four

four is the number today...

my baby girl turns four today

...and she couldn't be more excited

she was so excited to show me four when taking pictures last Sunday afternoon

it really was the perfect day to take some pics of them outside

it has been awhile since I took a few pics of them and I think they forgot

that "mama goes overboard in how many she takes"

because I took a ton...
I mean a whole lot of pictures
{smile}

but we had the best time

lots of laughter

silly dancing

a bit of craziness and stress at some points during the pictures when Hayley decided she was done

"done taking photos mom"

completely done she said:)

I don't blame her because I'm the first person to jet when people start taking photos

As I was going through the photos in the wee wee wee hours of the night

 I liked around 67 of them

yes 67

some were of just Madison too
which I'll save for her birthday

because how can you not take photos of both of your sweet girls

anyhoo...

Hayley Elisabeth is four today

yes four

{I keep typing that I know...perhaps I'm in denial just a little bit

...thought you should know that}

 I feel a bit rusty at writing since it has been awhile

but I wanted to blog today

to celebrate Hayley

she is my sunshine

who has a true gift of humor and silliness that I just love

we dance silly all the time together

whether in stores

at home

or in the car

it's our fun thing we do together

to make one another laugh

Hayley loves to share her gift of making others laugh...especially with Madison and I

she makes us laugh all of the time

so when she is in trouble

she makes me laugh on purpose because she thinks I'll forget and let it slide

 and there it goes...I of course laugh and can't hold it in

completely not effective when you are trying to parent just letting you know

so when I have to get it together to talk to her
without laughing,

I start laughing all over again

and then its pointless and I'm not effective

she runs our house if you can't tell

on the way home from my grandparents a couple of weeks ago

she was so goofy and if you know Hayley this is a normal thing she says

and is so proud of the fact that she toots

yep I said it

 she started praying this prayer in the car on the way home probably 50 times

not kidding

so Madison's reaction was the best...after the 50th time

H: "Dear God...thank you and bless me for tooting because I'm a tooting machine"

so after about the 50th time in a row of her praying this prayer

M says: "Dear God...please have Hayley stop praying that!"

it was so cute

she calls herself the Queen of Tooting

and she even has a King of Tooting and his name is Parker

almost on a daily basis she reminds me of these titles that Parker and her have
{King and Queen of tooting}

I told her I'm going to remember this story when she starts dating 70 years from now
{yes they are not dating until they are 76 and 74}

 this week she's been saying..."and now I will be four just like Parker"

so you can see what is important in her world:)

what I loved most about that prayer...

she was just being her... silly, fun, and cute

but most of all a kid

Hayley brings so much sunshine and kindness to us

she always has a compliment and sweet things to say to Madison and I

I love her heart and all that comes with it

her favorite color is purple

although she loves yellow and red too:)

and as I brought cupcakes to her school yesterday

all of her friends asked imediately and without even thinking about it...

"are they all purple Hayley???!!!"
she said "yes, YES!!! they are"

Hayley is our sweet dragonfly

and we are blessed every day that we have her

she is fiesty

 most definitely independent

but she also has to be around people

all.of.the.time

she loves to go on a run with me and play outside

she loves her taekwondo class

Hayley is a summer and beach girl most definitely

with the brightest of blue eyes

She doesn't know a stranger as she talks to anyone she meets

especially the people that work at Trader Joe's

she was upset one day because she forgot to tell the checkout guy this last detail of what she was sharing with him and then goes..."what was his name mama? I forgot to tell him____" 

this was after being home 45 minutes she was still talking about it

my dad calls her NST

{non stop talker}

which is very much appropriate

she even told the dentist the other day she had 12 brothers and sisters

the hygenist immediately came out to verify with me

and I had a horrified look on my face when she asked me

that the hygentist laughed pretty hard at my reaction alone

she is so proud of her sister Madison

I couldn't ask them to be any closer...they are besties

everyday as we pick Madison up from school Hayley cannot wait to run up to Madison to give her a hug...it makes me smile

she is a lover of vanilla cake and vanilla ice cream

just like her mama

she loves my homemade macaroni with fancy cheeses

feta on her salad

 mahi mahi

{I think she likes to say mahi mahi more than anything}

and always is ready for dessert after dinner

{that's from her daddy}

I can't hardly wait until she wakes up this morning as I have her room filled with balloons above her bed {only like 10 but her room looks filled when they are all above her bed...
and yes they are purple}

four of the ballons have notes tied to them

about things we love about her

she has a new stuffed giraffe hanging by it's arms from her chandi

she loves giraffes and always her must see at zoos

her giraffe she got at the San Diego Zoo last year is named Gigi
so now she has one more to add to her collection of about 5 now

I can't wait to see her face light up when she sees all the balloons

because it has been so hard for me not to tell her what her surprises are
{I'm not great at holding surprises in and neither is Hayley}

Today is the day to make her feel so special

for all the specialness she brings to us

we are so blessed and thankful for  Hayley

she is our sweetheart and sunshine that is full of life

and today we are so happy to celebrate her

when I had the girls out taking pictures Sunday it started to rain just before we were done

and when I said I'm finally done taking pictures

this was their reaction:

I love you our dragonfly

Happy Fourth Birthday

Hayley Elisabeth

I always love you
I always believe in you
and I am always proud of you
xo

i'm back:)

I know, I know

it's been almost a month since I have probably visited you

or even written on my blog

but a couple of things before I begin...

thank you
all of you that so kindly reminded me to get with it

and come back

and get back to normal
and do a stinkin' post

and write again

i'll be honest though

it's just been a little rough for me with a few things

and these past three months

{this is where I take a deep breathe}

have been the roughest
when things like that happen
I stop writing
because you don't need to hear it all

the verse that has lifted my spirits this past month

"Cast all your care upon Him; for He cares for you"
I Peter 5:7

and then I have focused on many many great things in my life
and I tell you what
even though these past months have been difficult

they have also been so very wonderful
I have close family and friends that are always there for me
my business has been very exciting

and this past month I finished earning my business incentive trip
 I'm going to Atlantis in August
{happy dance}
{happy dance}
{happy dance again}

so just so I honestly have been focusing on those good things

depositing into those

{not that this blog isn't good}

but I had to get away from a few things to really focus on some other things

I'm thankful for an amazing business, family,
and

amazing friends that live here and afar

friends threw the absolute best suprise weekend for me for my birthday

all you {my blog readers] have meant the world to me

and that's why I felt so badly about being away

the reason why it has taken so long to get back into sharing our life
is because I wondered...

 if it was too late to continue this blog

by being away so long
if i lost you all...

so i have a few things to share

of what good things we have been up too...

wonderful, fun times with friends and family

Madison graduated preschool

I cried, of course

because i was excited for her

but it always makes me feel like time goes by waaaaay too fast already

we are enjoying pool time
well just three days of it so far

 it's summertime

and this is my happy time during summer

I'm so happy that my hydrangeas are about to start blooming

and the rest of my flowers are filling out

 I do have something to ask your help with

 I would really love from you is your help and/or opinion

my friend is a fantastic photographer

and i needed to update my business pictures for

my business website

business cards

and any other marketing i needed pictures for

so she put together a fantastic business package for me

I wanted to do colorful

outdoor pics

to liven up my look and to also go with what i do

out of the pictures she took

i chose some of them to use on my blog

and some for my business

we also snuck in a family picture or two because we haven't had one in a bit

so what i would love, love your help with

is helping me decide

what photos should i use for my business website?

what are your favorites for my business cards?

I would love outside feedback

I like to have a couple of different business cards

using different pictures

so please choose your top 2 or 3 for business cards

so if you would be willing to choose your top three

i would be so appreciative:)

And by the way

Kristen was fabulously fabulously patient with me

if you know me well

you know i get nervous with photos

especially by myself

if i'm in a picture with family, friends, etc.

i'm okay

because I'm not the only one

i really struggled at times

and Kristen couldn't have done a better job of helping me through that

and being patient with me

If you live within an hour or so of me

and need family photos or business photos

I would definitely consider Kristen

so just to show you our family photos first

because of course that was the easier part for me

and yes...

 I really did wear color in these photos

no gray or brown:)

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I think Kristen did a wonderful job

so her information is already on my sidebar

but click here to visit her website

if you are interested in her business packages just shoot her an e-mail

via her website

thanks in advance for your help

xoxo

next time i'll share with you a few of my summer wishes

for my fam and I

five on april tenth

five years ago with an up and down not so fun delivery

we finally met our beautiful butterfly

Madison Ella

you arrived
with some of the strongest lungs they've heard
they said
but you had the longest eye lashes i had ever seen

i was completely in love with you

you had such beautiful petite features

and a full head of dark hair

that i just loved, loved!

after an hour or so after your birth
I was finally able to hold you

I didn't want to let you go

for anyone

even family

I wanted to cherish every single moment and study every single part on you

I think family had to remind me that they wanted to hold you too

there grew a special bond between both you and I
and Hayley and I...

with each pregnancy

 i had to have ultrasounds every 3-4 weeks

for various reasons

so the bond we had before you even arrived was so special

I wouldn't change our journey for you and hayley at all

it was all for a reason

but i still remember seeing you just 8 cells big

I was laying in the hospital room

just praying that this time was "the time" it was going to happen

Madison you are our miracle

you are such a blessing that we are so very thankful for

and when i woke up this past Sunday morning
~ your birthday ~

tears just welled up in my eyes

and i literally just cried

tears of happiness

joy

  thankfulness

and tears of just knowing i am always proud of you

i remember our journey for you so well

and I've tucked that back for many years

because when we were blessed with you

we just wanted to move forward

it became the past

and our present and future was with you

 the pain is just a distant memory

all thankfully behind us now

 yesterday you were five

and as daddy and I tucked you into bed last night

i remembered you were born about one hour and 20 minutes
before 8:45 pm

I cannot believe how quickly these past 5 years have gone by

I want to hold on tight and freeze time right now 

because i know it is going to fly by even faster

I'm so proud of you

for all that you are

and all that I see in you

for all that you have grown in just these past couple of months

with believing in yourself
having fun
and showing the "you" that we know well

as I'm typing right now

I'm thinking of the day when we found out
that we were pregnant

they warned us carefully that we were not out of the clear yet

but after three years

of things not working

I really knew you would and had to be okay

when my phone rang with them calling to give us the news
either way news

I was shaking

standing in our hallway

of our first home

 I had Bobby answer the phone because I couldn't...

 I may have been already crying with just the rush of feelings

daddy's eyes immediately welled up and a smile came across his face

 I immediately smiled after looking at him

Madison, we are so grateful for you

and so grateful that because of you

we were able to be blessed with Hayley twenty-three months later

five years later on April 10th

our little butterfly has grown up into a little girl

ready for kindergarten next year

{sigh}

you have always been so determined

focused

with every single thing you do

you have one of the biggest hearts i have ever known

kindness that is as sweet as can be

and a passion that radiates from your soul

you are the first to always offer me help

with anything and everything

and you do it with so much love

not too long ago...

Hayley was so tired and i was helping her brush her teeth

and I had just taken her sheets out of the dryer before her bedtime

and hadn't made her bed yet

i mentioned to hayley I would make her bed as soon as I was done helping her

I walked into hayley's bedroom

and you had already put her pillow and laid a blanket on Hayley's bed
for your sister

just because you wanted to help me
and do something nice for her

my heart just swelled with so much love and thankfulness

because Madison... you have such a joy when helping others

and helping your sister was the sweetest...

Madison

you 

inspire me to be better

every single day

your love language...

is definitely affirmation

and acts of service could be a close second

you are our butterfly that...

loves chocolate cupcakes/cake like her daddy

loves strawberries, oranges, and blackberries

fairy trees {broccoli and cauliflower}

"cacongos"
 {cacongos are coconut m &m's...but you call them "cacongos"}

 you love eating el fresco

 you love...

mahi mahi

gnocchi

{which you and Hayley call "p~nocchi"}

you love to help me decorate

and snuggle with me right before your bedtime

you love...

"Wednesday night" movie night

your family

friends

Jesus

Cadence

puzzles and games

you don't like to loose

especially when you and I race Daddy and Hayley into stores

{we usually always win...chuckle}
except when we lost "once"
you were not happy about that:)
neither was I:)

you are way too hard on yourself

very sensitive

loveable

stubborn

and super organized

you love to be a "fashionista"

{picking out/designing clothes}

you even dressed me for saturday before both of your birthday parties

you picked out my shoes and all my accessories

I think you could be my personal shopper 

you love white

your vintage chandelier in your bedroom

and vibrant colors

I always knew you would be a color girl

you love your sister

Hayley and you seem like long lost twins

as you two sometimes talk in your own language

you love, love the beach as much as we do

and you love to help me cook

 you usually have your foot stool by the counter

ready to help me

i love how silly you are in the car

and how you love to sing and dance to super fun songs with me

you are head over heals for Taylor Swift

and i cannot wait to surprise you this fall with her concert

I am so proud of you my sweet one

you are one of a kind

a little girl with such a big heart

Happy 5th Birthday

Madison Ella

we love you so much

xo