New pictures!!

My neighbor, Ronni, took some awesome pictures of Kelsey at her birthday party. She is now going to be the photographer of my kids!!! You simply must go to our shutterfly website and see all of the amazing pictures. You can click on the link to the right of this post or go to www.brower.shutterfly.com. Hope you enjoy!!

Kelsey's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza

Kelsey started out her birthday with a birthday pancake. She got to blow out candles and listen to mommy "sing".















Then, that night we went to Chuck E Cheese's (FYI- I would NOT recommend the food.) to celebrate as a family. She had a lot of fun watching the Chuch E Cheese band, playing the games, and picking a prize.
















The next day, we started her official 3rd Birthday Party at about 9:30 am with a Dora bounce house. Our neighbors were nice enough to let us use their yard and their house for the cake and presents. It was just easier to do everything in one spot. The neighborhood kids came and jumped for a couple of hours.






























Then, we did cake and gifts. Then, the kids jumped a little more and some people came to our house for hot dogs and cheese dip.

















I just wanted everyone to see my "masterpiece". I think it is definitely better than the Mickey Mouse cake I bought for Harrison's birthday. At least you can tell it's Dora! I actually had a lot of fun making it and think it will be a tradition to make my kids cakes from now on.






















Kelsey loved all her birthday presents. Thank you to everyone who contributed to her birthday. She absolutely loves her doll house and all the rooms to go with it. Shawn and I got her a Leapster ClickStart which is like a computer you connect to your TV. She wants to play it every minute of everyday! Her 3rd birthday was a good one even though we missed seeing all our friends and family there.

Haircut Day!

Yesterday was haircut day for the kids. Harrison's hair was soooo cute long and curly, but it was hard to style, so we had it cut shorter which looks really cute, too. Kelsey's hair just needed a trim and we also gave her a couple of layers. It looks really cute when it's down. Here are a couple of pictures to show off their new haircuts.

Just to get out of the door........

This morning I had Mom-N-More ( a moms bible study group at our church) and I thought I was doing really good on time. I had everyone packed up and out of the door at 8:40 to be at the church and put each kid in their class by 9:00. But when I got to the car the car seats weren't in the car because Shawn had used my car yesterday to get some landscaping. So I put the kids back inside while I got the car seats back in the car. When I went back inside to get the kids Harrison was soaking wet from head to toe! He had poured a glass of water on himself trying to get a drink AND stood in the dog's water with both feet in his socks. So I had to run upstairs and get him another outfit and put it on. We finally got out of the garage at 8:53. Needless to say, we were a little late, but had great intentions. The funny part was that when I told this story to my group, a few other moms had similar stories from that morning. Ahhh, the life of mom........

My Big Boy

This morning Harrison ate TWO waffles and a little banana and his milk for breakfast. I think he would have eaten more waffle, but I was out! Another growth spurt I guess. Also, here is some video of Harrison walking a little. He is getting much better!

Power Outage

Sunday morning at about 1:15am our power went out because of the storms from the hurricane. Kelsey woke up not much later because her noise was off and her room was pitch dark, so she got to come downstairs with us. We finally decide about an hour later that we couldn't do anything about it and went back to bed (Kelsey in our bed). All day Sunday Kelsey kept asking to watch cartoons or to play her computer game. You don't really realize how many of your everyday things take electricity until you don't have it. So most of the day we played outside and did yard work. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day. We had our windows open and a breeze came through. We did end up putting some of our food on ice because the electric company was saying that some people may not get power back for a few days, so we didn't want to take any chances. That night we had the neighbors over to cook out and play some cards by candle light, but just as we put the steaks on the grill, the power came back on! We still played cards and ate together, but we had lights and air-conditioning. I was kind of looking forward to eating by candle light, but we used just used the regular old lights. Monday, Kelsey kept asking if the TV worked so she could watch her cartoons and if the light in her room worked so she wouldn't be scared anymore. I had to keep assuring her that they did work.

While Shawn was getting the grill ready to cook the steaks, he opened up the umbrella to the table and chairs on the patio. You will never believe what was in there....a BAT!!

Last Week

Last week my mom came down to sell some stuff at the farmer's market with me. We had a lot of fun doing it, but the visit was better than the business. My dad came through here and stayed a couple of days, too. Harrison has taken a liking to his Pappy. He is the only one other than Shawn that Harrison will reach for when I am holding him. Harrison also started to walk a little this last week. He will take a couple of steps and laugh and fall down. It's really cute. I will try to put a video up soon of it. Kelsey loves her Emmy and had lots of fun going on walks and cooking with her. When she is here Emmy is the only one that can take Kelsey to potty (which is getting better). We all had lots of fun and ate well last week!

Here are some of the crosses we made and sold at the farmer's market.

Harrison's One Year Checkup

Harrison had his one year well visit today. We, of course, went to a new pediatrician. He was very nice and seemed to be a lot like Dr. Nail, our old pedi in Frisco. He said Harrison looked perfect and was doing great. Harrison was 22.2 lbs and was 30 inches long. He is still wearing 18 month clothes, but is starting to go into 24 month stuff. Hopefully, he will wear 24 month for a while. He is really starting to slow down in the growing department. He got three shots and did great. As soon as I picked him up he was over it. I think he just didn't like being held down. He is starting to stand up by himself, so I don't think walking is very far away. Also, yesterday he was saying "E-I-E-I-----O". The O was very low. It was really cute. My little one year old is doing great and is just growing up right before my eyes! I hope this inspires everyone to come to Little Rock and see for yourself!!!

Shawn's Company Cookout

Saturday afternoon we all went to Shawn's bosses house to the company cookout. It was fun. I got to meet most of the people he works with and put some names to faces. Shawn and his boss spent most of the time playing horseshoes and I spent most the the time watching Harrison and talking to the people. Kelsey had a good time playing with the other kids there.

Dentist Day

Today was the first day that either of the kids had gone to the dentist! Both of them did great. Harrison did not like the x-rays, but they were quick and he recovered fast. Since he only has four teeth he didn't have to have them cleaned. The dentist just came in and looked at them.

Kelsey also did awesome, but did not like the x-rays that were on the side of her mouth. I can sympathize because I know those bite wings hurt. After that was over, she got her teeth cleaned. She thought it tickled. Then the dentist came in and saw her, too. We learned that she doesn't have the two teeth beside the top middle two (Sponge Bob teeth). She also has an under bite that we may have to do something about in the next year or two. Needless to say, she will be at the dentist a lot in her life. By the way, Harrison may have the same problem with his top two teeth. Thank goodness for dental insurance!!! When we were finished they each got a toy and we headed home.

**By the way, Kelsey's 2 year molars are finally coming through!!!

Harrison's New Toy

Thanks to everyone for their contributions to Harrison's birthday. He just loves all of his toys. I thought I would show everyone how he can ride his dump truck toy. He loves it! He can get on and off by himself, too!! Enjoy!

Labor Day at the Zoo

On Labor Day, we got up and went to the Little Rock Zoo. Kelsey was really excited to see all the animals. I have to say we were really impressed with the zoo here. It's definitely not the Fort Worth Zoo, but it's pretty big and has lots of neat animals. We were there for three hours and didn't get through it all. It was hot and crowded, but we still had fun. Kelsey got to feed some goats and sheep. I think the monkeys were her favorite, though. They had a big ape exhibit and she kept saying, "they need to go back with their family" if one would run off. At the end of our time at the zoo, Kelsey and Shawn road a carousel that was kind of like a roller coaster. She absolutely loved it. It was a good time and we will definitely be back!

Later on that afternoon (after well-needed naps) we went to our neighbors house for dinner and a movie. It was really nice to be around adults and for the kids to go off and play. All in all, it was a good day!