Happy 8th Birthday Emma!

It's so hard to believe that 8 years ago today, I gave birth (without an epidural) to a sweet little 6lb, 9oz baby girl that I named Emma June. She has grown so much and seems to be more and more like me everyday. We are celebrating with her today by taking her to a movie this afternoon, and her cake is cooling on the stove. 

I thought it would be neat to do a little flashback to see how much she has changed over the years.

2003 - Just a few minutes old. Yes, I know I look terrible...ignore that please! ;-) 

2004 - 1 year old - Sears Studios

2005 - 2 years old - Sears Studios

2006 - 3 years old

2007 - 4 years old - Connell Studios

2008 - 5 years old - Portrait Innovations

2009 - 6 years old - The Bond Between Us Photography

 2010 - 7 years old

 2011 - 8 years old - The Bond Between Us Photography

Wow!  How could a little girl be any cuter!  Happy Birthday Emma!  I love you!

Happy Friday!

I'm not sure about you, but Friday is my favorite day of the week! I'm not sure if it's the fact that my hubby gets off work early or that I know the weekend is coming. Either way, I love Friday's.

Today is shaping up to be a lazy day around our house, and we really don't have anywhere to be. The kids are playing together nicely, and I am actually getting a chance to drink my coffee and watch the Today show. It's really the simple things that make me happy!

This weekend is gonna be fairly relaxing too, and the only "official" plans we have are to attend the wedding of my old friend Leigh tomorrow. Leigh is the one responsible for me and my hubby meeting. She introduced us in August of 2000. We got married 9 months later. Here's a picture of us with Leigh on our wedding day.

We just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last month. Here is a picture of us then and now.

I owe her a lot of thanks for introducing us! So excited for her. Happiness has been a long time coming! I know in a way, tomorrow is gonna be tough for her, since she lost her mother to cancer a few years ago. Here is a great picture of the two of them together in 2001.

Leigh, if you are reading this...I am so happy for you, and I pray you have many happy years full of blessings!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Almost

Here is a picture of me with my girls at my birthday party last week.  They just had to help poor old mama blow out the candles. Also, please ignore that number on the cake.  I think my mom must have put the numbers on backwards.  There is NO way I am 32. LOL Ok, ok...maybe I am 32.   ;-)

Wranglers, Cake Pops, Ikea and Donuts

Back in March, me and my friend Keri decided to drive to Atlanta to meet up with my sister Erin for a quick girls trip.  We all love The Pioneer Woman, and she was coming to the Borders in Buckhead for a book signing.  There was no way we were going to miss it.  Her new book Black Hills to Tractor Wheels had just come out, so we all bought the book and loved it! Meeting her and getting our book signed would be the icing on the cake!

The signing was on a Friday night, so Keri and I headed out early Friday morning.  We drove to ATL and meet Erin for lunch before heading to our hotel.  We ate at Jason's Deli and it was so yummy.  I had this:

While we were waiting for Erin to get there we noticed a World Market next to the Deli.  Keri and I had a great time browsing. I got some coffee and a few little treats for Ike and the girls. I could have spent a fortune in there.

After lunch, we headed to our hotel to check in.  In true Pioneer Woman style, I decided to take a pic of the hotel room just like she does.  Although mine isn't nearly as cool as hers, here is is:

After checking in, we headed to the bookstore to pick up our wristbands.  The book signing wasn't until 6pm, but they started giving out the wristbands at 2pm and we wanted to be near the front of the line.  After securing our bands, we headed across the street for some shopping at a really neat 2 story Target. It even had this really cool escalator for your buggy!

After target we went to a really nice mall with lots of really nice stores like Tiffany & Co.  Way out of our price range, but had a really good time window shopping and people watching. Starbucks and their yummy cake pops were the best part! They were great!  Here is a before/after shot:

Around 5pm we headed back to the bookstore to line up. The line wasn't too bad, since everyone was lined up based on the letter on their wristband, but we still had to wait about an hour once we were lined up. We were group B. The line went quick, and we were at the signing desk in no time. Ree was super nice!  She signed all our books, and even took the time to let us snap a photo. Marlboro Man and two of her kids came too, which was a nice surprise.  Marlboro Man was really nice too. He took time to answer questions and signed books as well.  He was even more handsome in person than I imagined.  We had a great time meeting them!  I am so glad we decided to go!

After the signing was over, we headed to Macaroni Grill for dinner and it was yummy! I ate this:

The next morning we got up, packed our stuff and went for breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.  Yummy!

Next, we went to Ikea...can I just say: I love Ikea! I could have spent all day there.  So many different things to buy.  It made me want to redo my house! I really want one of these couches!

After Ikea, we closed out our trip with lunch at Five Guys. It had been a while since I had eaten a cheese burger and it was delicious!

The weekend turned out to be so much fun!  I can't wait for our next trip!  Erin...Keri...Where are we going next?

Flashback Friday

First off, I know that I am super behind on my blogging. I really am going to try to catch up on what's been going on with us, but today I just wanted to do a quick picture post. So, here ya go...Flashback Friday!

This is Ike and I on our wedding day, May 26, 2001.

This past weekend Ike and I celebrated our 10th anniversary (a little early since it's not actually until May 26th) with a "wedding redo" photo shoot. The pictures turned out great, and we had a good time getting all dressed up again! Here is a preview of our session.  Our wonderful photographer Kelly Williams did an awesome job! Check out her work here: www.thebondbetweenus.com

I am not sure about you, but I think we look even better today than we did 10 years ago!  Thanks again Kelly for all your hard work on my "wedding redo" project!

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas, Finally!

I'm not sure what the deal is, but it has taken me and unusually long time to get my decorations up this year.  I just couldn't get in the mood or find the time.  So, over the weekend, I finally just buckled down and did here.  Here are a few pictures of my decorations.  We don't normally go all out or anything.  With small kids in the house, I just would rather not spend all of December telling them not to touch things.

My Precious Moments Nativity.  I collected the pieces over a few years, but since we got the piano this year, I decided that this would be a safe place for me to put it.

This beautiful ornament was part of our Christmas portrait package from Kelly Williams of The Bond Between Us.  I think is it awesome!  She ordered them from a seller on Etsy.

With kids in the house, and advent calendar is a must.  I got this one from Hallmark when Emma was little, and I just love it.  All the little ornaments have magnets and stick onto the tree.  The star even plays a song when you press it.  The best part if the hidden pocket between the bottom two tiers of the tree where you keep all the ornaments.

This shelf in my dining room is filled with random items that really don't have another home. Madeline has already enjoyed rearranging them, and even breaking one of my snowmen.

Our Christmas tree, all decorated and ready for presents. After I took this picture I realized how sad it looked with no presents, so I wrapped some, but didn't take any photos. :-(

Here she is again, all lit up.  I turned the lights off for this shot, and I really like how all the colored lights are showing on the wall.