Here Comes Peter Cottontail

This Easter was such an exciting time for our family. Unfortunately, Owen was sick and I had to keep him in so he didn't get to come to our church Easter egg hunt. However, sister and I went and she was just hilarious.

When she started hunting the easter eggs, after she got a few eggs in her basket, she just wanted to dump them all out and then she would just laugh. It was so funny. 

She looked real thrilled in this picture. LOL!

Here she is playing with one of her eggs that she found.

Still playing with the eggs... needless to say, the eggs weren't in the basket for very long.

Here she is on the move... again.

I wish that Owen could have been there with us, but I have to say just taking Olivia by herself was a trip. Last year she wasn't walking at Easter and it was a lot of fun watching her run around and dump all of her eggs out.

Giving Back

A few weeks ago we had Owen's dedication at church. As most of you know, my dad is the pastor of our church and when it comes to things like weddings, dedications, etc. Those are the days that I just want him to be dad. So for Owen and Olivia's dedications, Bro. Jerry & Sis. Merlene (they're from Branson and are just like grandparents to me) came down to do the dedication.

It was a great day. We were so glad that we could share it with so many members of our family and some of our friends.

Our sweet little man =)

Bro. Jerry & Owen

Praying for Owen

My sweet family... life is just perfect.

Ben's family

My family... aunts, uncles, cousins & all =)

Thinking About Things

When you become a parent, there are many things that you don't want to think about, but you know that they are necessary to have in place. Just to name a few: saving for college, making a will, life insurance, etc. For some reason, I have really been thinking about getting our will made. We're just not guarenteed a tomorrow and I'd like to know that if something happened to Ben and I that our kids would be well taken care of.

As most of you know, I'm an only child. (This creates sort of a problem when you're trying to figure out who your kids would go to in the case of some crazy accident). Ben comes from a family of four. He has an older brother and two younger sisters. His brother and one of his sisters lives in Frankfort, KY. His other sister happens to be our next door neighboor.

 Even though his sister is our neighbor, we still usually only see them at family gatherings and since his brother and other sister live in Frankfort, we don't see them very often. If you've ever been in this kind of situation, you know it's not one that you want to face, but I believe it is necessary to have all these things figured out just for that just in case moment.

Ben and I have talked and talked and talked about who we would want our kids to go to if something happened to us and we've only been able to come up with one suitable solution. We have two friends, Austin & Allie.

(Yes, I stole this picture from her blog, I'm sure she won't mind. LOL!)

They aren't just our friends, they are like family to us. Olivia and Owen will grow up thinking that they're really their Aunt & Uncle because we always call them Aunt Allie & Uncle Austin. They are so close to our kids that usually if they don't see them at church on Sunday, then they will usually come over to the house during the week so they can see them.

Here's a prime example. On St. Patrick's Day, Allie came over and went to the park & out to eat with us. You can read more about that here.

Nevertheless, even though Ben & I had it all figured out there was still one very important thing missing. Asking them. Ben & I decided that after church we would talk to them and just see what they would say. I was hoping they would say yes, but if something happened to us, two kids, 14 months apart and they don't even have their own kids yet, you just never know. Well, they said YES!!! I cannot tell you how happy that I am. Of course, I hope that nothing ever happens to me or Ben, but in the crazy case that it does, I know that I won't have to worry about our kids. Austin and Allie treat them just as good as we do. Owen and Olivia both love them dearly and I have to say that we do too.

17 & 3

It's hard to believe that my babies are now 17 months & 3 months old! It just seems like yesterday we found out we were pregnant with Olivia and then, (literally), not too long after she was born we found out we were pregnant (again) with Owen. Life has definitely thrown us a few curve balls, but I honestly can say I wouldn't change a thing. I was terrified when we found out we were pregnant with number 2. I mean 14 months apart. Really? Who does that? And then to add my crazy delivery with Olivia, let's just say, I really DID NOT want to go through that whole ordeal again. You can read about it here. Nevertheless, what can you really do? As my second pregnancy went on, I was still nervous, anxious, scared, etc, but the moment we found out that we were having a little boy, I was EXTATIC!! Our lives would be full and complete. One girl, one boy. Perfect. 

(I'm really not sure why this picture is upside down, I've tried to rotate it, but it just ain't happening).

Now a few months later and it has been wonderful. Yes, it's crazy (most of the time), but Olivia absolutely adores her little brother and I'm sure he feels the same way about her. I'm excited that they're going to grow up together and have one another to talk to, play with, beat up (j/k, but seriously, LOL!) and just love. It's a pretty amazing thing I have to say. A few months ago I wanted to cry my eyes out and at times, I did just that, but today, I'm happy that they're as close in age as they are. It's a little bit of a struggle and taking some time to get used to when I take them places by myself, but I know in just a few years they'll be going to school and having friends and all doing all the stuff that you do when you grow up, so for now, I'm trying to enjoy every little moment.

Olivia at 17 months:
You are in to just about everything! You definitely keep me on my toes! I think that you're hitting the terrible two's just a little bit early. You sure know how to throw them temper tantrums, so we're trying to work on that. Unfortunately, time out has become almost an everyday occurance around here. Other than the crazy fits that we're trying to work on, you're a GREAT toddler. You've been such a big help since Owen has been born. You bring me his bottle, paci, burp cloth, blanket, etc. You adore your little brother. You have to kiss him SEVERAL times throughout the day. Your favorite tv show is Olivia. I swear, you're obsessed with that show. It's kind of funny because I always tell your daddy that the show Olivia is our family on tv. You act just like her and I keep saying that's how you'll be when you grow up. You'll eat just about anything. Your favorite food by far is chicken nuggets, but you tried cheese pizza this weekend and you really enjoyed it. You are still sleeping thru the night (Hallelujah!) and you're still taking a good 1&1/2 to 2 hour nap during the day. You LOVE LOVE LOVE your blankie. You carry it around with you everywhere! You're really a talker these days and you're very loud. (I don't think you've found your inside voice yet.) Your new words are: "Chloe" (I guess she's your best friend because I hear you say her name 1,000 times a day), "bye Chloe, Owen & peese (please)." You'll also repeat just about anything we ask you to say. You definitely have a pretty large vocabulary.

Owen at 3 months:

We have tried several formulas with you, but you are now on Good Start Protect Plus. This one, by far, has seemed to be the best. You have started sleeping more throughout the night, you usually wake up around 2 or 2:30 am and we'll give you a bottle, but then you will go back to sleep and sleep until 6 or 7 (sometimes later). You are in a size 2 diaper! (I just switched you to them this weekend). You are also in 0-3 month and some 3-6 month clothes. You are quite the chunk! You're starting to develop a little bit of a personality. You're learning how to laugh and smile and coo and it's the cutest thing! You're usually very good when we're out in public and at church you're usually quiet as a mouse. (I'm very thankful for that!) Other than that, you're just growing like a little weed.

(I'm not sure why this picture is sideways. Something crazy is going on with my pics. LOL!)

We love you and your sister more than ANYTHING in this world!! You two have made our lives complete! I can't imagine life before you and believe me, I don't want to.

We love you!

Mommy & Daddy

Picture Day

I finally took the kids to get their picture made. I've been wanting to take them ever since Owen was born, but I hadn't got around to it until now. For one, every photographer that I looked up and liked, they're prices were WAY too high. I love having professional pictures made, but I definitely don't want to break the bank. My friend, Megan introduced me to Britney Deshea Photography. She takes AMAZING pictures and her prices are VERY reasonable. We had a couple of melt-downs, but all in all, our session went really good... Here's a few of the results...

These are just our "sneak peek" pics, I can't wait to see the rest of them. If you live in the surrounding area and you're wanting to get some pictures made, you should definitely go see Britney. We will definitely be going back again! =)

Happy St. Patty's Day

My mom thought I was crazy when I bought the kids "St. Patrick's Day" attire. She said, "Where do you really think they'll be going on St. Patrick's Day other than home?" Well, at the time I wasn't really sure, even if they didn't go anywhere, they could still get their picture made, right? Ended up, we went to the park & out to eat after I got off work...

"Aunt Allie" even got to join us! =)

Yes, I wore green too... I didn't want to get pinched. LOL!

Look at them chubby cheeks! I think I will snatch a kiss.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!



Not Feeling Too Good

Unfortunately, the change of weather also means ALLERGY season! I'm pretty sure both kids are going to be like me and have allergies. UGH! I've always had allergies to some degree, but this year they seem to be much worse and they've started much earlier!

Today I took little man to the doctor because he was all stopped up and sneezing and coughing. I figured it was just allergies or a little cold, but I wanted to be for sure and not let it turn into something worse like bronchitis or pneumonia. Ben had to work and my mom was sleeping because she also had to work, so I took both kids with me and to the doctor we went.

Bless Owen's little heart, he just wasn't in the picture taking mood.

But Olivia was actually (to my surprise) very well behaved. She just played with a puzzle while the doctor examined him.

Thankfully, he only had a little cold & the doctor told us it should go away in a few days. I'll definitely say, it's a little bit of a task taking them out somewhere by myself, but I honestly wouldn't trade it for the world! I'm just so happy & thankful that I have two healthly babies that I can take out to places. (And that's just something extra that won't cost you a thing. LOL!)