Halloween

It's been a while, and it's been a tough road since June, but more so since the end of August. Seems like when it rains it pours, but it is getting a little better each day....needless to say, I definitely don't take things for granted and tell my Girls EVERYDAY how much I love them!!! I've taken several steps back and realized a lot of things...about me and Brad and life in general. Why does it take a major life changing chain of events to open a person's eyes?? Seems like it should be easier to do, but sometimes it isn't. (Miss you tons Kari!!)

Yesterday was the Bazaar at the VFW...Shelby and I had been looking forward to it all week. (Sad I know, we have no life-LOL) She bought a couple of BEAUTIFUL hair things that a local
Craftster made (she does an awesome job)...one a headband with a flower on it and the other a ponytail holder with a flower on it. She even spent her own money (even thought I paid for half of it too for her, but she wanted to pay for it "with my own money!!") I ended up buying a new purse (gasp...so hard to believe isn't it-LOL) and a new wallet to go with it...I figured it would be my Christmas present to myself. We had a good time--Shelby really liked the Chicken Noodle Soup, but the Pumpkin pie was the best she said. Alexis was in her stroller since I knew I wouldn't be able to contain her for very long....she was rather upset by the end that she wasn't able to walk around like Big Sis was, especially after lunch.
Then, last night we went Trick-or-Treating in town...we started out a little after 5:00 since it is a school night for Shelby and they would both need baths at night. We were ALL wiped out by 8:00 and headed home. Alexis was getting really tired and Shelby was getting cold. We didn't hit every place that we had wanted to, but the Girls still got a bunch of candy. Alexis even managed to get a Hershey's bar opened and sucked out some chocolate.....she ended up being the "mad cow" as Brad put it and Shelby and I realized she must be a "mad chocolate cow" at one point....it was fun! Here are a couple of pictures of our Girls...we had a wonderful time!

My Smiling Vampire

My Little Cow

What Goof Balls

Look at the Sisterly Love--a RARE moment

Got them BOTH looking!!

Thanks for looking....hopefully I can keep up with the Blog a little more, but no guarantees. LOL

Alexis turns 1!!!

I can't believe it has been a year already that our Bug-a-Boo was born in the back of the van. Time flies by way too fast!! We had her party on the 21st in the afternoon. Of course it had to be the HOTTEST day of the entire summer. I sent out cute little bumble bee invitations and did a yellow/bumble bee theme. She doesn't take to the heat very well at all. We thought she was sunburned once she turned red, but we had the sunscreen on and she wasn't on the swing but for 2 minutes. Come to find out, she was just really hot and was a ton better later on. Poor thing looks miserable. Shelby was disappointed that more people didn't come (we tend to make a big deal about Birthdays), so may need to rethink some logistics of things, but Alexis had a wonderful time!

Her Cake and Cupcakes Cones (Brad requested the mile marker sign cake)

Digging into her cake...she loved it (I had made her a little cupcake for her own, but the cat got it while I was taking a shower that day)

Daddy and Alexis (with her cute ponytail)


Making a mess



Loving that cake though (she is super red)

She wanted more! We didn't break out the ice cream...it would have melted on contact!



Getting ready to open presents--with Sissy's help



Shelby kept wanting to help...Alexis wasn't moving fast enough I guess



Having a drink of Tang....MMMMM!

It was a great day and I can't believe we are moving on to the second year with her!! On her actual birthday she was reliving her birth I think. She was up around 2:30 really restless, by 3:00 she had a new diaper, 3 oz. of milk and was getting ready to snuggle with Mommy in her bed. Finally by 4:00 she was asleep again, but was raring to go at 6:00 AM! The timeline fit with her birthday....2:00-2:30 were the gas pains, 3:00 the water broke and at about 4:00 she was born. LOL....I just hope it isn't an every year kind of thing, even though I thought it was pretty special to me.

1st day of Kindergarten

I can't believe my baby is in school already. She is such a big girl!!
Shelby started Kindergarten on Monday and had a wonderful time. She will be going all day long on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There are 11 kids in her class with 5 being boys and 6 girls. It's a pretty even class, but they are ALL very strong willed personalities. I took the following pictures Monday morning. I was going to take some this AM too, but it was Picture Day at school and we had Alexis do her pics too, so it was a rush this morning. I hope you enjoy the pictures. On another note....This Momma didn't cry when she left her, but it was a very tough day, especially when you can hear them at recess outside my window.