It's SPLASH BEACH!!!

Finally our much anticipated trip to the "Big Water" is upon us and we couldn't be more excited. Mikey missed both of our beach trips last year due to work and a hurricane in Texas that will remain nameless. So on Friday, this is what we have to look forward to

sandy white beaches...and SPLASH BEACH RESORT! For those of you who haven't heard of this, it is the absolute best resort to stay at if you have kids! These following pictures will show you some of the reasons why!
this is a cool picture and this is just the crosswalk over from the parking deck!

This is one of the pools and the hot tub

And most importantly the splash pad! This provides hours of hands free fun where the kids can play and the parents can sit back and chill. So yes this resort is a little (alot) pricey, but it is money well spent considering that the normal vacay with a 2 and 3 year old is more work that rest! But not here! I just hope it isn't too crowded. We usually go in September, after Labor Day when school is in session, but because Charlie has scheduled his arrival for that week, we have had to push it up. No matter, It is still going to be a blast. and a much needed one for my hard-workin' hubby! wish us lots of rest and relaxation!

Sam's mad sports skillz

A total dream come true for my husband, Sambo seems to be especially gifted at shooting basketball. I know what you must be thinking...yeah right all little boys like to play with balls. But this is more than just that. We have a 6 foot basketball goal pictured below and it is on it's highest setting. Sam can ring that goal over and over. It really is amazing. His teachers at school always make comments about how good he is at ringing their goals at school. One teacher said she watched him ring it 10 times in a row and she couldn't believe it. She said her son couldn't do that when he was 6 or 7 and Sam is only 2. Mikey is really good at shooting basketball too, so I guess that's where Sam gets it from but as for this post, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

He aims!

He shoots! Look at that form!

Wait for it! Wait for it!

and while you're waiting, notice how high the goal actually is. That is an eight foot door-frame with 10 foot ceilings. you're impressed right? And Sam is what...3 feet tall!

He scores...and the crowd goes wild!!



He is also a pretty good shot with the football too. Which is what he seems to be more built for right now, big boned baby!





Look at the concentration in his little face

I can only imagine where life with 3 boys will lead. Probably to lots more posts like this!

~Archer's Photoshoot~

Trisha and I staged an impromptu photo-shoot for Archer last week. It went pretty well. We tried using lots of different props and only one of them turned out really cute. The cutest ones were just of him all by his naked little self.

So freaking cute! Look at those fat cheeks...both sets!

This face was the beginning of a smile!






Look at those tiny little feet!





Sweet blue eyes! (if they stay that color)

This was by far my favorite picture. I just love it! Maybe I should make a living out of this...just kidding! But it was fun!

Name Announcement...I think!

After much debate I think Mikey and I have settled on a name. I think it's really cute and if you have any objections speak now or forever hold your peace. Mikey picked the name Charlie and his middle name comes from my middle name Elaine. If we had've had a girl, her name would've been Adrianna Laine so that is where the songs you are hearing have stemmed from. So, let the monogramming and personalization begin! Gran Gran start your engines!(embroidery machine that is).
Our third son will be named...drum-roll please!!

Huett pronounces this Charre Wayne...he can't say his L's at all. Let's hope the baby doesn't learn to say his name from Huett.


Also another exciting fact, on the 16th I turn to 23 weeks. For all of you who don't speak medical, If you have a baby before 23 weeks gestation, there is nothing you can do. Babies that early don't survive, period. The doctors won't even try. But once you hit that magical 23 week mark, your baby suddenly becomes viable. Not that I have any reason to believe that I will be delivering anytime before the month of September, but that eases my mind just a little bit.

We had a peaceful and uneventful Mother's Day. Archer had his baby dedication and he looked so sweet in the gown that Huett and Sam both wore for their dedications.

What a sweet little family

"What you lookin' at?"

Ava's getting a kiss. Look at that beautiful blonde hair!

What a blessing he is!

No I didn't manage to get one picture of me with any of my children or my husband on mother's day or on any of the following posts except one. I am going to try to do better in the future. Not that any of you care to see me, but someday in the future my kids may want to know what I looked like when they were little. I know we always get a kick out of looking back at pictures of my mom. Boy did she have a lot of hairstyles. Anything from a salt and pepper curly mullet to a brown semi-afro. Priceless.

The whole reason for our trip was to go to a rodeo in Cullman that was to be followed by a Chris Young concert. For those of you who don't remember him, he won the third season of Nashville Star. Mikey thinks he is the greatest thing since me...just kidding. No, but seriously if I have those final episodes of Nashville Star once on our TIVO, I have seen them a thousand times. Huett watched it every night before bedtime for several months. So anyway, these our some pictures from the Finale of our day-trip to Cullman

This is a sweet picture of those big brown eyes. This kiddo was staying hydrated!

The boys both got to ride ponies for the first time. They thought it was really funny when they would have to stop the horses to scoop the poop. Must I remind you that they are both very into bathroom humor right now... much to my dismay.

This little saddle got Huett warmed up to the idea of riding the real pony

Sam, however, took right to the pony-riding. He looks like such a big boy.

This was just a little girl who was decked out in her Wranglers, cowboy boots, and hat. There were tons of kids there that looked like full on cow-kids. Too cute!

This is what the rodeo men were wearing. It was really pretty exciting watching them try to rope that cows, etc. They had this one event where they would let a wild cow loose, bucking and going wild and the man on the horse would have to rope its feet and someone from his team had to run up and milk it and then show they actual baby bottle with the cows milk to the judge. CRAZY! Just to set the record straight female cows with udders can also have horns. I saw it with my own 2 eyes, so just b/c it has horns doesn't mean it is a bull!

This is the actual concert. Mikey wouldn't got down to the stage b/c it was in the dirt and he was wearing his new shoes...who's the pretty boy now?

This was Mikey and I during the concert. Man we don't look like we used to.

The boys got to meet Chris at an autograph signing at Jack's Western Wear earlier that day. Huett was a little shocked that Chris was right there instead of just on TV.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Ave Maria Grotto- Cullman

Saturday we took a day trip to Cullman. Believe me we saw all that Cullman had to offer. We ate lunch at All-Steak (yummy!!) where I proceeded to drop my expensive sunglasses(the only expensive pair I have ever owned) into a hole behind our booth that might as well have been the Grand Canyon. After several different attempts to retrieve them, we were successful with some kind of long handled squeegee and the little boy at the next booth climbed under the table and grabbed them for me so that started us out with a bang!

Our next stop was Ave Maria Grotto which for those of you who don't know is a monastery/catholic school. There is a candle shoppe that sells the candles made by the monks. Yes, we are talking real monks who walk around in brown hooded capes. Anyway, One of the monks has made it his life's-work to create all of these miniature statues of real-life places and events. There is a little Bethlehem that depicts Jesus' birth, a huge cavern that is carved out of the side of a cliff. It is amazing how much attention he paid to the details. He used everything from broken glass to seashells to decorate and these are a few pictures from our trip.

First of all our tourist trip wouldn't have been complete without Mikey wearing his tourist shorts that I bought him just for the trip. Is this not the cutest plaid print you've ever seen. The only thing that would've made it better is if I could've found these shorts in the boys' size and they could've been three-of-a-kind

This is a picture of Sam with his sucker that he was licking on the whole time we walked through the exhibit. Of course he didn't proceed to drop it on the ground and have it covered in dirt, to which I absolutely did not attempted to blow it off to no avail. Of course I didn't then go on to lick the dirt off myself to prevent him from having a meltdown in what seemed to be such a peaceful and beautiful place. Of course I didn't do any of those things. And no, I am not still cleaning the dirt from my teeth. *( just kidding about that last part)

The boys had a good time checking out all of these neat things that were just their size

This section was ancient Greece and Rome and it was really amazing. There was a tiny road that went throughout the whole thing. I mean it was all so tiny, yet so detailed.



Inside this window is where the manger scene from Jesus' birth was recreated. It was really pretty b/c there were stained-glass windows and the sun shone through so beautifully.
Notice him happily sucking on that sucker...




The boys were really starting to wind down at this point...look how they are in such a daze... I will admit though, it's easier to get pictures when they are in this state

I didn't get as good a picture of this cave as I thought I did but it was really impressive.

I guess I was too focused on tourist Mikey...

The boys were trying to climb the sculptures. We had to nip that real quick. I didn't want any Catholic monks coming after us.

So all in all this stop on our trip was fun. I probably wouldn't drive all the way to Cullman just for that, but it is definetly worth stopping by if you are passing through.

Play-Time 2009

Ava attempting to venture out to the water park that sits behind the park...It wasn't yet open to the public

April's sweet little girl Briley. If it weren't for that pacifier, I think she may hae tried to eat anything she could get her hands on.

This is a pic of Will, (Adam and Lori's son)He was glad to be out and about with all of these playmates!


One of my dear childhood friends April has organized a play-date that will span throughout the summer! There were alot of girls from high-school that I haven't seen in years who all now have kids of their own. I only got a few pictures of some of the children that weren't mine, but it was a blast and fun was had by all...children and adults. There was an unexpected but exciting visit from the ice-cream truck. It was the first time my kids had seen an actual real-life ice cream truck besides the one on Dora the Explorer.

Sam, as usual, with a mouth full of something...He ate more than he played I think.



Archer was our youngest one by a long shot! He had a nice time too, even if most of it was spent sleeping!

Once again...notice the strategic placement of that pacifier!

Huett was also itching to get to that waterpark! I promised him...soon enough!

This is Will again...look at those big blue eyes!

There were probably about 15 kids total, ranging from 2 weeks to 3 or 4 years old! If any of my readers are interested , leave me a post with your email address and I will forward you all the dates.

SO I have to give a shout out to all of the moms out there. But, especially to my own. She is no doubt a supermom which has grown into being a super Gran-Gran! She goes above and beyond what any mom should have to do for her 25 year old daughter and her grand kids and we all love her for it!! I seriously don't know what we would do without her. I'll even speak for Mikey and say that I think she is the best mother-in-law a guy could ask for. People often say they don't see how she keeps up with all of us but she does it without batting an eye. I hope I can be as good a mom and grandmother as she is! I love you mom!! Happy mothers day!



On another note, I can't believe I am the lucky mom of 2 sweet boys with one on the way. Anytime I run into someone from a few years back I can see the shock and surprise spread across their face when I tell them I have been married almost 5 years, have a 3 year old, 2 year old, and one on the way. I must admit, sometimes I look at my sweet boys and think...Are they really mine? Why hasn't anyone shown up to try to take them away? And then I come back to life and realize they are mine. Am I really the one of the 2 people responsible for these children. Mikey and me? That's it? Really?? You have got to be kidding! We should still be 21 years old, going out and still worrying our own parents(and in our minds we still are). How will they grow into well-adjusted productive citizens? Then I realize my parents were a lot younger than we are and they probably felt the same way and with lots of love, attention and prayer, we turned out all right so hopefully the apples won't fall too far from the tree.
People always say I don't know if we're ready to have kids. Who ever really is? Will we ever have enough money? maybe not...will we ever have a good enough job? probably not...but once your children are here everything else becomes secondary to them and what is best for them. You suddenly wonder what you ever did without them or why you ever questioned becoming parents in the first place. So I'll end this long post by saying Happy Mother's day to me! But this is absolutely a job I would do every day for the rest of my life even if there was not a day to celebrate it!

Not for the weak-stomached!

Mikey made it home and we are so glad to have him back! Thank God he was here b/c on Sunday night, the boys woke up within about 20 minutes of each other throwing up in the middle of the night. Sam was in their room and He woke up crying and covered in puke(lovely, huh?). So about the time I get their bed stripped and him all cleaned up and settled watching Yo Gabba Gabba at 3:30 in the morning in the downstairs den, I hear Mikey yelling from our bedroom, " Tiff get in here, Huett's throwing up!!!" (Huett comes and gets in bed with us every night around 3:00 A.M.) Somehow Mikey slept throught the whole ordeal with Sam. Anyway, I run upstairs and poor Huett is covered just as Sam was. Thank goodness the nice salesman at Rooms to Go encouraged us to buy the mattress protectors for both ours and the boys new beds. Money well spent! Anyways I get Huett all cleaned up and settled watching Yo Gabba Gabba and we relax for a few minutes. Then as they are headed back upstairs Huett does it again. Clean-up follows and then back to sleep. They both threw up as soon as they woke up the next morning and then Huett threw up 4 more times and Sam only once. Loads of fun!! Needless to say I was afraid it was Swine Flu but the I came to my senses and by Tuesday they were no more worse for the wear. Kids are so resilient(mommy not so much)But as Mikey (and the guy off of Joe Dirt) would say," You live to play another day!"

*****How could I forget to address the garbage pail kid puking at the beginning of my post. That is so funny b/c the boys are so into spiderman and since I didn't think anyone would want to see a picture of my 2 sons actually doing the deed themselves this is definetly the next best thing. And in a nod to the 1980s how many of us actually did have our own Garbage Pail Kids cards. My mom hated them and I guess now I can see why, but we sure did think they were cool.*****