It's time

Today is the day...we are packed and ready. Now the hard part is saying goodbye to Taegan for 4 days. I know it will be good for all of us, but it is gonna break my heart to leave her! I know she is FANTASTIC hands, but it is always a challenge to leave. I am SUPER excited to be heading to Vegas and so ready to have some adult fun with the couples we are going with. I also realizing that in less than 48 hours I will be 30!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying to embrace it-wish me luck on that this weekend. And just because she is cute here is a picture of the little love that we are leaving for the weekend.

See you on the flip side:)

A great weekend...

What a fun family weekend we had! Friday afternoon Justin, Mom, Dad, Taegan, and I all headed to KC to have a birthday dinner for me, get a little shopping in, and go to a family birthday party. It was a good night-although we did figure out that Taegan is at a very rough age for going out to eat. We went to Cheesecake Factory(my favorite) and she wanted to sit in a booster seat. This was a terrible idea and she was all over the booth. We will limit our eating out until she is at a better age/mood to enjoy these experiences. Saturday Taegan and I laid around the house because I wasn't feeling so good while Justin went to work. That night we got pizza and played at home. Oh it was so good to be at home just being silly and together. Sunday we woke up and went to church(I have missed it the last few weeks). Taegan was super excited to go see her friends at church and it was a good morning. We met Justin's parents for a birthday lunch for me that day and it was another terrible outing with Taegan and her attitude. Darn it. The rest of Sunday was spent as a family and having fun. I got to go to dinner with Maegan for my birthday while Justin stayed home with Taegan and they played and played.

After reading everything we did all weekend it is obvious that I am a very lucky girl and have lots of people in my life that love spoiling me for my birthday!!! There is more to come this week-tomorrow evening I am going with Di to get my toes and nails Vegas ready and Wednesday we head to KC to stay before we head out Thursday morning. I have been tackling my to-do list today and am making great progress!!! Here are a few pictures from the weekend and today...

Putting on my boots and strutting around.
Using her bib as a cape and she asked me to take her picture.

Reading her bedtime book with Daddy last night-so sweet!!!

1 week...

One week from today I will be in Las Vegas having a great time with some great friends!!! As excited as I am about all of that, I can't help but be reminded that I am going there because I am turning 30. WOW-30??? Am I really gonna be 30 in a week? There are somedays when I think that it is no big deal, and then there are other days that I step back and think about all the things I have done in my 30 years. I really want this to be a great year and one that I embrace rather than dread because, well, it means I am getting older!!! So to help myself feel better I am going to make a list of all the things I feel are important that I have done so far in my 30 years!! Here it goes-
*I was born to two amazing parents that loved and took care of me-and still do!!!
*I graduated high school, and being the total nerd that I was had only drank once by the time I left high school. I am proud of that actually and I hope that someday Taegan has the same values. I never did drugs and have still never touched drugs.
*I went to college for a semester and realized that I had totally rebelled and needed to pull myself together and come home. Best decision I ever made.
*Went back to college after working 3 jobs for 9 months.
*Graduated college with a 3.8 and was on the Dean's List for a 4.0 for a year and a half.
*Got married to what I believed was my soulmate and moved back to Topeka.
*Got a job teaching 4th grade at Indian Hills and LOVED it.
*Made one of the hardest/painful decisions of my life and got divorced at the age of 24.
*Decided to get my master's degree while going through the divorce-best decision.
*Met and married my true soulmate on the beach in Jamaica...no words to describe how perfect that was.
*Graduated with my Master's Degree with a 4.0.
*Gave birth(which I swore I never would) to a beautiful baby girl, Taegan.
*Made it through 7 days of Taegan being sick and in the NICU as soon as she was born.
*Being the best Mom to her for 26 months now.
*Making it through the first year of me being a stay at home Mom with one income.
*Joining a new church that Justin and I enjoy and we feel very comfortable at.
*Taking Taegan on family trips and loving all the memories we make with her.

It feels good to look back at this list and know that I have accomplished a lot. I look forward to my 30s and hope that even more great things happen! But for now-I still have one week in the 20s to enjoy:)

The Model Pose...

We had a lot of fun this past week with Kyle, Melissa, and Kinsley in town! We did lots of swimming....
Taegan discovered a new talent that she is perfecting day by day recently-and wanted me to take a picture of her doing it!

We went to a Royals game with the Ross family and had quite an adventure getting there. After being in the car for over 2 and a half hours we made it to dinner!(Which should have taken us an hour) Dinner at Jack Stack was super yummy, then we made our way to the game where it was already the 5th inning:) Oh well, it was still a lot of fun. Here is Miss Kinsley hanging out with Mom.

And tonight Taegan, Justin, and I went swimming for awhile. She decided today was the day she was going to be a big girl and go under water!!! She is a pro at closing her eyes and mouth now. She then realized it was fun to jump off the side to Daddy and be thrown in the air, a fun night! We came inside and she decided to just run around in her diaper, put on her necklace beads, princess shoes, and push her baby around. She then proceeded to want to "pose for mommy"! Here you go...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!!! We have 9 days til VEGAS!

Happy Anniversary Babe

Today marks 3 years since I walked down the beach to the man of my dreams! I couldn't ask for a better husband or father to Taegan. Justin has been a rock for me and I treasure every moment we get together! I love you honey!!!!!

Sick little girl...

Taegan is under the weather, which causes things to be a bit under the weather at home. She has had a terrible cough for over 2 weeks now and was up from 1 to about 6 on Sunday night!!! I felt like I had a newborn again and wasn't sure I was ready for that:) Needless to say I got her into the doctor Monday morning and he put her on some strong antibiotics to try and kick this. If she isn't better by Friday we are to go back in. The medicine is causing her to be a bit hyper and crazy-so nap and bedtime have been a bit of a struggle. All this to say, I am off to bed myself because the days are long!!!

Hoping she is better soon.

Mall of America Trip

We had so much fun on our trip! We made great time on the trip up and got started shopping that night. We would spend the morning shopping, head back for nap, and then go back to the mall to shop. A few days Taegan napped in her stroller at the mall while we actually got to shop and try on clothes in a calm pace! One morning we went to the zoo(which wasn't as good as I was hoping) and some other days we went to other stores in the morning and shopped at night. There was the amusement park in the center of the mall that Taegan enjoyed riding on rides at. She really liked the rides until we went on this Dora bus one and she HATED it and after that was done with rides! We would get back to the hotel around 7 so that she would have time to run and play for a bit before bed. Our hotel was right across the street from the mall so we walked over there and back each time. Great exercise on this trip:) We were also about a mile away from the airport so we heard and saw all the planes coming in. Taegan loved this and would stand at our room window and watch them all day if we would have let her.

Here she is at the window with her toys and watching the planes.

The mall had a huge American Girl store in it and Taegan was in heaven. We brought her American Girl doll and let her get her hair done at the salon there! This place is crazy all the stuff you can get and do for the dolls. She liked watching her get her hair done.

We chose 2 braided pigtails for the hairstyle.

The Barnyard Roller Coaster that we rode 4 times and she loved!
Riding the carousel with Grandma.
Ready for the zoo with her new shades!
The Grizzly bears fighting in the water.
Riding on the tractor at the zoo.

We made it home in even better time then on the way there and only 1 stop!!! We had so much fun, but were happy to be home and with Justin.

Happy 4th of July...

I hope everyone has had a good 4th! We celebrated ours yesterday because as I type Taegan, Mom, and I are in Minnesota at the Mall of America! We drove 8 hours today and made it here by 5 and got in some shopping tonight:) Taegan did great on the ride and is now on her way to sleep!!! So yesterday we spent the day as a family of 3 and had so much fun playing at the park. We rode on the train and the carousel and then played our hearts out on the slides!! What a fun day. It was then nap time and off to Justin's parents for the party! We ate, ate, ate, and then watched the fireworks show Justin and his dad put on. Taegan really seemed to enjoy the fireworks and actually watched them with me outside this year!

Playing at the park!!
Riding the carousel with Daddy!!

Have a good 4th and remember to thank a military person for fighting for our freedom!!!

Remembering Cohen.