Chloe's first birthday party!!

I put way too much thought into my kids birthday parties. My dad calls them "productions." (Kristie is equally guilty so he thinks we're crazy! haha) I think about them for months and I want every detail laid out just as it is in my head...or on pinterest. Well, the week we had before this party was BONKERS and I'll just say every detail was not like I wanted. But....it was a beautiful party with all the people who love our sweet Chloe Grace!

My brother built the awesome lemonade stand....it was just like I pictured in my head!


I realized after the party that the awesome chalkboard I drew up for her pictures got left in her closet for the party. :( boohooo





The menu was extremely simple! And I delegated most of it so I didn't stress myself out. Kristie made the adorable cupcakes, my mom made the pink Rice Krispie treats and thumbprint cookies and I ordered the smash cake. All I had to do was make cake pops and prepare the favors! Grammy and Mimi helped me get everything in order that morning!





Everything turned out really adorable. Then the scorching sun bleached out the thumbprint cookies, melted the adorable smash cake and turned the cake pops into complete smotherines! Oh well...Aunt Holly got good picture before hand!







Mason jars with pretty little flowers and monthly pictures on the tables...


And the most beautiful little one year old I've ever seen!


I'm so blessed I get to be her Mommy!!


And thank heavens for Daddy!! I don't think I'd be able to do this without him!! They sure wouldn't be as good looking, that's for sure. :)


Our amazing family of four!


She was the most lame 1st birthday cake eater ever! But she was still adorable and I still want to remember it!! So here it is....all 4 boring minutes!

Phillip...the really soon to be dad! (A big shout out to Diana and Holly for not going into labor at this party!!! Thanks a ton girls!)


Grandpa and Lucas!








We were trying to get Levi to show her how to eat it. No such luck with that one either! I guess they don't like all the attention. HAHAHA we all know that's not true!



Uncle Brent and Tiffy were here!


One of the gorgeous super preggos....where's the other??


She got lots of girly goodies!!





Getting mobbed by all the kids! Evidently it's still really exciting to get presents even when they're not yours! haha.


The favors were lemonade and marshmallows. Once again, the sun melted them to smotherines. :(


Notice her adorable birthday crown her big cousin, Braeden made her!


I was SOOOOOOOO incredibly excited to find out that all my Batesie's were coming to the party. The youngest, beautiful Audrey!


Sweet Brielle was showing Chloe how to play with her new vanity!! I know Chloe is going to look up to her so much when they're older!


And to make the weekend just a little nuttier....we had bought tickets to a concert LOOOOONG before I knew the party would be this weekend. The concert was Friday night, I needed a night out anyway! Kristie, Kayla, Kelsey, Diana, Tifanie and myself went to see Boyz II Men, 98 degrees, and NKOTB!!! It was such a blast from the past and SOOOOOOO fun!!!

Ahhhhh....he's still gorgeous!!!





I love these girls so much! Once again....thank you Diana for holding that kid in for a few more days! haha


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Happy Day of Birth Chicken Express Ardmore!

I'm exactly one week behind. Exactly one week ago our 4th store opened! It has been a CRAZY. CRAZY. CRAZY. time, but a very exciting and blessed one too!

The boys worked extra hard getting everything ready to open. Trent took the opportunity to catch a snooze before the big day. Sweet Levi covered Daddy up with his beloved blanket. *Melting*


Saturday, the 22nd, we all headed over to Ardmore to help (or hinder if you're me with my 2 toddlers) get all the last little details finished up.


My Dad finally got the fancy sign he's wanted for the previous 3 stores. :)


I love the fact that we are able to plaster our faith all over these walls. I love the fact that people comment on it in a GOOD way!


God as blessed us beyond anything we ever deserve and I want to always display the fact that we KNOW that and appreciate it!


Since my kids allowed me to be of NO help whatsoever....we practiced counting, sorting and colors!


Pretty fun and productive activity if I do say so myself!


We were supposed to go to Fandangle last weekend, but with Levi just getting out of the hospital I didn't think it was a good idea. BOOOOOOO This is 2 years in a row I've missed it!! Agh!!!! I guess sorting sauces is almost as fun? Nope.


We had to do a little last minute shopping at Walmart for the store. CC was sure checking this one out for me! "I think it'll work mom!" (Notice her cute outfit and adorable bow...that was prior to her puking everywhere at Ella's birthday party.)


This is a picture Ramona sent me from opening day. The picture doesn't do it justice. Their are cars literally wrapped around the building and through another parking lot. And the short time I popped in the dining room was completely full. We've tried to stay out of the way. It has been record breaking! Literally...record breaking. Like I said before, we are blessed beyond anything we deserve. Trent only came home one night last week, and I've hardly even talked to him. I know it's a short phase, but I'm really missing him! Last week I did much better than I expected. Maybe because I had so much going on I couldn't even see straight.




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Happy first birthday Chloe!!!

We had another baby because Levi made being a parent the best thing in the world. And mostly because God allowed it. But we had NO clue how abundantly Chloe would add blessings to our lives! She is hilarious!! She is absolutely the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen and has completely stolen my heart!
We had a big birthday celebration on Friday after her sweet brother got to come home! First up was birthday pancakes of course!!!




She enjoyed a few bites...but she's gotten much pickier over the last couple of months and breads are not her favorite.




Ya'll....I wish I was making this stuff up. That's Daddy changing a dirty diaper! Now, this wouldn't be so funny if we weren't 2 kids and 2.5 years into this parenting thing. And he's not some absent father who never changes diapers....he's the best, most involved, diaper changing, bath giving, do anything Dad! But he still gags!!




Chloe now weights 19.2 lbs and is 28 3/4 inches long! It's so incredibly hard to believe that this was her just one short year ago....




She's in the 41% weight, 35% height, and 25% head circumference (she get it from her mama! haha) Her hair has lightened up so much but she is so dark complected!! She's stunningly beautiful! My parents say my hair did the exact same thing and that she looks just like me. I need to dig out some old pictures!




She is so emotional just like a little girl already! She's normally incredibly happy and has this grin that will absolutely bring you to your knees!




But she does get cranky and demanding and very divalicious at times. (No clue where she got that one?)




Like I said earlier, she's much pickier with food now. She still eats many more things than her brother, but she's not exactly Mikey anymore....shucks. She blows kisses, squeals the girliest little squeal, and today she touched her nose when I asked her where it was!! She loves to do a little jig when I sing to her and she still thinks her brother is HILARIOUS. We definitely find ourselves refereeing a lot...but mostly because she's so mobil. She's still not "walking," she takes a lot of steps here and there, but she much prefers crawling! She's not handling the transition to whole milk well. I don't think she's allergic to dairy because she eats yogurt and cheese all the time just fine. She had a really hard time going from breast milk to formula, and going to whole milk seems to be bad too. She puked EVERYWHERE at her friend Ella's birthday party yesterday. :( Proud Momma moment. I had a lot of trouble with formula when I was a baby and have NEVER been a milk drinker. I'm guessing Chloe is following in those footsteps.
So that present that I INSISTED she get on her birthday came 2 days late. She wasn't real sure what to do with it!




But her little picnic basket was a hit! She loves to take things out of containers, then put them back in which is why I chose this toy. Of course, Levi was a little jealous and said it was "mine toy!" He did get a new nerf gun...we didn't want him to feel all left out on her birthday. Probably a tradition I will always continue....




Here are some videos of her hilarious self. (I wish I could find a pic of this ottoman when we first got it. It was formed and almost a complete cube....my how things have changed!)

She thinks Daddy is so funny when he takes her paci. This video doesn't really show off her giggles, but I just adore that little grin hiding behind her big ole paci!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little girl!!!! We love you so much and can't wait to see the beautiful woman God makes you! (Though I wouldn't mine it taking double the time it usually does. :))
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Father's Day 2013

This man deserve like 14 Father's Days....maybe even more. I appreciate him more than I could EVER express in words. There are too many Dad's who don't have values like they should. Levi, Chloe, and I are so incredibly blessed to have him leading our household! We were distracted by being worried about Levi so it probably wasn't as grande as I should have made it....but we did have a wonderful day together.

Daddy and his munchkins ready for church!





We went shopping and got Daddy a few of his favorite things. :) We also spent the afternoon hanging out at the beach...most definitely one of Daddy's favorite things!


We were discharged from the hospital today! I was super impressed with the discharge process. We've been in the hospital 3 other times in the last 2.5 years and were never discharged so quickly! The doctor came in to examine him at about 9:00 and we were in the car at 11:15! That was including a stop to see the race car outside! CookChildren's is an amazing hospital with activities for the children to do every day. Since he's been on contact restriction he hasn't been able to leave his hospital room though. 4 DAYS IN ONE ROOM WITH A 2 YR OLD!!!! Eeek.... Luckily, the activity was his favorite on the day he could finally go outside!!!


Daddy brought birthday girl to see me last night! She and I had a little date in the cafeteria and then we played outside on their little "park."


The doctor explained that the MRI took so long because there isn't an order for a clavicle MRI. He ordered shoulder, so when they were sending him pictures he was asking them to scoot further over to make sure the infection had not spread at all and that it wasn't in the bone. It was a miserable 4 hours, but I know he was doing what was necessary for us not to have to do another MRI and to ensure it wasn't in the bone. He was sent home with 3 weeks of antibiotics that he has to take 3 times daily. The medicine has a terrible taste so we are mixing it with something sweet each time. He can still tell...he doesn't like it! I pray it's not a huge battle 3 times a day for 21 more days!!! And hopefully 3 weeks of sweet drinks don't give him cavities. :( We're also doing probiotics for his little tummy. I haven't done probiotics in the past. Neither of my kids have really been bothered by antibiotics the few times we've been on them. But...this isn't your average amoxicillin.....this is hard core stuff. With 3 weeks worth of it, plus the 4 days in the hospital, I think we should make sure and take care of his tummy.

Tonight I'm totally at peace with all 4 of us under the same roof. God is good! Always answers prayers!!

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