Hailey... where to start.

Last I posted, Hailey was a baby.  She's still our baby.  We even call her "Hailey Baby" all the time, but she's growing up way too fast!  She is still as full of spunk as she ever was.  She is a natural born diva who loves to sing and dance her way through life. She is creative and imaginative and such a joy! 

 Here's a little glimpse into the fun little muchkin's adventures over the last few years.  

Teaching Cameron some awesome dancing skills.  And Cameron was such a good sport to be her dance partner.  These two have been buddies for years.

Hailey Baby, you fill our family with music, sparkles and dancing.  You complete us.  

And we all adore you! 

Five Years later....

      Yes, 5.  It's been FIVE years since I've updated this blog.  Somehow, life has gotten too busy to take time for blogging, and I let it. Last night Brooke and I were talking and I mentioned my old blog. She asked about it, so we decided to take a look.  I really wasn't even sure if it was still active.  I half expected it to be gone for good, like the days of my little ones that are now teenagers.  But what a fun surprise to find that it was still here, alive and well and full of the most treasured memories of days gone by.  Brooke and I sat looking, reading and laughing at the memories for hours.  As we did this and I read my own posts from years ago, I was filled with tremendous gratitude. Gratitude that I took a little bit of time to record a few of the thoughts and memories from that time in our lives.  Gratitude for the technology that kept the memories and gratitude for the fun chance to reminiscence with my daughter.  The funny thing is, she was there for most of those memories but is now seeing them with new eyes as a teenager.  What a gift.  

  Why did I stop?  I have been asking myself this question over and over again.  It was a combination of factors.  Life got busy. Life got complicated.  The days of little ones and play dates turned into days juggling teenagers, sports, homework, working and busy schedules for everyone. We have dealt with tragedy, loss and sadness.  We have had our share of wonderful days but there have been some hard times these past few years.  I wish I would have taken the time to keep on documenting the simple pleasures of life, even when things were hard and busy and heavy.  But I didn't. I got so caught up keeping up with life, that the extras had to go, and my blog was en extra.  

      I always thought my blog was kind of insignificant. It was a guilty pleasure. I just did it for myself, to have a place to post thoughts and memories now and then.  But now, I've realized how great it is to be able to look back at these memories and relive the days when my babies were babies.  As I re-read my entries last night, there were so many posts that I didn't even remember.  They made me laugh and cry and smile wide with joy, and gratitude.  Gratitude to my past self for giving my this gift. So, once again, I'm resolving to resurrect my blog.  Because this record of raising my children is an unparalleled treasure of my life's work. Because, they are my life.  These everyday memories are my life.  My family is my life.  These simple days that we had in these past posts and the simple days we continue to have, they are our life. The simple days, the milestones, adventures and the meltdowns.  The good days and the hard days, they are all a gift.  And I want to capture them. So in another 5 years, I can look back and smile at the memories we've made. 

The Journey IS the Destination.  And these are the stories of our family's journey. 

Here are my babes now... 5 years later. 

Spring Break 2013

To know us is to know that we love the beach and we've made it a tradition to visit the beaches of Destin the past several spring breaks.  Everyone has fun and feels right at home at the familiar and might I add, awesome, Sandestin Resort.  We love to ride bikes along the paths, play in the arcade, zip acroos the zip line, ride the carousel, fish on the pier, eat yummy foods and swim in the pools, that is when we aren't playing in the sand or being forced to take family pictures on the beach. 

 

Here are a few of my favorites from this year's trip....

 

Halloween trunk or treat fun

This was totally supposed to be published a long, long time ago and I just discovered that it wasn't... so here's one from October 2011!

 

Since I was in the hospital giving birth on Halloween last year, I didn't document many pictures of my cute kids and their costumes. So I'm making sure to take plenty of pictures this year! Here are my cute kiddoes all set to go to the annual Trunk or Treat!

Wow, it's been too long!

I guess it's obvious that four kids is about my limit.  I haven't even blogged the kids last couple of birthdays not to mention the many milestones and awesome memories along the way.  I don't know that I can even attempt to make up time by filling in the past couple years, so I'll just give a little recap and start from now....

 

Austin's 12!  How did my baby boy get so big?  He's making the transition into teen and we're learning how to navigate that path. :-)  He's smart, funny , talented.  Austin started middle school this year where he excels in academics and is enjoying learning some sweet skills in percussion.  He helps us out a lot and it's awesome having a babysitter at home! We're proud of the young man he's growing into.   (Soon he's gonna out grow me!)

 

 

Brookie, my little Brookie.  She entered the double digits this year and turned 10! We celebrated with a "Mustache Bash" which made Brooke very happy.  She's still a little peanut and as thoughtful and kind as ever.  When she's not  playing basketball or mastering her back hand spring, she excels at being a big sister.  Our "little mama" is like my right hand gal at home and I don't know what I'd do without her.  She's helpful, funny, beautiful and smart. If only I didn't have to twist her arm to practice piano... we're working on that. :-)   I seriously couldn't ask for a better daughter.  

 

 

 

Cam the man... he's five and growing into a big kid so fast!  Cam isn't such a little guy anymore, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor and his smile still lights up the room.  Cam keeps us laughing and entertained with his awesome singing skills.  He can often be found singing or humming a popular tune while he plays, or gets dressed, or uses the bathroom or just hangs out.  He's got a song for every occasion and we LOVE it!  Cam broke the family record and mastered bike riding this fall.  He asked me to take off his training wheels one day, so I did and off he went.  He loves riding his bike every chance he gets and is getting really good at it.  Cam will start kindergarten in the fall, but for now he enjoys his fun preschool with friends at our close neighbors house.  It's always an adventure when he gets to hop on the 4 wheeler with Dad and cruise on through the back yard to school.  We certainly scored big getting this little guy sent to our family!

 

 

 

And last, but certainly not least... Hailey is already 2!!  I never posted her first or second birthday pictures because she keeps me sooo busy!  Either I am more busy and tired than I was with the others (it's true, I am) or this little girl is just a bundle of energy!  (also true)  Hailey has a personality all her own and she entertains all of us.  She thinks she's in charge of all the kids and acts like the ruler of our home.  She jumps and runs and climbs a lot and likes to show us her "flips."  Hailey loves to play with her babies, dress up and is obsessed with her "binky" and Dora The Explorer.  It's going to be a battle to give up her pacifier, but it's not one I've decided to fight yet.  :-/  Hailey turned 2 in October and is speaking very well these days.  She speaks in sentences and often surprises us with the things she comes up with.  Some of our favorite Hailey words are the nicknames she has given the kids... Austin is "Austies", Brookie is "Sissy" or "Cookie" and my favorite, Cam Cam is "Pom Pom."   She has started correcting herself and pronouncing everyone's names but we are working hard to convince her to keep the nicknames.  None of us want the baby talk to end.  She's growing up way too fast and we sure do love her!