17 months

I'm only a week late at posting these pics. Last Friday, Carlyle turned 17 months. I didn't manage to get any pics of her on Friday, or Saturday for that matter. But, Sunday I remembered to get a few pics as we were walking out the door for church.

At 17 months, you may ask...what's Carlyle up to? Well, she is saying LOTS of words!!! She continues to say "hi baby" when she sees a baby, which is just about one of the cutest things ever! When asked how old she is, she will say "two". I have no idea why she says this. The only thing I can think of is that the girls will count to her and maybe she just picked up on the number 2. Well, in 7 more months "two" will be accurate! Just today, Carlyle tried to mimick what someone said at school and attempted to say "lemonade". She has also said cookie, juice, please, more, mommy, and daddy. When we get in the car, she immediately points to the DVD player and says "movie". I know I'm biased, but I think she's pretty smart...and cute! Even though she hasn't started walking yet...ha! I guess she feels no need to walk. Carlyle gets wherever she wants to go, whether it's by crawling or someone carrying her. I'm not really wishing she would walk, but boy, she sure does get heavy after awhile!

The last couple of weeks she was fussier than normal, with a runny nose, cough, etc... I knew it was a cold, but I thought it might be teething, too. Finally, Monday morning I noticed that another tooth came in. She has been so much happier, which makes us all happy!! I'm definitely glad she's feeling better.

Carlyle is a great sleeper, especially at night. I hate to have to wake her up in the mornings to take Camden to school, so I started putting her to bed around 6:30pm and it's been great! She goes straight to sleep and will sleep all night until around 6:30 or 7:00am. WONDERFUL!!! I love her SO MUCH for that:)

We are definitely seeing more of Carlyle's personality each day. She is funny, sweet, kind of sassy, and makes me smile more times than I can count. What a blessing she is to our family! We love her so much!

President's Day Fun

Monday was President's Day and a holiday for Lindale ISD. So, Camden and Daddy were home. Since the weather was so nice, we decided to take the girls to the park and have a picnic. When we told Camden and Claire that we were going to have a picnic, they were SO EXCITED! Claire was very concerned that I didn't have any lunch meat to make sandwiches, because after all, you eat sandwiches on a picnic. So, I headed to Wal-Mart and the girls went with me. They picked out what they wanted for lunch and when we got home we packed it all up. They were beside themselves. All they could talk about was the picnic. When we got to the park, we sat down on the tables and had lunch. We were the only ones there, which was so nice. I realized I forgot my camera, so I took a few pics with my phone. Sorry that the quality is not that great. After we ate, we had fun swinging, sliding, and running around. Poor Carlyle wanted to be like her sisters, so we finally put her down and she crawled around and around. She was filthy when we left, but she had the best time trying to keep up with Camden and Claire. Carlyle's favorite part was climbing up the steps and when she reached the very top of the slide, she and I would slide down. She never got tired of that game, unlike her mommy. We had a great day spending time as a family. It makes me look forward to summer!!

First Sleepover

Claire and her friend, Charley, have talked about having a sleepover for some time now. So, several weeks ago I offered for Charley to spend the night with us. We had actually planned on last Wednesday. But, since the weather was supposed to get bad, we opted to postpone to this week. So, today was the big day!! Claire and Camden were really excited. I picked Charley up this afternoon before we got Camden from school. When we got home, the girls played really well together. They played with babies, with the dollhouse, played pretend and went outside for awhile, too. They had a great time together! We ordered pizza for dinner and then the girls went outside and played in the playhouse. After baths, the girls watched a little TV and then headed to bed. Since Camden and Claire have two twin beds, I offered for two girls to sleep in one bed and the other to get the other bed. But, they ALL wanted to sleep together. Our solution: a pallet on the floor. I tried to make it as soft as I could. I wasn't sure about them sleeping on the hardwood floor. But, then again...they are kids and I'm sure they'll be fine! Our first sleepover went exceptionally well! I'm sure with three girls, our future holds at least a few more!! I can't wait...bring on the fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Valentine's day started off with a sick kiddo. Camden woke up around 3 am and told me that she was freezing. She didn't have any fever, but I put her in bed with me and tried to warm her up. After a few minutes, she told me that her throat hurt, too. I immediately thought she might have strep throat and didn't want to wait until the doctors office opened to make an appointment. So, I called Telecare about 3:30 this morning and made an appointment for 9:30am. I went back to bed, trying to go to sleep. I finally managed to fall asleep around 4:45am, only for Jeremy's alarm to wake up around 5:15am. Camden also woke up then and told me she needed to throw up. So, we both went to the bathroom where she did throw up a little bit. She then went to lay on the couch, where she stayed for about an hour and a half. After a little Gatorade, she said she felt better. Then she said her throat didn't hurt. So, I decided to cancel the appointment. I was still making her stay home, just because she threw up and I didn't know if she had any kind of virus. Apparently, she was FINE! She was bouncing off the walls ALL.DAY.LONG!

Carlyle was up around 6am so Jeremy got her up before he left for work. We got each of the girls a Valentine's balloon to go with their gift. As soon as Carlyle saw hers, she got so excited about it and wanted all 3 of them. Jeremy helped her open her gifts, but I definitely think the balloons were her favorite!!






Camden and Claire opened their gifts and Camden immediately wanted to eat some chocolate. And I'm sure she thought I was mean when I told her "absolutely not". I finally did give in after lunch.








I'm not sure what got into me this morning, but I started doing a little cleaning and couldn't stop. I cleaned all three bathrooms, cleaned the kitchen counters, did all the laundry, dusted, vacuumed, and mopped. I felt SO productive today. And, on top of that, I made chocolate covered strawberries, per the girls' request. We even managed to make personal pizzas tonight for dinner. Yeah for productivity and a clean house. Too bad the house will be a disaster by tomorrow afternoon.






And, with all the work I was doing, luckily this kept Carlyle entertained for a long time!

Valentine's Parties and Date Night

Thursday, Claire's class had their Valentine's party. They decorated cookies with frosting and sprinkles and exchanged Valentines with their classmates. She had alot of fun with her friends and even more fun when she got home as she looked through all her loot. Candy, pencils, sweet valentines and more!!






Friday was Camden's class party. I went a little early to bring all the goodies and then had lunch with Camden. It was so nice to enjoy lunch with my girl without having to wrangle a 16 month old...ha.

Camden's class also decorated cookies with frosting and sprinkles. All the kids were so sweet and appreciative of everything. After they decorated their cookie, they got to eat it, along with a few other treats. Then it was time to open their Valentine's bags and check out all their stuff. They all had the best time reading their cards. Daddy surprised Camden and stopped by for a few minutes! What a fun party!!






That night, Jeremy and I went out for an early Valentine's date. We went to Kiepersol Estates for a yummy dinner. It was so nice and GOOD! Of course, I knew Jeremy would order a steak, but I had no idea how delicious it would be. I actually tried something new...the sea bass. And it was fabulous!! And we had their signature chocolate cake....to die for! What a great Valentine's dinner with my sweet Valentine! Thanks for the fun date night, Jeremy!

Cake Pops were a SUCCESS!

I had seen a recipe for Cake Pops awhile back and thought they looked cute and fun. So, I decided I would try to make them for the girls' Valentine's parties at school. I gathered all of the things that I would need: cake mix (I used Duncan Hines), icing (any kind), lollipop sticks, candy melts or chocolate bark, sprinkles, treat bags, and a block of styrofoam (not pictured).



You start off by baking the cake as directed. After it cools, dump entire cake into a big bowl and crumble to tiny pieces. Then you add 1/2 can of icing. Using her hands (and you get VERY DIRTY) mix together thoroughly until thick like a truffle center. If you need extra frosting, you may use it, but half of the container was enough for mine. Roll mixture into balls (the recipe called for 1" balls, but I think mine were bigger than that) and place on a cookie sheet.



Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. I did this Tuesday night and kept them in the fridge until today. Do not freeze them before dipping or the chocolate coating may crack.

Melt candy melts or chocolate bark in the microwave according to the directions on the package. Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy and insert into the flat end of the cake balls.

Carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered, remove and tap gently on the edge of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate. Tapping too hard may cause the ball to fall off the stick. Immediately cover with sprinkles before the chocolate has a chance to set. Insert into styrofoam to let harden.



Once finished, begin packaging them in the same order they were dipped. This part is easier if you have a helper. Place a cello bag over the top and while someone holds it, tie some curly ribbon below the ball.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Pretty easy and very cute!

Snow...again!

So, we had snow last Friday and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. Thought I better do it before the next snow, which is expected tomorrow. What are the odds...snow three times already this year in Texas?

The girls were thrilled when they awoke to snow covering the ground. After breakfast, they immediately wanted to go out and play. I think they made three separate trips out that day. They think it's lots of fun until they can't feel their hands anymore. Carlyle wanted to get out in the snow so bad, but with her not walking, I just didn't know if she'd like it. So, we bundled her up and took her outside. She immediately wanted down and had the best time.






We enjoyed our playtime in the snow! What fun memories!!



Camden and Claire tasting the snow.

Falling in the snow.

Trying to ride the scooters in the snow.

Carlyle riding her car in the snow.


Camden taking a break from playing.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Daddy was a good sport and let Camden and Claire cover him with snow.

And, of course, we had to make some snow ice cream. Yummy!