Birthday Week

This week has been full of celebration. Birthday after Birthday! Yesterday and today have brought another year of life, love and happiness to two of my favoritest people. My Mom and Mandi.

My Mom. That's all I need to say, but there's just so much more. My mom turned 54 yesterday, and celebrated with a trip to the oncologist. She had an xray and some blood work, both of which came back EXCELLENT! You see, in August of 2008, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. No family history, no forewarning behavior, just a routine mammogram (she has always gotten them religiously thank goodness). She underwent a lumpectomy, chemo and radiation, and at her mammogram in August of 2009, was labeled "cancer free"!!!!! Besides the fact that my mother gave me life, she means everything to me. Don't get me wrong, I took her for granted (we hated each other in high school), but I honestly don't think I could live without her. She has made me who I am today by being who she is. She is beyond compassionate, intelligent, loyal, loving and brave! I couldn't ask for anything more! Happy late Birthday, my hero!

Ah, Mandi. For the life of me, I couldn't tell you how we met, but I don't remember not knowing her. I know we started exchanging BFF necklaces in 7th grade. Since then, we've exchanged laughter, tears, boyfriends, jobs, life lessons, husband complaints and kid stories. Another woman I don't think I could live without. She has stood beside me though good times and bad with love and support; and, even though I am 3 days older than her, she has always been full of good advice. Happy Birthday, Mandevilla!All right, no more sentimental nonsense, it's Friday! My sweet baby sister is going to prom this Saturday and I can't wait to see how stunning she will be! This is my last prom, probably until Aubrey.....who's 9. Don't worry, I'm not rushing our girls to grow up, friends, I'm just saying that my sister is all grown up. Prom this weekend, graduation in 2 weeks and then on to the rest of her life! Time really flies, so don't forget to cherish it all! Oops! I got sentimental again! Have a great weekend!

LORDY, LORDY!

Ok, so I'm not 40, or even 30 (until next year). Today, fine readers, is my 29th birthday! Kailyn got up this morning and sang to me, it was super cute! I've had lots of phone calls and facebook wall posts. I truly feel blessed. Not only to be alive on my 29th birthday, but to have lots of awesome people to share it with! Next year at this time I hope to be somewhere like the below picture surrounded by tons of white sand, an ocean and my besties!

I got my pics back from a great session with Tammy. Myer was pretty serious, but at least he was awake! My Mom's Birthday/Mother's Day present from her loving children is a session with the oh-so-wonderful Kathy McCloy, so hopefully she can coax a smile out of the little toot.Don't forget to think of me tomorrow.....maybe say a little prayer that the term "virtually painless" means NO PAIN! Also, since I won't be on here tomorrow, I'd better say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my handsome, kind, loving, hardworking hubby early! I LOVE YOU!

Just kidding, that's the guy who won $258 million! My husband is this hottie:

Oh Baby!

Let me just start off by saying that I think I was put on this Earth to be a mother. I find no greater joy than being with my children and I love them more than life itself. My heart explodes at the thought of my babies. That being said, who knew how much different having 2 kids was than just 1. I thought with Kailyn being 6 when Myer was born I was going to have a cakewalk with 2 kids. HA! I swear I am a very efficient person, sometimes even obsessively efficient, but you wouldn't think so lately! This morning I walked out of the house 20 minutes later than I should have with SEVEN bags. Anywho, I forget a few things here and there and run a little late from time to time, but my babies are happy. I'll get into a groove.....hopefully sooner than later!

My fabulous hubby and some fantastic helpers (Andy, Ray, George, Fred, Linc, Tim, Jug and Stephen) put up Kailyn and Myer's new swingset this weekend. IN THE POURING RAIN! Those boys worked their patooties off, and I appreciate it so much! I've inserted a picture of the factory swingset for now. Our backyard looks like a pond, so I will show off the hard work when I don't have to wear waders. Kailyn is so excited to play on the new set! I'm sure Myer is too, he's just not telling us!

Saturday morning, while the boys were slaving away, my Mom, Kailyn, Myer and I went to the Annual MS Walk. We got started on our 4 mile trek after Tracey cut the ceremonial ribbon, when I got pretty nervous. It was drizzling rain and very windy. I just felt like it was too cold and damp for a 3 month old. Kailyn and my Mom wanted to keep going with my Aunt Brenda and Aiden, so I drove to the First Christian Church and waited at the check point with mine and Tracey's Grandmas. I wrapped Myer up, snug as a bug in a rug, and held him tight against me. Once the walking crew made it, Kailyn decided she wanted to walk around the square to Red Cross and then I pick them up. My mom wanted to finish, but Kailyn has her wrapped around her little finger and wanted her to ride with us, so that's what she did. Pushover. I was really proud of both of them, especially Kailyn, for walking over 2 miles! Yesterday was my Mom, Joe and I's Birthday Lunch at my Gma's. We had lots of good food and opened some presents! It was great. Joe and I can't keep surprises, so we always open our presents from each other early (Saturday)! He's actually had one his presents (a leatherman's tool) since, like, January, but he had no idea about the Cardinal's Tee or new jeans, I was quite proud for keeping my trap shut about those for over a month. I picked out an awesome ring with two garnets (one for each of my January kiddos), and Joe got it for me, so I definitely loved it! This week should prove to be quite a busy one. Today Kailyn has Dance, Tuesday is MY BIRTHDAY and Kailyn has TBall practice, Wednesday is Joe's Birthday and my Essure Procedure, Thursday is my Mom's Birthday, Kailyn's Young Author's Tea and Tball pics and Friday is Mandi's Birthday, Kailyn has a Girl Scout Meeting and goes to her Dad's. I certainly hope to be on time and organized for all events! Pray for me Wednesday as I finalize the fact that our family is complete. Yikes, no more babies, really! Have a good one!

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE - Trailer (REAL)

New Addiction

From the beginning, I have shown no interest in the Twilight series. I tried to read the first book once, because my sister and co-worker were pretty into it, but I just couldn't force it. I sided with the people who were against the hype, calling it stupid and overdone. I guess I figured honestly that I saw Interview With The Vampire, Brad Pitt's best and sexiest role, and that was good enough for me. Until my 6 year old got sucked into Wizard's of Waverly Place. Last season, the teenage wizard son started dating a teenage vampire girl, while the teenage wizard daughter started dating a teenage werewolf boy. Well one day Kailyn saw a commercial for the New Moon DVD and decided she really wanted to see it, with her newfound love of vampires and werewolves. I was leary for quite a little bit, not sure how scary or graphic the Twilight tales were, but finally gave in two weekends ago. Kailyn, Myer and I sat down on a Sunday afternoon and watched Twilight. I wouldn't say it was the best movie ever, but Kailyn really liked it, and I was itching to know what would happen next. This past weekend, Kailyn went to her dad's, so Joe and I previewed New Moon (I'd heard of a few graphic scenes), and unfortunately, I am now hooked. How does this happen? Hi, my name is Aimee, and I'm addicted to the Twilight Series. Unbelievable. I don't even think I can wait for Eclipse to come to theaters June 30th, so I had a friend bring me the book! I've got to get the book I'm reading now done, so I can be ready for the movie. I'm such a dork.

By the way, I am 100,000% TEAM EDWARD. Taylor Lautner looks like a 12 year old, and while his abs are quite tasty, the werewolves just don't appeal to me. They seem to have no control of their transformation or anger. Robert Pattinson, however, while he always looks like a huge dirtbag in the public eye, is one fine, sparkly vampire. Who wouldn't choose a mind reading, super speed, super strength hottie over a really big dog. I mean, come on, the choice is very simple.

Technologically Disabled

So the layout on this thing sucks. My post never looks the same as it does when I'm writing it! So the pics go Myer (at birth), Kailyn (at birth), Kailyn (bath), Myer (bath), Myer (smiling), Kailyn (smiling), Kailyn (in the jumperoo), Myer (in the jumperoo). Sorry I'm not so good at this, believe me, it frustrates me to no end. I have two really cute videos of the kids, and I can't seem to get them uploaded for ANYTHING. One day I will outsmart these computers.

Apples to Apples

Just for the sake of a post, I thought it might be fun to show you just how much my kiddos look alike! Kailyn is on the left, Myer on the right. Enjoy!

A Case of the Mondays

Is it seriously Monday? What a busy weekend. It was a 3 dayer, however, so I shouldn't complain!

Last week led to a big change in our household. I've written before about how our Bull Mastiff, Marli, didn't love moving to town. She wanted to RUN with lots of space, and we tried to contain her, but Joe and I both finally decided that we weren't being fair. Last Monday I put an ad on KMMO's pet patrol that said, "A 4-year-old female Brindel Bull Mastiff is looking for a good home with room to run! She is very loving, good with small kids and other dogs, and is house broken." Now we advertised her on there about 6 months ago also, and nothing came of it, so I figured this was a shot in the dark too. However, Tuesday when I got home from work, there were 3 messages, all about her. The second message jumped out at us. It was a man and his wife, a young couple, who lived on 60 acres with 2 other outside dogs and an inside dog. He said they were looking for another member for their family. We called him first.....let me rephrase that.....I called him. Unfortunately, my husband always makes me do the dirty work. Anyway, the guy told me all about his family and I told him all about ours. He asked where Marshall was and asked if we would be willing to hold her if he couldn't make it down that night. He said he promised they wouldn't let us down, that he and his wife wanted her for sure! WHAT?! He called a little later and was 10 minutes outside of Marshall, and Joe gave him directions to our house. When they got there, we reluctantly had everything ready. It was out of this world. When they walked in, it was like Marli knew them. She is usually a bit hesitant around men upon meeting them, but not this guy. She immediately loved them. She was so excited. She was licking them, her tail was wagging all over the place and she was sitting on their feet! After they chatted with us for about 10 minutes, Joe handed the man Marli's leash, and she sat ready to go while he attached it to her leash. Then Marli nudged Joe's hand that held her ball, like, "Um, that's mine, can you give it to him so we can go?". Joe gave him her stuff and they were off. She jumped right in the back of his truck with her tongue out and tail wagging out of control. She was ready to go. The couple coming on the same day and Marli being so excited made the situation more liveable, but it was sad nonetheless. Tears were shed and failure was felt, but ultimately we feel like Marli deserved more than we could give her. Joe says we will never have a big dog again, period. I agree. Kailyn wasn't really sad, probably because Marli was a little rambuncious with all of her energy, but she made sure to reitterate the fact that Missy and Morgan were NOT going anywhere. While the couple was picking up Marli, Kailyn practically laid on top of the little dogs to insure they didn't slip away! She says she's ready for a chihuahua puppy now.

We had a fun visit Saturday evening with friends for Erica's birthday bbq. The adults hung out and caught up while the kids played hard. Kailyn played some more when we got home while I made a couple things for Easter lunch, and by the time I was done, she was exhausted. She started to have a slight meltdown, so I sent her to her room, and when I checked on her less than 5 minutes later, she was sound asleep. I'm talking fully clothed, light on, covered completely up by a High School Musical blanket! The next morning she came down to see what the Easter Bunny brought in her clothes from Saturday!

I think we all must have been a bit tired from Saturday, because we didn't get up when we were supposed to and were moving way too slow to make it to church, so we missed it. Oops. Joe turned on Joel Osteen to make himself feel better! After we finally got around, we headed to my Mom's for a combined Easter/Belated Birthday for Aaron lunch. It was fabulous. Yummy food, great family, it just doesn't get any better! Kailyn did some good egg hunting and Myer did some good playing. Myer got a play gym from Mimi and Papa and he loves it! Honestly I never thought I would use one, because Kailyn never liked hers, but little dude digs hanging out, kicking his feet, talking to animals! He is so nosey, it's hilarious. He just about breaks his neck to see everything going on around him! After a full day of Easter, we went home and I did a little laundry while Joe and Kailyn played outside and Myer napped. I did get it folded, but I refused to put it away, I was tired. We had a trampoline picnic for supper (Joe and Kailyn had McDonald's and I had leftovers from lunch), watched a little tv and were off to B-E-D!

I'm still a bit sluggish today, but I've got a Route 44 Iced Tea and my radio set on Y107, so I will make it! By the way, I am LOVING "Breakeven" by The Script and "Hey Soul Sister" by Train right now. I'm talking, crank it up, sing my lungs out loving them. The kids are on Spring Break from school today, so I took Mandi a Route 44 Coke (hopefully she will still have her sanity by the day's end). Sanity.....HA! What is that anyway?

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!