moments

Have I ever mentioned how much I love being a mom?! I'm sure I have. If not, what better time than now. Nothing specific happened that caused me to put up this blog other than the simple fact that I just love my girls & their wonderful daddy, of course. There are some moments in a mother's very fast paced life that cause you to just take a deep breath, pause & notice all of the wonderful things around you. I'm not exactly sure what it is that causes these moments. I like to think it is God....yep, God, that's it! It is in these moments that I am able to realize all of the wonderful things I have in my life & how much I have to be grateful for.
The girls are growing wonderfully. Much too fast of course. Yet, at the same time, I am so thankful to be able to realize this & know that it is okay to just stop for a minute & LIVE in that very minute. Thankful for everything I have at this very moment! Just to sit back & watch. I love seeing them play together. Whether it is Isabella loving on Mackenzie because of the fact that she is just so overjoyed with being a big sister or Mackenzie staring in total awe at Isabella anticipating the very moment that she will be able join her running around & discovering all there is to discover in this world, or the times when Anthony comes home from work & is just completely filled with happiness to be with his girls and you can literally feel all of the love in the room. I love watching it all.

Too many times we are caught up in the rush of life & getting ready for what is going to happen next that we forget to enjoy where we are. My biggest prayer right now is to have more of these moments....moments when I am able to realize it is okay to slow down & just enjoy life & live in this very moment.

Here are a few pictures of the girls doing what they do best, loving life....and each other!:)

Some of their favorite times are the those shared with their cousins...

Daddy time;)

A Soldier's Coming Home!

Jamie's homecoming from Iraq was definitely one of the most exciting things that I have ever been able to be a part of. After being gone for 15 months (minus the very short leave he was able to take when Cian was born) we were all very excited & anxious to have him home. The buses came in around 11pm that Sunday night. After several hours of waiting in the cold, there were hundreds of people eagerly awaiting their soldier's arrival. When the buses pulled up across from the fields where all the family & friends were waiting, all the soldiers got out on the opposite side & were not seen until the buses drove away. (I felt like we were in an episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition when everyone is shouting "Move that BUS!") Then we had to wait even a little longer for the speech. Luckily it was short, sweet & to the point. Next it was a mad dash to go find Jamie!

Betty, Mackenzie, Mom & Don

Harley, Rose & Amy....anxiously waiting for Jamie

Cian & Papa Bear

The buses just arrived!!!

And they're off!

Reunited at LONG last!

Harley loving on her daddy.:)

The last time Cian saw Jamie was for only a couple of weeks after Cian was born (11 months ago!!!!) But there was no doubt, he recognized his Daddy right away!

Kisses for Daddy

Jamie & his dad

Christmas Time

Christmas was spread out over a whole month for us this year. First, we had our regular Christmas on the 24th with the Guajardo family. Then, Anthony & I had our Christmas with the girls first thing Christmas morning. Finally, we ended it all with the Kemper family Christmas on the 20th of January! (We wanted to wait until Jamie got home from Iraq!) It was a month of lots of fun Christmas cheer. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to have had Mary Beth's & Tina's families here. We surely missed ya'll & hopefully next year we'll get to celebrate with the entire family.:)

Santa's helper got a little exhausted!

Guajardo family stockings

Ruby was so happy to get her monkey that she ran away to her bed for pretty much the rest of the day.

Christmas kisses....what sweet sisters!

our little snowflake girlies


The Kemper Christmas

Lukers loving on Kenzie Girl...can you tell he's ready for a little sister!?!

Some of us sleepy & others super excited, either way we were all happy that Christmas had finally arrived. (Lukey, Mariah, Alyssa & Rosie Posie)

A&L

the Newlyweds;)

Look at all those dimples!!!!

Anthony & Mackenzie

Nana Banana

Bring on the presents!

Even though she's been a Flanagan for 2 years now, she still can't seem to shake that "Kemper tongue".

Mark & Claire Bear

Zoe always has the perfect reaction to make us feel like we got her the best gift EVER!

Looks like Adam was just as excited about Luke's new football as he was.;)

Even with all the presents, I still think Luke's favorite thing was dressing up in all of Jamie's army gear.

Weekend Visitors

This past weekend we had two visitors come to our house (other than Birdie.) Brooke & Karen had been making plans to come visit us since before Mackenzie was born & they finally made it this weekend. Isabella thought "Brookeandkaren" was one person until they got here & she was able to meet both of them. We had a lot of fun just hanging out & letting the kids entertain us. Isabella really misses her two new friends...she's been talking about y'all all week.;)

Kenzie & Karen playing on the couch.

Brooke, Mackenzie, & Karen

We couldn't get Isabella to take a picture with us, so we got one of her sitting with her dolls instead.

All the girls (minus Isabella.)

The grass is greener on the other side...

For the past few weeks our doggie neighbor, Birdie, & Ruby have been trying to get to each other by digging a hole under the joining fence of our yards. The neighbor even put cinder blocks in the holes they've created to try to get them to stop. Well, apparently that didn't work because Birdie made her way into our yard on Friday afternoon.

When we got home from the store I had let Ruby out to do her business & noticed she was taking a bit longer than usual. So, I went to check on her & this is what I found...

This was truly a team effort as you can see Ruby trying to pull her through. Birdie even lost her collar in the process.

They were so excited to get to play with each other without a fence in between them.

I was so impressed that they both sat for me the first time I asked. I guess they really wore each other out.

Then Isabella wanted to show me that she knew how to sit too & she was so proud of herself.

*Note: No doggies were injured during the process of their silliness.