Sparks' Notes

Levi

2012-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

We-by, as he is affectionately referred to by his big brother and sister, has probably starred in a total of 3 posts since he joined our family 10 1/2 months ago.

So I figured it was about time to devote an entire post to my precious, easy going, almost always happy third born.

Other than waking every 2 hours at night for the first month of his life, he has by far been our best sleeper. I have, on several occasions had to wake him up around the 9:00 hour.

As you can tell

he seems to have a problem

with growing any hair.

In order to avoid being self conscious about our baldness, we like to wear hats

Both his older siblings had a head full of dark hair by this point, but it seems that his locks might be golden, and his eyes are most definitely blue.
Didn't think it was genetically possible that one of my offspring would have blond hair and blue eyes!

Being the baby of the family has many perks, but also comes with several disadvantages.

Like, being undressed by your older sister while trying to enjoy your lunch,
or being used as a blank canvas for your sister's art project,

having to use the only clean bib available
which usually is pink,

and sometimes when Daddy's in charge, having to use your Johnny Jump Up as a crib

Though it may seem that Levi tends to be neglected from time to time, he is also showered abundantly with love, hugs, and kisses from his siblings

We love our Levi Guy!

Catch Up

2011-11-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

After going to our MOMs group at church yesterday and being reminded of how important it is to capture and record all the little milestones in your children's lives, I am going to challenge myself to make time at least once a week to blog.

Here's a catch up of what we've been up to
the last 2 months:

In September Luke and I went to Houston to visit my new niece, Barrett, and celebrate Parker's 4th Birthday!

It was so nice to spend time with just Luke, I had forgotten how important that one on one time is, so we are going to try to do it more often.

Uncle Andy took Luke, Parker, & Kellen to the park our first day there, and when they returned this is what
they looked like:

The kids at a blast at their local bounce house.

Being in Texas, it had to have a bull

Luke concentrating really hard on hitting the baseball

Parker's birthday was at the Stomping Grounds, which is an indoor playground for kids and coffee shop for parents...genius idea!

In early October we went to Indiana to visit Ryan's family.

The cousins were able to go to a local pumpkin patch.

Sitting on top of the hay mountain

All the kids were thoroughly entertained by
gathering the pumpkins,

loading them in a wagon

and transporting them to the picnic table

To end October, we went to our church's Trunk & Treat.

At the last minute I found some hand-me-down costumes in our basement for Luke & Aubrey, and Levi just happened to have a costume that went with their theme!

A Cowboy, cowgirl, and their trusty bull :)

We're still here!

2011-11-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

With 3 children under the age of four, I can't seem to find anytime to take pictures, much less download them to my computer, and come up with coherent thoughts to write a blog post to go with said pictures, so I'm stooping to stealing a friend's blog post about my children :)

Go here to find out about the latest craziness
that we've been up to.

Cousin's Camp

2011-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Back at the beginning of July the kids and I attended the first annual Sparks' Cousin's Camp.

As I've discussed before, Ryan and many of his cousins have taken the task of procreation very seriously over the last 4 years.

To date, 14 babies have been born into the Sparks' family over a span of just 4 1/2 years.

These babies, toddlers, and preschoolers rarely get the chance to all be together, so Ryan's dad decided to plan a big vacation this summer for all the cousins
and their parents.

This grand vacation was deemed, Cousin's Camp.

Pigeon Forge, a very kid friendly place, was selected as our destination.

Since the whole point of this vacation was for all the cousins to get to play together, staying at a hotel wouldn't provide the constant camaraderie needed, so a 15 bedroom lodge was reserved for our party of 37.

Our Cousin's Camp Cabin

A few weeks before the vacation, Ryan and Uncle Andy had to back out due to work commitments, so
Aunt Holly and I were tasked with driving 5 kids
5 1/2 hours from Birmingham to Pigeon Forge.

Surprisingly enough the trip
was fairly quiet and uneventful.

We arrived around 11:30 pm with 5 very sleepy and disoriented children.

Needless to say the first night was pretty rough, by about 2 am, Luke, Aubrey, Levi, and I were all in bed together...thankfully it was a nice King size bed!

We were awoken the next morning to the smell of waffles, bacon, and coffee.

Each family was given a meal to prepare, so we saved on food cost and had warm, homemade breakfasts and dinners each day!

The campers hoped for four fun filled days of cousin bonding, and the trip did not disappoint.

The kiddie area of Dollywood was perfect for our group.

Luke, Aubrey, Parker, and Kellen on the bumble bee ride
Hillarie, Hadlie, and Paige riding the pigs

Parker and Luke fishing for prizes.

The award for the youngest daredevil of the group, goes to 15 month old, Paige. If you look very carefully at the picture you will see the top of her hat and the bottom of her shoes high in the air on this death defying ride.

Playing outside all day sure can build up a big appetite.

Waiting for our Varsity inspired hamburger and hot dog dinner prepared by the Atlanta cousins.
This camper was so worn out from the day's activities she couldn't stay awake long enough for dinner

While the kids loved Dollywood, Splash Country, and riding go carts, I think everyone's favorite activity was gathering around the fireplace after dinner and singing, enjoying puppet shows, and just watching the kids have a blast together!

Bigg and Mama (Ryan's parents) led the kids in several Bible songs. Bigg even learned how to play the guitar just for Cousin's Camp.
Aubrey doing the motions for Deep and Wide
Kellen had some original moves to go with the songs :)

When the puppets came out,
Aubrey was beside herself with excitement

Granny and Levi watching all the craziness

The last evening we set out to take a group photo.

Ryan's parents had tie dyed shirts made for all the campers, and ball caps that say "Grandma (or Grandpa) loves me best".

We started by putting all the cousins on a ledge, and they all sat pretty still and looked in the general direction of the camera.

Then some one had the brilliant idea of hiking up a big hill with 14 kids to get a picturesque shot in front of the mountains.

At least the mountain is pretty

Everyone loved the first annual Cousin's Camp so much that the week after we returned a cabin was already booked for next year.

Aubrey's Birthday, Part 1

2011-07-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

Aubrey turned 2 on June 19th, she had a bumble bee themed birthday party the weekend of her actual birthday while we were in Indiana visiting Ryan's family.

I forgot my camera on the trip (seems to be the trend these days), so all the party pictures are on my father-in-law's camera, maybe by the time her next birthday comes around I'll be able to post them :)

She also had a mini party at my parents' house last week while we were in Atlanta visiting our friends, the Carters, who were home from Germany for the month.

Party People:

Kerri & Levi
Mason & Luke
Nana & Aubrey

Aubrey's mint chocolate chip ice cream cake
As you can see, Aubrey is bursting with excitement over her birthday cake

Blowing out the candle
Opening her present from Nana & Papa, a water table
The water table was a huge hit!

It wasn't long before all the splashing required
removal of the clothes
Splashing

Aubrey was having so much fun splashing, scooping & dumping the water she wanted to get in the water table

Turning Two Milestones:

A couple of months before her second birthday, Aubrey's vocabulary increased by leaps and bounds. She can say anything she wants to and makes 3-4 word sentences.

She loves to sing, some of her favorite songs are Jesus Loves Me (which she calls "Bible"), Jesus Loves the Little Children, This Little Light of Mine, and
the Calm & Cool Song (a Daddy original).

Aubrey is a huge help with her little brother,
bringing him diapers, wipes, bottles, toys,
or anything she thinks he needs.

She even feed Levi in the grocery cart
while we were at Publix last week :)

Aubrey and Luke are quickly becoming best friends,
they play together often, usually Aubrey doing
whatever Luke tells her to do.

For instance, this is what they did this morning
while I was uploading pictures & blogging:
I heard them say in passing
that they were going on a trip.
I saw them taking some books out of the den,
but had no idea of the magnitude of toy relocation
this "trip" required.
See why it's been a month since I last blogged?!?

The tantrums have also begun, it's always a very sad day when your sweet little baby hits the defiant,
I-want-my-way stage.

Making a mess, has become one of
Aubrey's favorite past times.

She can empty the diaper basket in 20 seconds flat.
And throw flashcards all over the kitchen floor in the time in takes me to change the baby's diaper.

Aubrey is very independent, wants to do everything on her own, if we try to help her with something she respond, "No! Aubrey do it!".

We love every bit of her fun, adventurous, messy, and independent personality!

Happy 2nd Birthday Aubrey Lynn!

Great is Thy Faithfulness

2011-06-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Five years ago today, Ryan and I made a covenant before the Lord to love, honor, and cherish each other no matter what this life would bring our way.

As I was watching our wedding video today,
I was reminded of a hymn we chose to have played at the beginning of our ceremony,
"Great is Thy Faithfulness".

I started thinking, that describes exactly what God has done in our marriage over these last
five years, show His Faithfulness:

When we were unsure of exactly what it meant to "leave and cleave",
He was Faithful and patient to show us
what becoming one truly means.

When we lost our tempers and
got angry with each other,
He was Faithful to calm us down,
show us humility, and how to forgive.

When we had our first child 18 months into our marriage, and I had no clue how to be a mommy, He was Faithful to encourage me and
give me confidence through Ryan.

When we left Auburn, moved to Birmingham and Ryan had to start his business from scratch, there were many times we couldn't see where the next paycheck would come from, but He was Faithful and always provided exactly what we needed when we needed it.

When we desperately desired
a biblically sound church home in our new city,
He was Faithful to not only direct us
to this church, but provide for us
some strong Christian friends to walk beside us.

When our sweet babies start turning into toddlers who threw tantrums, had attitudes, and didn't always respond to our discipline the way we had hoped, He was and still is Faithful to remind us to be consistent, keep our cool, and be patient.

When we had our third baby in just over three years, and the demands of so many little ones just seemed too much to bear,
He was and still is Faithful to
carry our burdens and give us the strength
and grace to get through each new day
He has given us.

Although we make mistakes daily in how we relate to each other, He is Faithful to forgive us, show us how to communicate with each other, and how to grow in our relationship with
Christ and each other.

God was Faithful in our courtship, engagement, and wedding day, and is still Faithful
in keeping that spark alive,
five years and three children later.

"For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife;
and they shall become one flesh."
- Genesis 2:24

Photo Card

2011-06-04T07:36:00.001-07:00

Initial Impression Teal Baby Announcements

Find hundreds of cute baby birth announcements at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

National Doughnut Day

2011-06-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Did you know that today is
National Doughnut Day?

If you recall, our family loves doughnuts,
especially from Krispy Kreme.

So, we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a
free doughnut!

We

had

A

delicious

time

celebrating!

...well, at least most of us did.

Photo Shoot

2011-05-26T15:10:00.001-07:00

We had some professional pictures taken of the kids for the first time since Aubrey was 5 months old, the quality wasn't great, but a few turned out okay.

Easter & Mother's Day

2011-05-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

In the weeks leading up to Easter, we shared with Luke
what Jesus did for all of us on Good Friday and how we
celebrate His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Now every time Luke sees a cross he says,
"that's what Jesus died on."

Although he is still very young, he is learning so much about Christ and God's word!

Highlights of our Easter Egg Hunt

Aubrey decided to go down the slide with her basket in hand and this is what happened:
Digging into the loot

On Mother's Day we had Levi's baby dedication.

Our first priority as parents is to saturate our children's lives with the love of Christ.

It is our prayer that each of our kids would come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior at a young age and that they would choose to live each day of their lives for Christ.

This dedication service is simply an outward sign of the commitment we have made to raise Levi to love,
surrender to, and totally depend on Jesus Christ.

Pastor Harry praying over Levi

We wanted the whole family to be together for the service, but Aubrey lasted all of 90 seconds, and then had to be escorted to the nursery.

Since we didn't get an Easter family photo,
we made sure to get one on Mother's Day.

April

2011-05-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

As most (hopefully all) of you know many communities, cities, and almost whole counties were completely devastated by last Wednesday's tornadoes.

If you would like to help out in some way, but don't know where to start, please see this post and this one by my friend, Rachel.

Since I don't have time to put together a "real" blog post these days, I've resorted to photo dump posts :)

Here's April in Pictures:

The kids, whom we affectionately refer to as
the 3 baboons

After telling Luke & Aubrey at least a thousand times each to leave their baby brother alone; I decided the safest place for Levi to reside would be in the pack-n-play,
as far away from poking fingers, petting hands, rubbing heads,
and shouting mouths as possible.

And Levi doesn't mind it a bit,

in fact, he seems to love it.

and he knows how to protect himself with a killer left hook if his brother or sister try to jump in the pack-n-play with him.
Aubrey has become a little momma since Levi arrived,
she loves to give her baby a bottle,
change her diaper and rock her.

Luke & Aubrey enjoying some milk,

fully clothed...

or in the buff.

Side note: This post was interrupted by a certain 3 year old who decided to get into some pink shower gel, and pour it all over our bedroom floor, box spring, and dust ruffle.

Have you ever tried to clean liquid soap up off the carpet? All it does is continually foam up.

See what happens when I try to blog?

Back to April:

Aubrey was eating a banana the other day
and had trouble peeling it, so Luke offered to help.

Don't let this moment of sweetness fool you,
there is, of course, many arguments, fights, and tantrums,
but I try not to capture those moments in pictures :)

Levi admiring his big brother
As you can tell, Levi did NOT get
Aubrey's dark hair and bushy eyebrows

Blogging is not the only thing that I don't have time to do anymore, cleaning has taken a back seat to just surviving;

so, I hired some help.
They're hard workers

Third Born Top 10

2011-03-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I did my first Top 10 post on
the top ten ways you know you're
an over the top Kentucky Wildcat fan.

As a quick side note to that post, we did, in fact,
take our 3 week old son to the SEC basketball tournament
in Atlanta the weekend before last,
and he did attend all of the Kentucky games!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, which I never do, (think I've been a bit distracted trying to survive life with three kids 3 & under), so I only have a few pictures from the tournament weekend that were taken on my phone.

Luke got his face painted for the championship game

Worn out after celebrating Kentucky's victory

When we returned home from our fun filled tournament weekend I started thinking about how unloved Levi is going to feel because not only do I not have any picture proof that he attended his first basketball tournament at 3 weeks old, but there are so many other things we've neglected to do with him that we did with Luke and/or Aubrey.

So, with that in mind I've come up with the
Top 10 Ways You Know that You are a
Third Born Child:

10. If your entire wardrobe consists of hand-me-downs from friends, cousins, and a big brother, and some of those hand-me-downs from your big brother still have remnants of poo and spit up stains, but your mommy is too busy and too frugal to replace them.

9. If while being changed in the middle of the night you get poo on your socks and a little on your pjs, but your daddy is so tired he doesn't even notice so you sleep the rest of the night in poo socks and pjs.

8. If during your first car ride ever, your big sister screams for most of the entire ride therefore forever ruining your special video of your ride home from the hospital.

7. If you were exposed to any and every germ imaginable at the tender young age of 3 weeks old, while your older siblings were kept inside the house for the first two months of their life.

6. If you've been kissed, rubbed, petted, and poked hundreds of times a day by the loving hands & lips of your very affectionate older brother and sister.

5. If your older brother, the firstborn, has 2 picture albums full of photos documenting his first month of life, while you only have about 5 pictures of your first month of life, none of which have been developed.

4. If your older sister, the second born, has
12 blog posts documenting her first month of life,
while you have only one.

3. If your parents seriously question whether or not you really are their child, because you look nothing like either one of them and nothing like
your older brother or sister.

2. If you are supposed to be the star of a blog post,
but there are several pictures in said post
that have nothing to do with you.

And the number 1 way you know that you are
a third born child:

1. If you are starving for some milk, but your mommy leaves you to scream in your crib just so she can finish a blog post about you...something she hasn't been able to do in almost a month.

Introducing...

2011-03-01T07:01:00.001-08:00

Levi Cobb Sparks

Born Wednesday, February 16th at 12:52 pm

He weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long

Luke & Aubrey meeting Levi for the first time

Aubrey wasn't too sure about her baby brother at first,

but now she is a great big sister,
and loves to help me with him.

Luke loved his baby brother
from the moment he saw him,

and he tells me several times a day that
"Weevi is so sweet" and that "he wuves me".

First picture as a family of five

Our three Munchkins

Pictures & Videos

2011-02-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures & videos that I've taken on my phone over the last couple of months.

Aubrey thinks her baby doll stroller is for her, and Luke loves to push her around in it. It's only a matter of time before she breaks it...don't think it was made to hold up a 24 pound baby doll!

Working at Daddy's office...thought this pose kinda resembled the infamous JFK Jr. picture :)

Goofing off in the car

Aubrey enjoying some spaghetti.

Dreaming of some warm weather,
and sunshine!

Ring Around the Rosie

Aubrey and the Ferocious Puppy 1

Aubrey and the Ferocious Puppy 2

In other news, we'll be welcoming baby #3
(still yet to be named) one week from today if not before!

January in Pictures

2011-01-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

January started off with Luke's 3rd birthday.

We celebrated by going to the Galleria and riding the carousel, playing on the hot dog truck & enjoying our favorite mall treat, a cinnamon sugar pretzel.

The overly cautious birthday boy passed by all the reindeer and instead chose the nice
and very safe sleigh to ride in.
The birthday boy's sister, a dare devil at heart,
was thrilled to get to ride a reindeer.
Despite the non-moving nature of the sleigh,
Luke loved every minute of the ride.
Aubrey getting excited about the cinnamon sugar pretzel.

On almost a nightly basis, Ryan and the kids
enjoy a bowl of popcorn.

As soon as the kids hear the popcorn popping in the microwave they each go to the cabinet
and get out their own bowl.

Ryan figured out pretty quickly that Aubrey
was not into sharing her popcorn.

We've had a candy jar full of Christmas M & M's
this month, and every once in a while,
I'll give one to the kids.

I picked up Aubrey one day and put an M & M in her mouth, she looked at me with the most serious face,
held out two fingers just like this:

and exclaimed, "two!".

I couldn't resist the adorable face, so I of course obliged.

So, that's what we've been up to this month...as well as cleaning, reorganizing and preparing for baby # 3.

We hope he makes his arrival in a few weeks!

White Christmas in Indiana

2011-01-10T13:42:00.001-08:00

Snapshots from our White Christmas in Indiana.

There was already snow on the ground in Madison when we arrived, so the kids (& Uncle Andy) were anxious to get out and play in it.

Being that we all live in the deep south, we were not prepared with proper snow attire, so Uncle Andy improvised and used plastic bags & duct tape to make some redneck snow boots & gloves.

Day 1 of playing in the snow

After making snowballs & snow angels, it was time to come in and make some cookies with Bigg.

Everyone got a turn at adding an ingredient

and stirring the batter

Opening presents

Kellen & his airplane ride on toy
Luke now has each & every car
from his favorite movie, Cars
Aubrey helping daddy put her horse ride on toy together
Princess Parker

Day 2 of playing in the snow:

Aubrey decided to join in on the snow fun, so daddy had to make her a redneck snowsuit.
You might not can tell from the picture,
but she really was thrilled.
Aubrey in her Walmart snow jacket & gloves as well as plastic bag snowsuit & boots

We got some fresh snow Christmas Eve,
so Daddy decided to take the kids sledding
Luke wasn't a big fan of the sledding,
but Aubrey loved it.

Uncle Andy giving Aunt Holly & Parker
a push down the hill

Family picture in the snow

Christmas night at Granny & Grandads:

All the cousins had a blast riding on
and falling off of the buckin' bronco

Grandad led everyone in some Christmas Hymns,
Aubrey joining in on the singing

Our attempts at a picture of the cousins in their Christmas outfits from Bigg & Mama

Christmas in Birmingham

2011-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

A snapshot of our Christmas celebrations in Birmingham.

Aubrey wearing my youngest sister's old Christmas dress

Christmas with my parents & sisters:

Aubrey's new bunny...she immediately realized it was an impostor & has wanted nothing to do with it since.
Aunt Anna showing Aubrey
how to use Luke's new nerf gun
Trying out their new table

We really enjoyed the hayride with the Latham's
to see some Christmas lights.
You might remember the Latham's house from last year.

Since we were going to be in Indiana for Christmas,
had our family Christmas a few days early:

Aubrey making breakfast in her new kitchen

Her favorite part of the kitchen was the telephone
Luke loading up his matchbox car holder
Luke's Thomas the Train set

Stocking time
Aubrey's shock at finding a twix bar in her stocking

Happy Birthday Luke!

2011-01-04T05:09:00.000-08:00

Luke is three years old today!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him
over the past 3 years:

Newborn

6 months

1 year old

2 years old

2 1/2

3 years old

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Aubrey's first trip to the famous hot dog truck
She loved it just as much as Luke does

Cousins, Parker & Kellen, enjoying some swing time
Aubrey's becoming more and more independent,
demanding that she be able to feed herself

Cheering on the Tigers in the SEC championship game

Apparel of Christmases Past

2010-12-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

Growing up with 3 sisters, my mom never missed
a chance to get us all dressed up in
matching and/or coordinating outfits.

Christmas, of course, was the holiday to go all out
with our matching attire.

Since I was an only child my first couple of Christmases, I had to have a prop to coordinate with.

The green phone adds so much to the picture,
don't you think?
For my sister, Anna's first Christmas, she was apparently too little to get all dressed up, so my mom chose nightgowns & caps for our Christmas photo.

Kind of 1980's Little House on the Prairie

The next year we moved from pajamas to
smocked dresses...I had the privilege of wearing
a full length smocked bib (forgive me I'm not up
on my smocking terminology).

Skip ahead a few years and there's 3 of us in our matching red and black plaid...not sure what happened to Anna's black bow tie.
You probably won't believe this, but my mom actually had a dressed that matched too, but I don't have
a copy of that picture :)

We didn't just match in our Sunday Best, we also had matching Christmas casual outfits.

By the time #4 came along I had outgrown all the matching clothes, so they stuck me in the back
to hide my semi-coordinating navy dress.

If we are ever blessed with another girl, you better believe she and Aubrey will be dressed in
matching and coordinating outfits!

I'd hate to end such a rich tradition.

First Gifts of the Season

2010-12-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday night we celebrated Christmas
with my grandparents.

Luke was so excited to see the presents
and couldn't wait to open them.

Papa tried to help Aubrey open one,

but she was much more interested in
chewing on the measuring spoon she had,

and playing with the bows that were on the present.

Luke showing Granddaddy his present

Aubrey showing Nana her new dvd
Us with Granddaddy and Meme

November Pictures

2010-12-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm way behind on blogging, so here's a catch up post from our end of November happenings.

I've forgotten my camera to just about every important event over the last month, so the few pictures I have were stolen from my sister's blog.

This year we were here in Birmingham for Thanksgiving and enjoyed some yummy Lasagna (we're Italian) as well as a "normal" Thanksgiving feast.

My sisters and I at Thanksgiving

Every year after lunch, my cousins and uncles compete
in an Old guys vs. Young guys game of touch football;
and for the first time in almost a decade
the young guys came out on top.

Luke & Aubrey sharing a sucker
during the touch football game

The day after Thanksgiving was Black Friday
shopping madness as well as the Iron Bowl.

I got up bright and early to go to the mall & a few other stores; I was able to get most of my shopping done and saved a ton with some awesome deals.

Even though it was absolutely freezing that day, we decided to bundle up the kids and take them to Tuscaloosa to tailgate for the Iron Bowl.

We got there just before kickoff, set up right next to the heater and stayed fairly warm until half time when we had to take shelter in the student center.

Enjoying some snacks with Papa at the tailgate
Aunt Kathleen got her camera out to take pictures for me, but Luke was being camera shy

Aubrey found a chair that was just her size,
and kept herself busy for quite some time,
climbing in and out of it.

No naps and all the cold got the best of Aubrey, and she had a major meltdown with about 6 minutes to go in the game, so we had to pack up and head to the car.

We made it back to the car just in time to hear
the last play of the game,
WAR EAGLE!

Christmas Picture Outtakes

2010-12-05T13:09:00.001-08:00

I knew that getting a good Christmas picture this year was going to be quite challenging.

I did manage to get a decent one, here are all the rejects.

This one would have been great
if Luke wasn't blocking my face

And my favorite outtake

Mr. Chatterbox

2010-11-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

Conversations with Luke this week:

I was sitting in the den, while Luke was in the kitchen doing something...all of the sudden I hear a big crash and followed by a thousand little crashes. (I was sure he'd gotten into his Daddy's Nerds stash and spilled them all over the floor.)

As soon as the crashes cease, he comes running into the den, jumps into the chair and grins from ear to ear.

I turn to him and say, "Luke Sparks, WHAT was that?!?"

He looks around for a second and replies, "A dream".

Trying desperately to hold back the giggles, I reply,
"that huge crash was just a dream?".

Luke simply responds, "yes".

Well, what do you say to that?

After inspecting the kitchen, I find that he'd tried to sneak a few skittles and spilled the whole container full of them on the floor.

Sunday morning Ryan was dressing Luke for church, and I hear Ryan telling Luke that he's going to be wearing a "wife beater" undershirt.

Luke then comes into our room with a big smile on his face, opens part of his button down shirt to reveal the undershirt and exclaims, "Look Mommy, I have a beef...
a beef whiter on today!"

I think I much prefer the term "beef whiter" to "wife beater", who came up with such a name anyways?

One of the local radio stations starting playing Christmas music today!

On the way to lunch, the Grinch song came on the radio and as he often does, Luke asks me,
"What's this song about?".

I told him it was a song about the Grinch
that's from the Grinch movie.

He asks, "Is he the green man?".

I tell him yes, the Grinch is the green man.

To which he responds, "he looks just like a lobster...
and a frog".

Veteran's Day

2010-11-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

We spent Veteran's Day in downtown Birmingham
visiting the new Railroad Park and
watching the Veteran's Day Parade.

Aubrey in her red, white, & blue

Cousin Parker passed down to us these
very patriotic shoes, but apparently they are a narrow
& Aubrey has double wide feet right now :)
So, I tried my best to stuff her feet in them for a few pictures, but after a few minutes she'd had enough of them squishing her feet and she took them off herself.

Luke & the big kids entertained themselves
by picking up pebbles,
tossing them in the pond,
and watching the ripples.
Aubrey loved the slide
She went down it at least 50 times.

While we waited for the parade to start,
Luke enjoyed some cotton candy

Luke loved the parade!

He saw soldiers, boy scouts, all kinds of cars, trucks, motorcycles, trains and even fire trucks.

Clapping for the soldiers
We were so glad Aunt Kathleen was able
to join us for the day!

Aubrey kept herself entertained during the parade by playing with a bottle of hand sanitizer for an hour!
Right as this train was passing us, it shot off some sort of cannon thing and scared us and the kids to death! After several minutes of crying, we assured the kids
that it was friendly fire :)
Happy Veteran's Day!

We want to thank all of our troops for the many
sacrifices they make for our country.

We are forever grateful for all they have
and will do to keep America safe.

A special thank you to our friends, the Carters;
Brent is currently trying to make his way home
from his second tour of duty in Iraq.

It takes a very brave and courageous man to be a soldier and an even braver woman to be an army wife.
Brent, Kerri, Mason & Sadie, we pray that your family is reunited very soon!

A Cowboy & A Ballerina

2010-11-01T11:41:00.001-07:00

Last night we went to our church's Trunk & Treat.

Luke was a cowboy

Aubrey was a Ballerina/Princess

Evidently, cowboys & ballerinas don't mix well,
because this is the face I got every time
I tried to get a picture of them together.

We took the kids to a few trunks to get some treats.

Our friends, the Callahans, had the best themed trunk
Mary and her donkey in the stable
awaiting baby Jesus' arrival.

After the first few trunks, Luke & Aubrey were pretty much done, all they wanted to do was eat the candy.

Aubrey chowing down on some sweet tarts
Happy Halloween!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

The conductor & the caboose.

Strollers & Tents

2010-10-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Aubrey got a babydoll stroller about a month ago,
and we just figured out how to put it together,
why must putting kid's toys together be so difficult?!

My cousin gave the kids his old tent/playhut,
and they love playing in it!

Funky Dog

2010-10-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

We live in a very wooded neighborhood and often see a variety of creatures from squirrels & chipmunks to raccoons and owls (well, we don't really see owls,
just hear them at night).

On the way home from lunch today we saw a new animal, a groundhog, in our neighbor's yard.

I stopped the car in the driveway so Luke could see the groundhog, we stared at him for a few seconds and he back at us, then we went inside.

Up until this week I've never actually seen a groundhog in person or if I have I don't remember,
but we've seen two this week alone.

Later in the afternoon we went to the store,
and as we were pulling back in the driveway,
Luke asks, "Mommy, where's the Funky Dog?".

I said, "what Luke?!?".

Again Luke says, "where's the FUNKY DOG?".

Trying to hold back the giggles, I told him that he must have gone home to be with his family.

I guess, in a way, he kinda does look like a Funky Dog

October Happenings

2010-10-13T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here's what we've been up to so far this month.

Much to mommy's delight, Aubrey has finally decided to play with some girl toys...I was afraid all she'd ever play with is cars & trucks :)

Just in the past couple of weeks she's started carrying around her hello kitty purse, and she's also found several other bags, lunch boxes, etc to use as purses.

She has become quite attached to her bunny lovey since we took her paci away several months ago, if she's ever upset, Mr. Bunny is the one thing that will comfort her.

Notice, she had to have a ball with her too...
can't be too girly

Aubrey, our climber, has figured out how to
climb into the baby swing
For some reason, she loves to just sit in there & watch everyone...little does she know, she's going to be booted out of that swing in a few short months.

Can you guess who dressed Aubrey
last Sunday for church?!?

Luke playing his Toy Story matching game

Luke has started learning to hide God's Word in his heart, this is the verse we started off with.

By far, my favorite picture of the month
Luke was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star in the car,
and when I looked back at him this is what I saw.

Random Videos

2010-09-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

This isn't a video, but it's the first time in a long time I've gotten a good picture of Luke.

Usually when I tell him to smile, he gives me
a weird fake smile & won't stop moving.

Back to the Videos...

Luke having fun "blowing" on Aubrey's belly

Aubrey has finally started walking in the last week,
she can walk all the way across the room,
but won't "perform" for the camera,
so here's a couple short videos of her walking.

Aubrey was quite amazed by Luke's new tractor toy

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

We spent Labor Day weekend in Indiana
visiting Ryan's family.

The weather was magnificent, '70's during the day and low '50's at night, it was a shock to come back to scorching temps in the south!

Although it was beautiful outside, for some reason I only took pictures when we were inside.

Aubrey playing at the gate

Kellen chillin' in his jumper
Bigg playing dominos with all the grandkids

For some reason the kids were all into blueberries that
weekend, they went through 2 boxes in 2 1/2 days
Bigg trying to teach Aubrey to share the blueberries
Even Kellen got into the blueberry eating action
Aubrey giving Bigg some lovin'
4 generations of Sparks' men
(Grandad, Ryan, Luke, & Bigg)
Granny, Granddad & all the greatgrandbabies

The weekend ended with the BEST fireworks show I have ever seen, and it was put on by none other than
Ryan's Dad, uncle, and cousins.

There were fireworks going off non-stop for a good 30+ minutes and they were all really big and colorful!

Bigg & the kids singing the national anthem
before the firework show
Aubrey & Daddy watching the fireworks

Mr. Chatterbox

2010-09-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Recent conversations with Luke:

Luke was watching me fix my hair one morning and upon completion, he looks at me and says excitedly,

"Mommy's hairs looks pretty!".

Luke was staring at Ryan's face, he then points

to Ryan's nose, and says very seriously,

"Daddy, that's yours nose, your big nose."

During dinner one night, Ryan asks Luke

if he wants some more Lima beans.

Luke thinks for a second and replies, "ummm...I'm sick".

This morning Luke was playing in the basement

for a while, after he comes upstairs,

this was our conversation:

Luke: "I want my yellow golf pub (club) up here."

Me: "Ok, just go downstairs and get it,

then bring it up here."

Luke looks all the way down the stairs, then up at me and says, "I'm berry (very) tired of this, you go get it".

Me: "I'm 'bery' tired too, if you want it, you can

go downstairs and get it".

Luke loves his little sister very much, he likes to give her a hug, kiss and say, "I wuv Aubrey, I take care of her".

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T05:33:00.000-07:00

War Eagle!

Climber

2010-09-13T08:44:00.001-07:00

Although Aubrey is still not yet walking,
she is quite capable of climbing into, onto, and
down from just about anything.

Aubrey started climbing the stairs at 11 months, and once she figured out that we didn't want her to climb up the stairs, it became her favorite thing to do, and we would often find her sitting at the top of the stairs.

So, we decided to teach her how to master getting down the stairs by herself which she is pretty good at, and has only fallen down the stairs a few times :)

She loves to climb onto anything from the couch, fireplace, into the kitchen cabinets and she even climbs down from our bed which is probably twice her height.

Aubrey's new favorite climbing apparatus
is the slide Luke got for Christmas
that we still have in our living room.

One day last week I saw her climb onto the first step and before I knew it she was sitting at the top.

So proud of her accomplishment

She can almost climb all the way up this way too

I'm afraid we have a fearless child on our hands!

The Scavenger

2010-09-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

We have a new nickname for Aubrey: the scavenger.

When she's done eating (or I make her get down from the table because she would sit and eat all day long if I let her), she will go to whoever is still eating
and beg for food from them.

Aubrey could care less who's food it is,
she just wants to eat.

Case and point:

Sunday we were having a cookout
at Ryan's parents' house; Aubrey had fruit, crackers,
corn, and chips, more than enough for a 14 month old,
so I let her down and go fix my plate.

A few minutes later, I find this
She went and found Uncle Dave who was still eating
and begged him for some more corn

And she was very pleased that he obliged
So, if you're ever around Aubrey during mealtime
and you don't want to share,
make sure you finish before she does!

Protected

2010-09-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

When Ryan and I first started talking about having kids, he was very adamant about not wanting a girl because he would have way too much to worry about.

He said that there aren't many quality Christian guys out there, and he didn't some monster trying to weasel his way into the life of any daughter of his.

When we found out that our second baby would be a girl, he was excited, but I could tell he had some fear about the unknown of her future.

From the moment Aubrey was born,
she had her Daddy wrapped around her finger,
and I know that she always will.

Ryan often talks to her about what kind of man she needs to choose for a mate one day, and what kind of "hooligans" to stay away from.

He makes sure to point out to her that she will give him a heart attack if she does not choose her guy wisely.

Nothing pleases Ryan more than to know that his
baby girl is provided for and protected.

As of this coming February, Aubrey will not only have a Daddy and big brother to watch out for her,
but a baby BROTHER to protect her also!

Yup, that's right, at my first doctor's appointment,
we learned that I am a couple of weeks further along than I thought and that we are most definitely
having another BOY!

A warning to any future suitors of Aubrey Lynn, you will have quite a crew of strong, protective, and discerning Sparks' men to go through before you ever get to her.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Watching Veggie Tales on Daddy's computer.

Sparks' Family Tree

2010-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ryan has 10 first cousins on his dad's side of the family,
and they all seemed to decide to have kids
at exactly the same time.

In the past 3 1/2 years, 11 great-grandchildren were born into the Sparks' family, which makes for some very wild and crazy family functions!

Chloe, Luke, and Hillarie, March 2008
Cousins picture, Easter 2009
Hunting Easter Eggs

Cohen & Aubrey checking each other out,
Thanksgiving 2009
Cohen got a little too close for comfort

Luke & Hillarie at Parker's birthday party,
September 2009

The Matriarch & Patriarch of the Sparks Family

During our Memorial Day weekend visit we tried to get a picture of 10 of the great-grandkids
with Granny & Grandad, this is what happened:

The best one, no one was crying or trying to escape

We can't wait for Christmas, when all 12 great-grandkids will be together for the first time!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

A group from our church took a field trip to the Blue Bell ice cream plant in Sylacauga, Alabama this morning.

We went on a short tour of the plant and saw how the ice cream was made, but the best part was the
free scoop of ice cream!

If you're ever in the area, you should stop by the
Blue Bell Creameries, it's a very fun and frugal field trip...
only $3 per adult & child over 6 years old.

Luke enjoying his Chocolate ice cream...
he insisted on licking it

Aubrey was a bit messy with her Homemade Vanilla
The ice cream parlor was a pregnant woman's paradise :)
My Mocha Madness AND Mint Chocolate Chip

My Little Princess

2010-08-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend while we were at my grandparent's house, we decided to have a little photo shoot
with Aubrey in her tutu outfit.

I still don't know how to properly work all the features on my camera, and the lighting and colors in my grandmother's living room weren't exactly professional, but some of them turned out well.

I had to include this one, because I love
chubby baby legs :)

Aubrey wasn't too sure about the tutu
She didn't like the way it felt and
wouldn't keep it on for very long

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-18T05:00:00.001-07:00

The Krispy Kreme donut addiction has been passed down to Aubrey.

She gets super excited every Sunday morning when she sees the box of hot and now donuts!

Weekend in Indiana

2010-08-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we were headed to a family resort in Missouri for a vacation with Ryan's family.

After a few short hours of traveling
our destination made a detour to Indiana.

Ryan wasn't able to join us until the last day,
and boy was he missed.

My most-of-the-time sweet, kind, obedient toddler
grew horns and turned into an uncontrollable,
"terrible" two year old.

For some reason, Luke took Ryan's absence as a free pass to through multiple tantrums a day, not respond to any sort of discipline, and regress on his potty training.

I was completely frustrated, lost my cool on many occasions, and called Ryan in tears several times
during the weekend.

Anytime that Ryan would talk to Luke on the phone,
the crying and screaming would cease and Luke
would respectfully answer all of Ryan's questions
and promise to be a wise boy and obey Mommy.

But, that didn't last for too long, an hour or so after talking to Daddy something else would set Luke off
and a tantrum was imminent.

Thankfully, Uncle Andy and Bigg were there, and they took Parker and Luke to the pool, zoo, and movies, and each time Luke was with one of them, he was pleasant, well-behaved, and went potty.

I guess during this stage of Luke's life, being away from home without Daddy is a lethal combination, and
we hope to avoid it at all costs in the near future!

Seriously, though, just those few short days without Ryan around made me so grateful that Luke and Aubrey have a Daddy who enjoys spending quality time with them, loves them immensely, and in love corrects them, in hopes that one day they will turn their lives over to Christ and develop character qualities that are Christlike.

Aside from the Luke issue,
we did have a great time with family in Indiana.

Luke, Parker, and Hillarie had fun playing in the pool

Parker hosing Luke off after and incident
that's too uncouth to discuss on this blog

Everyone loved watching Bigg, Uncle Andy, and Derek play softball

Hillarie cheering on her Daddy

Luke shouting, "Go Uncle Andy!".
Parker cheering for her Daddy.

Luke, just moments before being hauled off
the softball fields while screaming and crying
that he didn't want water to drink.

Parker and Luke showing off their new
Toy Story and Cars sunglasses

We attempted to get a good family picture while everyone was in town, this is what happened:

This is as good as it's gonna get until all the kids are at least in middle school

Bean-Free

2010-08-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon Luke was playing with dried beans, which has been a normal activity of his for almost a year now. He loves to scoop, pour, dump, and sort them.

When he finished playing with them, he told me that he stuck a bean up his nose, but I didn't really believe him.
I thought, surely not.

A couple times that night he said his nose hurt,
but I just thought it was a coincidence.

Tuesday morning rolls around, and he is extremely whiney and tells me several times that his nose hurts and that there is something in his nose.

So, we head to the pediatrician and upon a quick examination the doctor reports that there
is indeed a black object in his nose.

He was unable to get it out, so he referred us to an ENT.

Ryan takes Luke to the ENT, while I take Aubrey and Julia, the girl I babysit a few days a week, back to the house for naps.

Ryan calls me about 2 hours later asking for Luke's social security number, because he has to be admitted to the hospital for his bean removal surgery that night.

My uncle and Aunt came to stay with Aubrey,
so I could go be with Luke at the hospital.

Luke was at the hospital from 1:30 until 7:30 AND was not allowed to eat or drink anything AND was confined to his bed...remarkably he did quite well!

I got there around 4:30 and his surgery was at 6:15.

About 30 minutes later, he was bean-free, awake, and extremely angry about the whole ordeal.

He was crying when we got to him, and he pretty much cried for the next hour we were there
while the nurses tried with no avail to get
his blood pressure and heart rate.

Once, we left the hospital he was fine!

All in all, everything went as well as it could go.

Luke in his hospital bed

The bean
Bean-Free

Both doctors told us that this kind of thing happens all the time, which made me feel a little better; but, just to make sure we don't have to go through this again, we have thrown away all dried beans that were in our house, and Luke is not allowed near any kind of small object that can fit in his nose.

Little Boys

2010-08-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

This guy stuck a bean up his nose yesterday and
has to have surgery today at 5:00 to have it removed.

Why didn't anyone tell me that little boys
have a tendency to do this kind of thing?!?

Summer Fun

2010-08-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Fun things we've done to keep cool
in this scorching summer heat:

Playing in the sprinkler at Bigg & Mama's House
Luke looked like he was having so much fun,
Ryan had to join him

Aubrey watched from her nice, dry blanket;
she's not a big fan of getting wet

We went to the lake one Sunday after church
with Kathleen and Ty

They had the coolest baby pool, it was perfect for Aubrey
Luke is usually scared of the water, but he loved the lake
After some swimming, Luke and Ryan went tubing

Three of a Kind

2010-08-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

Baby number 3 will join our family in March 2011!

Flashback Friday

2010-07-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

The best & worst from October 2008

The worst - Luke after waking up from a nap

Now for the best
My favorite

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-21T08:11:00.000-07:00

Aubrey's New Tricks

Crawling through our chair barricade,
so she can climb up the stairs
Going potty

and flushing

Standing up in her Cozy Coupe

Flashback Friday

2010-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

In September of 2008 we moved from
Auburn to Birmingham.

While we enjoyed our time in Auburn, we were ready to live in a bigger city and be a bit closer to family.

Luke helping me pack

You really can get a lot done if you stick your baby
in a giant box with a few toys
Luke was a little unsure of our new place in Birmingham, and for the first day or so he just followed me around whining, but when I unpacked his toys and he had some familiar things around, he was back to his old self again.

Just a few days after we moved in,
Aunt Holly & Parker came for a visit.

Luke & Parker were at the stage where they were constantly taking what the other one had.
They both loved cheerios,
but weren't too happy about sharing them.

We also had a little celebration for Parker's first birthday, because Hurricane Ike crashed her real birthday party earlier that month.

4th of July Fun

2010-07-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

Aunt Holly, Uncle Andy, Parker and Kellen came to visit us over the fourth of July weekend.

Saturday we made the treck up to Blountsville
to visit Spring Valley Beach waterpark.

My friend, Rachel, told us about this waterpark,
and she said it was great for toddlers, but to remember
that it is in Blountsville, so there will be
some coooountry people there.

I filed her comment somewhere in the back of my mind, and didn't really think about it again, until the moment we arrived at Spring Valley Beach, and who do we put
our stuff down next to, but...
Now, if Tooter Mae is not country,
then I don't know what is

And of course, you really know you're in the country(around a bunch of rednecks) when you see this:

Anyways, back to the actual waterpark;
Parker and Luke loved it!

They walked around in the water
Watched the giant bucket dump water all over everyone
Their most favorite part was riding the big slides
As soon as Luke got off the raft,
he would shout, "Again, Again!"
Parker was a dare devil
and rode with her hands high in the air
And laughed hysterically when she got to the bottom.

The waterpark is definitely not for babies, and if we had to do it all over again, we would have probably left Aubrey & Kellen with a babysitter, so all of the adults could get in on the slide action!

But, for the most part the babies were troopers and
kept a smile on their face
Kellen has the "prettiest" blue eyes.
The smiling ceased when the snacks ran out, and I received this glare from Aubrey:

So, we packed up and started our journey back to the car

Spring Valley Beach did not disappoint, and we hope
to visit again soon!

Sunday, we went to church and then grilled out for lunch.

After naps, we decided to try a photoshoot with
all the grandbabies, here's how it went:

It started off with Aubrey pitching a fit because
her feet were touching the grass
Luke decided to take control of the situation with Aubrey and proceeded to put her in a headlock
to get her to stop whining.
Parker had just woken up from her nap
and was in no mood to smile, meanwhile,
Luke thought Kellen needed his head rubbed
With no hope of a natural smile coming from any of these kids anytime soon, the daddies started acting crazy trying to force some smiles
In the middle of all the picture taking, the toddlers decided to love on Kellen a bit

I believe this is the best one of all 4 of them,
no smiles, but at least they're all
looking in the direction of the camera

After the photshoot, we all headed back inside,

all except Miss Priss who wasn't about to get off of her towel and venture onto the sticky, prickly grass

"Hey you, come pick me up,
because I am NOT crawling on this grass!"

She sat

and sat
and sat,
but was determined not to make a move,
but to wait for some one to rescue her.
So rescue her we did.

We had a wonderful weekend
celebrating our country's independence!

Flashback Friday

2010-07-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

September 2008 was our last month in Auburn.

So Luke and I spent every chance we could
cheering on our(my) Tigers!

Aunt Anna, Luke, and I after a Auburn pep rally
Tailgating
Luke enjoyed the tailgating,
but was NOT a fan of the grass

Aunt Anna and Luke before the LSU game

Luke rolling Toomer's Corner
The first and only time in the 2+ years that I lived in Auburn, that I "helped" (aka watched)
Toomer's Corner being rolled
Although I always hoped that
Luke would be an Auburn fan...
He has several different teams to root for
WAR EAGLE
Go Cats
roll tide

Mr. Chatterbox

2010-07-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

The following are some random conversations
with Luke over the last month:

Luke: "Mommy, Aubrey's climbing"

I go into the den and see Aubrey
sitting on top of the fireplace

Me: "Aubrey, do not climb on the fireplace"

Luke: "Aubrey is Big and Strong!"

Ryan asks me if I've seen any B-U-G-S today (we've had bug issues and just had some one come spray
for the 2nd time this month).

Luke glances up at Ryan and exclaims, "Bugs!".

I thought we had at least another 2 years of spelling words before Luke was able to figure out how to spell, guess we need to come up with a new code language.

At least once a day, usually around lunch time,
Luke says, "Let's drive Mommy's car,
go Chickaway (Chick-fil-a)."

These conversations are a direct result of our
potty training over the last month:

Luke: "You go pee pee, Mommy?"

Me: "Yes"

Luke: "Wow, that's GOOD!"

During our first couple of weeks of intense potty training I set a timer to go off about ever 20 minutes,
to remind me to take Luke to the potty.

Luke became so used to the timer, that when
he heard it go off, he would shout,
"pee pee timer, time to go pee pee again!".

Tonight at dinner, Luke looks at me with a serious face and asks: "You need to poo poo Mommy?"

Enough potty talk, Luke does have a very sweet side:

While Aubrey was laying on the floor getting her diaper changed, Luke walks over to her, sits down beside her, strokes her hair and says, "Aubrey's a good baby".

After straightening and "fixing" my hair one day,
Luke looks at me and says,
"Mommy, yours hair is pwetty(pretty)!"

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

Having fun in the laundry bag.

First Birthday Bash

2010-06-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Aubrey had a strawberry-themed birthday party

There were strawberries everywhere...

From her dress

to her hair

to the food

and of course the "cake"
these are supposed to be strawberry-shaped cake pops, but they didn't quite turn out the way I hoped,
but they at least they tasted delicious!

After filling our tummies with chocolate covered strawberries, and peanut butter & strawberry jelly sandwiches, it was time to open presents.

Aubrey didn't really care about the unwrapping part,
but she did stop and read a few cards
Digging into the loot
Aubrey always sits with her feet crossed like this,
very lady like :)
Mommy was very happy that Aubrey received
some "girly" gifts...there are way too many
cars and trucks around our house

Amoung these girly gifts were:

baby dolls
purses

a bracelet

and lipstick

We had to stop for a few pictures before the birthday girl could dive into her cake
Four Generations

Cake eating attire...bloomers and a birthday hat

When Aubrey first laid eyes on the cake,
she looked pretty excited

Then she glared at the cake for a minute
She stuck a couple fingers into the icing,
but was not interested in eating it

She was giving us some very strange looks
I finally had to give her a few bites of the cake,
which made her quickly realized how yummy it was...

and she dove in

When she got tired of eating the cake,
she started playing in it
I was very pleased that Aubrey enjoyed devouring her first birthday cake; Luke was a severe disappointment with his first birthday cake,
I don't think he ever took a bite of it!

Aubrey showing us how old she is

Big birthday smile

A birthday is not complete without a birthday hug
from your big brother!

We ended the party with
our one year chair picture...in the buff
A bit of a change from a year ago

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-23T08:26:00.001-07:00

I first posted about Luke's love for anything on wheels, here.

A year later, he still loves lining up his cars & trucks
and making them crash.

In other news, Luke's been in big boy underwear since Monday and only had once accident each day,
yay for no more diapers!

Aubrey is One!

2010-06-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

Happy First Birthday Aubrey!

Your first year in pictures:

June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010
June 2010

You are such a blessing in our lives!

Flashback Friday

2010-06-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

The highlights of our August 2008 trip to Houston to visit Uncle Andy, Aunt Holly, & Parker.

During this trip, Luke and Parker really started interacting with each other.

They were both learning so much and teaching each other their new tricks.

Parker had recently mastered the art of channel flipping

Luke was amazed at her skills

"See Luke, you have to hold the remote like this, point it at the TV and push these buttons."

They helped unload the dishwasher

They learned to give a cousin smooch

Since we were in Texas, Parker let Luke borrow her cowboy hat and taught him how to ride a horse

Texas is HOT, I thought Georgia and Alabama were bad, but they don't hold a candle to the Texas heat & humidity. So, we took the kids swimming for a break from the heat.

Parker goes to classes at the Little Gym every Saturday, and Luke was thrilled to get to tag along with her.
Luke always has a blast hanging out with Parker!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Aubrey's first pedicure.

It looks like I'm twisting her leg off in the picture, but she wasn't crying, so I guess it didn't hurt

I think she was happy with our service :)

The Splash Pad and a New Haircut

2010-06-15T09:01:00.000-07:00

Last week our mom's group at church went
to the Splash Pad in Gardendale.

I love the Splash Pad and wish they had one
on our end of town!

Luke didn't so much "play" in the water as just stand around and watch everyone else having fun, and occasionally splash the water with his feet.
He didn't want to run through any of the squirting water or stand under the waterfalls, but I did catch him sticking his hand in the water
spraying from the giant watergun.

Aubrey was NOT a fan of the water, she much preferred sitting in the shade and playing with her toys.
From the look on her face,
I'd say she's not a fan of the summer heat either.
Playing on the playground

Since Luke is not able to go to the Splash Pad every day during Alabama's sweltering hot summers, we thought
it was time for a cool summer haircut.

Before:

During:

After:

No, the "racing stripes", as Daddy calls them, were not a mistake, Ryan said he had racing stripes as a kid
and wanted Luke to have them too.

I tried to remind Ryan that he grew up in the '80's when racing stripes were the latest & greatest fad, but I don't think they've been popular for at least two decades now.

Although I'd prefer Luke's hair a tad bit longer,
and I could do without the racing stripes,
I think Daddy did a great job!

4th Anniversary

2010-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today is our fourth anniversary!

This is the most recent picture of us, it was taken at my cousin's wedding a few weeks ago.

We celebrated our anniversary last night with dinner, dessert, and driving around town, it was so nice to have a night out just the two of us!

In my eyes, our wedding day was flawless, there were a few bumps in the road the week before the wedding, during all the last minute planning, but our actual wedding day was perfect!

It was everything I ever dreamed it would be,
and so much more!

We don't have digital copies of any of our wedding pictures, so these photos are picture of pictures.

At the reception
While our marriage is not by any means perfect, we strive to make the Lord number one in our lives and the center of our marriage. It is through His strength that we get through the tough times, learn from our mistakes,
and grow closer together.

Happy 4 years, can't wait to see what the 5th will bring!

10 & 11 Months

2010-06-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Since Aubrey's 1st Birthday is just around the corner,
I figured it was time to post about what she's been up to the last couple of months.

Aubrey started crawling at 9 months and has quickly learned how to get into and climb onto everything!

Sometimes, while she's crawling around and playing, she'll just stop and lay her head down, rest for
a few seconds, and then she's on the move again.

Her favorite place to explore at the moment
is the kitchen cabinets.

While we were in Indiana over Memorial Day weekend, Aubrey learned to climb the stairs.
Bottles are a thing of the past for Aubrey, she had her last one about a week and a half ago!

The first two days were a little rough, she was quite fussy and wouldn't drink much from the sippy cup,
but since then she's been great, drinking milk, juice, and water from her cups.

We were so grateful that this transition was a smooth one with Aubrey, because it was not with Luke.

Aubrey has also been sporting a new hairdo...
These were her first pigtails

Aubrey has also come up with some new faces

She's getting new teeth in every week, right now all she has up top is her two "fang" teeth :)

We've been working on teaching Aubrey to hold up her "one" finger when you ask her how old she is,
it took her a while to figure it out,
but now she holds it up all the time :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Luke and Aubrey are really starting to interact and play together, it's so cute. We hope they will always be great friends!

Random Videos

2010-06-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

These are some random videos I've taken of the kids
over the past couple of months.

I know they won't be terribly interesting to the general public, but I thought our families would enjoy seeing them.

Aubrey recently learned this new trick & was doing it in the car; Luke didn't want to be left out, so he joined in too.

One of Aubrey 1st attempts at climbing

I have been reading Luke this Mickey book since he was a year old, and I could recite the whole book to you from memory. One day Luke was sitting down with the book in his hand and all of the sudden started "reading" it, almost word for word, so apparently he has it memorized too.
Of course when I got the camera out he would only recite 2 pages and it's hard to understand them.

My Little Sumo Wrestlers
Luke was sitting in front of Aubrey and she kept pushing
him, and they both thought it was hilarious.

Playing in the sprinkler at Bigg and Mama's House

Graduation Season, Part 2

2010-05-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, my youngest sister, Jeri,
graduated from high school.

I was almost 9 years old when she was born, so while
I was living at home I felt like a second mother to her.

When she was a baby I loved helping
my mom out with whatever Jeri might need.

As she got older, I really enjoyed helping her with her schoolwork, especially math homework...I know, I'm a dork :)

When I got my driver's license I took Jeri and her friends places, I picked her up from the after school program everyday my senior year, and I even took her on a few dates with me! I don't know if she always enjoyed
being hauled all over town with me, but I loved it!

All this to say, it was really hard for me to believe that my baby sister is old enough to graduate from high school!

For such a momentous occasion, the whole family packed up and headed to Atlanta for a weekend of celebration.

Me, Anna, Kathleen, and Jeri after the graduation ceremony
Jeri and my parents

The whole family
After the ceremony, Jeri chose House of Lu, a local Chinese restaurant, for her celebration lunch...guess my family has a thing for celebrating graduations at oriental restaurants

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out
with the family and visiting friends.

Aubrey & Papa

Anna reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Luke,
it was her favorite book as a kid

Aubrey learned some new tricks while we were in Atlanta:

Biting her tongue
Pulling up

Pulling up while biting her tongue

Standing
Standing while biting her tongue...seeing a pattern here?

and riding a zebra (bouncy toy)...thankfully she was not
biting her tongue while bouncing

We are so proud of you, Jeri!

Graduation Season, Part 1

2010-05-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

May has been the month of graduations in my family.

Two weeks ago, my sister, Anna, graduated from Auburn
with a masters degree in counseling.

The kids and I headed to Auburn for the day
to celebrate with Anna.

Our first stop was lunch at Fuji, the best Japanese steakhouse ever. When Ryan and I lived in Auburn we went there so often that the waiters had our order memorized.

Anna enjoying the delicious chicken teriyaki

My first attempt at a cookie cake, my decorating skills could use some work, but the cookie was excellent!

Cousins, Mamie and John Stuart, enjoying the cookie cake
After lunch, we dropped Aubrey off at my cousin's house for a nap, while Luke and I were at Anna's graduation.

I was a little nervous about taking a 2 year old to a graduation ceremony, but he was a trooper!

We did leave right after the master's part of the program was over, don't think Luke would have made it through all 2,000 of the Auburn graduates without a meltdown.

Before we left Auburn, we stopped by my cousin's house
to let the kids run around and play.
Mamie & Aubrey

Kisses from Papa
Happy Graduation Anna!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

Aubrey tried the pool out for the first time a couple of weeks ago, when I sat her down in it she was a little uncertain,
but didn't seem to mind it too much...

until Luke started splashing her, and then she was done

Mother's Day & Diggers

2010-05-17T07:48:00.001-07:00

My Mother's Day started off pretty normal,
we went to church, and then headed
to our friend's, the Lathams, house for lunch.

After lunch, we were all sitting around watching the kids play, when Mr. Bill decided it would be fun to get his Bobcat out and take Luke for a spin in it.

Luke insisted that this piece of equipment
was most definitely a Digger and not a Bobcat.

Just like with all the giant farm equipment, Luke was a bit apprehensive at first and wouldn't get in the Digger
with anyone but his Daddy.

After some coaxing from Daddy, Luke decided it might be fun to start up the engine and go for a little ride
Reaching for the key

Going to find something to dig up

Who wouldn't love to spend their Mother's Day afternoon watching their son drive around the yard in a Digger?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T05:05:00.000-07:00

Aubrey started crawling a little over a month ago and she is everywhere!

Had to post these crawling pictures of Aubrey...

Because it reminded me of these crawling pictures of Luke

Oh, The Faces She Will Make

2010-05-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

Although Aubrey is not yet verbal (other than babbling),
she is quite capable of letting you know exactly what she is thinking from the poignant expressions on her face.

This must be the beginning of her inherent female drama, because I don't remember Luke having such intense facial expressions that are able to change with the drop of a hat.

Of course, she has the normal, cute baby faces:

Happy-go-lucky

The flirtatious glance

Excitement

Shock and Awe

Anger

Then there's the faces that I struggle to put a name with:

Inquisitive/Dumbfounded?

Concentration/Constipation?

Uncomfortable/Distaste?

And finally there's, THE FACE,
which happens to be our most favorite Aubrey face:

The Death Look

The death look is given for an array of different reasons, among them include:

wanting to be held, not receiving nourishment fast enough, being manhandled by her brother,
and just plain being dissatisfied with the
services that her daddy and I are providing.

I have struggled for weeks to capture this look on camera and finally yesterday morning, I wasn't quite fast enough at replenishing her breakfast, so I received several of these "death looks".

After about 3 of them, I ran to get my camera and purposefully delayed putting more toast on her tray
and sure enough, I got another death look
and was finally able to snap a picture of it!

Although this expression makes us laugh every time we see it, we do hope she grows out of it soon, because it's a very demeaning look, it makes you feel like crawling under the table to hide (as is the point of most death looks).

Trip to the Playground, Take 2

2010-05-08T17:15:00.000-07:00

Our last venture to the park was quite unsuccessful in the sense that neither Luke or Aubrey had any desire
to actually play on the playground.

So, I decided to try to take them again and force them
to enjoy playing like normal kids do!

We started off by introducing Aubrey to the playground "turf"
Apparently she dislikes turf just as much as real grass...
or she's upset at me for making her wear that sunhat :)

After a few seconds, the crying ceased, but she was
far from being pleased with the situation

Next we decided to give the swings another try.

Her first reaction was, are you kidding me?,
not one of these things again!

Then she relaxed and realized
that maybe the swing wasn't so bad

Finally she started to enjoy swinging!

Luke, for the most part, had a great time
at the park and really loved the big boy swings
As for Aubrey, her one smile on the swing
was the highlight of her time at the park

The car didn't amuse her
She wasn't the least bit interested in the slide; she didn't even crack a smile when I helped her slide down.

She just looked plain miserable
Again, maybe it was the hat...
but I think it's safe to say that
Aubrey is NOT a fan of the playground

Before we left, Luke was intrigued by some girls running around chasing each other (much older girls, I might had),
so he squatted down under the playground equipment
and proceeded to crawl after them

Luke Meets a Combine Harvester

2010-05-03T13:41:00.000-07:00

Weekend before last we headed up to Indiana
to visit Ryan's family.

When Bigg & Mama (Ryan's parents) got wind of
Luke's new fascination with everything tractor related
they phoned a friend of theirs to see if
Luke & Parker could go visit their farm.

So, Saturday morning we all headed to the Stephan's farm
to see some real live tractors.

Upon arrival Luke was greeted by this John Deere tractor...
I had no idea (neither did he) how big they were,
I think he was a bit overwhelmed

After some persuading we were able
to get him up into the cab of the tractor
Don't think Parker was too confident in Luke's driving skills
Next, Luke was able to see a combine harvester,
his most favorite piece of farm equipment,
for some reason he really likes to say the word
"combine har-bes-ter"

This time Parker was in the driver's seat
& Luke was the weary passenger

Luke was thrilled to get to see many other farm vehicles:

An All Terrain Vehicle, or as he calls it "Trey-hicle"

Planting & Harvesting machines...this bonafide city girl
can't remember their technical names :)

and what is a farm without a "Monster Truck",
that's what Luke referred to this farm truck as

Parker wasn't all that impressed with the big farm equipment, she'd much rather stand in the field and pick flowers
Before we left the farm, we were able to see a mommy cow with her newborn calf, he wasn't even a day old!

While we were taking in the sights of the farm,
Aubrey & Kellen were chillin' at home

Heard Around Here Lately

2010-04-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

I was in the middle of cooking dinner and I hear
the crash of at least a hundred crayons
falling to the floor in the dining room.

I walk into the dining room, look at the crayons on the floor, then up at Luke, and before I could say anything,
Luke exclaims, "Wuke(Luke) Sparks! What did I do?!".

Guess he's learning to reprimand himself,
that should make my job a whole lot easier!

I help out with Cubbies at church on Wednesday nights, so Daddy is in charge of bath and bedtime on Wednesdays.

The following is our conversation as
we were getting into bed last night:

Ryan: Did you check on the babies?

Me: I checked on Aubrey.

Ryan: Did you see what she's wearing?

Me: No, she was covered up.

Ryan: She didn't have any pajamas, so she's wearing
Luke's shirt and some tight pants.

Me: Tight pants? What do you mean tight pants?

Ryan: You know, the things she wears
under her dresses for church.

Me: Tights?!? You put her in tights to sleep in? Do you know how uncomfortable those things can be?
Would you want to wear tights to bed?

Ryan: Well, I couldn't find any pajamas for her.
I'll go take them off.

Ryan then proceeds to take off her tights and replace them with socks, all the while Aubrey is sound asleep.

Ryan claims he has the "magic touch" with Aubrey and I totally agree; if I went in there and even touched her, she would immediately wake up and start screaming.

While I wasn't able to get a picture of Aubrey last night
in Luke's undershirt & her tights,
this is what she looked like this morning.
Daddy likes to put an extra spike on the mohawk after bath time.

This morning Luke was playing with his cars, and he looks up at me and says, "cars need a spanking".

"Cars need go to Waundry (laundry) Room and get spanking" (that's our spanking room).

I asked him why they needed a spanking and he replied, "cars disobey mommy and daddy, dey(they) need spanking".

Well, at least I know that he understands
why spankings are given.

Just a Normal Thursday

2010-04-22T11:21:00.001-07:00

Guess what we did this morning?

I took three kids under the age of 2 1/2 to Target, by myself, and there were no major catastrophes...
actually it was quite pleasant!

In other news, I thought the kids were feeling better, but Aubrey woke up in the middle of the night with a fever.

After a thorough check up from Dr. Luke

He reported that she was indeed sick again,
and prescribed some motrin, tylenol and
lots of rest and snuggle time with Mommy.

While we were up in the middle of the night getting Aubrey some medicine, Ryan decides to go check on Luke and what does he find, but a toddler who is clothed only
from the waist up and is sleeping in a wet, circle of pee.

This is the third time in 2 weeks that Luke has decided to take his pants & diaper off while in bed...guess we need
to get some duct tape or start potty training.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Luke & Aubrey both have had a terrible cold/eye infection and have been pretty sick for several days.

One day one of the cold, I had to take them out to get some milk, and Aubrey was evidently too sick or tired to hold her bottle, so Luke took the big brother initiative and helped her out with it.

When I saw this, my heart just melted.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Random pictures of the kids eating

Aubrey loves everything from Asparagus

to Ice Cream

to Cheerios...think she missed her mouth this time

Luke fell asleep in mid-snack