Bringing Sexy Back!

I have been so ready to BRING MY SEXY BACK! After having children, I seemed to have lost myself and stopped caring too much about my outer appreance. I have constantly made the excuse of never having time to do anything with myself. Therefore, my outlook and feelings about myself and how I look have plumeted drastically. As I mentioned before, My best friend Bridget is an aspiring photographer and is absolutely amazing at what she does (a very unbiased opinion, of course!) Yesterday, she asked me to be her model for an outdoor photo shoot. Me, also being a lover of photography and someone who enjoys having their picture taken, of course complied! I thought to myself, here is the perfect opportunity to get your game on and bring on the hotness! LOL! Here are a few of the results of the photo session. Not to sound conceited or anything, but I think they turned out FANTASTIC!!! I guess that's what you get when you put a spectacular photographer together with a fabulous model ;)

(The other girl is my hot friend Mandy. She is an awesome model too!)

I LOVE this picture!

I wouldn't mind doing THIS for a living! I had so much fun!

SERIOUSLY, sign me up!

I have decided to make it a personal goal to pamper myself more often and to take time out to make myself look good, so that I can feel good too. I want to see myself as a hot mom again! ;)

Anyway, thanks for humoring me! haha!

A Parent's Prayer

They're only little once.

Grant me the wisdom to guide them

down the path that their feet should take.
For I know that they can never turn back and

walk those paths with me again.
Give me the wisdom to guide their feet so that

someday they'll be able to walk alone.

They're only little once.

Give me the time I need to enjoy them.
For I know that after they're grown, I'll never have

another chance to tell stories and

pretend at those tea parties.

I'll never have another chance to watch

them in a school play or sing in church,

or to see them catch that first fish

or score that first goal

or hit that first home run ball.
Give me the time in life's busy schedule to

have fun with my children.

They're only little once.

Let me be a loving parent.
Let me correct and not just punish,

explain and not merely scold.
Let me know when to correct, and how often,

and when it's best to just look the other way.
Help me be patient and give me a gentle hand to

mold them into better people.

They're only little once.

Let me be a good teacher and

an even better example.
Give me the right words and deeds to teach them.
Help me to teach them about You

and how to walk in Your ways
so that when they are older

they will not depart from Your ways.

For they're only little one time,

only innocent and trusting and

pliable for a space of time,

one minute in an eternity.
Let me do my best for them

while I have the chance.

Amen

~Anonymous~

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy. . .

Yesterday, Michael and Aunt Felicia took Lily to Palmer Lake for her first fishing trip. She was so excited and pumped up to go, probably just as much as Michael! I wanted to be there, but unfortunately, I had to stay home with the other two kids. (Alexandria and Alexis-daycare kid.) It didn't take long for them to get their first catch of the day. Michael called me very excited to tell me that Lily had caught her first fish! Then Lily got on the phone and delightedly told me, "I got fish in the water!" She was so happy. Auntie Felicia did take pictures of the catch, but, to my dismay, my dumb camera has a problem with deleting the pictures sometimes when the battery gets low. Sadly, this was the case and we lost those incredible photos of Lilyana in all her glory. I was so sad! =*( I was told she was dancing around and squealing and laughing at the sight of the big fish! The picture of Lily and Felicia in front of Palmer Lake was the only photo that was salvaged.

But, after they got home from their trip,( Lily was very stinky and dirty!) we took these ones in front of our house to document the great event. Michael and Lily's enthusiasm almost mirror each other. Both giddy kids!

This is my absolute favorite picture. I love the look to it. A father sharing his passion with his daughter.

Lily was afraid to touch the fish, so I told her to feed it some grass. So, now it looks like she is touching the fish. Great photo tip, huh! LOL!

Later that evening, since they'd all had so much fun fishing, we decided to take a drive up to Pikes Peak and go to Crystal Creek Resevoir and try our luck there. This time Alex and I got to go! Yippppeeee!!! They set up by the lake and waited for a bite. . .

while I took these adorable pictures of Alex. :)

And even got this cute shot of both girls! AMAZING!

Meanwhile, Michael was still waiting patiently for the fish to come. Maybe that is why I do not like fishing; the anticipation. I hate the wait and there is never any guarantee you'll win.

Michael even shared the fishing pole with the girls.

How nice of him ;)

I was very happy to be in a picture too since I am USUALLY
the one BEHIND the camera

Then, happily, only after a half an hour, it started to rain :( So, we quickly put on our jackets and gathered up everything . . .

and headed for the car. On the way down the mountain, we saw this breathtaking scenery

So, naturally, I had to snap a picture. This is why I love Colorado! BEAUTIFUL!

Fun at the Park

The girls' Auntie Felicia is visiting from Arizona for a week. Lily warmed up to her right away. Felicia and I took the girls to the park and they had such a blast!

Lily with her Auntie Felicia

I love Lilyana's giggly face in this picture! She must have gone down that slide at least a hundred times!

And even got Auntie Felicia to go down with her.

Alex loved her first ride on the swings. She just sat back and relaxed.

Lily enjoyed it too! Eventhough the sun was in her eyes!

Artsy pic I took (Oh, wow man! hehe)

What a fun time we had!!!

First Cookie!

On Monday, Alexandria had her first cookie. Boy, was she excited! She grabbed that thing right out of my hand and immediately went to town with it!

And what a mess she created enjoying that thing! She had it everywhere!Haha! Gotta love it!

(Back off! It's mine!)

(Now where did my cookie go?)

(I wonder if I can fit this whole thing in my mouth?)

Milestones

As of yesterday, Alex has reached a new milestone. She is now pulling herself up to stand! She is so proud of herself and her accomplishment. It's funny to watch her do it because after awhile she will start hollering because she can't figure out how to get back down. Then it's Mommy to the rescue! It is so bittersweet to watch her grow. I love watching her do new things and flourish, but at the same time I see my baby getting bigger and bigger and becoming more independent already. I am not ready for her to grow so fast. Time seems to just fly by all the time. I would give anything to slow it down. I have realized in the past couple of days that I really need to focus more on spending time with my children rather than fussing about the house and cleaning up all the time. These precious moments pass to quickly and I need to enjoy them while I can. I have made it a personal goal to take each day one at a time and to deal with things as they come. I want to live in the moment and enjoy it with my girls. I want to love on them as much as possible and play until exhaustion. I want to have no regrets. I have come to realize these are the things that matter most and that I don't have all the time in the world to enjoy them.

Lilyana has become so independent in her 2 years. She is 2 going on 16 already! She wants to do everything herself and she prides herself in it. She is also my little drama queen. She makes me laugh all the time when something happens and she needs to tell me about it. She runs up to me with both palms pressed against her cheeks saying, "oh, no! oh, no!" in her most dramatic voice. I try not to laugh while she is telling me what is wrong, but afterwards I always do. She has become so dramatic about everything! I love it! She is totally into dressing up and playing with her baby dolls. She loves to pretend to read to them. She also likes to dress herself and undress herself for that matter. She usually doesn't like to have her picture taken, but lately she has become somewhat of a supermodel; always flashing her cheesy smile when a camera is pulled out. I think she just likes to see the pictures of herself on the digital camera. She loves to cuddle and just sit in my lap while she watches her cartoons. She enjoys horsey rides from daddy. She loves washing her hands over and over and over again and playing with the soap. She loves to brush her teeth and she LOVES lotion. She likes to watch me in the bathroom while I'm doing my hair and mimic me. She likes mousse and hairspray and ponies. It is so cute and funny. She is such a girl and I love everything about it. At the same time, she loves to run around outside and play and get dirty! She loves bedtime stories and to be read to and she freaks out if she doesn't get her "lovies" before being tucked into bed at night. I definately have my hands full with her, but I look forward to everything that life with her brings.

Alex is my angel baby. She is already a mama's girl. She loves to be cuddled and held and she loves it when daddy tickles her! She is pulling herself up to sit now, is crawling a little and scooting everywhere and now she is standing. Next comes walking! Arrgg!!! Not yet! She is always full of smiles and wild, crazy laughter and delightful screams. She loves animals and will laugh the most heartwarming laugh just upon seeing them. She likes to attack them with her "love" leaving behind a slobbery trail of matted fur. Alex loves her sister and thinks that she is the funniest thing to ever walk to planet. All Lily has to do is put her face close to hers and Alex just gets rolling. Alex is so easy to love and she is so patient. She rarely is crabby and just loves to play with toys. Her recent favorite is a small little tikes piano. She just loves to bang on that thing! She also loves to be pushed around on one of those toddler push cars. The grin on her face just spreads ear to ear when she goes for a spin. Gosh, I love her. I am so grateful to have such wonderful, loving little girls! God has truly blessed me and I am so thankful he has entrusted me and chosen me to be the mother of two of his precious daughters.