Mug Shots

Don't worry.  Noone has been to jail.  Just me and Sugar having a little fun photo session.  What am I going to do with this little prissypants?!?  Little Miss Attitude.  Ohhhhhhh, she wears me out one minute, and is sweet as sugar  (hence the name) the next.  I love her to pieces, but I'm already fearing the teenage years and that's several years away.  I realize they will go by quickly......I'm holding on with all I've got -- this girl is taking us for a ride!!

She is full of life and personality.  She loves her friends and school........she loves her sisters.  She loves to sing and dance.  She loves to "watch a show" and stay at her Babe's and Bebe's houses.  She loves her cousins and going.......anywhere. 

I pray for my girls.  I pray they will go the direction God leads them.  I pray that they will be strong and independent.  I pray that they will live life to the fullest (although in a safe way  :)  ).  I pray they are willing to be open minded, kind hearted and generous.  I pray that they meet a man like their daddy....one that will love them for who they are and have like-values. 

Sugar is the big sister.  I don't know what it's like to be a big sister.  There are many days filled with hair-pulling, screaming, pinching, pulling, biting, crying, tattling...

But, just when I'm about ready to pull out MY hair...

I see the sweetest things...

An arm around a shoulder when the tears come.

Sharing...

A big "movie hug" when they haven't seen each other for a while....

Holding hands....

And I just LOVE it!!

there's no playing possum here.....she finally passed out.  LOVE this sweet girl....

The WHOLE Hog experience

Football season is here -- YAY!!

There's nothing better than going to a Razorback game in Little Rock.  Well, other than the super-crowded stands where somehow your one seat becomes 1/2 or 1/4 of a seat, you're sweating and sticking to your child, the person behind you continuously knees you in the back........but I'll get to all of those details later.

This was our very first game with all THREE of our little ones.

And YES, we called for some extra hands.  And we were so HAPPY she said YES (thanks so much Miss Makenzi!!)

Our goal was to leave Hope around 11:00.  I think we left around 11:20 or so.  Pretty good in my book.  The Hubs was a little antsy.....if he sets a goal time of departure of 11:00 -- he would rather be leaving at 10:45.  Yeah....good luck with that with a house full of girls!!

So, with the vehicle loaded down and looking like the Beverly Hillbilly's -- off to Little Rock we went.  It was hard to imagine that we were leaving and coming back on the same day.  How in the world can we look the same when leaving for one day OR one week.  I haven't quite figured that one out, but it always seems to happen...

First stop:  Arkadelphia.  Doggy drop-off.  That got rid of a minor bit of chaos. 

Next target:  War Memorial.

I'm very fortunate to have a husband who is a great driver.  He can weave his way in and out of just about anywhere.  You know.....he's the one that stays in the left lane as long as possible and then jets over right before the exit -- passing up ALLLLLL those people waiting in line.  Oops -- hope that wasn't a secret.

We arrived at our lot and there were plenty of spaces left.  We found a great place with lots of grass and shade so we could set up our canopy and the kiddos could hang out and run around.  The extra shade was nice as well -- it was getting pretty toasty.

We met up with our friends, the Bobo's, and got things set up.  The girls needed a little bathroom break, so Jill and Makenzi took them over to the zoo.  (we try to avoid the port-a-potties at all cost)  They were actually letting people in FOR FREE from 10-2.  Pretty cool!  The girls were able to see the new penguin exhibit and several of the other animals.

We also took the little ones to see Tusk.  It was a little jaunt from our parking spot.  We managed to get there and back in one piece. 

We ate lots of yummy food and were able to visit with friends we hadn't seen in a while. 

Time to go in......time for me to put on 25 yards of fabric and strap Miss Bean to my body.  Time to sweat even more.  The first quarter was somewhat calm, "cool", and collected.  Bean was fine.  Sugar was entertained. Spice was entertaining our neighbors by shouting out any and every phrase she heard (like "go hogs", "you can do it", "defense").  Luckily, we didn't have anyone shouting vulgar obscenities close by or we would have been in trouble!  

Bean is our first and only pacifier baby.  Sugar and Spice never would take one.  My experience is lacking in this category.  There are times I leave the house without one....BIG mistake.  There are times I've wished I had one of those pacifier clip things that keep it attached to the child when it pops out of their mouth.  THIS was one of those times!!  Bean was getting ready to eat, a little on the fussy side, and the paci just wasn't staying like it should.  My hand was cramping from trying to hold the paci in her mouth, while the other hand was in a constant battle with Spice to keep her from tumbling down the bleachers.  We have great seats and I love them, but for some reason, OUR row was the up and down row.  We are on the outside seats, so up and down we went each time as well.  One time I thought I would try and make it "easy" and just swing my legs around to the side.  My hands dropped down for support and OUT popped the paci!  

GASP!!

Down below it fell........the poor guys in front of me!!  I had them all looking in desperation for the beloved paci (did I mention this was the ONLY one we had with us?)  Where we sit, the area below the stands is slanted -- everything rolls to the bottom......or somewhere.  SO, I found our nice gentlemen helper wearing the yellow vest -- batted my eyes in the best mommy-fashion I knew -- and had him asking the guy on the other side of the fence if he saw our neon yellow and red pacifier.  After a few strange glances -- THE PACI WAS FOUND!!  YES!!  (and yes, I cleaned it off best I could).

That bought us a few more minutes.  Oh, and during this time, we discovered that we left the one BOTTLE of mommy milk out in the car.  NCAA no longer allows you to leave the stadium and return.  In this case, there was no way I could feed Miss Bean in the stands.  Hooter Hider or no Hooter Hider.  It looked like an early exit for us (which....at this point in the game -- the Hogs had it made in the shade).

Bean let me know it was time to exit.  We headed out and were waiting on the others.  Meanwhile I see the INFORMATION booth.  I decided I would take a chance and see if they had an "assigned" place for nursing moms (I didn't think there was much of one either....War Memorial is pretty old).  The man I spoke with said "no" pretty quickly.  Then he thought for a minute......"oh, we do have a seat in the bathroom".  At first I thought it might be possible.  THEN I understood him to mean the ACTUAL POTTY seat.  After almost gagging -- I politely told him NO THANKS!  He thought once more -- and brought me into the office to feed Bean in what I think was one of the box offices (the blinds were closed at this point).  SO, I told the situation to the fam once they came out, they voted to stay, and off Bean and I went to this tiny narrow room.  After unweaving this super-long piece of fabric and getting us untangled -- mission accomplished!  Only one or two people walked in on us......it's funny how embarrassed people get and they can't even see anything!!  WHATEVER!

We were good to go!  W enjoyed the rest of the game -- cheering the HOGS on to victory!!

Other highlights of the game:

• first cotton candy (and they didn't really like it -- YAY!)
• skittles
• popcorn
• losing the paci down the slope of the stands once more
• meeting the Hog mascot
• going down front to watch the cheerleaders
• slapping the hands of the players after the game  

WHOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!!  GO HOGS!!

a few pics from the evening.......

headed back from the zoo

burp cloth: totally cute gift from a friend; onesie: super-cute made by the talented Bebe (as in my mom....a designer, but not Bebe the clothing store -- ha!)

my little Spice...for some reason felt the need to walk around all day with this medal around her neck

ta dah!!

cute little Miss Britann

headed to see Tusk

Spice was not so sure about that hairy HOG!

A little comparison....

Bean turning 4 months got me thinking of my other baby girls.......growing oh so fast!  Here are their pictures at four months.  These shots don't necessarily show them favoring as much as I think sometimes.....what do you think?

Sugar

Spice

Bean

This next picture of Bean made me think of the one following of Sugar.  Even though the picture quality is not that great -- it's one of my all time favorites! 



4 Months Old!!

 

This may have been the 2nd day in her life that she has had something on her feet.....she didn't know what to think about those shoes!!

Sweet Little Bean is FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!  CanNOT believe it!  Words cannot express how much I love this little girl.  She is sweet as can be, a wonderful joy, ...I just can't get enough of her!  I truly have enjoyed the tiny baby phase.  I love watching her.  Watching her develop in all aspects is seriously amazing.  We have not had her 4 month well-visit yet, so I do not have updated statistics, but this is what she is doing now:  

She is doing much better at night.  We are doing our best to have her in bed by 7:30.  She has been waking at least once in the night, but is okay with Daddy getting her re-swaddled and settled back down (which he does a fantastic job, I might add!).  She will sleep until 7 or 8.  Back in bed by 9.  Up and playing and eating again around 11.  Back in bed around 1.  You get the picture.  She loves hanging out in her "lounge chair".  She loves to be outside.  She is smiling and cooing a lot.  She really takes everything in and watches her two big sisters.  They make her laugh the most and biggest.  She is rolling from her belly to her back.  She has discovered her hands and is beginning to reach.  She sucks her thumb/fingers every chance she gets, but we are encouraging the pacifier when we can.  She is very laid back and mild mannered.  She does well during bath time, but I can't say that I can tell whether or not if she LOVES it.  She looks at me with these eyes that completely melt my heart.  SHE IS A LITTLE DOLL!!!  

HAPPY 4 MONTHS, BABY BEAN!!

Uninvited Guest!

I've been super lazy with my blog titles lately.  As in -- not doing them at all.  I'm going back and forth as to whether or not I want to go that route again....but, I guess for now I will.  I don't feel as though I'm creative enough to come up with a different title for each occasion.  Is that silly?  So, I thought dating the posts would suffice.  THEN, I started getting deeper in the delves of the blogging world and decided that I needed to give people a hint perhaps as to what I would be rambling about for the day.  Anyway -- whatever the case -- I'll try it for now!

Our uninvited guest is pictured below. 

YES -- it was a SNAKE!!!!  And guess who found it?  Me, myself and I!!  For that I'm grateful.  Seriously.  One of my girls could have been in grave danger had it not been me finding it.  So, for really real -- I'm glad it was me. 

We were at home for Labor Day weekend.  Monday afternoon we had planned on swimming and hanging out onto the patio, getting some good outdoor play time.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous.  There had been some heavy winds earlier that weekend, and our pool had gotten "stopped up" from all the leaves and pine needles.  I had to do a little maintenance work before we could swim, so I thought it might be fun to play a little Baggo.  I was asking The Hubs had to get in the Baggo case, taking my sweet time carrying it from the patio to the grass.  Plopped it in the grass, undid the latches.........and then jumped back about ten feet (give or take a few feet!)  :)  

This dude was staring back at me!  YIKES!  I said! (or something like that........)  I ran over to where the Hubs was lounging.  He thought I was being ultra dramatic over an 8-legged-creepy-crawly-thing I don't like to talk about.  NO -- it's a SNAKE!!!!  I actually like snakes more than the creepy crawly things listed above, BUT, this one caught me off-guard.  I'm scrambling around trying to find my phone so that I can send a picture to my brother the biologist.  The Hubs is scrambling around trying to find a shovel to behead the thing.  The girls are squealing....basically based on our reactions.  Let's just say -- there was some excitement at The Coffee House! 

The snake decided to exit it's previously safe quarters of the Baggo game and Trevor was not interested in finding out whether or not he was poisonous......so, as one of Sugar's favorite movies these days says...."OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!" 

After several texts back and forth to my brother, it was decided that we had an Agkistrodon piscivorus on our hands.  Yeah, me too.  WHAT?!?  Seriously, brother dear -- yes, I'm a biology major.  Yes, I took herpetology.  BUT, more than that -- YES...it's been a looooooooooong time!!  

We are talking COTTONMOUTH people!!  AKA WATER MOCCASIN!!! Whatever you want to call it -- it's poisonous!!!  And it was hanging out with us on our patio! 

Needless to say -- the Hubs took care of it.  But we were left with the chills to run down our spines from the thoughts of IF one of our girls would have found it........

Not. good.

Other than that......

it was a great day!

Hope you had a great Labor Day, too!

pretty vicious looking don't you think?

 And the results of a couple of hours of swimming.......

just when I thought Sugar had outgrown the Bumbo.......ha!

 Bean enjoyed a little outdoor snooze

Pepper joined right in.......as always!



9-2-11

Had a few minutes........so, I thought I would upload more beach pictures!  This new way of uploading pictures is definitely better -- but for now -- it's not really any faster for me.  I have to sit here and manually make sure each one gets uploaded.  It's hard to explain, but basically it freezes up each time you leave it in that whirly bird position.  SO,  I have to hit browse so that the little spinning things will spin.  Then cancel.  When it shows another picture has loaded, I hit browse again.  It's still time consuming, but it gets the job done.  I will be SO glad when I can load as many pictures as my heart desires, and walk off!!

Who's ready for some football????!!!???  I can't believe it's that time of year already!!  GO HOGS!!  :)

 Sweet Bean and Babe

 Love this one of T and the SIL

 Sand art.....

 Everyone say CHEEEEEESE!!

our silly Spice!

 best of friends!!

 my little beauty....

 sweet sisters

one of my favorites....

 I've never liked my freckles.  I try to protect Sugar's skin as much as I can.....but, I think she wears them pretty well!!

 Miss Shaylene was the hairdresser for the week -- thanks so much!!  (mommy sure doesn't know how to do fancy hair!!)

 if you look closely, her face is covered in sand.  yes, she did a face plant about five minutes out -- we just dusted off best we could and went with it!!  :)