Nan's Birthday

We had the Owen family over for Nan's birthday. We are very thankful to have a healthy Nan this and every year. She has been through a lot in the past year and with the power of prayer and lots of family support, everything has turned out well for us. We had a great meal and birthday cake to celebrate. It was nice to have the family together. We were short a couple of members, and they were missed- Lance and Paul Sr.

Here is Carson with Nan and his male cousins- except Lance.

Reese with Nan and all the girls!

the Birthday girl...

Nan and Grandad and their kids....

Nan blowing out the candles with a little help from the youngest grandkids...

Happy Birthday Nan. We wish you a very Happy Birthday and many more!!!

Playhouse Disney

Ever since we went to Walt Disney World, we have been Mickey and Minnie Mouse fanatics. So, today we got to go to see Playhouse Disney Live on Stage at the Louisville Palace theatre. We had so much fun with the kids. We got to see all of Carson's favorites. We saw Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, Tigger & Pooh, and of course Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. Carson was pumped up about it. He watched every detail very closely. Reese really just loved the music. She sat in my lap and danced and bounced every chance she got. They both did the Hot Dog Dance and clapped and had fun. I love going to these things and seeing all their excitement.

twin shirts for the twins!

Minnie Party

Minnie Mouse Birthday party for our precious baby girl!

Today we had Reese's 2nd birthday party at our house.

The theme was Minnie Mouse. We had a Minnie cake, cupcakes, decorations, and we even bought a precious Minnie Mouse dress online. Her favorite part may have been the Minnie Mouse balloon! We had our parents over, all of our brothers and sisters and most of their kids too, and a few friends. We are blessed with a large family and we enjoy celebrating special days with them.

She was very shy at first. She got a little better with time and once her cousins showed up. But she was a Momma's girl most of the night. I won't complain. I do love that she chooses me!

But, I want her to know and love her family too. So I try my best to help her learn to feel comfortable and safe socializing with her family. I know she will get better in time and won't even need me. So I am loving all the attention and love I am getting while the gettin is good!

Reese checking out her loot...

Minnie Mouse cupcake with picks I bought off Etsy. I love that website... so many cute handmade things can be found there. These were absolutely adorable.

this is the cake I made for her Birthday. The cake pan was retired and we bought it off Ebay. But it sure turned out adorable.

checking out the Minnie Mouse birthday cake

sweet tooth for a sweet girl

lovin the cake.....

all fancied up in her tiara, boa and jewels from Aunt Karen and family

she liked opening presents, loved the bags, boxes and tissue. She will open something and say... "LOOK!"

this baby doll crib was mine as a little girl. My parents saved it all this time, put it back together and stained it to make it look like new and gave it to their granddaughter for her Birthday! She loves putting her baby dolls to bed in it.

she looked precious in this dress. I got it off of Etsy, and I handpicked the colors myself.

Reese and her great GrandMother, "Meem"

tired little girl... Happy Birthday. You had a nice party!

Reese turns 2

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY PRINCESS REESE!

I love birthdays.... I love that it is the day out of the year that we celebrate ourselves. Being alive is amazing and I think we should appreciate all the time we get to share with the people we love. I always try to make the people who I love feel special on their Birthday. Now that I have kids to celebrate, I love birthdays even more. Since I love birthdays so much, I try very hard to make the day special for my beautiful children also.

For Reese's birthday we decided to spend the day with her. We both had the day off and we did fun things with Reese all day long. We picked up Carson from school and then we went to Incredible Dave's for some fun! The kids had a great time. Reese climbed and jumped and bounced until she was exhausted.

Daddy's girl

or Momma's girl?

jumping at Incredible Dave's

down the slide with Carson and Daddy

Big Girl can do it all by herself!

After all the activity out playing we came home and took a big nap!

Then when we all got up, it was time for Birthday PRESENTS!!!!!!

Reese got this Jeep to drive around and play in this summer from Mommy and Daddy.

and Carson gave her the yellow necklace and bracelet that you can see her wearing in this picture. He also gave her some Minnie Mouse jammies that she LOVES!

she is too little to drive, so Big Brother Carson took her for a spin on this very special day!

We had a great time with our baby girl today! I cannot believe she is 2 already! Time fliesby so quickly when you have babies. I cannot believe how fast it went. It definitely makes me sad to see her so big. But I am so proud of her too. I don't know, I think it is difficult to watch your kids grow up and gain independence. I like to be needed and wanted by my kids and I feel like those days are slipping by so quickly. I love the laughter and the squeals and the fast little feet. I even love how she talks so fast that I cannot understand a word she says. I will miss these days. She clings to me all the time, asks me to hold her all the time. She loves to read books and is starting to really like puzzles too. She has a super imagination- she plays with her dollies, feeds them, puts them to bed, she even tells them , "NO NO!' It makes me crack up when I hear that.

She gave up taking her paci at night this week. She was so big about it, but it make me sad. Now she is truly a big girl?! Oh I am sad just thinking about it. But I love her more and more everyday. I am really enjoying spending time with her and watching her grow...

Anyway, Happy Birthday sweet girl! One day when you read this, I hope you will know just how much I love you and how I could not imagine my life without you in it!

My Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day Carson and Reese!

We cannot give them candy (and I think that is probably a good thing). So we give them gifts for Valentine's Day.

Reese got Minnie Mouse flip flops, tee shirt and sunglasses. She immediately put all of those things on. Such a girl! Always wants to try her new clothes and things on right away. I love it!!! She squeals, "LOOK!!!!" and then sat down, took off her boots and put on the flip flops and sunglasses. Then she asked us to help put on her shirt. So cute! She also got Thumper the stuffed animal.

Thumper!

new shirt!

Carson still loves stuffed animals too. This one is Wheezie from Toy Story. He also got the CD for the Chipmunks movie, and Bullseye from Toy Story. He loves the CD, played it all day long on his CD player.

Chipmunks CD

showing off the sunglasses. Look how sweet they are together! Those cute valentines day shirts. I could eat them up!

We went out last night for Valentine's Day. We had fun going to the UK/Tennessee game in Lexington. We stopped for dinner at an italian restaurant on the way. We had a great time!!! A little different for us, we usually go out for a more romantic night, but still very good. We spent today with the kids and enjoyed every minute of it. They gave me a new bead for my Pandora bracelet, which I love. We made chocolate chip cookies and relaxed at home. All in all a great day!

More Snow....

More snow this week. I am guessing about 6 inches at our house. They had so much fun in it. We played and built a snowman, snowballs, snow angels. Fun times and memories! We enjoyed it. Both kids have a cough so we did not stay out too long in the COLD weather. We went sledding down our front hill out into the street. They think it is big stuff, so we let them think it!

cute snowman...

Carson holds his sister tight on the way down the hill

Reese snug as a bug in her snow gear!

Snow

Kids love the snow!

They have so much fun in the snow and it makes me feel like a kid again! We love to go out and make footprints in the new snow. Carson loves to go down the little hill in our front yard on his sled. He sleds all the way out into the street laughing the whole time. Reese does not last as long as Carson... but she enjoys the fun just as much as him.

We spent some time out in the snow and the kids had a ball. Here are some pictures to remember these very few and precious times. It is hard for me to imagine that there won't be too many winters in their small childhood before they no longer want us to play with them out in the snow. That is sad... so we try to enjoy it while we can!

I really love when we come inside and take off all our wet clothes and snuggle up under a blanket on the couch! Good times, great memories!!!