Not quite the way I'd planned

So...I had these great hopes of getting Christmas cards off to all my sweet friend and family, showing off my precious children and most importantly, sharing in the celebration of the birth of our awesome Savior. Well, alas, it's not going to happen. Time has gotten away from me, the cards still aren't ordered, and I would never be able to get them out on time. I'm not giving up though. I know it's not the same, and no where near as much fun as getting to pull a fun Christmas card out of the mail box (this is the only time of year I like to check the mail. ha!), but here is my blog version of our Christmas card. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Love...The Lawler's.

Monogram Wreath

I found this great blog (http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/2010/11/fresh-cedar-monogram-wreath.htm) of instruction on how to make a monogram wreath, and I absolutely loved it. So... I was on a mission to make one of my own. My sweet and very talented friend, Lauren, cut out the letter for me, and I raided Lowe's for the greenery (Lowe's and Home Depot both have a bin of tree trimming that they will give to anyone- no charge!) to make my free wreath. I was really excited how it turned out and that it was free. I know all you crafting friends are always looking for great ideas, so I had to post this. Thanks "Diddle Dattle" for your fantastic idea!! Merry Christmas and happy decorating!!

Count Down to Thanksgiving!

Every day, Catelyn wanted to know if it was time to go see Jack & Pops. So, we put together a calendar she gets to mark an "X" on each day. Every morning, it is one of the first things she wants to do. Needless to say, she is VERY excited about going home for Thanksgiving. So am I!

Catelyn's count down- calendar.

So proud of her turkey!

Catelyn's "I'm thankful for..." necklace.

6 months old

This picture so captures the happiness of my 6 month old! What a sweet little man we have. He is growing so much and doing so many new things. He is rolling over from back to belly and belly to back. He's started sitting up last week and is doing really well. He is eating all kinds of things and, as always (thank you Lord!), is still sleeping wonderfully. Because of the holidays we don't go for his 6 month check up until he's 7 months, but a month ago, he weighed in at 19.3 pounds. I'll be super curious to see how much the "little" guy weighs we go in Dec. In the mean time, he's about to break my arm off carrying him in the punkin' seat. I'm thinkin' those days are limited. Happy 6 months Tripp!

Happy Halloween!

Catelyn and I made a haunted house out of all kinds of yummies. It turned out super cute and Catelyn had such a good time, I think we might do it again for the holidays. :)

The finished "haunted house."

My sweet little Bumble Bee!

Trick of treating.

Our little napping "sweet pea. "

The family shot that we waited until the end of the night to get.

Hey...I'm just glad we got one at all. ha!

5 Months Old

My little guy turned 5 months old yesterday. He is such a sweet and happy baby!! He is rolling all over the place, talking up a storm and drooling like crazy! He is constantly bringing a smile to my face and I am so thankful for my precious little boy.

Refashioned Part II

Lately, I have really been loving a bunch of new blogs I've found that are super creative with sewing- especially with taking old clothes and making them new. Well, when we were in Montevallo over Labor Day, I got to spend some time hanging out with my sister-in-law and helping her clean out her closet of things she's had since high school. While going through all of these clothes, I was completely inspired and ideas started going through my head of how maybe I could turn some of these things into new clothes for the kiddos. It has been so much fun turning my mind in different directions of what new things could be made. Here are the two I've come up with so far. Thanks again Rudy for your stuff!

Before (pinstriped skirt)

After (pants for Tripp)

Before (mock black turtle neck shirt)

After

(Appliqued dress for Catelyn)

Fall Decorating

Ok...so it might be a smidge early, but I totally broke out my fall decorations yesterday, complete with a halloween craft. Maybe I'm thinking if I decorate for holidays that come with cooler temperatures... then maybe it will actually get cooler outside. Here's for hoping anyways. :)

My "L" framed halloween pic! So happy with how it turned out!

A farther back view of my halloween digs.

Btw...who knew that it would take renting to get a great kitchen!

Last week Catelyn worked on the letter "A" and we made

this acorn painting using acorns and finger prints.

I loved the way it turned out, so I cut some burlap and put it

in a frame for some happy fall decorating.

And this one...I know it's cheesy, but I couldn't resist. lol

C is for Crown

This week Catelyn is learning about the letter C. For her craft project yesterday, she made crowns. She is always SO excited to show Will what she's made when he gets home. Well yesterday she really wanted a picture of her and her daddy wearing her newly decorate c-c-c crown and I thought it was too sweet not to post. :)

ASU First Home Game

This weekend, ASU had their first home game which ended victoriously- Yay! On Friday night, me and the kids, along with my friend Claudine and her two kids, all headed downtown for "Paint the Town Red." Will and Daniel (Claudine's husband) met us there. It was fun getting out of the house and Catelyn had a ball! The next day, while the husbands were working at the stadium, Claudine and I strapped on the bjorn's, packed the backpacks, held little hands, and grabbed our tickets to go to the game. I so wish we had a picture of us geared up. I was pretty nervous of how it was going to go with two kids, but Catelyn and Tripp did AWESOME! The game didn't start until 7, so Catelyn was asking to go home by the end of the first quarter. I didn't mind though- I was pretty tired from carrying my chunky monkey and keeping up with a three year old. Overall though... we had a great time!

Will and Catelyn

Catelyn and Noah- too cute!

(Noah wasn't too interested in holding Catelyn's hand,

but my silly girl didn't give him much of a choice.

We were cracking up at the two of them!)

Daniel, Claudine, Noah & David

Our "attempt" to get a family picture.

Catelyn was tired and not having it. Oh well!

It's Cereal Time!

I have been blown away with the differences between my two kids. I love that they are so completely different in so many ways! When I first started feeding Catelyn cereal, she was not very interested and it was somewhat of a battle from then on out to get her to eat at all (that battle continues today.) Tripp, however, had ALL of the cereal eaten, plus a little milk to wash it down, in no time. It was great! I don't think feeding him will be nearly the challenge as with my sweet 3 year old. Here are some pictures of the process below. Beneath his pictures are Catelyn's first cereal feeding. You can see the difference for yourself. Check out their size difference too Ha! :)

Tripp's "Before and After"

Before

During

All done!

Catelyn's "Before and After"

Before

During

After

Our Big Sweet Boy

This past Thursday, Tripp went in for his four month checkup. Has it really been 4 months??!! He is doing great and is a healthy baby boy. He weighed in at 17 pounds 15 ounces and is 26 inches long. I call him my little chunky monkey. He has been such a sweet, laid back, cuddle bug. He is laughing and talking all the time, starting to roll to his tummy, and is doing so well in his exercauser. I am just so thankful for my sweet boy!!

Lovin' Football Season!

I love all that football season brings. It's the start of all the fun stuff we wait for all year round. Will is traveling with the football team today, but that doesn't mean we can't get geared up for the big game tonight. So... in honor of the Tide, here are my cutties all decked out! Roll Tide!!

This week was brought to you by the Letter "B"

Thanks to some sweet mommies and some awesome websites (i.e. notimeforflashcards.com ...thanks again L.C.), I was able to get some fantastic ideas to help Catelyn start really learning her letters and the sounds they make. As noted in the title, this weeks letter was the letter "B." Catelyn loved doing her projects, and I really had a good time spending that one on one time with her. It's also so fun watching her little mind grasp new things. Here are a couple pics of our week!

"B" is for Brother and Banana

"B" is for Bubbles

Working diligently at her table.

All of the finished projects from the week, and the sweet little

student sitting in the middle of her giant letter "b." :)

The Fair and Haircuts

Over the weekend, Will and I packed up the kiddos and headed to Birmingham/Montevallo for the Labor Day weekend. We had such a great time! We got to spend awesome time with Will's family, see some really sweet friends, go back to our church and eat some really good food! It was a fantastic Labor Day. Which by the way...this was the first Labor Day Will has gotten in four years. Have I mentioned how glad I am he's out of law. :)

While we were there, Jack and Pops took us all to the fair where Catelyn had a blast. Later that night, Ruth Ann gave all of us haircuts (thanks again Rudy...you're the best!!!). Catelyn had about 4-5 inches cut off. She looks so precious, and should have an easier time not getting everything under the sun mated in her hair. Ha!