Baby Girl's Birthday!

My sweet baby girl turned one today! And she took her first steps tonight. I will post pictures of her party soon. Until then I leave you with the face of my 1 year old precious girl...

4 years & counting...

Four years ago today...I married the man of my dreams!




Soooooooooo glad we didn't have the ice storm we're having today!

Vacation Vacation!

We're back! Yep last week Kreg and I flew the coup and went to West Palm Beach, Florida for the week. WITH NO KIDS! Yes you read that correctly. We left the little ones with the grandparents and took some time for ourselves. And oh my my my was it wonderful! I feel like a new woman, ready to take on motherhood full force again.

Of course the week that we go to Florida they hit record LOWS! Yikes! Monday morning we woke up to 33 degrees. That's not supposed to happen in Florida weather. But hey that's ok because I got to do whatever I wanted for a whole week. The weather wasn't going to get me down any. And by the end of the week we were enjoying weather in the mid 70s so all turned out ok in the weather department. So what did I choose to do during my week of relaxation? I'm going to tell you...

-We slept in and set NO alarms....and no little people awakened me. I slept with no monitor next to my head!
-We drank lots of coffee in the morning and had hours of devotional time (with no interruptions)
-We went jogging and I tested out my new Garmin GPS watch. I loved it! It told us our distance, pace, heartbeat, and other fun tidbits I so enjoyed having at my disposal while running.
-We played tennis. I was a bit rusty to begin with.
-We went shopping (pushing no stroller)! Although the only thing I bought all week was a West Palm Christmas tree ornament.
-We picked up shells on the beach and layed out with a cabana blocking the wind for us.
-I read an entire fiction book!
-I cooked meals (just a few) with no little people clinging to my legs.
-On that note, we ate out! And I had no one to feed but myself. Wow I had totally forgotten what that was like.
-And I watched lots of HGTV. And I loved it! We don't have cable and I'm glad we don't because if we did I would have the TV on way too much. So when we go on vacation it can be a fun treat. And I never realized how fun HGTV was! I'm totally ready now to make over our whole house! I'm thinking I'll start small...maybe with the light fixtures :)

After an extremely long harvest this vacation was very refreshing. And getting to spend some exclusive time with my husband was a blessing. We spend so much time and energy on the kids when we are in our weekly routine that we often forget we need to spend time just the two of us. A couple months ago someone said to us "A healthy family is not a family that spends all their time together, but a family in which the mom and dad have consistent time together." I think that is so true. We love our kiddos soooo much and we feel so blessed God has entrusted them in our care but my first priority is to my husband. And it is so easy to forget that, especially when the kiddos are as small as they are.

So we didn't take too many pics but we took a few...
The beach...our resort was right on the beach.


In the background you can see our resort. You can also see the cabana's that made 70 degrees feel like 80 degrees.



We had an absolutely fantastic week. And it was the perfect amount of time because I was ready to be home yesterday...ready to hold my babies again. A BIG thank you to Mamaw and Papa, and Gran and Poppie for keeping the kids for us!!!

Happy Happy Happy Birthday Aiden!

Today is officially the Aiden man's birthday. It feels like it has been his birthday for a while now but I think thats because he's been asking if it was his birthday since about October. And because his birthday falls close to Christmas I try to separate the two events and make his birthday a really big deal. I'm not sure he even realizes today is actually his birthday. He had so much fun Saturday at his party that I don't think he cares. His birthday wish was to play in the 7 inches of snow we got today and when Kreg came home for lunch that wish came true. He even got to play in the backyard "all by himself."

Happy 3rd Birthday Aiden!

Aiden's 3rd Birthday Party!

The Cake:

Yes I made the cake! Well me and my friend Natosha (I must admit, I couldn't have done it without her). I was so so happy with how it turned out!

The Decorations:


The Birthday Boy:


The PARTY!:

A birthday lunch of chili, veggies, dip, and chips. A great lunch when its only 10 degrees outside on your birthday. Even Makayla got in on the chili lunch.



Aiden has been asking to blow out his birthday candles since I think October. The time finally arrived!

The Presents: (All kinds of cool things!)

What in the world could be in the big one!!!


A basketball goal!!! (Aiden's gift from mommy and daddy)


However I think the box the goal came in was a bigger hit at the time.


And when it was all said and done: A tired daddy and uncle Mark.

Aren't they cute! :)

And just for kicks:
Aiden loved his Thomas balloon sooooo much daddy had to guard it while Aiden play with some of his new toys (while daddy continued his nap).


I think the day was a success. Aiden wanted a cake, some friends, and some presents and he got all three.
One birthday party down and one to go!