" Only love can be divided endlessly, and still not diminish." {Love my family!}

Well it seems like a lot has happened since my last post but I honestly can't even remember half the things I've been doing!!! I've got so many little things to keep me busy lately that add up pretty quick so it seems like I'm always going/doing something but then I'm like...what did I do yesterday/last week? :) And I haven't been taking as many day to day pictures either to remind me of some of the things...I really want to do better at that. My kiddos are growing so fast and I need more pics of them before it all slips away! haha... :)

First of all....here's some pics from Memorial Day! We went out to Bear Island, which is nearby...beautiful beach! We had a nice calming day....I got to read a little bit, took a little nap, took a walk along the beach with sweet Andrew asleep in his back back carrier and Mark and Evelyn pretty much played the whole time :)  Then we went to a BBQ at a friends house and enjoyed some time with them! It was a great day :)

on the ferry ride over to the beach!

she had fun on the ferry :)

beach baby!

ferry ride back! :)

We got a bounce house for the kiddos :) kept them entertained! 

The next thing I wanted to blog about was our trip to Alabama a week or so ago (around the first weekend of June)! My sweet, adorable niece Isabella is now 8 years old and we went to visit for her baptism! It was just me and the kiddos though cuz Mark had a class he couldn't get out of. It was a nice test drive for me to see how they'd both do on a long trip (I knew Evelyn would be fine, she's a pro at long trips now :) but I was a bit worried about Andrew. Luckily he did pretty good, no major fits or anything...I had tons of snacks and toys so Evelyn and I would give him stuff pretty much continually...he'd play for a while, eat...then get fussy and we'd hand him more :) Then clean it all up at stops and start over :) I have dual TV screens too although he didn't care too much for the movies, except Monsters Inc. and Rugrats. He liked the babies :)

Anywho, we took two days to drive and then spent 4 days there before driving back. We mostly hung out with the fam...which Mark's parents and sister Amy came out that weekend as well so it was great to get to see everyone (except poor Mark...he missed out :). I don't know why I'm such a slacker though cuz I hardly got any pics of the kids all together or with any of us...so annoyed with myself. I did a bunch of pics before and after Isabella's baptism though. She was so cute! I actually made the outfit she wore to be baptized in...Jessica's friend had done it for her little girl and Jessica loved it so she asked me to make it and I did and it turned out super cute!!! And then her dress she wore after, Jessica bought, but it was very similar to the one I made so I thought that was cute to do :) It was super exciting to be there for such a big moment in Isabella's life though and I'm so glad we went!

The rest of the time, like I said, was mostly just us hanging out with the fam. One night Jessica, Amy, and I went to a movie (the new Star Trek...SUPER good movie btw!), and then Isabella had her ballet and jazz dance recitals while we were there too...she looked SO cute in her little dance outfits! Evelyn is just itchin' to take a dance class, constantly asking me to sign her up. Waiting til Fall though! Anyway, Isabella did great and it was fun to go see her recital.

The kids all had a blast together while we were there....Charlotte has gotten so big and is such a funny, cute little thing! Her hair is seriously the cutest thing ever too....so perfect and light and airy and the curls at the end...SO CUTE! Evelyn LOVED playing with Isabella and Jacob and Andrew just loved being with the big kids too. He loved all their cars there and would sit there with one going back and forth and making "vroom" noises...he's SUCH a boy! He's starting to get better at walking with things too and had fun playing with one of their push toys.

Andrew loves dogs!

Someone stole my phone and was taking pictures ;) 

Storytime with Uncle Michael! 

My darling children woke up 3 mornings in a row at 5:30AM....UGH....

My boy! He loves cars 

anything with a wheel really :)

these three are so cute!

Charlotte! Such a cutie!

So yeah...that was a pretty fun, awesome trip. The way home took a little longer, which wasn't as fun...I was tired of driving and then it rained a lot which slowed things down but it was sure nice to get home! Always is after a trip, no matter how fun the trip was :) I'm just glad I know I can do that trip by myself without any troubles! It'll be handy in the future.

So...I don't think there's any more to say about all that....since we got back I had a girl's night with all the wives from work....we had a game night and it was SO much fun! I love girls nights or days or outings or pretty much anything :) Definitely a relaxation/cleanser/break for me and I just have the best friends to do them with! I seriously do have the best friends though...I kinda hate having to move and make new ones every couple years but the ones I've made are just so amazing and wonderful and I love them all! :) don't know what I'd do without my friends here! and the ones that aren't nearby as well :)

Anywho...so....as for the rest of the week since we got back I've been pretty busy with the kids and getting the house back to order....I swear it took me forever to do laundry and put it all away after our trip...I hate laundry. I've also been pretty distracted with my photography cuz I've been picking up a little more here and there lately. I can't remember if I mentioned it on here before or not but I started doing Military Homecomings for a fellow photographer, Kelly, in the area (well she moved to FL but still has an office here too). Anyway, I think I've done 5 or 6 homecomings for her so far and have more lined up in the fall...which are super exciting and fun to do. I've also been able to do some more on my own...including an infant session, an engagement, and a cake smash, which all went SUPER well and I've been pretty excited about them. I haven't posted the engagements yet cuz they're waiting til they get them/send out invites but they're pretty awesome :) I've got another session coming up this month and then Kelly has been asking me more to do other sessions for her, which I'm totally excited about....it's hard for me to get out there and get committed people so it's nice to work for someone who's already established in the area and has dedicated/committed clients ;)

Sweet little Madison at 12 days old! 

I had a lot of fun with her! SO cute

Love this one!

Anyway, since I've been doing more I finally decided to get a professional logo, business cards, and watermark done, which I just got all of it back yesterday and I LOVE them!!! So super excited about them! feels good to be making steps towards my goals, even if they are just little ones :) So here's my new stuff!

My new Logo! 

My new watermark!

Front of my business card

and back of my business card! LOVE IT! :) 

My watermark in use! This was a little "clean up" in the tub after the cake smash :) 

Another thing that happened this week was Evelyn's last day of preschool! She has had fun at preschool this year and I'll be excited next year cuz she'll be doing the 3 day preschool instead of 2...woohoo! :) And I think our favorite teacher she had will still be there so that'll be good. here's a pic of Evelyn when she started and this week :) She's grown so much! I can't believe it...She's almost 4 now and is such a big girl! She's so funny and crazy but we love her :)

Evelyn and her best buddy at preschool!

Evelyn and Miss Rava! The kids all love Miss Rava :)

Well I think that's all for now! Andrew is 10 months next week so more on him then :)

Andrew {9 Months}

My sweet boy is getting so big!!! He's definitely not a baby baby anymore...which makes me so sad but I also love how much fun he is right now! Evelyn and him play a lot more, which I LOVE! It is so sweet to see! I put up the baby gate/pen in the playroom so if I need him closed off I can shut it or I can leave it open and have toys in there for him to play with. So Evelyn likes to go in there too and they play blocks together and trains and it's so cute! I love that he is happily entertained now for good periods of time with toys or Evelyn or cruising around the house. Sometimes he'll take a ball and chase it around the house, pretty funny :) I LOVE how much of a boy he is! He totally plays with the cars we have, goes back and forth with them, and then at the store he still LOVES the car cart, moves the wheel back and forth like he's driving, super adorable. He gets so excited when he sees them too! I think it's so funny how he does these things without really ever being shown.

Anywho...Andrew is learning lots of new things....he's learned to open up the cupboards, which we definitely need to put safety things on them ASAP....just gotta find them :) He's also learning to clap, which he is very proud of. Another thing he loves is the water table and the pool. We've been playing outside more now that it's getting hotter. He's such a water baby! And he loves being outside still. I've been taking walks with them in the double/bike stroller which they both love.

Another big thing in Andrew's life is he has two new teeth on the bottom with his top two front about to come in any day now! They've been sitting there forever and are driving me crazy that they haven't popped through yet!

He's still my big boy...weighing around 23 lbs according to my home scale and approx. 29-30 in. tall....this was also measured at home but he was being so wiggly that I couldn't quite get it right :) He's still super sweet and gives kisses a lot now....very slobbery and wet kisses but still sweet :) He eats anything and everything. He's still climbing/standing on anything he can but now can get down successfully, which is really nice! He's still talking about a storm and talks a lot while he's playing, which is super cute. He's still doing all he did before and is now doing a lot more na-na's. He also likes to scream with Evelyn...super fun :) He's also doing this really grunty/growly/constipated face when we're feeding him and he wants more...it's SO funny!

Well I think that's all for now...I'm off to bed..super tired and can't remember what else I wanted to say and I also have a military homecoming to take pics for at 3am! eek! Super worth it though! Here's some pics for you all! :)

My water babies! :)

Rinsing him off after a particularly messy dinner ;) 

Playin' at the park! He loves the park!

Falling asleep after a walk

Just being cute at church!

He loves to watch the kids outside!

Showing off his new bib ;) 

Playin' at a friends house! 

Making funny faces :)

Me and my boy! LOVE him!

seriously so cute :)

gotta love sleeping pics! :)

water table!!!

this thing is so great! 

Couldn't help this one! gotta have a cute tushie picture in your childhood!

His grunty/give me food face!!!

He followed me into the laundry room and started banging on the sink (which is where we're bathing him right now)...he wanted to take a bath! :)

Happy Belated Birthday to me, Happy Anniversary to us and Happy Mothers Day to all!

I have a few minutes of downtime today (Mark is making dinner, woohoo!) so I decided to do a back track/up to date post on some celebrations! First up...my birthday! Which, I know was in February and waaaay back tracking but I never put anything up and it was a great birthday so I'm gonna finally put it on here!

Well my actual birthday was actually pretty slow/low key...all day was kinda blah...but then Mark got home and we got to go on a date! We went to Olive Garden for dinner and came home and had DQ Ice Cream cake (my fav!!!) for dessert. He also got me 26 items to celebrate me being 26 :) Totally didn't need all that but it was good!

My birthday wake up! SO SWEET

Flowers and Ice Cream cake, YUM!

26 things! Can you tell I like chocolate and Dr. P? ;)

The next day my best girl friends here (Gwyn, Morgan, and Beverly) and I went on a little girls outing to a nearby town. We were gone ALL day and it was WONDERFUL! The week before Evelyn and I had a little girls day out and I found a gown for the Seabee Ball so my friends and I went back because two of them needed gowns too, which that was successful and super fun! Nothing girlier than trying on fancy dresses ;) Next we hit up the mall for a long while and then went out to dinner at The Melting Pot, which was my first time at a place like that and it was super good! We had lots of fun and were there forever it seemed but it was just such an awesome day with seriously some of the best girls I've met on our military journey and   really the best way to spend your birthday! I've always always always spent birthdays with my best friends (usually in the form of a slumber party with two much junk food, movies, and late night gabbing) but girls day trips are my new fav ;)

These pics are awful...it was so dark! But better than nothing! 

they decided to do a little lemon challenge...Bev is hardcore emotionless...

and Gwyn and Morgan couldn't keep it together ;) 

So funny! 

I love these girls though!

ugh, it was steamy and hot too! I'm so red ;) 

so silly :) 

Next up is really just updating this weekend! On Thursday Mark and I celebrated our Five Year Anniversary! We didn't really do much that day since Mark had work and all but I made a nice dinner, got him a small gift, he got me some flowers, and just had a nice evening watching our favorite shows! We're saving up for Disney in July so we decided not to do anything too extravagant. Although we did go out yesterday for a date. Our friends Morgan and Erwin watched the kids and we went to Wilmington and saw Iron Man 3 (which was AWESOME!!!) and then went to a place downtown called The Little Dipper, which is the same idea as The Melting Pot but just not a chain...it had a better atmosphere (The Melting Pot is SO dark inside! Can't see anything, as mentioned with the pics above) and super good food and I think a little more food at that. Anywho...both super good but I might like The Little Dipper better. So yeah...Mark had never been so we decided to try it out...we were both SUPER stuffed, we definitely over did the dessert but that's the best part! SO GOOD!

Bad picture here too but happy anniversary!

yum fondue yumminess!

eating an edible flower! can't see it well but it wasn't very good 

our dessert PLUS a free piece of cheesecake for our anniversary! They were like, we usually bring champagne for anniversaries, would you like some? And we were like, we don't drink, so they said, that's ok! We do a cheesecake instead...um yes please! SO GOOD!

And now today! Today is Mother's Day. I already gave a little shout out to my Momma on facebook but I just want to say to all the women out there that have touched my life in so many different ways, but all helpful and sometimes needed and always appreciated...thank you! I truly have some amazing women in my life and am very grateful for each and every one of you. To my wonderful friends both near and far....you all are such a big part of my life even in some of us rarely talk anymore. I always think of you and always have you in my heart and miss you all so much!!!! I've always been huge on friends and the importance of having good friends and hope I've been a good friend/helpful to you all in any way I could/can! My friends are like my sisters and I truly appreciate you all. I especially appreciate the ones near to me now, who are really like family. We're all (for the most part) far away from our actual families so our military friends become family and I've been super lucky to make the best of friends here.

Then of course there are my actual sisters, Mellisa, Annie, Emily, Monie, and Katherine too! I know I don't talk to you guys much either, we're all so busy with our own little lives and being apart doesn't help and I know getting along isn't always the easiest but I'm very grateful Heavenly Father put in me in such a wonderful family...crazy and chaotic and loud and fun and wonderful as it is. You guys are all so different in so many ways but I love you all and miss you a lot and appreciate all that you guys have done to help me grow up and become a wife and mother. I also want to say how much I appreciate and love my sisters-in-law, Jessica and Amy! We may not have been sisters as long but I do love you two and always look forward to seeing you! You both are so much fun and I wish we could see each other more!

Next to my Grandmas and mothers! I've been lucky to have lots of grandmas and mothers in my life...a "step" mother in a way...Terrie, thank you for your enthusiasm and love in calling me a daughter and the love you have for my kids! having extra grandmas is the best and I'm glad you're one for my kids. A mother who gave birth to me, Terry or Bailey as you seems to prefer :), whom I appreciate so much for the decision she had to make to give me to someone else. I know that could never be an easy decision and I am truly grateful for it and the family it brought me too. The grandmothers from all around...most who have passed on, whom I miss and love! Grandma Rose, I love you so much and am very grateful that you have always been a part of my life! A mother in law who is always encouraging and loving and truly a great grandmother to my kids too! And the grandmas on Mark's side, whom I've had little chance to meet...thank you Grandma Erwin for always reading my posts and sending your love!

And most of all to my wonderful mother who raised me, Carmen. I'm getting a little teary right now! I know I'm not the most open person and I know I've written things in the past for my appreciation of you and Dad so I won't go on and on but I love you so much! I might not remember every little thing from growing up but you and Dad are great examples to me. You might peck and tease and are so funny to watch sometimes but I know you love each other and you love your kids and grandkids and I can feel that even just talking on the phone with you. I love hearing your voice on the phone and love our conversations, random and crazy as they can get sometimes but I love them! I miss you so much it hurts sometimes but I know you're always there for me. I am eternally grateful to our Heavenly Father for bringing me to your arms and into your family. I will always be your little Lizzy/Lizard! I could never express how thankful I am for you and I hope you know that I am and that I love you.

Well! Sorry if I missed everyone...I definitely didn't plan on going into all that but things went and there it is! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day and I love you all!

I won a free Mothers Day Mini session at the beach! It was super windy so we did it real quick but I love them anyway :)

I love my little family! They bring such joy to my life!

My DARLING kiddos and me on Mother's Day! I love them so much! Being a mom, although challenging and hard, is seriously the best calling/job/joy on earth! :)