GA trip

For Spring Break we went to Georgia!

Our first stop was Roman and Kayla's house (Dallas, GA)

Avery was very excited to see Cody and they played and played!!

We went and ate hot wings, took the kids to the park and Kayla and I got a little shopping in!

We were very excited that the Georgia Bulldogs made the tournament this year although they didn't get very far...   

Ansley still cheered them on:)

 Next Stop:  Athens, GA

We stayed with Hannah and Jason.  Avery was VERY excited to see Roxy and get to play with their dogs.

 Uncle Jason taught Avery some stuff on the PS move

I was surprised by how well Ansley was with Hannah and Jason's dogs.  She warmed right up to them despite their urge to give her lots of kisses.

While we were in Athens we also went and visited Brian and Claibourne.

We drove up to Jefferson and had dinner together and the girls played.

 It was so fun to be reunited with so many of our old friends back in Athens.  When we walked into church it was so nice to exchange hugs, tears, and laughter with old friends as we quickly caught each other up with recent happenings.  The ladies also changed playgroup to accomodate me and I got more time with some of my dear friends and their kiddos;)  It was a treat!!!

Avery with her buds Kayden and Addi

 Avery and Addi

 Ansley enjoyed the swings and the weather was perfect!

 We also went visited and had dessert with the Beckstead's while we were in Athens.

Ansley's buddies 

Azilee, Ansley, Mallory & Andrew(Mallory's twin--not sure how he escaped the pic)

 Midweek we headed to Marietta to Joey's parents house.

Avery and Taylor had a makeover party where they painted their finger and toenails and put on lip gloss

 They also did lots of coloring with the new crayon tower Uncle Kevin got for Avery.

 Ansley always wanted to catch up with everyone and not be left behind-

 she learned very quickly how to get up the stairs...

She was quite pleased with herself and now mommy does not get a free moment!

The weather was incredible we spent a lot of time outside

like on the trampoline!  Avery's crazy hair with her funny faces;)

& Crack the egg with Aunt Kimi

We got to spend a lot of time with Aunt Kimi!!!! (which means LOTS of laughter!)

 Ansley and Grandpa!

 Ansley got her turn on the trampoline too and she was LOVING it!

 The girls loved the extra time they got with Daddy too!

 We also went and cheered on Jeni at her track meet

 The Crew playing Bochi Ball

 More girl time

 Then Jill and her kids came over and played too!

 They built fortresses, played with play-doh, hide and seek and many other fun games

And Grandma and Grandpa watched all the kiddos while Joey, Jill, Kimi Jason and myself hit up our fav mexican restaurant in Marietta Los Cazadores and had a great time!

We loved our trip and by the end we were all exhausted!!! & Avery cried all the way to Birmingham, AL and told us she wasn't ready to leave yet...

1st half of March

First part of March Joey had lots of tests, judged an elementary school science fair, and also helped with campus visits for the upcoming prospective graduate class at UAMS.  Things were busy, busy, busy. But For my birthday a couple of my sweet friends here coordinated with Joey and put together a surprise 'Thai' (my fav) birthday dinner for me!  It was DELICIOUS and meant a lot especially considering both of them were in that first trimester of pregnancy and VERY sick, yet still managed to cook the yummy meal!!!!  Thanks gals!

Avery thinks she is Ansley's mommy sometimes and since Ansley is so light she will just pick her up and carry her around places. (Makes me a little nervous but Ansley always has a HUGE smile on her face; she loves being with big sis)

Somehow we managed to squeeze in a quick Memphis weekend trip and went to the temple!  It was so nice and it had been a while since we'd been... 

& I'm learning to worry less about messes and just let them have fun:)  I still worry about little pieces as Ansley loves to put anything she can get her hands on in her mouth.

On my actual birthday some friends of ours from GA came out to visit and both girls loved getting to play with little Evie.

& my sweet mom and dad also came up just because and got to spoil and love on the girls while she was here:) 

Avery and I get some time together while Ansley naps and recently during this time we like to bake.  Well, if licking the spoon and bowl CLEAN counts as baking:)

OURS

 This "Diamond in the Rough" has consumed A LOT of our time these past few months

BUT after 3 months of having an offer on this foreclosure, inspections, lots of paperwork, an appraisal, and a final walk through-- its OURS!

We are very excited!!! ESPECIALLY Avery

We have already started working on it and Avery is always outside playing collecting leaves, sticks and flowers:)

We hope to move in in 2 weeks and maybe I can get the blog caught up on our recent happenings.

Including a FUN trip to GA and excited to have some our BEST friends from GA here with us for this next month while they do a rotation at Arkansas Childrens Hospital!!!!! 

These Two

I love when babies get about 6+ months old and their personalities start to really blossom!

Not that I don't love the newborn stage but the 6+ month stage brings new elements I really enjoy.

Ansley cracks me up-- she always wants to be around Avery.

Every morning when we wake up I get Avery a cup of 'bunny' (aka milk) while I get breakfast going.

Ansley always wants Avery's cup.  So I got smart (well, somewhat) and got Ansley her own cup with water so she wouldn't take Avery's.

But still Avery's cup is better! & for the most part Avery is a good sport about it!

Morning Cuddling

(melts mommy's heart)

Ansley's first pump knot!  So stinkin' CUTE!

Playing peek-a-boo with big sis

Avery and her babies! THEY ARE REAL!

She acknowledges them each by name and even feeds them.

I walked in the other day before she was laying them down for a nap and she had pinky pie under her shirt feeding her...

I think I too may be entering into this imaginary world, or we've watched too much Toy Story or maybe I'm going crazy you tell me...

For the longest time Sunshine Bear has been her special toy. Special as in I don't make her share it and it goes everywhere with us.  Recently she rediscovered her Pinky Pie Pony which is a little cooler than Sunshine (who only rattles).  Pinky Pie talks when you press her feet, and makes a sucking sound when you place a bottle in her mouth.  Well, we have a rule when we go somewhere that we only take one thing/toy with us.  Otherwise our car would end up a disaster area!  The other day she wanted to take them both and I told her just one.  This time she chose Pinky Pie ( previously its always been Sunshine Bear).  My first thought was about poor Woody and how he felt when Andy chose Buzz over him and do you know what I did?!?!  I let her take BOTH of them...

I think I really might be going crazy...

This month Avery has been working on her Articles of Faith

Daddy and her come up with pictures to help her remember the words on her glow board.

Ansley wanting out!

I love finding them in the mornings-

Sometimes Avery is laying in her bed telling Ansley to be quiet.

Other times Avery is throwing toys into the crib for Ansley and they are both laughing hysterically:)

Miss Ansley got her first haircut!  & now I'm dying for the sides to get longer so I can give a full A-line Bob!  Look at her pulling herself up and those yummy rolls!

These two

Rock our World!!!!

My Valentine

Doesn't get much hotter than this:

 Man I love him!

We enjoyed our Valentine's celebration a few days early and got a babysitter so we could go see "Just Go With It!"  We have both been waiting for this to come out & it was HILARIOUS!!!  After the movie we came home, relieved the babysitter and grabbed the girls to go get some Krispy Kreme Valentine's Donuts!  They were Delicious!  Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Going Down in the Books

I've joined a virtual quilting bee started by one of my friends here.  The pinwheel block above is my very first quilting block ever!!!  (I only had to use my seam ripper three times!)  This month is an elephant applique quilt block which I am working on now.  Visit 12squared.blogspot.com to see some of the creative quilt blocks done by some of the ladies in our group!

After telling my sister, Rose, about this she wanted to start another one of our own.  So we put together a group of friends and family who sew/like to sew and so now I'm in two quilting groups and loving every minute of it!  The block for our "Material Girls" quilting group was the churn dash and this is how mine turned out:  To see more of our groups blocks visit www.sewincorporated.blogspot.com

After doing these I got brave and decided I wanted to make an article of clothing.  A friend of mine had this adorable twirl skirt pattern she got from etsy, so I made one for Avery.  Avery is in love with it and I'm pretty proud!  (I need a pic with her in it!)  I think I'll go get more of this fabric and make a small matching one for Ansley

& last of my accomplishments to boast about-

We went to a dessert bake off for Valentine's with some other students and their families.

Each family was to bring a dessert to enter into the bake off-

I picked to make one of my favs:  Key Lime Cake (a recipe I got from a Better Homes and Garden Magazine)  & Guess who took first prize?!?!  ME!!!!!!  I was in shock!

I wasn't even going to post about this but when I told my sister about it the first thing she said was, "are you serious, you mean you didn't burn it, and people liked it?!?"  In her words, "This needs to go down in the books Rachel! I'm so proud of you!"  HA HA  

At the moment I'm feeling like & telling myself I am a Domestic Goddess! *Sigh*

 Recipe For Key Lime Cake:

- 1 3oz package of lime-flavored gelatin

-1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

-2 cups sifted all purpose flour

-1/2 tsp salt

-1 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-5 large eggs slightly beaten

-1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

-3/4 cups orange juice

-1 Tbs lemon juice

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-1/2 cup key lime juice (squeezed from 4 large regular limes or 25 small key limes)

-1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Icing:

1 8 oz package cream cheese

16 oz confectioners sugar

1 stick unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three (I did 2 and made mini cupcakes with the rest) 9 inch round cake pans.  In a large mixing bowl, mix gelatin, sugar, flour salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir to mix well.  Add the eggs, oil, orange juice, and vanilla.  Divide the batter evenly among the 3 pans and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Test for doneness by lightly touching the tops of the layers or inserting a toothpick.  Cool the layers in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto racks.  While the layers are still hot, mix the lime juice and confectioners sugar and pour it over the layers on the racks.  You can pierce the layers with a fork to allow the glaze to soak in better. Allow the layers to cool completely as you prepare the icing.  Cream the butter and cream cheese.  Beat in the confectioners sugar until the mixture is smooth and easy to spread.  Spread the icing between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake.

& my Cuties making my deal of the month look BEAUTIFUL!

I got these two matching dresses for the girls for $6 each!!!

(Gotta love when Old Navy takes an extra 50% off their already reduced clearance prices!!!)

Arkansas "Blizzard"

Within the past month we have seen so much snow!  Yesterday we got our second snow storm or southern "blizzard" (for you Abbey) of 6+ inches of snow!!!!  & last weekend we received a little over an inch.  Although I'm ready for days at the lake with the sun beating down on me as I listen to some Kenny Chesney or Tim McGraw (ahhh that sounds so good) its been nice to have the extra time with Daddy.    

Since our first snow Joey has really wanted to go sledding.  When he mentioned it yesterday morning, Avery quickly asked, "What is sledding?"  From that moment on we were bound to find something to work as a sled.  (They are hard to come by here especially when snow is in the forecast)

So this is what my clever husband came up with:

Just an ordinary saucer for the baby...

 Makes for a pretty awesome sled!!!!!!!

We lasted quite a while!

& even Ansley took a turn

These are taken later in the evening-

Avery loved making snow angels &

I still can not believe how much snow!

A short clip of Joey and Avery going down the hill

(please ignore my obnoxious laugh... is it just me or does it make everyone as uncomfortable as it makes me to hear myself on audio?!)