Monday, September 23, 2013

Adalynn Rose Higley

She's here!!!  

Welcomed with love...


On Thursday, September 19th at 8:08pm, my beautiful sister-in-law gave birth to 7.56 lb and 19 in long baby Addy. And the icing on the cake... Addy's Daddy (my youngest brother Kyle) delivered her!!! Talk about a momentous occasion x 100! My Mom and I had the amazing privilege of being a part of Addy's birth. I feel so honored to have been there for my brother and sister-in-law and to witness them bringing Addy into the world in such a joyous way... bring tears to my eyes just reminiscing about it!


It was the most amazing event to happen to us since the birth of my own children. And I cried as hard as I did when my own babies were born. There is just something special about a baby being born. Such a true testimony of God's magnificent creations and the miracles that He makes happen.



We love Kyle, Emmy and Addy so much! We are so excited to see what joy and adventure little Addy will bring to our family. She has already touched all of our hearts in such a big way. Her cousins adore her... her Uncle and Aunt can't get enough of her preciousness and her Memaw is in awe of her cuteness and love!










Adalynn Rose Higley 

Welcome to our family! We love you!!!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

8 years of married bliss!

It's been eight amazing years of married life. We love each other more today than yesterday. I can remember saying "I Do" like it was yesterday... yet it feels like it was centuries ago. We have accomplished SO much in our eight years of marriage.


Thanks to two wonderful people in our life, Memaw and Lare Bear... we were able to spend the ENTIRE day together, kidless, celebrating our anniversary. We met Memaw and traded vehicles and sent her off for a wonderful day with her grandkids... just knowing our kids were with her and Lare Bear helped this Mommy relax and enjoy herself. :)

So we set out for an amazing day... just the two of us. We went to breakfast at this sweet little cafe in Eugene... called Vero Espresso House. We sipped on yummy caramel coffees and shared a decadent breakfast sandwich. Highly recommend this sweet cafe!


Since we had a little time to spare before our lunch reservations... we headed over to one of my favorite little shops, Hirens... we had fun giggling at the funny signs... admiring the sweet and romantic nic nacs and even grabbing a few Ducks stuff while there!

Then before we knew it, it was time to head out to our lunch destination... King Estate! The drive was so nice... we were actually able to talk to each other, just the two of us! :) When we arrived... the setting was absolutely beautiful! We sat outside and enjoyed the magnificent view. I'm a sucker for brunch and my hubs is a sucker for good meat dishes. I had their special... the eggs benedict... And my sweetie picked the pulled pork sandwich. Both were AMAZING! After lunch we went inside to the bar and did a little wine tasting. We met two really sweet sisters that were having the usual glass of wine at the bar... they were about in their 70's... both being mothers to four children too. They were SO sweet, so kind, and so energetic and fun sisters! We loved meeting those two sweet gals. :)




Since we weren't quite ready to be done with wine tasting... we headed over to Chateau Lorane down the road from King Estate. It's a super cute, super quaint little winery. It's definitely not fancy like King Estate... but the bartender was so fun and energetic!



After our wine tasting adventure... we headed into town where we did a little more shopping and just took our time enjoying each others company. It was an amazing day to celebrate each other and celebrate the eight married years we've spent together! By the end of our evening we were both ready to see our kiddos! We missed them tremendously!


We celebrated our real anniversary today by taking the whole fam to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. El toritos! Yum! It was a great way to celebrate our special day with our kiddos in tow. Our sweet girlies took a couple pictures of us at dinner...



So grateful for these wonderful eight years of marriage to my best friend, my soul mate, my biggest fan, the most awesome Daddy to our four kiddos... I love you more. :) Happy Anniversary!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

First Day of 1st Grade

Today is the day. Our big girls are big first graders. My heart is very heavy. And I miss them terribly.
But I know they are having a great day at school!
Such big girls!!!


Last year when they started Kindergarten... we started a tradition of throwing them a first day of school breakfast party. So when the time came for us to get ready for 1st grade... our little boogers promptly asked... "are you going to do that thing you did for us last year on our first day of school?" My reply... "And what was that?" :) "You know, a first day of school breakfast party?" Oh boy... we've created monsters!!! Here's what last year's party looked like...


Well our little monsters got their wish. When they woke up, they were surprised to see a first day of school themed breakfast party! They were beyond thrilled! 








This was also the first time they got to see their brand new backpacks and matching lunch boxes. A very special gift from Great Grandma and Meemaw. Such a treat! 




Picture with Daddy before Daddy left for work... they all put their backpacks on!



They had some of their favorites... homemade muffins, grapes, scrambled eggs, hot chocolate and raspberry bars for dessert! 




First day of school pictures... it's a must. I know I drive my kiddos crazy with picture taking... but at the end of the day when I look back through all of our memories... it's full of happy thoughts and fun times!


                                       Kindergarten                                         First Grade

                                       Kindergarten                                       First Grade

Picture with little brothers... 

Arriving at school... such big girls!

Putting their backpacks away and getting to work at their desks! So proud of them!!! :)



And just for fun... another comparison picture from last year and this year.

                                    Kindergarten                                          First Grade


Do they really have to keep growing up? And so fast?

Sigh...

What great memories are to come! :)

Happy first day of school to all our family and friends! Loves!!!