Sweet Baby Girl, I can't believe you are 1 and what a fun day we had sharing this day with you! It was so great to be able to have LR's birthday back home in Alabama with family and friends! And no better way to celebrate than with a 16' waterslide for the kids, a BIG OL' BBQ lunch and cake and ice cream for dessert. I'm so truly thankful that God has blessed us with this sweet, sweet surprise and I can't imagine our family without her!! Happy 1st Birthday LR! We love you so very, very much!!!!

A Birthday for ME?......You shouldn't have!! The Cake Happy Birthday to Me! Not Sure About this..... Let me taste and see.....

Yea.....I like it!!!!! Already A Purse Girl! Sweet Love! Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!!

Too long of a while since my last post! Can't believe all I have missed adding to our blog!! Things have been so exceptionally busy that "the blog" has been the last thing on my brain. So, since I have so very much to catch you all up on I will begin with my back to blog land entry today! I know, I know, your so very excited right! Well, stay tuned cause lots has been going on in this crazy house of 5!!!

I figure no better way to begin than where I left off a year ago......The first day of school! I now officially have a Fourth and First Grader. Where in the world do these years go and why do they keep getting faster? Please, I beg of you to slow down years, cause this mama is having a hard time keeping up! The kids did great on their first day. I was a little worried since we had moved (more info on that in the upcoming days) and they would be beginning a new school. But these two never missed a beat. So proud of these 2 out of 3 kiddos of mine!

Not the best pics of their first day but this precious moment was captured none the less.





While I'm at it, here is a current pic of LR who, as you can see, is quite mobile these days. This morning, while in the shower, I came out to find just how busy my sweet surprise has gotten! Cute as a bug, isn't she?!





Hope to catch you all up soon!

I can't believe how big my babies are getting! One of my favorite things to do is to look back over old photographs from school year to school year and see how much the kids have changed. Although, my heart saddens a bit to know that eventually my babies will be all grown up and the school pics will stop, I wonder when they are in college how they will feel about mom taking pics of the first semester of each year? Hopefully they won't be too embarrassed!!

As each year marks a new stage of life for my sweet babies, this year was especially a momentous one and a little bitter sweet as my precious Hadley is starting Kindergarten. She was so very excited about going to her Brother's school and being with him every day. Although, I'm not too sure that Cooper was as thrilled as Hadley was, at the idea of having his little sister tag along every morning! I, on the other hand, wish that the past 5 years could have gone by a little more slowly. She is such a special little girl and I will miss having her as my daily sidekick and partner in crime!

As for Cooper, this year adds a whole new perspective. For being in the third grade greatly marks the "YEAR OF RESPONSIBILITY", literally. What an adjustment this will be, afterall, it's really hard not to want to do everything for your children and much harder to teach them to do things on their own. I'm sure that many prayers will be said as we go through this year of transition from "dependability" to "responsibility" and that many tears will be shed as my realization that my baby boy is getting one step closer to being his own, responsible individual that needs his mommy a little bit less.

Our precious baby girl has arrived! Lilly Rae decided that she didn't want to wait until August 11 and decided she would make her presence on July 31, 2009. After being in labor since 2 am Friday morning, Lilly Rae arrived at 5:49 pm weighing 7 lb 6 oz, 19 3/4" long. She is adorable and we are so excited that she is here. She is the sweetest surprise ever! Cooper and Hadley are loving her and literally smother her with their love! We thank God for our sweet little surprise and can't imagine not having her! Welcome to the world Lilly Rae! We love you more than you know!!

Here are some pics of Lilly Rae's sweet room. I had so much fun doing her room especially seeing how she is my last baby and since I haven't worked in a long while it was fun to put my interior design skills back to work! Hope you all enjoy!!

Some of my sweet friends got together and gave Lilly Rae and I a baby shower at P.F. Changs. We had so much fun and Lilly Rae received lots of sweet gifts. Thank you girls for showering me with love and presents. God has blessed me with your friendship and I love you all more than you know.

Some of the gifts for Lilly Rae

Wow! So it has been a LONG while since I have added an entry. Things have been really busy lately with the end of the school year, baseball and trying to get things ready for Lilly Rae to arrive, so I will try and give a recap of what has been going on since my last entry.

We have finally drawn the school year to a close. I can't believe that Cooper will be going into the 3rd grade and my sweet baby girl Hadley will be starting Kindergarten. Wow, how quickly the time flies. I miss my babies being babies, although Nick is quick to remind me that we do have one more on the way!

The summer has been busy so far with Cooper playing All Star Baseball. Seems as though we haven't had one free moment since All Star's began. He has had practice about 4 nights a week and we have tournaments every weekend which we have had on average about 4 games a weekend!!! It has given the title of "Worn Out" a whole new perspective! Nick and I thought we were busy before but now I don't think we ever really knew what busy was. Cooper and his team, The Knights, have been an awesome group of boys! Never once in this 100 degree heat have I heard them complain. They never want to leave practice and always want to play more ball! What stamina and love for baseball these boys have!!! My Cooper is playing 2nd base and I have to say is the best little second baseman around! I also have to say he is quite the little intimidator on the field. He loves psyching out the runners when they try to steal a base and challenges the defense to come get him when he is stealing bases himself! We are so very proud of him and are thankful he has had this opportunity to play All Stars this summer! Go Cooper and Go Knights!!!

Hadley on the other hand, bless her little soul, has lived at the ballfield! She has been a little trooper and actually gets upset if we miss a day at the ballfield watching Cooper play. She loves going and playing with her friends and of course going to the concession stand! It's a shame they don't offer concession stand stock options!!! Even though Hadley has had to live at the ballfield cheering for her brother, she has had her moments of glory this summer. She had her big K-4 Graduation! It is still hard for me to believe that she is going to be in Kindegarten and I hope I survive the day I have to take her on her first day! She has turned into quite the little swimmer and would live at the pool if we let her. One day out of the blue she decided she wanted to get her ears pierced, so away we went! Talk about a momma being proud of her baby......she hopped up in the chair and never flenched!!! I on the other hand had the water works going!!! I couldn't believe my sweet little baby was turning into such a big girl! And to top that off she then decides the next week that she wants to get her hair cut! And oh, how cute she looks with those pierced ears and that bob of a haircut! My little girl is growing up right before my eyes!!!!

Now for Lilly Rae! I can't believe that in about 8 weeks our newest addition will be here. We are all getting so very excited about meeting her in person. She is very active and seems to move all the time. A couple of weeks ago we went for a 4-D Ultrasound and it is so funny that she looks exactly like her brother and sister. Same nose and same lips! She is adorable, as you will see, and I can't wait to see her little personality. She is, at 33 weeks, a whopping 4 lbs! The sonogram tech says she is a big girl!!! Looks like Lilly Rae may take after her daddy, who was 10 lbs. when he was born!!! We have couple of more ultrasounds coming up to keep an eye on this chunky monkey to see just how big she will be.

Thanks friends for letting me update you on the family and I hope I can do a better job on keeping you all updated. In the meantime enjoy the random pics I have added below! Hope you are all having a great summer! Much love from all of us!!!