Appreciating Today

Five is no joke.  There will be so many changes ahead for my first born and I know with certainty that she is ready for them all.  She is smart, sassy, kind, creative and most of all she is my Kaelyn.  I love the person she is and the person she is becoming.  I have told her time and time again that she is not allowed to turn five.  I don't know how it happened but it is quite bittersweet.  She is such a beautiful little girl but she is still my baby.  Always and forever.  She decided this year she wanted her party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Normally I would cringe at the thought of this, but considering we will have a new addition to our family in the next two weeks- this seemed like a fantastic idea. My girl is like me in so many ways.  She possesses the same childhood fears- huge, walking, animals is one of them.  So when the one and only Chuck E.  came out to pay her a special ...

With the holidays behind us, we booked it over to Fort Myers to meet the newest addition to our family, Evelyn Louise.  She is perfect in every way and don't you think for a second I'm not dying every second I'm not squeezing her.  Which would explain our trip planned for next weekend back to Fort Myers. Lana got her first haircut last weekend.  We drove about twenty minutes to go to the only kids salon in the area only to find out that they had one hairdresser working with about six kids waiting.  No thanks.  Super cuts here we come.  And they did a great job for the record. January's weather has been absolutely beautiful for the most part.  We had a chilly day here and there (like today) but the majority of it has left us with an itching to be outside always.   Ahhh, all caught up.  See you in three months!!! 

December flew by, as it always does.  There is so much to do and see, including nightly drives through the neighborhood, taking in the Christmas lights.  Lana would get upset whenever her father and I attempted to speak to one another, let alone have a conversation.  She wanted silence in the car, other than the lovely Christmas music coming from the speakers.  And of course her own voice, which needed validation that yes, I had seen the lights on that house.  And yes Lana, mommy likes those lights too.  It was seriously never ending. December memories... A visit with Santa.  Kaelyn finally got up the courage to sit on Santa's lap this year.  Lana, not so much.  Everything was cool, until the big man tried to have a convo with her- not gonna happen Santa.   The girls worked hard, singing the days and nights away, in preparation for their Christmas program at school.  And then the day before, we found out Lana had strep...