Easter Pictures

My friend Jessica Hughes takes the most fantastic pictures, maybe I'm biased, but I don't think so! This weekend she held a photo shoot where all her picture proceeds went to Relay for Life foundation. They were Easter themed pictures with baby animals...the weather was fairly miserable and completely uncooperative, so the shoot was moved indoors, therefore limiting the animals she could have on site. But regardless, she got some amazing shots of Collier, I was so pleased! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Makenna!

Our neice Makenna is turning 4 years old on the 24th of this month. She is such a sweetheart and although we don't have favorites, umhmm, she's pretty special. She had her big bash at the House of Bounce this weekend and the kids...Mark included, had a really great time. Just a few pictures to share the fun!

Collier on the big slide!

Cortlyn and Mailia enjoying a break!

Mark, his brothers and Dad getting in on the action with the Wrecking Ball!

Birthday Girl Makenna opening her presents!

Sneaky Snake

I admit, I'm not a morning person...I wait until the last possible moment to drag my sorry butt out of bed! Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who gets up before me and gets the kids breakfast started. I have a pretty strict rule of only eating at the table...I know, such a mean mommy! So to my surprise this is what I awoke to find this morning....

Collier eating cereal on the couch!

A very careful bite...

Completely oblivious to my picture taking!

And then finally, the explanation..."but Mommy I'm watching cartoons!"

I have to admit he didn't spill one bit and he looked so cute sitting there...but the rule still stands!

Erin Go Bragh!

Today is one of my favorite days of the year...St. Patrick's Day! I really love the feelings of nostalgia and history that it brings. I am a proud Irish girl, born of the descendants of the McMurney Family. My great grandmother and her brother were sent to America to live with two great aunts when they were children, unfortunately I don't remember all the sorted details, but I do aspire to learn them one day. My grandfather was a proud Irishman as well and loved to tell stories of his mother and uncle and grandparents. My husband is also Irish, descendants of the O'Reilly family...unfortunately I don't much of his family history either. I believe it's important to know where you came from...and today we are proud of our Irish ancestors.

They say today everyone is Irish and well I think that's pretty cool! So Erin Go Bragh (Ireland Forever) to you and yours!

Collier and I at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dallas!

D-Town!

Collier and I went to Dallas this past weekend for an Adoption Finalization Celebration and we had a good time. We left Friday morning and made the trip in fairly good time considering the rain and a two year old bladder! All I can say about the drive is thank God for portable DVD players and GPS! Once we were at my friend's home and had time to recoup from the drive, we went out for some shopping and good food.

Saturday was the big day...jam packed full of fun things! First off was the St. Patrick's Day parade, Collier had so much fun watching all the floats and hearing the music and he was a magnet for beads and anything else that was being thrown into the crowd! Now I got the idea that this parade is less about celebrating St. Patrick's Day and more of a good reason to get completely inebriated before 12 noon...so Collier definitely got an eye and ear full of new words and experiences, but hey it was fun! After a nap and some last minuteparty pickups we were off to the big celebration. It was held at the Blue Mesa Grill, a fabulous restaurant in Dallas, the food was great, the atmosphere fantastic. It really was a joyous celebration of life, freedom, and family unity...something I'll not soon forget, and it definitely had me saying extra prayers of thanks for my children that evening.

We had a wonderful time, I'm so grateful for my friend's hospitality and I hope to see her and her family (plus the new "surprise" addition to their family...that's right, 8 months after adopting Jack they found out that they were pregnant!) very soon!

I'm Horrible!

I've been completely MIA the past month really! I'm sorry...the truth is I've been sick, Collier's been sick and so therefore I haven't had the energy to do much more than the bare necessities. February overall was a pretty uneventful month...it's like the calm before the storm...because from March to May we are slammed pack full most every weekend! So I've enjoyed lazing around my home for the past couple of weekends...but it's time to get back into real world mode!

Collier and I will be heading to Dallas next weekend, I am so very excited about this trip! We are going to celebrate "Baby Jack's" one year birthday and the finalization of his adoption! It has been one heck of a year for my BFF and I am so happy to get to see the end of this tribulation! They are wonderful people, who have done a wonderful thing in adopting this blessed boy, and one heck of a party is long overdue!

On top of that exciting trip we have two birthdays, Easter, a dance recital, two more birthdays and then Collier's birthday to round out our all crazy filled two months! So stay tuned...it's bound to be a bumpy ride!