11 months

Yes, I am finally blogging her 11 month post 2 days before she turns 1.  Better late than never, right!?!  Moving on..... :)

Miss Priss turned 11 months old the day after her first Thanksgiving, which she totally enjoyed!  Baby girl loves to eat!  And she really loves table food, but it does not love her.  :(  She spits up like crazy if she gets more than 3 or 4 bites of table food.  But she does great with baby food.  Doesn't spit up at all.  I'm gonna talk to the doctor about it at her 1 year check-up.  I'm pretty sure we will just have to slowly ease her into more table foods.

And is she ever living up to her nick name.  :)  She is super sweet most of the time, but the girl definitely has a feisty side.  I mean I'm sure you could never imagine a certain sweet baby girl saying "ugh" and hitting her mama in the face because she didn't get what she wanted when she wanted it.  I mean. never!  :)  And for the record, she totally knows what no, no means whether she wants to admit it or not.    

And boy does she have a mouth on her!  Oh my!  She has no less than 10 consistent words, used in the right context.  She cracks me up.  She has got mama, dada, more (which she says once and if she doesn't get immediate acknowledgement begins to yell over and over), bye-bye (while waving with 2 hands), hi (while waving with one hand), uh oh, ow, hello (while talking on her play phone), yay (while clapping her hands), and hey (when she wants your attention).  Like I said, she doesn't have any attitude at all.  :)

The girl's balance is great!!  She has been standing on her own for a while.  She can even squat down and pick something up and stand back up great.  But she has NO interest in taking steps by herself.  She will hold one hand, but she isn't letting go.  Every time I try to let go, she drops to her knees and takes off crawling.  And looks at me like this is much faster.  Walking will come in time, and I'm sure I will want her to go back to crawling.  So, I am definitely not trying to rush things.  I know she will do it when she decides she wants to.   

Miss Priss has 8 teeth.  Whew.  That wasn't fun for either one of us.  But she looks so cute with her toothy smiles.  :)  And she loves to crunch her puffs in her front teeth.  I think she likes the sound.  Ha!  I fully expect for teething to get more dramatic the older she gets.  I mean I wouldn't expect any less.  :)

She makes a lot of cute faces.  I love her sideways-grit-her-teeth smile.  It cracks me up....like everything else she does.  :)  I promise though, if you spent much time with her you would feel the same way.  She pretty much wins over everyone she meets.  :)  I'm sure I don't feel that way just because I'm her mom.  Ha! 

Girl does NOT like cold.  She doesn't like the cold weather and she definitely does not like to be cold.  And she tells me all about it.  No exaggeration, the first morning it was really cold outside and I got her out of bed in the morning and took her straight outside (still in her pjs, yes I'm that mom) to take her big brother to Pre-k.....she hit at the air and said "ugh" then screamed and proceeded to throw a "sissy fit."  All I could do was laugh.  And absolutely nothing was wrong, except it was cold.  I thought it might have been a fluke, but no, she has done that multiple times since then.  Needless to say she has enjoyed the warmer weather we have been having.  Silly kid!  :)

Oh, and speaking of words, she totally said thank you at supper tonight when Joe handed her a sweet potato fry (1 of her 5 bites).  I thought I was hearing things until Big Brother said "Sissy just said thank you, mama, sissy said thank you!"    And Mister Mess said "Thank you??? Sissy, mama???"  Ha!  If he picked up on it, I'm pretty sure it was a real word.  Hopefully that will be word number 11 soon.  :)  It was super cute.....of course!

She really loves having her own room.  She usually doesn't even want to be rocked to sleep.  Sometime she lets me, but I think I enjoy it more than her.  Ha!  She likes me to lay her flat on her back with her pacie (don't even remind me that we are saying bye bye to pacie after Christmas...) and her favorite blanket that her Memama crocheted for her.  I have to pat her head and tell her night night and I love her (forgot one time and she "ugh"ed at me when I closed the door...really) turn off the light and close the door.  And that's it.  Do you know what a production it is to put her 2.5 year-old brother and her almost 5 year-old brother to bed???  I'm hoping it stays this way for her, but I'm not holding my breath.  And she usually goes to bed around 6:30 or 7 and I wake her up at 7:30 the next morning to take her brother to pre-k.  And she usually takes a 3 hour nap during the day.  Girl likes her sleep!

She has had 2 experiences with Santa and did great both times.  She LOVES the Christmas tree.  So glad I decided to put it in the front living room (where we never go) becaue I'm pretty sure it would not still be standing.  She loves Christmas lights.  And she loves her red shoes which she gets to wear a lot because they match most of her Christmas outfits.  (Which she has at least 15 of.  :))   

And Miss Priss LOVES to dance......which makes her mama so proud.  Anyone know of a good dance studio in Conway???....just kidding....kind of.  :)  Every time she hears music she starts shaking her booty.  Sometimes she dances so hard she falls down!  Ha!  The kids have a stuffed Santa that when you push its hand it sings and dances.  She adores it.  And really breaks it down for Santa.  :)  She also adores Mickey Mouse Club House and Sesame Street.  They make her dance, too.  And until we went to Shreveport for Christmas with my sister and her family and I rode in the back seat with her for 4 hours, I had no idea that she dances in her car seat when a song she likes comes on the radio!  Ha!  Crack me up!  

And since she learned to wave and say hi and bye bye she says it to everyone no matter where we are or if she knows them.  And by golly you better pay attention to her because she doesn't stop.  Friendly baby girl.  :) Oh, and another thing she said today and I almost died was "bow"!  I'm not even kidding.  She touched the bow on her head and said bow!  It sounded more like ba, but I know that is what she meant!  And what made me think of that is everyone always comments on her bows after she persistently tells them hi until they listen to her.  But I mean really, how could you miss them.  We like big bows at our house! :)  

She is getting a little more hair.....or maybe I just want her to have a little more hair??? Ha!  It is getting darker and darker.  Not a blondie like her brothers.  I still can't believe sweet baby girl will be one in one day and one hour.  It just doesn't seem possible!  

I'll be back soon (hopefully sooner than later) with her 1 year post.  I am LOVING planning her first birthday party.  Can't wait!

Rae

8, 9, and 10 months

Here I am...behind again!  I decided I better get busy on this before month 11 gets here.  Month 8, 9, and 10 have been busy months at the Hooker House and for Miss Priss.

To be very honest,when Miss Priss turned 8 months-old we were not sure if she and her brothers would be living with us anymore.  (You know I can't (wouldn't) go into detail :) )  I think it is pretty obvious how that turned out.  :)  But, I was (am still) so thankful that taking time away from her to blog just didn't seem right.  :)  But I know that one day I will be so thankful for these monthly updates, so here goes 3 months in one.....

Miss Priss has had quite a few firsts in August, September, and October.  She had her first sibling professional pictures made.   And, they turned out wonderful and are now hanging all over our house.  :)  Poor baby girl was tired and we couldn't get a smile for anything.  But they are wonderful pictures anyway.  A few weeks ago, we had family pictures with Joe's sister, husband and my niece and nephew done.  I haven't seen them yet, but I just know they will be awesome!

In August she went on her very first vacation and stayed in a hotel for the first time.  She did awesome!  I'm pretty sure we will be returning to Branson very often.  We loved staying at the Hilton Branson Landing and shopping and eating of course.  She did so good sitting in the big girl high chairs at the restaurant.  :)  She also rode in an umbrella stroller for the first time.  She LOVED it!  In the double stroller she sits in the back.  She liked the umbrella stroller because she can see so much better!

Miss Priss experienced her first ASU football game and loved every minute of it.  She has now been to 3 games.  I'm pretty sure she is a fan for life!!  She also went to her first UCA game.  It was pretty uneventful and she told me she really prefers the Red Wolves.  :)  (Don't get me wrong, we are unbelievably grateful for Joe's job, but I just don't think I'll ever be a UCA football fan.)  Miss Priss loved meeting some of my DZ sisters at Homecoming.  She already bleeds pink and green.  And she told me she loves turtles.  :)  She also loved meeting a ton of our friends.  She is also a fan of spending the weekend at Nanny and Poppy's house.  

Miss Priss also got to experience her first Halloween.  She was the cutest Princess Leia ever!!  (Her Daddy's request of course.)  We had a great time at the church carnival, ASU Beebe, Mrs. Betsy's house, and FUMC Beebe's Trunk-or-Treat. We are so glad we got to hang out with my friend Marianne and her baby girl, Ruby Grace, sissy's future partner in crime.  Better known to Mister Mess as "Woo Boo Gace."  He has a slight obsession with Woo Boo Gace.  But that's a whole nother post.  :)  Poor girl was worn out the next day.

Miss Priss also got her first top tooth.  This makes tooth number 3.  She happens to be getting 5 more top teeth.  We don't get just one tooth at a time around here.  Miss overachiever.  :)

At 8 months-old Miss Priss started crawling like a mad woman.  She is every where and into everything!!  A few days after she crawled, she was pulling up on everything!  She has really good balance and can lower herself back down to sitting very well.  After she started crawling, she protested the exersaucer, the high chair, the swing, the "anything that wasn't on the floor crawling!"  :)  And when I say protest....I mean LOUDLY protest.  

Another first are her sissy fits.  And believe me, sissy fits are much worse than hissy fits.  :)  Only those who have experienced one can truly understand.  Ever see a 9 month-old throw a 2 year-old throw your head back, kicking, screaming, biting, hitting, all out fit??  Well, if you haven't you are welcome to come enjoy the show anytime.  Sometimes it is really hard for me not to laugh.  Sometimes it makes me dread the terrible 2s.  :)  Or the teenage years.....we don't even want to go there. 

Grandmama, better known to Mister Mess as Memama, also spent a month with us because she hurt her hip.  Not fun circumstances, but we are super glad she got to stay with us and sad to see her go.  Even though we are glad she is better!!  Miss Priss (along with Mister Mess) are super fond of Memama.  Miss Priss even let her put her to sleep more than once.  And that is huge by the way.  :)

Miss priss is talking SO much.  She has got mama, dada (sometimes daddy), ut-oh (her fav), hi, and babababa (bottle) down.  She sounds JUST like Mister Mess.  It is precious.  And she really is a sweet sweet baby!  (If she isn't throwing a fit, aka you do what she wants.)  She loves for her mama to hold her.  She will hang out in my lap for quite a while.  She gives the best open mouth kisses and hugs!  Sometimes she just needs her mama time.  :)  

We are very very thankful that Grandmama got Miss Priss an early Christmas present.....the Play Yard!  Here is a link:  Sissy's Play Yard.  This play yard is the only way I am getting to blog right now.  :)  She loves it!!  We put a rubber ABC mat under it so she is safe on our wood floor.  It does in fact take up a huge part of our living room, but I am totally okay with that!  It makes her a happy girl which makes me a happy mama.  I love knowing that she is safe in there.  She does like for me to come in and play with her sometimes.  She even requests her daddy to join her sometimes, too.  

Another huge step is that Miss Priss's bed is now in her room.  Yes, she is sleeping in her own room for the first time in 10 months.  :)  I do miss having her in our room, but she is doing great!!  She slept all night the first night.  And except for her bad teething night has slept all night ever since.  Now, this means that the boys are now sharing a room.  Lord help us!!  :)  We have only had 2 rough staying up past midnight playing nights.  Oh my.  One night Mister Mess (usually the instigator in this situation) slept in Miss Priss's bed in her room and we set up the pack-n-play in our room for her.  I haven't been brave enough to take down the pack-n-play because I'm afraid I'll have to drag it out again.  :)  We have a monitor set up in their room so we can listen to the parties they have.  :)  They really have done WAY better than I expected!!  And it is nice for her not to wake up every time I get out of bed to go to the bathroom.  :) 

Miss Priss had a great time at the pumpkin patch.  She LOVES being outside!!  She also loved carving her first pumpkin.   That is also an outside activity which didn't hurt anything.  And she had an awesome time at her cousin Darby's lady bug 1st birthday party yesterday.  I just know that they are going to be BFFs for life!  :)  I really wish I could show you guys some pics.  Precious!!

Miss Priss also understands what no,no means.  Does she always listen, well no, but she does know what it means!  :)  Usually when I say "no,no sissy" she will look at me and grin.  If I have to say it again she grins and dances.  Like you know I'm too cute to tell me no.  :)  I have to admit it is pretty precious.  But I try my hardest not to let her know that.  The other day I had to tell her no 3 times before she stopped hitting me.  Yes, you read that right.  And poor baby girl's lip popped out and she cried tears.  I broke her heart and I wanted to cry, too.  How does a 10 month old know to hit when she is mad????  Oh my, we are in for it. 

Miss Priss has also decided just this morning that it is cool to stand by herself.  ;)  I'm not ready for this!!

We are also in full 1st birthday party planning mode around here.  I am super excited!  Since her birthday is so close to Christmas, we are going to wait until the Christmas/New Years craziness is over before we have her big party. 

Hopefully I'll be back on November 21st to do her 11 month update on time.  A girl can hope.  :)

Rae

I Didn't Mean To....

Take an almost 2 month break from blogging!  I guess I just need to except that as much as I would like to be, I'll never be a regular blogger.  Just a Random one!  :)

I really need to do Miss Priss' 8 and 9 month updates before I forget everything, but tonight I think I'll just do a short update on all 3.

Miss Priss is becoming as big of a mess as her big brother.  :)  She is every where and into everything! She is crawling, pulling up, and cruising.  Her favorite game is picking up the tiniest pieces of stuff off the floor and putting it in her mouth.  So not cool.

I also was not aware that 9 month-olds were capable of throwing a 2 year-old fit.  But, if you ever wondered, they are.  :0  She arches her back.  Throws herself back.  Screams. Kicks her feet.  Hits.  Flaps her arms up and down.  Yes.  2 year-old fit.  And actually most of the time it is amusing and I end up laughing at her.  I know, I know....I'll regret that when she really is 2.  But for now it is pretty funny.  And you might wonder what would bring on one of these fits??  Well, number 1 is taking something that she has but probably shouldn't have away from her.  Oh my.  Number 2 is not feeding her at the exact second that she feels she needs to eat.  :)  And, I would say number 3 is when she wants her mama NOW.  She actually meant she wanted me 10 minutes ago.  ha!  Well, and she really doesn't enjoy being any where but on the floor crawling and pulling up.  That includes her bed, the high chair, the exersaucer, the swing, my arms....you name it.  I think I might have an independent diva on my hands.  And I love it!

And, she now has 3 words.  Mama, Dada, and ut-oh.  :)  The first time she said ut-oh might have been when Mister Mess was getting in trouble.  :)  I'm pretty sure she already knows when the tone in my voice changes and "the look".  It was pretty amusing and VERY hard not to laugh.  Mister mess stopped what he was doing, looked at me and said, "Sissy ut-oh, mama.  Sissy ut-oh!"  Like he couldn't believe she just said that.  It was pretty cute.

Speaking of Mister Mess he is definitely living up to his nick name.  That kid keeps me laughing.  Now that Big Brother is at Pre-K during the day, Mister Mess is talking more and more.  Big Brother might like to talk a lot and it might be a little hard for Mister Mess to get a word in sometimes.  Well, most of the time.  :)  I am loving our conversations.  I love the way he says pre-k, and that he asks everyday where his brother is.  Over and over.  And I really don't mind at all because I get him to say Pre-K and it makes me laugh.  I love it that he asks where daddy, memama (his word for grandmama aka my mom), nanny, poppy, pa-piesh (Percie), and meow (Ellanore the cat) are every day after we drop big brother off.  I love it that he is obsessed with putting "gash" (gas) in the car and asks every single time we pass a gas station.  And he thinks we should wash the car at every car wash we drive by. And that we should stop at Sonic and get "daddy's juice" for daddy every morning. And that we need "saushage" (sausage) every morning from McDonalds.  I have to admit that I give into that one more than eny of the others.  :)  

I love it that he now asks for what type of "juice" he wants:  bim (milk), chocket bim (Chocolate milk), wawur (water), appu juice (apple juice), and juice (he means lemonade but I can't get him to say this one.)  :)  He also requests appu sauche (apple sauce) multiple times a day.  But I don't mind saying no multiple times a day because I love the way he says it.  And, I'm pretty sure his favorite food is still "peas."  He requests peas every day for lunch.  :)  I love it that he loves nap time "with duck duck and blankish."  (his stuffed duck and his blanket)  He adores reading books before he goes to sleep.  There are 5 that he insists on reading every time.  But some how he snuck another book in his room and I noticed there are now 6.  :)  He adores "boooooks."  He also adores his big brother and does absolutely everything his big brother does.  Which may or may not be a good thing.  Well, most of the time I'm leaning more to the may not.  

Big Brother has come a LONG way since he got to come live with us.  I absolutely adore this kid!  But man can he push my buttons.  :)  And man does he know it.  Pre-K is going much better than school has ever gone for him before.  And for that I am very very thankful!!  He was blessed with an absolutely wonderful teacher.  And he really LOVES to learn.  He could only count to 4 and could not sing his ABCs right when he came to live with us.  It took me 2 days to teach him to count to 20.  And about a week to sing the ABCs.  Now he can recognize A, B, C, 1, 2, and 3.  And he can write all of them.  And I can't take credit for any of that.  He adores doing his homework from Pre-K and I hope that never changes!!  He will work really hard for a long time.  And asks every night if he has homework.  :)  

He is still in outpatient speech therapy, but recently tested out of Occupational Therapy.  He is just doing SO good!  He is such a smart kid and his self help skills amaze me.  He likes to have my company, but he really doesn't need my help to get ready.  Well, except for tying his shoes and spiking his hair.  :)  He can undress, dress himself (including socks and shoes), put his dirty clothes up, brush his teeth, brush his hair, wash and rinse his own hair and totally wash himself in the bath tub, dry himself off, and put on his own lotion.  He doesn't need me anymore :(  and he is so proud of himself.  :)

The longer he lives with us the more comfortable he gets and the funnier stuff he says!  Ha!  I love "don't freak out, mama but...", "I've got this", "Nevermind, I'll deal with it", "Really, Sissy?  Really, Sissy?"  While holding his nose "Brody pooped".  :)  I love it that he undresses from the waist down to use the bathroom and hold his own nose while doing so.  Ha!  And I'm sure he will love it one day that I shared that with the world.  :)  I also love his prayers every night.  He likes for me to help him think of things to pray for.  I've stopped giving him ideas because I want him to have to think.  So when he gets stuck he looks up at me and says "I'm thinking really hard, but I'm not thinking of it."  Ha!  His prayers are precious.  I love it when he prays that he can make good choices tomorrow.  :)  (because some tomorrows he needs all the help he can get)  He definitely has his challenging moments (like most kiddos), but is definitely worth every challenge. 

This kid LOVES TV and games!  His reward if he makes good choices is to stay up after Mister Mess goes to bed and watch TV.  I try to limit his TV because he is such a junkie!  Ha!  The kiddos are going to be Star Wars Characters for Halloween, but he had no clue what Star Wars was.  (Joe requested the costumes because Star Wars is his fav)  So, Joe and Big Brother have been watching Star Wars and he LOVES it!  He asks a ton of questions and wants to know every character's name.  He is now very excited to be Darth Vader.  :)  He also adores the Homeward Bound movies.  And usually has to watch a movie more than 1 time because he runs in the other room to tell me what is happening and ends up missing part of the movie.  :)

And in case anyone was wondering or had any doubt, I am loving staying at home!  I can't imagine doing anything else right now.  I stay unbelievably busy and wouldn't have it any other way.  And poor Mister Mess is pretty sick right now and it was so nice to be able to take him to the doctor today and not have to worry about missing work today and for a week to stay home with him.  It was also awesome that Joe took off work to help today so I didn't have to take the well one with me!  Thank you, Daddy!!  I am not sure how single parents do it!  

December 5th is a pretty important day for the kiddos and prayers are much appreciated!

And if you are still with me, you deserve a reward!  I'll try not to go that long without blogging again!

Rae

Miss Priss' Room

I have had the best time putting Miss Priss' room together!  I think her girly room fits her perfect!

I'm sure you remember from my previous post about the boys room, that Miss Priss does not actually sleep in her room, but I have high hopes that the boys will be sharing a room before they are teenagers so that MP can sleep in her own room.  :)

So, here is her bed in our room...

My mom made her bedding, and I love it!

I love her bed!  

I love that her bed matches Joe's Grandma Blanche's rocking chair.  The night stand was my Aunt Claire's when she was a little girl and then mine.  It hasn't always been yellow.  Of course I painted it.  :)  I think I may be addicted to painting things.  And MP has two closets.  How fitting?!?

This yellow dresser was also my Aunt Claire's and then mine.  I love the way her changing table turned out.  My MIL and FIL found it for me at a flea market and I painted it turquoise.  Did I mention an addiction?  :)  The sun that you see on the wall was black and the chandelier that is now pink was also black.  

 And I finally finished redoing her bow holder!  I like the way it turned out.  And yes, she needs this many bows!  :)

This is behind her door when you first walk in her room.  The shelf has a few of my things from when I was little on it including these ceramic little yellow birds that I was obsessed with!  Ha!  The pink canvas was painted by Miss Priss herself.  :)  And you might have figured out that her name starts with an M.  This rack is very handy to hang all of her bags on.  (I took them down because some of them might have her name on them.)

This is the sunshine mobile that I made.  Let me just say that it was MUCH easier than the elephant one.  Ha!  And these are the 2 canvases that I made.  

I even painted the inside of all of her drawers turquoise.  All of the knobs came from Hobby Lobby.  Well, and a lot of the stuff that is on the walls also came from Hobby Lobby.  I love that place!

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Miss Priss' room!  

I felt like I was never going to get it done, but I am so glad I did!  I adore it!  Well, and I adore her, too.  :)

Rae

Update on Mister Mess

First, I finally painted the dresser in Mister Mess and Big Brother's room!  I love it!

Mister Mess, the 2 year-old, is saying and doing the funniest stuff every day and I don't want to forget any of it!  So, I decided it was time to make time to write it all down.

He is loving staying at home, and is becoming pretty attached.  He really does not like it if I leave a room without him.  He will look at me with those big blue eyes and say, "I walk, mama."  That means he wants to come with me.  Sometimes he randomly says, "I walk" and he will walk around the room or the house.  Ha!

He has also learned the word cold and uses it correctly often.  He LOVES "ICE."  I think it is just because he can say it is cold!  :)

He also is requesting "breakfast" every morning when I get him out of bed.  All food used to be nom nom.  Nom nom was VERY cute, but I'm glad that he is learning that food has different names.  He often requests "beans", "peas", and "fries!"  Ha!  He says lunch sometimes, but still calls most meals "breakfast."  Ha!  I guess it is his favorite.  I love it when Joe fixes something for him to eat and he says, "this nummy, daddy!"  

He also loves to sing and just makes up his own songs.  One of them often says, "no more sissy, no more sissy, no more sissy, sissy all gone gone, all thru the town!"  LOL!!  Do you think there might be a little jealousy there!?!  And he LOVES wheels on the bus.  That is where the all thru the town came from.  :)

He goes to Physical Therapy twice a week.  His PTs name is Hannah, but he calls her Hanny and I think it is super cute!  One day when we got home and he was eating lunch he said, "Mama, ball Hanny.  Woah Woah Hanny!"  Ha!  I asked her and she said that she had put him on the big exercise ball!  Smart boy!  That was the first time that he told me about something that happened when I wasn't around.  

So the days of Big Brother getting away with doing something to MM and MM not being able to tell me what happened are over!  :)  Don't get me wrong, MM does his fair share to BB, but BB has always been able to tell me what happened.  Now MM can, so there are always 2 sides.  :)  The other day I was talking to BBs Occupational Therapist outside the car.  I got in the car and MM was crying.  I asked what was wrong and he said "BB, hair, ow, ow hair."  And he acted like he was pulling his hair.  I asked BB if he pulled MMs hair, and he looked at me totally shocked and said, "yes ma'am."  I don't think he knew what to do!  Ha!

This might be a little TMI, but it really made Joe and I laugh, so I want to remember it.  MM said "church" for the first time this morning.  After lunch I changed his diaper before I put him down for a nap.  When I layed him down, he said "I poop."  I am trying to teach him the right words so we can start potty training.  So, I said no, you pee pee.  He said, "I poop at church.  No, no, mama.  I poop at church."  And, he had in fact pooped while he was at church in the nursery and they had to change him.  Ha!  This is really one of his first sentences to put together.  And it really made us laugh!

Poor guy has bad reaction to mosquito bites.  I have some prescription cream that I have to put on him when he gets "bug bites."  He is learning his parts of his body by where is "bug bites" are.  Ha!  He now knows "arm," "leg," "neck," "back," "feet," "cheek," "booty," "belly." LOL!  Poor guy.  But at least he is learning I guess.  It just kills me though.  His brother and sister can be in exactly the same place for the same amount of time and he is the only one that gets "bug bites."

Another one of MMs new favorite words is "boooook."  And yes he draws out "boooook" just like I typed it.  :)  He LOVES to read "booooooks" every night before bed.  His favorite book is Barnyard Dance.  He adores his "duck duck" and there is a "duck duck" in the book so he was hooked immediately.  :)  He likes the "horsh," "piiiig," "chishen," "cat," and "gog" best.  

Speaking of "gogs," MM has always called Percie "arf."  We have been working on him saying Percie, but it comes out much more like "pa-piesh."  :)

Since MM likes to follow me from room to room and is crazy active, when I am putting clothes away or getting Miss Priss dressed he likes to sit in the rocking chair and "I rock."  He loves to "I rock."  I definitely encourage him to "I rock" since it keeps him busy.  :)  It has started to back fire on me a little, though.  Joe or I usually rock MM before we put him to bed at night.  He rarely goes to sleep.  Right before I put him in bed, I usually ask MM for a kiss.  A few weeks ago I asked for a kiss and he said, "no, no mama.  I rock a mama.  I rock a mama."  :)  So, we might be rocking a little bit longer most nights.  But that's okay.

Another favorite is "here, mama."  When I hear "here, mama" I never know what MM might be handing me!  :)  (and it sounds a little more like heeweere than here.  lol)

Two more of his sayings that make me laugh and shake my head at the same time are "I see" and "I know."  For example, Me:  Watch where you are going, MM.  MM:  "I see."  (Imagine that with the attitude of a 14 year-old.  It definitely helps me see what the future may hold.  ha!)
  Me:  We don't hit our brother.  MM:  I know, mama, I know.  With the same amount of attitude.  We are working very hard on yes ma'am instead of I know.  :)

MM adores his "daddy!!!!"  He says it with that much enthusiasm every time he says it.  It is precious!

I also find my self saying things to MM that I never really imagined I would say.  Like, get your tooth brush out of your ear, Get that dorito out of your ear, don't put the cheese in your hair, get your foot off your sister, don't kick your plate, no touch Percie's eyes, etc.  :) 

We really enjoy having this fun 2 year-old at our house!!  September 12th is a big day in these kiddos lives.  Of course I can't (and wouldn't) go into detail on here, but please keep them in your prayers.

Rae

Lately

I have been a horrible blogger! There are SO many things that I do not want to forget!! But I especially don't want to forget this past week, so I will start there. 

Last Friday, my nephews Logan and Braden came for their annual week long visit. I always love having them come for a visit!  This year it was very different having 3 little ones. We had a blast!!

We started our week out at Joe's family reunion at the Spring River. We had a great day! But it did help me to remember why we have not been camping with 3 little ones! :) Joe took big brother, Logan, and Braden trout fishing. They all had fun! And, Logan caught his first trout! We played and swam in the cold river all day. Miss priss even loved the water!

On Sunday, Joe took big brother, Logan, and Braden to Play World in Conway. They had a great time playing all the arcade games. They also went to eat Chinese food which is always a hit! 

On Monday we went to Wild River Country. We all had a great time! Big brother went on all of the big water slides with Joe, Logan, and Braden! I am so proud of him! Miss priss loved the water!! I think she had even more fun because the water wasn't cold. :) Mister mess went down the duck slide no less than 100 times! Ha! I'm thinking that we may need season passes next summer! 

Then, on Tuesday Grandmama took us to build a bear. It was the first time for all 3 of our kiddos! And they ALL loved it! Sweet big brother insisted on making his sister her own build a bear, so she got a bunny with a pink dress and silver shoes. It fit her perfect! The lady who was filling the bears let big brother and mister mess put hearts in miss priss' bunny. :)  When her bunny was all done she gave it the biggest hug and kiss.

After build a bear we ate at On the Border which was a huge hit!  Especially for Mister Mess who ate salsa by the handfuls!  Ha!

Mister mess picked a "horsh" of course! If you are not sure what horsh is, it is horse in mister mess language. :) With some help from Joe, he picked out an ASU Red Wolves shirt , shorts, and some black shoes for horsh. I had NO idea that mister mess would enjoy build a bear as much as he did. Horsh has now joined duck duck in his crib and has also become a sleeping companion. :)

Big brother picked a monkey. He picked out a red and black football jersey, football pants, a football helmet, and cleats for Monkey. I think I forgot to mention that mister mess named his horse, horsh. Ha! And big brother named his monkey, monkey. How original! :) I knew big brother would LOVE build a bear, and I was not wrong! His new monkey goes every where with him! Grandmama was so sweet to think to let big brother get glasses for monkey just like his. Big brother loves monkeys glasses. He takes them off of monkey and puts them by his bed with his  every night. And I have to clean monkeys glasses just like I clean his every morning! :) Monkey even traveled to the zoo with us today so he could "meet the real monkeys!" 

On Wednesday we traveled to Harrisburg because one of my sorority sisters who is a photographer was doing some mini sessions and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get some great pictures of these 3 sweet kiddos. Don't worry, Logan and Braden got to stay home with Uncle Joe and play NCAA 13 on the play station 3. They had no complaints! Ha! I can wait to see the pictures!  I know they are going to be great!

Thursday Grandmama took Logan and Braden home.  Sad day!  Big Brother was very sad to see them leave.  We had a pretty normal day.  These kiddos were worn out from all of our fun activities so we rested a lot.were all so happy to see them. 

On Friday Christy, Corbin, and Carson came to visit!  We went to CFA for lunch and some play time.  They all had a great time.  We even got some ice cream before we left.  I can't believe we stayed there for 3 hours!  Time just flew by.  Then they came to our house to play for a little bit.  It was such a great visit!

Saturday we were just planning on staying at home.  It is Joe's last weekend before college starts.  He has a super busy weekend next weekend.  I decided to go to McDonald's to pick up some breakfast.  When I walked outside it was SO cool.  It felt great after our very hot summer!  So, I checked the weather on my phone and saw that the high was going to be 90!  That is so much better than our average temp of 110.  So, I went home, woke everyone up, and we went to the zoo.  I'm so glad we went.  It was a great day!

Big Brother had never been to the Little Rock Zoo before, so it was a great experience.  The Little Rock Zoo has been known in the past for not having many animals to see, but not this time!  We saw both of the elephants, both of the giraffes, the tiger, the jaguars, the cheetahs, the penguins, the spider monkeys (known to big brother as the spider man monkeys!  ha!), all of the bears, the otters, the rhinos, lots of different birds and water fowl, the apes and some smaller monkeys.  She howler monkeys are the only animals that we did not get to see.  They were definitely howling, but "would not come out of their house."  It was an awesome day and I am thinking that Zoo Passes maybe in our near future!  (I got some great pictures.  I really wish I could show you!)  It surprised me how much Mister Mess has grown up since our last zoo trip with him.  He really had a great time!  Miss Priss even loved it.  She just loves being outside.  I put her on my shoulders and she giggled and giggled!

 These sweet kiddos are not going to know what to do this week when we have a boring week at home!  Ha!  A big thank you to Grandmama for making it possible for these kiddos to have such a fun week!

Rae

7 Months Old

I really can't believe that this baby girl is 7 months-old!  

I also can't believe that she has her 1st tooth!  It is one of her bottom front teeth.  She was a little clingy/cranky, but did not have a lot of the typical teething symptoms.  She does slobber a little, but nothing like I've seen other kiddos do before.  She does chew on stuff a lot.  And Thursday night she ran a low fever.  Then Friday when we were on our way to visit Joe's parents I found her tooth!!  

She is also sitting up on her own very well.  She rarely falls over when it isn't on purpose.  Now that she can sit up she does not want to lay down.  She has given up laying in her bath tub.  If I lay her down she grabs both sides of her tub and pulls herself up to sit again!  Ha!  I've got to get her one of the seats that suctions to the bottom of the bath tub so she can sit up and play in the water.

She also holds her bottle all on her own now.  She is getting so independent!  She has learned how to raise the bottle up to get every sip out of it!  Ha!  And she still gets super mad when her bottle is all gone.  She is eating 1 baby food fruit, 1 baby food veggie, and cereal everyday along with her formula.  Her little belly isn't a big fan of food so we also had to add 3 ounces of apple juice to help her out.  She LOVES it! 

I know she is going to start crawling any day!!  And she talks all the time.  I am waiting for that 1st official word.  I don't think it will be long at all.  

She and Percie are BFFs for real!  It cracks me up.  They really adore each other.

She is sleeping about 8 to 10 hours at night and she takes 2 to 3 naps a day.  Some mornings she takes a short nap, then a 3 hour nap in the afternoon when her brothers are napping :), and usually a 2 hour nap at night after she finishes eating.  Her nap schedule is very convenient for her mama!  Ha!  At night we are able to give the boys a bath, play with them, put Mister Mess to bed, and clean up after supper before she wakes up. 

She is such a cuddly baby!  Even when she isn't tired.  It is so sweet!  I still adore her hugs and kisses.  She squeals and giggles all the time. 

She usually goes to sleep really easy.  She would probably always go to sleep on her own in her bed, but sometimes I like to hold her.  :)  Laying her down is super easy.  She never wakes up.  She most definitely always has to sleep with her blanket and pacie.  Speaking of her pacie, she can pull it out of her mouth to cry and maybe be a little dramatic and then put it back in her mouth when she is ready.  Mess. 

But when her pacie falls out of her mouth at night and in her sleep (her eyes are always still closed) and she decides she wants it back, I have to help her out.  She can't seem to put it back in her mouth by herself then.  :)

And, she does not have any more hair than the day we met her.  :)  So, if you have ever seen her, her hair looks exactly the same, even if it was 5 months ago.  Ha!  I keep telling her she will have hair one day.  She sure does love mine!  She is an awesome hair puller.  She is SO good at grabbing those little hairs that hurt really bad when pulled.  :)  Good thing I usually wear my hair pulled back.  She gets SO excited when she sees me with my hair down.  Ha! 

I am amazed at how fast she is changing.  I think she does something new every day.  I'm not so sure how I feel about that.  :)

Rae

The Boys Room

I think I will give this early morning before the boys wake up blogging thing a try.  I have WAY too many projects to do during nap time to have time to blog then.

The boys room was the first one I finished after we moved in.  It was the easiest because I used all the same stuff from their old room.  I had just finished their old room a few months before we moved.  This time you will notice that the one thing missing is the stripes.  I decided against them this time.  They were a booger to paint!  

*Be prepared for picture over load!*

This is to your right when you first walk in the door. I have plans to paint this chest of drawers.  I think that the room needs more ice blue, but I don't think that would grow with the boys very well.  (and I dont want to be repainting this dresser every time I redo their room!)  I had decided to paint it red because I think that would grow with them.  But there is so much red in this room! So, I'm pretty sure it will be painted green very soon.  Stay tuned to see if I change my mind again.  :))

The TV is not even plugged in.  Ha!  I am thinking about just storing it for when they get older after I paint the dresser. 

I still use the changing table for Mister Mess right now.  But, he is working very hard at learning to dress himself, so it may not be there long.  I have got to have a picture taken to put in that big frame!

Big Brother's bed is definitely staged for this picture!  He has 2 other blankets and quite a few stuffed friends that he insists on having on his bed.   But I can pretend that this is what his bed looks like every day.  :)  (And there is a reason that the mobile is hung above his bed.  We will get to that in a minute.)

And this is where Mister Mess' bed would be if the boys were able to sleep in the same room.  :)  The boys really do have a great time together.  They especially have a great time getting in trouble together.  And MM isn't quite old enough to reason with yet.  Big Brother totally understands the rules, but when MM does not that poses a bit of an issue.  I have high hopes that by Christmas they will learn to sleep in the same room.  But, for now Miss Priss' bed is in our room and MM's bed is in Miss Priss' room.  He told me he doesn't mind all the pink because the lights are off when he is in there and he can't see it anyway.  :)  If I tell him to go to his room, he goes to Big Brother's room.  If I tell him it's time to go night night, he goes to his sister's room.  See, he totally gets it!  ;)

There are a few pretty special things in the boys room, and this is definitely one of them.  (You can read about when I first did the room here:  The Room )  My very good friend, Marianne. had this painted for us, and I love it!!

This shelf is also pretty special.  Well, not really the shelf, but the stuff on it.  The books and toys were mine when I was a baby and the football players were in Joe's nursery.  The baby shoes were my dads.

And here is MM's bed in his sissy's room.  :)  And his bed was definitely staged for this picture.  He has several things he insist on having in his bed.  

One of which is "duck duck" as shown in this picture.  They say you always lose something when you move, and this time it happened to be duck duck.  I just knew he would be sad!  But, he only asked about him a few times and slept just fine without him.  All of the boxes are unpacked and duck duck has still not been found.  Crazy!  Well, I was at target one day and I saw a new duck duck!!  He doesn't look exactly like the first duck duck, but he is very close.  When I got him out of the sack, MM looked at him, grinned from ear to ear, and screamed DUCK DUCK!  Ha!  He gave him a hug and a kiss and you could not pry him out of his arms!  Now when we rock him to sleep at night duck duck has to rock, too.  And he insists that you give duck duck a night night kiss, too.  :)

I just realized I forgot to take a picture of their closet.  Big Brother is still asleep so I am not going to do that right now, but I'll add a picture of the closet later.  

Hope you enjoyed the first of many room tours in our new house!  Hopefully I will be able to finish a few more rooms and give you a peak.

Rae

What Has Percie Been Up To?

Why in the world did I think I was going to have more time to blog when I was home?  And how in the world did I have time to work?  :)

I know you guys have been wondering what Percie has been up to!?!

She is loving our new house.  There are many more places she can hide from the kiddos.  :)  She LOVES her new backyard.  The squirrels love to tease her from the huge old trees.  I am pretty sure they throw stuff at her on purpose.  She has plenty of space to run and she loves that!

She also loves going for walks on campus.  She told me she prefers when I leave the kids at home with Joe and just take her.  :)

She has decided she does not mind sharing a bath tub with the kids.  Especially since I usually wait until they are in bed to give her a bath.  :)

And don't worry, her wardrobe is not hurting since we have to buy clothes for kiddos now.  She has her very own closet in our new house!  I love having a place to keep all of her stuff!

She has decided cleaning up the floor of the dining room after we finish dinner isn't so bad either.  Ha!  She has also decided that Miss Priss is her new BFF.  She comes to tell us immediately if she starts crying.  She also loves to sit on the couch when I am holding her.  Miss Priss definitely shares the love.  She tries to kiss Percie with her mouth wide open and it cracks me up!  I have the cutest picture from yesterday that I wish I could share.  Miss Priss fell asleep on her boppy pillow on the couch next to me.  Percie layed down on the couch and put her head on the boppy right next to Miss Priss and they both slept.

She has also decided that Big Brother isn't so bad.  He stays up after Mister Mess and usually watches a movie.  Percie jumps up on the couch and sits in his lap.  And, she usually goes to check on him when he is in time out.  :)  Makes me laugh.  He knows he is not supposed to play in time out, so he will look at her and say "Percie, I'm in time out.  I can't play right now."  HA!  He is not supposed to talk either, but that makes me laugh every time.  She thinks if someone is sitting on the floor, they are sitting there because they want to pat her.  :)

She is scared to death of Mister Mess.  If he is around, you will either not be able to find her or she will be shaking like a leaf!  I mean, I can't say that I blame her.  He is pretty rough with her, but we are working on that.  :)  And she looks at him like he has lost his mind when he licks her.  Yes, you read that right.  We are working on that, too.  :)

She LOVES it that I am home all day, but she is not so sure about the kids being home all day.  Ha!  We were making a family trip to Sonic the other night and were going to take her with us.  She LOVES to ride in the car.  We all got in the car and I looked at Joe and asked where Percie was.  He didn't know.  I went back in the house and she was on our bed stretched out!  Ha!  I'm pretty sure she was glad we were taking the 3 and leaving.  She did not want to join us.  So we left her at home so she could have some peace and quiet.  She used to always be the first one at the door when I grabbed my keys, but not anymore!  I think she is happy to see us go.

I am very proud of her.  Her whole world changed when we welcomed 3 kids in 4 months into our home.  She has handled it better than I ever thought she would.  She has never growled or shown her teeth or anything at any of the kids.  I am so thankful.  We do not have near as much time as we used to to sit and pat her, but she is learning to be more independent.  Thankfully.  Not sure if I could handle 4 making every step I make all day.  :)

So, even though Percie has to share her time with her mom and dad now, I'm pretty sure she loves having the company.  At least 2 out of the 3.  :)

Rae

The BIG 2!

I cannot believe that this big boy is 2 years old!

I really wish I could share some of the pictures I took yesterday.  We had a great time!  Joe's parents came for the weekend.  They did some work on Grandama's house on Saturday and then came to spend the night with us.  It is so great to have the space that they can do this.  They have not spent the night at our house in 7 years!  We had a great time.  Sunday morning mister mess woke up around 8.  I made a big breakfast and he loved it!  Of course we had some of his favorites, grapes and bananas.  Then we just stayed home and he and his brother enjoyed playing with their toys.  They had a great time.  They really enjoy playing with Nanny and especially Poppy.  If I have heard Poppy once I have heard Poppy a million times!  Ha!  And I love it!!  I am so glad they have him!

Then Daddy grilled hot dogs (another favorite) and we had cheese puffs for lunch.  Well, and ketchup of course.  This kids will eat ketchup on anything!  Ha!  And you will usually catch him eating just the ketchup with his fork.  Yuck.  But he loves it!  Grandmama brought some cupcakes, so we put 2 candles in his and sang to him again.  He kept looking at us like we had lost our minds!  It was pretty funny.  But he does enjoy blowing out his candles and he devoured his cupcake.  :)

Then he opened his presents.  He REALLY enjoyed the play vacuum cleaner that Grandmama got him!  I think I have talked about this kids obsession with all things cleaning before.  It cracks me up!  And I love it.  We have a rug in our living room.  A black rug.  I pretty much need to vacuum it daily.  (notice how I said need, not that I do) I will never buy a black rug again.  Anyway, Mister Mess put his vacuum cleaner on that rug and vacuumed the whole thing for me!  (maybe he has seen that a few million times!  Ha!)  Too bad his vacuum cleaner doesn't actually vacuum.  ;)

He is doing so well!  He is super smart and so much fun!  I am pretty sure he is the funniest kid I have ever met.  Especially when he gets in trouble.  It makes it very difficult!  :)

He is still refusing to say that he is 2.  He says nee which means three.  He does try really hard to hold up 2 fingers and gets so excited when I help him.  But, he likes to count, so I think he just keeps going.  Since I say 2 he says 3!  Ha!  .  So, when I say "Mister Mess is 2.  You say 2."  He says "nee."  Me:  "No, two."  Him:  "NEE!"  Me:  Not three, two."  Him:  "NEEEE!!"  Me:  "One, two.  Mister mess is two."  Him:  Nodding is head yes, "NEEEEE!"  Me:  "Okay."  LOL!!  I have given up on that one for now.  We will work on it again soon...

Mister mess is either going at top speed or asleep.  We laugh about how much sleep he needs, but it is because when he is awake he never slows down!  :)  He loves his "beep beeps"  and "balls."  They are definitely his most favorite toys.  And like I said before, he loves all things cleaning.  Brooms, mops, dust pans, vacuum cleaners, rags, you name it!  Ha!  We have to keep everything put up in a closet that he cannot open.  He loves it so much I would love to let him play with it, but it is just gross!  Ha!  I just can't let myself.  I am shopping for him his own kid sized broom and cleaning set, but I haven't found one yet.  He also can't stand for things to be out of place and he especially doesn't like when his big brother leaves stuff on the floor.  A boy after my own heart!!  :)

He is talking a lot.  We hear new words daily.  But I am a little worried that his speech is not right on target for his age, so we have scheduled a speech therapy evaluation.  Much better to be safe than sorry.  I would much rather him get help now while he is young!  I have no doubt that he understands everything we say, but he might need a little help learning to say things himself.

His personality is precious!  And I can't get enough of his laugh!!

Mister Mess,

Daddy and I have loved every minute that we have gotten to spend with you!  You have brought so much laughter to our family.  We find ourselves asking each other often what we did before we had you.  We have loved watching you grow and hope you continue to grow and learn more everyday!  Thank you for providing us with much entertainment!!  We love you with all of our hearts!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

SIX Months

Yes, you read that right.  This baby girl is 6 months-old today!!  I can't believe it. 

She is growing and changing so fast.  Last time we went to the doctor she weighed 18 pounds.  She is so stinking cute!

She adores eating rice cereal.  She still cries when it is all gone!  Well, she cries when her bottle is all gone, too.  So she likes to eat...there is nothing wrong with that!  Ha!

I don't have all of her stats because her 6 month appointment isn't until July 9th.  I'll have to blog them after we go.  I just know she is going to weigh 20 pounds and we are going to be looking for a new car seat.  Like I said, growing way too fast!!

She loves laying on the floor and playing with her toys.  She rolls all over the place!  And she definitely has her favorite toys and spends much more time playing with them. 

She can sit alone for a few seconds before she throws herself backwards or falls forward trying to get her toes.  Speaking of toes, she still adores her toes! Ha!  I painted her toe nails for the first time this week with Piggy Paint.  Too stinking cute!

I waited until she was asleep, but it was still a challenge because she is so ticklish she kept waking up!  Ha!  But, I did finally finish. 

Her spontaneous hugs and kisses are precious!!  Some how she usually manages to reach around my neck and grab those little bitty hairs around my hair line and pull me close and cram the back of her pacie (because it is usually in her mouth) in my mouth.  Ha!  It is so sweet.  I love it when she totally catches me off guard.  

I think she is developing a little stranger anxiety.  They had school pictures done at her school this week and she would NOT smile for the camera.  She was hungry, so I thought maybe if they fed her and then tried again after I left (she does love her food) that they might be able to get her to smile.  But they had NO luck!  Her teacher (who we absolutely adore!!) said she was smiling all the way down the hall, but when that strange man (the picture guy) started talking to her and trying to get her to smile she would only frown at him.  Ha!  Such a mess!!  Because anyone that has met her knows she smiles all the time.

She still adores water.  I am pretty sure I get much more soaked giving her a bath than either one of her brothers!  Ha!  She splashes and kicks the whole time she is in the water.  And, she adores the wash clothe.  It makes trying to wash her with it a bit of a challenge because she spends the whole time trying to take it away from me.  Mess!  And if I give her her own wash clothe and try using another one she will drop the one I gave her and still try to take the one I'm using away!  It makes me laugh!

She "talks" all the time!  No more taking her in places where you have to be quiet.  :)  She can make tons of noises now and even mimics the noises I make.  And she is very ticklish!  She loves for me to tickle her belly and she will throw her head back and laugh.  Her laugh sounds just like her brother!

She has the funniest facial expressions.  And sometimes her different cries make me giggle.  It is so easy to tell what she is thinking.  Her "you broke my heart" cry is so sad and maybe a bit dramatic.  :)  I'm afraid we might have a drama queen on our hands.  You can tell her "I'm hungry" cry because you know she means business and nothing but putting a spoon or bottle in her mouth will make the cry stop!  Ha!  She has started fussing just a little bit sometimes when she is sleepy, but it usually doesn't last long.  

She is also reaching her arms up when she wants picked up.  And after I unbuckle her she pushes herself up the the car seat for me to pick her up.  Smart girl! 

I can't wait to start feeding her baby food.  I just know she is going to love it! 

And, I can't wait to stay home with her and her brothers every day!  Yes, next Friday is my last day of work and I will be a stay at home mom!!  I never thought it would be something I would want to do or ever be possible, but never say never.  I know we are going to have the best time.

So, now maybe I will be able to blog a little more consistently.  We will see!

  

Circus Party

Time Flies!

Time definitely flies when you are having fun!  So many things have happened since I last updated.  I really don't even know where to start!

Miss Priss is doing great!  She turned 5 months-old.  She got tubes in her ears and except for the current strep throat that has attacked our whole family, she has been healthy.  She is still the happiest baby!  She loves to be talked to.  And she definitely carries on a conversation with you!  She is giving more and more kisses and hugs.  Another big milestone is we stopped swaddling her at night.  She gets so cold so I was worried about not swaddling her because I do not feel comfortable putting her to bed with a blanket.  I do not mind at nap time because I am awake and can check on her.  But I knew I would not be able to sleep well at night worrying about her.  So, I still put her swaddle blanket on her, I just don't put her arms in it.  So, she is basically swaddled from the waist down.  The first night of that did not go so well because she kept waking up cold.  Like waking up every hour crying.  So, at 4 am I finally gave in and covered her up with her blanket on top of the swaddle blanket.  She grabbed her blanket and brought it right up by her face.  Then she flipped over on her side and went right to sleep.  Ha!  And slept until I woke her up.  So, since my mom crochets, I decided to use one of the more holey blankets that she had made for miss priss to cuddle with at night.  So, I still swaddle her from the waist down and give her the crocheted blanket.  She does the same thing every night...grabs the blanket with both hands, pulls it up by her face, flips over on her side, and goes right to sleep.  It makes me giggle every time!  I don't worry about her because the blanket is very loosely sewn and she can get plenty of air.  And I guess it is warm enough for her.  Ha!

Mister Mess is doing great!  We are having his birthday party tomorrow!  I can't believe he is almost 2!  He is talking like crazy!  I think he has a million new words every day.  Well, maybe not that many, but you get the point.  My most favorite of his new words is "A boo baa, mommy."  Just in case you are wondering, that means I love you mommy!  Ha!  It took me forever to figure out what he was saying!  He had been saying it A LOT and then that night I was rocking him to sleep.  He looked up at me and patted me on the arm and said "A boo baa, mommy" in a very sweet voice.  So I said I love you, too, and he smiled very big!  Finally!  Whew.  That was a tough one to figure out.  So of course now I get "a boo baa" when I ask him if he wants to go to time out.  He is a smart little toot.  One night I was rocking him to sleep and he said "A boo baa, daddy.  Night night, daddy. A boo baa, Daddy."  That is a pretty big sentence for a kiddo who was only saying one word at a time not long ago.

We have also gotten child #3 since my last update.  Yes, you read that right.  There is a child #3.  He is Miss Priss and Mister Mess' 4 year-old brother.  We are so happy to have him!!  He is such a cutie!

I love watching him interact with his brother and sister.  The two boys are trying to learn how to live with each other again.  They have not been in the same home together for quite sometime, so there have definitely been adjustments.  But for the most part, I feel like he has adjusted very well.  He LOVES living with his brother and sister.  He is going to the same child care center as the other 2 and loves it!  He has a very sweet nature and is very smart.

Other big news since my last update is the Joe got a new JOB!  In another TOWN!  So, we MOVED last weekend.  I mean, we haven't been busy at all...get a new kid one week, move to Conway the next week, and plan and have a birthday party the next week.  No big deal, right!?!  ;)  

We adore our new house!  It has so much more space, which is exactly what we needed with 3 kiddos!!  We, with the help of family and friends. have totally repainted the inside and done a few small jobs on the outside.  We definitely have more projects to go, but have already come so far.  This was definitely a very different move from last summer!   I had the whole apartment packed up with boxes labeled weeks before we moved last time.  Not so much this time.  I did not pack one box until the night before we moved.  We were still throwing stuff into boxes as it was being put on the truck.  Oh my.  Joe, my mom, and my friend Michelle packed a lot on Thursday and Friday, but throwing 3 kids and all their stuff into the mix made this a very different experience to say the least!  I am definitely not complaining, just saying how different it was.  But, us and all of our stuff made it, and that is the most important thing!  

Last year, after the first week of living in our new apartment I had everything hung on the walls and curtains hung and all the boxes unpacked, etc.  Not so much this time!  Ha!  But it will get done.  Eventually.  Percie loves her new backyard!  I can't wait to get out there and work on it some and get it looking just the way I want it!

One last story before I go.  I am still working at my same job and the kiddos are still going to their same school.  We figure the less transition at once, the better.  But, that means an hour commute one way for me and 30 minutes for the kids.  Not sure how long this will last!  Ha!  (I am driving an SUV with a third row seat now.  So, big brother sits on the third row seat and mister mess and miss priss sit in front of him on the 2nd row of seats.)  So, one day last week on our way home, Big brother was rolling up and throwing the long strap from the back on mister mess' car seat over into his car seat.  For whatever reason, both of them thought this was hilarious and were belly laughing.  Whatever keeps them happy during the drive.  :)  Mister mess is definitely in the "MINE" stage.  So, Joe and I find ourselves saying "not mine, say please" a lot.  I have never gotten mister mess to say please.  Well, Mister mess would start his "MINE MINE MINE" and then I heard his big brother say "Mister mess (he actually said his name) say please, not mine"  and then I hear the sweetest "Peas, big brother" (He actually said his name).  REALLY?!?  I have been trying for months to get this kid to say please!  Ha!  So, over and over on the way home that day it was "Peas, big brother".  At least Mister Mess has continued with his "peas" and not refused to say it for us!  

That was just a huge example of how much big brother listen to what Joe and I say and how mister mess loves to impress his big brother!

Hopefully it won't be so long before the next update!