Reason to Rejoice

Even though Brice no longer works for Ernst & Young we are still getting perks from them! He came to me a couple of weeks ago and told me that some of the people that he has been working with on his audit at work invited us to go to Disney on Ice. Not only for FREE but in their suite at American Airlines Center. It was so much fun! We took both of the girls. Rachel had a blast!!! It was RIDICULOUSLY cold...I mean like stupid cold in there but it was still a lot of fun. This was the view from our suite without the zoom! Rachel met a new friend. This is Brice's boss' little girl. Rachel had the best time with her! Lauren was pretty much clueless but she still clapped and smiled! Yes, I was as tired as I look in this picture! By the way, Lauren was already in the stroller...it was WAY past her bedtime! This picture pretty much sums up our night!! She was so much fun to watch! She just loved it and it thrilled my heart!

Just a beautiful evening at home! This was last Tuesday. We got home from work/school and went out in the backyard. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was going down but before it got too chilly the girls got to swing a little. It was great. I caught some pictures....as promised. I hope that the weather stays pretty like this. Aren't they just the cutest??!!! She is standing more everyday but still not a "walker!" Such is really growing up! She loved the swing!!! I LOVED this picture!! It was just a great day for us as a family and I hope we have many more spring days like that one!!!  =)

(Piggy-backing on my previous post).... "I'm a big kid now!" I have absolutely NO time to post about this, but I HAVE TO!!! Night #1 with panties instead of Pull-Up... HUGE SUCCESS!!!! Absolutely dry!!!! I told Rachel that if she went 5 days in a row with a dry Pull-Up that she could try panties one night and see what happens since she has been doing so well and we did last night. She is just getting so big!!!! :`) I have pictures to post from our beautiful spring day and from Disney on Ice but it will have to wait until tonight because I have to get going.....

Rachel tells me this several times a day. She NEVER lets me forget. Her latest thing is putting herself to bed. She has decided that she can put her pullup on, get in bed and does not want me to come to her room. She tells me not to come to her room because I might scare her. It's really funny! She also wants to give herself a bath...from head to toe...wash and rinse her own hair, wash herself, everything....she wants to give herself a bath. She is growing up right before my eyes. So big. The next part of my post is about me. And about how "not so big" I have become! =) I started the biggest loser challenge with the NICU staff about 10 weeks ago and when I weighed in, I weighed (did you really think I was going to tell you), let's just say it was a lot...more than I should! Not nearly as much as I have in the past but it was far from where I wanted to be...about 10 lbs away from pre-pregnancy weight. Anyway, 10 weeks later, I weighed in on Thursday and my...

I never take pictures anymore! That's the truth! I took pictures at Lauren's birthday party but even then, I didn't take many. I just don't get the camera out much. I guess it's because when I am home I just want to spend the time taking everything in and not worrying about taking pictures. I know that sounds dumb...I should be wanting to capture those moments on the camera...maybe I should do a better job. So....no pictures to share....except this one from the park the other day I took with my phone...

I am still in the recontructing stage of this blog. I got a netbook this past week so I can blog from more places so I have a little more flexibility and time to blog but I am not happy with the way it looks and will be doing more to make it look like I want it. I think I am happy with the background and in the coming days I will hopefully be changing the font, header, and sidebar, signature, pictures, etc....I am also hoping to blog more and bump up my traffic. I would love to be one of those people that have a ton of readers but just my 2 or 3 is fine too...somedays I feel like no one reads....o'well!!! Happy reading!

So, I have received ridicule in the past from "friends" and some family members about the fact that I go "all out" for my kids' first birthdays. Something to the tune of...."they won't ever remember this" and "they don't know what's going on" and "they don't know who is there" and "who is this really about anyway?" Well, the simple truth is this...it is about them! There would not be a party if it weren't for them! I love my kids and I can completely agree with the fact that you do not have to throw a huge shindig of a party to let your kids know that they are loved but I enjoy celebrations and what better excuse to get together with a few friends and family than to celebrate the first year of your child's life??!!! Do they understand it? NO! But I will tell you that Rachel loves to look back at the pictures from her birthday party and talk about how she ate the cake and it was all over her fa...

He was born this day 37 years ago. I got to call him my husband about 5 1/2 years ago. How did I get to be so blessed? Happy birthday to My Bricey!!! This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us even though it is kinda goofy! I could not find a recent picture of him by himself and this one of the two of us is not very recent...probably about 2 1/2 years old. He is a wonderful husband and a great father. He loves God first and me and the girls next and he truly is an incredible man. He is my very best friend and I will go to him anyday about anything before anyone else. No, we don't always agree on everything but he will always be in my corner when I need him to be. When I see him with our girls it melts my heart. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. I love you, Bricey!

Yes! Lauren did turn a year old!! I just took forever to blog about it! SORRY!!! Here are some pictures from her birthday photo shoot! I will also tell you about this past Monday when we actually celebrated her birthday. It was a mess!!! She had her 1 year checkup this past Monday so Brice and I took off and we all 4 spent the day together. We had a good time! We took Lauren to the doctor first and then headed to a local outlet mall for shopping and a late lunch at Rainforest Cafe. The girls are ready for spring and I now have enough clothes to wear now that fit!!!! (I will post about this in another post...I feel it is worthy of it's own!) Lauren weighed 24 lbs, 12 oz and was 30 1/2 inches long!!! The doctor said she is proportionate!!! =) She is 90th percentile for both height and length and 75th for head circumference. My kids (both of them) have always been 75th percentile for head since birth...never changed. Strange. Anyway, she is healthy but not too big...I...

Dear Sweet Baby Girl, Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! I loved you from the very thought of having another baby. I knew the joys of being a mother but I was not prepared for how full my heart could be when I became the mother of two beautiful little girls!!! When I saw your heartbeat for the first time, I was in love. I enjoyed my pregnancy and I knew that you were a girl from the beginning! I just knew. I grew fast! I started showing quicker with you than your sister and I was proud of that baby belly...of YOU! When I found out that I was going to have to stay in the hospital when I was 34 weeks pregnant I would talk to you everyday. I talked to you and we had private conversations about what life would be like, do you remember? ;) You always moved and kicked like you were listening! Maybe that was just because in your 9+ lb body, you were ready to come out of there!!! I didn't want to share you. I am just being honest. I wanted you all to myself. I knew I would miss you a...

This was me.... How incredibly miserable do I look??? WELL, that's okay, BECAUSE I WAS!!!!! That was the last picture that I took of myself (or that was taken of me) prior to the day that Lauren was born. I was ready. She was ready. I was 37 weeks, 2 days pregnant and she was over 9 lbs!!! What a difference a year makes!! =)

I have done some remodeling to the blog look and I am not exactly thrilled with the look so you may see some more changes! I am trying to get some cool fonts on here but it looks like it might be a long process. This type of stuff is stress relieving for me except for the fact that I don't have a lot of time to do it and when it doesn't work right, that's stressful and kinda defeats the purpose....so....not so much! Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!

has happened since my last post but I really don't have a lot of time right now to blog about it nor do I really remember it all... Work is sucking the life out of me. I do know that. Here is another of Lauren's 1st birthday pictures....let's end on a positive note! She took her first step yesterday too!!! =) More to come this weekend when I can breathe and not feel guilty about it!