Great Gatsby Party

As promised, I'm catching this ol' blog up...life may be busy but I know I'll regret not capturing these family moments! So more than anything, I'm doing this for myself.  Are there any readers out there anymore or have I lost y'all?

To kick off the month of May, my in-laws were presented with an award at a Great Gatsby themed party.  The event and evening was so nice, and I actually loved dressing the part.  I don't normally like wearing costumes or theme dressing, but this one was fun! And coincidentally, the party was the same night as the Great Gatsby movie launch!

Mr.'s sister is a very talented make up artist and made sure to make me a little bit before we arrived at the party.  She's so sweet because I don't wear much make up or do anything special to my hair.  When she arrived with her toolbox of product I didn't know what I was in for...but I think she'll be making me up more with all the Mardi Gras parties we have coming up!

I love a good wine, good company and making memories:)

Taylor and I all made up for the party

My handsome hubby arrived just in time for the presentation! 

My beautiful sister and mother-in-law, Wilson family

#siblinglove

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April Showers...

I didn't realize it at the time, but the month of April was prepping us for amazing May flowers.   Big changes took place for our little family, and I'm pleased to say that things couldn't have ended up better!  May was certainly a month full of exciting and nerve-wracking decisions, which I promise to get to...sooner, than later:)

During the month of April we started walking the neighborhood again.  I never thought in my wildest dreams that two kids would mean our days of walking after work would be challenged.  But, sadly between nursing and feeding two kiddos and baths and our bed time routine leaves little time for much else in the hour we get home from work.

I digress.

We started walking when we could and Jackson found a sweet little baby turtle friend.  He named her Sara and she hung around the pond out back for a few days.  She really was a cute, little thing.

We celebrated Mr.'s 39th birthday with a late dinner at Ruth's with Mimmy & Beh.  My handsome husband keeps getting better looking with age, which is so not fair;)

Mardi Gras is going to be better than ever this year, 2014.  Mr.'s step-mom is Queen of her Mardi Gras krewe.  The parties have already started, first being her surprise crowning!

The Zoo got a few new members as we decided to get a family pass for the year.  It's not the St. Louis Zoo, but Jackson loves to run through it.  We've been a few times to get our money's worth!

I was able to spend a few weekends poolside at my parents as the weather quickly changed to Summer.  Mattie will spend a good bit of time laying out with us too, in the shade of course.  The hardest part of April was keeping Jackson out of the water.  He had his cast the whole month and couldn't wait to swim, which he did as soon as the cast came off in May.

Jackson and Mattie are forming the sweetest sibling bond and it completely melts.my.heart.  Seriously, these two have us wrapped around their fingers and toes!

Big brother trying to break baby sister free from her swaddle:)

Jackson took it upon himself to cuddle next to Mattie one afternoon

Jackson is so sweet and tender and for the most part - happy.  Whether he's run around in his PJ's, playing with his Pop or hanging with his Daddy, fishing or cleaning up the pond...he's happy.  Jackson, Mr. and Beh started a new little tradition of meeting up for donuts on Saturday mornings.  My sweet boys love this time so much! 

Festival International was the last weekend of the month and we certainly enjoyed ourselves. The advertising agency I worked for (did you catch that, wink wink) has the Festival account, which I managed.  So, we had a lovely little set up this year with VIP passes! 

We had a couple family nights and managed to get some sitters to have adult time too! Jackson absolutely LOVES music and to dance, so I felt bad leaving him at home.  Mattie Jayne, well she absolutely needs her bed by about 7:30-8PM and makes it known to all.  I shouldn't complain because she is such a good sleeper, but it does require us to be home a bit more than we're used to.

Speaking of Mattie Jayne; she turned 4-months in April and weighed in at 13.04 lbs.  She was in the 50% for height, weight and head circumference.  I've been so bad at her monthly updates, but honestly besides getting cuter and bigger...not much has changed.  

She sleeps amazing at night.  Goes down by about 7:30-8PM and sleeps until 6-7AM (even later most recently).  She fights naps if you let her get too tired and well, girlfriend is not happy when you let her get to that point.  I think she may have her mother's temperament, which some have accused of being a little b*$#@.  She nurses every 4 hours or so during the day and has a smile that lights up the room, just like her big brother.

We had a nanny that started to flake out on us during the months of April & May, so Mattie spent a good bit of time hanging out at my office, her daddy's office and with grandparents.  So happy our situation has changed and we now have reliable care. It was really starting to weigh heavily on me, which just plain sucked!

That pretty much wraps up the month of April...which feels like just yesterday! 

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Easter 2013

We celebrated Easter twice this year, once with my sister and family and then again on Easter Sunday.  We hosted my parents and Mr's family for lunch and crawfish boil.  We had a great afternoon visiting and playing in the backyard. 

I couldn't help but hold Mattie with such awe, as it was just last Easter that we were praying for a successful, second cycle.  It's amazing how good our God is and what a difference one short year can be.  I spent many nights praying, crying and begging for my sweet girl. 

I digress.

I think these pictures are worth a thousand words, at least to me.  Jackson slept late and awoke to a path of eggs from his room to his basket in the family room.  I think he was a little confused by the whole thing or just too tired to really get it;)

Nothing like a little momma torture with bunny ears.  Easter was a beautiful day, minus an afternoon storm that sent everyone running! Jackson enjoyed playing with his cousin and his "pet" crawfish more than anything!

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March 2013

Well this just may be a first, a post about our St. Patrick's Day, the month of March and Easter, all at the end of May...and let's just get real crazy and say that we celebrated Easter with the luck of the Irish this year! Things have been a little busy and our life is in the midst of a huge change.  Please bear with me while I catch y'all up with the Wilson's!

My sister and her crew came down to spend her Spring Break with us.  Her break fell a little early this year, so she was actually here in the middle of March, a couple weeks before Easter.  My mom had a little talk with the Easter Bunny and he sent the kids Easter baskets with the Leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day:) Loli never misses an opportunity to create special memories with her grand-babies!

Miss Mattie Jayne dressed in Amelia's St. Patrick's Day onesie for her first St. Patty's Day.  My little loves make me feel so lucky (and blessed) to be their Momma.

We successfully crammed as much family time and fun into our week together as possible.  We enjoyed some pool time, ate and drank way too much, dyed and hunted eggs, and even took part in some adult fun while the kiddos had a slumber party with Loli & Pop.

We were also able to take the kids to a Helicopter Egg drop the day before my sister had to head back to St. Louis.  The weather was super windy and misted a bit, so the helicopter didn't get to fly over as planned.  Amelia and Jackson were still able to hunt eggs, but it was the day after Jackson broke his arm so he wasn't too concerned about hunting eggs.  After the hunt we took all of the kids to see the Easter bunny, literally minuted before the Urgent Care called us back to cast his arm!

It's amazing to look back at these photos to see how much all four kids have grown since we were last together.  The whole crew is down again to kick off Summer and celebrate Jackson's 4th birthday.  ::GASP:: my first born is almost four!!!

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