Belly time!

Hayes on the left and Ahga, Addie's favorite babydoll on the right. She thought Ahga needed belly time too.

Please God give me more patience. Patience with my two-year old little girl who seems to try very hard to make me angry as I prepare to pack up my little family for an 11 hour road trip to Florida. Addie, as sweet and as cute as she is, can also be very trying. I find myself constantly losing my temper and yelling at her these days. I never wanted to be a yeller, and spanking was something I always said "could be handled differently when I have my own children". Its funny how things don't go quite as we plan once the children actually get here. Tim says I am hard on her. I think I am the only one she will listen to since he is NOT hard on her. My hope is to raise her to be well-mannered and respectful, not spoiled and undisciplined. Tim and I try very hard to model this behavior for her, and we are constantly praising her for good behavior. This battle is a tough one. We have had a rough day today. Lots of tears have been shed and I have yelled one too many times. I am hopeful that after her nap we can begin again. Wow, this whole parenting thing is HARD! And to think, I got another one that has to turn two also!

Addie meets my Mamaw

This little piece of Heaven on earth is where my grandmother, Mamaw, is buried. She lies on a hillside not far from her hometown in the most beautiful, peaceful graveyard I have ever seen. My mom and I stopped here to put new flowers on her grave while we were in town a few weeks ago. Addie decided she wanted to help.

Addie asked my mom, "Where is your mommy? Is she here? Where is she?". My mom told her that this place belonged to her mom and that they were going to leave these pretty flowers for her at her spot. She didn't really understand what was going on, and that's ok. She walked around the gravesites pointing at flowers and exclaiming how "pretty and bootiful" they were. How awesome is the innocence of a little child? To her, this place wasn't a place of sadness and loss, but a place of color and beauty. We should try and look through the eyes of a child more often. As adults, I think we lose sight of that. Oh how my Mamaw would have loved this little girl. She would have adored her sass and spunky attitude. I can see her grinning down on us now!

She's such a big help around here!

This one makes me smile too!

Still friends...

Addie and Lily...

Yes, it does happen.

Hayes is occasionally a little grumpy. He is even cuter with an attitude. What do you think?

Where in the world does he get that little temper? Addie thinks it's hilarious.

Easter at the Hewitts

Saturday our little family headed over to the Hewitt's to celebrate Easter since Tim had to work on Sunday. Pop Pop tried his hardest to get Addie to pose on the tractor with him, but she wasn't getting anywhere near that thing. Hayes didn't seem to mind though and as always, cooperated nicely!

Addie got in some swing and bubble time with Ga Ga. We had to bribe her to come in and eat. Of course at the end of the day, she didn't want to leave and there were some tears shed as we buckled her in her carseat and pulled out of the driveway.

What a nice spring day! Happy Easter to everyone AGAIN!

Easter Morning at our house...

A reminder that Hayes is only 6 months old and really doesn't understand holidays and toys and candy yet, so that is why there are a trillion more pictures of the little girl on this morning. Hayes still got a basket from the Easter Bunny though, and he seemed to love watching his sister go crazy over all the goodies she found in her basket.

Good Morning Addison...The Easter Bunny came last night! Are you excited?

Let's go downstairs and see what he left for you.

Slow down! Don't run!

WOW! Look at all this good stuff!

It's gonna take me forever to get to the bottom where the candy is...

OOOOOh La La....My very own wallet! The Easter Bunny knows me so well!

This is the best day ever! Did you say that I could have peeps for breakfast?

YES! I LOVE these things! And...they have no eggs or peanuts in them! Score!

This is much better than an old dry waffle!

Man...Have you ever tried one of these things?

Quite possibly my favorite food ever! I love the Easter Bunny!

Next comes oreo cookies with Daddy!

Then I'll show my Mamaw everything I got!

Happy Easter everyone!

Hunt #1

A friend of mine from high school lives down the road on a beautiful little farm. She has invited us the last couple of years to their big annual easter egg hunt on the property. They cook a pig and have lots of food and fun for the kids. Addie was a little young last year to really understand how to hunt, but this year she caught on quickly and filled her little basket full of goodies. My friend called me the day before to tell me that she blames me for her "big thighs" since she ate every piece of candy with a peanut in it as she stuffed the eggs in preparation for the hunt. She didn't want Addie to have to worry about the candy inside. That was very sweet of her!

It's hard to believe that Hayes will be a year and a half this time next year and will probably give Addie a little competition when it comes to egg hunting! We are looking forward to the hunt again in a year. I have plenty of photos to share from our Easter celebrations this year. Since Tim had to work on Easter Sunday, we celebrated a day early with his family and then the kids and I did it all over again at my mom's the next day. Holidays are much more fun with little ones!

I can make you feel better...

Addie knew Hayes was not feeling too good, so she asked me if she could lay beside him in his crib and give him some lovin'.

Hayes loved every second of it, and it just about melted my heart!

Toughin' it out...I guess :(

This tough, adorable little guy is such a trooper. Even when his ankles are red and creased with dry skin, and his little neck and head are bright red and burning with patches of evil eczema, he is still willing to get dressed up like a little man and pose for some easter pictures.

His skin seemed to take a turn for the worse on our road trip this past week. The pollen count was sky high the day we left and that may have played a large part in it, but the poor little guy had such a tough time. It was nice to see my family, but a really hard trip overall. I have so many fun pictures to share with you all, but first have to get the little guy comfortable and get his allergist to get us on a new regimen, since this one seems to be failing. He's toughin' it out though, as usual...he is such a joy and blessing in our lives.

The many faces of Addie

She's so darn cute I can hardly stand it! Wait till you see the pictures we had taken today...stay tuned!