Ansley's 1st Birthday Party!!!

Invitation created by my mom!

Today we celebrated Ansley's 1st Birthday!!! We had a GREAT time with family and close friends! Ansley took a good nap before her party so she was in a great mood and loved seeing all of her little friends! April came and brought Casey (15 months old), Patricia came and brought Nye (14 months old), and Tammy came and brough Hayley (13 months old)! It's the first time we have been able to get all of the little girls together since they were all newborns! Malin and her family came, the Killpack family came, Madrina (Robin) came, and of course my parents and brothers were here! It was a great turn out!!! We were sad to miss Robin, Tylor, Drew and Tessa though! Drew and Tessa have been running fevers for the past few days so they weren't able to come today! They were so dissapointed, but when the doctor says to stay home and get well, that's what they did. Here is a shot of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Ansley!

Above: Ansley is watching everyone sing to her in complete amazement! April and sweet little Casey!

Ansley LOVED her pizza and cake! Those are two of her favorite foods so she was happy! Ansley was spoiled with a lot of great gifts and stayed up later than usual tonight so she could play with all of her new toys!

James is here!!! The kids have really enjoyed spending time w/ Uncle James! Ansley has probably taken longer to warm up to James than any other kid I know! She is so funny! She literally stares people down for a while and decides when she feels comfortable with them. Sometimes it takes a few days! As James and my parents were leaving tonight Ansley reached for James for the first time and we were able to get this shot! I made cupcakes, icing and set out sprinkles and candies so that the kids could decorate their own cupcakes! AJ and Will decorated one, some of the adults had fun decorating one, and then Aleigh had a BLAST decorating the rest! Here are the cupcake creations! Below that photo is a photo of the cupcake pops that I made as party favors. The kids helped me paint the little flower pots. We had fun, but I'm not sure I'll make the cupcake pops again! It was quite a task, but I have to admit, I think they turned out pretty cute.

Skroll down to leave a comment. For some reason these photos upload all over the place and it messes up the format!

A lot to look forward to!

This Saturday we will get to a visit, that feels like, we have waited forever for! Uncle James is coming to see us!!! We still aren't sure when he will arrive, but as long as he show's up we don't care what time it is! Aleigh is so full of excitement to see her Uncle James she says "I just can't stand it!!!" Tomorrow is Uncle James' birthday so she is looking forward to calling him tomorrow in Phoenix! We are thrilled that James will be here for Ansley's 1st Birthday party on Sunday! I can't believe she is about to be a year old already! No matter how hard you try to hang on to every moment, time still has a way of flying by way too fast! Since we are heading to El Paso on Ansley's actual birthday, we have decided to celebrate on Sunday. This way both Uncle James and her Madrina (Robin Dumas) can be a part of Ansley's birthday. Robin leaves on the 14th for her second mission trip to Guatemala. That's an amazing trip for her to be able to go over there and work with the children and families who don't have much of anything! I know she was really moved by her first trip, she left the day after Ansley was born...Ansley arrived just in time! :)

We are just having a small group of close friends over for Ansley's party on Sunday and then of course my parents, James, and Bryson! We thought Amy (James' girlfriend) would be here to join us, but it looks like she won't be arriving in Atlanta until next Thursday. We are all anxious to meet her, she seems really great!

I will be sure to blog about our weekend and post pictures, so stay tuned! :)

Update on James!

James will be touching down on US ground tomorrow!!! He has to go through whatever process they have to go through and that requires a day in BWI, and then he will go on to PHX. I am sure he is just going to be thrilled to be back in the states!

Ok, so I heard from someone very special in James' life that he actually won't be coming back w/ a mustache! LOL! We are really looking forward to meeting this "someone special!" Her name is Amy and she is from South Carolina but was in Iraq when James got there. They met while working out...imagine that! :) Here is a picture James sent us shortly after they met. James is going to think I'm such a dork...but I get excited for him! LOL!

He's on his way!!!

We are SO EXCITED that James is on his way back to the United States! He has quite a few stops before he finally makes it to the US. He is supposed to arrive in Phoenix within the next week and then will be arriving in Atlanta on the 7th!!! We are just counting down the days and praying for his safe return! Looks like he is coming back with a mustache!

Hayley's 1st Birthday!

Our sweet little baby girl, who we feel was just born, will be turning 1 in less than a month and she is walking!!! It really hit me today when my close friend Tammy held a small get together for her baby girl's 1st birthday! Hayley (Tammy's daughter) was born just 3 weeks before Ansley! Today was the 3rd 1st birthday party we have been to in the last couple of months, and the last one before Ansley's!

Here are a few photos of Hayley's birthday today! She is so animated and just adorable!

I DO NOT like this photo of me, but it's the memory that needs to be captured, it's going to be fun watching our daughters grow up together!

This picture of Tammy and Ansley makes me smile! I love it!

Opening presents! Ansley really liked Heather (Tammy's sister)!

Hayley got a radio flyer for her birthday and Ansley would not sit in it w/ her initially, then when she was comfortable, they put Hayley back in w/ her and Joe made Hayley cry by trying to be silly! So much for the cute and smiley picture we were hoping to get of the girls in the wagon! That's Tammy's little sister, Heather in the photo w/ the girls. She is the one who baked the cakes! She is a great baker!

SILLY KIDS!

One day we hear Ansley huffing and puffing so we go into the kitchen, and this is what we find!

Another day, while I am showering, Joe goes into the kitchen and finds Ansley fascinated w/ matches....of all things! She found them in the cabinet inside a giftbag that holds a bunch of tea lights. She has gone back to that very cabinet for the past 3 days and empty's out the bag only to find there are no more matches in there! Don't we deserve the parents of the year award!!! :)

Here are a couple of videos we captured tonight!

Holiday Visit

My cousin Andrea, her husband Elliot, and two boys Brock and Scott, came and stayed w/ us after christmas. AJ and Brock hit it off and were totally entertained the entire time! Aleigh and Scott did really well to keep up with them too! We had a nice visit!

The guys played a competitive game of States and Capitols Sequence! It got even more competitive when Andrea and I decided to play against the guys! They cheated ;)! Not really, but it makes me feel better to say that!

My mom and the kids were pretending that all of the kids were falling down the well like Giselle does in Enchanted! They had so much fun!

Scott is one of the cutest little boys!

While Andrea was here, I hosted a "Scentsy" party for her and got to learn all about the product she sells! Its AWESOME! The orders are already here and we have been burning ours non-stop! It is the newest and safest thing in wickless candles I have ever seen! They sell the prettiest warmers! The warmers warm up w/ a light bulb and the plate that sits on top is removable so when you are done w/ one scent and want to burn another, you can easily just pour the wax back in to use later and break off a piece of a new scent! The best part is how safe it is! You can stick your finger in the burning wax and its not hot! I feel safe w/ my kids around it and comfortable leaving the warmers on when we leave the house. There are 80 different scents to choose from and I was able to smell every single one! I have several favorites, but was able to narrow it down to about 15, and then was able to narrow it down again to my top 6 for the package I ordered. I am not trying to sell this to anyone, I just really love the product and think everyone should know! Our house has smelled liked "Cinnamon Bear" for the past two days! :) If you are interested in checking out Andrea's website: www.scentsy.com/snookems