little bit of this and that

Who doesn't like to take a bath with the baby?  btw, Brody freaks out if I don't keep my eye on Aiden the entire time. "Okay Mom, just let one of your kids drown." "Mom, I guess you don't care if one of your kids dies."

caught Charlie nursing her baby while watching T.V.

 if you are holding Aiden, there is a good chance I will take a picture of you.  Abbey and Aiden at wrestling

 our Christmas tree.  I really wanted a real tree that was flocked, Ryan did not.  But luckily I had a friend that was cutting one down out of tradition but didn't want to keep it because she has an 18 month old.  So, one mans trash is another mans treasure.  Viola' I got a real tree.

 oh, are you holding Aiden and she is being adorable? snap a picture.

 more wrestling. 

 more public nursing at a sporting event.  This time a wrestling tournament which means it was full of boys.  

 chopped Charlie's hair.  She wanted it cut and she also never let me brush it so you can imagine how it looked.  Win win.

 Just a quick roll down the hill after her Endocrinologist appointment. 

 being a little mommy and Cloe's choir concert.

 In their Christmas Sunday best.  

houses made of sugar

and hot glue

how to keep a baby busy

tie a balloon to her foot.

family pictures

we needed an updated family photo with our new addition and all and since it is Christmas card time of year, why not.  Well I was looking into having one of my many talented photographer friends work her magic and Ryan nixed that idea.  He has a cannon 5D which is a very good camera and claimed that he could do it.  Well I thought I would humor him and agree to saving the money.  I'd have to say, I'm not disappointed.  Of course we aren't savvy at the editing tricks of photography but we got some wall worthy pictures.

black friday

yep, took all 5 kids with me on black friday.  I didn't wake up early or anything, we left the house about 8:30.  I figured if they didn't have what I wanted, no big deal, nothing worth losing sleep over.  I needed to go to Kmart, Home Depot and JCPenny. My kids loved it.  They had no clue what Black Friday was but I'm pretty sure they thought it was going to be cooler and more exciting than it really was.  They made it fun, they acted like they were on a covert mission. "soldiers move out". "stay focused", stuff like that. 

 later that night was the light parade.  Grandma Allen came prepared with hot chocolate and snacks.

all bundled up

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and I was so excited.  I love to cook.  I love to cook with real food (not processed and boxed).  And I love cooking good food.  My mom, step dad, sisters, niece, step sister and our friend Brock came over for Turkey day. 

 I have to say, the gravy was amazing, it simmered on the stove all day with the gizzards and neck in the broth, adding tons of flavor.  I have now ruined Ryan when it comes to gravy, he will expect that every time.  I tried something new with the turkey.  The night before I put half an onion and half of a fennel bulb and some garlic cloves in the cavity.  Before cooking it, I rubbed it with butter, s&p and then (this is new) covered it with a cheese cloth that was drenched in a buttery broth (and bacon of course).  The cheese cloth kept it moist so I didn't have to keep opening the oven to baste the turkey and letting the heat out.    The stuffing made Ryan nervous because I made it from bread that I cubed and left on the counter to dry out for the week.  Why does he doubt me?  Of course it was so good.  

Cloe and the girls took care of the place settings.  I thought it was cute that they pulled Fall "weeds" from the field behind our house to decorate the plates.  

The food table.  We need a bigger table and serving ware.  

the best part of the party is about to start.

this picture makes me laugh because it is a great picture of the family BUT we forgot to take notice of the treadmill and light in the background. oops. oh and all the adds on the table. 

Cloe and Charlie working on place settings. 

my turkey wrapped up and warm in cheese cloth.

it was a Thanksgiving miracle.

In January, while we were moving out of our house into our current home, I caught my neighbor breaking into my other neighbors house.  It ends up, he stole money on a couple occasions and also stuff from other neighbors as well.  I could not find my nice point and shoot camera that I normally keep in my purse so I assumed he stole it out of my car one day.  I even talked to his dad about it but never bothered with filing a police report.  I was recently telling Ryan that I really needed a new camera so I could take quality pictures of the kids instead of always using my phone.  I let Cloe decorate for Thanksgiving and while she was going through the bin, there was a grocery sack with our tablecloth we sign each year.  There was a random pink head band in there and then viola, my camera!!!!!  Last Thanksgiving we went to my aunts and I must have put in in the sack as we were leaving (I wanted everyone to sign the table cloth so I brought it with me) and then just forgot and stuffed the bag in the Thanksgiving bin.  I was shocked and sooo happy!  I texted Ryan a "look what Cloe just found" picture and he said she just saved him $300 because he was going to buy me a new one for Christmas.  

These were the 2 pictures still on the camera.  TIme out for Woman 2011.  

I love a good Turkey day miracle ;)

November 8th

two years ago on November 8th, Charlotte was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. http://ryanandcourtney.blogspot.com/2010/11/charlottes-november-to-remember.html

We don't do anything to commemorate the day but obviously I am conscious of it when it rolls around.  I can still remember all the emotions I felt and I specifically remember thinking "this is so hard, I am never going to get the hang of it.  This SUCKS."
Well diabetes will always suck but I just wanted to make mention that I never imagined I would handle it the way I do now.  It is just part of our daily life, and it doesn't freak me out to have to handle it.  I don't stress over every carb.  It's nice to look back and see what a difference two years has made. I'm still learning and still hoping for a cure.

November 5th, Charlie's bday

Charlotte is 4!  She is hilarious, she will say and do the most random things that are so funny.  I have no clue where she gets most of her material.  But she clearly is my child.  She can also be quite the spitfire.    Her birthday was pretty low key but she still felt special

 this is a typical Charlotte face.  {the chicken is now gone} but she would go out and play/torture that thing daily.  She's an animal lover

 Her neighbor friend came over for cake, ice cream and present.  

Like I said, she's an animal lover but tends to favor horses and puppies.  So for her "party" he had a horse back riding lesson.  It was awesome seeing her have so much fun.  Her best cousin has a birthday on the 6th so they also went to Wreck it Ralph for their birthdays.  

Since I am such a nice Mom, I gave her two quarters and let her ride this at the grocery store.  Now every time we pass it she asks if we can go there for her next birthday party.  Uh, yeah, sure.  

halloweenie

we started the evening off with carving their pumpkins since I had failed to do this activity before Halloween.  

 

 dinner was chilli and mummies.  I meant to serve it in the hallowed out pumpkin but I totally forgot. So there the lonely pumpkin sat on my counter {for about 3 days}

Aiden was too cool for trick or treating, she thought it was boring so she decided to be a perfect baby and sleep the entire time. 

Grandma Alle {michael Jackson, pre surgery} and Persayes joined us in our neighborhood. 

 the day after Halloween, the pumpkin patch where we bought our pumpkins, had a pumpkin demolition.  You could shoot them with paint ball guns, tennis balls, drop them or sling shot them.  The girls went up on the crane to drop theirs and also took a machete to the extra pumpkins.  Yes, Charlotte is in her pajama's, she likes wearing them, she thinks they are comfy.

Aidens blessing

The official date was October 21st.... {I am determined to get caught up}

We had a small group, My sisters, my niece and my parents, Ryan's grandma, 2 nephews and his parents.  I love when we bless our babies but I feel like it is over so fast.  I always love finding an outfit for them to wear and then they look so precious when you put them in it and the blessing lasts about 3 minutes and then when I get home, I always take the dress off before it gets spit up on.  Then it is hung in the closet and never worn again.

We had a great day with family and Ryan gave her a very sweet blessing.  

 {sorry Laurene, I loved the yawn}

talking to Grandpa Brown