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 

July 4 Weekend

My mom, the kids and I drove to Hartselle, AL Saturday morning. We visited first and second cousins, aunts and uncles. The kids cousin was there too, and I loved watching them interact. I keep thinking how special these pictures will be to them when they're older. 

My aunt and uncle went down Friday morning and set up shop on the land in their camper. My dad (Paw Paw) came down Saturday night. :-) 

The rain caused us to postpone our trip a day because several roads were flooded and detours hadn't been marked. 

My first cousin and her husband built a gorgeous home on 7 acres of land. Only about 2 acres are cleared, and the house, barn, chicken house and yard area were a perfect getaway for us. 

All three kids loved the chickens. Mac was into the chickens themselves, and LS was into the egg laying. 

My cousin- DeLaura- and her husband built most everything themselves. She even designed the house plans from scratch, and it's pretty amazing. 

This barn swing was quite a hit. 

Richard and DeLaura's road is on a flood zone so the bottom of their road floods with springs that drain into the Tennessee River. We walked down the road, and muddy bottoms were inevitable. Everyone had a good laugh when the kids refused to walk around the puddles- they walked straight thru them. 

Wesleigh got the award for the best print on her tush ;-)

Now for the road spring...

Mac rode the 4 wheeler, Lilly fished in their pond and Paisley was free to roam and discover. 

After this morning's play and muddy britches removed, the cousins enjoyed the front porch swing. 

Busy and memorable holiday, and we are so glad to be home! We missed Jordan, but we are excited to all visit the family again soon! 

as always,

ashley 

June Dollywood Weekend

We went to Dollywood last weekend with Carsen and Bailey. On our way we got a flat tire. Boo. Poor Jordan had to put on his AAA hat and change the tire in our 'bus.'

After we got to Gatlinburg at about 10, we crashed. All of us... We had to be rested for the next day!

Dollywood bound!

The kids loved the playground and fountains- my kids can't be in wet clothes. They take off their clothes when water is involved. They actually tried to remove diapers too. That's how we roll. 

We went to dinner at No Way, Jose's. haha. It was delicious! Someone was quite a fan of the salsa... She's so my child. 

On our way back to Chattanooga, we dropped off Carsen and Bailey. Aunt Deb had a BBQ lunch waiting for us. Yum. 

It was a family gathering with aunts, uncle, cousins and (great) grandparents. 

We love our family time!

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