these 2 girls of mine...

These are a few of my favorite videos from the past few weeks...

Maggie starting to army crawl..although, that only lasted about 2 days before the full on crawling started! Annie Rice was watching Princess Poppiseed[VeggieTales] in the background.

This was a BIG moment for Annie Rice. It was her Easter party at school...BUT what's so big about it is her JUMPING! We worked on her jumping in therapy for a good 3-4 months and she can finally do it! 

 Princess Annie Rice playing soccer. She set Kaz straight and told him that in soccer "We use our hands". Ha! 

One of my favorites. Annie Rice singing(yelling) Hosana! One of her favorite songs! 

it’s comical...

Do you ever have days that go so bad, you can’t help but laugh? That’s how I feel right now...I can’t help but laugh but also wonder what else might happen...

Last week, I had planned on blogging regularly again. If I told you everything that has gone on in these last few weeks, I don’t even know that you would believe it, but to make a long story short, things have been crazy! I have been looking forward to this week for a long time now...1) Because on Friday[hopefully] Kaz and I are going to NYC for a few days to celebrate my 30th birthday and I’ve always wanted to go at Christmas. 2) Maggie’s court date is tomorrow. I’ve been so excited for this week and looking forward to it. 

Last Friday, we had some of our good friends over to make Christmas trees for the kids. It was such a FUN morning. On Saturday, we picked Kaz up from the airport after being in Colorado for a week with work, and then came back home to get the girls ready for their babysitter. Saturday was my last night of being in my 20s, so Kaz and I went out for mexican and saw a movie. It was such a FUN night and some much needed time with each other that wasn’t rushed. I had been dreading Sunday, not really because it was my birthday but just because of the idea that I would no longer be in my 20s. The morning started out great..We all got ready and headed out the door to church. Annie Rice had been acting a little different...when I woke her up she had a really bad diaper and what looked like marshmallows in her hair. I didn’t think anything about it because she had been with the sitter the night before, and I knew she had been sneaky in getting treats, so I just thought she hid some marshmallows and ate them in her bed. She didn’t want to eat anything for breakfast, but again, nothing out of the ordinary except she loves breakfast but is also a picky eater. We made it to church and headed to Sunday School. I was so excited to hear Kaz speak on his trip to Asia in our sunday school class....

Then Annie’s teacher came in and told me that she had thrown up and was very upset. I went to get her and came home with both girls while Kaz stayed at church. Throw up wasn’t exactly what I had planned for my birthday but it was okay because all Annie Rice wanted to do was snuggle with me. We had plans on Sunday night to go see some Christmas lights with my bible study girls and there families, but since Annie Rice was sick[and the other kids-they had the stomach bug too] we decided to cancel those plans. We still had to pick up Kaz’s car from the airport because he rode back with us the day before, and we had decided we could pick up his car on the way back from seeing the lights...My friend Jennifer was out in town, so I asked her if she could take me to the airport to get his car and then I could run to the mall for just a few minutes, while Kaz took care of Annie Rice. As soon as I got in the car, I knew something wasn’t right..Just my luck. I was 20 minutes away from home with a car that spurted and shook like crazy. For not having car problems in a long time, we’ve had our share lately! We just bought a new vehicle a month ago because Kaz’s old car died. I thankfully made it home[believe me, I prayed the whole way]. As I walk in the door, Annie Rice throws up again everywhere. She played in the bathtub the last 3 hours before going to bed. She was down for the night, Maggie had been fed, and I just wanted a few hours on my birthday to watch TV, EAT because with everything going on, I hadn’t done that, and just not think about anything. Well, for the first time ever, something[I don't know what] spooked Maggie so much that she was screaming with terror. I got her calmed down and decided she could sleep in the pack n play that night in our room. It had been a day to remember...What a way to celebrate 30...

Monday came around, and I was HOPING things would be better, but they just kept getting worse. Annie Rice was sicker than ever. We ended up having to take her to the ER for dehydration. Kaz tried fixing the car, but what he fixed wasn’t the problem, and to make matters worse, Kaz now has the stomach bug! That’s the short version....Oh, and I can't forget how I promised Annie Rice if she felt better we would make sugar cookies...I made them while she was sleeping and thought if she felt better she could decorate them when she woke up. She asked to make cookies after he nap, I had everything on the table, and dropped the entire thing of cookies...They were in crumbles! She no longer wanted to decorate then:(

I’m PRAYING TODAY IS BETTER. Annie Rice is still very puny. She still wants to sit in my lap and watch the Drummer Boy over and over[and I’m okay with that...I love cuddling and holding her hand]. Kaz is in the bedroom locked away from everyone. I’m PRAYING me and Maggie are spared from this bug BECAUSE TOMORROW we celebrate her adoption being finalized in court. What a JOYOUS day. While these last few days have been humorous, they have also been draining and satan has used every opportunity to steal my JOY from the wonderful things to come this week. This morning, I have been praying for healing over this house and that the JOYOUS events of this week would go as planned. Will you join me in praying for healing?

making christmas cones...

 waiting on daddy at the airport with her treasure map

 last date with Kaz in my 20s...

 day 1 of stomach bug..

 day 2....

 broken cookies...

 day 3..today

yesterday...

I love days that I have bible study. I look forward to it. I love the girls in it, and the Lord has done so much in our group over the last few months. Last night I had bible study...Before I left, my little Annie Rice dressed up like she does everyday. She put on her bow, high heels, and walked around with her pocket book. It was so hard for me to leave after dinner to go to bible study because her and Kaz were snuggling in the bed watching Mickey Mouse. I wanted to do that too....BUT I'm so glad I went to bible study. We had such a good time together and one that I will never forget. Every week our husbands joke that we get home later and later, and that is true. We do. BUT last night, set the record. At about 9:40, we decided to have a girls night. We went and picked up our friend Monica, came back to my house, cooked brownies, watched a girly movie and talked until the wee hours of this morning. I got less than 5 hours of sleep:) BUT I needed that, even though it was at midnight. I think we all do at times. I felt like I was back in college. This morning, I met my friend Jennifer at the YMCA[she's in bible study also]. We decided to try a running group and ended up running almost 4 miles A LOT faster than I am used to! Somehow, I'm still going strong...I thought when Annie Rice went down for a nap, I would want one too as well, but I'm doing pretty good:)  Below are a few pictures from our day yesterday...I treasure my family and the amazing, Godly women the Lord has placed in my life. 

my week...

This week hasn't slowed down! My mom came in town to help me CLEAN OUT! We went through every closet except mine. I threw stuff away, put piles together for a yard sale, and gave some to our neighbor. My closets are now super organized, clutter free,  and no longer full of junk I don't need:) It feels so good to know whats hidden in those closets are now pretty and organized! Thanks mom for helping me:) Below are some pictures from our week! Beware...some are absolute cuteness:)

We have gotten pretty good at carrying a potty around in the back of our car. Annie Rice doesn't seem to mind at all where she uses the bathroom:) Potty training this little girl wasn't bad at all! It was a lot better than what I anticipated. 

Annie Rice had her first McLeod peach! She loved it! Nothing beats McLeod peaches from McBee, SC!

 This sad face was after I told her to chew her food! She's gotten in this stage where she wants it to just sit in her mouth. Dinner time in our house takes about an hour because this little girl tries everything she can to NOT eat! The other day I told her that I was going to count to 3, and if she hadn't started chewing I was going to scold her. I said 1, she looked at me and in the sweetest voice, said 2. I couldn't help but laugh. 

 We've been making a lot of cookie dough cupcakes this week! She loves helping me mix. 

 Play date with Sunday School friends:) She was so tired after!

 My bible study is doing this Ruth study! It's AMAZING!!!

 Can you tell a difference in the 2 wallets below? I bought the top one 2 years ago at Target for $7. Every time I would pull it out in stores people would say how much they loved my HoBo. After 2 years, my favorite wallet broke and my sweet mom bought me a real HoBo! I LOVE IT! 

 Me and my friend Carissa. We have too much fun at photo booths at weddings!

 Awww....So beautiful! I LOVE pictures and I LOVE showing them off in our house! We added 4-5 frames on this wall this week and I was very happy! Kaz, not so much...He is not looking forward to filling all these holes one day when we move! 

 Duck face...

 Wearing MeMe's glasses...

 I found this adorable outfit at HomeGoods. I knew it would be a good dress up outfit! BUT it's so stinking cute! I have to think of a creative way to use it at least 1 picture:)

 Kaz made a new kitchen table! It's beautiful. I'll share more on this next week! I love my new farmhouse table:)

 One of Annie Rice's favorite shows is Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I saw this shirt at Target the other day on sale for $3 and knew she would love it! So I bought it even though it was a little boys shirt! She doesn't want to take it off! She wore it all day yesterday with her patch, and kept talking like a pirate. Last night when we started to take the shirt off to put on pjs, she cried and cried and just wanted to wear her Jake shirt. So we are going on day 2! I'm going to have to get creative on how to get it off of her later today! BUT even though it's a boys shirt, she still looks cute in it:)

life....and a cookie cake!

WooHoo! My busy wedding season is O-V-E-R! I still have 12 more weddings this year, but that is spread out in 6 months compared to 15 weddings in 10 weeks! I’m very thankful for my job. I love my job! BUT I have ran myself ragged the last few weeks. We have a week of VBS at church and then we are going to the beach for a week! I can’t wait!

Life with Annie Rice has been so much fun lately. Her little personality is growing everyday. She’s becoming more independent, defiant, and chatting up a storm. 

I love that she still lays like this sometimes...with that little butt stuck out!

Last week, I had the opportunity to do a children’s story time of my children's book at Burry Bookstore in my hometown. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, Annie Rice was sick last week and it literally lasted all week. At first she had a temp from Sunday-Wednesday of 102.6-100.6[that was her first fever in a year..], then she just got extremely tired, grumpy, and just wanted to sleep all the time. I was very proud of myself on Friday...I really needed to get in a good 4-5 hours of work, but she just did not feel good. She didn’t want to do anything but stay in my arms. So we watched Beauty and the Beast and she fell asleep. Instead of laying her down and working, I decided to let her sleep in my arms and didn’t work until that night when she went to bed. It felt good to make a decision I wanted, not based on work. I haven’t done that very well the last few weeks..Work has always come first the majority of the time. I enjoyed my time cuddling with this sweetie so much, and about an hour into it, I wanted a nap so I let her sleep in my bed while I napped too! 

Yesterday, she broke out in a rash and scratched it so much, this morning is looked like she walked into a bob wire fence:(

Today, we took a few 2nd birthday pictures. Her birthday is July 6th, but I wanted to go ahead and take some pictures to use on her birthday party invitation. Since her LOVE right now is cookies, I knew I had to make a cookie cake of some sort. Pinterest helped me pick just the right cookie cake:) I honestly couldn’t have picked anything better...This morning when I made the cake, she was begging to eat it before we even left the house! So naturally, she dove right in for the pictures. I WILL be sharing more from our session later:)

It may not look very big, BUT that's 4 dozen cookies!

This is what my little cutie did on the ride home. She stayed like this for a good 15 minutes...

When I got home, I started looking through the pictures. These are a few I LOVE. The one of her crying WILL be framed. It’s precious. After we were finished, we told her to walk to us on the railroad tracks. She didn’t want to walk on those tracks not one bit, so she fell dramatically to the ground and gave us this face. It’s priceless!

How cute is this little ruffle bottom?

Tonight, while Kaz was folding clothes, he told me I needed to get my phone. Little priss put all of my clean underwear around her neck and walked proudly around the house wearing them! I love her to pieces!