Cute Christmas Cards

I'm very excited about doing our Christmas cards since I have a great pic Tricia Butts took for us!

Shutterfly has soooo many cute Christmas photo cards. I have taken our picture and put it with LOTS of the cards because I love them all!

Not only do they have Christmas photo cards, they also have calendars and baby announcements. I'm hoping to make some calendars for Christmas presents (and myself, of course). I think they are so cute and would love to have one with my girls' pictures on it!

Some of my cards are called: Color Me Merry, Sweet Scalloped Frame, Peppermint Pink, Peppermint Bliss and Sweet and Retro.

I love Shutterfly and I love Christmas!

I cannot wait to get mine ordered and in and mailed out! :)

Santa Claus is Watching...

At lunch today, Ivy Kate just would not settle down, so John told her that Santa Claus was watching. He proceeded with you had to be good or you would get sticks and stones.

He asked Ivy Kate if she would like sticks and stones...to which she replied, "Yes, big sticks and big stones!"

So we've got to figure out a different tactic!

From Cupcake to "Sleeping Judy"

"Sleeping Judy"
My mom (Honey) getting Ivy Kate ready for Pumpkinpalooza in Starkville. Is she prissy or what?!?

So the story of Ivy Kate's costume:
Last year, I got the Pottery Barn Kids catalog in and saw the adorable cupcake costume. I fell in love! I called to order it and found out they were already sold out, but to look on eBay. Well, my friends, the people on eBay were trying to sell the thing for around $250, so Ivy Kate ended up being Minnie Mouse.

This year, I ordered the cupcake and owl costume in August to be sure I had the costume. (I wanted them to both be cupcakes, but the smallest it came was 2T.) It is ADORABLE. We had several outings this week in which we were going to wear our costume. Our first outing on Monday, I was putting Ivy Kate's costume on her in the parking lot before we went in and she had a FIT...not just a FIT, but a F...I...T! (Laying out in the parking lot kind of fit.) So we didn't wear the costume that day, but we talked about it at home and she said she would wear it for the next outing. Next outing comes and she again has a F...I...T!

So Friday, we were on our way to Starkville and she said she wanted to be a princess. So I sent my sweet brother to Wal-Mart, so she could be a princess. Not just any princess, but "Sleeping Judy!" We've tried to correct her, but she IS "Sleeping Judy."

Sooo, next year, I will let Ivy Kate pick her own costume. I will try!

And be on the lookout...because Maggie is going to be the CUTEST cupcake you've ever seen next year!

Our Little Owl

Maggie was the cutest owl you've ever seen...look at those cheeks. Although she hated it on her head!

Sweet Friends

I got to see Jordan and Heather at the Mississippi State vs. Kentucky game this weekend. Jordan was fresh off the airplane from Peru.
Jones wouldn't cooperate for our group shot, but I had to include a picture of his cuteness too!

Our Pumpkin

Maggs excited about carving the pumpkin. Please excuse her messy dress...it was after supper!
IK helping clean out the pumpkin!

Daddy's final masterpiece. I saw this demonstration on Nick Jr. and had John print it off and carve it.

Isn't it cute? Do you recognize our sneaky little friend? If not, you must not watch Dora. :)

Pictures

My sweet friend Tricia took our pictures last weekend. She put some of them up on her blog. She does such good work and I LOVE THEM! I love that she caught the girls' personalities. She also does great with constantly moving subjects. :)

Go check them out:

www.bettydonnephotography.blogspot.com

Pumpkin Project

I found this idea in a magazine. It showed to spray paint the pumpkins black, but around here EVERYTHING has to be pink! So I did purple to go with the pink.

John said that Ivy Kate must be OCD since she lined up all her googly eyes.

I think lime green would be cute too!

Where in the world is Maggie?

In the dryer of course...this is better than where she was last time...standing with both feet in the toilet, which won her an automatic trip to the bathtub first thing in the morning!

Watch what you say...

So I have a confession...often when things gets hairy around here (which is VERY often), I politely tell the girls that they are driving me crazy.

Well, the other day we were visiting my sweet grandmother, Mamaw, and we got ready to leave. I put the girls in their car seats and Mamaw was talking to them as I was getting them ready to pull out of the driveway.

Ivy Kate looked at her and said, "Mamaw is trying to make me crazy!"

I could have died. At least, Mamaw thought it was funny!

When we left, I told Ivy Kate it was not very nice to tell people they are driving or trying to make you crazy. And I'm sure she was thinking, "Then, Mama, why do you say it to us all the time?"

Sister, Sister

I have enjoyed watching Ivy Kate and Maggie interact lately. They love each other so much...I hope I can say the same thing when they are 15 and 13, instead of 3 and 1.

Why did I think this was a good idea?

Still wondering why I let Maggie feed herself yogurt. She enjoyed every bite of it though! :)

3 Year Old Preschool

I want no part in your pictures, Mama!
I will not smile at you and Daddy because y'all are not funny!

I will make this as difficult as possible for you to get a good picture!

Ivy Kate started three year old preschool. When we woke her up about seven, she told us, "I don't think I feel berry good." When we asked her what felt bad, she couldn't come up with an answer. She was full of excuses for not getting dressed. She is not a morning person...wonder where she gets that from? And then she flat refused my photo session. John said she perked up in the car and was excited when they got there. When I picked her up, she loved everything about it! Looking forward to another fun year!

New Year of MDO

Here is Maggie all ready for another fun year at Mother's Day Out. Look at that crazy hair...some days it has a mind of its own!

Luke's Birthday

Ivy Kate and the birthday boy!
My little brother is turning 22 today. I can't believe it that means he is getting old, so I must be ancient. I remember when Luke was born. He had colic really bad and screamed all the time. I asked my mom if we could send him back. Glad we didn't now. Who else would we have to pick on? :)

We celebrated last night with dinner at Harvey's. Ivy Kate and Maggie's favorite part of the meal was the cake, of course. It was not only cute, but very delicious.

Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fabulous day, Luke! We love you lots!

Hat Night

Ivy Kate modeling her cowboy hat for Hat Night at church. She told us it was a cowGIRL hat, not a cowBOY hat. What a little diva!

14 Months Old

14 Fun Facts about Maggie:

1. She is VERY loud...always squealing about something, which she thinks is very funny.

2. She is a climber...many times you will find her on top of the table or dancing on the coffee table. She climbed a chair and broke two pieces of my pottery two weeks ago. If she wasn't so darn cute, she would still be grounded. :)

3. She talks a lot...she can say Mama, Dada, Sisi, bye bye, hey, no, dop (stop), app jus (apple juice)...just to name a few.

4. She is still quite small...she weighed a little over 19 pounds at the doctor two weeks ago.

5. She is always on the GO from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed.

6. She is obessed with her luvies. It doesn't matter which one...she loves them all.

7. She loves her Daddy! She gets so excited when he comes home for lunch or after work!

8. She is Ivy Kate's shadow. Hopefully, she is taking in all of IK's good traits and not learning how to be sassy!

9. She loves purses!

10. She eats A LOT! Her favorites include: strawberries, bananas, blueberries, nutrigrain bars, goldfish, yogurt, applesauce, mandarin oranges, etc. She eats more than Ivy Kate most days.

11. She only has 4 teeth right now...two on top and two on bottom.

12. She likes dog food. For some reason, my children think that playing in the dog bowls is fun, but they also like to EAT the dog food too. What is wrong with them?

13. She is not scared of anything, which scares the heck out of me.

14. She is precious and we love her so much!

Are You Ready???

We are...we are!!!

We had such a fun day in Starkville gearing up for football season! The girls were so excited to meet Dan Mullen...can't you tell! :) John probably won't sleep much this week in anticipation of next weekend. We are looking forward to a great football season! Go Dawgs!

Dance Class

Ivy Kate and Izzy

Ivy Kate had her first dance class last week. She loved it. This is the only pic I got before the class started that turned out and look how sweet it is!

Sunday Afternoon at the Zoo

Ivy Kate posing before going into the zoo!
Maggie looking at the donkeys!

Ivy Kate taking a pic with the elephants!

Two Sundays ago, we ventured to the zoo after church. When we pulled in, we realized there was hardly anyone there. Why you might ask? Because we were the only crazy people going to the zoo when it is BLAZING hot!!! We had fun despite the heat!

Tea Party

Ivy Kate enjoying her first real tea party.
Quick pic before the tea. Love my IK!

Swimming?

This is the result of swimming in the backyard with Maggie. I just let her wear her swim diaper because I was scared she would ruin her bathing suit.

Happy Birthday, America!

The girls are ready for the 4th of July parade. Ivy Kate and cousin Izzy drove, while Maggie and cousin Suzy rode in the wagon (in the background). It was a really fun way to celebrate the 4th!

Maggie's 1st Birthday

Sweet Maggie's cake that matched her invitation.
Maggie's smash cake!

Ladybug cookies for party favors. My sweet friend, Blair, did a great job on the cookies. They were so cute and tasted delicious! Hate I didn't take a close up of them. If you're in Tupelo and need cookies, Blair does a great job! :)

The aftermath of the cake...she liked it!

Hard to believe that our little bug is one!

Father/ Daughter Ball

John and Ivy Kate went to a father/ daughter ball the night before Maggie's birthday. Ivy Kate had so much fun. (I think John had fun too! ) All the princesses were there, so Ivy Kate got to see Snow White, Belle, Tinkerbell, etc. She was in heaven! Ivy Kate and Mickey Mouse
Daddy and his date...please look at the plate of food...what else would a three year old want to eat.

On another note, when we told Ivy Kate it was a father/ daughter ball, she promptly told me, "NO mamas and NO babies!"

Walking

And she is off! She has been trying to walk for what seems like forever, but she finally started really walking when we came home from the beach. She has now perfected it and is quite fast. Ivy Kate likes her walking, but doesn't like her getting in all of her stuff.

This picture was taken at the splash park. She had just as much fun as all the big kids!

Swimming Lessons

Ivy Kate had swimming lessons the week after we went to the beach. At the beginning of the week, there were a few tears shed, but by the end, she was swimming like a fish. Here she is showing off her medal!

Skydiving

My crazy husband decided to go skydiving at the beginning of May. He says that everyone should do it. I told him I would think about doing it for my 30th birthday, so I have a little less than 3 years to talk myself out of it! :)

5 Years!

While at the beach, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! I asked John if he thought 5 years ago we would be celebrating at the beach with two little girls.

These past 5 years have flown and have been so exciting. Thanks for being the best husband...here's to 100 more! :)

(Can't find a picture of just us...they all have a couple of extra little people in them!)

Beach Trip 2010

Our little Cousin It...who will not keep her hair pulled back! She had a blast at the beach. She wasn't officially walking yet, so she crab crawled on the beach. It was hysterical! She would crawl to the water and crawl back and get in the beach chair.
Ivy Kate was our little fish. She loved the beach and the pool. She and John spent most of their time in the waves...while Maggs and I sat in the beach chairs.

A quick family pic while waiting to eat at Lulu's!

We went to the beach at the end of May and beat the oil by a week or so. We had so much fun! John said taking the girls on vacation is WORK and he is right!

What?!? We have a 3 year old!

Ivy Kate turned 3 in May! She had such a fun birthday party with her friends and cousins! Here she is blowing out her candles. These 3 years sure have flown by...we now have a sassy little girl!

Easter 2010

This picture pretty much sums up our life. Maggs is missing her shoes and socks. IK had gotten that Hello Kitty watch in her Easter basket and insisted on wearing it to church...some battles just are not worth fighting!

Trying it Again...

So I contemplated quitting blogging, but I guess I will give it another shot. Here is to catching up!