We Like to PARTY!!!!

11 months old in this picture! Lots of teeth coming through. So far she has 4 on top and a third one coming up next to the two bottom middle teeth (almost 7 total). She loves her thumb and following the big kids around. A good beat gets this girl moving and she LOOoooVES green beans.

Compadres FOREVER!!!

I had big dreams for Ruby's cake but I decided to just make it a smash cake after I ran into a time crunch. Afterall, Thomas doesn't like cake and I don't want the kids eating pounds of cake (although they would be in heaven!) So that would have made me the horrific cake monster...I didn't need that...

=Mini smash cake for a baby to smash, eat and share a bit...

Poor baby Ru beat up her face with a nasty fall a couple days before her birthday. She decided to stand up on a moving toy car and face planted on our backyard pavement. 

Still happy and trying to mimic Big Sister 

"WHAT?! THIS IS MARSHMALLOWS???!"

SHE TURNED 1!!!!! 

Enjoyed her cake too...

and her armrest baby...

and being the baby pushed in the stroller...

and a beautiful quilt made special by Nana Montague xoxo

I gave Brielle another haircut. She's had so many, yet her hair just keeps speeding up its growth rate as it grows! It's almost to her waist, when it is straight. I was so happy with how it turned out:) she just comes with that cheesy, cute smile...

The two best buddies---- Ruby is working her way into the group, but it takes a lot of proving yourself. "So, what's in it for us?" They love Ruby, but she still is a baby destroyer of towers, forts, legoes and everything big kids pride themselves upon after laboring over. It will be interesting to see how the dynamic changes once Hudson starts Kindergarten in August and Bri and Ruby are left to bond.

Sleeping angel Ruby. She is now one, as of May 26th! I can't believe we kept another child alive! :) Having children certainly is rewarding, but I'm realizing how having three has really stretched me thin (and I don't mean around my middle section...) Heaven knows I cope emotionally by stuffing my face! Working on that.

Having an older brother sure does rub off in more ways than you can imagine. Bri is really into playing "fight the bad guys", building, trucks and running wild. She does, however, also love a good hand bag and nail polish;)

Hudson turned 5!!!! He has two permanent teeth pushing up, is really into angry birds and could play with transformers all day.  We made a big deal of his birthday this year and invited all our little friends over. The house was crazy, but it was a hoot for Hudson to have a pizza, pinata, and pool party with all the special friends we've made this past year. We made every meal an occasion to blow out candles. Hudson dictated our every move for his birthday. I even set him loose in the grocery store and the wildest thing he came up with was: DOUBLE STUFFED OREOS and a lollipop... You should have seen the joy on his face!

Making a wish...pay out chicken nuggs!

Brielle is Ruby's Little Mama. Bri adores her little sister and is always cuddling her with love and concern. I hope the friendship sticks and continues to blossom! (Fingers very much crossed)

This was the most difficult cake I've made so far...I vowed it might be my last. Not because it was hard, necessarily, but because I had so many obstacles in my way and I lost the "fun" aspect and it quickly became stressful. I like to bake the cake and make the fondant the day before I decorate it. Done. So assembly day (Hudson's birthday), my body decides to embrace the flu...It was a beast. Never fun, really. So I didn't get much sleep and then I had to finish the cake (4:30 am) before our guests arrived for the party that next morning. Terrible timing to contract death flu! A miracle took place and everything worked out somehow. I couldn't be as picky with the details of the cake, but it made all the struggle worthwhile to hear Hudson's excitement once he saw fondant covered OPTIMUS PRIME!!!

Friends swimming in the pool: Becca, Perry, Roland, Jane, Kate, Joel, Russell, Ruby, Sammy, Nolan, Brett:)

Cute Daddy, Thomas, lighting the cake.

It was 110 degrees out there...Hello Phoenix summer!

Ruby is a walking machine with poofy hair on top and around the nape of her neck, but nowhere else... She will come up to my leg when I'm sitting and give me a raspberry:) then have the biggest smile on her face. How does she know that's such a playful action?! She is crazy about her minkie elephant and is really into purses and shoes. Happy Birthday, baby doll. We are definitely in love with this clown-haired baby!