Under Construction

It was brought to my attention that my blog was in desperate need of a facelift (and I agreed immediately!). I'm working on it, but having trouble with my new header, so give me a break until I figure this crazy thing out. I am a little stubborn with change...hello, just joined facebook this week people!

Toddler Spray Park Extravaganza!

And this was only part of it!

These two were pretty entertaining...one minute hollering for one another and the next trying to dunk the other's head. Yikes.

Wow, thanks Maxey's for taking us to the most elaborate spray park ever!! (and thanks for taking all the cute pics, Karson!) We had a blast. Pretty much overnight, Grace went from hating the water to absolutely loving it, so this was right up her alley these days. After 2+ hours in the water, we had to peel ourselves away. Luckily, thanks to the sunhats and spf 85, the girls came out pale as ever...unfortunately, mom wasn't so lucky. It was fun, but my back is paying the price today.

Baby Steps

We're rootin' Grace on to take some steps. She seems to be pretty comfy on mommy's hip and hasn't taken off walking yet! You can do it Grace!! I love how Annalee is right in the middle of things, "Go see Daddy, Go see Daddy!" She loves her baby Grace so much!

Most Adorable Wildcats, EVER!

I mean, look at these two adorable wildcat cousins! Carter and Grace are 7 months apart, just like Caleb and Annalee. I could just eat them up!

Sunburst Mirror from a cereal box!

I needed something simple to go above Annalee's bed and I came across this how-to on a blog and thought I'd give it a try. I have to say, I am pretty impressed. Although it took me a couple of hours, it only cost me $4!

Excited?

The faces of true excitement...ready to go to a Ranger game with Papa! I'm pretty sure they just stayed long enough to eat a hot dog and popcicle, but that's the best part anyway...the food!

Keep Scrolling

I figured y'all might be tired of seeing my baby's booty crack, so I posted several new posts below. Keep scrolling for some new updates.

This is how I look most days...kids coming out of my ears. Thanks, Josiah for capturing my day in a nutshell!

Uncle Josi's Wedding

Micah's cousin, Josiah, got married last weekend in Louisiana. He is the brother to the cousin that was married last month, busy summer for the Smelsers! We love his bride, Sarah! Annalee actually took this picture of her before the wedding.

Annalee was the flowergirl and I'd love to say that she did a perfect job, but we had a little hiccup in the plan.

Love this pic, but can't seem to get it to turn around.

I did a pretty terrible job of taking pictures, so Aunt Rachel needs to share with me, ok?

Right before the wedding party was to line up and get ready to walk down the aisle, Annalee slammed her fingers in the bride room door. I was with her holding Grace because my plan was to send her down the aisle to Micah (a groomsman) and stay at the back to watch the wedding with Grace. Well, we barely got her composed after the traumatic finger incident and then she refused to walk down the aisle by herself. She wasn't making a scene or crying, just very sweetly (and a little stubbornly) asked me if I would walk with her. It was either all of us, or none of us...so here we went, me, Grace, and Annalee. I'd love to see the look on my face as I made my way down...very unprepared to do that! I never thought that she wouldn't go down. Gotta love the unpredictability of kids. She did offer a little bit of humor when she decided to dump her flowers out of her basket at the end of the aisle and then toss the basket aside. Wowzer.

Winking

We randomly discovered that Grace can attempt to wink. Pretty cute if you ask me!

We Sure Did...

dress like cows to get free food at Chick-fil-a today!

Every year I intend to do this, but this year it finally happened. Did you show your cow appreciation today too?


Of course our buddy David joined us.


Enjoying our free food. Annalee was very excited about the whole shenanigan!

This was the entire ensemble...realistic cow nose and all. Grace and I only had spots on our shirts which entitled us to a free entree.

Hives!

****Warning****
Baby booty crack up ahead!

Well, Grace is up to her crazy antics once again! This morning she woke up covered in hives! It was pretty alarming when I took her jammies off and found a swollen, hot, hive covered back and booty. I called my mom immediately (love having a mom that's a nurse!) and sent her pictures of the poor baby. I gave her some benadryl and we started our day. I called the doctor to get an appointment. By the time we made it to the doc the original set of hives had cleared up, but new ones were popping up every few minutes. He isn't 100% sure of what caused them, maybe allergic reaction to her iron vitamin (because she's anemic...this girl is giving our insurance a run for their money this month!) or caused by a virus...although she has no other symptoms of being sick. Sure hope this clears up before our road trip coming up!

Party Pants

Brace yourselves, I made pants. I know. You're thinking, why Lori, I didn't know you could sew. Well, I can't...yet! My super cool and uber talented friend Yvette gave me an awesome step by step tutorial this morning (while our 4 unruly children dominated my house). I had some fabric laying around and whipped up some party pants for Grace in my spare time! Party Pants (n); pants with wild designs that make you want to party when you have them on. I am envisioning these with a cute applique shirt with a big G on the front out of the same material. We'll see how that goes!

And here's the party girl now!

Maybe one day this little party animal will get some fun pants too!

Crafty Week

Something came over me last week and I went nuts doing crafts! Here are most of my projects...

These are clothespins that I decoupaged craft paper onto to make an art clothesline for the playroom...stole this idea from a cute etsy store.



I found two barstools on craigslist for $5 and painted them gold (the paint was more than the stools!)



I painted my laundry room...it's hard to tell, but it's a bright turquoise green. I also painted the cabinet black and added a few accessories...still working on the finishing touches.



I saw this idea a ton while I was teaching, but Karson re-inspired me to do this one...rain gutter bookshelves! The whole project cost less that $15 and I did it all myself. Just get the guys at Lowe's to cut the gutter in the sizes that you want. One piece of gutter made 3 shelves 3 foot each.

I spray painted the toys baskets in Grace's room to add more color (they were white before) and then I attached fabric to the back wall of the shelves for even more color. I used liquid starch to attach the fabric... it peels right off if you get tired of it and all you do is wash the fabric and it's good as new!

Closer view of my "mod circles" fabric that I found on etsy.

Projects still on the to-do list....

paint the other stool

make pillows for the playroom from a fun Michael Miller fabric

make a burlap curtain for my kitchen

make a burlap runner for my dining table

spray paint a mirror and two lamps

there may be more later!!

Amazing Wedding

I know I've talked before about Micah's Aunt and Uncle's house in Alabama, but this weekend we were able to attend one of his cousin's weddings there! My pictures don't do it justice, but it was the most gorgeous wedding I've been to. Thanks Lauren for allowing us to be a part of your beautiful day!


The guests sat in the yard in white chairs and the wedding party was on the front porch. There was a string quartet under the tree to the left of the house. Lauren and her flower girls rode in a vintage car (pictured to the left also) behind the crowd and came down the center aisle. We parked in the pasture to the right. Annalee had the job of passing out the rice and favors. Lauren's husband is a dentist, so their favors were toothbrushes!



We had wonderful seats in the shade (thanks Terry and Jodie!) This was good, because I didn't even think of putting sunscreen on the girls!


The reception was at the back of the house. They had a blue grass band playing on the back porch. I didn't get a picture of the pool, but it was so pretty too.

They even built a special gazebo just for her wedding cake!

Me and Rachel with the gorgeous bride!

Our attempt at a family picture. Not too many of those around these days...hard to get everyone to cooperate at the same time! And yes, I chopped my hair off.....in Alabama, by a stranger (I was desperate!). She had a mind of her own with those scissors...wasn't supposed to be THAT short, but it will grow, right!

Grace's second plane ride. She did amazing on the trip. She stayed up past 10pm Friday and Saturday night (bedtime is usually 6:30) and she hardly fussed at all!

And again, our lifesaver for Annalee's in-flight entertainment!

Grace also rode forward facing for the first time on our trip, but isn't doing it permanently yet on a regular basis...still under 2olbs right now.

Party Girl

Get ready for tons of pictures from Grace's b-day party. We had a wonderful day celebrating. Micah manned the grill and cooked everyone burgers and dogs. Then we just hung out in the front yard and enjoyed each other. She was in such a great mood and was happy to be held by anyone that wanted to hold her. Some of these are out of order, but I think you can get the idea.

Getting ready for the big day

Love this one, Kandi!

Daddy and the b-day girl

Grammy with some of her girls

Mmmm...more cake!

Our wonderful chef

The party table

Rocking in my new rocker

Lovin' on JoJo and Papa

Hi!

Stiff-arming sister

Part of the crew

Sweet girl laughing at Joe

The End!