Come on we gotta save the day...

So apparently Andrew and Parker received a call from Spiderman a few minutes ago and he told them to get their Spiderman suits (aka... pjs) on to help him save the day. It's so cute! They're running around with a little red light,they keep turning it on and acting like it's a bomb and they have to hurry before it blows up! Needless to say, Piper and I feel VERY safe with Andrew and Parker around.

Our little Sunfish:)

Andrew's new swim lessons have really paid off. When he was in the "Guppy" class he was really just getting use to the water (putting his face under, swimming with kick board and noodle) but now that he's a "Sunfish", he's really doing some swimming. I'm sure he's learning a lot more b/c there are no other kids in the class. Poor fellow is dead tired when we leave swim lessons because he's at it nonstop for 30 minutes. Here's a video of him swimming at our house. It was his first time to use goggles under the water. He can swim pretty good underwater, doggy paddle and swim on his back!

Happy 3 month Birthday Piper Jane!

Piper was born April 29th, exactly 3 months ago today. She's been such a wonderful blessing to our family. We all love her so much!! Her favorite things are listening to mommy talk to her, being swaddled, waking up and getting out of the swaddle, blowing spit bubbles and chewing on her hands.

Many people ask if it's been harder having 3 kids and I would have to say, "NO!" Maybe it's because Piper is such a sweet baby. Ask me again in a few years or when they're all in their teens and my answer may change;).
Happy "3 month" b-day Piper Jane... we love you!!!

This is what I've seen the last two mornings...

although it's caused me to lose a little sleep, I don't mind that much:)
Andrew came to our room the other night right after the baby started crying and I asked him if the baby woke him up. He said, "No, I woke up because I knew it was time to snuggle". I said, "Oh, okay then" and proceeded to snuggle him:).

Parker...

Parker is one of a kind!! He and Andrew are soooo close and he's getting sad that Andrew is about to start school:(. I just hate it for Park. He LOVES baby Piper and will be excited to be home with her but really wants to be with Andrew, too. The great thing is that Parker plays really well by himself. He's got a wonderful imagination and can sit for long periods of time making up stories, songs or just playing with things. Sometimes I peak in on him and just giggle at all of his silliness.
Right now he's taking a nap in our bed. This is only his second nap of the week. At nap time he's been going to his room and playing quietly instead of sleeping. Andrew stopped taking consistent naps around 3 1/2 - 4 years. How old were your kids when they stopped napping? The reason Park is in our bed now is because I knew he'd nap if I laid down with him. This morning they were all in our bed:). Piper joined us around 6:30, Parker around 7:15 and Andrew a little before 8:00. It was so sweet... good thing we have a King-size bed:)
While I'm talking about Park, I figured I post some of his favorite things:
1. BABY PIPER - Anytime I ask him, "what's your favorite thing about... (insert anything)" and he says Piper. It doesn't matter if it has nothing to do with her, it's always his answer!
2. Peanut Butter Rolls! which is really just a half of a pb sandwich. He loves them and could live off of them... while I was just laying by him, he had a sweet peanut butter smell:) .. he also likes hot dogs, sour cream casserole, spaghetti, lasagna, mac n cheese...
3. Playing with his big bubby Andrew! He loves Andrew.
4. Batman/Hulk/Spiderman/Underdog.... insert any superhero and Park loves them!
5. Singing... Park loves to sing and loves to make up his own songs! He loves for me to sing him bedtime songs. His favorites are Baby Mine and Mommy loves her baby boy:)... sometime I'm going to video our bedtime routine so we'll be able to look back on it.
6. CANDY or TREATS!! He's quite addicted to anything with sugar. He doesn't get it often but watch out when he does...
7. Papa .... Park and Andrew both love Papa.
8. Amy.... he loves my cousin Amy. He actually cried when she had to go back to Texas.
9. Being tickled and boy does he have the BEST laugh:)
10. Mowing the lawn with daddy!!
He has lots of other favorite things but especially loves all of these and when he gets excited about these things you can see it all over his body. He tenses up and has the biggest smile. It's sweet!!

Out with a friend and a little imagination station

Tonight I'm going out to eat with my friend Anita. I'm really excited about it. It's been over a year since I've been out with a girlfriend without the kiddos!

The boys played with playdough today. Andrew made a little red man with a white smile:) and then made him a house with a roof and a front porch. Parker made himself a little baby. I can't tell you how many times I've been told, "Shhhhhh... my baby is sleeping!" That never seems to work when I say it:/

While I was taking a bath today, Andrew brought me a water gun and said, "here you go, in case you want to play with it in the tub":).... it was kind of fun!!!

It was a rough start.....

but it ended great! Today was Andrew's last day of his "guppy" swim class. He loved it. He did really well, too. There were four kiddos in all and he's the only one that advanced to the next level:). We had already decided that if he advanced we would do lessons again for a couple more weeks. He's really sooo much more confident in the pool and is almost swimming a little by himself. I'm really excited because so far there was only one other kid in his next lessons, practically private lessons:)!

Boy summer sure has flown by. I only have a few more weeks off until I start back to work and Andrew has about a month until Kindergarten... WOW! We need to go shopping for his school supplies soon. Ugghhh..... I really dread his first day. I'm sure I'll be a mess:(

Where is mommy's sweet girl??...

... that's pretty much all it takes for some sweet little smiles:). She sat in her bumbo tonight and was so sweet I had to take a few pics of her. She really is a very content, happy baby. I just can't get enough!!

It FITS:).... 3 kids + doc's office = bad idea

My cousin, aka sister:), is getting married in less than 3 weeks. I'm going to be her matron of honor and was a little nervous
about the dress. The sizing for this company is crazy so I was extra worried that when I got the dress it wouldn't fit. Well it came in today and it FITS!! I was sooo excited. It's also super cute! Here's a pic below, except mine is actually a little pinker and we'll be wearing a white sash... oh and my hair is blonde and I'm much taller and thinner, well and tanner than the model:)


I had to take Andrew to the doc today to get some different meds for his allergies. I thought... I can take all three kiddos, it won't be a big deal. Whew, was I wrong? It was Piper's nap time and she was not happy. We were there for a little over an hour and she fussed for about 40 minutes straight. My back is killing me so I couldn't really walk around with her. The boys were good but those rooms are teeny tiny so it was a little hectic with the crying and web slinging going on all at once. I was READY to get out of there when we were finished. We all treated ourselves to some Mickey D's afterwards.... Oh no... I did try that dress on before I ate that Quarter pounder... I better try it on again!!!

Oh and to those of you who are wondering about the brown recluse spiders... while decluttering I found 3 dead ones yesterday. One in the toy box:(, one in Cam's closet by his shoes and one in the coat closet.... so that means the kids can't play with anymore toys, Cam can no longer wear shoes and no more coat wearing for this family. I hope I don't find any near the ice cream:)!

Do you want a revolution? Woo Woo

I must admit I'm a HUGE Kirk Franklin fan. I mean seriously... how could you possibly be in a bad mood while listening to some Kirk! The boys totally agree. Every time I turn it on they get busy with it!

They never knew...

I've had that cookbook Jerry Seinfeld's wife wrote about sneaking veggies in your dishes for a while now. I've been too lazy to actually go out and buy the ingredients of her recipes so I thought I would sneak some veggie puree in some dishes that we already eat. I made sour cream chicken casserole this week and included a 1/2 cup of pureed cauliflower to it. It honestly tasted just the same! I'm super picky and I couldn't tell it was in it at all. The boys never knew! I'm hoping to buy some broccoli and sweet peas to puree and add to some other dishes soon because I'm such a good mom and only feed my kids healthy foods.

Ooooo... I better go. Our chocolate cake needs to come out of the oven;).

My first blog give-a-way...

just kidding!:)

We've been decluttering like maniacs around here... okay, so I'm only doing it because I'm horrified of these darn spiders. We've seen three this week!! The boys have fun looking at their little violins. Andrew has been walking around all day with a little flash light looking in all the corners. I've been researching them on the web today and read that once they're in a house or building it's virtually impossible to get rid of them... YIKES!!! Oh and in case you're wondering... it's egg laying season!! AHHHHH!!! I'm hoping Pixar or Disney will make a movie about them and make them seem friendly so I won't be sooo scared of them... you know like Bugs Life or Ants... or even No Feet on Little Bear. They could maybe name it "The Sweet, Hidden Tissue Killer".
Okay, Okay... enough about spiders.

Cam has been able to swim with the boys a couple of times this weekend and boy have they LOVED it!! It's also been a GREAT way to tire them out. They both fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow after swimming Friday night.

Some funny things they've said over the past few days:

I was wiping Parker yesterday after he went #2 and he said, "you're doing that hard... You're gonna bust me open!!" as he giggled:)

Cam and I were taking back some disposable diapers to Wal-Mart the other day and Andrew asked why... I told him because we used cloth diapers, the ones that we wash. He said, "why do we use those? the others are much easier... you just throw them in the trash!"... hahaha... he's not quite GREEN yet!!

Blahhh...

It's been a tough couple of days. Two of our students from the Jr. High made a really bad decision that cost one his life. Apparently an older guy had told them how to get freon out of the AC and they decided to huff it. Jesse died in the pool and the other one was on the verge of death. Jesse's sister was one of my students, she found them. I can't imagine what she's going through. Please remember their families in your prayers. Another student that we had a couple of years ago died in a car accident Monday night so it's been a bad week for the community. I couldn't sleep at all last night thinking about Jesse and Alex and what Jesse's sister will be haunted with for the rest of her life. It's so scary to think about how reckless kids can be.

Daddy was floating:)

The boys are attending VBS at my old church. It's been sooo fun dropping them off and seeing so many people that were like family as I was growing up. Tonight when Cam went to pick them up he went inside because all the kids were in the sanctuary. He said soon after he went in someone on stage said "the award for the best manners goes to Andrew Wallace":). Cam said when he heard his name he was so proud that he thought he started floating! hehehe... how sweet. When Andrew got home he was so excited to tell me. He ran in and said, "I'm sorry mommy". I said, "what for?" he said, "for being so important.. I got an award". He was beaming with pride!

Today has been sooo busy. I had an in-service and didn't get home until 2:30 then I had to take Andrew to swim lessons. After lessons we went to Papa and Grandma's for dinner and then off to VBS. Tomorrow morning I have my ultrasound on my thyroid at the hospital and then my old roomie Jalyn is coming over for lunch. I'm sooo excited. I haven't seen her in a few years so I can't wait to catch up.

yIkEs!!

I've been really doing well with this "cohabitation" we've been doing with these brown recluse.... okay, so I've only been doing well because we hadn't seen anymore. Well today was over the top... I was on my bed with Andrew and guess what I see crawling... yep, a brown recluse... how scary! I killed it, they're fast little boogers. I am a little flipped out by it all. While I was running around the house trying to clean every crack and corner, Cameron was laying down little Miss Piper. Where did he lay her down, you ask.... OUR BED!!! WHAT??????? Craziness!!
Well, I'm off to bed... wish me luck!! (I feel like I'm part of a horror movie with some really scary music playing in the background)

Peeping Tom and Dress Up

Andrew was out back and I heard him hollering at someone. I stepped out and saw him standing on a chair talking to the neighbor girls in the pool. It was sooo funny:). They got a kick out of him. He came in and got Parker to introduce him. There is no telling what they are saying. I've tried to eavesdrop but don't want to ruin their first double date:).

Andrew and Parker have been going through closets playing dress up lately. Andrew came out the other night in my high school cheerleading jacket:). Yes, I know it's hard to believe I was a cheerleader, I don't fit the stereotype at all;)!

What do you mean I can't use it???

OOoooo.. I was unhappy today. The kiddos and I went to Target. I've had a coupon for $5.00 off the purchase of a $25.00 toy. Since the toy had to be $25.00 Cam and I decided to get the Bat Cave. We looked last week and they were out of them so today we looked and there it was... the Bat Cave with Andrew and Parker's name written all over it. They were beaming with excitement. We get up to the check out and I give her my $5.00 coupon and it doesn't work. She looks at it and says, "I'm not sure why it's not working b/c it doesn't expire until October". She calls someone over to see what's going on and the lady says, "I'm sorry we can't accept that coupon because we've had some problems with fraud with that coupon". I was so upset. I printed the coupon from their website. She asked if I wanted to put the Bat Cave back... I'm like, "yea, right, you try telling my boys that we can't get the bat cave when it's the only reason we came here today!!!" ARRGGGHHHH!!! Whatever happened to customer service?

Sweet giggles and more appointments...

Mom kept the boys today while I took Piper to a couple of my doctor visits. While we were waiting in the room at the doc's office she got the giggles:)... I was acting like I was going to tickle her feet and she kept laughing and laughing. You know that deep belly laugh that only babies can do. It was sooo sweet!!
I got my MRI results today. My neck looks okay, some degeneration around my discs but nothing else too unusual. The radiologist did find a cyst on my thyroid and wants me to call my regular doc tomorrow to get an appointment to get an ultrasound done. Just what I need, another doctor's appointment. The doctor did give me a prescription for a therapy machine that I can use at home for my neck and back. It's the same thing they use at my chiropractor's office so it's really handy to be able to use it at home.
Okay... randomness but I had to include it:)... I saw one of my old students the other day at Wal-Mart. I was sooo excited to see him. He was a student of mine at a behavioral hospital. He was my favorite student there... yes, teachers have favorites, too:). He was my favorite because he had sooo many obstacles in his life but had so much potential to turn things around. He seemed to be doing really well. He's married and is 22... I couldn't believe he was so old, made me feel really old!! I love being a teacher! I absolutely adore my students. There are so many that I had at Jacksonville that I miss so much and would love to know how they are doing. I miss Jacksonville:( I definitely felt like God used me there. I know that He can use me where I am now but there just seems to be sooo many more kids that are in need there.
Better get to bed... I have a massage scheduled in the morning:)!

MAN down!!!

I don't know how much more swim lessons (torture) I can stand. Today I was afraid I was going to have to noodle-whip Andrew's teacher. Kind of hard to explain but she almost let the poor tyke drown. She was suppose to be holding onto him while he was swimming to retrieve his squishy ball. She decided to just go get it herself and left Andrew who continued to try to keep bobbing for it. He kept bobbing his head up out of the water and then going back in and then just went under completely. She was about 6 feet from him and she was walking the other way, while the other 4 year olds were unattended on the steps. Cam and I screamed "HEY" and she finally turned around and went and pulled him up. Bless his soul:(. When we got in the car he said, "I thought I was drowning, I just kept thinking while I was under there that I was going to drown". He did really good, he didn't seem scared at all when she pulled him up. It was scary to us though! A friend of mine that was there said last year her son wandered off of the step and the teacher was out with another kiddo. When her son went down she started running and screaming "Man down" over and over:). She said everybody thought she was a psycho!:)

Poor Cam...

I've been having the worst neck aches and headaches since the wreck. I've lost count of how many doc appts I've been to. I have to get a MRI on Monday, like I really have time to be going to doc appts with 3 kiddos. Last night was the worst yet. I started feeling really, really bad around 6:00 and it didn't go away until this morning. Poor Cam had to get up 4 times between 11:00 and 2:00 to get me a new ice pack. I finally decided to take a muscle relaxer at 2:00 this morning and fed Piper some milk from the freezer. I feel better this morning but I'm really sore from hurting so much. Even though I've felt like crud for the last few weeks, I am soooo thankful that the wreck wasn't any worse than it was. I am also thankful that Piper seems to be doing okay from the wreck and I'm thankful that she's such a sweet baby. God has definitely blessed us with a sweet, content baby. She's doing wonderful. She's only eating once through the night and she's able to soothe herself to sleep when we lay her down. She has some fussy times but usually is very content and happy! Her favorite thing right now is watching the fish mobile on her swing:) she always smiles and follows the same fish around the whole time. It's soooo sweet!
By the way... I know this post will get NO comments because it's too serious:) as Shane and Anna have concluded:).

Waterboarding... I mean swim lessons

Andrew started swim lessons yesterday... poor boy. He was pretty much tortured the whole time with water being dumped in his face:). He hates water being in his face but he did pretty good. When he gets water in his face in the tub, he always wants a towel or something to dry his eyes with so yesterday he decided to use the noodle that was beside the pool:).

Where's Waldo... part 2

It's our 2nd installment of Where's Waldo? (wish she knew how to fold towels:)

Heirloom

Amber, my cousin's roommate, finished my baby quilt. The pictures really don't do it justice, it's gorgeous. She put so much hand sewn detail into it! I love it!!! I have extra fabric left over and I'm hoping to make something with it, not sure what though. Maybe I could do a pillow that could be used as a ring bearer pillow for my kids in the future. I also added some pics of my wedding dress before cutting it up (my scanner is broken so I had to just take a couple of pics of my wedding pictures so they're not the best quality:). I LOVE heirlooms. I've been fortunate to get a few heirlooms from my grandmothers and I'm hoping to leave several heirlooms for my children and grandchildren.
Just a little FYI about my wedding... we were super frugal. My dress only cost $199.00 and my bridesmaids and I made all of our bouquet arrangements the day of the wedding which was super fun! My roommate, Jalyn, took all of my pictures and did a wonderful job! My mom did all of the food... I think we spent a little over $1000 on everything. Isn't that great? I spent the summer before my wedding in Rwanda and was terribly convicted about how much money we spend in America. Not only did we save tons of money but it was extra special having people I really cared make my wedding special.