i can't believe you're 4!

you are breathtaking! the moment you entered this world you took my breath away. i will never forget that day as long as i live (march 1, 2003). so beautiful, so sereal.....amazing. i never knew that in four years a little person such as yourself could bring so much love, joy, tears, and laughter to our lives.

you have such a strong, sweet spirit. you get your competitiveness from your daddy, your nosiness from me and your extravertedness from god knows where....it sure didn't come from us. you are a social butterfly (okay, you must have got that from ohie....the little party girl). you love people....heck, everywhere we go you invite yourself over to other peoples houses. i remember when you were just learning how to have conversations with people, we were at the check out line at walmart and you were inviting the little girl in front of us over to our house to play. and at your three year old check up when dr. rita asked you if you would go with someone if they offered you candy you said, "yeah!"

my sweet kylee, you have brightened many 'a' days for us, and challenged many as well. we wouldn't change a single moment. you make me want to "sing in the rain." i love you so much, i don't tell you or show you enough. you are an awesome little girl.....God definitely knew what he was doing when he made you. happy birthday darling!!!! xxox00

(i can't wait for chuck-e-cheese tonight!!!! yippeeeeeee........)

also, more pictures on flickr. (for those of you who don't know this, if you click on the blue highlighted word flickr....it will take you to a website where i post some of my pictures.)

the "great" mall

okay, they call it the "great mall," but is it really that great? it's really a joke of a mall, but i must say, it is a great place to take the kids for a little play time. today i met up with my cousin christa and her kiddos and my aunt angie. the kids had a good time running around, tattle telling, pouting, and watching t.v. it was funny watching them interact with one another. the pictures here are of all of them gathered around some little girls coloring book...all coloring (even alaina's trying to get in on the action.)

alaina had the best time going back and forth through this little tunnel. she thought it was pretty great. getting there early was definitely a bonus. i must say that one of the cutest moments that i caught a glimpse of was when kylee was lying under the bridge and alaina came up next to her and laid her head on kylee's leg. kylee started rubbing her and and talking to her (sweet kylee). they actually stayed there like that for a little while. that stole my heart because that stuff DOES NOT happen around the house. kylee typically won't let alaina touch her. thank you God for allowing me to catch a glimpse. and thank you angie and christa for inviting us to tag along. we had a good time. it was nice taking the "aldi's" run together too! i love that place....and the dollar tree.

KU

trying to be creative........alan doesn't like this one, but i think it's kinda cool! as a "thank you" to alan for helping me with the wedding last weekend i got tickets to the KU game yesterday. (thank you so much brian for making a few phone calls) one of our three dates in six months...consisting of a red sox game, going to the mall and now a KU game...so much fun. i wish they were a little more frequent. one of these days, huh? we had a great time, both wishing we would have attended KU ourselves. maybe we'll just relive through the girls.....rock chawk!

as for this little squirt...i can't believe that she is 11 months old. holy moly! walking everywhere, drinking from a sipee cup, eating everything, clapping, waving, (even giving high fives...kinda) and teething like crazy. what was life like without you? not as busy that is for sure, but not quite as sweet (sweet, but now sweeter). you are so much fun and so much fun to look at. i really do love just looking at you. your big smile and your big front teeth make me laugh.....man you have personality!!!! you really are so much fun and your daddy and i love you so much. you have added a new dimension to our lives that we couldn't live without. you are awesome!!!

whew...

i am so glad you can't see all the zits on my chin in this picture (they are everywhere...not kiddin'). i've been a little stressed preparing for the my first formal wedding shoot. but now it is all over....whew!

i can't say it enough today.....God is so good! i just finished downloading all the pictures from today....1100 shots i might add, and they turned out great. my prayer this morning before it all began was that he would breathe life into these pictures, that he would give me the ability to capture the heart of the moment. i believe he did just that. thanks be to God, and to all you my loved ones who prayed for me and this day and encouraged me in so many ways. so, i would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. i am forever grateful, words cannot express. and thank you so much dad, for watching the girls. i really appreciate it (and for the gallon of milk too!)

and to my husband, a huge thanks for sacrificing your day (and watching the KU game) to be with me. i know you don't feel like you did much, but let me tell you, just your presence meant more to me than carrying around my tripod. thank you, i love you!

ps. donna, i just wanted to tell you that you looked very pretty... i liked this picture of the two of us. i'm also glad you were there to cheer me on!

boxed up!

she may look boxed up, but not really. she is on the move! she is walking everywhere.....all by herself. it is so funny to turn around and see this little stiff legged girl coming at you. the newest thing she has learned to do in the last couple of days is "clap." now that is cute. when she was doing it yesterday her hands would miss each other and hit her face, but today....she got it! and man, is she excited about it. all i have to do is look at her and she gives me the goofiest grin and starts clapping. it is so cute! don't babies typically learn how to clap before they walk?

the sibling rivalry has officially begun. i didn't know that at 10 months old alaina would already know that in order to get on mommies lap too, is to push and pull at kylee. kylee has been all about mom lately so every chance she gets she is in my lap.....well, alaina doesn't like that so much. she wants to be there too, so she comes over, starts whining and then starts to grab and push at kylee, trying to knock her off my lap. what a little stinker! so when i stay it's time to "share mommy" and they both have a half of my lap...kylee has to put her leg a little further onto alaina's side and gradually inches her way in alaina's space....hmmmmm...what to do? it's only the beginning right? this is going to be so much fun. i wish i knew what to do. pray!

i didn't have any good pictures of kylee in the box, but she was having fun with it too. she asked to play with it later that night and alan told her that she could and we'd box her up and ship her off to africa...she didn't think that was too funny. he kept randomly throwing out different destinations, none of them she liked, not until he mentioned new mexico. she just stood there with this funny look on her face like she was really considering it. today at lunch she asked me if we were going to send her to new mexico (she was ready to do it). she wanted to see papa and ohie!