April- I will catch up....eventually!!

One important note that was left off the March update.....the boys got bunkbeds!!! Lord help us not visit the ER anytime soon! Carson is the top bunk and Parker on the bottom (which is the safest option for all of us!!) They passed on their "little boy" beds to their little brother and slept in their "big boy" beds all night the first night! They LOVE them!!!



April began with a trip to Arkansas.....yet another state on the boys' traveling list!! We headed to Little Rock for my Uncle Mike and Aunt Tina's 25th wedding anniversary and renewal of vows. Uncle Mike is one of my mom's brothers, one of the twins, from which the twin curse, I mean blessing, comes from:)

The weekend was filled with family and good times. My sister and her family came (minus Tyler, who was playing baseball that weekend), my Aunt Sherry, Uncle Roger and cousin Kim from Illinois and my mom and one of her cousins also came. It was a beautiful day- and it was fun to be part of their 2nd big day!

Some memories from the weekend include, Kim and I taking the boys to a church playground for some sliding and monkey bar work, Carson yodling- at breakfast, in the car, even on the toilet- "Yodellaheeehoooo!- Can someeeeoneeeee wiiiiipeeee myyyyy bottttttoooommmmmmm?" (Kim's favorite), swinging on an outdoor porch swing with a set of triplets and running back and forth between our room and Kim's room, which was right across the hallway. They thought they were big time to go "by themselves" to Kim's room:)

We got lots of questions about Arkansas....I guess since we'd never been before. Most of the way there we heard... Is this Arkansas? Is the Funky French Fry in Arkansas? Do they have chocolate milk in Arkansas? Where are we going to sleep? We stayed at a Best Western close to my aunt and uncle's house.....and now everytime they see a sign for one, they will say, "Hey!! We stayed there when we were in Arkansas!!"

We were at Golden Corral for breakfast Sunday morning, as I put pancakes on his plate, Parker said, "We get syrup, right?? Because we are on vacation!" Carson said, "Yes Bubba, when you stay in a hotel that means it's vacation!" Yes, Gramp....I realize you think that limiting the intake of syrup is child abuse;)

Here are some pics with the family

Uncle Mike....one of the twins that are responsible for passing the trend!!


Aunt Sherry, Uncle Roger and Kim


We went to the Funky Fish Fry, a fund raiser for the boys' school and the Autism Society. They call it the Funky French Fry....I love that. April also brought a trip to Chattanooga for Emma Kate's 4th birthday, St. Jude Trike-a-Thon @ school, and Easter- including egg hunts at school and church and egg dying with the Harbarger's....wow....that's a busy month!

Funky Fish Fry




Emma's Birthday- hangin with Granny and Gramp


With JenJen in the foam pit!!







Trike a Thon for St. Jude!!


Watching our Friends Ride




Church Egg Hunt


Clearly we love our friend Harrison!!




Countin' the stash


Dying Eggs with the Harbargers




Sweet Easter Sunday Pictures- Gosh these kiddos are cute!!

March was a Busy One!

So I posted this back in like April and then it disappeared from blogger. When I got back on to blog about our summer....here it is!!! Weird....very weird.

The first main event of the month was our trip to the doctor for the 20 week ultrasound....and contrary to all popular belief we found out that we'll be having ANOTHER little BOY!!! Lord help me, I'm so outnumbered!! We are so grateful that he is healthy and right on track- what would I do with a little girl anyway?!?! Not her hair or make-up, that's for sure! The only objection I had was that Brad and I were closer to agreeing on a girl name than on a boy name, so he still remains unnamed--and probably will until he's born!

Brad has many rules for the name- no P's or C's (the boys already get called the wrong name all the time!), no -er or -son ending (some on Brad, that's a little picky) and lastly, he wants it to have 6 letters since Carson and Parker both have 6 letters! You can see why he's still referred to as Baby C, Baby Douglas, or little boy:)

We took a quick Spring Break trip to Destin with BeBe and Pop- an extended weekend was all daddy could get with his new job, but we figured that something was better than nothing so we packed up and headed that way! As we pulled into the parking lot of Aunt Pokey's condo this is what we heard from the backseat--
I can seeeeeeeeeee theeeeeeeeeeee condoooooooooo!! Look mama, there it is!!! It's the condo- we're here, we're here!!! Are we here? Are we at the condo? Geez, who knew that just seeing the condo upon arrival would be the most exciting moment?!?!

We got sunburned the first day and were miserable the rest of the time- the adults that is:) Apparently, I am good at remembering to cover the boys, but not myself:( The boys really enjoyed making "moats", crashing each others sand castles,running in and out of the water and, of course, eating snacks and lunch on the beach!

The boys went to The track for the first time....but I'm sure not the last. Their highlight was seeing Grant, their main man from preschool! They were so excited to see him at the beach!! Daddy's favorite part was beating mommy in the go-karts....but I must say that I was a little apprehensive as I drove around that track preggo!! Pop provided ice cream and donuts on the same night and the next day we did some shopping at the outlets, where Pop again gave the boys their share of snacks!! I guess you have to make shopping appealing to males;)

Here are some pictures from the beach:

Burying brothers in the sand.....they thought this was soooo funny:)




Sweet boys....still for one second.....






We also enjoyed a weekend in Chattanooga watching Tyler play ball and visiting with Granny and Gramp. We celebrated my and Leah's birthdays with dinner out with the Birmingham family. Brad and I also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It landed on a Sunday this year, so we dropped the boys at church for kids club and headed out to dinner at The Tavern @ the Summit. It was "yummo!" as Carson would say!

January/February.....the boys are 4!!!

Ok....so after thinking about trying to post for January and again for February....I looked at the calendar and saw...it's MARCH!!! Geez....enough is enough...I'm combining posts so that I can catch up!

January consisted mostly of recovery from the holidays and preparation for the boys' birthday....oh yea, and growing arms, legs, lungs....things like that for baby Douglas:) We got some snow, or should I say ice, that kept the boys and I off work and schoool for 4 days! We didn't get much at our house, but other parts of our area got enough to keep school closed for awhile! After about 2 days, I was totally over it and the boys were saying, "I just want to put on real clothes!!"- such a change from the norm!

Fun in the Snow






We also did our bi-annual get together with the Coffey Clan (Brad's extended family from the Birmingham area). It was a fun time, with Dirty Santa for the adults and gift exchange with the kiddos. I did make Parker cry by pointing out that Aunt Sherrie "stole" a gift from us.....never to be returned...it was a short lived cry- but a fun memory for us all:) I hope Parker won't hold it against her forever!

Carson entertaining himself with Lele's cell phone


Parker playin' cars with Trey



I did take a quick weekend trip to St. Petersburg, FL to hang with my friend Jessica and her family for the weekend. Her dad, Paul, is battling brain cancer and they were holding a benefit for him that weekend. I flew down Saturday morning and came back Monday morning. The trip was short and sweet, but well worth it. The benefit for Paul was a huge success and I was glad to see Jessica and spend some time with her....no matter how short it was:) Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures that weekend- maybe Jessica was better than I was- I'll see if I can get some pics from her!

February brought the boys' birthday- they are 4! They really are growing up and becoming BIG boys right before our eyes. I mean don't get me wrong, I can believe they are 4! Yes, time flew sometimes, but othertimes it didn't go fast enough;) We enjoyed school/work the day of their actual birthday- they took a cookie cake to school to share with their friends- and got to wear the birthday hats all day too! School actually let out early that day due to freezing rain/icy roads- another bonus for all of us in education! We still went to dinner at Sumo (to see the big FIRE!!) with Pop, Bebe, Lele, Guncle and Kerrigan. The boys always love eating there....and the fact Pop bought them a WHOLE cake EACH Pop was an added bonus!

We did their party the following Saturday at Parties on the Move, an indoor bouncing wonderland. My parents and Jen and the kids were all in town and the boys got a very special last minute visitor- GGMA!! The boys were so excited to have her with us for the weekend (and so was I)! We had so many great friends come to the party- and the boys got so much loot that we are still hiding some of it from them! They had lots of fun bouncing with their friends, eating pizza, ice cream and some really yummy Lightning McQueen and Sally cakes! (Once again provided by my friend Monica- thanks girl!) They stayed busy the whole time- I think I only saw them for a few minutes while they ate!

Parker and Stella- wonder what they are looking at?


Our BFFs from school- Grant and Stella


Carson jumping


Time for Presents!!


Double the Presents, Double the fun!!




Pizza Time!


Time for singing and cake!


Carson's Sally Cake!


Parker's Lightning Cake


One little guy with his Grandmas- posing separately:)


Boy 2 with his Grandmas


This is what we got when they posed together!



We headed up to Chattanooga later in the month to try and celebrate Granny Brenda's birthday and watch Tyler play some ball. Granny was sick and having lots of trouble with her gallbladder that weekend, so we didn't get to celebrate that weekend- but we did get to watch Tyler play ball.

It's been another busy few months for the Douglas family....and a fun filled March is ahead- actually, it's almost over as I am finishing this post that I started early in the month!! Geez....am I ever going to get ahead???

December- Christmas and other fun stuff!!

We had a fun-filled Christmas season that was busy, busy, busy!

The boys participated in their first church Christmas sing. They practiced for weeks on end and listened to the CD every single day on the way to school....yes, mommy knew all the songs too! They got to dress up like little German boys....and they were very excited--until it was actually time to get up on stage and sing in front of all those people! Right before they were going on stage to sing, I took the boys to the bathroom- just to be safe:) Carson was standing behind the door in the bathroom and a couple girls ran through the door, slamming the door into Carson's head! At first, he was crying and totally hysterical, but I got him calmed down enough to at least go on stage. We are still convinced he had a concussion! Needless to say, he did not perform well...he just kind of stood there with a blank stare....cried, sat down, and of course, put the lip out! Here are some pics from the night!

Church Christmas Program


We need a break! (They weren't supposed to be sitting!)



Poor Guy:(




The next performance of the year was at their school. Last year, we had a bit of stage fright, crying and refusing to sing....so the fact that they stayed in their chairs and participated even the little bit they did was a huge success!!

Mitchell's Place Christmas Program





We finished up the Christmas season with lots of fun times with friends and family. We started Christmas Eve with dinner at the Bright Star with Brad's family and then attended the Christmas Eve service at church. Some good friends, Eddie, Terra, Carley, Collin and JoNell were able to meet us there. Everyone came back to our house afterwards for some desserts and visiting. After putting out milk and cookies the boys headed to bed....and Brad and I weren't far behind....just waiting on Santa;)

Christmas brought a morning visit from Bebe and Pop. We went to their house later for lunch and presents with Aaron, Leah and Kerrigan. We headed home when Granny and Gramp made their way down from Memphis. They stayed a few hours, followed by a visit from Doug and Lori and then we ended the day with a visit from Grandma Sue!!! Parker couldn't quite stay awake for her arrival...nearly 9pm I think. The poor guy was asleep in the chair! Carson kept right on tickin' though!

Here are some pictures from our busy day!!

Puzzles with Terra and JoJo


Reading with BeBe


Playing Ball with Guncle


Leaving Milk and Cookies for Santa....Carson was soooo happy about this picture!


Christmas Morning!!

Handy Manny's Big Construction Set


Princess Presto ACTION FIGURE!! I promise, it's an action figure...


Just Playin'


Ring Pops!!





Carson in the Kitchen


Our Power Wheels Police Car!


Blow Drying Kerrigan's Hair, with her present from us!


Pop needs some help opening his gifts


Pillow Pets!!




Singin' with Doug


And here was our present to everyone for Christmas--

We're BOTH going to be.....BIG BROTHERS!!




Surprise to most....some of the reactions we got....
What?? You're going on Big Brother?
Yes, Carson is much taller than Parker....
They are each other's big brother...
Such a cute picture....wait....are you????
Are you s**ttin' me?
Are you kidding?? When???

Baby Douglas #3 will be joining us July 30th!