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!

Happy 5th Birthday Bayleigh!!!

I am sure that most people can agree with me when I say that there are some birthdays that hold a little more significance than others. Of course, the first birthday, the thirteenth, the sixteenth, the eighteenth, the twenty-first, and then all the increments of 10 (30,40, 50...you get the picture.) Well, at this point in my sweet Bayleigh's little life, there is the BIG 5th Birthday. She has been counting down to her 5th birthday for months now. She has always stayed home with me, so to her, "5" means starting school and of course, the idea that she is so much older. Although I know it is only a day, she really does seem so much older. For starters, she wanted to cut her hair short and donate it to Locks of Love, so now she is sporting a cute bob, but her toddler look was lost along with the hair. She is so much more independent in all her day to day activities...picking out her clothes, styling her hair, helping with chores, and her overall presence. I try and remember every time she asks me for help and I want to say "You can do it yourself, your a big girl," that I should savour all these "helping" moments because they are becoming fewer and farther between. She is truly an amazing little girl that that knows how to make the people around her feel special. Her enthusiasm and optimism is contagious, and her love for God is pure and beautiful. So, although it is hard to get used to the idea that I have a 5 year old, I am so thankful for the wonderful little girl and her 5 years of health and happiness that God has blessed us with. Happy Birthday Bayleigh! I love you so much.

Bayleigh's "Birth" Day

Bayleigh's 1st Birthday

Bayleigh's 2nd Birthday

Bayleigh's 3rd Birthday

Bayleigh's 4th Birthday

Bayleigh...almost 5

Please Do Not Leave Children Unattended

To go anywhere for me is a huge production. If I am trying to get Brylee dressed, then Brooke has run off and got into mischief...she is a magnet for turning on the water in our master bath tub. Once I get Brylee ready, go hunt down Brooke, and begin getting her dressed, Brylee has run off...her favorite place is Bayleigh's room. Finally, I manage to get both girls dressed, myself looking presentable, sippy cups, diapers, and wipes rounded up, and it is time to load the car. Bayleigh does her best to take care of herself, but there are occasional shoes to be tied, pants to be buttoned, and a reminder to use the restroom before we leave (and button the pants again.) I herd my girls like cattle to the garage door and try to make them sit down and wait for me to load one at a time. Of course, usually in the process of loading one of the twins, the other has run off somewhere in the house and has to be rounded up again. Finally, all the girls are in the car, seat belts on, and I have usually forgotten something that I have to run back in for...at least two times.

I am sure you can imagine how crazy it must be when I arrive at our destination. I do not go anywhere without my double-stroller, and usually, the girls are not allowed out of it for any reason. I feel guilty that I haven't been able to give them the experience of walking along side me, exploring, but whenever they get their freedom, all craziness breaks loose. Even with the stroller, trips to town are no easy event. A double-wide stroller, with double the toddlers, equals quadruple the opportunities to grab things off the shelves. I am the reason there are signs posted stating please do not leave children unattended

Being at home is much easier, but it doesn't go to say that we don't have our moments. We have the extra-tall gates, outlet covers, doors with locks, double doors that are tied shut, blinds raised all the way open, barricades around the TVs, and they still manage get into trouble. They climb over the barricades and kiss, drool, and press buttons on the TV, stand in the window sills of the raised blinds and bang the glass, pull-out the outlet covers, climb over the gates using any large toy as a step-stool and finally, manage to untie the rope around the double doors and get into their closet. But, when I walk in on a moment like this, I love my crazy life and wouldn't trade it for anything.

The girls enjoying their books after breaking into their closet.

Fancy Nancy!!!

I am one of the many people that look forward to Christmas so much that once it is all over and the decorations are all down, I would tend to get some post-Christmas blues. That all changed when I had my girls. The sooner I can get the decorations down, the sooner I can start their birthday party planning. Bayleigh's birthday is on January 23rd and the twins follow shortly after on February 11th. I have always loved party planning, but when it is your own kids it is even better. Now last year the girls had separate birthday parties. I wanted Brooke and Brylee to have their own special 1st Birthday, but this year, I opted for one party for all three girls. For starters, since we are in a new town, we won't have as large a guest list, plus, Bayleigh wanted to have a "girls only" party. The theme was simple this year...Fancy Nancy! Fancy Nancy comes from a precious series of books about a little girl who takes ordinary, everyday situations and finds a way to make them Fancy. My girls, especially Bayleigh, love the books, and I thought there was so much I could do with minimal cost. (With 3 little girls, our house is full of fancy things.

Bayleigh received a huge sticker book from her Grammar and Popeye for Christmas (Jason's parents,) and she really wanted to use it on the invitations. I have a tendency to "take over" on projects like these, but having Bayleigh apply the stickers to each invitation was a good compromise. They were super simple to make. I designed the wording in Adobe Photoshop, printed on pink paper, added a small strip of purple glitter paper, and tied on with black tulle. Grand total for 16 custom invitations $5.

Another thing I have been working on is the girls' outfits for the party. I pictured them in fun, whimsical tutus, leggings, embellished t-shirts, funky sunglasses, feather boas and big hair bows. I had been eyeballing some adorable tutus online, but they started at $30 a piece. With three girls, that would be $100 after shipping! I did a google search for how to make tutu's and several pages came up, including videos. It looked so easy that I decided to not only make my girls a tutu for the party, but let tutu-making be one of the activities for the girls. Here is a picture of my girls tutus that I made for $7 a piece! Bayleigh is blue and purple, Brooke is yellow and pink, and Brylee is green and coral. Now all that is left is some solid colored shirts and leggings that I will probably pick up at Target (the $4 separates), and some cute sequin iron-on butterflies that I got at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $1.49 a piece.

I'll be sure to post more pics of the party once the big event takes place.

The Green Monster

Well, it finally got the best of me, and I just had to have one for myself...a blog. This past year I have been enviously reading a few of my friends blogs, even people that I don't know that well, and secretly wishing that I had the time to start one for our family. But all the fun, fancy backgrounds made the whole thing seem so complicated that I just kept putting it off. Among my many New Year Resolutions, blogging was at the top of the list. Don't get me wrong, I am not completely new to family websites. I have been doing Shutterfly Photo Share sites for a long time now, but I love to write, and the idea of journaling our lives seems so fun to me. There are so many little things that happen or that the kids say, that I tell myself I need to write down. Then the moment passes and I am left trying to recall story details or forgetting the moments all together. So here's to trying new things...enjoy!