First Fourth of July!

Every year we spend Fourth of July with all of our family at the Lakehouse!

It's a day we look forward to all year and it especially exciting now that you are here to join in on the fun!!  This was your First Fourth of July and your last "first holiday"! Which is kind of crazy to think about!

Me and you came up on Monday and spent the whole week. But your dad couldn't come until Wednesday. We had such a fun and relaxing week preparing for our exciting Fourth of July celebration.

You went on your first boat ride!! I think you really enjoyed it! Except for the life jacket... You didn't think that was very fun.  

You also got in the lake for the first time. Daddy walked you in at the stairs and you splashed away! 

Everyone arrived Thursday night and Friday morning. It's always so fun waiting for everyone to get here and getting so excited looking forward to the fun we are going to have. There were about 23 people here! 

We jumped straight in the water as soon as we could!! You played with us for a little bit, but then a much needed naptime came and you went to bed. 

We played, rode the jet ski, jumped in the lake and just had fun with all of the cousins.  

You took a really good nap and played with everyone when you woke up. They all loved seeing you and couldn't believe how much you had grown and how many things you have learned! 

Later in the afternoon we had our LEOJAG games. They are like the family Olympics! Your dad, justin and Ryan came up with the name and it means "Lakefront Explosion of Justice and Glory". (Yes, they are crazy... But you already know that!!)

Each year we draw names to see who our partner will be and I drew Aunt Sis! We had so much fun and dispite my lack of athletic ability, we tied for second!!! 

Your daddy and Bubba won!!

After the games, everyone got ready while I fed you and put you to bed. 

Then I joined them for hamburgers and hot dogs! It was YUM! 

This is always a fun time because we sit with all of the cousins and talk and laugh. I love the dinner on the fourth!

After dinner we played around in the yard and then got ready for fireworks!! 

Nana sat inside and kept an eye on your monitor because I was so worried you were going to wake up! And not just that you would wake up, but that you would be scared by the explosions that were happening outside!!! 

The cousins sat on the roof of the boat dock and watched them. They were soo pretty. I kept looking behind me to check and see if you had woken up and nana had brought you outside!!

After they were over we all raced back up to the house because Grandbuddy, daddy and Ryan were shooting off their fireworks. I had already been warned that they got "the mother load" of fireworks and that they were extremely loud!! 

So when I got up to the house and found out that you had slept right through the lake fireworks, I was happy but knew there was a slim chance you would sleep through these. 

I was right, after the first extremely loud explosion you were up and crying!

So I went upstairs and got you out of the crib and we sat in the window and watched them set of the fireworks. 

You LOVED them!!! They would bang super loud and you would get a scared look on your face but then smile soo huge when they burst with color. 

It was one of my favorite moments of the weekend and something I will always remember. 

I had so much fun holding you and watching them! I did get a little worried a couple of times when your daddy lingered a little too long while lighting them though!!

After I got you back to sleep we all hung out down stairs and showered and got ready for bed. 

While we were down there, Daniel was telling stories about grandbuddy's grandma and it was so fun listening to them all. 

You slept through the night and woke up bright and early ready to play the next day! Daddy had to leave at 7am to go back to work and we missed him soo much.

I think we may have woken the whole house up because we opened the bedroom door and saw everyone moving around. Aunt Thelma came up and gave you a big kiss and said how much she loved mornings with little babies! 

We spent the rest of the day playing outside and with you.

Everyone left on Saturday except for Dana, jay, Justin and Ryan. We had fun spending time with them and of course playing Mario kart and Mario party!! 

It was such a fun week spending time with all of our family. It's so hard to believe that the next time we see all of them, it will be your first Birthday! That's literally crazy. 

I love you sweet baby and thank you for making all of the holidays so much more fun now that you are here!!!! 

Your First Easter!

Happy First Easter baby girl!!

You woke up this morning not feeling very well. You had a runny nose, cough and low fever. I feel so bad for you! Your first tooth is trying to come through so I'm pretty sure it's all related to teething. 

Like daddy and aunt sis said, it's not enough that a tooth is erupting through your skin, you have all this other bad stuff on top of it!

You were soo tired this morning and fell

asleep easy and quick for your morning nap. I had plenty of time to get myself ready for church. I even had to (unfortunately) wake you up so we could get to church on time!! 

We could all tell you weren't feeling good and you were such a trooper through church. I didn't want to put you in the nursery just yet and especially with you not feeling well.

Daddy was a trooper also. He got off work at 4 and we had to be at church at 9:45. Then go to nana and grandbuddys for basically the whole afternoon. He sacrifices so much for us. 

You took a nice nap at nanas and woke up just in time for lunch! You still weren't feeling well so I held you in your sling for a little bit and I think that helped. 

It finally came time to see what the Easter bunny brought you! You were so much more into your Easter basket than I thought you would be! You were pulling everything out and chewing on it. It was so funny and we were so surprised!! You loved everything and wanted to play immediately!

The Easter Bunny also brought you an awesome Red Ryder Tricycle! It's so neat because it grows with you from 9 months to 3 years!! The Easter Bunny told me how excited he was to give it to you and how he had been thinking about it for a while!! We strapped you in and ride you around the house and you really liked it! You were smiling and kicking your feet! If say the Easter bunny did a great job!!

After lunch we came home and you passed out for almost two hours. You were soo tired and not feeling well so you really needed a nice long nap. (Mommy did too!!) 

We had such a great first Easter with you. I hate it that you didn't feel well and I hope this teething nonsense gives us a break soon!! 

Easter is such a fun day to celebrate with our friends and family. I always want you to remember that Easter is truly about the  celebration of Jesus rising from the dead so he could save us all. He paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can live the amazing life we live. We should always be grateful to Him for this amazing act and for giving us all of the wonderful blessings that we have each day. It's easy to forget how blessed we are. I want you to always remember everything He has done for us and to thank him each day for saving us from our sins and rising from the dead so that we may have eternal life with him. He is the true reason we celebrate today.

I love you baby girl and im so proud of you.