Happy Birthday to our baby girl!

I realized I didn't post once in the month of february (boo me) and a lot happened. All I really want to talk about was the fact that Aubrey, my baby girl, turned 3 on the 23rd. Seriously, 3 already? Ryan's parents, more affectionately known as Papa and GG, came in to celebrate with us. Unfortunately Ryan had to work on tuesday, but the girls and I headed over to Papa and GG's hotel for some good old fashioned swim time. It was a huge hit with the girls.


We couldn't just not celebrate on her birthday so, while the festivities were scheduled for the following day, we did do some that night. We made some cupcakes and opened presents. She was in heaven.
Our sweet Aubrey, 100% girl.

Aubrey decorated her own cupcake, as if you couldn't tell :)

Our little Eva monkey, 100% mess :)

I wish the pictures of her opening her presents, and dressing up in her new tinkerbell fairy garb were showing up. Your loss ;)

The next day Ryan took the day off and we head in for our long overdue dentist's appointments, took a little nap, and then headed off to Aubrey's favorite place -- quite possibly in her little world -- Monkey Joes (see the post from Aubrey's birthday a year ago) for some fun. We hadn't been in quite awhile so this was Eva's first time actually playing. She was terrified at first, but once she realized that everything bounces and slides she jumped on the bandwagon. Confession: Our camera had magically disappeared prior to the birthday festivities and I am pulling pictures off an email from GG, and some of them aren't showing up, so no pictures at MJ's. But the fun did not stop there. We headed to McDonald's (probably Aubrey's second favorite place in the world) for some dinner and more playtime. Again, no pictures.

We have started a slight birthday tradition for Aubrey here in STL. Aubrey and one of her best friends, Jonathan, have the same birthday. Same day, same year. As a result, and because they're still young enough for us to get away with it, we celebrate together. They joined us at MJ's and McD's, and then we headed back to their house for some cake and ice cream (thanks for taking care of that this year Steph). Unfortunately, no pictures there either.

We had a fun-filled day with our little birthday princess, and can't imagine our little family without Aubrey (how cliche am I :), our little drama creating diva.

A MILLION HUGS AND KISSES FOR YOU, AUBREY!

Merry (belated) Christmas

We had a funfilled Christmas/New Years which consisted of 3 different states and lots of food, fun, and family. We left St Louis on Christmas Eve and made the 12+ hour drive to Buena Vista, VA to spend Christmas with my family. It was quite the houseful with mom, dad, georgi, hyrum, melissa, lauren, hailey, logan, spencer, landon, aaron, mary, little georgi, hannah, ryan, me, aubrey, and eva. I don't think there is anyone I forgot, but after 15 I start to lose count ;). We even got to talk to Elder Smith in New Mexico, and that was one of the highlights of the entire trip. I made sure to pack the video camera and the regular digital to fully document out adventures. Turns out I didn't. I was just having to much fun. Instead I'll include some pictures of our family christmas in STL (we didn't feel like hauling all those wrapped presents just to bring them back home).






But no, the fun didn't stop there. Ryan's sister Christina (we love you Kiki) booked the entire Lenahan family a three day/three night stay at the most amazing cabin on the TN/GA border. It was absolutely wonderful. We ate, played games, kicked it in the hot tub, made smores over the fire, and of course -- in true Lenahan fashion -- watched plenty of football. It was a blast. And of coarse I was having so much fun to forgot to document it. So, a big thanks to GG and Kiki for taking some pictures and sending them to me (and letting me steal them from FB :).







In case you were still wondering, the fun most definitely did not end there. Scotty, Ryan's brother booked us an amazing night away at an amazing hotel in downtown Atlanta. I have to admit that in nearly 3 years of motherhood, that was the first night I have EVER spent away from the girls, and it was long overdue. Ryan and I stayed up late watching a move, took a midnight trip to Ihop (per Lacey's request :), and had a nice made to order breakfast and workout the next morning. Then after a little shopping (and discovering my new favorite store, The Container Store) we headed back to our sweet little girls. Thanks again Bubba, I can't tell you how perfect that gift was! Unfortuntaely, we also had too much fun that I forgot to take any pictures. What a slacker!

One last thought before I wrap up this chapter in a long novel of blog catch up. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband. Ryan, you have made the past 4 years educational ones, but mostly just wonderful. Two sweet girls later (with more to come) and I am the happiest I've ever been. I love you. A lot. *Muah*




More pictures from our trips (not sure why some are big and some small -- sorry)!

More catchup

This past month has been a crazy one. I know I use that excuse every month, but it doesn't change the fact that it's the truth. This might be a little on the longs side, so brace yourself!

We'll start with Thanksgiving. We had some dear friends of ours, the Giddens, come and stay the weekend from Atlanta. They came in Wed, and I had to work wed night. Thursday I spent all day in the kitchen. This is our first time ever "hosting" thanksgiving, and I think it might be a few years before I do that again -- it was exhausting! So, if anyone is looking for visitors next thanksgiving, count us in :). And mom, I have yet another newfound appreciation for you. I worked friday morning (yes, black friday) and got off at 2. We then got in the car and drove off to Nauvoo, IL. For those of you who aren't familiar with Nauvoo, it is a city that was founded by early memebers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and contains a lot of history of our church. They recently "rebuilt" the temple that was burned down long ago. So we spent the night in Nauvoo -- thanks Motel Nauvoo for the warm welcome -- and did some sight seeing the next day. I had to work that night so I left early and left Ryan and the girls with the Giddens and they had a blast with more sight seeing! Here are just a few pictures from the weekend (unfortunately we only have pics from our trip to Nauvoo, but since the food was subpar that was the highlight of the weekend).







Making rope

Making horse shoes

Making wagon wheels

Making candles

This last one is my favorite of the whole trip. I can't tell you enough how much I LOVE to see my girls love on eachother, and this one of them holding hands melts my heart everytime I look at it. How did I ever get so lucky?! The view with the Missipssippi River in the backround isn't too bad either.


These next pictures are from decorating the tree. Aubrey insisted on wearing her hat.


One lucky branch got spoiled (I think they got 12 on there before they started falling off).

If you could see our tree now you'd see a pretty bare bottom third. After close to half a dozen broken ornaments we moved them out of Eva's reach. She doesn't quite understand that you shouldn't warm up your throwing arm with ornaments from the tree.

My final topic of today. Craigslist. I am addicted. I buy. I sell. I browse. I thought about having a yard sale but decided it was too much work so I have been selling like crazy. This past month we've sold
wooden storage chest: $50
wedding cloak: $100
punching bag and gloves: $50
bunk beds (parts missing): $75
tires: $125
double jogging stroller: $180
I know there's more but at the moment they escape my mind (I'm busy wondering what finds I will see today)
This past month we've bought:
Ariel vanity (all pieces still included) for $15
Step 2 car (like little tikes cozy coupe) in awesome condition: $20
And lastly, my favorite...we had one of these growing up and I have been looking EVERYWHERE for an inexpensive one. I found this little gem (with minor sunfading and a little dirt) for only $50. And my girls are in heaven, which means I'm in heaven, which means Ryan is in heaven.






Craigslist, I love you. Thanks for making my life easier, and my girls happier.

I know I said that was it, but one more thing. Yesterday Ryan was making me dinner for my birthday and burned his hand. Bad. We're talking blistering 2nd degree burns. He went to Urgent care last night and they gave him some special ointment, vicatin, and lots and lots of gauze (he has to wrap his entire hand for at least a week I think). What a sweetheart. Dinner was fabulous, and I just hate that he had to leave town this morning. I love you Ryan. You make my life better. You make me better.

Back with a bang...

I know, I know, I'm due for some some severe reprimanding as it's been over 4 months since I've posted anything. Not that we haven't had anything worth posting about, but rather we've had too much going on, a broken computer, and a missing camera. Now that I've found our camera and bought a new computer, I have no excuse for not posting. Playing catch up on the past 4 months seems overwhelming, so I'll just start from now (and catch up later if I'm lucky).

So today was a big morning for us. Aubrey will be 3 in February, and has never had a haircut. Not even a trim. I was always afraid that if I cut her hair the curls would disappear forever. Well, her hair grew. And grew. AND GREW. Until it was a disaster to comb after a bath and caused more trouble than anything. We knew it was long enough to donate for locks of love, but I was waiting until after Halloween because Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz needs those long pigtails. Then Halloween came and went and I just kept putting it off. Well, no longer. I am proud to announce that my little baby is no longer a baby but looks like such a little lady. Here is a step by step of the momentous occasion.

We took her to the Hairy Elephant.

It is kiddo haircut heaven. She got to pick between a car, a train, a jeep, and an airplane and she chose this vintage cherry red airplane. Then she got to pick what cartoon she wanted to watch (she chose Elmo).

Here is a shot of her long locks pre-chop.

Bring on the scissors.

After the initial cutting, she got her hair washed by this elephant. Nice elephant. They had this cart with like 12 different colors of shampoo and Aubrey got to pick out what color shampoo they used (she chose pink and yellow) and said it smelled like a cupcake.

Here is the finished product. SHE LOVED IT (and so did mom)!

Here is the back/side. The tire of the jeep behind her makes it look funny, so just ignore that.

Her picture with Amy, who did a TOP NOTCH job, especially considering how wiggly Aubrey was (you can see the shampoo cart behind her).

Long story short, Hairy Elephant is a parents dream come true for kids haircuts. And just for fun, I'll throw in a picture of Eva who insisted on riding in the jeep right next to Aubrey. I love these girls!


Finally, to my sweet little Aubrey. You were such a trooper. You sat still (well, still enough), and looked down (and up, and then back down) when Amy asked you to, and even let them wash your hair. I am so proud of you, and just want you to know that you look ADORABLE (although from the way you were smiling at yourself in the mirror I think you already know that). I can't believe how quickly you are growing up. I love you Aubrey!