What an AMAZING weekend!

Hanging out & playing with my amazing kids last Friday!  Richie had to work a 24hr shift (Fri-Sat) and I decided to keep Brady home from school so he could play with Bria and I!  It was a GREAT day!  I had so much fun!!!  Richie wasn't feeling 100% better, but thought it was best to stay away from the kids so that Bria didn't get HFMD and Brady wouldn't get it again...It's been a mess!

Brady playing in the sunroom - going down the slide and shooting hoops!  And of course Bria is watching!  It won't be long and she will be doing it right there with him!

Then, we went on a dough dough Saturday run!  It's been FOREVER!  He enjoyed his dough doughs!

We also went to the fire station for a quick visit on Saturday afternoon!  Brady had a BLAST climbing all over the fire engine!  Too cute!  I can't wait to have a birthday party for him here!  The kids would love it!  He enjoyed seeing his daddy and running all around!

We all played outside...Me and my sweet lil girl!

And, we wore our new PJs!  It was a FABULOUS weekend!  MUCH needed!  It is getting more and more fun with these sweet babies!  I really enjoy my time with them!  We have a busy week and a nice 3 day weekend ahead!  More FUN times await!

6 month photo shoot!

What a mess...Well, we were supposed to have one of my friends take Bria's 6 month pics and include family pics in there as well...But, with Richie being sick, it was best to reschedule...So, needless to say I didn't want to wait until Bria was 7+ months old b/c her 9 month photo shoot will be fast approaching...So, I just decided to take her to Bedford Camera & Video and get her 6 month pics done there.  They are SUPER affordable and do a great job!  And, you get the pics the same day!!!  I am looking forward to my friend doing her 9 month pics (ESP bc I really want outside pics done) but, these turned out pretty good, I think!  She is just so sweet!  I think it's great b/c she captured so many of her different expressions!  I just love this little girl!  So precious!  These are just a few of the 23 pics I got...I am actually suprised she got so many of her sitting up b/c she wanted to crawl everywhere and get into everything!  They really do a good job!

My Mother's Day!

Me and my baby girl!  She is the SWEETEST!  Love this precious lil angel!

Me and my handsome lil man!  He is such a lil pistol!  Love this lil guy!

Me and my precious family!  (After Brady has fixed my hair) hehe!  I'm so lucky to have a wonderful husband, and 2 amazing kids!  I probably don't say it near enough, but I am very fortunate to have such a loving family!  I never really thought about being a mother growing up, but now...It's what I live for!  I don't know what I would do without my family!  These past 2 years have been a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs and twisty turns but I couldn't imagine my life without Brady or Bria and looking back, I wouldn't change anything (besides my precious angels being sick) - they are both so smart and have such great little personalities - I really can't wait to watch them grow up!

Flowers from my sweet lil babies! 

When people asked what I did for Mother's Day...I just have to say - took care of my 2 babies and my husand...It's been such a crazy past 2 weeks with HFMD infecting Brady first and then Richie...I feel like I've done nothing but try and keep my family separated...It has been utterly crazy...Richie tried so hard to make my Mother's Day special and he did, considering how he was feeling.  Poor guy.  He has really had a rough few days.  He did let me have an hour to myself while Brady was napping - he took Bria out to run some errands and I laid out in the backyard and read a book my friend let me borrow - The Hunger Games.  Finding time to read is like finding a needle in a haystack.  But, it was really nice!

Being a mom means so much to me and I really strive to be the very best I possibly can.  I know I'm not perfect (far from it actually) - but I will live each and every single day trying to do the best thing for them.  I never want to look back with any regrets.  I'm so lucky that my company offers FMLA time for me to come back to work at my own pace (granted, I'm not getting paid on those days off) but not very many companies offer this.  Up until the last couple of weeks, I've been able to work 3 days a week and spend those 2 days taking care of Bria.  I'm now working 4 days a week and once June starts, I'll keep Bria on 3 days a month and then I'll get Brady on that other day off I'll get.  It will be really nice.  I'm very lucky that my husband has agreed to let me do this, and in fact told me that I could do it as long as I wanted.  Not everyone could say this...I feel like I've won the lotto (without actually winning the lotto) and I probably take my family for granted on some days, but I really am the luckiest mom in the world!  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  We are all very LUCKY!

Celebrating Mother's Day with Mayme!

Me and Bria - getting ready to go to Farmers Market with Mayme!

Me and my little man at the Farmers Market!

Me and my special MOM and the kiddos!  Yep, Brady decided I needed a new hair do!

After the Farmer's Market we took the kids to the park!  Mayme went down every slide with Brady and she chased him around the entire playground!  It was funny!

It was quite funny - they go down the slide and found a puddle at the bottom!  HAHA!  I hear a squeal and I soon found out what it was that they were squealing for!  TOO FUNNY!!!  It sure didn't slow Brady down at all!  And, Mayme took it all in fun!

Bria woke up from a little nap and while Brady and I were swinging, Mayme had to get some kisses in!  It wasn't an over exciting day - but it was a lot of fun!  I tried to make it extra special, but Mayme enjoyed doing relaxing things - thank goodness!  She LOVES spending time with these kiddos and it was a great Saturday just spending time with my special babies and my special mom!!

Celebrating Mother's Day w Baba!

Brady getting ready for his 1st Razorback Baseball game!

Richie loving on his special MOM!

The fam...How cute!

Brady having a blast at the game!

Celebrating Mother's Day and getting time with everyone is always interesting.  I really like trying to make it special for everyone and it's just not always that easy!  For example...Brady has been sick with HFMD and we tried ALL week long to keep him away from Bria so she won't get it.  Not that easy...Barb had to come and help Richie on Tuesday b/c I was working and Richie took a sick day on Wednesday to stay and help me...It was just one of those things where everything was juggled around.  Bria had her 6 month old appt and shots on Thursday and Tom & Barb were spending the night with us on Thursday and Friday so we knew we were going to be able to get a double dose of celebrating for Mother's Day.  However, since Bria had her shots and Brady was feeling sick - we just juggled...I still wanted it to be special for Barb so along with some cute gifts, she got to go to the Razorback baseball game with her favorite men!!!  I stayed home with Bria to take care of her and give her some extra attention.  I think they all enjoyed watching Brady more than the ball game!  They said that he didn't sit still for a second!  He ran everywhere!  And enjoyed every single minute of it!  YAY!  It really sounded like they had a great time!!  I'm so happy they got to go and do something fun - Barb deserves it!  One of the best mothers I know and for sure one of the best grandmothers!!  Then, I ended up taking a vacation day on Friday & I had to take Brady in for his (delayed) 18 month old appt.  He didn't get shots since he was recovering from a double ear infection and HFMD but he got an overall great checkup!  YAY!  So, Barb and I spent the late part of the morning and early afternoon together and Richie got finished with class early so we had a FABULOUS Mother's Day meal for Barb - Stuffed flounder, couscous, aparagus - DE-LISH!  So, even though it was a juggle for everything to happen - I hope that she felt extra special for Mother's Day!  The babies LOVE their Baba!

Are these 2 related???

Well, when I took this picture of Bria eating and her looking all sweet with her head cocked to the side it really reminded me of another sweet precious angel...I just knew I had seen that look before!  Sure enough...Do you think these two precious kiddos are related??  I keep thinking that Bria is looking less and less like Brady...But this pic proves a little different, don't you think??  I love these kids so much!

This past week...

So, last Sunday Papa & Babs came over for a visit.  Playing with the grandkids is their favorite hobby!

Then, on Monday I was off and we worked on making cards for Oma (my granny in Virginia, Papa & my sister Michel) - it was pretty funny.  While Brady was making the cards, he decided to draw all over the hardwood floors (luckily it wipes up)...Bria had to also get in on the action and she decided she would eat on the cards!  HAHA!  Precious little angels!  It was a bittersweet week for me b/c it was my 1st week back to work working 4 days!  UGH!

Then, on Tuesday night we had Buckley, Kim and Kate over to celebrate Kim's birthday!  Brady and Kate played and we enjoyed watching them!  Richie made a great meal and we had a Rick's Bakery cake for dessert!  It was a fun night and besides Brady being crabby, a perfect way to celebrate Kim's birthday!  We definitely need to have them over more often!!  Happy Birthday Kim!

Then, this Saturday my sister came up to visit!!!  It was her first trip up!  And hopefully, first of many!!  It was such a great visit!  My sister and I haven't really ever been close (growing up) she is a little older than me and she grew up not anywhere close to me.  So, it's really nice to be able to get together and make up for lost time.  I felt so bad for her though, she came up to play with the kiddos and Brady hadn't been himself so we took him to the doctor on Friday night - DOUBLE EAR INFECTION!!!  I nearly flipped!  Stupid allergies!  I seriously just can't believe it - and they were BAD ones.  I just feel so bad for the poor little guy.  And, it was a rough day on Saturday so Michel didn't get to see the real Brady.  The kid just can't catch a break...Since starting day care he has had viral infection after viral infection and now this.  UGH!  I just want to stay at home with my kids and them never get sick!!!!!  But, Bria was all smiles and giggles and enjoyed playing with her Aunt! :)  So happy she came up to visit!  She brought treats for the kids - so sweet!!!  We got to go to the Farmer's Market and out to lunch together and it was SO nice!  Hopefully next time Brady will feel so much better and we can all play and go to the park or something!  Fingers crossed! 

With Brady not feeling good, I still managed to get them in matching outfits and get a few good shots!

AND - we celebrated Papa's birthday!  Happy Birthday TOM!!!  Richie made quite the feast - fajitas, guacamole dip, cheese dip, stuffed peppers - YUM!!  And we had creme brulee cheesecake for dessert - OUT OF THIS WORLD!!  It was sad that Brady didn't feel well since we were trying to get in the party spirit...Poor guy...

But, we managed to make the most of it. 

And the kids enjoyed taking a nice long walk - Brady LOVES his wagon and was hanging out soaking it all in - he was so funny.  He would start to get upset when we got back home so we made lap after lap - until it was time for dinner.  Then, that evening Brady took a turn for the worse and it was a MISERABLE Sunday night...We took him to the doctor Monday morning b/c of how horrible the night was and he had developed a rash also...Hand, foot & mouth!!!  SERIOUSLY???  The doctor said he probably had it on Friday but since the rash wasn't present it's impossible to diagnose.  I AM STUNNED...I wish I could just take it away from him - the poor guy...Fingers crossed Bria doesn't get.  Say a prayer!  So, it's been a busy past week.  But, now that Brady is feeling under the weather...We will be taking it easy...