SNOW!!!

Our first snowfall!  Exciting stuff.  We've been watching it all morning long.

Holiday Masquerade

This year's theme for Jared's work party was Mardi Gras/Masquerade and we had a lot of fun.  The food was wicked good and we had fun dancing here and there too even though I was pregnant and had a hurt foot still.  The room shook whenever they did a group dance like the electric slide, cupid shuffle or that stomp one.  We got these fun necklaces that Hadley can use for dress up as well as a collection of masks.  We also won a $25 gift card to Applebees so we can go celebrate good news in the near future.  We're keeping our fingers crossed.  It was hilarious watching the co-workers dance after a drink or two and my cheeks burned by the end of the night because I smiled so much.  I loved their Caesar salad and yellow mashed potatoes with gravy.  The pumpkin cheesecake was great too.  We love food and fun.  We usually get a free picture while there, but this year, the photographer charged for each instead which they didn't know was going to happen when they contracted them for the job.  Maybe next year, we'll get to do them instead. We'll see I guess.  It was fun to go on a date with my husband and have fun amidst everything.

Auntie J-9

Thanksgiving with Auntie J-9

Fun New Phases

I've been meaning to write down a couple more entries about things in our lives and I think I finally have a second or two so I'll elaborate on the kids newest traits.  Hadley has discovered how to remove her diaper even with duct tape.  A week or so ago, she shimmied her diaper off of her a couple times.  The last couple, the diaper was dry and I think she was telling me something, but does she really mean it?  Somedays, I doubt it.  For now, I've put the duct tape back on but a little tighter and it seems to not be so easy to shimmy off which is good.  My goal is still to get her potty trained before the baby comes in May.  Think I can do it?

Hayden has become quite the fussy eater and still doesn't want anything to do with vegetables in his dinner.  Each time we have him try to eat it, he starts gagging which isn't too fun to listen to.  So dinner turns into WW3 trying to get either Hayden or Hadley to eat.  Hadley is the main challenge most of the time.  We've been trying to teach her when to be quiet and when it's okay not to be and it's been a hard road full of tantrums, snits, open rebellion and long nights.  Hayden at least gets the consequences to making bad choices, but Hadley doesn't much care if we take away privileges because she'll just find something new to occupy her time so discipline is hard.  I've been trying to use a more firm, serious tone when disciplining her and things are working better slowly, but there's still work to  be done.

My older sister told me that with the kids she nannied for, they had to make choices from a list for their meals and snacks that included at least one fruit or vegetable in each meal or snack and when it was someone else's turn to pick food for dinner that night, they at least had to try and respect the other siblings choice.  I think I want to try it and make up a cute menu skeem of choices to get them going.  I'll keep you posted as to how effective it is with my kids.

Happy Diva Day!

Yup, the title is right.  Somewhere around Cinco de Mayo, our family will receive another girl/diva in the family.  We finally found out what we're having and we just wanted to share with everyone the results.  Here are her cute shots.  She was 8 oz. today so she is right on track.

The hands are supposably big.

Her little self

Look real hard and you'll see two of them.  They're each an inch.

Gobble Til' You Wobble

Another family gather always constitutes another family photo op when all is present so we updated some photos.  Jared set up our camera and tripod with a flash of two and the next thing we knew, we were set with this year's photo.  These are the winners.  The one below is our goofy picture that just expresses our family so well.  Fun results.

There were nineteen people over at the house for turkey dunch (dinner/lunch) and boy was there a lot of food.  We had so much fun talking and laughing.  My little sister, Janine, came into town too and she had a lot of fun hanging out with the kids and learning their new little quirks and habits.  The funniest moment would probably be Hadley changing into one of her bathing suits and wrestling her brother in his bed when napping is suppose to be happening instead.  Yeah, that was a real winner.  I'll have more pictures of my sister once we put them up.

Safe to Claim Victory

As many of you know, I have been struggling with the remainder of my first tri-mester (and beginning of second) and now that I have survived my lowest of lows it seems for this baby, I think I can come to the reality that it is now possibly safe to say that I can claim victory over morning sickness.  I am 14 weeks along now and with the help of Zofran, my anti-nausea medicine which I have taken here and there, I have been able to get more food inside of me and slowly increase my liquids back up to where they need to be.  Maybe now, I have a better chance of enjoying the excitement that comes with becoming a mom once more now that I can eat a little more than just tacos, pizza or macaroni and cheese.  I was able to cook a real meal for my family twice now and even though smells still get to me and I am no where near being motivated to cook with chicken, pork or steak yet, I have hope that things will turn around here soon.  I also look forward to indulging my every whim of cravings now that things are less dicey and likely to come back up and bite me in the mean old nasty after taste of morning sickness.  I look onward to hopes of Dunkin Donuts, pastries and ripe cantaloupe and still keep in mind to keep with eating like I'm hypoglycemic so I can stay on top of feeling good.

And on that note, I look forward to finding out what we are having on December 1st.  Also, when I was at my doctor yesterday, I brought Hadley with me.  She hates doctors so didn't like them being near me very much.  She rebuttled by babbling in a mean upset tone towards the doctor, but when we listened to the baby's heart beat, the baby's rate when up at the sound of Hadley's babbling so it already knows it's new sibling's voices which makes it kind of fun to experience.

Twick-O-Tweat

We had so much fun this Halloween.  We had a party for Joy School, the 4 ward Trunk-or-Treat and a wicked fun time trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  Hadley had so much fun going from door-to-door and saying "twick-o-tweat" followed by a thank you and byyyyeeeee!  It was hilarious.  She walked our whole street up and down and then a few houses on the next street over.  Both kids were thrilled with the experience and they both have 2 buckets full of candy to keep them happy for quite some time.  At the trunk-or-treat, I gave the kids some glow sticks and Hadley instinctively started waving it around and saying, "Bitty-bobby-boo!"  It was so fun.  Hayden was Thomas the Tank Engine and Hadley was a snow princess on her faithful steed.  She loves horses right now and wanted to add riding a horse to her costume.  It looked way cute on her.  Here are the best pictures from our festivities.  More are on the website.  Enjoy and hope everyone had as much fun for Halloween as we did.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Well, I think it's safe to say that the past 36 hours or so have been interesting to say the least.  I think the ripple actually started Sunday night or another words Monday morning around 3 am. when both of my sweet kids woke me up.  Hadley was screaming and I wasn't sure what.  I found her with her diaper off, all distraught.  I apparently forgot to duct tape her in for the night.  So I grabbed what I needed and went back upstairs to re dress her.  She then handed me her onesie and wanted it back on.  From there, I wasn't sure what else she exactly wanted so I turned off the lights with her lying in bed tucked in and I tried to see if she would go to bed while I lied down on the floor.  After a little Hayden kept calling Mom outside the door.  I told him he had to wait until I was out of the room for his turn and the proceeded to rub Hadley's back while singing to her.  FInally, she was comfy enough for me to leave and sleep so I slipped out and tended to Hayden that just wanted to say goodnight.

Since I didn't get the sleep I needed, I woke up feeling gross.  I managed to get some things down me, but when early evening rolled around, I felt in trouble.  From there, it was a downward spiral filled with puking and even less sleep.  I spent the night rotating from bed to floor in bathroom to toilet where I puked every 15 then 30 minute intervals.  It was nasty.  I tried to drink a little in between each so that throwing up wouldn't be so bad each time, but quickly became fatigued.  I knew I needed sleep, but was too awake from puking so often that I just couldn't get to sleep.

I told Jared to go to work and the relief society president was already planning on coming over and watching the kids while I went to see my doctor after lunch.  The whole morning, I felt depleted and done.  I still wasn't doing so hot, but proceeded to my appointment with bucket in hand.

The doctor gave me a prescription for anti-nausea and I went home hopeful it would work, despite the offer to get an IV.  I decided to try the medicine and hope for the best.  I got home and took it and seemed to be feeling a little better.  I ate some cereal and banana which didn't taste as good as I had originally thought and then relaxed a little.  I took the medicine again around 7 and tried to eat, but sipped more fluids mostly.  The doctor said fluids are more important then eating currently.

Before bed, I ended up losing it once again.  Determined to not have a crummy night again, I prayed real hard and then ate a little and had something to drink and proceeded to bed.  THankfully, I slept through almost the whole night except for when Hayden knocked on my door for literally nothing around 4am.  This morning, I am hanging in there but might still consider getting an IV just to increase my odds of getting back on top.

I must say I am grateful to Sharon and my mother-in-law for their help yesterday with the kids.  It was greatly appreciated :0)

My Goal

This whole thing started with a goal.  Now that I have pretty much made my goal, I am letting it fly because I am proud of myself.  Here's a little background for you all.  Anyone who has known me for a little bit while pregnant with Hayden and Hadley, knows that I am the worst in my first trimester ever.  It is no fun day at the park if you know what I'm saying.  Anyways, Jared and I had decided it was time to have another one and of course, I wanted to hunker down and brace for impact because both pregnancy's prior to this one, I haven't been able to wait to tell people closer to the end of my trimester.  With Hayden, it was day of missed period while trying to conduct the primary program and with Hadley, it was probably a little after that by a couple weeks with her.

With this one, I immediately starting increasing my intake of food to try to get ahead and stay on top of things.  It seemed to be working really well for me.  I even managed to go to Salt Lake City and spend a day and a half with my sisters without them knowing.  Then, inevitably, I caught the cold that was going around and it made me miserable for 2 weeks or so.  I wasn't eating enough, I couldn't get ahead and it started to fall apart slightly, but still only a little everyday unlike 8-13 times a day.  So, this was still manageable.  Well, it kept getting worse and I needed emotional support so I reached out to a couple friends for help.

Gratefully, even with the stubbornness of this baby's food wishes, I am only doing bad 1-3 times a day which I feel blessed for.  The only down side is I feel rotten the whole day unlike the other two where I at least could eat late at night to catch up a little bit.

Now that I have digressed a little, I just wanted to set the record straight now that family finally knows and say that I AM PREGNANT with our third child and the baby is due on Cinco de Mayo.  Kind of fun, eh?  A couple more weeks and maybe, I will start to enjoy myself again.  Until then, hope your day is good.  I'm going to go try to tackle mine.

Field Trip

We finally took our field trip for Joy School today and it was fun.  Unlike last year, we drove our cars in which turned out to be a huge lifesaver.  Hadley did pretty well being directed where to go.  She lost it a little towards the end as we were finishing up in the pumpkin patch so we stuck to a stroller while picking apples which worked out just fine to me.  We got some cute fun shots of the kids too and we even stopped at the 7-Eleven to indulge in slurpees because we were so thirsty from the warm sun and the dirt getting into our throats and noses.  We picked apples too but I forgot the camera in the car, probably due to exhaustion or something. All in all, we got two small pumpkins despite the patch being picked over good and a bunch of apples and I only paid $5.12 for it all. Not a bad take if you ask me. Here are some keepers and there are more on the website.

Nearby Mountain

So my husband was being thoughtful last Friday and told me to get the kids ready to go somewhere that is a surprise.  He finally told me we were going to finally check out our own mountains since I had never been.  Anywho, I tried to dress everyone warm and put together snacks and then we were off.  We drove around the mountain for a little bit and had our cameras with us to take some pictures of what foliage might be around.  We were trying to get to a certain overlook Jared knew about but when we came to a turn where we needed to go left and the way home was right, we ended up having to stop abruptly due to a sound in the back seat.  It was Hayden and he was saying in a little voice, "I need to go potty!" along with some crying.  We stop the car and I try to figure out where he can go and we attempt, but he doesn't know how to do it since he's just used to a toilet.  After a couple minutes, he's too cold to care so I pop him back in the car and we turn right to go back to the house due to my son's weak bladder at the wrong time.  We pull over once more and pop him in a pull-up just in case he does go and he did not appreciate it.  On the way home, he asked if he could get his diaper off, but we told him no because he wouldn't go potty on the side of the road.  We asked him if he went in his pants and he said yes, so we kept driving.  When we got home, Hayden went to bathroom and his pull-up was dry as a bone.  He held it all the way home.  

So alas, no pictures of the mountainside to post since we didn't get to turn left instead.  Jared's thoughtfulness was wasted which was sad, but I am grateful to have finally seen it by driving around at least.  Hopefully, we can do it again soon and not have the potty troubles to deal with as well.  It makes it much easier that way.

Ward Luau

Once again, we had our ward luau and once again, it was windy and cold.  I learned my mistake from last year though and wore warm clothes to make up the difference.  We had a lot of fun.  They had some good food and lots of fruit and dessert which are always my personal favorites.  I love fresh fruit, but I stink at picking out cantaloupes that'll taste good when cut up.  I'll have to work on that.  Anyways, I digress.  Jared and I had some fun with our cameras taking random pictures.  Lighting was hard at times because we know sometimes flash photography is discouraged, but we're happy with our results.  All of them are posted on our website, but here are a few winners to give you a feel for the night.

The music was excellent.  Loads of fun to listen to throughout the night.

This guy was hilarious and did really good with the fire knives.

See what I mean.  He likes his job a lot :0)

Nothing like Father son bonding while swaying to the music.  It was cute.

Our fearless volunteers for one of the dances...The Hukilau (spelling?)

And very pretty costumes.

An Uphill Struggle

I figured it has been a while so I should update everyone on how Hadley is doing.  She is totally not interested in potty training yet and after having continuous days of cleaning up accidents in her room from still getting backwards diapers, onesies and jammies off through the neck hole, my desperation turned to a new leaf as I tried to figure out how to handle the situation.  I am happy to say that we have made some milestones.  We are accident free for almost a week now.  She seems to not be able to get her diaper off while having the top be duct taped shut.  I think after many sessions of no's, she finally gets that her accidents were unacceptable.  Also, thanks to a certain blacklight on loan as well as a deep cleaner vacuum cleaner, her room is a whole lot more sanitary and smelling good which I am grateful for so there is the update on that.  Hopefully, in a couple more months, we can attempt potty training again.  We shall see though.

It's Time...I'm Done!

Oh my word, so no pictures to go along with this one because they would just be too disturbing to show you.  Hadley's new trick recently has been taking off her clothes AND diaper every time she goes down for bed or a nap.  Well, it was all plain innocence until Monday morning, she had pee'd on her carpet and then I knew I needed to regroup and start potty training her, but I'm teaching Joy School this week along with other things so I can't devote enough time to starting just yet.  Any who, After her nap that same afternoon, I open the door to get her out for the rest of the day and I feel something cold and squishy on my bare foot.  Yup, you guessed it.  I've been hit by a pile of poop.  I continued opening the door as I looked don and found not one, not 2 but 3 piles of poop right there on the carpet in front of her door.  I was so mortified because I hadn't dealt with this before.  She was naked again and wanting out, but had poop crusted on her legs, bum and blankets and such nearby.

Because I opened the door, I also sadly smeared poop on the bottom of her door.  Smart, eh?  So, I plucked her out and put her in the tub after cleaning off my foot and proceeded to grab paper towels to pick up the piles of waste and get rid of them.  Them I focused on scrubbing her down and getting her re-dressed for the day.  After quarantining her and her brother down stairs, I got out my wet vac to start cleaning up the stuff I couldn't pick up.  An hour and a half later, I felt satisfied that I was able to get it all clean and sanitized.  There went my afternoon for sure.

So what wasn't very funny in the moment is now not so bad reflecting on it, but I still need to get the stuff ready to potty train our little angel.

A New Look

Before

Finally...after a whole summer of saying I am chopping my hair, I finally got to go through with it.  I wanted to do Locks of Love for the first time and it took my hair forever to grow long enough but here are the results of my new do.  I think it's cute.  

After

Whirlwind Weekend

I'm a bit exhausted, but thanks to the kindness of my husband, I was able to leave him, the kids and the dog and go hang out with my 2 sisters Saturday and Sunday. It was definitely exhausting between the early departure and the walking and up late talking but I was glad to have a moment to get away and spend some quality time with my sisters. I was glad to be there for my little sister as she started a new phase in her life with education. We had some fun times, but I think the really funny thing was getting to hear my sister do a lot of her little sticks from Disney movies. It was hilarious sitting in the airport listening to her while waiting to go through security and fly home. Here are a few pictures from the fun.

Some cool artwork and sculptures in the meganacle.

We actually got to go on a slow tour of the meganacle where we went on the roof finally and then looked over every single piece of artwork in there which had some great stuff to look at. I especially loved the sculptures which I have more of on our website.

I loved this painting of the Ten Virgins

The Christus

Hurdling Hadley

Going along with the Olympics again, Hadley decided to have a go at the hurdling competition involving our baby gate. Yes, she is a climber and now we are in big trouble because sky is the limit for her now. I think she wins a gold medal for this one, but you can watch and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Primary Olympics

In our ward, the quarterly activity was an Olympics for the kids which looked way cute. They were separated into classes for their teams and they had flags/banners and colors for each one. They had a bunch of different events or competitions and all of them applied to the theme of Aiming High and Coming closer to Christ by doing certain things. At the end, us parents got to come for the award ceremony where everyone got Gold Medals and they receive little goody bags for a job well done. I thought the Primary did a great job and here are some pictures from it.

1st Primary Olympics

Reading

I thought this was kind of fun. Hadley is obsessed with paper these days and usually when we go for a walk, she tries to sneak something in the stroller with her and the other day happened to be an Ensign magazine from our Church. I thought it was cute so I took a picture.

In the Studio

For those of you who don't know this, I am the co-owner/photographer of my own company called SticksPics Photography.  We have a studio set up that works in our spare room and I've been trying to learn new techniques to better my skills at taking studio shots and I am quite pleased with my practice sessions the passed couple of days and I wanted to share some with all of you.  Here is a slideshow that pretty much shows it all.  Taking pictures of kids really is an art form.  I loved how they turned out.  My studio is still set up for anyone who is interested in coming by and checking us out.  I would love to take more pictures and a little money doesn't hurt either.  Enjoy!

Tooth Woes

A little while back, I looked at Hadley's mouth a little closer only to find that her smile looked funny because part of her front bottom tooth was missing.  How she did it?  I have absolutely no idea!  I looked everywhere she was that day and no blood found anywhere.  All I know is that some how, some where, she hit her front bottom tooth just right to sheer off almost all of it.

I brought her in to see a family friend dentist who explained to me the possibilities of what need to happen and since she didn't cooperate for taking x-rays or even to be looked at, he refered us to a pediadontist they work with.  Well, I went to the pediadontist and got frustrated because of the wait, but also due to the fact that the tech didn't even want to attempt to take x-rays and then the short visit with the actual dentist where there was a brief glance and they said, "It has to come out.  You can schedule it at the front desk."  WHAT!!!  Honestly...just like that and it has to come out.  That's crazy!  What'll happen to her adjacent teeth as they deal with a gap in between them for the next 5 or so years?  Can't it just stay in there?  You didn't even take an x-ray, how do you know it's not just a fluke permanent tooth trying to come in super early?  Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed and the price tag for getting it pulled was not a pretty nor welcomed amount.  Flustered in not knowing what to do, I decided not to schedule the appointment just yet until I talked to oh say, my husband about everything.

Well, today finally ended that saga.  Hadley couldn't eat anything before the procedure so we tried tanking her up with her favorite foods during an extended late dinner last night consisting of parts of macaroni and cheese, hot dog and pizza with chocolate milk and water to chase it all down.  She went to sleep late so she could possibly sleep in to kill some time too and it seemed to work because she didn't wake up until about 8:30 and her appointment started at 10:30.  We watched her favorite movie, Monsters Inc and then I took her to Wal-Mart to pick out a new toy for afterwards.

I got there 15 minutes early to try to help calm her down and fill out the forms saying I know all of the possibilities and risks from the procedure all while juggling her up and down chairs, in and out of the hall and other various toy situations.  At about 11 or so, we were finally called back to weigh her in at a whopping 24 lbs and then discuss the forms I filled out since I had still questions to get answers for.  I expressed my concern about the gap in the teeth and what might be done to prevent the other teeth from growing crooked into that said space and avoiding braces later in life and they said that they put spacers in the gaps, but they aren't too pretty and they usually only do it if it's on the side of the mouth not the front since the teeth in the front of the mouth don't have the tendency to move like that apparently.  Secondly, I asked them to try to take an x-ray anyways while she is sedated to make sure it really and truly was not a permanent tooth and she said they would see if that were possible when the time came.  Lastly, is it truly necessary to do this instead of leaving it in there and after asking the doctor, she reassured me because it was sheered off and exposed, it was better to remove it all so that no bacteria or infection could get into the permanent tooth underneath.

So, we gave her the sedative with some much needed and appreciated water and she was good to go and we were sent back out to the waiting room to wait some more (I hadn't realized it would be another 45 minute wait).  Finally, around 12, we moved back to the actual room and they kind of left us in there.  TIme rolled on some more and I was getting frustrated because my antsy daughter was all over the place and it still wasn't getting done.  Finally, they approach me with the kicker that topped it all of.  It goes as follows.

"It seems that your daughter is not going to calm down at all through the sedatives so you have two options right now.  You can either get your money back and leave and go to a referred peridontist to make an appointment to then put your daughter to sleep through an IV and get it pulled that way OR you can choose to have her put in the papoose and have it done within 10 minutes."

In my mind, I thought, why haven't you just done the latter by now instead of wait so long.  I also was thinking, ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!  You want me to leave after waiting a couple hours now only to reschedule with a different person to go through this horror all again, I DON'T THINK SO!  SO you can guess, I told them to papoose her and get it over with after a minute or two of thinking about it.

After another 10 minutes of shuffling things around they had us move rooms again and by this time Hadley was screaming and bawling and frustrated too because she was both EXHAUSTED because it was passed her nap time AND STARVING because she still had NO food inside of her.  YEESH.  SO what's a mom to do...I turn into a basketcase who is no doubt exhausted from trying to deal with her and I bawl over the whole situation as I sit there trying to keep her attention and calm her down with another movie.  At this point, all I thought about was yelling at them for not gettting it over with and contemplated doing so if they came into the room again and wondered why my daughter was acting the way she was.

Finally at a little before 1 pm, a nurse came into the room, turned off the lights and asked to ly her down on top of the papoose board to get her comfy lying there while watching the movie.  She seems semi-okay with the position and then the doctor comes in and they start trying to strap her down and she looses it all while I loose it with crying again as I watch my daughter be so upset.  They get her tucked in and put the numb stuff on the tooth area and try to give her the laughing gas and I am asked to leave.

As I wait, I cry some more and update Jared that she is finally getting it done.  A couple minutes later, they are carrying my screaming daughter with a pool of blood in her mouth to me saying she's all set.  I try to absorb some blood with gauz, but she just takes it out and throws it.  I bring her to the car after fumbling through the diaper bag trying to remember where I put my keys and she continues to scream while buckling her in to leave.  The whole way home, I listen to her scream for her Daddy.  Once home, Daddy comes out to get her and I try to collect everything and regroup from this whole frustrating and emotional experience.

After getting her settled down a bit, we got some Jello in her and Tylenol and we watched a show before putting her down for a very late nap around 3 pm.  At which I felt so exhausted and just totally beat, that all I wanted to do was lye in bed and pass out from sheer exhaustion.  Thus ends my tails of the tooh woes.  Check out her smile when you see her next.  It reminds me of when I went through Elementary School with only one front tooth in almost all of my school pictures.

Bowling

One fun thing about Jared's work is that he has a group within it that is for social purposes and they have events throughout the year for little to no money.  This passed month involved cosmic bowling for free and the kids loved it!  We had a good time even though we were tuckered after helping our kids bowl for so many games.  I even did choose to restrain my daughter in her stroller halfway through our adventure which seemed to keep her happy with a movie and food.  Here's some pictures.

I was happy with my performance.

This was the lightest ball available for him to use.

Her portable restraint

He can put a spin on the ball whereas, I cannot.

5 Year Anniversary

Goofing Around As Usual

Where we met and he proposed.

One of our 5 or 6 versions of announcements minus the info.

Five Years Ago

Wow!  Five Years goes by fast when you're chasing kids :0)  It has been quite the ride with lots of changes, but I still love him just the same.  I still look forward to holding his hand through many more things just like he asked in the very beginning.  We held hands through our date to the movies that night, holding hands in church but not while I sang in the choir the next day.  Holding hands while going through the temple for the first time.  

Holding hands the day we were married in the Boston Temple.  Holding hands while having my first child at 20.  Holding hands through lots of other things.  And there is much more time in between now and holding my hand when I'm old and gray and can barely lift my own hand. 

 Thank you for being such an amazing, caring husband who always looks out for my benefit and well-being and works hard to help keep me at home raising our kids and supporting my hobbies.  I couldn't have asked for more from you.  I still remember how amazingly excited I was and surprised when you brought me to that stadium and asked me all those questions about holding my hand and then kneeling down and asking me for my hand in marriage then.  I was so excited.  Personally, I thought you were crazy because who would want to marry a girl looking like this earlier in the day, but I guess he knew there was something amazing behind all that clash (It was my laundry day).

I wore a fake ring before we got engaged and that is what is on my finger there.  Kinda corny, eh?  Before that was a CTR ring.

We didn't do anything too fancy this year, but a date is always appreciated.  Lunch and a Movie is the kind of date I will always look forward too.  It's more than curbside to go too :0P 

Here's to 5 years with one moldy apartment complete with eviction notice, one condo that was an amazing investment for us, 3 job changes, 4 cars, 2 kids, 1 dog, 1 photography company, 1 new home that we love having and a lifetime of memories.  Thanks for all you do and I love you!

Technogirls Night

Yay for Keyonna!  You did a great job teaching how to start a blog.  Here are some fun pictures of the night.  It was small, in size, but they learned a lot :0)

Sewing Binge

I blame this entry on Cynthia because she has been on a sewing kick and got me thinking and wanting to create so here is a picture of one of my first creations.  I sat down this passed week and surfed the internet and spare moments to research how to sew or do various projects and I started out by making matching fringe burp cloths and receiving blanket for Jenn Freestone's baby shower.  This is how they truned out.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I'll have to let you know when I get to the next project on my list and post about that one next.

Hadley Turns Two

Man, I guess now I can officially think Hadley is two instead of six months ago.  I have a tendency to think my kids are older than they really are, I don't know why, but I do.  Anyways, Hadley Baby had her birthday the other week.  We had two parties.  One with just the four of us and then one with grandma and pop pop.  It was a lot of fun and Hadley now has some new toys to play with and enjoy for a while.  Yeah for Hadley!  Happy Birthday my little diva with her own language.

As soon as she opened this present and saw the shoes she yelled, "Shoeys!"  It was so cute.

Even blurry, this is a great picture.  Way cute!

Hadley was trying to master the art of eating birthday cake with a spoon, fork and hands

For more pictures of her family birthday bash, head over to our website and check them out.  Here's the link.     Hadley's B-Day