William updates

William is one busy little fella. He is maturing more and more and has made some big strides in his speech... He can now speak in short sentences! We are noticing that he is working harder to pronounce his letter sounds more fluently and is adding to his vocabulary daily. We can sit in the car and I can ask him to repeat a series of words and he will try his best to do it. He is taking directions very well and I get him to participate in a lot of things around the house to help himself more. It's been so busy with the girls involved in volleyball and he has to get dragged around from school to school. So far he is doing pretty well and seems to enjoy watching the games way more than last year. He used to cry every time I would clap and cheer. Now he chimes in and gets into a frenzy of excitement. It sure makes for a more enjoyable experience. It is really funny how as a parent you wonder when certain milestones will be met and if certain things will ever happen for your child. I am glad I am a patient woman and know that everything happens in its own time. I am grateful for a healthy, smart and happy little boy. Oh and by the way, I am officially a mom to a 14 & 16 year old. Brie turned 14 on the 7th and Chardie turned 16 today. It still astonishes me some days that I am a mom to three. I am one lucky gal :)

Weekend Wrap-up

The weekend was very full and really fun. We went to Sumter on Saturday to celebrate a family member's 80th birthday (Dwayne's side- great uncle). They had a really big turn out and it was nice seeing all of the extended family for a few hours. Since the location was somewhat in the country, William had tons of fun playing in the dirt. Anyone who knows how 500% girlie girl I am knows I had to bite my lip and turn my head. I bathed the boy when we got home and saw actual dirt in the tub. He had a BLAST! Some of the teenage cousins came back to our house that evening and end up spending the night. The girls had so much fun and they were up until 3:30 that morning! Luckily they kept the noise levels to a minimum so the rest of us could sleep.

The pollen count in our area has been off the charts!! I truly never thought I would want rain on Spring break but we need it so badly. All you see outside is clouds of pollen flowing through the air. I have really been affected this year more than the previous ones. I guess because it is so much warmer and drier. Please rain, please. The girls are home this week so we plan to do some random things locally and then we have a little weekend getaway planned.

So how was your weekend??

William's 2nd birthday photos

Here are some photos from William's birthday celebration. It was a small family affair since he is too young to understand what was going on.

Look at that sweet face!

He was trying to escape!

After blowing out the candles.

It was all about the balloons for him!

He was squealing with excitement and showing off for everyone!

He really loved the box this toy came in ;-)

I could not get very decent photos since he refused to sit still.

At the end of the evening we were all so worn out. The great thing is we got to sleep in until 9:00 the next morning.

Happy 2nd Birthday William!

Today is our sweet little boy's second birthday! It's so hard to believe that he is 2 already. He is a funny and happy little guy and has enriched our lives in so many ways. I am a better person because of him. Our family looks forward to all of the new things he will get into and pray that his two's won't be so terrible! We love you William!!! ♥

Birthday party photos to come....

Shelly's 36th Birthday

I had such a fun birthday week! Here are a few photos...

William doesn't have that baby look anymore. He looks like a little man!

Here is a video Dwayne took. You know how he loves his videos!

My sister and bro-in-law came by and she brought over a home baked cake and pasta salad!

Dwayne took me out to my favorite restaurant and we had some amazing drinks at the bar. I got some nice little goodies and had a great day of relaxation!

Brie is a teenager!!

We spent the Labor Day holiday celebrating Briahnna's 13th birthday. We had lots of food and family time. It was a really great day!

Can you tell she truly is a teenager by the fact that she was totally embarrassed to be getting a kiss from her dad?

It is seldom we get a family photo taken and of course William did not want to fully cooperate once he saw the camera.
Here is a rare photo of me since I am usually the one that takes the photos!

We had to get a small cake because we have to celebrate Chardie's birthday this coming weekend and don't want to be caked out.

Willie's birthday photos

I promised some birthday boy photos so here they are. William was a bit under the weather so he really was not smiling. As a matter of fact, I don't think I got even one shot with him smiling! Here's how his evening started. A nice nap...

His grandma (Shelly's mom) bought him this outfit.

Still no smiles. Not even a tongue shot as he is known for :P

Okay, there's a semi-smile :)

Here's Papo, the #1 cake inspector! William does not look very interested at all!

The smash cake. Would you believe not one speck of it got on his head?! He didn't even want to eat it.

Gotta have the paparazzi! Everyone was armed with a camera phone!

William is 1!

The day is finally here. William is officially one year old today! We are all so excited to celebrate this evening and there is so much left to do. I still have to go to the store to pick up some extra food items, the cake, balloons... It's always a mad dash at the last minute! I am happy that we are not having anything big, just us and the grandparents. We don't believe in spending loads of money on a child that would not even have a clue of what is going on. We also don't want to obligate anyone during these trying financial times. I'll be sure to post the birthday photos tomorrow so check back! Have a great day :)

The icing on the cake

I know everyone is talking about the same thing today, our new President-Elect Barack Obama. I will not make you read anything you already know but I will say this has been an amazing historical event to take part in! I turned 35 yesterday and I guarantee this was a birthday gift that I will treasure always. I would have waited in line to vote for 2 or 3 more hours if I had to with zero regret.

I am only now realizing how scary this photo is with the 5 am no make-up look! Yikes!!

I enjoyed my cake and cupcakes! When I was a kid, I would be bummed when my birthday fell on Election Day. I always thought it was a waste. Not this time around!!