Isla Hope Turns 1!!!

"Presents-Yes Please!"

 Isla Hope turned 1 year old on December 6, 2011.  What a fantastic milestone for our sweet girl.  We often say, "Isla is perfect."  Quite frankly, she really is.  She still goes to bed at 6:15 each night, sleeps through the night, and is just all around fabulous.  Shortly after her birthday, she was off and walking as well.  My heart overflows with love for her, and I know her brother loves her as well.  They are starting to play more together.  Just tonight, Rowan was giving her Raspberries on her tummy, and she just laughed and laughed. 

Owl cupcakes were her treat.

This is yummy!

Isla ate most of her cupcake.  Look at that happy face:-)

Rowan Blane Turns 4!

Our sweet boy turned 4 this year. He was insistent on a Spiderman birthday party and a trip to Chuckie Cheese. Alex took Rowan to Chuckie Cheese in the afternoon and then that evening we celebrated Rowan Blane. Alex's parents were here, his sister, Reesa, and good family friends, Sheila, Kevin, Adam, and Lillian. We ate pizza, Spiderman cupcakes, and then spent the night opening presents. It was such a sweet party!

Rowan enjoyed his one-on-one time with Dad at Chuck E. Cheese.

A party also meant presents! He was blessed with many fantastic gifts. One of his favorite was the guitar from Uncle Tyler and Aunt Heather. We have all had lots of fun playing with it! He was playing behind his head in the picture. It was hilarious to watch.

Financial Goals 2012 Update

It has been a month since we started the new year. We have been working on some goals, but they just never exactly go in the order I would like:-) Here's the update!


1. Get PMI taken off of our Home Loan
We refinanced our house from 5% to 3.875% last week. I'm pretty excited about this as we also took it down to a 20 year loan. The bum deal was the rates dropped three days after we started the paperwork, so we had to pay a $250.00 relock fee for the lower rate. Boo! The appraiser is coming on Wednesday to see if we can in fact get rid of PMI. I'm quite excited for this!
2. Pay off Alex's small student loan ($641.00 to be exact)
We are still working on this one. This loan is currently down to $547.57. I'm thinking I'll just pay this off with our tax refund!
3. Save enough money to replace Jolie's car by November 1, 2012 in cash!
Nothing happened with this goal this month. With the relock fee and the appraisal fee, we didn't have the extra for this. I'm growing contentment with my car for now.

Financial Goals 2012.

We always do so much better when we put in writing our financial goals. Thus, Alex and I are writing down our goals for 2012 to help us stay accountable for what we want to achieve for our family!

Financial Goals
1. Get PMI taken off of our Home Loan
2. Pay off Alex's small student loan ($641.00 to be exact)
3. Save enough money to replace Jolie's car by November 1, 2012 in cash!
That will hopefully help us get to where we want to be in 2012. Baby steps!

Blessed

Christmas break has begun! I'm home for the next 11 days with our two little ones, and all I can think of this year is how incredibly blessed I am. Rowan and Isla are healthy, Alex and I are both still gainfully employed, Dixie is our kids' best friend, and Alex and I still like each other. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Rowan and I finished wrapping our Christmas presents this afternoon as Isla napped. I am now officially done shopping and wrapping and simply get to enjoy the season:-) Makes my heart happy.

Alex is working today, but he has taken most of next week of to come and play with the kids and I. Rowan loves it when Dad stays home too, and I can't say I complain either;-) It is way easier with two on two!

Merry Christmas to everyone! May your weekend be filled with joy, peace, and love as you celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Big Boy Bed

Tonight was the night my little man went to his big boy room. We tried to not make a big deal out of it, but we just quickly walked him in there and tucked him in. Not a peep, and he was out. I walked back in an hour later with a flashlight, and he was tucked in the same way I had left him, and he was sound asleep. Such a precious moment.
My heart aches, though, at the thought that he no longer will need a crib. My baby is not a baby, but an independent two year old. Alex will tear down the crib for the future children, and I will face the reality each night that I no longer have an infant in my house. What a blessed mom I am!

Spring Break!

Oh the joys of staying home with my little man. Yesterday marked the first day of our spring break. Rowan and I headed out to Hobby Lobby to get some scrapbooking paper to finish the letters for his big boy room. Then it was off to the grocery store to stock up for the week. It is at these nonstressful times that I realize how much stress the school year actually brings to my life. It is so peaceful to just sit and play with my little boy. I have made it a policy that the tv will stay off after 9:30 a.m. and we must play! I am looking forward to some bonding time!