Bridal Shower Fun

My baby sister Kylene is getting married this next month.  I know, it's crazy to think about.  Luckily her wedding shower was the same day as Dannie's baby shower, so I was able to make it to both special events.
Kylene had her shower at Olive Garden which made for an evening filled with yummy food and lots of friends and family to catch up with.  I had a great time with everyone but missed having Keri and Alyna there with us.  Thanks for the fun night and congratulations Lou!!

 Me and Lou.  She's the baby in the family and I'm the oldest.  We're over 16 years apart!

 My beautiful mother, my sister Karena (who looks amazing!!!), Kylene, and Prego Lady

The bride to be

The mother of the bride

Me and my cousin Lexie.  She's and her family have been in Arizona for way too long!  It's been so nice to have them closer.  I get enough of the Willard girls!!

Celebrating National Birthmother's Day -aka Dannie's baby shower

The Saturday before Mother's Day isn't know by many as a day to celebrate and honor birthmother's across the country.  Yet, that is exactly what the Saturday before Mother's Day is...National Birthmother's Day. 

We were lucky enough to spend that day with Kinsie's birthmom (Dannie) and some of her extended family celebrating the upcoming arrival of Dannie's baby boy.  It was fun to see her showered with so much love...Dannie and Kinsie.  We've had a very open adoption with our birthmom and her family and it's always fun for us to see them and spend some time with them.  Particularily Dannie.  She's become a member of our family and a dear friend to me.
I love that Kinsie has so many wonderful people in her life who love her and want the very best for her.  She is so blessed to have such an extended family and I hope she will always remain close to them.

Some of Dannie's extended family

 Dannie's Grandma

 Kinsie, Michelle (Dannie's Mom) and Dannie

 The two prego ladies.  I love that we are both expecting our first boys. 

They are going to be such buddies!

Green Thumbs - Part 2

Well, our little seedlings sprouted about a week after the girls got them into their little cups.  We decided to let them mature for a few more days and once the weather was nice enough we moved them out front into the flower beds.

This time around the girls opted not to use their gloves, but they sure did loved using their new gardening tools. They did a great job helping me dig holes and transfer their newly sprouted starters.

We also planted the two packets of slower seeds that they got with their gardening bags for Easter.

Unfortunately, the girls love playing in the dirt every time we go outside, and to be honest I don't think any of the flowers are going to make it. They've been shown quite a bit of TLC, probably a bit too much. But, growing beautiful flowers was never the point!

After the seeds and seedlings were in the ground the girls decided to join daddy in some good ol' car washing.  However, they decided daddy had the car under control and focused their washing attentions on their spades and shovels.  Mylie decided it was a good time to join in the fun.

They all had so much fun playing outside and it was a great way to spend a good portion of our day/  I love these girls so much and have loved watching them grow into such great helpers...even if they enjoy stomping around in the dirt smashing all of our seeds as they start to grow.  Just remind me to buy flowers that have already started to bloom.  Then maybe I can keep them alive.

 

Green Thumbs -Part 1-

For Easter the two older girls got some gardening bags.  Every time I go outside they ask if they can wear my gardening gloves and dig in the dirt.  So, I figured it was a good time to get them their own gardening tools and gloves.

I found the bags and gloves at Walmart and then filled them with a variety of seeds.  Some vegetables for our garden and some flowers for the rest of the yard.  Each of their bags came with some starter kits for flowers.  So, we decided to put those together today.

 

My little gardeners.

 Mixing up the dirt and getting it ready to go into the pots.

 Filling the pots with the dirt and seeds.

 Showing off the final product.  (Mmmm...they look good enough to eat.)  As you can tell the girls are really excited about their hard work.

 With the extra dirt and seeds we put together a little pot for me to enjoy.  I love that we're all wearing striped shirts.  Mylie was napping while we did this, but she had on a yellow shirt that was striped too.

Here's the little lady after she woke up from her nap.  She was too cute not to add to this post.

 

Once the flowers start to bloom and grow we'll transfer them outside into the flower beds.  We also have plans to get some veggies planted into our garden, but we need daddy to go and get the soil first.  So, more pictures to come.

 

Easter 2013

With 9:00 church I felt we were scrambling around all morning, but amidst the chaos I was able to snap a few pics of the girls in their Easter skirts.  (Excuse the poor quality of the pictures.  My camera has been giving me a lot of grief lately!)

 Mylie pointing out the birds that were singing and flying around. 

(Can you see her little piggy tails?  Love!)

My Kids in a Nutshell

Here is a quick update of my kiddos.  Our camera has been really glitchy lately, so I haven't been able to document as many events as I would have liked to.  I was able to snap a few pictures of Christmas and some b-days, but those will have to wait until I'm able to sort through them. 
Luckily, I remembered I had a back up camera.  While I was taking some pictures of a quilt I'm going to be making I thought I'd take a few updated shot of the girls.

First we have Kinsie:

She'll be turning 4 in a few months and is my big helper.  She's my girly girl!  Always has to have on some type of skirt or dress.  In these pictures I believe she has on three skirts.  Because, the more skirts you have on the more twirly it becomes...at least that's her thinking.  She's going to be starting pre-school this fall and is excited about that.  She's also decided she prefers showers to baths.  Can't believe how big she's gotten!

 

Next is Britnee:

She just turned three and in now potty trained.  Yipee!  She loves being with Kinsie, but also loves to have her quiet time.  She is still a daddy's girl and will always walk to his side of the bed in the middle of the night instead of mine.  She's actually my crazy one.  I like to call her my little weirdo, but she's also my cuddle buddy.  She loves anything that is small and loves putting those small things into other small things.  She cracks me up constantly!

 

Then we have Mylie:

I cannot get enough of this girl.  She has been such a fun addition to the family.  She just turned 1 and is walking all over the place.  She pretty much taught herself to walk without the help of mommy and daddy.  Yep, she's that independent.  She is the most polite thing and always says thank you.  She too is a daddy's girl and has nothing to do with me once he gets home.  We all love her so much!

 

And let's not forget Jaron:

Yep, we're expecting our fourth and it's a boy.  He'll be making his debut sometime towards the end of July.  If not then, hopefully no later than July 31st (my due date).  Everyone is so excited for this little guy to get here, especially Kinsie.  She asks me everyday if baby Jaron has come out yet.  I've been feeling amazing (considering I'm prego) and look forward to putting together a baby boy room and filling up the closet with boy clothes.