A Poop Story

I guess that Rosie likes to prove me wrong and in this case, I don't mind.  Today, we've conquered poopoo!  She's gone five times in the potty today.  I didn't even know that you could go that many times in one day, but she's shown me the results every time and they are legit.  She couldn't be prouder.  She keeps asking, "Mom, are you soooo proud?!"  Let me tell you, we all are!  I never saw this day coming, so spirits are high around the Murrill house.

I really don't have too much going on, so I will share a pretty boring story with you.  Today we went on a wild goose chase of sorts.  Last night, a friend of mine---Hi, Tracy if you are reading this---posted some shoes on Facebook that I just loved.  I asked her where she got them and after she told me, I went online to see if we had the store in our area. We did, but it was a bit of a drive.   I used my phone navigation and we made it there, but it took a lot longer than I thought.  I had plans to meet Maria and Jackie at the park for lunch at noon and I hoped to make it back in time, but that didn't happen.  My navigation led me to an apartment complex WAY out of my way.  I, of course, didn't realize it until it was too late.  I had to make a huge backtrack and then, in a rush, I decided to take a little shortcut to the park, but when I was almost there, I was met by a sign that said the road was closed due to high water!   UGH!!!  I had to turn around and go all the way back the other way.  So, long story short (as short as I can make stories), I was over an hour late.  Luckily, they were all still there and we had a great time.  Jackie made her famous Rice Crispy Treats, so really the whole thing was beyond worth it.  Also, Blythe kept calling them "Ice Crystal Treats," so that made it all even more magical.

My new kicks...I think they were worth it.   

After my adventurous morning, we came back and all took naps.  In fact, I took the mother of all naps.  I had the hardest time waking up.  I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  It took Rosie coming in to ask me to come look at her poopoo that roused me from my slumber.

So, last night was my second guitar lesson.  Luckily, I have been coupled with with a young teenage boy who is just as clueless as I am.  He shows up 30 minutes late to every class and has an adorable little lisp.  We make a fine pair.  I was quickly reminded of why I gave up guitar after one lesson in college.  My fingers started killing me just a few minutes in.  The little guy has been complaining about his fingers, too, so I think this is a common ailment among novice guitar players.  Our teacher said that the tips will soon get calloused and I live for that day.  The girls love to hear me practice and usually start dancing as soon as I start, even though you can't technically call what I'm playing music.  I can't wait until I can actually play songs for them.

Tonight, I went to Zumba and it was HARD.  Our teacher is really taking it up a notch.  Did I tell you I tried Aqua Zumba last week?  The jury is still out on if I'll stick with it.  I'll definitely give it another try before I make a final decision.  I got a great workout from it, but I hate to be gone another night during the week.

I'm feeling a little better tonight, so that's good news.  That Emergen-C is some good stuff.  I swear by it.  Well, I'm going to head to bed.  Hope your week has been great so far.  I can't believe it's almost Thursday!

Apple Picking

Last Friday, I went with a group of friends to an apple orchard.  It was the neatest place.  Any place selling fresh apple cider donuts is a-okay in my book.  The kids loved the awesome play houses and the hayride.  Here are a few pics from our day.  We definitely need to go back when the daddies can join us.

She was super excited for this outing with her friends! 

 The "little bits"...

 Us 

 I love this of Rosie.  She's so happy.  

 The boys.  So CUTE! 

 Off to pick some apples! 

 The Girls!  I love their color-coordination!  

 The Gang 

 The babies

So pretty..."Ria" as Rosie calls her  

 Sweet Blythe 

Girl Talk 

Maddie and Kendra

My Budding Artists

So, I've been missing in action lately, but I have a pretty good excuse.  Mark has been out of town for the last five days and I don't feel like I've had a whole lot of free time.  Any free moment I've had has been spent napping.   I have been EXHAUSTED.  I've said this before, but hats off to all the single parents out there.  I salute you.  Also, hats off to the Nudd's who let me crash at their house for the weekend.  They were lifesavers.

Mark got home last night and I must say, just in the nick of time.  I was close to loosing my mind.  My evening was spent dealing with this situation...

It wasn't as fun as it looks.  They got all creative on me when I was in the next room writing a quick email.  I guess I've learned my lesson.  They hit me with another punch this morning when I found both girls in Kiki's crib, as they rubbed baby lotion in each other's hair.  It was precious;)  I couldn't bring myself to rebathe them, so they just looked like little grease monkeys all day.  I took a few pictures of the ring leader this afternoon...

Greasy-Slick doesn't look too remorseful for her acts of mischief, does she? 

So anyway, that's what I've been up to.  Oh, I almost forgot!  I do have some good news.  Rosie can now go pee-pee in the potty with zero accidents.  Poo-poo...not so much.  We are still working on that one...baby steps.

Well, I better wrap this one up.  I'm feeling achy and I'm terrified that the sickness is setting in.  I'm going on a little girls' trip to Atlanta with my friend Allison this weekend and I'm praying that I can bypass the plague, if at all possible.  I've already sucked down an Emergen-C.  Fingers crossed.

Deep Fried Fun

The fair turned out to be a great family night.  We really had so much fun!  The "people watching" was stellar, although not much different than a late night trip to your local Walmart.  The food was pretty special, too.  Not something you'd want to eat very often, but great for a one night treat.  We ended up partaking in a few different fair specialities.

We started out all sharing an order of ribbon fries and curly fries, which isn't too bad for two families.  Then each family got their own funnel cake.  Mark and I kept our eyes peeled for our favorite fair foods from our years at the Tulsa State Fair (grilled corn, deep-fried cheese on a stick, cheese curds, pineapple whip) but we couldn't find any of them.  We were so excited when on the way out we stumbled upon a little grilled corn station.  It was so good!

 Can you tell we liked it? 

MMMM...funnel cake!

Right away the kids wanted to ride rides.  We were a little hesitant because Monroe talks a very big talk, but when it comes to actually following through on things, she's a bit of a pansy.  We hated to waste money buying tickets we couldn't return.  We learned this lesson the hard way at the Apple Festival.  Mark got a few tickets and the kids found something they all wanted to do.  It was a maze-like thing.  The kids had to climb a rope wall, then stairs, walk across a wobbly bridge which led them to the exit--a huge slide.  I knew right away that this was not the best activity for Monroe, but she was adamant that she wanted to do it.  Just a few seconds in and the carny man had to help her over the climbing wall.  She made it up the stairs to the bridge and froze.  All kinds of kids were trying to get around her and she would let them, but it made it harder for her to ever get started across.  Finally, she gave up and just started hysterically crying.  There was really nothing we could do.  She was 20 feet up and we were standing below trying to cheer her on.  The nice carny gentleman came to her rescue.  He climbed up to get her and she embraced him like he was her long lost best friend.  She buried her head in his shoulder and wept and he gently patted her back.  It was really quite sweet to watch, until it hit me that this was a fair guy who I didn't know from Adam.

This whole situation freaked her out and she was not interested in any more rides.  We had a few tickets left and we tried to coax her onto a train ride, but that wasn't going to happen.  Finally, we forced her onto a boat ride with Brynley.  They held each others hands like their lives depended on it.  Rosie cried so hard, but with every turn she looked less and less terrified and by the end she was giggling.  After that, no ride was off limits.  We ended up having to buy more tickets!  She even rode a fighter pilot ride, which never in my wildest dreams would I have thought she would do.

I love this picture.  She looks like she's really into it.  

 How fighter pilots are born.  

Kiki wasn't tall enough to ride rides, much to her chagrin, but she loved clapping and laughing whenever she saw sissy fly by.  Aren't those shoes too much?!  I just love 'em! 

Good friends ready to conquer the fair.   

 Daddy and Rosie 

Monroe really loved the farm animals...the goats, the baby chicks and ducks, donkeys and calfs.  She couldn't get enough and begged for us to find more.  Sadly, it was almost 10pm and we needed to head home.  That's pretty late for two girlies whose bedtime is usually 7pm.  They did great though and we'll definitely need to make this an annual family outing.

Premium?

I got so frustrated with my phone constantly telling me to try the month-long free trial of premium voicemail, so I finally gave in and accepted it yesterday.  I really didn't even know what the premium voicemail would entail, but figured out that it transcribes your voicemails into text.  What a fun idea!

This morning I got my first premium voicemail and let me tell you, it's not all it's cracked up to be.  Here's what I read...

Hey, Darryl,  It's Maria.  Has got up today, but I was just wondering...how in the world to you keep here from throwing up here just takes 2 colors like nobody's business and I really just been to...anyways if you can get I will talk to you later bye.

I kept wondering who was throwing up and why it was two colors.  Needless to say, what you read there has nothing to do with what the actual voicemail said.  Maria was just asking a question about curling her hair.  I guess sometimes "progress" isn't always progress.   I better just stick to the old voicemail.  If it ain't broke, why fix it?

Fair--Take Two

Well, our weekend fair plans were thwarted by weather, but don't loose heart, we're trying again tomorrow night.  I couldn't be more excited for the people watching that's about to go down.  There's something about fairs that bring out some doozies.  I can't wait.  I also can't wait to sample some fun fair food.  If you've ever attended a fair with me (Natalie), you know how seriously I take my fair food. I doubt that tomorrow will be any different.

Rosie has been going through the best phase ever.  Usually when I talk about Rosie's "phases", I can't wait for them to pass, but this one I hope will never leave.  Every day, about ten times a day, she stops what's she doing, runs over to me, kisses me and says, "I love you, mama."  It's the sweetest thing.  She does it to Mark, too, and he can't get enough.  She's just the most loving little thing.  Today, on our way home from Pilates, we stopped by the hospital to see Mark.  This is our little ritual.  Today, when we drove away after seeing him, she said, "We have the best daddy in the whole wide world."  It just melted my heart.  He really is the best daddy, and I am so glad that she knows it.

Kiki has four teeth coming in, so she's been a bit...testy.  Very hard to live with.  She was up a lot last night and today has been full of tears.  I can't say it's been all bad.  She's laughed and made me laugh a lot, too.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be better, though.

Rosie has been doing awesome with her potty training.  We went all yesterday and today with zero accidents!  She's loving the princess panties my mom got her.  She's also really liking the freedom of pull-ups.  In fact, she just walked up to me, pulled up her dress, pulled down her pull-up and mooned me, shaking her booty and laughing all the way.  We might need to have a talk about that one.

So, you already know how I feel about fall.  LOVE it!  What's even better is that the weather is starting to feel fallish.  I actually got to wear a jacket this weekend and tonight Mark and I split our first Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks.  It's definitely the most wonderful time of the year!  I was able to track down some real pumpkins today and I also got another hay bale, so it's about to get really fall up in here.  I'll try to take some pictures of my porch tomorrow, if I get it all finished up.

Tomorrow is my first guitar lesson.  My hands started shaking just typing that.  Prayers appreciated!  Have a great night.

Three in one day!!!

Wow, three posts in one day!  I'm on a role.  It must be all my free time now that I'm not a worrier.

This afternoon we got my phone fixed and I couldn't be happier.  All it needed was a new SD Card, but for some reason it took me about three months to get that taken care of.  I can officially take a picture on it again!  I'm super excited to rejoin the world of Instagram.  I've missed being able to take part.

We ran to target and spent our life savings on diapers.  I'm so ready to be done with buying those silly things!  I also ran in Goodwill to see if I could find any Christmas books for the Advent Calendar from my earlier post.  I hit the jackpot!  I was able to find the remaining ten that I needed, so I'm all done!   There were some really good ones.  I know some might shudder at the thought of buying anything from Goodwill, but I'm a big believer in buying books from there.  It all started when I was a teacher trying to fill the bookshelves in my classroom for cheap.  You can find new and almost new books for almost nothing.  I sanitize them and they are good to go.

I got all of these books for $5.00!  The Polar Express was brand new!

Today at lunch, Kiki had finished up eating and wanted to play, and Rosie was still working on her food.  I ran upstairs to get something and while I was up there I started hearing the loudest shrieks ever.  I quickly ran back down to check on them and was greeted by Rosie wailing as Kiki ran away with her veggie corn dog.  It was pretty hilarious to witness.

Scary Kiki with the stolen corn dog. 

Rosie really loved the outfit she was wearing today.  There was lots of twirling happening.  I had to get a few pictures of it.  I can't believe how old she looks!  

I'm so glad it's the weekend.  We don't have any huge plans.  Well, actually we are going to go to the state fair tomorrow night.  I have a feeling there will probably be some deep-fried something in our future.  I'll try to get some pics.  Happy Weekend!!!

Advent Calendar

I love Advent Calendars.  I think they are such a fun way to get the kiddos excited about Christmas and a great tradition to start with your family.  I've seen so many fun ideas on blogs and love them all, but a few years ago, I found one that I especially loved, but haven't been able to do until this year.

Throughout the year you collect Christmas related children's books.  Then you wrap them up in fun wrapping paper.  Every day of December your little darlings get to open up a book that you read together as a family.  I imagine us all drinking cider or hot chocolate while reading our special book for the day. I've added my own little twist on it, too.  I am only collecting 24 books and for the 25th book I will wrap the Bible in an extra special way.  Then we will read the Christmas story together on Christmas day.  I can't wait!

I really love this idea because you can reuse the books every year.  The idea of finding and buying 24 Christmas books may seem a bit overwhelming, but I'm over halfway there and it hasn't been bad/hard/expensive at all.  We already had a few Christmas books and I've found the others on sale at Barnes & Noble or at Goodwill.  If you don't want to worry about buying them, you could always borrow them from your local library, which equals...FREE!

So, anyway, I thought I would give you an early heads-up on the idea, just in case you wanted to join in.  Merry Christmas in September:)

Worry Wart

I'm a worrier.  I always have been and I know I come by it honestly.  In fact, I come from a long line of worriers.  My mom and my grandma before her--all worriers.  In some ways, my worry has helped me. I've become pretty frugal, even though I think my natural inclination is to spend like there's no tomorrow.  For the most part, though, my worry has been a hinderance, almost debilitating.

Last night, I lay awake in bed worrying about, well, everything.  Worried about my beautiful kids who are perfectly healthy, sleeping like angels in their beds.  Why worry?  Worried that we had forgotten to pay a bill. We hadn't.  Why worry?  Worried about situations that I can't change.  Why worry?  I finally had nothing left in my life to worry about, so I actually started worrying about the conjoined twins, Abby and Brittany, on that new TLC show.  I haven't even seen the show, only commercials, but I couldn't help but wonder how hard dating must be on them.

Finally, at 2:30 in the morning, I got fed up and was so sick of worrying I just couldn't take it anymore.   So, I decided I'm done worrying.  I'm done with feeding into Satan's ploy of making me doubt the Lord's leading in my life.  God's plans are so much better than mine and I know he's got the whole world in His hands.  It's not going to be an easy transition.  I mean, it's been a way of life for me for as long as I can remember!  But, hey, I've got to start somewhere, so I'm making the choice to not worry about that.  Prayers appreciated!  

  

Green Thumb?

There are very few things that I don't like about living here in North Carolina, but the lack of good parks for kids is on my list.  Coming from Chicago where there is an amazing park on every street corner, I was bummed to find only a few parks and they are all very run down.   All of my friends here feel the same way.   Well, my wonderful hubby discovered a brand new park the other day and it is awesome!  It has really cool climbing toys and slides, a walking/riding trail and to top it all off, it's right next to a brand new branch of our library!  Today, we met Maria+kids and Jackie+kids and tried it out for the first time.  It was great and the kids were all exhausted by the time we left, which is pretty much the goal of most excursions.

Two people told me that it's totally fair game to start decorating for Fall.  What a relief!  I'm not going to take it as a sign that I can't find real pumpkins yet.  No matter...plastic pumpkins will do the job until the real ones show up in stores.  I do think I have some sort of illness though when it comes to Fall.  I actually bought a hay bale last night...A HAY BALE!  You have to admit that's a little nuts.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I kill plants.  Not purposefully or anything, very much accidentally.  I just can't seem to keep a plant alive.  I was really feeling good about my basil plant.  I LOVED being able to pick fresh basil for my marinara sauce or bruschetta.  It was pretty heart breaking when it started deteriorating and now looks like this...

My poor little basil plant.  I haven't given up on it yet. 

This is pretty much the story of my life when it comes to plants.  So today, I went in the backyard for something and noticed something red in my flower beds.  When I got closer I realized the red was actually tomatoes...cute little cherry tomatoes.

What a surprise! 

I remember vaguely in Spring that I bought a cherry tomato plant, but somehow never got around to planting it.   I had set it out in the beds to plant, but by the time I was ready to do it, it was dead (or so I thought).  Apparently, plants do better when I leave them to their own devises.  

The fruits of my...?

I guess I should learn my lesson, but I've decided to give it another try.  I bought this tiny little basil growing kit from the dollar section at Target (it's about the size of a golfball).  Rosie and I got it all set up today and hopefully it doesn't become another casualty of my curse.  I'm not holding my breath.  

You might send up a prayer for this little guy.  

Is it Fall yet?

Well, my wonderful parents have come and gone and I am so SAD!  We all are pretty bummed around here.  Rosie said this morning, "Nana and Papa better come back really soon!"  I completely agree!  We had such a lovely time.  A lovely and BUSY time.  We went to the Apple Festival, toured the Biltmore, visited Chimney Rock and even threw in some fun shopping, as well.  The only down side was Kiki was pretty sick almost the whole time they were here.  Probably the sickest she has ever been.  One night, she woke up 6 different times and I had to end up nursing her every time.  I was pretty exhausted the next morning.  Thankfully, she is on the mend and seems to be back to her crazy-go-lucky self.  I wish I took more pictures!

Biltmore Tour

 This face pretty much sums Kiki's weekend up.  

 Sweet Rosie

 All ready for Church 

Sleepy Kiki

Nana and Papa and their girlies

In super exciting home-decorating news (wink), my coffee table has been a thorn in my side for quite some time now.  I can't figure out what to put on top of it.  I used to have a metal basket with those decorative ball things on it.  That is until Kiki literally ate two of the balls.  I had to remove them and have been lost ever since.  Last week, I tried out about ten different possibilities.  Here are just a few of my tries...

This is what I have there now.  Are there too many birds?  

I think I'm going to paint the tray cream and weather it a bit.  I'll show you my final product when I get it all finished up.

So, I am a huge sucker for deals and I am an even bigger sucker for grab bags.  Pretty ridiculous, right?!  Well, last night, I ran to Michael's to get something and was met at the door with a bin full of grab bags for $2.  I had no clue what could be inside, but my curiosity got the best of me and I bought two.  Well, I am now the proud owner of two bags FULL of junk!  Actually, I can now throw an amazing fiesta party.  I have everything from invites to decor.  So be waiting on that one.  You wouldn't believe all of the stuff they fit in those bags.  I had to throw away quite a bit of it, but it was definitely worth the $2, just for the fun of it.  I would show you a picture of all my loot, but I'm tiny bit embarrassed.

So, I have a question for you...When is it okay to start decorating for fall?  I think I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE fall decor.  It's my very favorite season and I just love everything thing about it.  When I lived in Tulsa, I was known to start putting out my pumpkins in early September.  Well, it's early September and I'm ITCHING to get started.  I even started on a new craft project yesterday.  I'm completely smitten with this picture from the blog, Life as a Thrifter and really wanted to make the door hanging.

I have been looking for a big embroidery hoop for quite some time and finally stumbled across one yesterday.  I couldn't find burlap/jute with that tight of a weave, so I ended up getting some tea-stained linen and set to work on recreating my version of that door hanging.  I wanted to make the "M" a little bigger.

I wish the linen was darker, but I think it will work.  I also want to add some color to it.  Maybe some ribbon or something.  I'll let you know when I finish it up.

I can't wait to start doing some front porch decorating.  Here a few more pictures I just adore.  I can't wait to try some of them out!

 http://circadee.com

 http://www.shelterness.com

 http://www.shelterness.com

 http://www.shelterness.com

http://debbie-debbiedoos.com/

Me and my Guitar

So, I'm about to embark on a journey that is terrifying me.  The decision to do this has literally kept me up at nights.  I'm super nervous and am almost convinced I will fail miserably.  It has been a dream of mine for quite sometime and if I can succeed, it would really be an accomplishment.  You're going to think I'm nuts when I tell you, but here it goes...I'm starting guitar lessons.

I know, it doesn't sound like much, but to me it's super scary.  I really like to do things that I know I will do well at.  That's pretty much been my M.O. my whole life.  If there's a chance I won't get it, I don't even try.  

I spent YEARS taking piano as a kid, and for some reason, it just didn't take with me.  It was like my brain would just not work.  I mean, I can sit down and play stuff, but it's never come easy.  My little brother on the other hand picked it up and ran with it.  He's an amazing piano player...I mean really, really accomplished.  Our piano teacher also taught voice, and my lessons went from piano to voice and I never looked back.  I regret not being a good pianist all the time.  I really hope my girls are interested in it.

Although, I'm quite certain that my dream of being a folksy country singer sitting on a stool playing ballads on my guitar will not be realized, I'm hopeful my new dream of playing worship songs for my family, just might.  Fingers crossed!

Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News

All I can say is, I'm sure glad Mark came to help me with the doctor's appointments today because it would have been pretty nuts without him.  Monroe started out doing great and actually acting very grown up.  I was feeling pretty hopeful.  Well, until we were called back into the exam room...then all craziness broke loose.  She was terrified!  There were tons of tears and that was even before the doctor came in!  Everything from the eye test to getting weighed was an ordeal.  They also gave me 10 pages of paperwork to fill out (I'm not even exaggerating here), which I do not understand AT ALL.  When exactly do they expect you to fill it out?  They also wanted me to perform all of these activities with the girls to see if they were progressing developmentally.  It was pretty intense...pretty intense, indeed.  Like I said, thank goodness for Mark.  He was my knight in shining armor yielding a pen and willing to fill in social security numbers and insurance information.

Rosie finally relaxed after watching the doctor examine Kiki.  I've said it before, but I really love their pediatrician.  She's very good with kiddos and her easy demeanor won her over.  Whew! In fact, when the doctor walked out, Rosie said, "What a nice little doctor."

Rosie weighs 33 pounds (73rd percentile) and is 38 1/4 inches tall (64th percentile).  Kiki weights 18.7 lbs (6th percentile) and is 30 1/2 inches tall (80th percentile).   Developmentally they are both doing awesome.  That is always a big relief.  I also got all of my questions answered.  She confirmed that Rosie's personality is one that may take longer to potty train.  She said not to stress; that it will come.  Kiki had to get four shots, which was a bummer.  You should have seen the death looks she was giving the nurse after that.  It was pretty hilarious.  Rosie dodged a bullet on the shots front and walked away with just a flu mist.  We were all happy about that one.  

So anyway, I'm so glad to know they are healthy little ladies, but I'm also relieved to have that whole experience behind me...until next time:).

Best Day Ever

So, remember a few months ago when that crazy hail storm ravaged our neighborhood?  Our roof and our siding took the brunt of it, and we knew we would need to replace them both.  Well, it was finally time to start the "healing" last week.  On Thursday, the roofers started to work, and I realized quickly that naptime for the girls was not going to happen with the deafening noise.  Luckily, Maria came through in a pinch and we packed up and headed to the Nudd's house for the day.  I was so thankful because we all had a great time and the girls were able to sleep.

They promised to be all finished up by Thursday evening, but that didn't happen.  Luckily, we had big, fun plans for Friday morning.  We started out at the Nudd's for me to watch the kiddos while Maria went to a doctor's appointment.  Then we were all off to meet Jackie and the girls at Biltmore Park to celebrate Blythe's 4th birthday.

Talk about a great morning!  We ran by Barnes and Noble and then we were off to the "Treasure Store" a.k.a. Charming Charlie's to let the girls pick out their own special treasure.  They each decided on a precious tiara.  You should have seen those girls strutting out of that store wearing their new special treat.  You could tell they were feeling pretty snazzy.  Next we were off to O.P. Taylor's, a toy store, that the kids LOVED.  For lunch we went to Blythe's favorite restaurant, Brixx's Pizza and finished it off with ice cream from Cold Stone.  It was so fun.  We knew for sure it was a success when the girls all ran around screaming, "Best Day Ever!" at the top of their lungs.  I almost joined them, but I didn't think it would be quite as adorable.

It was almost 2pm by the time we finished up and I was just sure the roofers were all done and I could easily put the girls down for their nap.  When I pulled in and saw my unfinished roof and about 10 men lounging on my front lawn having a relaxing lunch break, my heart sank.  I hated to intrude upon the Nudd's again, so I decided to "rough it" and try to put the girls down, in spite of the racket.  Monroe and I laughed through the whole story I yelled read to her.  It was SOOO loud!  I have to say that I was completely astonished when both of the girls ended up falling asleep.  There was a brief intermission from the pounding when the torrential rains set in.  Normally, I love a good storm at nap time, but when your roof is off, it's not as relaxing.  Miraculously, we had no leaks and the girls slept!

We ended up getting an architectural roof, which I like 100 times better than our previous roof.  I'm glad it's all done.  Now to get the siding all fixed up.  Here's the roof "after" picture...

So, when I went out to take the "after" picture above, I found two different boxes on the doorstep.  We just love mail surprises around these parts!  The girls got the most adorable dresses from Auntie Kaylee and fam.  I just love them.  I've been stressing about finding fall/winter dresses and these are just perfect.

Monroe received her birthday package from Memaw, Papa and Grandma Murrill.  Everything in it was so special and wonderful, but by far her very favorite thing was this...

The most wonderful quilt that they made for Rosie.  She just loves it and so do I!  It's beautiful.  Thank you so much!

By the way, do you wonder why Rosie is often pictured sans clothes?  Well, she's very into dress-up right now and many pictures are taken in between her outfits.  I do dress her in a normal outfit everyday.  I promise!  I have the laundry to prove it:)

So Maria was headed to Chattanooga yesterday to go to her best friend Riley's wedding shower.  She hated to make the long trip alone, so I tagged along to keep her company.  It was a full day of driving, but we had a great time.  I was excited to meet Riley, because she and her (almost) hubby are moving here next week!  I love new friends:)

We made it back pretty late last night and I was amazed to learn that Kiki did perfectly fine without me...more specifically without breast milk.  That makes me feel a lot more confident that we are almost ready to bring my breast feeding days to a close...kind of bittersweet.  Mark was pretty worn out from his day of being a single parent, but he did an amazing job.  I was very impressed.

Tomorrow the girls have their 1 year/ 3 year doctor's appointments.  I'm excited to see how their growth is coming along and to get a few questions I have answered.  It should be fun...or really stressful, or both.  I'm keeping positive, though.  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  I'll leave you for now.  I've got dinner to make and some sweet little ladies to play with.