Princess Tea Party

The Children's Ministry team at our church had the sweetest tea party for girls ages 2 through 5th grade.  It was one of those events where you just dropped your jaw at the amount of time and effort that went into to planning it and getting ready for it.  They did such an amazing job with it and everyone had such a great time!!  

When we first got there the girls got to go to a hat making station where they picked out what they wanted to go on their hat and some ladies glued it on for them.  

The hats that they made for Emily and Hannah.  The girls have loved playing with these hats this week.  So cute.  

Then they went over to a dress up station and got to put on cute jewelry.  

Then the photo booth.  Hannah's expression in this picture makes me chuckle. She was very serious, but there was a lot for a 2 year old to take in.:) 

The food was amazing and they served us at our seats.  So sweet.  And check out the watermelon in the shape of a teapot!  

The cute tables.  SO much work went into this event.  

Me and my girls before lunch.  

We got to sit with our friends Tam and Jenna.  Jenna is about 3 hours younger than our Hannah Beth. They were both Valentine's babies.:)  

After lunch and before dessert Mrs. Kristen brought all the girls up to the front and talked to them about what it meant to be a Princess of the One True King.  She did a great job!

One of the ladies made these paper cups for the girls that they got to fill up with candy and take home.  These cups were adorable and surprisingly sturdy.  Again...I was impressed.    

The candy table.  Yum.  

We have some talented people at our church and they literally thought of everything.  We had a great time and we are so thankful for the hours and hours of hard work to make this tea party so memorable for the sweet girls in our church.  Very thankful!  

Sesame Street Live

A few months ago my mom asked my sister and I if we would like to take the kids to Sesame Street Live in September.  We both said that it sounded fun!! We took Emily two years ago (when she was 2) but Hannah and Jacob had never been and we knew they would love it!  

Taking it all in.  The kids actually got to touch Zoe...they were soooo excited!!  

Emily was pretending to sleep for the picture.  We didn't get a picture of Claire but she was there (passed around so all 5 adults got to snuggle with her) and seemed to really enjoy herself.  

The three big kids!  Can't wait till Claire and Baby Sanders ( Katherine due Feb 17th, which was also Hannah's due date) get to jump in the picture with them!:)  

It was a FUN morning!  Thanks so much, Mimi!  

Grandmama's Birthday

Grandmama and Pawpaw came up a few weekends ago to spend time with us and hear Bert preach.  It was a huge bonus for us that it just so happened to be Grandmama's birthday, so we got to celebrate with her on her actual day.  Emily was in charge of the party planning and I must say she did a great job!  

It was a fun birthday celebration and a great weekend!!  Emily and Hannah literally just light up when they get to see Grandmama and Pawpaw.  Grandmama read countless books to the girls and brought a bag full of clothes for them (on her birthday).  No surprise though...she's a giver.  We love y'all and we're very thankful for both of you!!  Happy birthday, Grandmama!!  

Claire - 8 months

Claire's 8 months now.  She couldn't be any more cute or cuddly if she tried.  She's hasn't started crawling yet, but she's soooo close.  She gets in the crawl position, puts one knee forward and then just lunges for whatever she's wanting to get to....then she repeats.  Ha!  Just take my word for it...it's cute. 

We've started bathing her in the yellow duck.  She's loving having a little more room to play and splash.  We love that when she falls over the duck catches her.  Win, win for everyone.   

We're slowly introducing some solid foods.  She's really not a big fan  yet.  She's makes quite the face when we put a puff (or anything other than baby food) in her mouth.  Then she usually spits it out.  Bert assures me she's going to catch on soon.  

I dropped her down from 5 feedings to 4 feedings a few weeks ago.  It was more traumatic for me than for her.  She didn't seem to notice or care.  I, on the other hand, got mastitis two days after I dropped a feeding.  I then had to go on a 10 day antibiotic.  (That would be round 3 of mastitis while nursing Claire if anyone is keeping track.)  Since the mastitis excitement I've had two plugged ducts.  I actually still have one now. Praying it won't turn into mastitis and that my body (which I've been told apparently only makes hind milk) will adjust to 4 feedings a day.  

We've seen no teeth.  Her hair is really getting thicker.  And she babbles a lot (especially in the morning).  

We love you Claire Kaylin Watts!  You make us smile.  

Snuggling

The big girls have been sharing a room together for about 4 months now.  They sometimes talk for a little while (or a long while...just depends) after we put them to bed (they don't sleep in the same room at nap time), but they pretty much stay in their own beds.  One night a few weeks ago Bert walked in to check on the girls and found them like this.  Hannah had crawled in Emily's bed.  We moved them back and didn't say anything about it the next morning.  

They haven't done it since, but it was so sweet to see them cuddled up next to each other.  They love each other.  

Family Picnic

We stayed in town over Labor Day weekend and had some great family time.  One evening we decided to pack a picnic and head down to Falls Park to take a stroll, eat dinner and then surprise the girls with letting them play in the splash pad.  

I was sitting on the blanket with Claire and Bert walked the big girls down to the water.  It was just so sweet watching them stand there together and talk that I had to snap a picture of them.  

Please take note of Hannah's cute expression and the lid in Claire's mouth.  I brought Claire other toys to play with (chew on) but she wanted nothing to do with those.  I tried to take the lid away when I was packing up our picnic and she literally went crazy.  It was a MAD cry.  Ha!  So, she won.  She kept the lid for the rest of the night ... until she dropped it in the parking lot as we were packing up the car.  It's fascinating to watch her communicate with us even before she can talk.  Cutie! 

We packed up our picnic and headed over to the splash pad area.  Unfortunately the splash pad wasn't running that night.  We just kept walking and said we hadn't gotten to our "surprise" yet. :)  We made a quick plan B and decided to get ice cream and everyone was happy.  Emily did ask why we brought towels, but we just pretended like we didn't know what she was talking about.:)  

It was a fun night!  

Daddy Daughter Breakfast Date

Bert took Hannah on a Daddy Daughter Breakfast Date a few weeks ago.  She got all dressed up and and was sooo excited.  They had a biscuit at Hardee's and then went to the store together.  

I love that Bert wants to spend one-on-one time with his girls.  All four of us.  We're thankful!  

Wordless Wednesday

New Swing Set

A few weeks after we finished our fence we got a swing set for the girls.  We had been saving for it and I must say that I feel like it's been the best $125 we have spent in awhile.  We are outside playing on it all the time.  All the time.  So thankful for it!!  

This was Claire's first time swinging and she was a fan!  She has a big smile on her face almost the entire time we are swinging her.

The picture below...with all three of my girls swinging just makes me burst with thankfulness.  I love being their Mommy.  

Hannah had a bit of a rough start with the see-saw.  She took a tumble off of it (when she decided to let go mid air) and has not wanted to get back on.  Just a couple days ago she marched over to the see-saw and said "I want to do the see-saw all by mySELF."  Haha...two year olds for ya!

As I was looking back at these pictures I noticed that Emily had her yellow skirt on in almost every picture.  That's because she wears it almost every day.  She usually picks out her own play clothes and as soon as I take the yellow skirt out of the dryer Emily is ready to put it back on.  She LOVES it!  

Emily and Hannah are doing such a great job swinging on the big girl swings, but they also both love to take turns swinging in Claire's baby swing.  We can push them super high and they don't have to hold on.  They tell us to push them as high as the trees.:)

We're just loving these last few weeks of summer before the cooler weather comes our way.  So so thankful for our swing set and all the great family time we've been able to spend together! Looking forward to much more!