Warning: Easter Picture Overload

Holidays are just so much more fun when there are little ones around.  Jason and I are so thrilled to have Riley live so close to us so that we can smother her in hugs and kisses! I apologize for the large picture overload, but she is just too cute not to share with you!  These are just the photos off my camera, and when I receive the ones off my sister's camera, you might get ANOTHER post. :)

Riley was pretty cranky today due to some allergies and was not in the mood for pictures.  She was definitely happy to get to run around outside with her bunny purse!

We tried posing her again for pictures, but she was not having it! I love this shot though, and her adorable pigtails:

She starting picking flowers off the tree and handing them to me.  I think it was her way of saying: "If I give you flowers, will you stop taking pictures?"

How sweet are my parents?

My sister and brother-in-law (aka Riley's parental units)

Riley loves to pick up the eggs.  She wanted to put ALL of them into her basket at once.  Every time Mom would put them out for her to "find" she'd shout: "Gwanny! (Granny) You makin' a mess!" I love this picture of her holding as many eggs as she possible can, trying so hard to figure out how to pick up that other:

She managed. :)

Such a sweet face:

I love watching her run so intently on finding those eggs!

She grew tired of egg hunting and moved on to what was IN her Easter basket that the Easter Bunny left for her at Granny and Pappy's house:BUBBLES! Allergy crankies or not, those bubbles made her giggle!

This is my absolute favorite picture from the whole day.  How can you not melt at this expression?!

After bubbles, she decided that it was time for sidewalk chalk: another goody that the Easter Bunny brought her!

However, smearing it with her finger was not so fun.  She decided: "Dat's YUCKY!" and waited patiently for someone to wipe of her hands.  She's the cleanest 2-year-old I know.

That's all I have for you right now! Thanks for hanging with me while I disappeared this week! Catching up at work after 2 sick days was chaos! I'm finally back on track and ready to blog again! Happy Easter!

Make Cupcakes, Not War

I'm too excited! Next weekend, Jason and I are flying to Galveston, TX to visit with Jason's side of the family for 4 days.  I've never met *most* of his family, since they were unable to make it to the wedding.

While we are in Texas, Jason and I are going to head to Houston to a bakery where Johnny Cupcakes (one of Jason's favorite graphic artists) will be appearing! Jason is so excited.  We own a lot of vintage "Cupcake" shirts, which apparently this guy loves to see at these

 appearances! Here are a couple of my favorites that Jason and I have:

(Images from Google)

We actually don't have that white shirt with the multiple rows of cupcakes, but I love my hippo shirt with cupcakes over their heads!  I'm not a huge fan of the cupcake and crossbones, but that is one of his signature designs.  He is definitely a very unique artist, something my husband always admires in people! He has a pretty great story of how he began making his designs known, and how he avoided all of the "chain" retail stores.  You can check it out at his website I listed above.

We can't wait to go to Houston to meet Johnny Cupcakes.  I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures of one REALLY excited husband when we return from that visit! 

Ugh!

Well, my Wednesday "sick" day turned into my Friday SICK day.  YUCK! I was up all Thursday night laying in my bathroom floor. The same as Wednesday, I'll spare you the details.  Let's just say it was a pretty rough night/morning.  I was finally able to keep nausea medicine down and slept the majority of Friday.

I woke up Saturday feeling pretty weak, but much better.  I decided to brave the outdoors and go get my haircut.  Let me tell you, that small amount of time out of the house was really nice, but completely wore me out.  I took another 4 hour nap, and still slept throughout the entire night.

I made it to church this morning, and went to lunch with my whole family, but was ready to be back in my bed about halfway through lunch.  Another nap in, and I'm finally starting to gain my energy back.  Hopefully this virus is on its way OUT!  Thank goodness Jason didn't get it, he was such a sweetheart taking care of me all weekend.

I'm sorry I don't have much to update right now, it's amazing how much you miss out on when you sleep a whole weekend away!

Sick Day

You all left me the sweetest comments on my last post.  Thank you!  Although I truly love my simple life, I also love life's little surprises, even if it is a sick day.

Nope, I'm not sick, but my poor sister and brother-in-law are REALLY sick. :( Riley had the stomach bug that is going around earlier this week, and my brother-in-law (Adam) barely made it home last night before getting sick himself. Two hours later, my sister starts vomiting too. I'll spare you the details, but it has not been pretty. We actually thing my sister's "bug" is the flu since her temperature is so much higher and she has more symptoms than just a bug.

This morning, after much debate, we decided to send my sweet Riley over to my house to allow Ashley and Adam to go to the doctor, rest and recover. Although I feel awful for my sister and her husband, I'm thrilled that I "had" to stay home from work to spend the day with my gorgeous niece. Of course I took pictures for you all throughout the day!

We started off the morning in our pj's.  Someone still isn't back to 100% after her days of the stomach bug, so she was a bit sleepy/cranky for a few hours.  PJ's make everything better.

After watching some Curious George on TV, Riley was ready to play "peoples."  (Remember the Little People? Riley LOVES them!)

After getting dressed, and ready to head out and play, someone was STILL in a trace over "George."  

I attempted to take a few pictures of the two of us, but I should have probably turned George off first.

"Oh Uncle Paige! What kind of face is that?!" (Yes, she calls me Uncle Paige sometimes.)

After "rest time" (aka, watching Cars in the "big bed" and doze off every few minutes) we played outside, looking for 4 leaf clovers...

She handed me one and called it "a flower."

Sigh.  The ballerina in me wanted to shout: "Riley! Don't you know that sitting position is terrible for your turnout?!"  The aunt in me snapped a picture at how adorable that face is.

We had lots of fun throwing the ball.

It was fun to kick the ball too! Even when we missed:

After lots of time outside, we went inside to color a picture for Mommy and Daddy that said "Get Well Soon!"

She worked very hard on it, and put lots of stickers on it just for Mommy and Daddy.

After Riley finished coloring, we took a trip to Granny and Pappy's (my parents) and spent a few hours over there.  Riley LOVES her Granny and Pappy, and loved snuggling up to them.  After she "taked a bath" and ate her "mac and cheese" it was time for Riley to go home.  Adam was feeling much better, but Ashley is still feeling pretty rough.  Hopefully another great night's sleep Ashley will be feeling much better too.  

I love my time with sweet Riley, and although I'm sad Ashley and Adam felt so awful today, I'm thrilled that I got to spend an entire day with the most beautiful 2 year old I've ever seen. :)

I Love a Typical Evening

My life isn't crazy exciting.  I get up, go to a job that I adore and feel rewarded for everyday, come home, make dinner, snuggle up on the couch with my husband, head to bed.

I LOVE it.

I love my simple life.  I love my family.  One thing I really love is a typical evening at home with my husband and sweet pup (well, PUPS this week-we are pet sitting for my parents dog too) doing  absolutely nothing but spend time together.  We work well together with our productivity, which even makes doing laundry enjoyable.

One of my favorite things of all time are the evenings that my husband decides to come into the kitchen while I'm making dinner and decides to dance with me.  We don't require music, or even any reason.  We just do.  Some of my most favorite memories of our first year of marriage are the two of us slow dancing in the kitchen for no reason at all.  :)  It always makes me smile, and tonight was no exception.  

I adore my sweet husband.

Wishful Wednesday

'I wish' .... I could win the lottery REAL soon, and I would hope to ________.

**The real question is would you

1.) quit your job/career
2.) continue working

I definitely would continue working for a little while. I adore my job, and my kiddos really count on me. My clients have been through so many therapists and behavioral specialists that they cannot seem to build a relationship with anyone. They just expect everyone to walk out on them. I just couldn't walk away from them so soon after entering their lives.

However, if I won the lottery, I would definitely stop working once Jason and I started a family. I REALLY want to be a stay at home mom, and would definitely seize that opportunity! :)

Head over to Kelsey's Blog to participate!

The Price of Beauty

Ok guys. Make me feel better. Am I the only one that watched Jessica Simpson's new show The Price of Beauty?

I used to be a HUGE Jessica Simpson fan during her "Newlywed" days with Nick Lachey. I was so disappointed when they divorced I haven't paid any attention to anything she or Nick have been involved in since. I just happened to be flipping through tonight after 20/20's Inside the Bachelor and saw that the series premiere was on.

Seriously. I LOVE this show. This show had laughing until I cried when she and her friends ate the "fried worms" that the Thai people believe to be good for their skin. Their gagging, over dramatic facial expressions had me nearly falling off my couch.

This show also really tugged at my heartstrings a bit too. It showed a Thai woman that went too far for beauty in her country, and resulted with a horrific skin condition. It was definitely sad to see the reality of the emphasis that all cultures put on external beauty, and the things many women will go through to achieve that.

I can't wait until next week's episode! Tell me, did any of you watch?