Will Turns 2!

It's hard to believe my baby boy turned 2 on September 12th!  We all went in to get him out of his crib and to sing Happy Birthday! He was so HAPPY! He loves it when you sing to him. 

 We had a birthday breakfast before our crazy day started.  Will loved blowing out the candles on his Celebration Birthday pancake!

His actual birthday was pretty normal considering we were having Zach & Will's birthday party a week later.  With him being 2 we could totally get away with this. He got one present.  Went to MaMaw & PaPaw's house while I volunteered at Zach's school.  Then we took cupcakes to Football practice for Will & Coach Chad's birthday.  He loved all the extra attention. I kinda felt bad we weren't doing something special but it worked.

This little guy has brought so much JOY and HAPPINESS into our lives. Our prayer for him on his 2nd birthday is that he will grow up to love Jesus, Serve Others, and be happy. Nothing else really matters.  He's an amazing 2 year old.

Random Photo Thursday

These are just a few of my many cell phone photos of our everyday.  

Little Will LOVES to sleep and nap. I feel bad because every afternoon I have to wake him up to get Zach at school. This is what I see daily when I go in to get Will up.  Oh.I.Am.Going.To.Miss.This!

 We went to a local Cardinals baseball game in August.  One of the college interns came to our box and asked my dad to be in a game.  My dad declined.  Then they asked Kevin. He declined.  One of my new mantras is saying YES! to things that I normally wouldn't do. So without a single hesitation when she asked me I said YES! Then I got nervous and thought WHAT AM I DOING?  So after the 1st inning I played "Are you Smarter than a Cubs Fan?"  It was a random trivia question about anything!  Thankfully I knew the answer..."Olympia is the state capital for what state?"

WASHINGTON!  I won a long sleeve t-shirt but more importantly I didn't have to wear a CUBS hat! Kevin was so proud of me. He was super nervous that I did the game. I showed him!

 Zach enrolled in Mighty Mites. This pic is immediately after he got his equipment at Mighty Mites Registration.

 Career Day at school!  I have a ton of costumes.  So I was trying to get Z to wear something that required scrubs...nurse, doctor, vet, dentist, etc.  He wasn't going for it. He insisted that career day was to be what you WANT to be when you grow up.  He said he wanted to be in the Army like his Grams, Pops, and PaPaw.  Go figure...I didn't have anything but I got creative.  I went to army surplus and got items we could use for hunting and more dress up play. Plus it was cheap!  He was so excited.  Funny thing the next day Zachary told me he wanted to be a surgeon when he grew up.

 I was working on somethings downstairs. The boys got super quiet which made me nervous. I went to check on what they were doing and they were playing army.  Too cute!

 My parents got a new kitten. Evie!  Will loves her. My mom texted me this picture of him carrying her around their house.  What a sweet, patient kitty to put up with him.

 Zach has been telling me since July that his eyes were not the same.  I honestly thought it was because my mom is having some eye issues and he was having sympathy pains.  So I finally took him to the eye doctor and sure enough he needed reading glasses.  He looks so much like his daddy in this picture.

 He was so proud of the new specs.  He wanted me to snap this picture and text it to Kevin. He thought the sides looked like nerf guns.

 Here's a random photo of me eating lunch with Zach at his school. He loves lunch visitors!

That's all for today! 

10 years of Love!

This July Kevin and I celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss. When I think back to everything that has happened in those 10 years I can see that God has has His hand in our marriage from day one.  I was trying to compile a list of everything that happened...

*Got Married 2003

*Moved to new state

*Hil worked Full time to support Kevin in his residency

*We froze our tails off in Iowa

*We lived in a little, bitty nasty apartment and made it our home.

*Kevin graduated from his residency 2004

*Moved to old state

*Rented Duplex

*Started Kevin's practice

*Basically had to sign our lives away for the bank loan since we had nothing

*Found a new church that became our home 

*Hilary got a new full time job at 2 dental offices as a hygienist

*Hilary bought & signed for our new home because Kevin had too much debt from college loans, no tax returns and no income coming in because he did not draw a salary (I told you God provided)

*Had first son 2006

*Hilary "retired" from her jobs in 2007 to be stay at home mom

*5 year wedding anniversary 2008

*Kevin's practice continued to grow

*Designed dream office 2009

*Built Dream Office 2010

*Moved in new Office Sept 2010

*Had second son 2011

*1st son asked Jesus into his heart December 2012

*1st son baptized January 2013

*July 2013 10 year anniversary

Kevin and I were discussing that we have done more in those 10 years than we will probably do in the next 20 years.  Our family is complete. Our education is complete...besides continuing ed. We have so much to be thankful for. Of course this list does not include losing a grandfather, sicknesses, heartbreak, etc but that happened too.  Not every day was trial, stress-free but that's life.  Our family has had its share of ups and down but we adore one another and really try hard to put our spouse above anyone or anything. The only other person that comes first is God.  When I think back to our first couple years married I realize we were selfish and clueless. It wasn't until we became parents that we really "grew up".  I am SO looking forward to the next 50 years with this guy! 

We decided in January that we would take an adult-only trip 3rd honeymoon.  We took a get-away for our 5th wedding anniversary which was our 2nd honeymoon.  It's kinda become a tradition for an adult only trip every 5 years.  If it wasn't for our parents we would not have been able to go on this trip.  Both sets of parents watched the boys, took them to school, football practice, church, an all other normal activities.  We are so thankful for this time away. 

We went to Punta Cana Dominican Republic. 

Here is our swim-up suite room. 

 On our first night we ate dinner next to Cheryl & Ken.  We became instant buds.

 Death by dessert bar

 This picture was taken on our last full day. I spent the whole day in the swim up pool on a raft. I did apply sunscreen but I still was a little pink!

 Last dinner at Secrets Royal Beach

 Mariachi Band

 Our new friends from our trip. They are from Texas and Louisana

 My souvenir of the trip was professional photos on the resort. The best souvenir I have ever purchased. It's so hard to have someone take your pictures at a couples resort because everyone is occupied :)

I am going to end this post a little mushy but I truly mean every word of it.  When I was single I would pray to find a guy that was a Christian, that had a good work-ethic, that was athletic, that was musically inclined,  had a supportive family and that would make me feel like the most important person in the world.  I knew my list was long and next-to-impossible to find.  I was okay with finding a guy with 3 of the 6 things.  However, when I met Kevin and dated him for 3 months I knew. I knew he was the guy that God made just for me.  That God created JUST FOR ME!  I'm so thankful that Kevin and I click so well.  We are each others biggest cheerleaders.  He gets me. He loves me and all my corky faults.  I cherish each day with him.  He's the best gift God has ever given me. I do not feel worthy. But I am oh so thankful!  

First Day of 1st Grade and First day of Preschool

I'm trying to play catch up with my family blog. It's something I love to look back on and see our memories but it's been so hard for me to sit down and do it.  So here goes a little back tracking.  Zachary started the 1st day of preschool on Tuesday August 13th.  He got the teacher he REALLY, REALLY wanted. God does answer prayers.  Not that I really knew the 1st grade teachers at Zach's school. I'm sure they are all great but he has been praying since May for Mrs. H.  He really wanted her. I LOVE any reason to have a party with decorations, special food, and pictures so last year we started a First Day of School Breakfast.  You would think that having boys they wouldn't even notice but about 2 days before school started Zach asked me if I was going to have a special breakfast for him.  See, boys do notice!  

Our table for the 1st day of school

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Brain Food...Eggs, Bacon, Fruit

We read this book the Night before 1st grade.

Little Brother was super excited it was the 1st day of school too!

Daddy & Zach

We live so close that we try to walk or ride to school when the weather is nice.

He totally left us in the dust! No looking back for Zach!

Zach with Mrs. H! She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside! 

Here are a few pics from Will's 1st day of preschool. Will started preschool 2 days a week in the morning.  He loves it! 

I know it's not good to compare your children however I love to see what they look like at each stage in their lives.  Before I get any questions...yes they are biological children and yes they have the same parents. They just look completely different and act completely different.  Since their birthdays are 16 days apart (just 5 years difference) it's super easy to see them at the same age. It's also super easy to see them in the same outfit since I have two boys and saved Zach's clothes.  I purposely put Will in Zach's 72 shirt for his first day of 2 year old preschool.  

Both Z & W are 23 months in this picture.

 Zach on Right. Will on Left 23 months. 1st day of prechool!