Memorial Day Fun

Although, Jason was busy working on Memorial Day this year, we got to spend the day with another man I love so much...my dad! Of course, Mom was there too, and all 5 of us girls had to fight for his attention. We spent the afternoon up at the Westgate shopping center in Glendale. We had a delicious lunch at Yard House followed up with a walk and the fountain show. Here are a few snapshots from in front of the fountains.

Brylee giving Brooke a extremely tight squeeze...sorry about the eye Brooke.

Miss Brooke, waiting for the perfect opportunity to sneak under the chain.
Bayleigh...always ready with a fancy pose.

Dad and Mom

Mom and Bayleigh resting on the bench...it was HOT outside!

Brylee, asking if we could swim in the fountain.

Sorry if its a little dark...Dad and Mom with all their grandgirls!

Splish Splash

I wasn't really ready for it, but swim season has officially arrived at our house. Fortunately for me, my girls aren't worried about Mommy looking her best in a swimsuit...as long as she is splashing around playing Little Mermaid with them, nothing else matters. This weekend we got an extra special treat...my Dad is in town, so my mom and I let him take a turn in the pool with the girls. Here is my little Brooke. She is by far the most cautious of the bunch...always practicing pool safety.

After convincing Brooke to shed her life jacket. She proceeded with caution on the raft. Making sure to stay close to big sister, Bayleigh.

Brylee, my most daring of the bunch is bribing Grandad with some of her sweet kisses. Immediately following these smooches she wanted him to toss her up in the air!

My little lifeguard Bayleigh. She is such a great help in the pool. Always making sure her sisters are safe, and a great swimmer herself.

Grandad may not be into playing Little Mermaid, but he and the girls turned the pool into a Cirque de Soleil show. My crazy Brylee couldn't get enough of being launched into the air.

Here is Miss Bayleigh, showing the girls how to nail a perfect launch and landing.

Guess who finally came around for a toss of her own? Brooke!!!

I must add that it was the first and only. The smile on her face in the picture, quickly turned to one of worry and distress.

I must admit that I am really looking forward to swimming with the girls this summer. I used to have so much fun swimming as a kid, and as an adult, I have gotten so boring. Pool season consisted of getting wet and then laying out. Why should I cook myself in Arizona's hot summer temps for the sake of a tan, when I can be splashing around, making memories with my girls....while pretending to be a mermaid.

VIP

I will be the first to admit that I am not the easiest person to buy gifts for...not because I am picky, but because I can never pinpoint something I specifically want. Many of the things I "need" do not fall into the exciting gift category, so I usually have to end up buying them myself. For example, this year I needed a new hand mixer, some of my favorite shampoo (Toni and Guy Superstar), place mats, and a new front door mat. Although, I would have been thrilled to get any one of them...I don't think my gift givers wanted to be known as the one that gave me the door mat. Of course, then there is the opposite side of the spectrum...the dream gifts. I would love a Canon Rebel camera, a new computer, laser hair removal, a maid, a cook, and to sleep in every morning...none of which I will have anytime soon. Now, the reason I am talking about all this gift giving is because I just celebrated my 28th birthday. It was a great, low-key day...lots of relaxing, good food, family and friends. My gifts were quite nice this year...clothes, purse, gift cards, and money BUT there was one gift that stood out above all the rest. I would have never thought to give such an awesome gift, and it is my absolute FAVORITE!!! My blog isn't just a blog anymore...it is an OFFICIAL website. www.catchingupwiththecarters.com My cousin-in-law Michele...bought me the domain for my birthday. I must admit that I feel extremely important to have my own website, and you should feel important for knowing someone that has their own website...just kidding:) Actually, this gives me newly added pressure to do a better job at keeping my site updated. I am feeling quite motivated and will probably stay up far later than I should tonight working on it (leaving me wishing for the above dream gift of sleeping in.) Thank you again Michele!

Brooke and Brylee's Big Debut

I just had to share this precious video clip I took of Brooke and Brylee a few weeks ago. It was their first time to be up front at church for their class. Brylee is on the right, Brooke on the left, and Jason is in the background. If you didn't notice, the stress of having to keep two toddlers in position and on task, is causing Jason to intensely chew his gum. All in all, I adore their performance and wouldn't trade their busy body ways for anything.

Spring has Sprung!

It just doesn't get any better than springtime in Arizona. We get all the amazing weather minus the traditional springtime rain shower or wind. The days are warm and the nights are just cool enough to need a light jacket. I love our home here because the backyard is perfect for the girls. Almost every room in the house has a window that opens to the back, so I can tend to my indoor duties while watching and listening to the girls out back...I have even been known to jump through a window to referee a potential problem situation. This year my in-laws bought the girls this awesome playground set with swings, monkey bars, a slide, fort, playhouse, and picnic area...they just adore it. The play on it at least 5 days out of the week. Along with all the wonderful spring weather is another favorite of mine...spring dresses. It has been an Easter tradition of our family since Bayleigh was one to take an annual picture in our matching spring attire. This year was no different, expect we realized how difficult it was to get three kids (2 of them being 2) to smile and look at the camera at the same time. After much frustration, we finally decided to embrace the moment and stop worrying about a smile and just capture the girls personalities instead. I just loved how they turned out.

This is the best traditional style picture we got. Brylee wasn't too happy about having to slow down to take a picture.

I think the girls were laughing at how uptight Mommy and Daddy were being.

Miss Bayleigh - always ready to pose for the camera
Miss Brylee - wishing she were anywhere else but having to take this picture

Miss Brooke - pouting because she couldn't hold the camera

Even I am trying to catch up with the Carters!

Yes, we did it again. Our crazy life has brought us back to Arizona. It all happened so quickly that I am still trying to get used to the idea. Even though this is our eighth move since Jason and I got married and you would think it would come easy to me...this move didn't. For starters from the time we found out about the move, we only had 18 days to pack up our recently settled life in Alabama and move back to Arizona. We loaded our moving truck on Friday, February 19th, left town that evening to begin the approximately 1600 mile trip. Arrived in Phoenix the evening of Sunday, February 21st, to find our moving truck waiting for us ready to unload...at 8 pm at night! We are so blessed to have such an amazing group of friends...Scott and Sanda, Angelo and Lisa, Ron and Joanna, and Rob, as well as family, our parents and Jason's brother, Joe, all waiting to help unload. I could hardly believe when the guys unloaded 31 feet in a semi-truck in 1 hour and 15 minutes!

Now although the unloading may have gone great, the unpacking has been a different story. As I mentioned earlier, we packed our entire life up in approximately 2 weeks. There was no rhyme or reason to the packing, we just starting throwing stuff in boxes. This makes for some very interesting unboxing. I start out looking for a bath towel and in the process I find some sippy cups, a stuffed animal, maybe some Christmas decorations, and the adult bath towel I thought was in that box turned out to be one of the twins hooded toddler towels...oh well, I was tired, dirty, and desperate for a shower, so a hooded towel it was.

The move has also been hard on the twins, which equals more stress for me. I know they are tired of being gated into "safety zones," and in their boredom they find a way to turn those safe areas into "opportunities." Brylee managed to climb up her closet shelves, on top of the items on those shelves, and open a Rubbermaid bin with puzzles...which she proceeded to toss down to Brooke. I kid you not, when I found her, she was eight feet up! The other issue we have is Brylee does not want to sleep through the night. She tells me she is afraid of tomatoes that are trying to catch her and she wakes up approximately 3 times a night screaming to the top of her lungs. I try calm her down and get her back to sleep in her bed before she wakes the rest of the house, but after punishing, bargaining, and bribing, I tend to give in by 5 in the morning and let her sleep with us, but the good sleep doesn't last long because our early riser, Bayleigh, likes to get up around 6:30.

I feel like the last several months have been a dream. You start wondering if we ever left Arizona, since our time in Alabama was so brief, but when I look back at the wonderful memories we made there and time we spent with family, I know that it wasn't a dream, it was a dream come true. I always wanted the chance to live near my grandparents, let my children spend time with them, as well as my great-grandmother. Also, now that I am a mother myself I have a new found interest in the wisdom and advice that the grands and greats before me have to share. I formed special bonds with not only my grandparents, but also my uncle and cousins that I will cherish forever. So despite the craziness of it all, I wouldn't change any of it. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and Alabama taught me so much about myself, my priorities, and brought my family closer together than we have ever been. God is good!

If your FANCY and you know it...come on in!

Fancy Nancy cake table

Fancy Nancy Treats
Some of our Fancy Nancy party guests
Jason and I with our fancy little ladies

Fancy Bayleigh Grace

Fancy Brooke Avery
Fancy Brylee Kate

Bayleigh... all smiles for cupcakes with candles

Brooke blowing really hard to put her candles out

Brylee digging into her cupcake

Watching the last of the party guests leave

The girls big day has come and gone, and I am still thinking about how much fun I had watching them enjoy their birthday party. If you didn't read previously, the theme was Fancy Nancy. I had a house-full of precious little girls, sporting tutus, high heels, necklaces, sparkles, and fancy hairbows. Once everyone had arrived, I started the party off with a story...none other than Fancy Nancy! The girls loved the book...only mine had heard it before. After we finished I told the girls about the different party stations. There was a mirror making station. Each girl could decorate her own hand-held mirror with stick on rhinestones. I picked up these sets 2 for $1 at the Dollar Tree. The next station was Tutu making. The girls made their own tutus using a 3 foot long zebra print ribbon that they tied 6 inch wide by 20 inch long pieces of tulle over the ribbon. Super cute and the cost for all 8 girls was only $20. Finally the girls made their way over to the Fancification Station, where they received glitter nail polish, eye and lip makeup, glitter hairspray and a necklace. BUT the best part of all was when the girls and I decided that Jason needed to pay a visit to the Fancification Station. The girls were giggling so hard as they applied makeup, nail polish, crowns and feather boas to Jason. We completely took Jason by surprise with the makeover, but he was a good sport about it. Finally, we made our way to snack time and cupcakes! The menu was simple. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I cut out with a flower cookie cutter, crackers and cheese that I cut out with a high heel cookie cutter, fresh fruit, and cupcakes. I have learned from all my birthday experience that there is no point spending lots of money on food for kids, they are so excited that they hardly eat anyway. I made the cupcakes myself, bought paper products at the dollar store, and used the girls bedroom decorations to accent my table. This was by far, one of the simplest birthday parties I have thrown, but I loved it the most. I spent more time enjoying my girls and having fun with them and less time worrying about everything being perfect.

PS Check out the awesom outfits that I put together for the girls...I sewed on ribbon for ruffles and ironed on the sequiin patches...grand total per outfit (including tutu) $17!