Birthday Cupcakes!

We have Mika's party scheduled for Sunday afternoon but I couldn't let her actual birthday pass without some sort of celebration.... so Friday morning, before Jared went to work, we sang "Happy Birthday" and gave Mika Lynn a birthday cupcake. She loved it - I can't imagine why! Ha! She is so cute and so sweet, just like a little cupcake herself....

Singing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl!

"Daddy, my cupcake tipped over.... "

"This hot pink frosting is delish! I need to make sure I don't leave any on my high chair tray."

"Is there any frosting on my face?" 

"This is awesome! Can it be my birthday every day?!"

We had a great time having a little family celebration of our little girl! We love her so much. My heart has been so full of love and happiness over the past few days. I'm trying to really soak it all in and make some wonderful memories. I keep thinking that we will never get these days back.... this is the only time she will turn one.... I'm trying not to completely lose it, but its hard. I've been looking through a lot of old pictures of her and I've found myself sitting in front of the computer with tears pouring from my eyes. I love all the stages the girls go through but I think I'm just trying to hang onto this baby stage as long as I can. They grow up so fast. I wish I could keep them little forever.... can I?

Ok friends, there are three little girls who I'm needing to go play with. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Love.

Mika Lynn - Her First Year

One year ago today I was at the hospital at 5am to bring our baby girl into this world.

One last pic with her in my belly.

It was such a sweet time, I remember feeling so good and excited to meet her.

We were so ready to see this baby girl! After a really hard surgery, she was here!

Pure perfection. 

Mika Lynn - 

Darling baby girl... we love you more than words can ever express. You completed our family and have brought so much joy to our home and our lives. 

You have a special quality about you - one that draws people to you. And it isn't because you are a cute baby.... there is something else, something really special. We pray that it is something God will use in you to do great things.

Your big sisters think the world of you. You are very lucky to have two big sisters who love you so much. And it is quite obvious that you love them as well. You light up when you see Peyton or Laila and you giggle constantly at them. It was definitely love at first sight with them and they continue to grow their love for you.

We have enjoyed every day of this past year with you and look forward to watching you grow and change in the coming years. You are so special to us! 

You have the brightest eyes, the biggest smile, and the most infectious laugh. 

You love to lay your head on daddy's shoulder and it melts him every time. 

You love to snuggle Mommy for a minute before bed every night. These are moments I will treasure forever.

You love to hold our phones and you put them up to your ear to "talk". 

Your favorite word is one you made up : Guunga. We have translated it to mean "my parents are awesome". You can say a few other things (good girl, yes, momma, dada, thank you, night night) but guunga is your favorite word, by far. 

You love to eat and you love milk.

We feel like you are so petite and still look like a baby, but I know that will change in no time. 

You point at things that you want and it cracks me up. I don't know why, but I find it so funny when you point to the door because you want to go out of the room. Ha!

You are our Mika Lynn, Mika Lynny, Meeka Mika Mooka, Mika Boo, Boo Boo

and we LOVE you!

Happy Birthday sweet girl. We hope you feel as special and loved on your birthday as you are to us!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Weekend at the Lake

J had Friday off so Thursday afternoon we headed to my dad's for the weekend. We were both SO READY for a fun, relaxing weekend on the lake. I knew we were going to have fun when the girls wanted to jam out to Bon Jovi and Daughtry in the car on the way there! It was hilarious to see them "dancing" in their car seats.

When we got to dad's Thursday night we met him at the store to get what we needed for a cookout that night with some friends. Burgers and hot dogs... perfect. We finished the evening with cake and ice cream for the Birthday Girl.

Let me just go on the record saying that I can't believe she is two! TWO! My heart is having a really hard time with this. Thankfully she will still let me hold her.... sometimes.

Friday we hit Wal-Mart early. Pappy had to take his girl birthday shopping! We also needed a few things to take to the lake with us... yippee! Dad and I were talking Friday and we decided we needed to buy another life jacket in the 30-50 lbs size. It was time for Laila to move up to the bigger life jacket. So while we were filling up the boat at the marina, I went in and got a new life jacket. Little Girl LOVED it! This year she has been preferring to sit up on the boat and snack rather than swim.... until now. Now that she has her new life jacket she has more freedom. She was moving around and swimming on her own within minutes of getting in the water. She has never really swam on her own with a life jacket so this was a BIG deal!

So Friday we swam, then came home and had pizza and hung out. It was a perfect Friday, in my opinion.

Simply beautiful.

There is a big fireworks show on the lake on Independence Day Eve. My girls have never seen a fireworks show... I know, I know, I'm a lame mother. :) It just hasn't ever worked out with their ages and with Jared's work schedule and such. But this year we did it right!

Saturday morning we got up and had a huge breakfast (thanks Dad) and early naps before we headed to the lake. We got out about 2pm and got ready for a long, fun day on the water. Let me just say, my girls were nearly perfect. I only had to get on to the big girls a few times and Mika Lynn was as good as can be. We swam and swam and snacked and played. We met up with friends and tied up together.... think of the song "Redneck Yacht Club" and that was pretty much us!

Sis and me! I know I desperately need a tan, but it is so hard to get one when I spend most of my time outside making sure Baby Girl stays in the shade and cool. 

This is how it goes when I try to get a picture of all three girls....
Take One:

Take Two:

Take Three:

The last one would have been good if my hand hadn't been in it. They are such a mess, these girls!

Mika Lynn and I hung out in the back of the boat, in the shade. She was especially fond of Pappy's Captain's Chair.

Ooooh, I love this baby. :)

We were out on the lake for over eight hours. I am still in awe at how good my girls were. And I must say that I had a great time. The girls spent the afternoon and evening jumping off the boat and swimming. They had a ball and I loved watching them. As long as my girls are having a great time, I don't mind being the palest person on the lake!

Seriously, this is one of my favorite pictures - how cute are these two "Whitneys"?! Laila Whitney and her Aunt Whitney, they are big buddies!

SPLASH! I kept trying to get an in-air shot of Peyton jumping but she jumped too fast and I was always too slow with the camera. Eventually I'll get a good shot of her jumping. She did so good!!! I'm so proud of her for jumping and Laila for swimming and jumping so well. They amazed me!

A little sass for the camera! She was posing and showing off some dance moves on the boat. Needless to say, we were cracking up. So much personality wrapped up in such a small package - love it!

Here we are, our little family, waiting on the fireworks show to start. The girls loved it! Peyton got super excited over the red ones (her favorite color). And after each firework went off, Laila would either say "Oh that one did" (I think she meant that one exploded) or "that was cool". They had a great time and I loved every minute of this special day with them!

I hope you all had a wonderful celebration of our country's independence. We definitely did!

Happy Birthday Laila-Bean!

A Little about my Laila Whitney. Her birthday was yesterday, but I waited to do her birthday post today...

July 1, 2008 we welcomed our Laila Whitney into this crazy world. She was a full three weeks early and her birth was a surprise. 

I had my first actual surgery because of her - c-section.

She was so sweet from the beginning, but she was a hard baby. 

There was some serious Mommy Attachment in the first year of her life. She hated for anyone else to hold her. I had to leave a funeral once because the babysitter called me crying and said she couldn't get her to calm down. Oh my. 

She has always been a good sleeper. She never wanted to be rocked (sad) and still doesn't. 

She has some serious, real love for her blankets. She started with one.... we lost it. So we bought her another to "replace" it, but she decided she needed six replacement blankets. And that is how many blankets she sleeps with now - 3 big blankets and 3 small ones. 

Every morning she comes out of her bedroom with all 6 blankets in her hands. 

Laila was also my pacifier baby. P didn't take one for long but Laila did. We took it away last winter. She had gotten to where she wanted one pacifier in her mouth and one in her hand (which she would put up to her eye). Two pacifiers and a few blankets and she was ready for bed!

Laila has always had the sweetest smile and funniest expressions. Her big blue eyes are full of life! I love it that she almost closes them completely when she really smiles.

My girl loves to eat. She has only met one food she didn't like - cucumbers. She will eat and eat until she throws up, so I have to be careful how much I put on her plate at meals. She gets so excited to eat sometimes, it is precious. And if you ask her what she wants to eat (for any meal) she will tell you Macaroni and Cheese. Every.Time.

Did I mention her love for powdered donuts?

Laila also ALWAYS has a baby doll. She loves them. They are her babies and she takes very good care of them. She also loves books. That makes this Momma very proud, as I love books too!

She loves to play outside...

And ride Pappy's horse...

And she LOVES her sisters! 

Laila, you are my little doll, my buddy. I have enjoyed every minute of watching you grow over the past two years and I can't wait to watch you keep growing into your own person. You are hilarious. You constantly make me and Daddy laugh. You have such a big heart. If someone seems hurt or upset you quickly go love on them, rub their face and whisper "its ok, I'm right here." 

You love to sing and dance and do anything your big sister does. Peyton and Mika are so lucky to have you as their best friend. I'm so blessed to spend my days with you. Daddy and I thank God daily that we have you as our daughter. You are a special little girl.

Happy Birthday Baby Doll!

Hump Day...

Ok.... I typed that title and then I had to double check that today is actually Wednesday. I'm running on about 5 hours of real sleep over the past two nights and I'm a little less than together this morning. But since I've been so good about blogging lately I didn't want to let today pass without a post.

First, I was reading some of my old posts last night and hello.... I was so much more creative with my writing back in the day (the day before I was wrangling three kids all day long and trying to find a minute here or there to post). So... I've been inspired to add a little more creativity and thought into my words. We'll see!

Next item... tomorrow is my darling Laila's second birthday. Two. I can't believe it. I will post her birthday post tomorrow or Friday... depending on how things go around here. But be looking for some cuteness in pictures by Friday.... one thing this baby girl definitely has going for her is her cuteness.

I'm having a bit of a week, if you know what I mean. Apparently a two-year birthday means that the child gets the attitude of a teenager. It seems my favorite phrase this week is "stop crying and whining." If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. Add to that a crazy schedule for Jared (translation: I'm home alone with the girls more than normal). And if that weren't enough, Mika Lynn is sick for the first time and is not sleeping well. That means this Momma isn't sleeping well, or at all. I actually looked in the mirror a little while ago and almost didn't recognize myself. Beauty sleep is a real thing people. Just saying.

I spent most of Tuesday doing this.

And this. Poor baby.

Finally, guess who is sitting up all on her own....

We are still working on it, of course, but she's getting the balance thing down really quickly! She won't roll over, but she's sitting up! Silly, silly girl.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!