Martin Co. Relay for Life....

The Martin Co. Relay for Life starts tonight & ends 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. If you have the time, come out & enjoy the activities & see the luminaries lit up in the evening--it's a gorgeous sight! I walk in honor & memory of several people, young & old who are stricken by cancer, in remission & who have lost their battle. I also walk in memory of my Grandma Barbara Brown. There's not a day go by that I don't think of her & miss her voice, smile, touch, laugh & it makes me mad that cancer took that from me. I pray to God that one day my girls will hear the words "there's a cure for cancer". That would be so awesome. Miracles do happen & I hope one day that is a miracle that happens!div>

The countdown is on....picture of our condo we'll be staying at is below. I can't wait to just get away & relax. More importantly I can't wait to see the faces of my 3 girls when they see the ocean & the beach...they are what my life is all about:)

Happy 9th B-day Danielle

Today is Danielle Erica's 9th birthday. Your second born is alot different than your first born. Everything is new w/ the 1st, but then you make your own routine & you become a semi-pro. Then comes the 2nd baby & it's hard! It's really hard b/c you have this little (almost)3 yr old who wants all of your attention & suddenly boom! You have this little newborn baby who needs you 24/7 so it's hard, but then you adjust & life becomes normal again. Then your 1st & 2nd become bestest friends (& enemies)and you can't imagine life being any different. Now it's just the norm around here. Now when #3 comes along it's like old-hat, you could probably handle triplets by this time....or maybe not:) The biggest adjustment is going from 1to 2, but the rest is easy....Now all of a sudden I have this little girl who's quickly becoming a little lady it seems...the last year before she turns double digits. My oh my where has the time gone? I just don't know. When you're pregnant you think when in the hell will I ever have this kid, now she's freakin 9! Now I don't know what I'd do without her & her big sister because they are so much help around here w/ little sis Olivia Jean. I have 2 built-in sitters:) Danielle is unique in that she always has a story to tell, can drop crocodile tears at a moment's notice, gets jealous very fast, loves to hug & kiss you, loves to dance, loves Barbies & Littlest Pet Shops and she can't match up an outfit to save her life--LOL! Anyway, happy birthday little Dobbi~~so glad you came along and we thank God everyday that he gave you to us.

The above pic is everyone including big sis Kayla meeting Danielle for the very first time:)


This pic above is us just getting home w/ Danielle & of course Kayla had to feed her the first bottle. Cracks me up how the little ones always hold back baby's foreheads when they're feeding them bottles:))

Update in Pictures :))

Geez so I'm way behind for an update again. It's basically the same thing...living life everyday w/ my 3 girls & good ol husband. Danielle will be 9 in just a couple days & Eric & I will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary on the 15th. Thought I would update w/lots of pics to get sorta caught up....These pics are April & May. Will post more soon.

This first pic is from Spring Break at the Loogootee City Park. Of course on this particular day they decided to run the tornado drill & we almost lost our hearing--haha. That's just another reason I would never live in the city...

One of our new Dutch rabbits that Kayla is holding. Purchased this pedigree at the Bloomington Fairgrounds. Since then we have purchased mini lops too. So now we have 3 breeds. We enjoy our little rabbitry just as much as an athlete enjoys sectionals or a collector discovers a rare find!
A home ballgame...cousins Haylie & Landon Mathies w/ Olivia in the middle. Cheese Landon Wade:)) One of the rare nights that Olivia let me put a hair clippy in & left it in!
Olivia w/ her Mr. Potato Head glasses on ....
Chillin in mom's bed...... She loves to watch Elmo in my bed. All we hear is "watch Melmo" like 100 times a day:) That's okay though. I know one day I'll wish I was hearing it again!
At the Breakfast w/ the Easter Bunny that our Relay for Life team puts on w/ my Dad & Olivia...this was as close as she would get to the Bunny!
Easter morning after collecting eggs from the Easter Bunny & finding their baskets...
Hunting eggs Easter morning in the backyard. That rabbit gets sneakier every year.
Olivia found one on the back deck even!
All dressed up & ready for church Easter morning in their dresses.
A rare pic of just me & Eric ready for church.

Olivia Jean after church...
Cousins Landon & Haylie w/ the 3 girls after church..
On the steps of St. Martin's Church..our home church:) My mom, dad & brother w/ my gang.
Hunting eggs at my Papaw Brown's later in the day...Danielle & cousin Kameron. He kept pulling her eggs out of her basket and putting in his.
Danielle acting goofy at Pap's.
My brother Josh w/ the dark hair & cousin Levi Brown acting silly. Danielle, Haylie, Kayla & Olivia in the back at Pap's.
This is a pic of Papaw Brown's great-grandkids. In the back is Danielle, Haylie, Kayla & Matthew. In the front is Landon, Kameron, Olivia & Hunter.
Here's Pap in the pic w/ the greats. Eric is in the back--way to go.
Pic of the grandkids w/ Pap. In the back is Ashley & me. In the middle is Josh, Tonya, CJ & Brett. In the front is Levi & Nikki.
This is the kids minus Beck. She was gone that day. Clifford, my mom, aunt Peggy, Charlie & Papaw Brown.
This is the kids w/ their spouses. Clifford w/ Vicki, my mom & dad, Peggy w/ Gerry and Charlie w/ Darlene all w/ Pap.
Four wheelin at my parents house. Shawn, my bro Josh, Danielle and Olivia w/ Eric.
Danielle driving my dad's four wheeler around the place.
My beautiful flowering crabapple tree in the early Spring:) Love this--it's my fave!
Danielle pushing Olivia around outside in the early Spring. She loves to wear sunglasses.
Ginger dog sleeping w/ Fiona. If they are both awake Ginger will not let Fiona rest!
Pap's b-day: oldest great Kayla w/ oldest kid my Mom.
Some of the the grandkids w/ Pap on his bday. Of course he let them blow out the candles.
Papaw Brown w/ his favorite companion Amos. I don't know what he'd do if something happened to good ol' Amo!
Danielle on her First Communion Day...looking lovely & innocent:)

Us watching Danielle receive her first holy communion and my Dad gave her the wine for the first time.

At the reception...my brother & Danielle. I love this pic cause I picked Danielle up & threw her on his lap so they were both laughing.

Our little family of 5:)

Danielle w/ her godparents Jared & Tonya Mathies. Isn't her cake gorgeous. Courtesty of Heather Arvin of course. She does all of our cakes and they all melt in your mouth!

Danielle took this picture but I love it! Wish I had taken it and I would enter it into the fair!

I snapped this pic at night...love it when Olivia drags her blankie behind her. She calls it her chi-chi.

Danielle ready for the recital. Don't you just love her pose?

Kayla all grown up looking and ready for her recital too....
A together picture:) This was Kayla's 8th recital & Danielle's 3rd.

Olivia's 2nd b-day & Snow Day--pics

Olivia turned 2 on Feb. 12th so we had her party on the 13th. Thankfully, we did the party before the biggest of the snowfalls came! We all had a blast & everyone enjoyed themselves. We had the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme & Heather Arvin did the cake of course~~delicious:) She's so funny now & saying so many new words & sayings. She can say every name imaginable & lists all the kids' names at Mindy's (her sitter). I love it when she says Mindy's dog's name "Max"! So funny! I really think if I put more effort into it, she'd already be potty-trained, but you know how you get to slackin' & thinking "she's too young". Well, she now takes off her diapers as soon as she pees OR poops! Which means it will be everywhere if I don't catch her in time! The big girls, Kayla & Danielle, are growing like weeds. They both got their hair whacked off after Christmas so now, from the back especially, they look identical! Love not having to mess w/ hair every morning though plus my girls NEVER liked clips or bows, etc. Here's some random pics:

Danielle w/ some goodies @ her Valentine's party. Isn't her hair cute?!
Olivia w/ her new Dora kitchen we got from my good friend Rene'. She loves it. In this pic Eric asked her to say something & she was getting mad!
Liv w/ Kayla & her new kitchen:)

Her Mickey cake made from Heather Arvin. It was soo yummy!


Love the detail she does on her cakes. Always so pretty.



The birthday girl w/ her cake & everyone singing. Kayla, Danielle & cousin Haylie are around her.



Telling her to blow & she wouldn't....


so the big girls "helped" her blow it out!



Getting antsy to open gifts w/ Kayla, Haylie & Eric.



Opening gifts.




Cousins Landon & Hunter at the party. They were playing "Spiderman" & running around.


Some of the partygoers. The Hembrees along w/ my dad, mom, brother Josh & Olivia. Josh & Shawn were hitting the balloons everywhere like kids would do & driving us crazy! Ha.



Eric's grandma & his mom. Behind them is Lindsey M & Nikki G to the side.



The "Birthday Girl" would not go to bed for nothing, but this is how she crashed that night! Looks like she was cooking in her kitchen, then crashed in her Elmo chair!


We decided to buy her a new "big girl bed" with her b-day money. I did not know they made nice, wooden toddler beds! So cute & sturdy & this way we can continue to use her crib mattress for a little while longer. Here's Danielle helping Eric.



Olivia laying in the box while they were putting it together.



The finished bed & Olivia checking it out. This was before we put the big pillow on it too.



She just crawls right in & wants tucked in & kissed & sleeps all night long! So proud of my big girl!

Big snow day! This is me & Danielle acting goofy w/ Ginger.



Kayla & Danielle sledding w/ Ginger.

Poor Daddy Abel had to do all the shovelling! Such a hard worker-haha!