Friday Pictures (I don't have any...)- October 19th is MY day.....and well, my brother's too...

I was going to scan a photo of my twin brother and I, and well, packing got the most of me last night.

And then I was too excited to sleep...

But, Happy Birthday to my brother Mike! And well, Happy Birthday to me too!

And if you are curious, we are 32 today. Kind of a whatever number. Not too exciting, getting further from 30, but not yet at 35.

And as I keep forgetting, Pam gave me this great award this week for “bloggers who are fun, cool, and of course Totally Fabulous!”

And you all are really fabulous, really you are. These people keep me sane with our daily email chats, and I am going to pass it on to:

SJ - My BFF from high school, need I say more
Edie - I couldn't make it through the day without hanging out with her and her beautiful daughter every day...
CPA Mom - give her some love, she's having a rough week
Happy Working Mom - I really, really need to meet this person!
Julie - Same goes for her, we really need to meet up!

And at Noon today, we will be heading for the great state of Florida. And I promise to bring you Live! Blogging! From Interstate I-95! As I pass out snacks, toys, and provide constant entertainment on what we hope will only be a 7 hour drive...

Check back later taters....

Everyone wants to know about the party...

If you recall, last week Ray flew to Denver on Wednesday. I was in operation single parent mode until Saturday morning. On top of that, we had friends coming from out of town Friday to stay with us, and it was Ashley's birthday. Friday I decided I would take the girls to get their pictures done and then off to a kids museum. We ran around like crazy all day on Friday. Our friends showed up and we had even more fun. But for the second night in a row, Ashley did not go to bed until well after 10:00pm. That did not bode well for her birthday...

For the first time in her life, Ashley slept until 8:45am on Saturday morning. We were up and out of the house around 10:00am to stop by our friends house and then off to Ashley's party. Ray had made it home around 9:30am (with the Harry Potter book AND a new skirt for me)(and no, I am not done with the book, I have kids/school/work that keep getting in the way), but he had been awake since Friday morning. One word - GRUMPY TIRED.

Everyone is asking me about Ashley's party. I had high expectations for it, and it didn't really live up to my expectations. The lady/owner that ran the party was sort of abrupt. She tried to get the girls to sip their tea and act all ladylike, and then she told the parents we needed to be quiet. I think the girls would have been happier just runny around playing. Then the girls played Disney bingo which tired Ashley was not interested in. They attempted karaoke, but none of the girls were really interested in that either. In the end, I think everyone had fun, I just wish it was done a little better, more geared towards four year olds.

After the party, we said goodbye to our friends who stayed the night with us and headed to downtown Raleigh. Ray's coworker and the lead singer of Kickin Grass was playing at a free concert in downtown called Raleigh Wide Open. Ashley is a HUGE fan and we knew Jamie was going to wish her Happy Birthday from the stage.

It was priceless. Right before one of their last songs, Jamie wished her Happy Birthday and said she was his biggest fan. The look on Ashley's face was great, it was a mix between happy, shy, excited and embarrassed. I just wish I had captured the moment on video.

Look for pictures on Friday...I have yet to upload the pictures from my camera. Damn Harry Potter.

Ashley Turned Four

On Saturday, Ashley turned four. In the midst of the craziness that was that day, I didn't post my usual post I normally do on the girls' birthdays. So I am doing it today...and I am doing it in sort of retrospect...

Leading up to your birthday, I was nervous that it was going to be a really hard day. I could not believe you were turning four. It seems like yesterday you were a toddler like Audrey is now, running around, laughing like crazy.

And the day came and went, and I didn't cry. Not until Sunday night late, when I realized you were no longer my little girl. Then I cried.

You tell me to leave you alone sometimes. You get upset and you will retreat to your room. I know you need space and are trying to work things out on your own sometimes. You are so much like me it's scary.

But...I really shouldn't cry. You are such a happy kid. You love your family, all the grandparents, all the uncles. You love your friends. There isn't a day that doesn't go by that you don't mention Hayden this or Hayden that, or you tell me that you had fun playing with Audrey and Avery at school. Because they are your best friends.

You smile that goofy smile and Ray calls you "Old Grey Tooth" since that front tooth is discolored from the trampoline accident. You constantly ask us to have dance parties in your room. God, I hope you learn to love music as much as I do.

And you and your sister...when you wake up before she does in the morning, you get so excited to go to her crib when she wakes up. Only you can make Audrey hysterically laugh and make that crazy face she does. At the dinner table Audrey copies every time you tilt your head, and you love watching her do everything you do.

And as much as you are like me, you are just like your Dad. You and Ray can spend hours together just being together. Your love for him runs deep, and I know you will always be a Daddy's girl.

You are so funny, you hate sleeping with a blanket or comforter on you. Every night before I go to sleep, I go in your room and cover you back up. And sometimes I do that a few times a night.

You love to snuggle and hate sitting on the couch without someone to snuggle with. If I lay in bed with you for a few minutes at night, you grab my arm and wrap it around you.

Your smile melts my heart. Your "I Love You's" melt my heart even more.

The Birthday Party Post

Yes, Ashley's birthday is a little less than a month away, I realize that. I tend to obsess about certain things, and the girls' birthday parties are one of them. Maybe, just maybe it's because I don't remember having birthday parties as a kid. (Please, parents, don't take offense, I am a well functioning adult without those parties as a kid). I don't remember one birthday cake, let alone any special presents I received. I do remember this one time going out to dinner at Chi-Chi's and them singing "Happy Birthday" over my fried ice cream, but that is the extent of my memory.

I want the girls to remember all their birthdays. I want birthdays to be a big deal, a day they look forward to for weeks. And I don't necessarily mean they have to get a ton of gifts and such, I just want to make the day as special as possible.

So Ashley's birthday is July 21st. I really wanted to do it at one of those inflatable jumping places like Pump It Up, but the closest one isn't really that close to our house. I thought about the cool parties I have been to here in North Carolina, like our neighbor's daughter's at the NC Museum of Science. But then we just did that in January, and to be fair to Ashley and her best friend, they have been there, done that.

I did go to a really cool princess party back in December, but it was held in my friend's house, and I just don't have that much room in my house, even for 10 girls to come in.

So I went on Craigs List about two months ago and found this place. How cool is this?? Princess stuff, a tea party, crafts and karaoke??!! Can I have my next birthday party there?? And why didn't I think of this idea first??

Pictures make me happy

Since Audrey is still sick and I am sick of saying the kids are sick and writing that the kids are sick, here are some pictures from last weekend that will hopefully cheer you up as much as they did me... The birthday girl did not want to get messy eating her cake...
This is Ray's brother Sean, who is EIGHT years younger than Ray...
Yes, I dressed the girls in matching shirts for Audrey's birthday party.
Audrey took a few steps in between Ray and my Stepdad Ed.
Audrey loves getting clothes for her birthday just as much as Mommy loves clothes! Let's go shopping!

Birthday Bashes and Wedding Bliss

I am back. From 4 straight days of non-stop going from here to there, birthdays to weddings, rain and snow and sleet and ice, I am EXHAUSTED. And so are the kids. And so is Ray.


Yes, Audrey is getting tubes in her ears. We took her to the ENT last Wednesday and even after being on Augmentin for 8 days, her right ear was still infected. So tubes on February 2nd. I will need guidance from all of you who have had this done.


And Audrey's birthday was great. We made it last all weekend long. Thursday, her actual birthday, we went to Ray's brother's house and had a cake. Ray's Dad decorated this cake (he is a bakery manager at a BJ's store).

Cool, huh? Way too much cake though. Then her actual party was today my Dad and Stepmom's house. Which, by the way, is on the market, so of course someone calls wanting to see it. We had a brunch for her birthday and the food was fabulous (thanks Diane!!). And my Mom made the coolest cake (it was a Baby Einstein theme party)...



The party started at 10:30am and around 11:45am my Stepbrother called to say it was snowing where ever he was and that pretty much cleared the house. Which was fine with us because we wanted to get on the road anyways. But that first hour of our trip home was a nightmare, snowing, slow, narrowly avoiding an accident (DO NOT SLAM ON YOUR BRAKES ON A BRIDGE WHEN IT'S SNOWING OR SLEETING). Sorry, just had to yell. I know the people who were in front of us most likely don't read this blog, but that makes me feel better. Phew.


Oh, yea, and a wedding. My Stepmom's niece got married. It was a beautiful wedding, very small, very elegant. But I think this little girl stole the show....



She's my Stepsister's daughter, Morgan and she's two and she was the most best behaved flower girl I have ever seen at any wedding. Really she was.


Audrey has her one year appointment in the morning, so I will catch up with everyone once I make it to work. Hope everyone had a great weekend....

January 18th, 2007

You were so different from your sister, right from the start. I had an extremely easy delivery with you to include comic relief from my OBGYN who kept having to leave the room to deliver other babies who were in worse shape than you. Your apgar scores were high, you cried like you should and you weighed in at eight pounds, two ounces. And you slept. Thank God you slept. The second night in the hospital you slept 6 hours straight. I didn't know what to do with myself. But I was scared and nervous and happy that you were in our lives. Another baby? I didn't know I could do it. But you made it unbelievably easy.

You love to be tossed into the air; you love yogurt and feeding yourself; you love cuddling in the morning; and you really love your sister. She does her "silly dance" for you almost daily and it cracks you up. She made it up just for you. You watch her and study her and want to be just like her. You two already make such great sisters.

You can say "bye" and "go" and "momma" and "dadda". You shake your head no when you don't want something. You reach for the ones who love you the most - all the Grandparents, your teachers at school, me, Ray. Your laugh is contagious. Most of the videos we have of you are of you laughing.

You love to be turned upside down. You will sometimes fling yourself backwards when we are holding you.

You love to sleep on your stomach, clutching a blanket. When I rock you to sleep at night, I always rock you just a few minutes longer, stare at you, brush the hair out of your face. I give you a quick kiss. I will miss you as a baby, but I will cherish watching you grow up just as I do your sister. I can't imagine life without you.

Happy First Birthday Audrey. I love you.