watchin' my baby

We are finally back from vacation... and have been for 3 days now, however, I think my body is still recovering! Pretty sure I should have taken two extra days of vacation just to 'recoup' from my vacation! Ha! Isn't that the way it always goes?! Oh well... that usually means the trip was VERY well worth it!

I have so much to share! If you know me at all or talked to me before leaving on this trip, you knew I was VERY iffy... iffy to leave my baby girl, iffy to spend a week with a bunch of fisherman and iffy to leave my baby girl! :-) Yes, as I have said before, vacations without your baby are always LOTS better in theory! It starts with thinking I need an adult break... so we plan a vacation, but then within days of leaving, I start breaking down and trying to figure out how I can take her! But, I had no doubt she was in GREAT hands. And if I had to guess, I would guess she never knew I was even gone! Is that good or bad?! Ha!

I started to share my trip post first, however, I couldn't have gone on this trip without my friends and family! They totally rock! They definitely know how to keep a momma from getting in the car and driving straight back to get her baby! I received LOTS of calls, pictures and text!

And I cannot even really start this post without thanking my momma! No matter how old I get, my momma is always there for me! I take her for granted every single day. And as many times as I say I am NEVER going to again, I know I always do! She is just too good to us... always going out of her way to make our lives easier!

We were to leave early Thursday morning so my mom headed down Wednesday after work to stay the night so H could sleep in her bed one more night and then sleep in the next day. We could have easily met my mom the night before we left (on Wednesday), but nope, she always sacrifices herself to help us out! I love you mom!

Once H was up on Thursday, her and Gigi headed to see Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda! Gigi dressed her in her KU gear from Aunt Amanda... thankfully Aunt Amanda caught that H's shirt was on backwards! This had me worried the rest of the trip on how Gigi was going to dress H! :)

Late that afternoon, H and Gigi headed home! I know H was DYING to see her Poppa! He is pretty much the only person she asks to see these days! And their nightly routine was ALWAYS a bowl of ice cream!

Friday morning Gigi had to work so H headed across the street to Jennifer's house. Jennifer was one of my very best friends from high school. It just made me all giddy inside knowing our baby girls were playing together... and most likely bossing little Logan around like Jennifer and I used to do our younger siblings! Ha! Jennifer was so great to keep me updated and send pictures! Thank you so much for keeping her, Jen. No doubt H LOVED Ady! She had the greatest time and is still talking about it today! Love you!

Saturday evening, Gigi and Poppa dressed H up in her boots and an outfit Nana got her! No doubt she looked like THE cutest little cowgirl! They headed to a premium sale. Anything with animals is definitely up Hadlea's alley! {and side note: receiving pictures this cute REALLY makes you miss your baby girl. i would SO much rather receive a picture of her throwing a tantrum or something! :-)}

Here is Hadlea with another high school friend's kids. Darci and I grew up together all of our lives. They are the cutest boys! The bottom pictures are of my little cousin, Kate, showing her lamb, and yes, it has a tutu! Ha! Hadlea, I guess, was a social butterfly and even sat on Father's lap! She also checked out all of the cows, pigs and sheep in the building!

At one point over the weekend, Hadlea went to the farm with Poppa. She got to see the new baby sheep and pigs... along with her own cows  and Poppa's cat, Fatso... which she will always tell you is 'scared' and ran bye-bye!

Gigi brought H back to our house on Sunday so she would already be home when we arrived on Monday... again, Gigi going out of her way for us!

I could NOT wait to get back home to my baby girl! Although my trip was one for the record books, there is always a little piece of you missing when you don't have your baby! I sure missed her sweet face and all of the funny things she comes up with these days!

Gigi and Poppa, Thank you so much for keeping our baby girl! We know she never missed a beat once we walked out of the door! Although I was holding my breath all of the way home, she didn't even come back 'THAT' spoiled! I just new I was going to have to put her through boot camp to get her back into shape! :-) Thanks for all you do for us! We love you so much!

daycare fun and TLG

a few pictures from the week at daycare.

i love those people to pieces!

because they love my baby girl too!

This past Tuesday, Nana joined us for Little Gym. Hadlea LOVED having her there... and even did some showing off! Thanks for coming, Nana!

lent and a fishing vacation

So obviously yesterday was Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. We went to church and got our ashes, which H thought was THE greatest thing ever! She kept saying, "Jesus bwess ma head!". Yes, she calls the Priest Jesus. She will get it with time, right?! :-)

Justin and I gave up pop and I also gave up candy. Doesn't seem too bad, however, we are on the road right now and nothing sounds better than a big fat Diet Coke. But at least every time I think of a DC, I can think of Him and His love for us! There really is no greater feeling than knowing his love!

So I have talked about going on vacation now for some time... this is 110% my husband's vacation! I am just along for the ride! ...along to support our friend, Fred Roumbanis, who I hope claims the Bassmaster Classic Title and the $500,000 grand prize!

and yes, that is Fred on the billboard advertisement!

february photo a day: 16 - 23

Feb 16. something new - hadlea is into making all sorts of faces. just a new phase, I guess. :-)

Feb 17. time - still loving my new watch from my brother jake. I wonder if he has anymore decorating in his apartment I can do so he will continue to gift me! ha!

Feb 18. drink - my drink of choice at the wedding! LOVE some granberry vodka's!

Feb 19. something you hate to do - laundry. There are no words for my hate for this chore!

Feb 20. handwriting - I have terrible handwriting! I blame it on typing all of the time. I hardly ever write unless it is a list I am working on for the house. I normally make lists on my phone!

Feb 21. a fave photo of you - This is still my alltime favorite photo of Hadle and I from this summer! That big grin just makes me melt!

Feb 22. where you work - I work for HP Enterprise Services. AKA Hewlett Packard. I previously worked for EDS (Electronic Data Systems), and we were bought out by HP and named HP Enterprise Services. I am a Change Manager for the transporation industry! I love where I work (working out of my house always helps!) and the people I work with!

wedding and a long weekend

Hadlea and I headed out Saturday afternoon to meet Gigi and Poppa for ice cream. Daddy had to work a tackle show for his new project, so we had to go alone.

Once we got to Cherry Berry, Hadlea informed Gigi and I that we were having pink ice cream (like her) and Poppa was having brown. And God forbid you get anything else! ...bossy little thing!

We then headed to the mall to do a little shopping or I did a little shopping while Gigi and Poppa took H to ride the train and play games!

Hadlea then went home with Gigi and Poppa, and I headed to my friend Cats to get ready for the wedding! It was nice to set and visit and play with Katelyn and Hayden! Kate (my Goddaughter) even went to the wedding with us! She is getting so BIG!

The wedding was beautiful! We all LOVED this tree as you walked into the reception!

And the cake... always my favorite part of a wedding! :-) The grooms cake was a bulldog, which they own! It was amazing!

And another picture of us girls with the bride and now her groom! (Check here for yesterday's post about us girls!)

the bride and i! so happy for her!

Catherine, Me and Mikki

two of my very oldest friends!

We had a great evening at the wedding... talking, laughing, drinking, laughing... followed up with breakfast at IHOP! You know it's a great night when it ends with breakfast! ...or so I thought! More on that later!

I stayed the night at Cat's and then drove to Gigi and Poppa's Sunday morning! We spent the morning playing with H and then made lunch!

After lunch, we walked across the street to Jennifer and Mike's! They were having Logan's 1st birthday that afternoon. I wasn't sure Hadlea would make it that late in the day, so we headed over early to give Logan his present. H got a litte play time with Ady in her room and she LOVED it! She has talked about Ady several times since we have been home! And the best thing... those two girls get some play time this week while Daddy and I go on vacation! I think we will have two VERY happy girls!

Happy 1st Birthday Logan! We love you!

After leaving Jennifer's, H and I loaded up and headed home! We had such a great weekend! I love my family and friends so much! I am so thankful for so much love in my life!

Now... back to the IHOP part... and where all great evenings end with breakfast?! ...well, Sunday evening did not end well thanks to my early morning breakfast! I started getting sick on the way home from Medford. I wasn't even sure if I could finish the drive, but I did! I also did not want to call and tell anyone and make them worry. Justin's new project is so important to him, and I wasn't about to call and tell him and risk him leaving to come get me!

So after a few pit stops, I made it home! Thankfully, H slept the whole way. I covered her up with a blanket and cranked the AC on high!

We got in around 5PM and I spent the next almost 7 hours in the bathroom! IT. WAS. AWFUL! I did end having to call Justin around 6PM and ask him to come home. Thankfully, he was walking to his truck to head home. He stopped to get me medicine and something to drink.

As long as the night felt and as bad as I did feel, I will say that something great came from the experience. While we were waiting for daddy to get home, and I was in the bathroom getting sick, Hadlea went to her bathroom, got me a wash cloth, and said, "here momma. your face dirty!". I thought that was so sweet of her. I then told her momma was sick and needed to lay down. I told her my belly hurt and she started giving my belly LOTS of kisses! I am just so thankful for little signs that I might acutally be parenting right! Ha! She was just the sweetest! Laid by me, patted me... I was just so thankful for her sweet heart during that time!

Now, one thing that isn't so sweet... getting from the living room to the bathroom in a split second, only to find your 2 year old had shut all of the lights off AND the door! This is what your arm will look like running fun speed into a door frame! :-)

I woke up Monday morning feeling great! A little weak, but TONS better! I got this little princess dressed and ready for school! Ha!

I didn't have to work due to President's Day so I headed out to get my car cleaned out, run some errands and get my tire fixed... you know... because that is what you plan on when you have a day off... 2 hours in a tire shop with a nail in your tire! :-) No complaints here though... I wasn't in a bathroom AND I wasn't on the side of the road getting it fixed! Ha!

I got H early from school and we headed home for a relaxing evening! We played a little bit and I braided her hair for the first time! She LOVED it! She kept walking over to her daddy and showing him! Oh... some boy is going to go nuts some day having to tell her how cute she looks every.single.second! Ha!

This week... we are running around like crazy! So much to do before leaving for vacation... yes, I still need a post on that! Chances of that getting on here before 8AM tomorrow when we leave are VERY slim... but I will try! :)

Happy week friends! :-)

a friend is...

...someone who knows all about you and loves you just the same.

One of my high school friends was married this past weekend. And I am not sure what it is about this picture, but it makes me very emotional! I am blaming old age, but each one of these girls were my very best friends at some point through my life. I know that our friends change as we do, however, we have never lost touch. They are all still very much my closest friends! And I know without a doubt, you learn your true friends over time. As we all sat at the same table with the husbands, reminiscing about the past 20+ years, it was just the greatest feeling. {Now... our husbands would have probably liked to hear many of those stories before deciding to marry us, but that is neither here nor there! Ha!}

From L to R:  Mikki, Me, Amanda (cousin), Lacey, Catherine, Jennifer and Alea

I am so thankful for each of their friendships. They are all very different, but each one full of LOTS of love! I have no doubts I could turn to each of them at any time with an issue, and they would so drop everything they were doing to help me... without hesitation. And I would do doubt do it for them!

I have more from the weekend, but this picture just means so much to me that I could NOT wait to post it... plus, AMANDA would be texting me within the next day reminding me I hadn't posted in a few days! So... here you go Mana! :) Love you!

Berkley and a video... and H too!

I feel like I don't talk much about Berkley these days... and although I do not, he is still very much in the center of our family! He spends most days in my lap or right beside my chair while I work. As soon as Justin and Hadlea get home each day, he is at the door to greet them and wait for all of the love and attention he can get! He gets told 'NO!' alot more these days, only because there is now a 3rd person in the house to discipline him... whether he truly needs it or not! Ha! Hadlea is definitely great at making sure he doesn't get too close to her things! :-)

No matter how much I talk about Berk, he is and always will be my very first baby! I just love that little guy so much! He is a momma's boy, much to daddy's dismay! And he might be a little spoiled too... watch here.

Almost 3 years ago when Justin and I went to pick up Berkley in Missouri {yes, we knew he had to be VERY special for us to travel that far!}, we stopped and bought him some toys and blankets. He has slept with this blanket every night since coming home. He has almost torn it to shreds in some areas because he chews on it before falling asleep every single night. Hey... doggies need their nightly rituals too! Ha!

My sleepy baby boy!

Wednesday night when daddy had to go get ready for the tackle show, H and I ran some errands and went to lunch at our favorite place, Panera!

Last night, we went to the tackle show for a little bit with daddy to help him set up some stuff! A guy had some rattle snakes from TX and H was in awe of them! They were so loud (from their rattlers) and moving all around!

We have a fun weekend filled with a wedding and Gigi and Poppa!

Happy Friday!

the hubby's latest project

For the last month or so, it has felt like Justin has been working a second job... which is kind of true seeing how he is getting paid! Yeah! However, this wasn't a 'planned' second job, and as far as Justin is concerned, this is FAR from being a J-O-B!

For those that do not know, Justin is an electrician. For the last 9 years, he has been contracted to a hospital here in town where they complete remodels. And yes... this place does one remodel after another! It is CRAZY!

If you have been following my blog for anytime at all, you know that Justin LOVES to fish and pretty much does it every other weekend, if not more. It is his passion. And I LOVE to support him in it! As long as it doesn't affect my lake time in the summer. And that is not a ha-ha just kidding joke either! That is in all seriousness! :-)

I am also sure you have heard me talk about the Roumbanis family in the past. Fred Roumbanis is a professional fisherman. Justin has watched him fish for quite some time. I took it upon myself right after Hadlea was born to hunt Fred down and try to get Justin a daily fishing trip with him. You can read what happened HERE, HERE and HERE. Obviously it happened, and we all have become fast friends! They are just really great, down to earth people. I am very thankful to have met Fred's wife. She has became a great friend!

So I say all of that to say that Justin's degree and years of experience as an electrician have paid off and come full swing. He is now completing the wiring of a new lift for bass boats. He is actually using his degree to do what he LOVES! You do not hear that very often! Ha!

Fred was approached about this new product and was asked to be the spokes person for it. However, the one thing keeping it from taking off is they couldn't find anyone to wire it. Enter Justin! :-) Fred gave the people Justin's name, Justin was contacted and the rest is history!

The OmniLift is a lift that will lift your trailing motor (little motor on the front of the boat) in and out of the water without any manual labor!

You can watch Fred's video about the OmniLift HERE. {Justin was there when this was filmed. They interviewed him regarding the physical parts of the device, however, that didn't make the interview. None the less, I know he is standing right beside the camera man smiling ear to ear! Ha!} He sent me this picture while it was being filmed!

You can also check out OmniLift HERE.

I am always getting pictures from Justin late at night like this... stuff torn apart on some one's boat and him trying to get it all back together!

Justin is LOVING this new adventure, and we are so curious as to where it could take him! This product is SO new, and it seems to be getting great reviews! I am just so happy he is getting involved in something that is very true to his heart! He is going to start working boat and tackle shows to get the product out there for people to see. His first show is this weekend! I cannot wait to hear how it goes!

wordless wednesday & february photo a day: 15

These are captions, not words! :-)

{Reason #500,0017 that I LOVE my daycare... I get sweet pictures like this as my baby girl lays down for a nap!

Oh... I just want to hold her while she naps!}

{This morning before leaving for daycare. She wanted her picture taken.

In order: "Dis my sad face", "I wun weal fass", "Me pose like Bwynlee"... get all of that?! Ha!}

Feb 15. Phone - I changed by phone background yesterday to this perfection of a picture... a heart with a the Dallas star for Valentine's Day! If it had Hadlea and Berkley's face in the middle too, it would be the most perfect picture EVER!

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

Valentines Day 2012 and february photo a day: 14

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have had a super fun day! We started the day by getting everything ready for Hadlea's Valentine's party at daycare. We made these butterflies, which I shared HERE last week. I LOVED the way they turned out! I found THESE free printables and added Hadlea's information in photoshop! LOVE them too!

"You make my <3 flutter! Love, Hadlea."

My sweet girl was all smiles before leaving for daycare to hand out her "butterfly gol' fish" as she called them!

Feb 14. Heart - This is my heart walking on two feet! Just not sure how I lived {or what I did with my time} before her!

I planned to go get Hadlea from daycare early just so I could spend some time with her, but I ended up getting a call around 3PM that she was running a little fever and had several dirty diapers. So I headed up to get her, only to find a girl with NO fever and happy as can be! For that... we were off to celebrate at Cherry Berry! ...where she specifically insisted on "pink ice cream"!

Daddy called to say he would be working late so H and I played and got a visit from Uncle Alan and Aunt Amanda! Hadlea had a great time with them!

Once daddy got home with dinner, we opened gifts! Hadlea showed daddy all of her candy and gifts from daycare! She got LOTS of $$ from Gigi and Poppa and Granny. Daddy and I got her a toy chest with dressup clothes and shoes!

The dressup clothes were a MAJOR hit! We could NOT stop laughing at our little princess!

Daddy and I had also got her some glow sticks to put in her bath! I got this idea from Emily and she LOVED it! Thanks for the idea, Emily!

While in the bath, we got a call from Uncle Jake so we did a little face time! It is kinda had to see, but she is showing him how strong she is! Ha!

Then it was off to bed with her doggy from Alan and Amanda!

Again, an AWESOME Valentine's Day! And even though Daddy and I agreed to not exchange gifts, I did go get him a jacket and pants for fishing. He came home with a VERY sweet card and flowers and is going to get the windows tented on my car!

Hope you enjoyed your day just as much as we did! Happy Day!

And just to reminisce over the last 3 years...

{and I am not sure why Hadlea's arms look short in the 2012 pic. they are not! ha!}