Loving Fall

Let me start by saying I love storms. 

So I worked last night and came home to a tornado warning in effect until 2pm.  Charlee was with her LaLa and Daddy was at work so momma tucked it in for some good rainy-day sleep which is my all time fav.  Went to sleep about 8ish and woke up an hour later to our patio furniture slamming into our bedroom window and the wind blowing 80 mph... seriously was 60! All disoriented, i tried to fumble to get the cell phone that was buried in the sheets (in case my baby needed me) because i was sure a tornado was coming through the house at any moment.  Called Lala to check on Buckets and they were fine, going to go to a safe place just to be safe, then i called my hubby and knowing he was in the middle of teaching, had to ask him if i was going to be okay because i didn't even know what day it was... He said i would be fine, but he had to go because he was in the middle of taking cover with 30-some kids.  I'm sure he is used to me not knowing what day it is since I have night shift brain.  Especially after one hour of sleep.  Just long enough to get into a deep sleep and when you try to wake up and your body has officially shut down your eyes burn like they are filled with sand.  I was sitting in the bathroom in the dark and called my mom just to make sure if i died i will have talked to everyone on my speed dial,  sad part is when I try to talk after an hour of sleep nothing makes sense and I cant speak clearly or correctly.  Quite comical actually. I know, wrap it up... so there wasn't a tornado and about 5 min later after checking all the news channels i went back to sleep. Thank the lord.  It was a crazy morning.

Charlee loves, I mean LOVES to be outside so in all the outside pictures she is Happy.  We were at a birthday party and the entire house was wall to wall with baby toys and Charlee just wanted to be outside.  When I look at this picture I just want to kiss her face off. Man I love her.  This is a collection of pictures that i haven't posted yet, but are all about fall and the excitement that comes with the changing of the leaves... that didn't happen this year - bummer of the season.  I hear its due to the lack of rain we had this summer.  We were visiting Lafayette this weekend and the drive there made Lafayette look even sicker... Gavin even commented that the trees just weren't the same this year.  We chalked it up to the influence of Lafayette on the trees.... I want to vomit when I drive down 65 since I commuted there for nursing school for 4 years.  I just got shivers thinking about it again. I love my job, and I'm very thankful, but I'm not so sure i would do that again. Lafayette kinda reminds me of a prison, and compared to Bloomington.... there is no comparison.  Sorry Tia!

 We were enjoying a fire, hot apple cider, corn hole, and jacket weather.  I was taking it all in before I had to go to work.

Daddy and his baby.  He is so hunky.

 And just a reminder 1 year ago my little girl was only a month old.  Cant wait for this years costume.  Its going to be a family costume!!

Pickin Punkins

Beasley's Orchard

 Its fall, or its supposed to be. Not this day it was blazing hot and i had hoped for jeans and sweatshirt pictures at the pumpkin patch, but instead we were sweating and sticking to the hay on the hayride through the rows of Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees.  It also was the Harvest Festival at the orchard so it was annoyingly packed with people.  We took one of about four tractors that was shuttling families back and forth.  Despite the dust from the tractor getting in and on everything we saw families of all kinds.  A nervous new dad had his two week old son slipped in a baby Bjorn and constantly adjusted his make shift canopy aka: burp cloth to where it blocked out any stray ray of sun from hitting that perfect new skin.  Then there was the family that had been on this hayride several times before and the kiddos knew the drill and were so excited to get their pumpkin they weren't waiting for the ride to stop before they were diving over one another only to be stopped in their tracks by mom and dad... who clearly had been on this ride before.  We are newbies to the tractor ride.  I loved how Charlee just sat there looking at all the people and was quiet and still taking it all in.  I loved that she couldn't decide what pumpkin was hers. I have that same problem.  I loved that she didn't care her cute shoes were covered in dirt and that she fell a few times and got right back up because she didn't have time to cry.  She is busy. 

 Her perfect pumpkin. 

 She will grab your hand and walk you over to where she wants you to go and its like she knows she cant tell you what she wants so she will show you.  I love it.

 She thought she was so big with her cider in a big girl cup.   I had to secretly switch back to juice because lord knows what that would have done to her poor little belly.

 I love her.  She is such and indigo child... thanks to my sister-in-law Jen i now know what that means.  We have a lot of indigo little ones and big ones in our family.

 So I imagine one day taking pictures of Charlee after she has passed her drivers test, spent hours getting ready for her drivers license picture (that you cant smile in anymore... really?) Keys in hand ready to drive off in her new ride... don't be confused when i say new... i mean new to her, not new.  It will be old and sturdy and perfect for a new driver, because seriously she is going to hit something.  You know... backing out, or scrape the side of her car with branches, or just barely hit the car in front of her at a light.  Point is it wont matter because it will just add character.  Hopefully she will have no memory of what we drive around town in now, because she would be mortified... duct tape is involved.
Anyways... I will put those pictures next to these in her scrapbook. HaHa

 Her parking spot.

 This is her "Pretty smile" which we probably should stop telling her to do...

Second parking spot for when it rains. 

Oh and by the way we have a fly living in our house.  I thought they only lived for like 3 days max inside but this is the fly that wouldn't die, i know for sure its been about a week and Gavin even mentioned that there was a fly that is still in our house.  Just another reason our cats are an epic fail.  We went on to name him and add him into our family.  I know what your thinking, and its true... we are big dorks.  Gavin just took a one second break from winning a very strategically played and perfectly executed NBA2K11 game to ask me if i enjoyed being a dork... and i of course replied.... Yep.

Birthday Parties for Buckets

Charlee is 1. On her actual birthday she had the cutest outfit ever that said her name and had a matching skirt thanks to Stephanie who is so crafty and whipped this up in about 20 mins.

 Aunt Jenny and cousin Gaeton came to the big celebration

 This fam photo was taken before we lit her cake and she tried to grab the flame... I know its common sense, but it didn't even cross my mind that she would try to grab the candle.. duh.  Then she started crying with our joint efforts to save her fingers when I screamed "no" and Gavin blew it out within milliseconds. Poor baby.  She did enjoy her cake, ate it like a champ, all messy like. Just what I had envisioned.

 This was at Great Grandma LaLa's house - best party place ever!

 Thanks to Auntie Kenzie for smoothing out the icing so perfectly :)

She fell asleep like 2 min later with icing everywhere. perfect. 
A mini nap was needed so she could push her cousin Harper around the pool at least 20 times in her pink cozy coup... good gift Gaston and Jenny.

I couldn't believe she was turning one.  I still can't.  I cried pretty embarrassingly hard a couple of nights before her BIRTH day because I couldn't help think about what we were doing 365 days earlier...

I do have her birth story written down at the end of my pregnancy journal.  It is still fresh in my head... every last bit of it.  The good with the uncomfortable and all the nervousness wrapped up in a little memory.  Looking at these pictures again make me want to jeanie-blink back to 9-9-2009 when we went in to be induced.  Just so i can re-live it one more time all the emotions that I didn't know i was capable of feeling.  I know i was in a state of shock for the entire hospital stay... not kidding you can ask Gavin. I repeatedly kept saying "I cant believe she is mine, and i get to keep her forever" seriously, we have it documented on the video camera at least 4 times.  I miss all of it.

The First

So... I have a blog! I am officially a blogger, been thinking about it for a while... so 4:15 in the am seemed like a good time to start. Okay so its begun...