Piggytails!

I was a bald child, I didn't get hair until I was nearly two and I knew that all of my children would be the same, and they have been. But we had a VERY exciting event occur at our house this weekend...

Adalyn got to have her first set of pigtails in! She looked so adorable, Ben said she looks even more like me with them in, not sure how that can be possible, since I think she is a spitting image of me as a baby. She was so proud of her pigtails, she sat and watched in the mirror as I put them in; saying pwetty (pretty) and flipping the little curl that hung out of the hair tie. She sure is growing up fast!

 

Adalyn's pigtails from behind, she still has strays on the bottom and top of her head! But are they not the cutest thing?!?!?!?

This picture.... I am just IN LOVE with, seriously IN LOVE with it! She was so sweet reading to Reese. He really is her best friend, she loves sitting by him, on top of him, laying next to him, kissing him, giving him treats, etc. I am very certain that he loves her a lot too :)

 

 

 

As if we are not busy enough!

DISCLAIMER:

 

This post is about me, skip to the next if you are already bored ;)

I have decided that I am going to pursue a life long dream of mine and dive into the Real Estate business. It is something that I have wanted to do for a long long time, I have waited for the right moment and went through the 90 hour courses 2 years ago, took my test, got so close to getting my license and found out we were expecting baby #3. All of my dreams and hopes came to a screeching halt and I quickly filed them away, focusing on baby #3 and how it would change our lives. Ben was THRILLED that I had stopped talking about it; not that he wasn't supportive of my dreams and goals, but he thought and still does think that one parent/spouse in the retail business is enough. Well for the past two years it has been eating at me that, I let it go so easily, so I decided that it was my decision to make and I was going to make the choice to re-take my test and achieve my life long dream. I contacted the Realtor that I was going to work with 2 years ago and he was thrilled to have me back on board! I have been preparing myself for a few weeks now to take and pass my Real Estate Salesperson exam, which is on Thursday of this week. I went last Thursday and got my picture taken for business cards, advertisement material and various other things that we will need pictures for. It seems so surreal, but I am so excited and more than ready to take on this next step of life! It is my dream and goal to one day sell full-time, but right now I am excited to be doing it at all. Now if only I could get my husband to be as excited as me :)

 

Nothing better then studying at 9 o'clock at night after working, being mom and wife, and tackling bedtime! Busy is life and I love busy and life :)

 

A glass or two of wine always helps studying :)

Business card picture selected!

 

Cheers to new adventures, achieving goals and crossing things off my bucket list!

 

Soccer

Braylon is at that age when sports come flying at him, he is DEFINITELY a football kid, he asks all of the time when he can play football, well unfortunately for him it is a few years before that can happen, so instead we gave him the option to play soccer. He said he wanted to play soccer and has been SO excited to start. His first day of practice on Tuesday and he has been counting down the days to start since Friday! We went to the store to pick out his shin guards and his soccer ball and he was over the moon to show is little brother his new soccer gear. He wore his shin guards for the majority of the evening on Friday and then again most of Saturday. We have spent hours practicing soccer "dribbling" in the basement this weekend and he has it down. He wants to learn how to bounce the ball off of his head next... I told him I would let his coaches teach him that move ;)

I can't wait to capture a few pictures of him on his first day of soccer on Tuesday!

 

 

Braylon snuggling his soccer ball while watching Toy Story on Friday night!

 

What a difference a year makes!

I got a new phone, due to my other one no longer functioning. I wanted to make sure that all 3,500 photos from my old phone were uploaded to Google+ (thank goodness for Google+). In doing so I started reminiscing the past year of our life. With three young children, work, and all the other things we have going on, sometimes I forget to stop and "smell the roses", I have added this to my midyear resolution list, make sure I enjoy the crazy fun moments. I am thankful that I make sure to take a lot of pictures of the kids, even if it is only with a phone camera. A glimpse into the "past"... What a difference!

 

Everyone in this picture look so young! Braylon looks so little compared to his big boy look these days!

Porter looks so little and young here, I love this picture by the way!

Adalyn and her chubby arms :)

Baby face Porter

Okay this is the one thing that hasn't changed in the past year, Porter wearing his undies backwards! Cracks me up every time!

She has no hair and looks SOOOO much like a little baby! I miss that baby.

Braylon and Adalyn in August of last year. Braylon is beginning to look more big boy'ish

This is a picture of Porter a few days ago. No longer baby faced, and getting much better at dressing himself ;)

Adalyn a few days ago. She too has lost all baby look, and did I mention she is a talker! We will need to get this girl unlimited minutes on her cell phone, she talks, talks, talks, talks, talks!

BIG boys, from last weekend! They look so old, and Braylon is nothing but skin and bones!

Adalyn last weekend, look at all that hair :) Blonde, blonde hair!

 

 

So all in all I just can't believe that they have changed so much in just a short 12 months. I am not ready for all of my babies to look less baby like. It is a constant reminder that I can't stop time!

 

 

Cousin Sleepover!

Last Saturday the Briggs' came to New Ulm so that they could sign papers on their house, yup they are moving to New Ulm; next weekend actually! We are A LITTLE excited to have them closer to us; although Porter will miss going to the fire truck in LaCrosse (the children's museum). Anyway, Candon got to do a sleepover at our house on Saturday night; the boys had a BLAST!

We went to pick Candon up from Grandma Joan's on Saturday and drop Adayln off for a little play date with Kenna and we then headed to Happy Joe's for supper!

 

The boys watching their Pizza and Bread sticks being made

Sunday Morning we took full advantage of the beautiful weather and we went sledding and played outside for 6 hours! 

Braylon, Ben and Porter sledding together

Ben and Porter ENJOYING themselves!

Braylon whipped out; that smile says it all!

Bray and Candon trying different sledding techniques!

LLLLLAAAAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDDDAAAAAA!!!!!

Candon and Porter; Porter forgot to put his foot in the sled!

Your turn to carry the sled up the hill, my arms are tired...

Porter enjoyed going down the slop of our driveway on his big wheel

Adalyn's first time sledding...

Candon

Braylon

Braylon on his scooter

Candon on his scooter

BIKER GANG

Mommy's turn to pull Pix up the HUGE hill; that is a workout in itself.

One more of Daddy and Porter

Adalyn LOVED every minute of sledding; constantly saying MORE, MORE

The little hill one more time

Braylon tried out the little hill too; he said it was good for babies, but not him.

Candon enjoyed himself.

Adalyn loved watching the boys bike/scooter down the driveway.

Porter got stuck on an ice patch; slow moving :)

 

It was such a fun weekend with all three of the boys and Adalyn. We can not wait for many more sleepovers and for these three boys to see each other more.

Candon told Braylon that when they move to their farm, Braylon could sleep there every day; Braylon was a little disappointed when I told him that he could have a sleepover every once in a while but not everyday.

 

Thanks Briggs' for letting us borrow Candon!

 



New phases and big changes

Adalyn has been without her nuk for 6 days and 5 nights, she is adjusting well. With the elimination of the nuk, she is becoming much more attached to her blanket; something that her big brother, Porter, is very excited about, he is always grabbing her blanket for her and helping her carry it around. It is hard to believe that our baby is already one, already without a nuk, already throwing temper tantrums... Before we know it she will be wearing red lipstick, black nail polish and a mini skirt... YIKES!

 

Our sweet baby only a few hours old... Oh how sweet she is

 

Nuk in the car

Nuk in the high chair

 

No nukie... Sleeping very peacefully

 

 

 

Bath time fun

Daddy went to Bockfest today, so it was the kids and myself plus Christian all day today. I have been wanting to get a picture of all three of the kids in the bath tub for a large area above the bathroom door in the kids bathroom; so after Christian got picked up I decided it was a great time to try to do a bath tub photo shoot. Much to my surprise I got some good images to work with. Now to choose a picture...

 

Braylon was the only one that was interested in the camera (no surprise)

 

I am in love with this picture.

Best buddies :)

This is another one of my favorites, real smiles, real laughter and a really great moment captured.

Forced smiles, but still a keeper.

 

I haven't gotten my camera out since Christmas :( I take advantage of the fact that I can take them on my phone, something I need to do a better job of in the future, I love my camera and my three amazing subjects :)