Happy Birthday, my love

Happy 30th birthday, to my lover, my husband, my rock,my best friend, baby daddy and my better half. 



I can hardly believe we have been together for HALF of our lives.  I can’t wait to see what this next decade and the rest of our lives have in store!



I can not imagine having anyone else by my side in this life.  There is no one else I would rather grow old with.  I could not ask for a more patient, loving husband (especially to put up with my kind of crazy, HA!).  I have been blessed, no doubt.



I love you more than words can describe.  I hope you know how much you mean to me.  I would be absolutely lost without you.



Thank you for giving me the best 15 years of my life and two amazing, beautiful children.



I love you so much.

Happy birthday, my sweet husband.

SURPRISE!!!!

Today I surprised my lovely husband and best friend with a surprise 30th birthday party bash!!  It’s been on my mind the past few months and officially “in the works” for the past month.  It came with lots of hiding on Facebook and lots of questioning from the hubs, especially when I got so mad that he was on my FB (He doesn’t have a FB).  Although it wasn’t extravagant, it still went off without a hitch and made him feel super special, which was the point!!

Thirty is big.  It means we have officially spent HALF of our lives together.  He is entering a whole new decade of life.  Last year on his birthday, we spent cooped up inside, with a 10 day old newborn.  So this year?  I wanted to make it BIG, for him!

Previously he has said that he wanted to go to dinner at one of our favorite steak restaurants, Long Horn and then go to a movie.  So I arranged for my mom to keep the girls and I kept the original place to eat.  I invited some of closest family and friends and then planned for us to go “glow bowling” after dinner.

I couldn’t fit everyone in the picture, but this is the best I could do!  We were taking up the whole middle table and the booths on both sides!!


The cake my mom had made!


Daddy and two of his girls!  I was wayy to stressed to remember to get a picture of everyone!!  HA


Some of the girls, at the bowling alley…



Me and my man!


We had such a blast and are so thankful for all of our friends and family that helped make his day so special.  We love all of you SOOO much.  You all are the BEST!

Finley is 12 months old!!

Well, as of like 5 days ago, but still.  I wanted to get all of her stats before this blog!!

We had her well baby visit today and little squishy mama is PERFECT!!  Duh.



Weight: 17lbs-14oz  10%
Height: 27.25 inches  10%
Head: 75%

We all knew my lady was petite, but she is perfectly healthy, active and thriving!  Dr. Kim says she will probably always be on the tiny side, and that is totally ok!! 



She did so great at her appointment!  She didn’t cry when they pricked her finger, just when they wouldn’t give it back because they were collecting blood!  HA!  She was socializing with Dr. Kim, let him listen to her and look at her.  The worst part was, of course, the shots.  I hate it because not only does it hurt, but worse, they have no idea what is coming and they are shocked by the surprise.  Breaks my heart.


“Mom, look, I know you love to talk with Dr.Kim and all, and he is super sweet, but enough is enough, lets bust out of this joint before they poke me with something else!”

Sleep:  Finley girl sleeps ALL.NIGHT.LONG.  Praise Jesus.  She goes to bed around 730-800 and wakes up around 730-800, with no wake up calls in between!!  She takes her morning cat nap, and then an early evening nap (about 1-2 hours).
Eat:  What doesn’t she eat?  This girl eats everything we do and so far, hasn’t turned down much!!  I’m so impressed by her eating habits, that I am sure my IG and FB friends are sick of seeing my child eating (in pictures) all of the time! HA!  We quit nursing altogether about 1 week after her 11 month birthday.  We were down to just at night and sometimes sporadically anyway.  She weaned herself and didn’t want anything to do with it anymore.  Not going to lie, I was heartbroken.  I still am, actually.  But this coming-into-her-own-independent little lady of mine was done.  So we did full time formula for a couple weeks and then started the organic whole milk.  She transitioned beautifully.  We are also now weaning the bottle, and like her sister, she is having no issues at all.  I give her a bottle in the morning and at night and she gets mostly all Sippy cups during the day.  I quit giving them to Mia, cold turkey, at 13 months, and that is likely what I will do with her, especially since she couldn’t care less if her milk is in a bottle or cup!!
Says: Mama, dada, dah (dog), bye (but mostly just waves!).  Lots of other sounds and noises that can’t be deciphered!  HAHA
Does:  Girlfriend cruises around the furniture like a champ!  But she WILL NOT let go!!  Mom said she saw her take two steps a couple of weeks ago, but I’m sure she was lying because I have yet to see it ;)  She can stand on her own, but as soon as she realizes she’s not holding on to anything, she flops down on her butt. Her crawl is blazing fast and she can get herself around anywhere in this house.  Especially to get to her sisters room :)  We are still kind of working on drinking from a straw.  Honestly, I haven’t tried very much.  Poor Mia, I was a slave driver with her!  I guess that’s the thing with being the first born. HA!  She can sign “more” and “all done.”  Ms. Squishy loves to dance when Mickey, Sofia or Doc McStuffins comes on!
Here are some 12 month pictures…










And you can see how cooperative she was for this shoot…





And these weren’t happening either.  Oh, this girl…


A look back over this past year…




Seriously, whhyyyyyy does time go so fast??

Excuse me while I go cry in the corner…

Baby brother turns 17

How the crap is my baby brother 17??  I feel like I should still be 17!
Time?  You are just rude.

Anyway, my handsome, smart, loving, kind, oh-so-loyal baby brother had his birthday today.  We all went out to eat at a local fave, spent some time shopping at the mall (one of his favorite past times!  Mine too.) and then came back to the house for game night! 

Me and my crazy girls at the mall.  Ben went the other direction with his friends ;)

I used to be cool enough for him to hang out with.  I don’t know if it’s the age, the husband or the two cling-ons that are always with me, but I’m not exactly a “teenager magnet.”  HAHA
Juuuust teasing, Ben loves to hang out with his big sis and isn’t ashamed at all. He is a super great kid and we have a terrific, almost abnormal, relationship between a brother/sister with such a huge age difference. He is so good with the girls, helps me out tremendously, is such a great listener and always, always has my back.  I’m so thankful I have a brother like him!!

I love you so much Ben and hope you had a great birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Finley Claire!!

My baby girl is ONE YEAR OLD today!  How in the world did that happen??

 

I’ve always said that “time flies, especially once you have kids” but seriously?  With one child it went by fast, but this past year was like super sonic speed.  What’s that quote? Something like “days are long, but the years are short.”  Such a true statement.

 

Miss Finley, you are an absolute light.  You are such a happy little girl.  You are such a social butterfly and you love to wave at everyone!  However, you are a little mommy attached right now.  When we drop you off at church nursery, you cry for a few minutes, especially if you see me leave.  I’m not gonna lie, and act like I don’t love it a tiny bit ;)

 

 

You love your big sister!  BUT!  You have learned to speak up for yourself, if you will.  If she does something you don’t like, or takes something from you, you let her know about it!!  I see a very interesting relationship developing!!

 

 

Finley, you have filled my heart more than I thought possible.  As much as I hate to admit it, during pregnancy, I questioned if I could love another child the way I loved Mia.  I was obviously insane.  It’s hard to explain, but as soon as you came out, I loved you as much as your sister.  I love you so much it hurts.  I would do absolutely anything for you.  You girls have my whole heart.

 

 

As you can see in these pictures, you are an absolute HAM!  You love attention and smile all.the.time.  Your smile and mood is infectious.  You wake up happy, go to bed happy, etc.  You do cry and get upset, it’s just not that common and is usually short lived.

 

 

This past year has been the best so far!  I love seeing my two girls love each other, play together and interact.  You have given me so much joy and laughter and I thank God for you.

 

 

Happy happy birthday my sweet baby girl.  I love you so much more than you will ever know.

 

 

 

 

Here’s to many more, beautiful….