Happy 4th Birthday Sophie Lynne!

Last night as a 3 year old

 Sophie could not be happier with turning 4.  To her she turned 14.  To her, turning 4 meant she was a "big girl". 

I had to show the whole picture to show her outfit of choice :)!! After all, it was her day!

 It seems like just yesterday I was sweating over welcoming a new family member to our family just after welcoming Karter Man.  I wasn't sure about bringing home another baby so soon, but God knew what we needed.  Sophie has brought so much laughter to our family.  She has taught me patience, patience, and did I mention patience?  She has been 1 of a kind since the day she was born.  A firecracker to say the least.  She can be hugging you and kissing you one minute and literally trying to pinch your arm off the next.  She is the reason I had to result to "the spray" (vinegar + water) because she could care less about spankings.  She is head strong, vibrant, and outgoing.  When she walks in to a room, the entire atmosphere changes.  She brings life everywhere she goes.  I never knew I could love my 3rd child as much as my 2nd or 1st.  But I do.  I love her to the moon and the stars and Jupiter and Mars.  I am beyond thankful God saw fit to bring her to our family.  These 4 years have flown by and I am sure the next 4 will too.  We are just holding on to each memory and making new ones each day. 

Looking back......

38 weeks pregnant

This moment never gets old.  The happiness and amazement of bringing life into this World is like no other.

Super happy big family :)!!

.... and then she turned 1 (IDK what I was thinking with that hair piece btw)

... and then 2.....

.... and then 3.....

 ... and today 4 (her singing to herself in the video)

..... yet again another outfit of choice.....

We started the day off by going to eat the yummy breakfast Papa cooked for  her.  

After breakfast, she decided to swing.... well topless.... (...after all.... it's HER day haha)

 As you all know, we let each of them decide what they want to do on their special day.  You know.... Chuck-E-Cheese, going out to eat, swim, splash pad, anything.  Sophie chose to have a day WITHOUT any of us.  That's right.  She wanted to spend the day with Papa and Grandmama.  I think she kept them pretty entertained and even went to the beauty shop with Grandmama.  She also went to Freds and got all sorts of toys, the worker at the convenient store gave her candy and gum since it was HER DAY, she got gifts from Spot and Uncle Randy & Aunt Angela, and MeMe had a gift delivered.  Not to count the many text messages and facebook messages I received wishing her Happy Birthday. 

She also used the, "but it's my birthday" reasoning LOTS today.  And it worked.

Tonight, we grilled supper to celebrate Father's Day since Dad was at work on Father's Day.  After a yummy supper we put candles in ice cream and sang to the birthday girl.... about 3 different times I believe... ha!

Even though I didn't get to spend all day with the birthday girl, she spent it just the way she wanted.  

I reminded her before she went to sleep that when she wakes up she will still be 4... she quickly said, "I'm already 4"... Like... duh... Mom! 

Beach Day with Friends

 We go in Thursday evening, turned around Friday morning and headed to spend the day at the beach with friends.

The Johnson's and The Tisdale's had been staying there and invited us to come down.  After the week we had in Mississippi, I told Kyle I didn't think I could stay at our house, or anyone's house Friday.  I. NEEDED. TO. GET. OUT. haha!

The weather could not have been more perfect.  It was a GORGEOUS day and the water was breath taking. 

Checking out everyone below from the balcony.

Sweet Mollie Mae having a good time playing in the tent.

 He is a ball loving little boy.  Football, Baseball, Soccer.... it doesn't matter....

Jackson and Sophie playing

Lunch time :)....

 Later that afternoon we all went in to get showers and head to dinner. 

All the kiddos From L-R:  Jackson, Sophie, Karter, Danner, Brayden, Mollie Mae, Heidi, Brycen

The Mama's :)!!

Kman balancing the frisbee

We had a wonderful day with wonderful people.  It was a much needed relaxing day. 

Last Days in Laurel, Mississippi

 Our week in Laurel was a week I don't think we will forget.  Bored is an understatement.  The pool and hot tub both stayed broken the entire week.  The pool was supposed to be heated, but it remained ice cold and it looked like a pool full of milk of magnesia.  We did take Kyle to school one day so that we could have the car, but the only thing to do was go to a park and the kids were bored with that pretty quick. 

Anyway, we spent most of our days in our little hotel room.  Playing barbies, entertaining each other, playing batman, painting toe nails, etc.  When Kyle would get in each evening we would meet him at the door ready to break out of our cage. 

I still managed to get lots of pictures :)!!!

Here are a couple videos of the shows the kiddos put on for me.....

 One of the parks.....

Hard to tell but she was practicing her "balancing a straw on my head" talent.

 We played at the park, picked Kyle up from school, and then headed to the mini mall that we found.  We did a little bit of shopping and then as we were walking through the mall we happened upon a movie theater.  HALLELUJAH!!!  So we went to dinner and then headed back to watch Maleficent.  It was a REALLY good movies.  Even Karter and Sophie enjoyed it.  They said it was a little scary, but over all they were very entertained.

  When we got back to the room, our school boy had to study....

 That night Heidi woke up sometime during the night throwing up.  That was just icing on the cake.  Bless her.  I'm not sure if something she ate just didn't settle well or what, but she never ran fever and didn't throw up any more.  When I told Mama about it, she asked if she needed to come get us.... I quickly replied, YEEESSSSSSS!! Then told her I was kidding.  We could survive another day.

When Kyle came to the hotel for lunch, he sent me this snapchat of what he saw when he pulled up.....

That would be Sophie and Karter fighting in the window seal. 

 We were all chillin' on the bed watching Ice Age and had been watching it for several minutes when Kyle said, "ummmmm that's in Spanish".  I burst out laughing.  The kids and I didn't even notice.  He laughed and said, "I'm so glad I was here to assist y'all" haha!!!

Here's the video to show y'all just how content they were....

 We went down to the pool one more time when he went back to class.  We had a glimpse of hope that it would be fixed........ yeah.... not so much......

 Since the pool was too cold, they had a little beauty shop going on..... that kept them entertained for about.... ummmmm..... 5 minutes.....

 Kyle had lots of studying to do, so that evening we got pizza and headed to the park for a picnic.  It was right up our alley......

Studying while I played with the kiddos. 

 Mom watered my plants for me while we were gone.  She sent me this picture and I was blown away that my Hibiscus had 2 blooms on it.  She obviously has the special touch. 

 They were all pretty tired by the time we got in.  Kyle, Karter, and Sophie crashed and Heidi and I stayed up watching 19 Kids and Counting.  All of a sudden we heard a loud CLOMP and I jumped up thinking Sophie had fallen off the bed.  Her arm was on the side table and she was barely on the bed.... sound asleep.... never did wake up..... Heidi and I were laughing so hard.

 Thursday was check out day.  GLORY GLORY WE SURVIVED THE WEEK!!!  The hotel wouldn't let us check out at a later time, so the kids and I had to leave by 11 and then go around town trying to find stuff to do until Kyle got out.  It seemed like we visited almost every store there was. 

We went in a pet store they had and the only pets they had were cats.  They kept us entertained for several minutes.......

This video of Karter and the cats still makes us laugh when we watch it. 

After this next video, I joked that all the store managers were calling each other warning of the lady with 3 kids that will probably be making their way to their store. 

We were completely DELIRIOUS by this point.....