Happy 1st Birthday Hallie Rose!

Whew...its been a busy couple of days!

We are in the midst of moving all of our stuff out of our home, and into storage. Our little family of 4 is headed to Hawaii for an adventurous year!

In the mean time, Hallie turned 1!!! Yayyy Sugar Bear!

I want to say a couple things to you, my sweet little munchkin...

You are more than what we could have ever dreamed of!

You light up our life like the bright sun.

You have not left our side since the day we got you.

We love sleeping with you, waking up to your smiling face, and spending every waking minute with you.

Jalen is such a good big bro bro.

He carries you around and you love to go into his room and play around. Although we must be very careful when you do, because it is a war zone in there.

You are the most comfortable with Mom, Dad or Jalen. If any of us 3 are holding you, your a happy girl.

 You are always smiling, and always wake up happy! How lucky are we??

We just had you birthday party and it was doggy themed. Every time you see a dog, you make a high pitched noise, smile, and want to pet them.

Your doggy pillow pet is one of your favorite things, which you love to lunge at, and lay on.

Stuffed animals are a favorite also. In particular, the froggy that was Jalens when he was little. You grab it, and hug it.

Glowy, the glow worm is special to you also. Gramdma Debi got that for you, and it has definitely got alot of use.

I just cannot express enough what a joy you are, and how blessed we feel to be your parents. We could have not made a more perfect little girl.

We are so grateful that God, and your birth mom, Jennieke, chose us to be your parents.

Its funny, because people are constantly telling us how much you and Jalen look alike.

Some people even say that you look like your Dad or me. We love hearing that!

It proves to us that God made you especially for us!

You havent shown much interest in food yet.

Some things you do like are raisins, grapes(not the skin), strawberries, scrambled eggs, and your favorite...black beans!

And your most favorite thing of all..your Mommy's milk!!

You still dont hold your own bottle, mainly because we lovingly feed you every time.

We sing to you, rock you, or lay in a quiet bed with you to drink your milky.

We feel it is very important for you to feel loved and secure at all times.

The sling and backpack are what we use to carry you in whenever we need it.

When your in the backpack, you love to stand up on the bar, and look around at anything you can!

You are very curious and very active!

The other day you started kicking a soccer ball around the living room.

No one taught you, it was just something you decided to do on your own. I can almost guarantee you will be an athlete of some kind.

We will expose you to all different sports and hobbies to see what you like to do.

Jalen is very into music and so are you!

When he plays his guitar, you want to get over to him as fast as possible so that you can help him play.

Recently, you started dancing when there is music on. It is the cutest thing ever.

Your walking all over the place, and getting into every cabinet.

Sometimes you even run! When you think Oki is coming to get you, off you go, screaming and laughing.

We have been on many vacations since you were born, and your a great traveler. (Colorado twice, California, and The Lake)

You love the water, and just this summer you got very used to being on Uncle Casey's boat. The lifejacket was not your favorite at first, but eventually you got used to it.

Mommy got a tattoo on your birthday that is a rose and says "Hallie Rose". Daddy got one the day before.

We both love you more than words can express, and so does big bro, Jalen.

All your Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins love you too.

We are excited to see what the future holds for you, and we promise to try and make your life the best one possible.

We <3 you Hallie Rosebud!!!!!!

She said MAMA!!

So much has happened in the past few weeks!!

Little Sugar Bear is walking all over the place now. She looks so adorable, with her little stick legs, wobbling as fast as can be across the room.

This past weekend, she started getting up in the middle of the room, and taking off!

She also did something I personally, have been waiting patiently for..she started saying "mama, mama"!! When she wants me, she just says "mamamamama"...I love it!

Jalen is doing good. He is getting into acting a little, and was very successful at a weekend event here in KC.

He got 6 "callbacks" from agents in LA, Chicago, Atlanta, and KC!

He already has a script to read, and they all want updated pics of him. We will see where the road takes us.

We are being very cautious, as we have heard not to pay any agent any money!!

We went to the lake over the weekend with my 4 brothers, wives, and kids.

It was a blast!

The lake house where I grew up, was sold out of the family for a little while, but is now back in my immediate family.

So happy!!

It was fun rising in the boat, eating pizza on the lake, cliff jumping, and stopping at Mimosa for ice cream.

Dinners around the table were very loud and eventful!

Babies crawling around, footballs being thrown around outside, and living in our bathing suits is where its at.

THANKS Casey and Rachel for having us all down! What an "epic" weekend is turned out to be!!

                                                         Arlie Mae

                                                 Me and my sister in laws

                                                    hanging on the boat!

                                                          Getting ready to eat some PIZZA!

                                                  Uncle Zach and Chase with their nieces

                                                        Dinner time!!

                                             Kayla and Arlie helped me make a cake!!

annoyed

So, tonight I got a phone call from a good friend of mine.

She was laughing as she told me that at HER family Easter dinner, the subject of MY parenting came up.

She was sitting next to one of her family members who is friends with one of our family members.

The person started saying that she heard about "how we are" with our baby...that we hold her all the time, and wont put her down (not true).

It made me mad.

It just really disappoints me that people feel the need to gossip about our parenting.

I mean, we are doing a damn good job.

How about talking about that?!

How about telling your friends that we are great parents, and that we love our baby so much, that we hold her alot, because thats where she is comfortable?

Ok, end of rant.

Happy 10 months!!!

Just wanted to give a big shout out to my little Sugar Bear, who is 10 months old today!!

Hallie, you are the light of our life, along with your big bro, of course.

You bring a smile to so many people's face everyday!

Whenever we go out in public, you smile and wave to all the strangers. You are a very social girl. As long as they dont try and pick you up:)

You will smile, wave, and when you get a response, you lean into Mom, as if your being shy. It is the cutest thing ever!

Welp, you just popped your little head up from your nap, so I gotta go!

I love you my sweet little Sugar Bear, Munchkin butt!! <3 <3

Love,
Mama

Trip to Coronado!!

So, we just got back a few days ago from a wonderful, much needed family vacation!

We went to Coronado Island, right off of San Diego in California.

Joe's family has a kick butt 15th floor apartment right on the beach which we stayed at. His Grandpa bought the place back in the 70's, and his aunt now owns it.

It is ocean view, and just beautiful!

We were busy pretty much every day doing something fun!

We took the ferry from Coronado to SD. Shopped around the Gas Lamp District. Shopped some more at Horton Plaza. Ate good food, and enjoyed ourselves.

We also hit up the Sad Diego zoo. I didn't think Hallie would notice the animals very much, but boy was I wrong!

She got SO excited to see the giraffes, and flamingos. We took her around in the backpack, which she loves because she is close to us, and can see everything we can see very well.

When we went past the giraffes, she was flapping her arms up and down and squealing. She is definitely an animal lover:) <3

Throughout the trip, every time we would see a person walking a dog, which happened alot, she would make the cutest little sound. As if to call the doggie over to her. Then if by chance we got to stop and pet one, she would smile so big, and try to get as close as possible to it.

We have officially decided we are having a doggy themed 1st birthday party for her. Joe even mentioned calling around and seeing if we can get a pet store, or a breeder to bring some puppies to our house for an hour for all the kids to see and pet.

Anyway, Jalen had a great time in Cali also! He rode around on his long board, got a new pair of cool shoes, begged and begged for white Oakley sunglasses (which he didnt get because they are too expensive, but got a cool cheaper white pair),  went on a Segway tour with his Dad, and even got to boogie board in the ocean and swim in the pool.

We all got along really well, and were not ready to come home. Even after 10 days!

Overall, it was a very successful family vacation.

Oh my. I almost forgot to tell you..Hallie Rose took her first steps while we were on vacation! She took about 5-6 twice in one night. She has done it a couple times since then, but prefers to crawl. The exacr date was May 11th!! Yayyy Hallie!

Wanna see the cutest little bunny everrrr?? look below..

I have been thinking all day about this one certain thing.

Im not going to tell you what it is, but I will say it is a dream/goal/want of mine.

I am going to start on it real soon.


In the mean time, here are some adorable pictures I took of Sugar Bear today. Isnt she just the cutest little Easter bunny?!?

Giving props:))

So, I just read a post on someone elses page (The Rockin' Mamma Blog,) , and it made me want to write about what is was like being a single Mom, and what its like having a husband, or 2 parent household.

Two totally different worlds! I will just say right off the bat, it is WAY easier, better, whatever word you want to use, having a husband there to help raise a child.

I was a single parent to J-bird for 8 years.

I met Joe when J-bird was only 1 1/2 years old, but we were not exclusive, committed, and were on-and-off for a looong time.

Those years were very hard on me and Im sure hard on Jalen also.

I was trying to make a life for the 2 of us, so I was in nursing school, which was one of the hardest things Ive ever done.

Not to mention trying to raise a child, pay the bills, and just plain keep it together. Luckily, I can say I made it through, and I am very proud of that accomplishment.

I know in my heart everything happens for a reason, and I now truely believe that Joe and I were not meant to be at the time we met.

Back then I thought we were, but if we hadnt broken up, I probably would have never gained my independence, and went to nursing school.

That being said, it was a very stressful time for me. I was not the best parent in the world. I yelled alot, said things I now regret, and was not the patient Mom that Jalen deserved.

At the time, all I wanted was for Joe to come rescue me.

I wanted him to love me and Jalen. I wanted him to be Jalen's Dad.

I did not want to be the Mom and the Dad, but I had to.

It was hard. Very hard.

Now that we are finally married, he adopted J-bird, we adopted little Sugar bear, and have our little family in order, things are looking up.

Joe is there for me when I need him. He is a very hands on father.

When he sees that I am getting impatient or irritable, he will take over or step in.

When I have had a fussy baby all day (doesnt happen real often), the laundry needs done, and I have no dinner plans, he comes home with a smile and immediately relieves me.

He will take the baby, start helping Jalen with his homework, and will let me do whatever I want.

That may be starting dinner, taking a bath, or retreating to my room for a moment of silence.

He is the best! I really mean that.

So, THANK YOU JOE for just being you.

THANK YOU for being a good husband and father.

THANK YOU for loving Jalen and Hallie Rose the way you do.

Our life is much more enriched with you in it.

I love you.