's a video. Mac loves sweets (cupcakes have become his new favorite), but Paisley could care less. She actually continued to turn up her nose and ate 2 cups of mandarin oranges instead. 

Thanks to Mimi and Geep for coming to celebrate with us!

A week later we had their birthday party. The venue wasn't available the weekend before their actual birthday so we went with the Saturday after their birthday.

Here are birthday party pics for memory lane

:)

These treats were in cellophane bags for party favors. Yum. 

I mean, who doesn't love a hot dog bar?

Invitation

The inflatable playground entrance 

Paisley gets a cake, but she acts disgusted with it. The girl would rather eat her weight in mandarin oranges. Mac always looks to her dessert while signing and saying 'more'. 

Dad was worried about Mac's outfit so he took it off. Mac wasn't a fan :(

This is the most interaction Paisley showed with the cake. :-/

Mac found a new love: juice boxes. His birthday right. First juice box. 

The Walkers brought M and P these balloons, and they are still floating around the house. Well, body parts anyway. Both were decapitated at the party, haha. 

Caitlin and Lilly Scott. Cousins, besties. 

I owe a huge thanks to all those who helped me: Ashley made the incredible signs and banner, Piece A Cake Bakery made the cakes and thumbprint cookies, Tedra captured the moments, Kyle and Courtney came into town and jumped in to help wherever needed and of course my groom, Jordan, who is a champion at all things dad. We are so lucky to have him as our HOH (big brother lingo). 

Thanks to the family and friends who traveled across state lines, within the state and down the road to join in celebrating Mac and Paisley. 

Now onto the 2nd year letters... Next post! 

as always,

Ashley 

Happy Fourth, America!

We are doing some traveling this patriotic holiday. Don't be surprised- traveling is what we do. It seems we are always on the go, but I love it. I certainly couldn't do it without Jordan's help, though. It's like we are gears- we work simultaneously to do what needs to be done and barely have to communicate our thoughts when we pack and unpack the car. Then we give a run down to make sure we got everything once we are on the road. If we forget it, it's a relief to know there's most likely a Target or Publix close by. 

This holiday I am solo, however. :-( Jordan works in maintenance so this was his weekend. The kids and I sure miss him. 

Enough rambling... We came to Murfreesboro Wednesday evening (July 3). We went to my Aunt Dee's house where the kids loved playing in the back yard. I even let them air out their sweet toddler tushes ;-) 

July 4 was a rainy, yucky day. We visited with family and sweet friends, which made the day more pleasant. 

Today we went to the Discovery Museum with Paw Paw and Uncle Jeff. 

After lunch, M and P went down for a (long, much needed) nap. After they woke up we went to Mimi and Geep's house. Epic fail: I didn't take one picture. :-/ Geep is a great back up- he's always camera ready. 

Tomorrow we leave for Hartselle, AL to visit more cousins. Pics to come!

as always, 

ashley 

LS becomes an Allen :-)

We are finally at the end of the adoption. Lilly Scott Allen is our pride and joy :-)
The Tuesday after Easter, my parents came to be a part of a special event for our family. We so appreciate the love and support of Nana and Paw Paw's presence with us on this special day.
After court, we ate brunch and came home for an egg hunt.

Our Easter

We went to Murfreesboro for Easter this year. We had planned and prepped for a spectacular holiday with family and friends and Aunt Dee's cooking :-)
Our plans were rocked when Lilly Scott ended up with a 104+ fever. We took her to a walk in clinic that was open (the day before Easter, mind you), and when the nurse practitioner walked in wearing a surgical mask, I about lost it. Turns out poor LS had flu B and strep. She was devastated, and I just wanted to make her better.
We decided to go home to minimize exposure. I cried, Jordan kept all of us together and Mac and Paisley were clueless. Before we left Uncle Larry brought us food to enjoy at home, and we were on our way.
The next day we spent quarantined at home. It was sad for us all, but it is what it is. No one was to blame- it just happened. We made up for Easter a few days later... See the next post :-)