Well....took me a while, huh?

Yeah I know...I have a lot of catching up to do. I am a total slacker! This past 8(wow) months have gone by so super fast! We has a fabulous Christmas with our families and Reese really enjoyed her first! By the way, this picture was taken right when she got up one morning, so she doesn't look too happy at the moment! Ha!

The new year brought in some cold weather and a ton of ear infections with it. Our beautiful niece, Ashley got married to a wonderful man (Alex)in January. The wedding was beautiful and it's hard to believe that she is a grown up!


By the end of February, everyone around here was ready for spring! It finally came and in April, we celebrated! It was so much fun and it still is hard to believe that my baby girl turned ONE! We did a "Reesie in ONE-derland" theme and my cousin Anna made these beautiful cupcakes! Her website is pinkcupcakescolumbia.com.






May brought in some beautiful weather and also my big 3-OH MY! Yeah, I know it's hard to believe that I am 30. They say that you are only as old as you feel and if that's the case, I am still a teenager;) I'm just a big kid at heart! My wonderful and amazing husband made my birthday so very special! He first took me to get the tattoo that I have been wanting for forever! It is a sparrow with my kid's initials and star bursts around it. The sparrow symbolizes a new journey in life and always knowing your way home. The initials are obvious, but I wanted them on my foot because my kids keep me grounded. There is also a blue horseshoe for my loving husband, a green star for my bright boy Rylee and a pink wishbone for my Reesie girl because she has a wishbone birthmark. They are all symbols of luck, which is how I feel every day! God is so good!

Then we went out with some friends to dinner and to the Penguin, which is my favorite piano bar in Columbia! I am so thankful to have such great friends and we had a great time! Here are a few pictures that we snapped.





So, my big surprise for my birthday this year was tickets to Cirque Du Soliel's Alegria. Lee got me 3rd row seats and it was incredible! We went up a little early and walked around the SLU campus and it was beautiful. (The show was at their basketball arena.) They had some amazing gardens and the weather was just perfect. Since their mascot is the biliken, I had to get a picture of me rubbing it's belly. It is said to bring you good luck:)




In the middle of May, two of my niece's friends and I threw her a baby shower! (Yes, that makes me a great-aunt! Now I feel old...ha!) I made all of the decorations and I thought that they turned out fabulous! I wanted to make everything so she didn't have to throw anything away. I also broke my camera that day:( I am on the "prowl" for a new one right now. So, every picture taken these past couple of months have been on the iPhone!






June brought summer heat and fun in the sun. We had an amazing father's day and are incredibly blessed and fortunate to have Lee in our lives! He is an incredible father, husband and best friend! He has been busy working his little heinie off this summer for his school, conference and other things with work and it has paid off! He won the Missouri School Resource Officer of the year! The news tribune interviewed him yesterday, so as soon as the article comes out, I will post it!


July was hot! We had an awesome fourth uptown with Lee's mom. We walked around and ate funnel cake and corn dogs! We were too tired to wait up for the fireworks, so we bought some fountains, tanks, poppers and snakes and set them off. I am pretty sure that we were asleep by 10! Haha!



Also, my mom finally finished Reese's painting for her room! It turned out fantastic and am so proud to show you all!


And then the end of July brought wonderful news to our family. On July 28, our great-niece Addison Marie was born! After 33 hours in labor (poor Ashley!), she finally came into this world. There were some complications at first and she had to stay in the NICU for an extra day, but everything is fine now and she is beautiful! We are so excited for both Ashley and Alex and so thankful to God that all is well!


So, now we are to August! And this month is full of birthdays! My father-in-law is 60 on the 5th, my husband is 34 on the 9th and my baby boy is 6 (YES, 6!) on the 10th! I can not believe that! And to top it off, he starts kindergarten exactly one week later! For those that know me...yes, I will be bawling my eyes out!

So, I think that I am caught up now. Here are some current pictures of these crazy kids I love! I am going to try again to be better about blogging! Thanks for listening:)