Posted a few

Can you believe this icky nasty weather, ew it's fall isn't it? Ugh... no.. I love my summer, bring it back I say!! Well at least I got to enjoy my fire place last night and I believe I'll toss another log in tonight. I'm spending the day doing some editing, catching up on some house chores and playing with my Emily Pie!
Check out the a sneak peak of my brothers engagement pictures I took on my photography blog.

First Fire!

Yes I'm listening to Christmas music right now, it's chilly out and I like it so there. So my wonderful husband switched my gas burning fire place back into a wood burning fire place for me, isn't that sweet of him? I thought so, wood is cheaper and warmer and makes crackle noises and smells nicer and is just all around more cozy or so I think. So tonight is the first fire in my wood burning fire place... ahhh.. I pulled out a book, kicked back on the couch in front of the fire and relaxed and ignored the pile of pictures waiting for me to edit them. Boy did I need that nice break it felt wonderful. Emily is amazed by fire, I need to keep her far away from the fire place when it's burning.

We had a nice weekend, we had friends over Saturday night, just to hang out and chat. It's always nice to spend some time with company. They have a daughter Kaylee's age so they got to play together in the basement. Earlier in the day I went to South Haven and took my wonderful brothers engagement pictures. It's crazy to think my little brother is getting married in the spring, AH!! But I'm very excited for him. I'll to go through and pick a couple out to post tomorrow. I also got a chance to meet my new little cousin Judah and he is just a sweetie! I took some pictures of him and his mommy and daddy which I'll have to post later as well. It was nice to spend time with family and have a Saturday off for Weddings.
Sunday I worked my butt off editing, I got a good amount finished which is one reason why I felt comfortable enough to take a much needed break today. It was Jimmy's mom's birthday so we made her a cake and had her come over for a piece. She spent some time with the kids and we all had a nice large piece of marble with chocolate frosting... mmmm...
My parents are off to Texas, they went down to surprise my Uncle for his 60ith birthday. All his siblings and my Grandma went down and he was so surprised. They're having a blast in the 80+ degree weather. They are staying in a condo right on the ocean.. I'm a little jealous, at least I have my pretty fire.

Each day feels like a repeat of the day before

So I clearly have not been posting enough on my blog, my daddy mentioned I need to get busy on here so here I post. My lovely parents are off to Texas tomorrow early, I hope they have a wonderful safe trip. I'm a little jealous but the weather has been beautiful lately so I'd be more jealous if it was January and freezing cold. We went out to dinner with my parents last night which is when my dad told me I needed to post a new blog. I told him the only thing I'd have to blog about was sitting in front of the computer and editing all day and night which is basically what I've been up to lately, add about 50 loads of laundry into the mix and you've got the idea. Blah, well at least I have no wedding this weekend which I am very excited about! Yay! I have been trying to get outdoors to enjoy this lovely weather. I feel bad because I've been editing so much so today I spent a lot of time on the floor with Emily. She just loves reading books so we did a lot of that today. She will sit there and look at a book by herself for a hour, just flipping pages. Smart cookie. I'm hoping I'll finish up a major chunk of my editing next week and then hopefully make some plans to take the kids to pick some apples, go through a corn maze and perhaps a hay ride, that would be fun. We need a family fun weekend. I'm posting a couple videos today, one of Emily and her balloons which she loved walking around with on her birthday and one with her opening one of her presents, she actually pulled most the paper off of it herself, big girl.

Check it out

Check out Emily's Blog for pictures of her first year count down and my favorite first year memories. I've been working on this post for a few days now, it's actually below her birthday pictures.

Not more shots!!

This past Saturday was my last day in a long chain of weddings. Next Saturday there is no wedding!! I get next Saturday off, well I still have pictures but not a wedding!

Sunday I spent most the day trying to finish up some editing, which I got almost all of it done, I should be able to finish things up today and be done with one!! I had a crazy appointment in the morning, three kids ages 1, 2 and 3. Yeah those ages are hard enough by themselves but put them together on the beach and it's about impossible. I had an engagement session in the evening with the nicest girl. I look forward to her wedding, they were both very down to earth people. We took the kids out for pizza last night and we also went on a bike ride for some fresh air. I know we don't have many nice days left so I want to enjoy them while I can.
Emily has her 1 year check up today and you know what that means... shots. My poor baby.
Let's just say I'm not looking forward to that!

I posted some pictures from Emily's Birthday on her blog and you can always check out our family gallery link on the side to view more.

Emily and Nathan in the pool (daddy dunks Emily) poor Kaylee had to wait for her swim suit

Water Park Fun

Can you believe I'm blogging on a Saturday!?!? It's all thanks to a smaller wedding, ahhh... my new favorite wedding, short and to the point.
We have a wonderful time at the hotel with the kids. Everyone enjoyed the water park. It wasn't nearly as big as the Great Wolf up north and I still plan on taking everyone up there later this year. The plan is maybe Dec 7 and 8 we shall see how things work. I know they have pretty Christmas displays I'd like to see so that's what I'm aiming for.
Anyhow we stayed the night on Thursday night, Uncle Cory got to play in the park to and Papa got there a little later and went in as well. I will say they had a very nice adult hot tub with a neat waterfall that I could have lived in. Ahhh.... very relaxing. We had the park to ourselves for awhile and then there was a birthday party but not too many kids so staying a weekday was smart.
Nathan loved going down the kids waterslides he went a billion times and Kaylee tried the adult slide with the tube you sit on. She also enjoyed the lazy river with Papa. Uncle Cory enjoyed the lady lifeguards (ha). I spent a lot of time with Emily in the kiddie pool which was only six inches deep so she could walk around in that. I even took her down a slide on my lap. Dad took pictures and took turns hanging out with everyone (except the lady lifeguards). Poor Nana watched from above (still has stitches). Later we went in the arcade and Kaylee hit the jackpot on one of the games and ended up with 250 tickets, go Kaylee! She was very excited. Emily loved just running around the arcade looking at everything. Definitely was a good first birthday for her!

Happy First Birthday Sweet Emily!!

I seriously can not believe how fast this past year has gone by. My sweet littlest girl is a whole year old!! AH!
So the plans were to stay at that water park theme hotel but I got a call from them saying that they were having problems with the bucket that dumps the water and can we stay Thursday night instead. Well that kinda screwed up my party plans so after a few quick adjustments I changed the party to our house and then the hotel part will still go on Thursday. So I had to plan her first birthday party in one day. Ha.... well it might not be as glamorous as her big sister Kaylee's party but I think I did a dang good job on such short notice. I wasn't planning on decorating at the water park. Water+paper decor= soggy mess. So I had to run to the party store today and pick up some stuff. Which I had fun doing so no big deal. I ran home cleaned the house, picked up the cake, put up the streamers and finished wrapping her gifts. Emily looked as cute as a little bug. I got her this cute little first birthday album and had everyone at the party write her a little note in the cover so she can look back on it when she's older. I'll put pictures in it later. She had her own cupcake to eat and at first she just wanted to squish the frosting in her hand but later she got the hang of it and went to town. I've got lots of pictures and video to post but since it's already nearly ten I'll post a clip of her getting into her cake and leave the rest to post at another date.
Emily after she realized the cupcake was for eating:

The never ending cold

Stupid sickness that NEVER ends. I'm going crazy over here! Today I sound like a raspy man. Everytime I start talking I start coughing. Ugh... what is it that makes you get that tickle in the back of your throat that you can't help but cough.
BLAH
BLEE
BLAH
yeah
so....
moving on.
Kaylee went to a boys birthday party on Saturday. This little guy had his mom call us special just to see if Kaylee was coming... his mom said he really really wanted her to be there. How cute is that? Of course it's a little scary too. I had my first boyfriend in 6th grade which is just around the corner for Kaylee. Sigh...
I had a wedding out by K-zoo on Saturday, the good thing was the reception was in my neck of the woods. This was the first really nice reception I've been too. They rented out the whole restaurant and it's a very nice restaurant. They had an awesome band... and the cake was so pretty. I wish I hadn't been sick but what can you do.
It has rained nonstop here, finally today I woke up and saw the sun. I bet if I sit out in my yard I'll be able to actually watch the grass grow after all of that rain.
Sunday I got to veg out and recover from Saturday. We went by and saw Johnnas new house (very nice) can't wait to see it when they've made the changes they want to make and move their stuff in. How exciting for them!!
No video or pictures today... sorry.. I'm on the Lap top and I'm too lazy to go in the back room and post anything. But I promise there will be lots of pictures and videos from the Nemmers Birthday Party on Wednesday. I will however post a photography blog later today since I haven't posted one since I've been sick.

PS
My cousin and his wife had their baby on Saturday!! Aw I'm so excited for them. A little boy 6lbs 7oz. Here is a quote from Jordan from his blog:
"The name Judah means "Praise." I think it's very appropriate for my boy to have a name fitting as I live my life all for the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love to worship, sing and play music, and I couldn't think of a better name for my boy than one that reflects that desire. Michael is my middle name as well, so I pass down a piece of me, my parents, and my family. "

Yesterday was a crazy day

I'll admit the last few days I've been eating apples like crazy, they're fresh and I picked them myself and they are so yummy. I also have been eating carrots cauliflower and celery for lunch because I was sick of sandwiches. So yesterday I felt bloated and full of gas, my tummy hurt. Well as the day went on it got worse and started hurting more in my right side and I was running a fever so I looked up my symptoms online and they sounded like I had an appendicitis. I was in so much pain I was actually rolling around on my bed and I couldn't get comfortable no matter what I tried. Jimmy stopped and got me some gas-x to see if perhaps it was only gas and I took that and actually felt better. I still had a fever and felt just worn and icky. So today I wake up with all my body parts whew. I believe I just had bad gas from all those fruits and veggies and a incoming cold. Yippee, right now I just feel like I did 700 crunches and all my stomach muscles hurt and I can tell I have a cold. So yesterday was interesting, I'm hoping everything will be fine today. I'm sure everyone was just thrilled to hear all about my gas problems, ha!

Emily party update!!
So I booked the hotel room for Emilys birthday party. It's a for sure thing, she'll be having her Party Wednesday evening at Safari Joes they have a party room by the waterpark and I think it will be a fun thing for the kids. Jimmy and I went to check out the hotel during his lunch, luckily I wasn't sick yet. They have a cute toddler pool with six inches of water that I just know she'll enjoy walking around and splashing in. It's not as fancy as the Great Wolf up north but I think it will be perfect for her first birthday party. Check out the site if you want:
http://www.safarijoes.com/
We're not telling Kaylee and Nathan so it will be a complete surprise for them.
I still plan on going up north to the great wolf in Nov sometime. So I'm excited!! I can't believe she'll be one next Wednesday!!

Thoughts of Christmas are creeping into my head.

C-O-L-D
That's what it is today, COLD.
Br
BRR
I'm freezing, who ordered this cold weather?!?!

I've been spending as much time as I can get away with editing pictures, I'm trying to finish some up here. Anyhow, I have a confession to make.......
I always listen to music while I edit, just for some background noise.
Well...
Sigh, I have to fess up and say the last couple days I put on Christmas music.
Now don't laugh at me. I love Christmas, I just always have and everyone knows that.
I'm just listening to the classic songs, ones without the words just the music. So at least I'm
not rocking around the tree yet. Anyhow, one of the many many reasons (there is a huge list of them) why Jimmy loves me is because of how much I love Christmas. He even calls me Mrs. Santa Clause as a nickname around the holiday. Of course thats mostly because I suck at keeping secrets and I'm not very good at hiding gifts. I'd have a tree in every room of the house if I could get away with it, I just have to have a real Christmas tree (they smell and look so nice) and I swap out my usual house decor for Christmas stuff, I have boxes of Christmas stuff in the basement just waiting to put here and there around the house. I love having lights on the outside of my house. The more lights outside the better! I have more Christmas music downloaded then any other kind and I dvr all the Christmas specials. I get into baking all sorts of goodies and enjoy passing them out to friends and family. I just like Christmas. It's the whole silver lining to winter. There is only one time I like snow and thats Christmas. So yeah... no grinch in this house. Jimmy might not get as crazy about it as me but he likes Christmas a lot too. So when it gets chilly at first I'm sad because I don't like the cold but then I remember Christmas and I get excited!
So in honor of the Christmas spirit that is already trying to creep in I'm posting a clip of the kids at Christmas last year (listen to how Nathan says magazine):

Saturday&Sunday

Well I just haven't been updating like I usually do. This is a nutty crazy month for me. Everything is extra busy, lots of weddings and photo sessions, kids going back to school, trying to keep the house tidy and the laundry done and all of that, getting back into working out and trying to make my self a healthier person and keeping an eye on Emily aka danger girl.
I've decided I have to start focusing on making time to work out, I just know how important it is to have good habits and although I don't want to loose weight I do want to tone up. I know as I get older it will be harder to get into shape unless I start now so I'm trying to be a good girl. Last week I started walking a mile in the morning and riding 2.5 miles after lunch. It's not a strenuous work out like I'm used to but I push myself and get my heart rate up and it's a nice start. It's good bonding time for me and Emily and we both get fresh air which isn't going to last much longer with winter around the corner. I'm hoping to keep up this routine until the weather gets too cold and then I'll switch to working out indoors again.

We were busy this weekend again, I had a huge wedding on Saturday in South Haven which was nice because my parents didn't have to head up this way to babysit for once. The kids got to spend time with Nana and Papa and I got to experience my first huge wedding party, the bride had ten people standing up on her side alone. Nuts! I arrived in South Haven earlier then needed so my mom and I could run to Crane's and pick some apples. The only good thing about cooler weather is apple picking. Apples are probably my favorite fruit. My favorite fresh fruit, so good right off the tree I could die. I'm mad because once again I have to miss picking my favorite kind of apple, honey crisp. They aren't ready until next Saturday and I have a wedding out of town that I'll be at so I won't make it up to pick them. I'd say I'd go on Sunday but they are in such high demand they run out in just one day. I love those apples!! So fricky frick frack.

Sunday I was suppose to have a photography appointment in the morning but we got rained out We took the time to enjoy a more relaxing day. I even took a nap in the afternoon and my wonderfully awesome husband cleaned up the house while I was sleeping AND kept his eye on little trouble bunny. How nice was that?!?! Nothing is better then taking a nap then walking out into the living room and everything is clean and sparkles, he even cleaned the bathroom!!! Nathan had a buddy over, a new friend he met at school. I am so happy for him he needed a bud now that Kaylee has a friend from across the street. They played together most of the afternoon. We had some chinese for dinner, yum and then went on a bike ride with our friends from across the street. We rode to a park and let the kids play, even Emily got to get down and run around a bit. Then we headed home and Jimmy pulled out the old DDR and we let them try it out. It was nice to relax and even nicer to get out in the air. It rained a good chunk of last week and I was inside for a wedding all day Saturday so I didn't get out much. I really needed that. Well I'm going to get some work done here. I'll be posting a few more pictures of our morning walk on Emily's blog and will try to get to posting a photography blog later if I have the time. XOXO

A little video catch up.

This morning I had a last minute appointment, it was suppose to be for tomorrow but the weather looks bad for tomorrow and they will be going back to Ireland shortly so we had to make an adjustment. I just want it to be known that Irish accents are my favorites. I love those whirling r's. So yeah, thats basically it. Kids are in school for their 2nd day, both of them had a good first day. I wanted to go on a walk this morning but plans changed, me and Emily are going to try to squeeze a bike ride in later. We shall see how that goes. Jimmy has a soft ball game tonight unless it's raining and I have a mountain of editing that keeps knocking on my door. Of course I was busy playing with Emily this morning because she's my little love mush and how could I not!?!? So when she goes down for her nap here shortly I'll have to buckle down and get to work... wa tish wa tish (suppose to be a whip noise).
Ok this is suppose to be Emily's birthday present so shh.....
I just had to let her play with it a tiny bit.



















Video of Emily on her zebra:


Em's in her cute little p.j's trying out a few words then waving bye bye:


Emily being silly with a spoon in here mouth, she says one of her favorite lines "what's that":

Back to School!!

It's that time of the year again, the kids are back to school!! I miss them! I hope they have a wonderful first day, my little thing one and thing two. I don't miss hearing them fight though! They were starting to get pretty bored so I think going back to school is a good thing even if the house seems lonely. At least I have my little monkey baby. We went on a walk this morning and a bike ride after lunch. It's a toasty day out!! Anyhow here are a few pictures of the kids this morning. Check out my labor day blog, I added pictures to that and I'll be posting a photography blog in a little while, wow I'm on a roll today!!
Nathan doesn't seem thrilled:
Showing off the most important thing to many men and boys, food:
Kaylee working her new shoulder bag, wow she's looking old:

Welcome to September, school starts tomorrow!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!
Ever watch that Staples Commercial where the dad is running around the store singing that Christmas song and the kids are walking behind all slow with their heads down.
Oh yeah baby, school is back! I've met both of the Kids teachers and they both seem very nice so hopefully Kaylee and Nathan will have a wonderful year. I can't believe the summer has gone by so fast, it's craziness. So I haven't posted in almost a week, wow. Poor Emily was sick all last week until Friday. Ugh, I couldn't get rid of her nasty fever. So that kept me busy. Then a Wedding on Saturday, off to South Bend with the family on Sunday. We got Kaylee her ride on zebra at Toys R Us for her birthday. A friend of ours got it for his son when he turned a year and the little boy just loved it. I was thinking about getting the new ride on horse they came out with but the reviews for the zebra were a lot better. I'm excited!! I've already got her presents waiting to be wrapped in the closet, I've been so excited to buy her new toys I got them a little early. I just need to wrap them. Anyhow we took the kids to Max and Ermas which they loved the last time we went so I wanted to take them some place special before they started school. They have the cutest kids menu with special drinks they can order like the beetle juice which is grape juice and sprite with a gummi worm on top. They also have a ice cream bar where kids can top their ice cream with all kinds of sugary goodness. So they had a nice time doing that. Today we went to my parents house, they had people over for a last swim and bbq. We all had a nice time, good food, swam in the pool, visited with people and my mom made her yummy cookies!! Anyhow I felt terrible because I have not had a moment to even look at the computer, I'll post pictures up tomorrow and I'll also be posting a new photography blog. I believe Jimmy is blogging right now as we speak, he's next to me and mentioned something about it. So I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and now the count down to cool weather begins (sniff).
Nate using papa as a raft:
Little cuddle moment, how sweet is that:
New to Kaylee this year, diving:
Kaylee hamming it up:
Silly daddy:
Family time is the best time:
So yummy:
Yes mommy I see you:
Silly mom:
Cory you better put on SPF 1,000:
Pool Party:
Hanging out with Uncle Cory and bug on the swing:

Fancy Papa:What did you put on me now:
Get this off of me:
I think Emily wants to help clean the pool: