HaPPy BiRtHdAy to our Mady Mae....

That sweet precious girl up there, she is 17 today.
Seventeen....*sighss*

This is one of my all time favorite pictures we had taken of her. It depicts everything she was for years. She loved that Jessie doll. It went with her everywhere. There was no place that doll of hers didn't visit, she even took her to Kindergarten Open House and there are pictures taken with her holding her up to her face to make sure she was in full center too. That doll and her were inseparable. She even often talked of someone named 'Jessie' that would come talk to her in her room or wake her up while she was sleeping. We often wondered about that little "story", whether it was just how much she loved her Jessie doll and wanted her to be a person or whether it was my Grandma who passed away when I was 7, her name was Jessie Mae.

Of course with her loving Jessie we watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2 constantly...sometimes 3x a day. In the movie Toy Story 2 the little girl loved her Jessie doll oh so very much and she inevitably grew up and moved onto other things...boys, makeup and music, forgot about her Jessie, then one day found her underneath her bed and put her in her 'donations' box to give her away. That scene and the song they play is in Jessie's words and it always broke my heart and it still does! I knew at some point it would happen with our Mady, and it has...

If you don't know the scene or the song here it is....and just in case you are wondering, yes, I'm bawling.

Click here ---->  Jessie's Song-When Somebody Loved Me

Isn't that song just sooo sad??? :'(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our one and only baby girl, Mady Mae.

This girl of ours is one of the greatest, sweetest, funniest, emotional, outgoing beings we could ever have been given the privilege to raise. She makes us proud each and everyday. We trust her with making decisions for herself and for the sake of others, wholeheartedly. She is our one child that it seems like no matter where we are going or what we are doing she wants to be right there in the thick of it, I like to think it's because she wants to spend as much time as possible with us, but I'm sure it's because she is a social butterfly and likes to meet new people and always be on the go doing something or seeing something.

Ever since she was little she has always said she wanted her dad to build her very own apartment on top of our garage, so she could "live with us forever". To this day she wants him to finish the loft in the garage so she can live there. That is how close she still chooses to want to be with us.

She came into the world in a flurry of drama. She wasn't breathing, they had to resuscitate her right next to me all the while not telling me what was going on, they then whisked her away for an hour and 45 mins. She was "technically a preemie". Boy howdy, that was hard on her dad. He was awfully sad and broke down when the okay was finally given. I didn't know about that for years later because he didn't do it in my presence for fear that I would become more upset. =( He loves his girl...with a full quarter of his heart ;)

Hug your babies tight. Relish when you can hold them in your arms and feel all the guishiness of their little bodies. Remember those first words and the way they started coming into themselves. Lock away in that 'too much information already' mom brain of yours every little thing you can. It goes so very quickly, more quickly then it may seem. Lord knows I was one of those, the days are just trickling by, these kids seem to still be "little", and then all of a sudden before you know it, BAM, they are close to adults. The age you actually 100% remember being.

I love all our kids...they are my greatest accomplishments. And to our girl, whose day is extra special today I say...

We love you, remember that. As long as you remember that you need to remember nothing else.
We are here for you, for all time...no matter what!
You make us proud in EVERYTHING you do.
You are beautiful inside and out. Truly.
Be proud of who you are, of where you came from and of everything you do. No questioning that....ever.
We know that God truly loved us the day he gifted us with you....

XOXOXO~
  Mom

THINK!!!!!

This post had me thinking for days on whether I wanted to write it or not...
I am not proud I am writing it, I am not happy to be writing it, I am however needing to write it to get it out there of how I feel and how I imagine others would feel if this happened to them.

I had several social events to go to this past weekend. One of them someone said something very rude to me. I think it is very rude anyway, and that's a problem.

Someone was questioning how a certain activity was set-up and I stated a simple solution to their questioning. They looked up at me, looked me in my eye and said "You are SO obnoxious." They then looked back down at what they had been previously doing and didn't say another word to me.

Do you know what the definition of obnoxious is?? I know pretty much what it means, but I wanted to look it up and give you the exact definition, the exact words this woman called me.

        ob·nox·ious adj. 1. Very annoying or objectionable; offensive or odious.

                             2. Archaic Exposed to harm, injury, or evil.

                             3. Archaic Deserving of or liable to censure.

Seriously?! I know I am loud, I know I talk alot, I know I am outgoing...but obnoxious?? I don't even think so.

BUT...if that is how this person sees me and that is how they feel, then by all means feel that way. It is THEIR opinion. That gives them NO right to label me that, out loud in a public setting and in front of others. It doesn't piss me off that this person thinks this of me, what pisses me off is that it was stated so matter of factly and totally uncalled for.

What pisses me off the most is that I have more respect for people than to start anything or say anything down to another person at a friend's special gathering so I gave no response to it, but yet this person did not have that same respect for me or the hostess of the party. In essence I ignored her and her statement, it did however continue to bother me while I was there and has continued to do so.

What makes me frustrated is that I could have came back with just an equally offensive "opinion" about them. People are different, that does not make the way I am right or the way she is right. We are two different people and see things differently. BUT, I have enough respect for another human being to keep my opinions about others to myself and to overlook alot of things...but this I can't overlook and I won't overlook. She was out of line and flat out rude.

I respect people. I respect when many different types of people are at public functions and if someone is there that I don't particularly like or get along with, when approached or spoken to I have been and always will be respectful. No matter what. This respect was not given to me in return, and that simply annoys me.

I am truly in awe of certain people. It seems as if the people you most expect respect and kindness from are the ones least willing to give it. I will never forget the way certain people speak to me or of me...it is not a fault of mine that I will remember, but a fault of theirs that put that memory there in the first place.

Remember...always think about what you say before you say it. Even if you feel it!

XOXO~Steph

No pictures to prove it...but it was a great time!!!

Yesterday was Easter Sunday.

It was the best family filled day I have had in the longest time.

I hosted this year. Which means I did not take any pictures of anything. I constantly tell myself 'don't forget to take some random pictures of the day', and I always get so busy feeding and talking that I forget to take pictures, of any sort =(

It is a HUGE bummer.

We had 32 people come share it with us, it was a madhouse and relaxing and enjoyable all at the same time.
Most of the family could make it, minus an aunt, 2 of her daughters (and family) and an uncle and aunt couple. 32!

The food was fabulous, thank you to everyone who brought something to make it a bigger spread. Of course I hardly ate until everyone left, then I made myself a plate and ate it....that always seems to happen. I need to chillax more. Go figure.

I just have to say how proud and happy I was to have everyone here, it was a great day with tons of laughter, tons of kidding around and tons of children and adult background noise. The kids got along phenomenally, the adults couldn't get enough of talking to each other. It was a super time.

I made the rule of no kids in bedrooms since it was such a beautiful day outside, which my rule got shot down by puppy dog eyes and MY husband saying "Really?!? That's a bummer!" So then, I yelled out a 'FINE! Go in the bedrooms!! RAAAAWWWRRR!' (I actually just added the RAWR thing, but it was probably what I was feeling, because anyone who is anyone knows that when you have a get together at your home and a handful or more of kids go to a bedroom FULL of toys and as soon as everyone leaves the Mom or Dad that happens to walk by or finally can't take the suspense of wondering how that room might look any longer knows it will like it had been hit by an F-5 tornado. Right?!?) Well, to my surprise when I went up there bracing myself for a dramatic meltdown and a 'why me' throw myself on my son's bed tantrum, IT WAS CLEAN!!!!!!!!!!!! Cleaner than it was BEFORE the kids went in there!!!!!!!!! I WAS SHOCKED!!!! I was in clean bedroom heaven!!!!  I am still so proud of those kids!!! And I am letting them know it!!!

Love my family. Miss them all the more when I've had that little "taste" of time with them. <3

Getting ready for a get together is so hectic and stressful and you just want everything to turn out perfect and you want everyone to have such a good time. It takes so much out of me when I host. I have to say it WAS perfect and from what I heard everyone had a wonderful time. It makes me want to do it again in a month or two, just because I can. Why should we have an 'excuse' to get together? Why not..just because? I think I will do that, an easy potluck. Just a more relaxed and easy menu. Soon family, just so you know it will be soon =)

Ohhhhh and another thing about hosting a get together!!!!!!!!! MY HOUSE IS CLEAN!!!! It is still beautimous!!! AND CLEAN!!! I just get to enjoy my pretty house and do laundry and if I want to clean, it can be something that's not on my normal list....GO ME!!!

Have a great week everyone, and I hope you had just as great of a time with your families as I did with mine <3