Another Sweet and Sassy birthday party!

The girls were invited to Mary Chase's birthday party at Sweet and Sassy on Saturday. They had a great time getting all made up and in princess costume. Here are some pictures of them.

Diva in training!

"Look Mommy! Stars on both cheeks!"

Adeline holding her mouth just right while getting her nails done.

Maylen showing her best princess walk.

Maylen and Mary Chase

Adeline "working it"

Maylen's 5th Birthday!

I can't believe my sweet Maylen turned 5 on Friday, Feb. 27th. She was born on a Friday, on a very rare snowy day in Charlotte, NC. We are so thankful to the Lord for Maylen's birth. She is such a smart girl, and a quick learner. She is already reading and adding to her "sight word" vocabulary. She is a leader and a very mothering big sister. She is our helper around the house. We are so proud of her, and love her very much!

Born 6:23 pm! 7lbs, 11oz, 20.5 inches

4 weeks old

Maylen's 1st birthday

2 yrs old with baby sister!

Maylen 3 years old, Adeline 1

Maylen at 4 years old

4 - 4 months

Maylen is 5!
Maylen is now 43" tall and 40 lbs. She is just over 50 percentile for heigh and just under 50th for weight.

Here are some questions that I asked Maylen.

Q. What is your favorite thing about turning 5?
A. Having a birthday cake.

Q. What is your favorite color?
A. pink, purple, and red

Q. What is your favorite thing to do?
A. Play with my sister and ride on bicycles.

Q. Who are your friends?
A. Emily, Jaylen, Kennedy, Bella, Riley, Mae, Kegan, Ava, Abigail, Ellie, Lindsey, Findley, and Tessa (all girls from Mother's Day Out).

Q. What's your favorite movie?
A. Ariel, The Little Mirmaid

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. a nurse

Q. What is your favorite thing to play with?
A. my camera

Q. What is your favorite thing to do?
A. Go to Disney World (which she has never done)

Q. What are you most looking forward to this next year?
A. Going to Disney World

Q. Who do you love the most?
A. Lana, Jayden, Evie, Julia, and my sister.

Friday evening I made a cake for Maylen which she then decorated. My parents and brother Steven came over to sing to Maylen.

The girls though something on Steven's IPhone was hilarious.

Hair cuts and Mamaw's Birthday

I'm way behind on my posts. At the beginning of February I decided it was time for the girls to get their hair cut. Here are some pictures. This was Adeline's first haircut. Her hair had gotten so long! I thought we needed to let it get a little thicker and fuller.

The "after" photo. That's quite a haircut!

I forgot to take a "before" picture of Maylen. I cut her hair about 2-3".

Mamaw, my grandmother, turned 89 this year! Here are some pictures of her with her great-grandchildren!

Happy New Year

For New Year's Eve, we decided to have host a dinner party with friends. We provided the sushi, made by my newly-skilled sushi-chef husband. He also made beef tenderloin, which was so delicious. Our friends brought the mashed potatoes, asparagus, salad, bread, and wine. I made my sister-in-law's yummy chocolate cheesecake recipe for dessert. The food was wonderful, but the time we spend with friends was even better. It was a fun way to celebrated the coming of a new year!

I was very proud of William's first sushi making attempt!



Adeline approves!

The women at the party!

The little girls at the party!

These girls were troupers. They were up to nearly midnight, but didn't complain one bit. They thought they were so big getting to be at the party, too!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Christmas is such a special and fun time. Here are some of the fun things that we did!
We went to see Santa at the Mall. The Santa that we go see every year is such a cute old man with a real beard, of course. Maylen flipped out and got scared, so the first visit she bailed on us and wouldn't get her picture made. Adeline had no problem going to see him. She really liked sitting on his lap. So about 2 hours later, Maylen decided she had mustered up the guts to go see Santa. So back in line we went with an attempt for a decent picture. This time Adeline sat in Sanat's lap and stroked his beard and told him that she wanted "presents" for Christmas. Maylen did sit in his lap too even though she was nervous. We got a cute picture, but Maylen told me later that she forgot to tell Santa that she wanted a baby that goes poopy in the potty. Her other main requests were for drums and a trumpet. I'm not sure where she got this idea, but I'm glad that she is a creative thinker! Who would have thought that our girly little princess would want these instruments?


Before Christmas my parents took the girls to the Enchanted Forest with their cousins. The girls love doing things with their grandparents and cousins.


My sister and I got stuff to make a gingerbread house with the girls. They LOVED it. Maylen did the decorating and design. She kept saying "I have a good idea. Let's make the windows out of candy." Or, "I have a good idea. Let's make the chimney out of dots." It was really cute how excited she was about it. I think this is going to have to be one of our traditions.




We spent Christmas Eve with William's side of the family for Christmas presents, dinner, and Christmas Eve Communion service. We forgot our camera, so I'll have to try to get some pictures from William's sister to post.

Christmas morning Maylen woke me by saying that Santa brought her the baby doll that poops and tetes in the potty that she wanted. She was so excited! Adeline's main interests have been for all things Cinderella and princess. Both girls are so into princesses and Disney princess movies. So fun! So we had a very girly, princessy, dress-up and baby doll Christmas this year. It was so exciting for me to see how excited they were by each gift that they opened. It was really cute to see them both. I also had the best time shopping for them and getting things for them that I knew they would like. I think this was our funnest Christmas yet.

Adeline's Little People Princess Castle from Santa

Maylen with her Snow White costume

The Princesses!

Adeline trying her ballet moves in her new tutu!

Maylen with her Baby Alive

Christmas afternoon was spent at my parents house. Adeline got a hair brush with her Little Mermaid DVD. She loves to brush hair--her hair and other people's. So she was eager to try her new brush out. My dad was her first victim, and Brian was the second. LOL!



I wanted to teach the girls in the mist of all of the gifts that Christmas is not just about receiving. It's about giving too-- and giving to those who don't have the things that we have. I must say that I was very proud of my girls. We went through all of their toys and cleaned them out and gave many of them away before Christmas. Maylen was really sweet to say that she wanted to give some of her toys that she really wasn't using or playing with to other kids who don't have toys. She does seem to have a thoughtful and tender spirit.
I'm thankful to the Lord for this special time of year to celebrate the greatest gift of all-- the gift of Jesus, our Savior and our Redeemer to this world!

It's Christmas!

Here's what we've been up to lately. . .

Decorating the tree . . .


Taking sweet and silly pictures . . .


Going to Alpine Village with friends and playing in the "snow". . .


Snuggling on the couch to watch Christmas movies . . .

Singing in the Mother's Day Out Christmas Musical . . .


And having fun with good friends . . .

Maylen is with some of the girls from MDO. These girls have been together for 3 years now and they are all so close. It's really sweet to see how their friendships have developed. (Abigail, Ava, Maylen, Lindsey, Finley, & Adeline).

Adeline with her "best friend" Mackenzie. . . they are partners in crime. They get in trouble during nap time for cutting up and making each other laugh, but they are really cute together.

What Christmas is really about!

December has got to be the business month on record for most folks. I think it's the most expensive month on record, too. I mean, I try to spread my Christmas shopping out and start a couple months early so it doesn't all hit at once. But with the parties, and the extra gifts you don't anticipate, like teachers you forgot to put on your list, extra desserts you have to make, parties, etc, it all adds up. It's all in good cheer and holiday fun. But I'm feeling a little drained right now, and not just of money--energy and time too. Ok, so that I don't sound like I'm complaining, I want whoever may still be reading my blog to know that I'm so thankful for all of these holiday activities. It's exciting, and memorable. I think some of my funnest memories are of holiday traditions. The excitement of the Christmas parties and the fun of baking and decorating a house to look festive, are all so fun and I'm very sentamental about them all. The things that have become my favorite are checking the mail everyday for Christmas cards -- I love the photo cards. And I love pulling the ornaments out and hanging them on the tree-- especially the ones that bring back memories of Christmases past (the girls handprints, the ones they made, the pictures of them). One of my mom's favorite ornaments of all times is of Steven, my brother, one year at Christmas when he was probably 4. He's got the sweetest little sad face. We always talk about how cute he was then. So now I've started getting pictures ornaments for the girls every year that I can put their picture in from each Christmas. Christmas is special, and I want it to be special for my girls. But I also don't want it to be so busy and crazy that we don't take the time to really enjoy these special days. I want the true meaning of the holidays to not be crowded out by our busyness. I was the joy of giving to not be squelched by the cost of a gift, or the busyness of stores. I want my girls to see the greatest gift as Jesus and His reason for coming to this earth. I want the girls to sing the carols and realize that the joy is that Jesus entered this very dark and bleak world to give us LIFE! JOY! PEACE! and an eternal life with Jesus, with lasting joy and no sorrow! "JOY to the world the LORD has come, let earth receive her KING! Let every heart prepare Him room! . . . And wonder of His Love!"