Go ahead, judge me. I don't care.

In preparing to have our house painted, my mom came over the help me pack up stuff and get the house ready. One of those jobs included moving the refrigerator and stove to clean behind them. OH. MY. GAWD!

In case you ever wanted to know what 10 years of dirt looks like, here you go...










I was mortified and disgusted. But that's OK, because I know most of you don't clean behind your fridges either (and Mom, you don't count)! :)

Here is the after picture. Ta da...










By the way, my mom was horrified that I took these pictures and planned to post them on the internet for all the world to see. I guess I can kiss my hopes of being the next Martha Stewart goodbye! Darn.

We found our Dream Home!

Here is the listing:

Lovely, 4 bedroom, 1 bath, 3-story home with 3000+ square inches of richly appointed living space located in the heart of White Blossom. Fully furnished, some antiques, including "microwave" television. New hardwood floors and crown molding throughout. New windows, wallpaper and paint. Luxurious bath and newly remodeled kitchen with top of the line appliances. New roof and siding along with beautiful landscaping add elegant curb appeal to this 1978 charmer.

My Prima Ballerina

Today was Sadie's ballet recital. She was beautiful and did a great job! Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Just another morning...

Violet has her big brother wrapped around her little finger! This morning, she begged Jonah to "suggle" with her. He is getting ready to leave for a 3 day field trip and she is going to miss him terribly. She wanted to snuggle with him in his bunk bed but he was trying to eat breakfast and get ready. He told her he couldn't snuggle right now. She dropped her head down and gave him the saddest look and said, "Ohhhhh, don't eat bweafass." :( Of course, Jonah dropped everything and snuggled with that baby!

Happy Mobber's Day

Mother's Day was great! I got to sleep in. I had coffee and donuts in bed. I received handmade cards from my babies and some new running shoes from my hubby, not to mention lots of hugs and kisses too! If Violet wished me "Happy Mobber's Day" once, she said it 100 times. I have even gotten a few today (two days later)! I am one lucky mama.

We celebrated with my Mom later in the day. My brother even came over and made us dinner!

I feel very blessed to have such a strong and wonderful mother who has been such a great role model for me and would do anything for our family; to have three such beautiful and healthy children who make my life crazy and complete; and a supportive and loving husband on this challenging but amazing journey with me! I am also grateful for all the mamas who have allowed me the privilege of witnessing them become moms for the first time (or second, or third, or seventh, or eighth)!

I had a Happy Mother's Day and I hope you did too!

Here are a few pictures taken at my parents' house:

Growing Pains

Last weekend, big changes took place in the Aldridge household! Jonah moved out of a shared room with Sadie and into his own room, Violet moved in with Sadie AND into a big girl bed! Needless to say, all three children are very excited!

Violet has done very well in her "bid durl flowah bed" (translation: big girl flower bed). She has only come into our room in the middle of the night once in the last week and a half. Sadie loves having a girly-girl room again (see pictures below) although, the first night, I went in to check on her and she was still awake. I asked her why she wasn't asleep yet. Her response: "I guess I'm a little home sick, I mean bed sick." :) And Jonah is thrilled to have his own space again.

A big thanks to Nana and Aunt Nana for all their hard work helping with the decorating and shopping! They were here every night for 5 nights helping get everything settled, including hanging curtains and pictures, putting beds together, ironing bed skirts and curtains, organizing, arranging and rearranging furniture and buying mattresses (and delivering them too).