Nathan's Birthday Part II

For the second half of Nathan's Bday weekend Celebration we went to his parent's house..... We ate, ate and ate more, played games and then ate some more :)

His mom made his favorite Red Velvet Cake...

She also made Shrimp Gumbo.... It was Delish!

Nathan's 31st Bday Weekend Part I

Nathan got to come home this weekend to celebrate his 31st Birthday with us! He had quite the eventful weekend! We celebrated everyday that he was home! First we started off by making him a Huge dinner per his request along with a cake at our house. That was Friday night....

He requested Cottage Pie, Corn, & Green beans.....

Then Briley made him a cake....

Kayelyn thought the cake was delicious....

Stay tuned for Part II of NB's 31st Bday weekend events.....

Happy 31st Birthday Nathan

Nathan you are turning 31 this weekend! I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by. It was 20 Years ago that we met on the playground at Montevideo Elementary School in Mission Viejo, CA. People say they don't believe in Love at First Sight. I knew from the moment I befriended you that I was going to marry you. I told my mom that and she laughed at me like I was crazy. After all, what could an 11 year old know about love... :)

A dear friend of mine, Lerin had a great idea on her husband's Birthday. She posted a list of things she loved about him that went in accordance with how old he was.... I hope you don't mind friend, I am stealing your idea for Nathan :)

1. I love how when I tell you "sweet dreams" you always say "Only if they are about you"


2. I love how you have always signed cards and notes to me "Now & Forever..."


3. I love how you can make me laugh no matter where I am or what I am doing.


4. I love how you play video games like you are 10 years old all over again


5. I love how Sponge Bob Square Pants Makes you giggle like your 4 years old


6. I love watching you play with our girls.... They are truly wrapped around your finger.


7. I love watching you work. You work harder than anyone I know.


8. I love how you selflessly take time away from us to give me a better life


9. I love how you have no problems watching a Chick-Flick with me and always act like you care about the cheesy plot.


10. I love how you are meticulously OCD about the Organization of the refrigerator.


11. I love how you clean the kitchen till it sparkles because you can't stand having dishes in the sink.


12. I love when I say "I Love You" and you ALWAYS SAY " I love you More"


13. I love that you have a true gift with people and know no strangers


14. I love how you go out of your way to make sure I always have an extra special gift


15. I love how you jump through hoops of fire to surprise me. I know thats often difficult to pull off.


16. I love that you are a true, good person that people come to when they need help or a listening ear.
17. I love that you lead our family in prayer.
18. I love that your are crafty and good with tools and how it took you a total of 7 hours to design build and complete our kitchen island.
19. I love to see the sparkle in your eyes and the hear the excitement in your voice when you have something incredible to share with me.
20. I love how you have memorized how I make the bed and strategically place all 15 pillows in their assigned spot.
21. I love how you clean the house for me when I am working and you are off and I come home to a perfect house!
22. I love when you cook breakfast. No one can cook breakfast like you.
23. I love how you have made at least 5 nicknames for everyone in our family including the dogs.
24. I love that we can talk for endless hours on the phone and always have something to say.
25. I love that you are are my rock. Through the most difficult times in our lives you have been the strength that holds me up, the glue that binds us and my reason for carrying on. When Kayelyn was sick, you managed to live at Two hospitals for both of us, and be my calm in the storm. I still have no idea how you held your cool when at one point you feared losing both of us. You are the reason I kept my sanity during the roughest spot in our lives.
26. I love that we have 20 years of history together. I cannot even begin to imagine where I would be without you.
27. I love that fact that you used to work for a Winery and you are a true Wino. :)
28. I love your generosity and how you are willing to give up anything and anytime to help me, the girls or anyone for that matter.
29. I love your ambition and how you are always trying to find a new niche and learn something new
30. I love the way you always manage to understand, even when I do something totally stupid, you never get mad or make me feel bad. You always fix the problem and make me feel better about it.
31. I love how you encourage me and everyone else to chase our dreams and pursue our passions. Without you I would not be where I am today.

I love you with all my heart and soul. You are my everything and I still cannot believe you chose me. Your kind, smart, hardworking and handsome. Thank you for giving me 20 years. Thank you for dedicating your heart to me for 8 of those, for being engaged to me for 5 of those and married for almost 7. I cannot wait for everyday of the rest of our lives. Happy Birthday Love.

10 Reasons Why I am feeling like the Luckiest Girl in the World....

The seasons are changing early here in Texas and with that brings a time to reflect as I bring out the fall wreath and pumpkin spice candles...

I was thinking today, how blessed I am and stopped myself in my tracks and realized I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Let me tell you why.....

I have two GORGEOUS perfect girls that blow me away everyday with their wit, humor and love. I love watching them grow everyday.

I have an amazing husband that sacrifices time away from his family to give me the ability to stay home with my children part time. He is Kind and loving and selfless. I cannot believe he chose me.

I have by far the best career in the world. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. As I stood by during a father daughter dance at a wedding I was shooting this past weekend I realized all over again that I am so blessed to be doing what I love and loving what I do....I am not sure why it took me so long to pursue my passion. God had to give me a good push to get there, but nonetheless, I am there and so happy.

I have the perfect balance of Career and Family.

I have an amazing family that is there for me anytime, anyplace. I love you MOM.

I am an Aunt to two gorgeous girls and my precious sister is having another baby in May and I cannot wait!!!

I have a group of friends that is irreplaceable. You know who you are. .... You are my Sanity and I love you :)

I have perfect little house in a perfect little place and I love my living space. I love how each wall is painted because we painted it and how my husband has spent hours hanging curtains and planting bushes and trees.

I have two wonderful smart dogs that adore me and protect us and greet me everyday with the wagging tail and cuddle up with me at night...

Everyone I know and care about is healthy and happy. I continue to pray everyday that God watches over us and keeps us Safe and Healthy....

I am so so blessed and so so lucky. I Hope you are too. :)

First Picture....

Here is the first PORTRAIT of my "Niece-Phew" Isn't he/she cute?? :)

Aunt Issy is going to Be an Auntie Again!

I am going to be an Aunt in May!!! I am so excited! Becky is having her First Baby!!! I seriously am beside myself with joy and worry and the urge to spoil!! Now I know how she felt when I had my kids!!!

Becky, Brandon, we are overjoyed and CANNOT wait to meet the newest addition to our crazy family. Bear and KK are going to have so much fun with their cousin!!

Day 2 of SCHOOL!

Day 2 of school went a lot better than day one....

Probably because the girls were used to the idea of school and they got to go together this time- which they both think is the coolest ever.

For those of your who don't know, I don't work at the hospital on Tuesday and Thursday anymore. I am lucky enough to be up at the girls' preschool with them during the day! I love it because I get to see Briley a lot more!!! I think it helps her too!!!

So now I take both girls to school..... Haylee gets to eat at Aunt Issy's house and then we go to school!!

Briley and Haylee Playing before Class...
Awww Cousins at School together!

Big Girl Haylee had a great 2nd day at school!

They both enjoyed riding in "aunt issy's" car. We sang The Wiggles songs all the way to school and they laughed the whole way!

In Memory of Lisa....

Even though it's been 8 years.... I haven't blogged about this yet. Mainly because 8 years isn't enough time to heal a raw wound. My expressions of grief and remembrance have been private. Mostly posting on Boston University's Remembrance website and through prayer. But today I decided I could post this and feel OK about it....

2,996 people were killed on American soil that day. I remember where I was and what I was doing like it was 10 minutes ago. I lived on the 1oth floor of University Tower in College Station, TX. I was headed to my Print Journalism Class. I had JUST gotten out of the shower and was standing in my dorm room with a towel on my head. I turned on the news as I do every morning and suddenly my entire world changed. BREAKING NEWS..... A Single Plane had hit the World Trade Center Tower. I stood there, losing all concept of time, not caring if I was late for class. I picked up the phone and called my Nathan and told him to turn on the news. Then I called my mom and dad. My dad answered and I told him a Plane hit the World Trade Center. He too, was shocked...At that time they thought it was a single engine plane and it was a horrible accident. News crews stood below showing us the damage..... Then you hear screaming and the cameras zoom in on another plane. One headed directly for the second tower. I watched in horror as the second plane smashes into the second tower on live TV.

This was no accident. We were under attack.

I couldn't breath, I couldn't move......

It took everyone ounce of will in my body to get ready for class. I couldn't miss. I was perfect student. That wasn't an option.....

Instead of the riding my bike that day, I took the bus. I felt sick and I wanted to listen to the news on the bus. Everyone was somber on the bus and we all listened. 4 stops later I got out at the Reed-McDonald building and stormed downstairs to the Basement. This is where the Battalion office is.... Texas A&M's Newspaper. What better place to get the news?? I huddled around the TV's with everyone else who worked there.... Suddenly we witnessed the tower FALL on live TV. I thought I was going to throw up. I couldn't watch anymore. It didn't feel real. It felt like I was watching a perfect Hollywood action/horror movie. Every detail of the movie was perfect. It couldn't be. There is NO way.

I left, I went to class, but class was cancelled. I decided to walk home. I needed to clear my head. No one was out. Those that were kept their heads down. No eye contact.

I had to work that afternoon in the leasing office at the Tower. I couldn't just sit still in my room doing nothing. I went to work early. When I got there everyone had the TV on they were watching the coverage. I sat with them.

Within an hour the real Human element to this catastrophe started to scroll on the bottom of the screen. Names of people identified to be dead on the planes. This much was clear. They had boarded the plane, the planes hit the towers and there was no way anyone on the planes could survive the impact and the heat. Identifying those in the buildings would take a lot longer.

I watched as the names scrolled in a yellow bar..... Then I saw it:

Lisa Frost, 22. Rancho Santa Margarita, CA United Flight 175.

My heart literally stopped. I knew a Lisa Frost from Rancho Santa Margarita. She was 22. I was 22. Could it be my friend?

The Answer is Yes, It was.

Lisa Frost was 22 years old, and a recent graduate of Boston University. She earned degrees in communications and business hospitality, and was a valedictorian (summa cum laude) at graduation.

While at BU, Lisa was dedicated to helping others. She worked as a student advisor and also a peer counselor. She also studied abroad in Sydney, Australia. She was intelligent, fun and always did the right thing. She was the type that could be partying on Saturday night only to ACE her exams on Monday.

Lisa Frost was, without a doubt, a blessing to this world. On September 11, 2001, she boarded United Airlines Flight 175. She was flying home, to visit her parents in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and then was starting a job in San Francisco.
She never saw them. She was murdered by terrorists.

I think about her all the time. I think about the lives she touched and the impact she made. I think about her family. Her dad, Tom who has dedicated his life to keeping her memory alive by speaking on her behalf and encouraging people to be like her....

I struggled for years, knowing I saw that plane hit that second tower on the live news. Knowing I saw her plane moments before she died, as she took her last breath. What happened on that plane? Did she know what was happening? Was she scared? Thinking about it now brings on HUGE waves of anxiety.... So much so I need to bring this post to a close....

Please keep her family in your thoughts today, as we remember all the lives that were lost that day. We will NEVER forget

First Day of School

Briley had her first day of school today!!! She ALWAYS makes me so proud. She LOVES school. She has been asking me every morning for a week if it was time to go and grabbing her back pack. This morning she was THRILLED to go. She always goes easily and waves BYE to me as she heads for the door of her classroom. Today I had to beg her to come give me a HUG!! She is growing TOO fast!!!

This is Briley at the SAME time last year in the SAME place..... look how she has grown!

Here she is standing in front of her desk in her classroom!! She makes me so proud!

A Brilliant MOMMY IDEA....

I was Perusing Marshall's the other day and found this awesome find.... I Decided it was a great idea to get and use for my girls! What could be better when you are a kid?? Awesome Birthday China to eat off on your special day!!! I am so excited and the price was right too! Each piece was only $3.00!

Fun In the Sun.....

We spent Labor Day with our favorite friends, Chris, Sara, Corbin, Claire and Soon to be Baby_______(Fill in the Blank Here). We went to Chris' parents pool and swam all morning and the kids had a BLAST!!! Kayelyn is starting to like water A LOT more than she used to!

My big girl "tubing" :)

I love my Family!

Corby Snorkeling!

KK playing in the shallow end with a ball

The Barrow Fam

Don't they look alike??

Like mother like Daughter....

The boys decided to have a WHO CAN MAKE THE BIGGEST SPLASH CONTEST!

Here goes Nathan....

And Chris is up next.....

WHO DO YOU THINK WON!?!?!

Then they gave it a whirl together!!!

These Legs Were made for Walkin....

I needed to take a minute and post a video from tonight.... It's Official. Kayelyn in 100% mobile and she is good at it too! It's SO cool but so sad! My babies are getting SO big!

Spaghetti Face

Olive had her first self-feeding spaghetti experience this past weekend..... We stripped down to the diaper and bib and dug in.... It was a BIG mess but oh so cute!!!