More pictures

Here are some more pictures of our Christmas in Flagstaff with my family. Sorry for the unorganized posts. I am just trying to get them on here asap.

The family at the Grand Canyon (Mason is hiding behind Emma Kate)The boys in their matching pajamas that I made for them. All the ladies had matching pajama bottoms that I made as well.

Smackers at the Grand Canyon

Christmas pictures

We are loving Flagstaff and the snow. I had a little down time and so I wanted to post some pictures. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Mason loves sledding!

Well, we are on our way to Flagstaff and so excited! Smackers, Gigi and Nelson are with us and we are headed to snow. Abbey, Baxter and Sarah are going to be here on Wednesday. I LOVE my family and am so blessed. Today was almost perfect as we had both sets of grandparents at church this morning to watch us dedicate our son to the Lord. We are surrounded with love and it is amazing to feel this much happiness and peace. Thank you God. I am also reminded of what this time of year is all about and how much my God loves me to send his only son to earth for me. Thank you God.

We will be in Flagstaff for a week and I am sure you will be able to hear us laughing wherever you are. I will try and get some pictures up ASAP. I hope everyone has a merry Christmas. By the way, iPhones are really useful when it comes to this sort of thing! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Well, posting on the blog has fallen off. We had a busy November and it looks like it is going to be a busy December. I am sure everyone is feeling that as well. We had a great Thanksgiving here in Yuma. We were with the Yuma Alexanders(we missed you Deborah!) and had a wonderful dinner in Gran Gran and Daddy Steve's backyard. Since Thanksgiving we have been active with playgroup and then Matt and I were able to get away for a few days to Phoenix for some Christmas parties. We are so grateful to Kay and Steve for keeping the kids so we could get away for a few days/nights. We stayed at a resort in Phoenix and we were able to finish all of our Christmas shopping. We were also able to relax, sleep in and enjoy having thoughts that I can HEAR!

Now, we are getting ready for my family to come to Arizona for Christmas. We are so excited to see everyone and looking forward to having some time to relax and LAUGH....A LOT!!!! We also recently got a camera! Yay! Finally, I can take some pictures so that I can post some updated pictures! Hope all is well and everyone is remembering the reason for the season.

Pumpkins

It is finally feeling like fall around here. We are excited to pull out our long sleeves and pants! This week we went to the pumpkin patch and we also had our playgroup Halloween party. I don't have great pictures of the kids in their costumes but I will get some at the church festival tomorrow night. Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend!
The petting zoo at the pumpkin patch

Cool Weather, Sewing and Giggles

We have been having a stretch of nice weather and it has been WONDERFUL! We have been able to open the doors and windows and turn the air conditioning off. Awesome. The kids especially love standing at the back door and wishing they could go swim (pool is closed for the season...hot tub to be fired up soon!)

On Friday I invited some ladies from the playgroup over to have a sewing party. It was a lot of fun and I think the ladies enjoyed making something for their little ones. They are all coming back in the morning to hopefully complete their garments. There was definitely a love of the turkey applique but we also did acorns, applique letters and pumpkins. I will try to get some pictures of the completed projects up here soon.

.Lauren (above) and Kaitlyn (below) were the only kids allowed in the sewing room ...they can't crawl yet. I wanted to take a picture of the rest of the house after the sewing because there were a total of 9 kids in the house for 3-5 hours. It looked like a toy bomb went off. Fortunately there were no injuries and no damage.

I also took some pictures of the kids and what they were up to during the Auburn game this weekend. If you watched the game then you will understand why Emma Kate was hiding under the sofa. hahaha. We will hope for better next time around. Hope every one's fall is going well and that you are settling into the cooler weather wherever you are.

Long 2 weeks!

I know I haven't been on here in A LONG TIME! I am so sorry. One of the main reasons is because my camera has been broken since July. Meaning I have no pictures to post! I need to post some of our family and friends pictures so that you can at least see the kids!

The last week and a half Matt has been in DC for training. Thus, we have been missing DADDY!!! COME HOME!!! I think he can hear us calling for him across the thousands of miles! We miss our daddy and our normal routine. It is still very hot here (110ish) and so we have mainly been inside or in the pool. Mason is now walking/running over the entire house. Which means I have two extremely busy children. So much so that I feel like I am just waiting to hear who is going to get hurt next. It is just a matter of minutes that I feel like we go from one boo-boo to the next. Joys of toddler hood. Mason has also been in the process of getting 4 teeth. They have all made their appearance and now we are waiting for them to descend. This will make 6 in total.

Emma Kate is her usual busy self. We are STILL potty training. She regressed when we were on our trip home. I have been using pull ups since she has been home and the move (3-4 weeks). She became very comfortable using pull-ups and so I switched her back to diapers. Since then she has been showing interest intermittently. It is so hard to have her pretty much trained and then have her go backwards! We will get there eventually. The Lord won't let her start high school without being potty trained!

We have also been busy with our playgroups and with Gran Gran and Daddy Steve in town. Gran Gran picks up Ela (my niece) 4 days a week from school. Since Gran Gran lives just down the street it allows for some opportunities for the girls to get together and play. They usually get to see each other twice a week and Emma Kate loves playing with her big girl cousin.

The only other thing I have been doing a lot of recently is cleaning and couponing. We look forward to Matt coming home on Friday and hopefully slightly cooler weather. I am going to include some pictures from the summer that a friend took!

Mason's 1st Birthday! (chocolate is wonderful!!!!!)

Emma Kate and her best friend Mikey

(Mikey's uncle Chris took this picture and all the ones below)

Birthday Week

We have a week of birthdays. Matt's birthday (29 again) was on Sunday and Mason's 1st birthday is Thursday. We celebrated Matt's with a low key dinner with friends. It was wonderful to be able to leave the kids with the grandparents and go to dinner! We are getting ready to have a jungle themed pool party for Mason on Thursday. Mason is also keeping us busy by WALKING!!! He has been taking steps for awhile now and then last night he started really walking for long stretches. We were clapping and cheering him on and all the while I was thinking in the back of my mind...No! sit down! I know what is coming now! Just kidding. I am so very proud of Mason and his accomplishment of walking. I just hope that I can keep up with my 1 year old and 2 year old. No more babies in this house.

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

I don't normally let this much time pass between posts but...We moved! We have moved to a new house in Yuma as we sold our home to Gran Gran and Daddy Steve (Matt's parents). Steve now has a job in Yuma and so they have moved here. We couldn't be more excited to have them close and they have been more than gracious throughout this entire process. We look forward to all the fun memories to come!

So we are now in a new house and trying to get settled in. Before we moved we went to FL and AL to spend time with my family. Florida was A LOT of fun we were so happy to be a part of the Giesa/Georgeopolous wedding. Erin was a beautiful bride and everything was perfectly planned and orchestrated. They are a gorgeous couple and we are very thankful to have been included (thanks Erin and George!)

After the wedding in Tampa we drove (the entire McGough clan) to the lakehouse north of Birmingham. We stopped in Sandestin for a night for some shopping and good rest time. While we were there we were able to meet up with the Hanleys and meet their new baby girl Aine. Aine is adorable and Emma Kate and Leah took well to each other. Thanks for meeting us Hanleys!

Once at the lakehouse we relaxed and went boating. We had a blast and it was wonderful to get to spend so much time with Gigi, Grandaddy, Sada, Uncle Nelson, Uncle Warren , Aunt Abbey and Baxter. We miss them already.

I am going to try and get some pictures up here soon. We are still in boxes and trying to settle everything. Hope everyone is doing well!

July 4th

We had a great July 4th. We went to the Buerstatte's home and grilled out while swimming. EK was in the pool almost the entire time we were there. (She chose the bows !) We had a great time and enjoyed getting to celebrate America's Independence with the people who help keep it safe. Hope everyone had a good 4th and I pray for comfort for all the pregnant ladies during this summer heat because I remember last summer too well!The Fletcher FamilyMikey Harris and Kaitlyn Buerstatte enjoying the 4th

We tried to get all the kids lined up for a picture. This is after photoshop! (There are two more babies, Ethan and Kaitlyn, who didn't make it in this shot)

Friday

Today is Friday. Yes! Matt has been working A LOT and we are so excited that today is Friday and that we are going to have our Daddy home for a few hours two days in a row! I think that Matt is even more excited about having a few moments at home with his family.

This week we have been trying to stay cool (as with everyone else). Monday we had playgroup and Tuesday we hosted lunch at our house. We have so much fun when our friends come over and play. Wednesday we stayed around the house and then went swimming in the afternoon. Yesterday we had our movie (Madagascar 2) in the morning and swimming playgroup in the afternoon. The kids did great in the movie theater. Mason fell asleep (in his car seat) a few minutes after the movie started and EK sat in my lap eating popcorn and granola bars. I think my kids would do anything if I give them enough junk food! We had a good time and it was a little bit cooler in the theater than outside (only slightly as the air conditioner was not working properly). We then had to run to Target so I could get some new sunglasses. Mine broke the other day and I don't spend a lot of money on sunglasses because I am a Mommy and I know they won't last long. After Target the kids were pretty hyped up (we got ice cream between the movie and Target because I had a free coupon for cold stone creamery from my birthday) and so we went home. Once we got home EK ate MORE and then spent 1 hour in her bed trying to fall asleep. After naps we went swimming and the kids loved it. They love the water and could be in it for hours. Then it was dinner time and then I had bible study after the kids go to bed. It was a full and fun day. We are home today (except for a trip to the vet with Ashton) and hoping to stay cool.

On another note EK is doing great potty training. She is only wearing pull ups during nap and bedtime. We haven't had an accident in several days and I am so proud of her. The cute thing is that she is very proud of herself and gets so excited whenever she needs to go. I hope Mason is this easy!

A whole week and a happy birthday!

We have been potty training for a whole week (that is my birthday present...only one in diapers)! The last three days she has had no accidents and she only wears pull ups during nap time and bedtime. She has been doing great and I am so excited. I really hope that this is it and that she doesn't have any future issues.



On another note Mason is 9 1/2 months old! Wow, where has the time gone. He went for his 9 month check up and he is weighing 16 pounds and 11 ounces. That is pretty big for my kids! He is into EVERYTHING! He loves playing with anything EK has and EK does not want him to touch anything! That is how my entire day goes these days. We are working on sharing.



I also want to wish Abbey a very Happy Birthday (tomorrow)! I can't believe that it has been 29 years! I am so blessed to have had my best friend with me celebrating all my birthdays. She is an awesome woman, wife, mother and doctor. I am so proud of all her accomplishments (psst...she recently received PEDIATRIC RESIDENT OF THE YEAR for the LSU program!!! Way to go!!!)

Also, Gigi and Daddy Mac were here for a few days this weekend (didn't get a picture). We had a blast and did not want them to go. We ate, shopped, and sat on the patio laughing. We look forward to seeing them in July and know that it will be so fun for us all to be together.

tips 4 mommy: Bountiful Baskets

I tried out a new produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets with my friend Crystal. She took a picture of all the fruits and veggies we got for 18.00(plus 1.50 handling, next time it will only be 15.00 plus 1.50). If you aren't in the Yuma area you should check and see if there is something like this in your area. Great way to save money! tips 4 mommy: Bountiful Baskets

It's Official

We are officially potty training. EK wore panties all day and only had 2 minor accidents. She is trying really hard (so am I) and I am hoping that this takes. We shall see. Mason has been really good about me having to focus a lot of attention on EK. EK has also been good about trying to go by herself (I hope that continues to be a good thing...we have already had to ration out the tp). I would love to have one out of diapers and so I am trying really hard to be excited (it gets really old to cheer about the potty ALL DAY! But hard work pays off, right?) Anyway, we are looking forward to Gigi and Daddy Mac being in Yuma on Thursday (they are in Phoenix for business). Daddy Mac hasn't had a chance to come since we moved here in 2006! Lots of changes since then. Hope everyone has a great night!

Yay!

I know that I have been posting a lot recently and I am not sure why I have so much extra time. Oh well. Today was a big day. EK was sitting at the lunch table and she looked at me and told me she needed to go potty. She has done this before as a way to get out of sitting at the table and finishing, even though I always make her get back up to the table after she tries to potty. Anyway, I didn't think anything would come of it. Well, low and behold she actually went potty (#2). I never thought I could be this proud of poop! I hope that we can keep this up but I am not going to push her too hard because I have heard that a lot of times it can backfire. Well, I am almost getting excited about having one out of diapers!

JW Marriott Starr Pass

We took a surprise trip to Tucson this week. Matt was going for work and the kids and I had been sick and had not planned on going with him. After he got there he called the next day (Wednesday) and raved about how much fun it would be for us to come. So we did. I talked with him around 2 pm (during nap time) and we were on the road by 4. We are so thankful to Ali and Michael for taking care of Ashton!

We got there around 7:30 and met Matt at the mall. We just wanted to let the kids run around and eat something. We were in the mall a matter of minutes when I turned to Matt and said I need to change diapers since we had been the car. We go to the bathrooms and I put EK on the changing table. She starts coughing and the next thing I know there is vomit EVERYWHERE! She was coughing so hard that she gagged...in a public restroom. I kept telling myself that it could have been worse...at least we were already in the bathroom. (P.S. This is not EK's first time to do this...whenever she coughs a lot she vomits, fun times!) Of course I didn't have a change of clothes for her in the diaper bag. I cleaned her up and met Matt in the hallway with Mason and said we need clothes! Of course, we had clothes in the car but we were in the mall and so it was easier to go and buy something cute off the sale rack. So, we were the people with the naked toddler walking around Old Navy looking for clothes! Memories!

After our lovely few minutes in Tucson we ate dinner and headed for the resort. The resort is great and I would recommend it to anyone who is in Tucson. They have a pool, splash area for kids, lazy river, water slide, multiple restaurants, gold course, spa, Starbucks, etc. There is pretty much everything. We had a great time and the kids loved the water activities! We hope Matt has to do more work in Tucson! We are staying home this weekend and trying to get rid of our coughs! Sorry there are not any pictures of us. I remembered the camera but forgot to take the memory card out of the computer after downloading pictures! Hahaha!