Mother's Day 2017

Being a Mother is the greatest calling on Earth!

I had a beautiful Mother's Day this year! It was more like a Mother's week when Josh started it off early by bringing home long stemmed roses and a giant cookie cake! That is so like him by the way! The guy can NOT keep secrets or surprises. It was a happy surprise nonetheless :). What made my smile even brighter was when Austin told me the cookie wasn't good enough because it was missing sprinkles and then set to work to rectify the situation by adding his own sprinkles! Seriously, I felt so loved that night.

My sweet boy adding sprinkles to my special giant cookie! Gosh I love him so much!

Then on ACTUAL Mother's Day I was treated to breakfast made by Josh and gifts from the whole gang. I was really spoiled with gifts this year! Josh has started buying me jewelry for every holiday and I'm not complaining! :)

I made this. Seriously though, sometimes I am still in awe of how handsome he is!

I love my babies so much! They make my life wild and for that I am eternally grateful!

I asked my Mom to come over that afternoon and go to church with us. I haven't had much time to bond with her lately since she was in rehab, and then her Dad died, and then life just got insanely busy! So I was really excited to spend this day with her. Church was so special, as it always is on this day. I got to listen to Austin sing a Mother's Day song with the primary kids for the very first time which was so special! He didn't know all the words and he started goofing off in the middle of the song but it made my whole day to see him up there doing something scary for me! Then my Mom and I skipped Sunday School to go outside and talk and then during Relief Society we had a fun dessert social! It was so elegant and nice! After church we went back to our house and gave my Mom her special gifts and I got to see the adorable hand made crafts my kids made for me during church. Evie had made me a cute little bead necklace in Nursery and Austin made me a paper flower in a jar full of Hershey Kisses along with a note that had all the reasons why he loves me. Cooking together and growing tomatoes made the list and that made my heart sing! Sometimes it feels like I try so hard to create memorable experiences with my kids and it goes unnoticed. So it was nice to find out that he appreciates me! Oh, and he thinks I'm pretty.... insert all the feelings here!

Me and my Momma on Mother's Day surrounded by my babies. Life is good!

The beautiful bead necklace my baby made me! Of course as I was trying it on, she got to work on eating all my chocolate covered strawberries hahaha!

The sweet homemade flower from my sweet boy.

I  pretty much love everything about this gift!

Like I said, this Mother's Day was such a wonderful day! It was thick with love and I spent it with all my favorite people. I couldn't ask for more! 

Again, so WILD!!

Baby girl was more interested in picking flowers than taking a picture with me.

Life is complete when I have both of my babes in my arms.

EVELYNE TURNS 2!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!!

Evie has been asking for a Minnie Mouse birthday party for months now! Whenever we asked her how old she was going to be on her birthday, she would say, "Minnie Mouse Parteee!" So Josh and I decided since Minnie is her absolute favorite person in the entire world, we would surprise the kids with a trip to Disneyland for Evie's birthday! The timing of everything was pretty crazy  because Grandpa Cooley's funeral was earlier in the week, but we managed to fit it all in!

Her actual birthday was on Friday so we did our traditional, go out to get a special cupcake date! We went to Freeds Bakery and Aunt Nana came with us! It was so much fun and Evie even scored a couple cookies on top of that special cupcake she picked out ;).

At the bakery choosing the perfect cupcake. So many choices!

Evie chose Red Veltet..... Mmmmm

Aunt Nana is Evie's favorite :).

So much fun!

Yummmm!

Just look at that smile!

I can't believe my baby is two! Isn't she beautiful!

After cupcakes, Evie got to open her present from Nana (the Minnie swimsuit) and her best friend Blakely stopped by to drop off a gift too (the hat and glasses)!

Ready to hit the beach!

We had her Birthday party that following Sunday. Due to all the craziness with family, the only people who came to the party were Great Grandma Helm, Great Grandma & Grandpa Porter, Aunt Sadie, and Aunt Briana. I was so so sad at first that Evie wasn't getting the same attention and turn out that Austin had, but it ended up working out perfectly! Because the group was small, there was so much more one on one attention and conversation! I actually felt like it was BETTER than the usual big group we host! And Evie was just over the moon with excitement throughout the day with the Minnie decorations, balloons, and Minnie Mouse cupcakes!

My fabulous cupcake creations!

Spaghetti and cake got messy, so off came the clothes! hehe. How cute are those little belly rolls!

Love these ladies! (Grandma Helm and Grandma Porter)

Getting down and dirty with some spaghetti!

Cheezin' it with Aunt Sadie :).

AUNTIES!!!

Rough housing with Great Grandpa Porter :).

It was so funny how she got all sorts of presents, but the string that wrapped one of them was the biggest hit!

Two of a kind :).

The ladies chatting after dinner.

Crazy brother.

Taking her new dog for a ride in the fire engine!

I surprised baby girl with a Minnie dress that I bought just especially for this day! I also wanted her to feel like Minnie when she got to meet Minnie in Disneyland :). Her excitement was everything I'd hoped for and she ran around telling everyone, "pwetty Minnie dwess! Minnie Mouse Parteeee!!"

This picture cracks me up! Evie was so excited over the balloons but right as I was about to snap a picture, Austin's balloon deflated. His face is priceless! hehehe!

At least Evie was having a great time with those balloons! haha!

My loves!!!

Pretty proud of my decorating skills :).

TWO!!

True to the party theme, she got lots of Minnie and Mickey stuffed animals as gifts, and watching her attempt to blow out her candle was too good to be true! She tried so hard! She blew and she blew until she finally did it and we were all clapping and cheering for her! Her happy face in this moment was priceless :).

Getting ready to sing Happy Birthday!

Trying so hard to blow out the candle!

Yayyy!! She finally did it!

So proud hahaha!

Austin was jealous that he didn't get to blow out the candle so we had to relight it for him.....

Happy Birthday baby girl! You are too good to be true!

The cupcakes were too pretty to mess up, so Aunt Sadie had to help out a bit ;).

Finally getting brave enough to dig in!

That'a girl!

And it wouldn't be a birthday without getting to lick the frosting off the candle!

Happy Birthday sweet baby girl! You are the light in our lives! We were so happy your second birthday party was such a success because nobody deserves perfection more than you! Thank you for choosing to come to our family. You bring the perfect amount of sweet and sassy to our home. 

We love you!!

-Love, Mom and Dad