Good friends are the BEST!

A good friend helped me out a lot today as I am still learning this whole blog thing...and thanks to her, I am able to show some of the fun we had this week with a lot more ease...thanks Corey :)   And on top of all of her help, she even brought over ice cream...not just a good friend, a great friend!

Spring Has Arrived!

Finally great park weather!

'I can cause lots of trouble from this backseat now!'

~These are her favorite by far~

Smile!

~The "Grandma" Easter Bunny arrived a little early~

My hair is finally growing and I'm finally on the move!

~Cannon and Bug bouncing around on a rainy day~

This is awesome!!!

~A true sign of a good time~

Have a great weekend!

Not Sure Why...

First let me preface this post with the idea that this is all for some laughs~

For as long as I can remember, there has always been a word that I have had a really hard time hearing people use. It's not a bad word, it's not rude, there is just something weird about the word that makes it like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

The word is moist.

Well today, a new word was added to the list. While we were out and about, a very nice woman started talking to my girls. She referred to Bug as being Sunshine's big
"SISSY"...

I almost threw up a little.

I know these are common words that people use a lot and I really have no idea why I feel this way when I hear them. And the funny thing is, after thinking about this newly added word today, I don't mind it when it's used in reference to being a wimp like "you're a sissy"...it's only when it's the psuedo sister name. Strange, right? Well, now those of you who see me often have some ammunition to use against me if you ever want to torture me! But I want to hear if anybody else has any words they can't stand to hear people say, so please share!

Forever Fortunate

As spring has sprung and the winter clothes are being packed away, the tiny baby clothes are slowly making their return back to their bins. It seems like just yesterday I was anxiously taking them out to prepare for Sunshine's arrival. And now I can't help but think that this may be the last time one of our children will wear all of these teeny, tiny onesies.

It is unbelievable that little Sunshine is quickly approaching the big first birthday. Unbelievable. It is also unbelievable that my husband (who I still have yet to come up with a 'blog name' yet...suggestions welcome!) and I are as truly blessed as we are in our lives. In recent weeks, I have heard more and more scary, heartbreaking, and/or tragic stories of people we are very close to and those we have never met. I have been saying prayers, sending well wishes, and shedding tears on a daily basis. And as my heart continually goes out to others, I can't help but think about my family and how extremely lucky we are. Starting with the unconditional, and a new term that I just came across "Any Way" love that we have for eachother...(the term 'Any Way' -said as 2 separate words-means that no matter what happens , good, bad, happy, sad, etc...we love eachother to the end Any Way). I couldn't have a better partner in my life to share all the wonderful, joyous, difficult, and unforgetable experiences with. We have been so fortunate in our journeys from city to city and state to state, not only with our jobs, but with housing, friends, etc. We have two of the most loving and supportive families that really model true love and great morals. Neither of us could have had more memorable childhoods than what we were given. Now we are beginning those memories for our own children.

When it comes to our girls, our examples of good fortune are endless. To begin with, we had zero difficulty getting pregnant both times (my husband enjoys taking all the credit for this one of course! haha). It happened perfectly and at just the right times, which I am just now experiencing through many others how this is not very typical and can be such a difficult, trying, and emotional situation. Both pregnancies were absolutely wonderful and could not have gone any smoother. Labor and delivery-both happened the exact same way and with the exact same result-perfect, healthy, beautiful baby girls. Post-baby, pretty normal (with a few hormonal adjustments in there as with most!) and back to pre-baby weight within 8 weeks...pretty happy with that. And now, 2 years later, we have two awesome little girls that play together, laugh together, and love eachother just how we had always imagined.

Now comes the question that so many have asked and the one that I ask myself each day as well..."Are we done or do we want another baby?"...

And then I look at what we have been given, and no matter what the future holds, on this day the four of us could not be more fortunate and I thank God everyday for granting us with the family and the love that all of us dream of.

Bucket List

A good friend just ran her first half-marathon this past weekend and another friend is preparing to do one in coming weeks, which I am so proud of and excited for them both. I have always WANTED to do some type of marathon or triathlon, or something of the sort. Which got me thinking of the many things that I do want to do throughout my life:

• Skydive with my husband (we were scheduled to do this a few years ago, but a few weeks before, we found out we were prego, hence its still on the list...)
• Backpack across Europe (no hotel reservations, no pre-made plans...)
• Vacation in the Caribbean
• Be an audience member on a TV show-DONE! Regis & Kelly-May'10
• Ride a horse
• Run a half-marathon
• Watch the Sound of Music (unbelievable, I know!)-DONE! 2012

This post will be left open to add to, as I know I have left many out!

Now THAT's A Great Day

After a fantastic day filled with lots of fun with friends, I thought I had had a pretty awesome day. And then, just as I put Bug down to sleep for the night, she reached up, gave me the biggest, tightest hug that I think she has ever given me, and in her tiny toddler voice said,

"Mama, I'm falling in love with you!"

A great end to a really great day.

Another Mom's Treasure

I've never been one to buy used things...from cars, to clothes, to toys...I have never bought anything at a yard sale or a garage sale...I don't know why, it's not like I have money flowing freely or anything like that (I am a coupon-clipping, clearance shopping girl!), but that's just the way it's been.

That is,

until TODAY.

My whole world changed today and I am kicking myself for everything that I have been missing out on all these years! An awesome friend introduced me to this fun, twice-a-year event called

"Little Treasures"

Now, I'm not sure if this is something that is local or if you can find these in other cities as well, but I can't believe I haven't experienced this before today!

A quick description: people sell never or gently used clothes, toys, and pretty much anything child-related that you could get at Babies-R-Us, Toys-R-Us, or anywhere you buy kids stuff only at ridiculously slashed prices.

I went there today thinking I would buy one or two things,

hoping to spend no more than $30.

Well, I came home with....a huge ball pit (including 50 balls), a Disney Princess computer cash register, a Sit-N-Spin (the best, right!), Mr. Potato Head, a dollhouse (people and furniture included), a Dora Memory game, and a huge container of big-block Legos...

all for...

twenty-four dollars

yes, 2 -4.

I was in shock and like a little kid on Christmas morning! Now the hardest part is going to be waiting to play with them because we are going to save them for 'presents from the Easter Bunny' (in hopes of not giving so much candy!) Although I may give in with one toy because I am so excited to play with their used-to-some/NEW to US toys!

So, today I come away as a new believer in the saying:

~One Mom's Junk Is Another Mom's Treasure~

(and now, I may have second thoughts as I pass by the millions of yard sales this summer!)

A Weekend of Many Firsts (or firsts after quite awhile!)

Weekends around here are usually pretty low-key, but this was one that will go down in the record books. Not that anything super-crazy went down, but lots of memories were made and I am sitting here tonight a very happy wife and mom. First, let's start with the fact that I have not cooked a meal since Thursday night...Friday we checked out a local church fish fry (Bug and Sunshine's first!), Saturday was a delicious dinner at a friend's house, and then tonight was take-out...now don't get me wrong, it's not like I slave over a hot stove every weekend, but we usually cook at least one meal together, so this goes down as a treat!

Bug's ready for the Fish Fry!

Our next big first involved Bug, a backpack, and tears. Her favorite character is Curious George, and she recently saw him wearing a backpack and of course, wanted her very own. Luckily, we had one stashed away in the basement...however, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into. Although it was all in fun and she is still quite sometime away from actually going to school, as soon as she strapped it on her back, my eyes were filled with tears! So we grabbed a quick picture and off came the bag! Lesson learned: we will have to play dress-up with the bag regularly so that I can toughen up before this whole school thing happens!

Next...something that hasn't happened in over 3 years (but yet something that used to happen every weekend for years upon years)...I managed to get over 12 hours of sleep not just one night, but TWO nights in a row. This is huge. Prior to babies, we used to sleep in until at least 1-2pm each weekend, sad, but true...so you can imagine the shock when Bug came along. But by crashing out by 8:30 each night this weekend, I re-lived a tiny part of my 'pre-parent' weekends!

This next first was a total surprise and thankfully it all happened without anyone getting hurt. As I was cleaning up the kitchen tonight, I look over at the girls sitting at the table and I see Bug's spoon going straight for Sunshine's mouth. All on her own, she decided that it was time for her little sister to have some yogurt and she was going to feed it to her. So again, I grab the camera to catch this first 'sister feeding', she goes for it, and it was a huge success. Sunshine loved it and they sat there and laughed at eachother the whole time.


And last, but MOST importantly, the biggest first of all is we are finally able to say that we have a baby that crawls!!! This was something I never thought I was going to experience, as Bug never rolled or crawled, and Sunshine has shown no interest of crawling up until today! She was lying down on the floor and for once, we didn't put any toys around her (second lesson learned this wknd). We were all kind of doing our own thing and the next thing we know she is the whole way across the floor playing with her toys! We were shocked and we looked at eachother and asked 'HOW did she do that?!?' and then proceeded to watch her crawl/scoot herself around all over the place. It was awesome and the highlight of our weekend of firsts!

Yay for Sunshine!

Here It Goes...

Well, due to peer pressure (yes, as you will learn, I am a sucker)...I am giving it a shot and entering the world of blogging. Although I've been a 'blogger' in my own little world, it's been the old-school type, using actual paper and pencil...crazy, I know. So we'll see how this goes...I can't promise anything other than hopefully some entertainment and good laughs as you read about the daily experiences our family goes through! Here's to a successful first post!