Happy 5th birthday, Reese Elizabeth!

I cannot believe that my sweet, little gal pal is FIVE today!!  Reese, you make every day a funny adventure; there is never a dull moment with you around!  You are such a sweet, sassy, witty little girl & we love you more than you will ever know!

 

You love playing with dolls, especially your Barbies/Barbie house.  You are so into Scooby Doo the movie, My Little Ponies & dressing up & playing princess.  You're also very happy to sit at a table & color & draw pictures for us.



Since Reese & her BFF, Sammy are only a day apart, we decided to have their party together this past Saturday.  They've been at their school together since they were three months old & since this is their last year before going separate ways to elementary school, it was the perfect time to come together!



We used the picture above for their invitation which turned out so cute.  With faces like those, it's impossible to be anything but cute!

We chose the bowling alley for their party; super easy.  It amazing how much less work it is when you have a party away from home!  No scouring the house, putting together a bunch of food & running around like a crazy person.

 

This is the terrific trio from school... Reese, Alissa & Sammy are connected at the hip!

We separated the gift table & got two different cakes so each girl could still choose their own theme..  Reese chose Tiana from Princess & the Frog & Sammy chose Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  They're so different from each other!

Sadly, minutes after the above picture was taken, a freak accident happened.  I was talking to one of the moms when I heard Cameron hysterically crying.  Cam is one of those tough kids that can take a lot of pain with no reaction, so I knew it was serious.  By the time I ran over to assess the situation, I saw blood pouring out of his mouth.  It was horrifying & scary & I had no idea what happened.  We rushed him into the bathroom and saw that he had severely bit his tongue.  With all the blood, it was hard to determine the severity of the injury.

Mike & I made the decision that we'd take him to the ER to be safe.  Cameron was hysterical in the car from the pain & shock of the situation.  He was terrified that he was going to be admitted to the hospital like he did when he was five.

Luckily they took him right back as soon as we got to the ER.  The doctor determined that his tongue didn't need stitches since it wasn't severed through, but after finally being able to assess the whole situation, we realized he had tripped, fallen onto the bowling ball he had been holding & that caused his tongue biting.  It turned out he had a nasty gash on his chin that needed glue/steri strips closure.  

This poor bubba is getting a Tylenol/Motrin alternation every four hours to manage the pain & is on a mostly all liquid diet.  Unfortunately, a couple of his bottom permanent teeth are a bit loose, so we'll be calling the dentist when they open tomorrow (they're closed Mondays).  What a horrible, freak accident to happen on such a fun day (or ever!)  We basically spent a half hour at Reese's party before bolting to the ER.  Luckily we had plenty of family & friends at the bowling alley to keep the party going & Reese had an absolute blast & barely realized we were gone!

 

 She also got a room makeover that night when we switched Cameron's bed to her room.  We painted her once yellow walls a fushia color a few weeks ago, so we put the final touches together Saturday with the help of my family. 

Friday we went to IKEA & I got her new bedding, these kitty curtains & a few other odds & ends to complete her room.  

My mom & Mike's mom got her the vanity above for her birthday.  Reese is such a girly girl & loves to get into my makeup.  My mom bought Reese her own makeup & she had a blast sitting & putting it on.  The vanity was completely white when we bought it but I painted the drawers pink, added crystal pulls & put princess fabric on the seat.  It's adorable!  I love that her room is finally her style where she can feel like she has her own little oasis!  Happy, happy birthday, to my sweet Reese!

Happy 8th birthday, Cameron Michael!

Today is one of my most special days, the day my Bubba boy, Cameron was born EIGHT years ago!

Oh, Cameron, what can I say about you on this special day of yours?  There are so many things that come to mind when I think of you!  Passionate, persistent, stubborn, sometimes exhausting, loving, kind, sweet..

I always say that the way you born is so fitting to who you are.  When you decided you were ready to enter the world, you were very dedicated & made it happen very quickly.  There was nothing calm about it!  You're still like that.. when you decide you want or "need" something, you want it right now. Two seconds it too long to wait!  

You still love to hear stories about our time together when you shared my body.  You were constantly in motion & I always felt like I was carrying my best friend with me where ever I went, I was never alone.  You always had the hiccups, especially at night & you loved to stretch & pull the heck out of my already too-short torso!

When you were a baby, if you weren't happy, we all knew about it!  You're still like that today.. very vocal about your likes & dislikes, hence, passionate.  Though there are times I can be impatient with you at the end of a long day, I would never change a thing about you.  So many random times, you'll just say the sweetest things.  "You're so pretty, Mom" "Mom, if I could choose any mom in the world, I would choose you."  Feelings are mutual, sweet kid, I'd never choose another son!

Love this picture above so much.  It was a sweet moment with you & incidentally, I was also 16 weeks pregnant with your sister! Speaking of your sister, we definitely need to work on "that whole thing."  The two of you tend to bicker & fight A LOT.  Causes a lot of inharmonious moments in our days.  But, I know you guys love each other.. I can see it!

Nothing speaks truer to me than the quote from The Night You Were Born (which also makes me weep each time it's read!), "On the night you were born, the the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you, and the night wind whispered, LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. Because there had never been anyone like YOU.. ever in the world."

Happy anniversary (and birthday!)

Mike & I celebrated our 14th anniversary (and my 37th birthday) on Tuesday, May 24th so we decided to hit the road to St. Augustine to celebrate!  My mom was sweet enough to come up & watch the kids for a few nights, so we were able to get away by ourselves.  As hard as it can be to leave the kids, it's super important to get some one on one time to remember why we fell in love in the first  place!  Life, work & kids can be pretty distracting sometimes, so it was great to be relaxed, with no particular agenda!

Since we live on the Gulf coast of Florida, we get to see the sunsets whenever we hit the beach.  Since St Augustine is on the Atlantic coast, we took advantage of the sunrise & hit the beach at the butt crack of dawn.  The morning was positively gorgeous, a tad chilly & we had the moon behind us as the sun rose in front of us.

May is a great month for a getaway since school is still in session & not many people are on vacation yet.  We had the beach to ourselves & it was just perfect.

After breakfast on the beach we decided to hit the St Augustine lighthouse since we've never been.

The views were spectacular & the weather was just as nice.  Mike was pretty freaked out since he has a fear of heights, but eventually he relaxed & began to enjoy it.  He must have gotten into my head because on the descent, my legs were extremely wobbly as I looped my way round & round the spiral staircase.

After the lighthouse, we moved from our spot on the beach to the downtown area where we spent the next two days.  If you've never been to St Augustine, it's a really awesome place to visit.  We're lucky to be a three hour car ride away!

After we checked into the apartment we rented, we grabbed the bikes that were available to us & just hit the streets, stopping where ever caught our eye.

It was so nice to be away from the non-stop to-do list & put on a care-free, fun attitude!  

We continued to start our mornings super early & head back to the apartment at 8pm, like a geriatric couple!

For my actual birthday, I wanted to keep the evening low-key & avoid & drawn-out, stuffy meal.  I opted to choose martinis on the water & then hit a local pizza place for dinner. It was awesome!

As we drove home, Mike noticed I was transitioning back into business as usual mode as I listed off what needed to be done for the week.  We both said, "Uh, oh, our fun bubble is going to pop!"  As the kids were screaming & fighting over Lord knows what that evening, we looked at each other & agreed the fun bubble had officially burst!

Recent happenings

Our weekends have been full & fun these days with plenty of time spent with family & friends!

 

We had a few leftover tickets from our Disney trip in 2014 that we hadn't used, so it was time to plan a trip to the most magical place on Earth.  And who better to spend it with than our besties, Matt & Kelly?  It turned out that our tickets had expired, but despite that, Disney issued us four free tickets because they "value us as customers."  How awesome is that?!



The weather was spectacular the day we went & we had the best time.  Epcot is by far my favorite park at Disney since I love their World Showcase of countries.  Love trying the different food & drinks & meeting the staff from each country.  It's the closest I've come to traveling around the world!



The kids were so excited to meet the characters.  At first Cam tried to play it cool & say he didn't want to meet Pluto since "he was just a person in a costume."  Low & behold, he loved it so much that he ran back for one extra hug.

 

 

It just so happened that the garden festival was going on so there were so many pretty colors surrounding us as we walked through the park.

We ended the night in France where we found this beautiful, quiet garden to watch the fireworks while we sipped on wine & ate scrumptious French food.  It was wonderful!



A few days after we came back, we celebrated Mike's 37th birthday & the kitties 14th birthday.  I made an ice cream cake by the Pioneer woman that was simple to put together & absolutely delish!  I used leftover candy from Easter so all I had to buy was ice cream, a pound cake & some magic shell chocolate topping.  Mike said it was his favorite birthday cake to date! 

Click here for the recipe, you'll love it!

While we enjoyed our ice cream cake, the kitties had a ball rolling around in a plate of cat nip.

 

In other happenings, Cameron has been doing awesome at baseball.  It's like a light bulb went on & he's playing better than he's ever played before.  It's really fun to watch!

This past weekend my Uncle Keith was in town from Chicago so my family scheduled an outing to the Rays vs. the White Sox for some tailgating & baseball.  Unfortunately I already had a baby shower planned this day, so I was incredibly bummed I wouldn't be able to make it.  When I found out the tailgating was happening early enough, I was so happy to be able to come out for a couple of hours before the game.  Tailgating is the best part anyway! 

The kids were so happy to hang with their cousins!

 

Maddy is always so sweet with Reese!

 

These two stinkers tend to leave their little cousin out of their exclusive Mikayla & Cameron club so I'm thankful Reese has Maddy.

Love getting to spend time with those that I love!!