Birthdays, Births & More

There has been a lot of celebrating over the last few months, most of which went undocumented. That is until now...

Since Logan's birthday we have celebrated birthdays for four of our god children, a thirtyith birthday for my little brother, welcomed a new baby into our circle & a special someone turned one--all before July 15th. Lots to be thankful for!

So lets do a little recap and up first is Cousin Colton who turned the big four! Cousin Colton got to have his birthday party on his actual birthday. How cool is that? Last year it was a Superhero theme and this year he just wanted to focus on Batman. His mom made a really cool cupcake stand that looked like Gothem City---could totally sell these for a living, it was amazing. The kids ran around outside kicking balls, playing in the sand and on the swing set. But the moment the words presents and cupcakes were announced they all dropped what they were doing and made a beeline for the door. Unfortunately, we had a few mishaps with the cupcakes and both boys went into total breakdown mode, party was over for us.

A few days later we wished Mr. Julian a very happy FIRST birthday for afar. I hate that this little nugget and his sister are so far away. I wish I could see them everyday but even though we don't, that doesn't change how much we love them! Can't wait to get my hands on those chubby cheeks again!

And a few days after that, we celebrated Mr Nathan turning the BIG ONE. Mr. Nathan was having a Dr. Suess birthday and boy was it cute. Bright blue and red were everywhere. He was dressed in his birthday best with a top hat to finish off the look.

We were treated with delicious pulled pork smoked by none other than the birthday boy's daddy himself. The kids ran and played and jumped and blew bubbles till the little hearts were content. The only tears we got this time around were years when we said it was time to head home. Kaden was having way too much fun and honestly so were we, such a relaxing evening with some of our most favorite people in the world. Happy Birthday Nathan, watching you grow this last year has been amazing and I can't wait until you are chasing and following the big boys around. Life is going to be pretty interesting when it comes to watching the three amigos but I couldn't be more excited to see it all unfold.

And on the very last day of the month we celebrated my LITTLE brother's BIG 30th birthday before we headed off on our family vacation. & you know what, this birthday might have been the hardest of them all because by him turning 30 it reminded me yet again that I was his OLDER sister. I often have a hard time picturing him being anything than a twenty-something year old living at my mom & dads! But there he was, turning 30 with a family all his own.

& while we were away on vacation, Mr. Julian's Big sister & equally as cute sister, Gisele turned THREE. I swear it was like yesterday I was holding her in my arms for the very first time--these kids are GROWING up WAY too quickly!!! Can I please push PAUSE?

Now for the births, well BIRTH. Our dear friends Tiffany & Jason welcomed their new baby girl on July 8th. Miss Lilly Claire made her debut to the world and what an exciting debut it was!

She is absolutely perfect & I got to be the lucky one who captured her at one day old and again at 5 days old. I mean, stunning, right!?!?

and check out just how proud her BIG sister is! We have stayed friends with a number of people from college & I am just so grateful that we live so close to such great friends and that we all have kids that are going to grow up with one another. I didn't get it when I was younger, my parents had the same thing with the same group of people but now, that we have kids, I get it. I REALLY get it. We are a support team for one another. We are there to share our stories of success and failure as parents or in life  in general. Justin, the boys, & I have been blessed with such great friends that we can honestly call family.

& only a few days later the boys & I loaded up for a weekend at my Grandma Sara's and Papa Tom's (more about that later) to celebrate a special little lady turning 1. Talk about time flying, I can't believe my little niece is ONE. She is a walking, babbling toddler that loves to just sit back and take EVERYTHING in. Oh she'll smile, just not when you want her too!! Being a mom is pretty darn special, my most favorite job in the world but being an aunt, well that ranks pretty high on my list too. I love being able to spoil my nieces and nephews--theres just something different about it. I may not want my kid to have cookies, ice cream, or toys galore but I sure don't mind using those things to get my sweet niece in my arms!

And these birthdays & this one birth all took place in a matter of 2 months. & since the middle of July, well, we have celebrated a few more birthdays and prepping for our very own Kaden's 4th Birthday--turtle style. Sure to be turtly awesome & I can't wait to share all those details...