Party Time!

"Messy Tessy" living up to her name.

Cohen HATING the mess.

Comparing the two.

August is the Birthday month. We have 4 kids but only two birth dates. The 8th and 26th. We decided to have a little bowling party for Payton and a BIG party for all of them later in the month. I did not know the best way to handle this. I did NOT want people to be buying 4 gifts, I did NOT want to have people feel obligated to do anything and especially for ALL of them. A huge dilemma for me. So, I just tried to make it simple and just had to let it go and not worry about it. I will do things differently next year, but not sure how or what.

We had an amazing turn out. Everyone was able to come: 31 kids and 21 adults. I tried to make it simple; a few balloons, a pinata, some good food, and just let the kids go wild in the back yard. I was hoping for a hot day so the pool would take up most of the time, but it was cloudy. Luckily, the kids didn't seem to mind and they did go wild. The pinata wasn't thought out as well as I would have liked. There were tears. I am still learning.

Tessa lived up to her nickname "Messy Tessy". She destroyed her cake and was covered in frosting. Cohen touched it and started to cry. We let her finish his off too. She didn't actually eat too much of it; just had to enjoy the mess. When Tate turned one. He ate the ENTIRE thing. It was huge for a 1 year-old and it didn't even faze him.

I have to say a special thank you to Kelly and Aundrea for the awesome meat. I am a selfish friend. I invite them to a party and make them work. Kelly did all the marinading and BBQing and Aundrea helped with the babies (Logan and Maika too). If you could taste taste some of it you would understand. THANK YOU, THANK YOU! It really was the best!

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. I it really hard to believe Cohen and Tessa are 1 already. The first 6 months seemed like 6 years but the last 6 have gone so fast. Tate is 3 now. Honestly, I have thought he was three for the past 2 years. He has always seemed older to me. He is such a funny little guy. Payton...6? Crazy. I am the luckiest Mom alive to be able to have these 4 amazing kids!!! Happy Birthday Payton, Tate, Cohen and Tessa!

I love you.

Babie's 1st OREO's

You can see why we call her "Messy Tessy". She is always 10x's more messy then Cohen. Cohen would prefer to be spoon fed so he doesn't have to touch his food. We can't believe they are turning 1 this month...how time fly's.

My first 5-K run

My friend, Tifny, and I have decided to change our lives, do something for ourselves, so we decided to start running. I need to loose a lot of baby weight and get myself healthy. I wanted to start slow so I wouldn't get discouraged. With the advice of a few friends with experience they suggested we set a goal for a race. So, we did. A 5-k. We found a schedule to follow and we DID it. I was 51st out of 103 and my time was 30:01 (9:68 min/mi). I am so proud of us and it felt so nice to get out and be active again. We are going to do a 10-k in October and another 5-k in September. We couldn't have done it without supportive husbands that help with the kids at night so we can go out on our runs. Thanks Jared and Aaron...you're the best!

ps. I found out that I was 3rd in my age bracket (old).