My baby boy . . . is 3!!

This week we had a wonderful experience! We celebrated Ayden's birthday. I don't think it's possible to celebrate one of your children's birthdays without reflecting on the previous years of their life. I was thinking about how excited I was to be pregnant and become a mother. When I went into labor with him I was so excited to finally meet this little guy. He was a dream baby. As an infant he hardly ever cried. He was always content. As a toddler he became a little more difficult (as most children do) but he has always been a sweetheart. He has a tender heart and he is a very affectionate child. He has started thoroughly entertaining us lately, which makes this whole parenting thing even more fun.

When he woke up this morning he came in our bed for a "lovin station". He asked for a story so I told about a little boy whose parents stayed up really late decorating the house for his birthday party. He was really excited when he realized I was talking about him. His face lit up when he walked out and saw this-

We had a blast with the balloons and Sophie's crazy hair! Of course, she loved it too! :)


As the guests started arriving, Ayden was all smiles. First up was pin the tail on the turtle. The kids waited patiently in line for their turn while Logan sprayed dots in their hair with green hair spray.


Next up was the turtle egg hunt. I found camo bouncy balls and we hid them in the yard. The kids had to crawl around like turtles and find the eggs.

The final activity was the turtle race. We set up a raceway on the side of our house and they had to race on their hands and knees for the finish line. By this point, Ayden was crying and didn't want to participate anymore. Thanks to some comfort from Nana, he joined us for the rest of the party.


We came inside for some lunch and to open presents. That was by far Ayden's favorite part, and is always my least favorite part. I can't stand the chaos. Well Logan came up with a system that proved to be very helpful! He set up some chairs and the child who's present he was opening got to come sit by him and help. The kids all waited patiently for their turn, it was a miracle! Best present opening yet!

The last present was a scooter from Mom and Dad! I think it was a hit!

After presents we had cake and ice cream. Yummy! I stayed up late trying to make the perfect turtle cake. Well, it's not perfect, but I think it turned out alright!


And last but not least. . . it was finally time for goodie bags and t-shirts! I know that's most of the kid's favorite part. They were really excited about the fun t-shirts that Logan made with a turtle and their initial on it. We got a group shot of all our guests in their new t's!

Top row: Bronson, Brandt, Sophie, Madi, Ayden, Bridger, Clara
Bottom row:Braden, Lauryn, Kathrine, Hadlee

It was a total success! I'm so glad Ayden had a birthday and was supported by all the people he loves. Happy Birthday my little tattie, I love you!

What would we do without cousins?

Ayden and Sophie are especially blessed with lots of great cousins. On Logan's side there are 18 and on my side there are 5. They get along with every single one of them too. For some reason Ayden and Connor (my sister's son) have always had a special bond. Ayden only gets to see him a few times a year, but he always remembers him. On our trip, Sophie and Abby got to form their own bond, and now they are little buddies as well.

We were so lucky to have this opportunity to go visit Laura in New York. They took such good care of us and we enjoyed every second of our trip. We made some great memories. So a special thanks to the Buchanan family for opening your home to us and showing us a great time on our visit! We love you guys, and we will always remember the time we came to stay with you.

Now on to the pictures. Unfortunately the battery on my camera died half way though the trip, but I think, between the 2 of us, we got some pretty good shots.

{The morning of Connor's birthday!}

{The very handsome new baby Andrew}

{Our three little guys}

{We put the binky girls in the crib together and they actually played for a little while!}

{Our costumes for the birthday party}

{We had a fun pizza/movie night after the birthday party!}

{Abby and Sophie took it upon themselves to clean up after the party}

{Our first stop once we made it to the city was at the famous New York Library}

{Ayden was a little more excited about going on the subway then Connor was}

{The cleaning sisters had a great time washing each other in the bath}

{On Sunday, Alan took Ayden and Abby for a walk to the park}

I know you are probably wondering who those gorgeous babes are? Oh ya. . . that's us! It's amazing that you can do with photo booth!

I love my sister SO much and I'm so grateful I had this opportunity to spend some time with her at her house. She always makes the trip out here to see us, and it was a really fun change to get to go there and be a part of her life. She is such an amazing example to me. She has three of the sweetest, most beautiful children I've ever met. I love her and I'm so glad she's my "big" sister.

PaRTy TimE!

We are having a blast here in Tuckahoe, NY with our fun cousins! They have such fun toys and the kids are loving their playmates. Sophie and Abby are so cute together and they are almost the same size.



Here they are in the bathroom after they got their hair done. They were the pony tail girls. On Tuesday we went to the park and the girls really enjoyed the swings. They sat there forever, and wouldn't let us get them out.


The boys wanted to be pretend elephants together so we whipped out some quick elephant ears for them. You wouldn't believe how much fun you can have with construction paper and staples!


On Wednesday we went to the Palisades Mall to ride the carousel and do a little shopping. We had a good time and the kids were actually pretty good. The boys really liked riding the Carousel and playing on the cars.

Sophie really liked the taxi cab. Check out that grin!

We thought everyone would fall asleep on the way home but the boys were talking in the back and kept each other awake all the way home! They are becoming really good buddies!

Ayden and Connor had a great time riding bikes and scooters today. Ayden got a kick out of the elbow and knee pads. He is also a big fan of the scooter!


Here I am with my "seester" and her new baby boy! I'm so glad I made the trip out here. Not only are the kids having fun, but I love spending time with my sister. I'm sad that we live so far away because I know we would have a blast raising our kids together. She's the best, and I really look up to her.

Leaving on a jet plane. . .

Well, my fellow bloggers, this is it. It time has finally arrived. I am heading out to . . . NEW YORK!!

I posted a few weeks ago about how my sister had her baby. Well, it's been a long wait, but we finally get to see that sweet little guy! And so tonight, I'm packing up my two crazy kids, and we are leaving on an air plane (I wish it was a jet plane cause it would be much faster!) and we are flying across the country to spend some time with our cousins. Ayden is so excited! He has a special bond with his cousin Connor, and they always have a good time. We are also looking forward to watching the girls play (my sister has a daughter that is 5 months older then Sophie). They are finally closing in on that age gap and I'm pretty sure they are going to have a blast together!

My sister is nice enough to let us stay at her house even though we will be totally disrupting her life. I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures and stories to share when I get back so stay tuned!!

Fun with aunt Jenny!

Over the weekend we had a fun visitor, (one of Ayden's favorites I might add) AUNT JENNY!! We always have fun with her! Nana brought her over around noon and we all had some delicious Cafe Rio together. Then when Nana had to leave we colored Jenny's hair and played with the kids. A little while later we headed to the mall to do a little shopping with the whole clan. (note: I said a little because with kids there you literally only get so much actually shopping in.) We game home and put the kids down so we could watch a movie.

Sunday morning Logan made us all breakfast, crepes with strawberries and whip cream. Yummy! Then we headed off to church where Jen got a good lesson in birth control. Trying to get a three year old and a 16 month to hold still for 5 minutes let alone for an hour, it's ridiculous. After church Logan made a delicious lunch for us, pasta and cresants, (have I mentioned how awesome he is?!) and we got to hang out for the rest of the day. She is so fun and has so much energy. The kids absolutely adore her and she is so good at focussing on them and spending time with them! We love you, Aunt Jenny! Thanks for the visit!

Moments of utter happiness. . .

Logan and I have been trying to focus more of our efforts towards our children lately. We have been trying to do better with bed time, reading to them, praying as a family, and doing memorable things together. Ayden is getting old enough to remember things and we want him to always remember that his Mom and Dad loved to spend time with him.

Last week we decided to surprise Logan and steal him away from work to go to the park for a picnic. While we were playing with the kids on the swings and laughing together I thought to myself, "this is what true happiness feels like and there is no where else I would rather be then right here with these people." It's the best feeing in the world and I am excited to spend more time trying to achieve that feeling.

I love my kids so much, it's amazing. I look into their eyes and I can feel my heart trying to leap out of my chest. What a special blessing it is to get a little piece of heaven here on earth.









There's nothing better than spending the day with the man of your dreams! I'm the luckiest girl because I get to have him for eternity!

Like mother like daughter

This morning I came out to see this. . .



Sophie reading MY book in MY reading chair! I guess she's seen me do that way too many times huh! I love this stage when they mimic everything you do.

It is so fun to see the things they pick up on!

Obuba, The Ultimate Nursing Cover-Up

Well, it's begun! The official launch of our new business. It's been a work in progress and I must say that most of that work was not done by me. Logan has put blood, sweat, and tears into this for the past year and it brings us so much joy that we are finally ready to move forward.

When I was nursing Ayden, seeing as that I am a dancer and am lacking in any sort of privacy issues, I would feed him anywhere and everywhere. I wasn't uncomfortable with it, but I'm sure it made others uncomfortable and I know it was hard for Logan. So with Sophie we decided to try something to help so that I could nurse where ever I wanted, and Logan could still be comfortable. There are a couple of products out there for this, but none of them were perfect. So we decided to take the good qualities from a few different products and put them together. And almost a year later, here we are. Our product is called an OBUBA. (pronounced oh-boo-baw) There are many different functions for your obuba, the main one, of course, being able to nurse in public. I gave one to my friend, Texie, 6 months ago when she had her 4th child and she says she doesn't know how she survived the other 3 without one. She never leaves the house without it!

So now that the website is up, the product is here, and we have the marketing in place, we are ready to get the word out. Please take a moment and check out the website. And if possible, email anyone you know that might be interested in looking at the product. It made a huge difference in my life, as it has done in the lives of many other mothers. I always say, I'll buy anything out there that will make this whole motherhood thing just a little bit easier, and this is a perfect example of that!

Evaluation period

Do you ever one of those moments when you realize you're not on track to becoming the person you'd like to be?

On Sunday I was able to listen to a man give a talk (because my kids weren't there) and thats when it hit me. I was extremely impressed with him. He was beaming with the spirit for one. Towards the end of his talk, he payed tribute to his wife saying that he would not be the man he is today without her help and example. At that moment I realized that I need to make a change. Somehow I've lost sight of the goal and I'm not moving in the right direction. My actions don't only affect me now, they affect my whole family, and especially Logan. It is my responsibility as his wife to be a good example as well as to motivate him to be better. He is already so awesome and I'm lucky to have his example.

I thought about it a lot after that and came to the conclusion that, I want to be great. There are so many people that I look up to that are great. They make good choices and they care about others. During this evaluation period I have recommitted myself to becoming one of these people. I'm so lucky to have so many great examples around me and I have a renewed desire to improve myself and spend my time in the service of others.