Spring has sprung!

Not a moment too soon, as well! I am loving this weather, and the warm sun! Winter has this nasty habit of keeping me inside, and it just makes everyone in our house, stir crazy and grumpy. So thank goodness. With the end of winter, I am also grateful to be feeling better, and being outside has helped. The first event that comes after winter break and holidays, is my husband's birthday! This year makes 32! This year Daniel got a special birthday present, a plane ticket to visit his sister and her family in New Mexico. He loved every minute! Of course, Hannah and I missed him, but it was a much needed vacation for him. As every year goes around Daniel's birthday, we got snow :( The snow came in and then the cold temperatures. Like I said, the winter has a way of turning our mood sour, so needless to say, we are SO done with cold. February did finally come to an end, and March came. The first week of March was kinda exciting for us, not just the end of the snow and cold, but we got to see and find out that we are having another girl coming to our family in August! Strangely enough, all of us are excited even Daniel, to have another girl. I was so sure with the onset of all those unwanted pregnancy symptoms so early and lasting forever, which I didn't experience hardly at all first time around, I thought for sure was having a boy but the tech was pretty sure it was a girl. So yeah for more pink and sisterly love! Since Daniel's birthday, life has settled in. Hannah and I travel to playgroup each week, and are doing preschool with some friends in our ward. As always, we get to see family. My mom had surgery a month ago, and we had the opportunity to help her, as well as I see my sisters at least once a week. April is here, and that means General Conference came and the Easter Holiday. It was so nice to have both on the same day this year. This year keeps getting better as the months go by! I am doing my best to enjoy each moment, although as always, there are moments that are just not enjoyable, but I do my best. Especially right now when life isn't too hectic, I am learning to enjoy each moment, since I know my daughter will only be 3 once. Despite the tantrums and her all too familiar perfectionist personality, she warms my heart when she says," I like you mommy", and her little voice as she sings, "For the family is of God," With kids, things are hard, but oh so worth it. Here are some pictures of those moments. Enjoy!

Holidays 2014!

Well, its now 2015, and I'm officially behind on blogging. The Holidays were real nice, it was great to see and spend time with family, but I am glad they are past. The holidays always come with someone being sick, and yes Hannah got the stomach bug twice this year in the past three months. Stomach bug is my least favorite sickness but oh well. We survived but it seems to have left some scars. Hannah is now officially scared to eat something and it seems since then, no matter what she eats, she complains that he tummy always hurts. Granted she also doesn't drink enough water, and since she is scared to death of eating anything, she is eating things that ultimately are constipating her, making her tummy hurt even more. How do you explain and encourage a three year old to eat, when she is so scared of hurting her tummy? I just want to scream! But of course, forcing a child to eat doesn't work well, and encouraging a three year old to even listen to you is the challenge. Lord, help me. Anyway, we did have some fun in there, by going to the NC Zoo recently. Hannah loved seeing all the animals, but of course we couldn't go fast enough. She kept saying, "let's go see more animals."Other than the Holidays, and doing the best to spend time as a family, we are just here doing our daily thing. Each week, I do my best to overcome myself and take Hannah to playgroup with church friends and play with her cousins at my sister's house, provided that no one is sick, even us. I am SO ready for the warmer months to be here, so that we can finally go outside more, and not be sick. Here are the pictures of the Holidays and latest things we have been up to. Thanks for reading!

Late summer adventures!

We love the beach, so we thought we better get in a few last trips before the summer was over. We also wanted to check out the beach we are going to next year for our P&L Bartholomew Reunion, so this Labor day, we visited three beaches; Sunset beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Oak Island Beach. It was a blast! Up next, came my birthday and yes, I am over the 30 mark. Let's just leave it at that. Birthdays are fun, but they are becoming a thing that happens each year to remind me that I am slowly looking and feeling a bit older. September has been like any other month. We go to church, playgroup, and on the weekends do are best to recoup from the week, and try to do something fun as a family. For one weekend, Daniel and I did a daytime date and went shooting with some of his co workers. It was quite a bit of fun! My knowledge of guns just doubled in one day, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself as you can see, so did Daniel. October was just around the corner and my sister Sherrie came for a visit! Hannah loves spending time with cousins and family! Since Sherrie's visit, school has started around here for most of my nieces and nephews, so Hannah is sad that she can't go yet and be a "big girl" like her cousins. I know Hannah would love it, but preschools are not cheap. There are some families in our ward that do a co-op, but I already am in charge of playgroup for our ward. With the summer coming to a close, Hannah and I are doing our best to get our fill of playing outside while it is still warm and dry, and occasionally we get that afternoon rainstorm. Hence the photo of her in her carseat soaking wet. For Daniel and I, we continue to do our best to spend time together and with Hannah before she goes off to preschool next year. As for siblings for Hannah, it is entirely in the Lord's hands at this point. After a year of hoping that it might just happen on its own, I made an appointment with a specialist for an HSG. The findings explained why it hasn't happened, but no answers where to go from here yet. Well, enjoy the pictures!

Third Birthday and Family Festivities!

I need to do another update.  The last time I looked at the calendar, summer had just begun, and now it's almost over. We have had quite a busy summer. Hannah officially turned 3 this year! Can't believe it! We just did some celebrating with family, and she loved it. July came and went, with July 4th festivities and going to playgroup each week. August got here and we were busy planning and attending a reunion for my dad's family and his siblings. It was a blast! September is almost here and I am worn out from the summer activities, but I am excited because I love the fall. My birthday, the cooler weather, the State Fair, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all come with the fall weather and colors. I will just get to the pictures then. Enjoy!