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.

2 things I am in lurrvvveee with.. and 2 things, not so much

Happy Sunday ya'll! I am sittin comfy on the couch watching the Oscars... ahhh.. lovely!

So there are two things I am completely in love with right now and two things that are driving mama crazy. And since I am a half glass full kinda gal, I will share the things I love first!

First, there is this little baby!

The Miele Terrane Vacuum

How do I love thee, let me count the ways! Now I stalked this sucker on the internet for a good two years before I convinced (suckered) my hubby into letting me buy it. We have five pets so, hello, I needed an amazing vacuum. I've had my fair share of vacuums.. I've put em' all to the test. The wind tunnels, the bagless, hepafilters and even the Dyson. None of them come close to this sucker. There are many reasons why the Miele tops my list. It was my first canister and I am sold on the canisters for sure. This vacuum is extremely quiet, incredibly easy to handle, and does a fantastic job of picking up everything. I love it!

So how did I sucker my husband into letting me buy it.

Well, you all know this little girl.

Bella Louise.

Jamie wanted her so bad. I was not excited about the idea. We already had Max and 2 cats at the time. We lived in our house we just moved from which wasn't big enough as it was. We knew we were getting ready to try and sell the house. So, I made a deal. You get the dog and I get the vacuum to clean up after the dog. He went for it and the rest is history! :)

And second....

The SteamFast 3-in-1 Multi-Purpose Steamer

I can't take the credit for finding this little nugget. My sister called me to tell me about this fantastic steamer she had just bought. She even researched steamers and everything. She said it got great reviews, she ordered it and she loved it. She used it on her hard wood floors. Perfect. I logged onto Amazon, add to bag, done! It came, it sat in the box in the dining room for about two weeks. And I finally opened it. I sent my sister a test message that simply read "I am in love." I steamed my hardwoods the first time while Jamie was out running errands. He came home and said the floors looked better than the day we moved in. Yea!!! I love it because it doesn't use any chemicals, just steam. Luv!!!

So, now for the empty part of the glass. Warning: I am going to sound spoiled, self absorbed, etc.

First, the words "This item will be available to ship after....." Grrr.. You see, the irritating part is they don't tell you this while you have this purdy little item pulled up on your computer screen. You gaze upon the item, you picture it in your home, you think of all the ways you will convince your husband that you really do need the item and then you click "add to cart." And poof, there it is... "Your item will.... " And look, I can accept two weeks from now, even the same month but I have been seeing April ship dates for stuff I am looking out in February. Come on people, PULL IT TOGETHER!!!!

Second, the mud pit that is my yard. This is driving me crazy. Forget that it looks like total crap. I'm over that. These two dogs that are used to being able to go out and do their business whenever they want. Now, when they want *need* to go out, I have to get my boots on, coat, hat, get the leashes and walk the dogs to the empty lot that has grass next door. Now, if I am alone with Hannah I have the pleasure of getting her full gettup on and taking her with me. Today, Bella was apparently wining at the back door so Hannah let her out. Bella was COVERED in mud more than she wasn't. So I made a path of towels that led to my shower and bathed her. That was fun. Or not.

Yes, yes I know. Woe is me.

February is Flying By!!

Is it ever! I won't complain as I cannot wait for spring but I need to get on the ball. We leave for our vacation to Disney on March 5th and I keep thinking it is further away than it really is. Time to get on the ball. I have a hodge podge of pics to share.. so here they are!

One of the glorious things about having my kids 5 years apart is it keeps Lauren young at heart. She would never have these little green army men laying around if she didn't have a younger sister who begged for them at Target earlier that day. Lauren came home from school, found them and prepared for combat!

VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Daddy was working on Valentine's Day so it was just the girls and I. We picked Lauren up from school and we headed to Designer Desserts. YUMMY!! The girls picked out some delish treats (and so did mommy!) We came home, had our treats, watched Charlie Brown Valentine and enjoyed our LOVING evening together! Perfect!

Patiently waiting to go get Lauren from school

Lauren had her friend, Alena, spend the night a couple nights ago. These two are two peas in a pod! They have so much fun together and Alena is super sweet ta boot!

Playing "Just Dance"

Our little ham in the bathtub! She loves to take bubble baths and give herself a beard of bubbles like Santa. She always follows it up with a ho!ho!ho!

back to normal...

Finally. After what seems like weeks of no schedules and complete chaos with the move, everyone getting sick and then the blizzard, everyone is where they are supposed to be today. Daddy is at work, Lauren is at school and Hannah and I are hanging out at home after a grocery shopping trip this morning. Normal. I enjoy normal and a schedule. Hopefully the snow and germs will stay away and we can be "normal" at least until we leave for Disney in 25 days. :)

Snow Day

We, with along with the rest of the country it seemed, received our fair share of snow this past week. After the majority of the snow had fallen we all headed out to play, shovel and snowblow our way out!