guess who came to visit!!!! and our weekend in pictures

THE LANDSCAPERS!!!!! They came on Thursday and Friday of last week and I was overjoyed!!! Perfect timing since it has rained every single day since they laid the seed. It looks great. When it warms up a bit I have two rose bushes to plant out by the deck in back and some other flowers on the other side of the deck. We also need to enclose the play system in back with some timbers and order the pebble rock for that. Cannot wait for all that to be done. Then when we finally stop dipping below 50 degrees at night they can come paint my front door and garage trim!! I cannot wait!!

Maggie Moo came to visit last Thursday!!!! Her Grandma is out of time so we get to spend Thursdays with her while her mama is at work. Hannah absolutely loves playing and taking care of Maggie and it gives me that baby fix that I so badly need.

Lauren and Julia!! They were laying on the couch watching "Megamind" and apparently there was a scary part and they were comforting one another. This is how these two are all day long. Just warms my heart!

Hannah and Lauren love to match but with their age difference it is sometimes hard to find things for them that match. Trusty old Gymboree jammie's work every time. They get so excited when they get new matching Gymbo jammies and I must say they are super cute in them!!

MAX!!! LOVE HIM!!

thank you mother nature

This weekend was absolute bliss! The weather was in the 70's on Saturday and 80's on Sunday!!!! What a wonderful, unexpected, break in mid April in Indiana! Friday night we had our new neighbors and our wonderful builder and his wife over for dinner. It was a great time and the neighbor girls spent the night which was a lot of fun. The weekend continued with meals outside, water balloon fights and breaking in the new swing set. Perfect!!

a girl turns 8

It is hard to believe that I have been a mama for 8 years now. In some ways it seems impossible and in other ways it seems like sooo... much longer than that. The long awaited day finally arrived for Lauren. She is the last one in the family to celebrate her birthday for the year and man does she hate it. We listen the entire month of March how unfair it is that her birthday is last. I always try to convince her that we save the best for last.. she never buys into it.

Her party was a success all in all. We had 10 little girls spend the night on Saturday night and I spent all day Sunday in somewhat of a coma trying to recuperate. Apparently Lauren was trying to recover as well because she took a 4 hour nap and then went back to bed at 9:30pm. And what a sweetheart she is. She thanked me two different times on Sunday for her party. I love that big heart.

Happy Birthday Hannah

My baby is 3.. how can it be? Hannah turned 3 while we were on vacation but I wanted to make a special blog post about it.

As some of you know, we tried for 4 years and countless fertility treatments before we were finally blessed with this sweet baby girl. I remember the day like it was yesterday when that little pink plus sign showed up on that test. I then took 6 more tests that same night bursting with joy at every little plus sign. Hannah Katherine has been a complete joy since the day she entered our lives. She is sweet, shy, loving, funny and attached to mommy more than you can imagine. I wouldn't change a thing. I love every moment I spend with her. I love our quiet times at home when it is just her and I. We play, read, she helps me with stuff I need to do and she is the best shopper a mama could ask for. Especially a mama who enjoys shopping as much as this one.

Happy Birthday my sweet Hannah Kate. Mommy loves you more than you will ever know. Thank you for being you. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Here are some pics of Hannah enjoying her 3rd Birthday! Enjoy!

we rocked the mouse!

It's official. I need a vacation to recover from our Disney Vacation. Any of you that have "vacationed" at Disney know what I'm sayin'. It's kind of like giving birth. It's extremely painful but after 6 months or so you forget how painful and exhausting it was and just remember the joyful part and so you do it again... and again... and again. I'm not kidding myself.. it wasn't our last Disney trip by any means.

The week was non stop but it was a blast. It was Hannah's third trip to Disney. The first trip she was in mama's belly and I don't think she remembers much. ;) The second time she was she nine months old.. again, memory is foggy. So really, to her, it was her first trip to see the mouse. My very favorite part about taking my kids to Disney is seeing the look in their eyes and on their faces when they see Cinderella's castle for the first time. When the give Minnie and Mickey a hug and then stare at their little book that Minnie signed. When Ariel comes to her breakfast table and says "Happy Birthday Hannah" and gives her a hug. It is absolutely priceless. I live for it.

And it never gets old for Lauren. She loves to see the princess's, watch the shows on stage and ride every ride she and her Dad can cram into their day. I love Lauren's fearless personality. She is afraid of nothing. NOTHING. As soon as she reached the height requirement she couldn't get on space mountain fast enough. I love it. It works out well. Jamie, Lauren and Audrey spend the day collecting and timing their fast passes, running from one ride to the next while Hannah and I ride Dumbo, get a snack, shop, ride It's A Small World, get another snack, go potty, she falls asleep and I shop. It was wonderful. I look forward to the day that we all are on the same page, we all meet the height requirements and we get to experience it all together. But for now, I'll take it!

I took over 800 photo's at Disney.. here are a few of my favorites!

Ariel.. isn't she purdy! Hannah's favorite!

I wasn't sure who was more excited. Hannah or me!

I love this one. Look at Ariel and Hannah looking at each other.

POOL TIME!!!

The three amigo's! Lauren, Audrey and Hannah!

God love her! She falls asleep anywhere. When it's time, it's time. And she is out for a good 1-2 hours!

Lauren LOVES to get her face painted. This was one of my fav's.

I love it!

the stars of the show!

Eating her bacon, egg and cheese sandwich from Potbelly's, patiently awaiting takeoff.