Nothin' like it!..

I am very thankful for the little answered prayer of NO rain yesterday! Yesterday was beautiful and the rain held off until late yesterday night!!....which was perfect!! We enjoyed our day for sure! Alexis had her tee~ball game..........and I do have to say...they are getting SO much better! For sure improving each game! I think Alexis is starting to enjoy it more also because she is starting to understand the game more!
The fabulous Misty and her boyfriend Brandon came over last night for one of Tyler's famous fish frys! We had a great time eating and hanging out with them for a little while! I am so thankful that Misty has met Brandon! They seem really great together...and Misty seems SO happy! I am so thankful for that because Misty is someone that is beautiful both inside and out and she truly deserves to be soooo happy! I am sooo excited for them! :)
Today could not have been more perfect too! It rained ALL day...and our little family did NOTHING all day!  We have enjoyed each other, taking naps, playing with toys, coloring, and watching a ton of movies all curled up under blankets while the calming rain poured outside with the slight rumble of thunder! Talk about sooo relaxing! Nothing better than having a beautiful sunny day that God made and then having a day where God says...."take it easy!" :)
Talk about a great weekend!

Full of life!

We have had an eventful week this week with us still celebrating mine and Tyler's birthdays as well as our regular groove of events! It has been a great week!
This week has hit more of seeing the "terrible twos" kicking in with Lily! She has been throwing some fits this week like a champ! Laying on the floor...rolling back and forth...making this really funny face where she pokes her lower jaw out and shows her bottom teeth when she is sad or mad. It is a funny sight to see for sure! The other day Alexis says "Mommy, when is Lily going to stop saying "No"...it is starting to be annoying!"..........I keep telling myself...it is only a phase...it is only a phase! :)
Alexis came home yesterday saying...."Mommy this weekend...I would like Ella to come over and spend the night...and so what are you going to cook?" Can I say WHAT??!!! ha!
She then preceded to say..."Mommy, when Ella comes, where is her Mommy going to sleep? She can sleep with you in your bed!"
 I am thinking she doesnt quite understand the process of having friends over and them spending the night! ....but it is so cute that she asked! I dont even know what "age" it is that it is "okay" to spend the night with friends. I know that I would not really want Alexis to spend the night with any of her friends yet. Not that I dont think she would be okay, or that I dont want her being at her friends house....but she is just too little right now for that. Right?? Maybe in a couple of years she can start having friends over!
I am excited for when all of that starts happening...I have to say! I cant wait for the girls to have friends over and me make fun things for them to eat...etc! I cant wait for all of that! :)
Alexis wanted to make a tent to sleep under last night! She has made one one time before in the playroom. I was curious if she would stay under it all night...and she did then as well as last night! She asked me today if she could sleep under it again tonight!
We are looking forward to this weekend! It is supposed to rain...but I am hoping that it doesnt! We have WAY too many fun things going on tomorrow....like....tee~ball, the town festival, softball games, playing at the park, grilling out with friends, and the Jacksonville Garden Club's dedication event that we were cordially invited to { talk about feeling 1st class! :) } Not to mention it is the last weekend for Turkey hunting {insert no tears here...well maybe Tyler is shedding a few!! :) } SO NO....I hope it doesnt rain!..but if it does we can still find fun things to do because HEY it is the weekend!! :)


Alexis and Lily on my birthday day! :)

I kept telling Lily to be still and smile so I could take her picture...so she took it upon herself to put herself in time~out! ha!.....talk about obviously getting alot of practice with this from school! :)
 What a cute little bottom though! :)

I bet you cant find Alexis! That is because she is in her "Magical hideout!"...where you have to say the password in order to come in! Tyler asked her what the magical password is....and she said "Daddy, the password is...Alexis is stinky!" well okay then.....  :)

Getting comfy to go to sleep.....

Throwsback Thursday~Alexis' first bike ride!

We have been enjoying this Spring weather that we have been having here lately!........even despite the rain too!
Since the weather has been so nice we have enjoyed doing ALL things outside! Trampoline jumps, swinging, going to the park, going to JSU events, playing ball and bike riding!
So...in honor of all things outside that we have been doing....I thought this week's
"Look back in time" should be............Alexis' first "big" bike ride with us!

Lily went on her first "big" ride this past weekend on the Ladiga Trail. Tyler had to take off the little license plate that said Alexis on it before we left since obviously Alexis is too big for the riding seat! :(
It made me sad when he took that off because that is yet another sign of my little girl growing up! It used to melt my heart to see her sitting in the bike chair hooked up with her little helmet on ready to go for a ride! It was adorable!
Now...it is adorable too to see Lily sitting in the same seat...with the same helmet ready to go! We are in the process of trying to find a plate with Lily on it so we can put it on the back! :)

So the year was ~ 2009

We (when we were just a family of 3 still) loaded up on a beautiful Spring day and headed to Oak Mountain State Park (since we were living in Birmingham at this time) with our bikes in tow! We got everything ready and took a nice long stretch of a ride with Alexis tagging along! She did great...but on the way back......she was DONE! She cried for a good little while! I remember thinking...okay, we are not going to do this again for awhile...and just stick to the neighborhood like we had been doing! Overall we had a great time..she was just tired by the end and was ready for a nice long nap! Sweet memories that I will cherish forever!

A Girls Mommy!

A lady the other day commented on how precious and beautiful Lily and Alexis are. She then preceded to say that she thought I should have a sweet little boy to throw in the mix of my beautiful girls!
Well, once upon a time....I always wanted three kids. When I would play "house" as a child...I always had three children....and that wasnt hard.....or expensive! :) So no - we aren't trying for a boy or for a third.  I'm thanking God every day instead for blessing me with these two precious girls.....
                                  so my response to her was just a smile!
I know 100% if God would have given me boys - I would be in heaven being a BOY mom but I'm not going to lie - I absolutely love that I'm a Girl Mom.  God knows exactly what He is doing for each of us.  
          I love living in the land of princesses, dresses, sparkly shoes, dolls, lipgloss, big hairbows, fingernail polish,  dance parties, all things pink and ruffles....with a "splash" of "boy stuff"......such as jumping on the trampoline, playing tee~ball, bike rides, playing with toy cars, dirt, catching bugs (lady~bugs, fire~flies, and inch worms (only) ha!) and things blue (well aqua blue because us girls around here love that color too!) :) See I have the best of both worlds! :)

Alexis has been obsessed lately with a cute little show on the Disney channel called Sofia the First.
She is constantly dressing up as Sofia....and going around doing curtseys! It is precious to watch! And....of course....Lily is right there beside her with Princess attire on as well! :) Oh, yes...I love my girls!

Alexis LOVES that Princess Sofia's sister's name is Amber! (Just like you Mommy!!...she says every time! :) )
Princess Amber...Princess Sofia....and Prince James

Alexis wanted me to take a picture of her doing a curtsy like Princess Sofia does because she said Sofia has a dress just like this one she is wearing! :)

 Here my sweet girls are....well being sweet girls! :)

Happy birthday!!...to me! :)

Well....saving the "best for last"...today is my birthday! :)
 I am rounding out the end of all the April birthdays today! I am now a 30~something...and feelin' good! :)
I am so thankful to have another year "under my belt"! I am so happy and blessed at where I am in my life now that I am "on into" my 30s! So thankful! :)

Tyler and I on our honeymoon!

My sweet baby Alexis!

Cruising!....... :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE Auburn~ so excited when we took Alexis!

And.....we became a family of four! :)

Lily's first Halloween! She was a sheep!

When we were a family of 3!

My beautiful family! All of my heart! :)

Can you keep up!?

We had OH So much fun this weekend! Only in Alabama is one day 84 degrees and the very next day is 62!....then the next days are bright sunny and in the mid 70s! Well that is the way the past few days have been around here for us! Alexis' tee~ball game was cancelled yesterday because of the field conditions from all of the rain the week before and because it was COLD too! So Tyler and I enjoyed our day in Birmingham together by leaving a little bit sooner than we had planned. We went antiquing and to all of our favorites stores to shop before we went to the new Barons field to watch their game! It was a beautiful day...but it was so COLD! I dont know what some people at the game were thinking...or didnt check the weather...but they were crazy wearing shorts, t~shirts and flip flops! We didnt stay the whole game because we couldnt handle the coldness and because they were getting beat pretty bad! Alexis and Lily spent the afternoon with Nan, Pawpaw and Brandi! Nan said they rode bikes, jumped on the trampoline, played ball...and just had alot of fun while we were gone!
Today was a beautiful Sunday! It was not too hot...and yet not too cold today! It was perfect weather to be outside! Our little family of four had a great family day together by riding the Ladiga Trail, playing at the park, playing outside and eating popsicles and church! We have had a great weekend!

While I was doing some cleaning...the girls were watching a movie. I looked in the living room checking on them...and I saw this! SOOOOO sweet!! :)

Us and the game....at the new field! The field was very...very nice!

Church girls!

Me and my girls!

Getting ready to ride the Ladiga Trail! We rode 2 miles to a little lake and then turned around for the 2 mile ride back! Alexis did SO good! She didnt complain any the whole time! In fact....she told me that she was never ever going to get tired when I asked her if she was getting tired! ha!

Lily did SO well riding too! She didnt make a peep the whole time we rode. She just sat back and enjoyed the ride! At one point I rode beside Tyler...and it looked like she was about to fall asleep...but she never did!

I was SO hoping that the turtles were out at the lake when we made it there! I was so excited to see that yep the sure were! Alexis was amazed!! She counted 13 turtles! ...but it looked like there were more than that! :)

Right after this picture we were heading back to the park....and Alexis kind of ran off the trail and fell. She got a couple of little scratches...but she was a trooper! It was sooooo cute watching her little legs going as she was riding her bike! :) She rode a total of 4 miles on her bike and never once said she was tired...THEN came home and jumped on the trampoline for about an hour! How in the world could one little girl have that much energy! :)

Love making memories with my little family!!

Happy birthday to Daddy!

Even though it was unusually cold today for it to be almost the end of April.....and rainy for most of the day....Tyler said he had a great birthday! The girls and I surprised Daddy with a "Twizzler" cake! He is trying to get fit and everything for summer~time....so instead of a cake, I decided to do an original cake with one of his favorite kinds of candy....Twizzlers!! :) He was very surprised when he came home from work! The girls and I sang him happy birthday...and gave him his birthday gift! Alexis made him the best looking card! She worked so hard on it!
We met the "crew" at Effinas to eat dinner and finish celebrating his birthday!
We have had a low key week this week. It has been rainy so we havent been out much especially with tee~ball being cancelled because of rain...and tomorrow Alexis' game is cancelled because of all the rain we have had. We did get to enjoy a family bike ride yesterday afternoon since it was really nice outside! I pushed Lily in the stroller while Tyler and Alexis rode their bikes! Alexis is getting so good at riding her bike! Her little legs were just a pedaling! It was so cute to watch!
Tyler and I are celebrating our birthdays tomorrow by heading to Birmingham to spend the day and then a Barons game tomorrow night! I cant wait!! :)
Happy birthday Tyler! I love you with all my heart and I am so thankful for you! I love how our girls have a great role model to look up to with you! I love how the girls LOVE their Daddy! I hope you have enjoyed your special day!

Alexis worked so hard on her card to her Daddy!.......she was kind of sad that she forgot to put the "e" in her name!.....but she worked sooo hard to put all of the "dots" on all of the letters!

The original Twizzler cake! ..........I bet no one else has ever had such a cake! :)

Surprising Daddy! This picture is precious to me because of how Alexis and Lily are looking up at him! They love their Daddy! Makes my heart smile!

Daddy and his favorite girls before we left to go eat with Nan, Pawpaw and Brandi!

Throwback Thursday~ Me and You Kid!

Well....tomorrow is a VERY...VERY special (all capital words!!) VERY SPECIAL birthday! Tomorrow is Daddy's birthday! He is now a "30 something!" So....for this week's "Look back in time".....I thought I would do Tyler and my birthday year! My big 31 is on Monday!
The year was 1982!
Tyler and I are 3 days apart! He was born on April 19, 1982 and I was born on April 22, 1982. We were both born in the same hospital! It is SO SO SO crazy to me that we were in the same hospital.....at the same time! Tyler's mom and my mom could have very well passed each other in the hallway of the hospital (not knowing each other then).....and never knew at that time....that their baby girl and baby boy would someday be married! That is SO crazy to me! :) It is amazing how God's path works! :)

So since he is older than me...even though I am soooo much wiser :)     I will do Tyler Ashley Law....as a baby! :)


Look at this sweet baby!................but OH look at how big that diaper is! :)

Look at that big boy! 

Such a cutie....and yep...he still has those beautiful blue eyes! :)

And now "For a look back in time"....at me....Amber Nicole Badgett.....  :)

Oh yeah...I was a chunk! :)

And everybody thought I was never going to grow hair! :)

This is a really blurry/bad picture.....of me....but I found this and thought Lily kind of looks a little like me in this picture!
~with Lana!

Wordless Wednesday~ Lily's daily report! :)

** I know this is wordless Wednesday....but I have to say I LOVE getting these little reports of how Lily is during the day! 9 times out of 10 her report looks just like this everyday! Lunch time~ they usually always put 2X because she always eats more than ALL the other kids in her class! (2 times as much!!) Sometimes it even has 3x!! :)
and....bright and sunny for her mood! I love my little sunshine! :)

Dr. Alexis in the house!

Alexis has decided today...after watching the show The Doctors with me...that she wants to be a doctor, since she is starting school "in a couple of weeks" per her!
She is talking about a "lie bump".............what happens when you get a lie bump as well as what she did today at her new Elementary school!

It is done!

Well....it is done, it is official.....she is officially a Kitty Stone kindergartner!! We have enjoyed our day today with 4 shots, shopping, lunch with Daddy and popsicles! ~ okay maybe not so much the 4 shots part but for sure everything else! I was sooo proud of Alexis,though, because she didnt shed one tear when she got her shots! In fact...she laughed while she was getting them! She said it didnt hurt because she brought Blondie.....her new dog! :)
We did some shopping..which is always fun! We went into the Quality Shoppe (which is a Prom dress/wedding dress store). Alexis was in heaven! She loves ALL things sparkly and bright! She walked through that store like she owned it! She looked through all the racks! She told me the dresses that she thought was really pretty! The lady behind the  counter gave her a book with all the new dresses in it. OH you would have thought it was Christmas! The rest of the day she has been playing "store". She will tell me what sizes she has in each dress I like. She will tell me if she needs to order it or not. AND...all of her dresses so far have been only two dollars! (I like her store!!) :)
We met Daddy at Momma G's (per the request of Alexis since she LOVES there) for lunch and then now we are relaxing at home by watching TV and coloring and playing. Ahh...only if everyday could be like this! :)      ----minus having to do things like register Alexis for kindergarten that requires me realizing how fast my girls are growing up!! :)
Alexis and I finished our day together by watching Brandon play his softball game at Woodland park! It was a great night for some ball! I hadnt been out to Woodland Park since I was in school! It brought back some great memories of me playing! I miss it!

Blondie made everything ALL okay! :)

Ohhhh...before I know it....this will be her standing up there during her Senior year! :(

You dont have to tell this girl to eat when she is at Momma G's! She looooves the Mommas Love!!

weekend recap!

We had a great weekend. Saturday was beautiful! We enjoyed Alexis' tee~ball game. They looked sooooo much better than last week. We still need to work on not tackling each other to get the ball at this coming up week's practice! Alexis didnt run to second base instead of 1st...but just one time this game also! SUCH an improvement! :) A very special moment to me was when Alexis hit the ball SO good...she ran to first so fast and because she hit it so good, the 1st base coach told her to keep going to second! Well, when she landed on second base...I was cheering for her, and holding up a "thumbs up" to her. Well, she looks over trying to find me and sees me doing the "thumbs up" and she did one back to me with the BIGGEST...most proud/happy smile on her face! I was one proud mommy!! :)
We met Nan, Pawpaw and Brandi to celebrate Nan's birthday at Chilis in Gadsden that afternoon. It was so nice to sit out on their back deck over the water and eat. While we were eating we watched all of the girls and guys taking pictures for Prom out by the water. Alexis LOVED seeing all the pretty dresses. It was the highlight of her weekend no doubt!!
Today took a turn for rain that we were not expecting. Tyler and I enjoyed a "date day" together by eating lunch and doing some shopping while Gran had the girls! We didnt let a little rain stop us...even though we did have to cancel our bike ride together! When we got home...we enjoyed a great afternoon nap and then Daddy did a great fish fry for us! He is getting really good with his fryer. The catfish and homemade french fries were really good! The whole time we were eating...Alexis kept telling Tyler "Daddy, this fish is sooo good...Daddy it is good!" :) She ate every bite!!
I am off tomorrow to have a special day with Alexis! Us girls are going to enjoy a day together...along with her 5 year old check~up (with 4 shots) :( ......and then also registering her for kindergarten! OOOHHH.....yep it is that time already! {insert shockness/tears here!}

Beautiful girls!

This picture is PRICELESS to me! Just look at how Lily is looking at Alexis. This is the way it is ALL the time! Lily has to always see what her big sister is up to...and she is always right there doing everything that Alexis does! :)

This is the only way Lily would wear her sunglasses! :)

Lily LOVED chasing the ducks while we were waiting on our table!

And yes....we saw this...as a Prom dress! OH ME..is all I can say! Even one of their Dads had on a camo shirt too that I saw as they were walking around taking pictures! Talk about something I thought I would never see....and hope I never see again! :)
Duck Dynasty is calling!! :)

Beautiful story!

I felt like I should share this beautiful story that I read about. Meet the Storch family. They went on a family trip to Colorado for a ski trip. Well...one minute they were posing for a family picture (all smiles...having so much fun on their trip), the next minute Taylor (their oldest daughter--13) went down the mountain and lost control and hit a tree. She was prononuced brain dead a few hours later.
I know what it is like for your life to change with a blink of an eye. Like me...they were in shock...just couldnt believe how their life changed so fast. Just like that their lives were changed forever with the huge loss of their daughter.
They were of course devastated at what happened to their sweet, beautiful, smart, loving daughter! 
Well, their story is so powerful and shows how you can use such a huge tragic loss through God to heal and "pay it forward"......to not sulk and give up on life because something "bad" happened to you, but to use the experience to grow closer to God...and their family.... and to make their awful experience into something that is beautiful and something that pleases God.
Even though several people couldnt really understand why they would want to have Taylor's organs donated (which blows my mind).....they decided that they wanted her death to mean something. They wanted her to "live on" through helping change other people's lives! They have started campaigns and organizations to help educate people on the greatness of organ donation. Through their work...they have gotten over 5,000 people to become organ donors! (and through their work...it is growing!)
Taylor's organs went to several different people with all different walks of life and situations! Her heart went to a lady who had been waiting for a heart for a long time. She has two younger kids that she was wondering if she would be able to see them grow. Because of Taylor and her parents...she now has that opportunity! I just think it is SO amazing how organ donation works! It is something I decided a long time ago that I wanted to do whenever my time comes. I think it is a huge way of "living on"...and helping others!
Their story really hit my heart and it is something to think about with not giving up on life and sulking because something tragic happened...but "living on" and making that horrible experience into something beautiful...something meaningful!

The Storch family~ Taylor is the oldest on the left....

Todd and Tara Storch (with a picture of Taylor)....and Patricia ~ who received Taylor's heart!

It's a gamecock Friday!

It is Friday! Whoo~hoo!! Always..always ready for the weekend! We have had a great but low~key week this week. We have been up to our same ole routine this week! We enjoyed getting out of school and off early from work on Thursday because there were bad weather threats. The storms did exactly what I was hoping for it to do though...which was wash all of the nasty, piled up pollen away!! (BUT not be a "strong" storm and damage things!) The pollen was just getting out of control! Rain was much needed! :)
Tonight the girls and I enjoyed a "spur of the moment" dinner and Spring {Red and White} JSU football game with Gran and Aunt Pam. We met them at Effinas to eat and then headed to the stadium. We had a great time! We enjoyed watching Cocky dance...and the band play....and the football players play...and the cheerleaders! Alexis and Lily had fun going down the bouncy slides! Alexis LOVES those bouncy things!
While we were watching the game...Alexis enjoyed watching the cheerleaders! They did a stunt and Alexis was sooo amazed! She told me "Mommy, when I get bigger...I want to be a cheerleader!....but I want to be a bottom girl and not a stander girl!" (which meant...she wants to be a base instead of the flyer!) :)
We are ready for tee~ball tomorrow!! :)

COCKY!!!! :)

Gran had to go down with Lily because she couldnt do it by herself!

The Band sounded SO good! It was packed there tonight too! It really got me excited for this coming up season of football!!

See this face!!?? This is a face of a little girl who had not one...but TWO different kinds of ice~cream! (Thanks to the free ice cream truck!) (so nice!).....she was one happy girl!!