Please pardon the hiatus... I had a baby!

So after about 3 months, I finally have a minute to blog. Here's a quick update on our little family in pictures:

23 March: Daniel graduates from UCT as distinguished graduate and earns the Outstanding Contributor and Sadler awards. This "trifecta" of honors had never been achieved before and he did it!

25 March: Daniel Jr. joins our little family after 28.5 hours of labor and a successful VBAC! The doctor and nurses were wonderful at the hospital on base. It was such a different experience compared to the C-section I had with Anna. The recovery was so much quicker and I'm already back to my pre-pregnancy weight!

28 March: Mom and Dad come to visit! We had a great time showing them around and it was so nice having help with our 2 beautiful babies. Anna loved going to the park behind our house with her Pap Pap in her pajamas first thing in the morning! We took them to Tatonuts donut shop and introduced them to our friends.

8 April: Happy Easter! We celebrated Easter at our house with some of our Air Force family- the Powells and the Ten Hakens. It was so nice even though I was exhausted at the end of it... it may have been a little much to host something like that just 2 weeks after having a baby, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. Daniel was a huge help in getting everything ready and we had some delicious food with some help from our friends! Thanks to Meghan & Jason we had enough chairs for everyone and Bri let us use their oven so everything would be ready at the same time!

Our colorful Easter eggs!

22 April: Anna's 2nd birthday party- it's Minnie's Bowtique! 

We had a great time celebrating with our friends and Anna loved her cupcakes (pictured below)

These cupcakes were delicious and pretty easy to make- I used a chocolate cake mix & canned frosting that I dyed with food coloring. I added white chocolate chips to make polka dots, mini fudge stripe cookies for the ears and a small amount of fondant to make the bows.

Digging in after she blew out the candle!

29 April: Welcome to the Catholic Church, Daniel! We had Daniel Jr. baptized at Our Lady of Fatima at the 8:30am Mass (which we normally attend). Godparents, Kelly Mackey and Chris Wrinn traveled great distances to bear witness and take on their responsibilities as godmother and godfather. Kelly flew in from Seattle, WA and Chris drove (with his wife and 2 little boys) from Ft Worth, TX! 

Nana flew in for the occasion, too! She got to meet Daniel and spend some time with us after not being together since Thanksgiving! It was so nice and Anna loved getting her own Nana time.

15 May: Two weeks into Daniel's TDY in Florida, I take a trip to Pittsburgh with the kids. It's Daniel Jr's first plane ride! I was called "brave" so many times, I lost count, but it actually wasn't that bad!

Anna loved having her own seat and was very well behaved on both flights to Pittsburgh (Gulfport to Houston, Houston to Pittsburgh). She loved looking out the window!

Aunt Gracie with Anna and Daniel. This is the first time my siblings got to see our newest family member!

19 May: Cousin Billy and his beautiful bride, Alex, tie the knot in Philadelphia! It was quite a road trip, but we managed it! It was a great celebration and so nice to see our family!

Daniel hanging out with Uncle Bobby.

23 May: Saying goodbye to Aunt Katie and heading home to Mississippi.

24-28 May: We took a mini-vacay to Florida to spend some time with Daniel. He had to work for the majority of our stay, but we spent every night together and got him all to ourselves Sunday and Monday. We went swimming in the Gulf and Anna loved it. Daniel Jr spent most of the time asleep in the carrier!

Me and my sweetie. We all missed him while we were in Pittsburgh!

11-15 June: Sharon visits! She is one of my best friends & Anna's godmother. We hadn't seen each other since we visited her in August 2010! We went to the Biloxi lighthouse (pictured here), Tatonuts, Lovelace Drugstore, the beach & Beauvoir. It was a great trip & she was a huge help since Daniel was still TDY.

My babies & I at the beach.

That brings us up to date! Daniel has training this week & next and then he's home for good! Once he gets home, we'll be packing up for our next move. Expect posts about potential houses soon!

A Quarter of a Century... 25 Things I've Learned in the Last 25 Years

So it's a little weird to be turning 25. I remember telling people that my cousin was 25 and it seemed like that was a very 'adult' age to be, like 25 year olds have it all figured out with their lives together... well, that's a huge lie because I know plenty of people who are 25 or older who haven't got a clue, but when you're 18 (or whatever age I was at the time), 25 seems very far away and very grown up. I certainly don't have all the answers and some days I feel like I've got a clue, but I think I'm doing pretty well...

Here are a few things I've learned:

1. God exists, He loves me, and has a plan for my life.
2. My family is a bit crazy and far from perfect, but the love we have for one another is undeniable, unconditional and unending.
3. There is such a thing as a 'lifetime hotdog quota' and I reached mine around age 6.
4. When you have trouble coming up with reasons for dating someone, you shouldn't be dating them.
5. Good friends will tell you the truth, even if you don't want to hear it. And you'll love them more for doing so, just maybe not right after they tell it to you.
6. Tea makes just about any situation better, especially when shared with friends.
7. Getting right back on the horse after falling off is the best thing to do. (And yes, I mean a real horse that spooked and ran as I tumbled, head over boots off the back of it.)
8. NEVER chug wine, even when your friend tells you it's a great way to celebrate.
9. Knitting is a productive way to keep your hands occupied while trying to lose weight.
10. Mary Kay Skin Care and Color Cosmetics are high quality products that work. They keep my crazy pregnancy skin under control. Thank you, Mom, for sharing these amazing products with me!
11. When everything seems to fall apart, it's God's way of telling you He's building something better for your life.
12. Being a mommy is the most amazing job I could ever have.
13. Southern drivers are crazy. I'd take traffic up north over Southern crazy any day.
14. I am a huge procrastinator.
15. The Air Force 'waiting game' gets a little easier each time you play it, but it's still annoying.
16. I actually enjoy cooking!
17. Baking is something I find very fulfilling and extremely delicious... most of the time!
18. Don't write off the quiet guys, sometimes they turn out to be the most interesting and there is so much to learn about them, you decide that you need a lifetime together to figure just one of them out!
19. No matter the distance or time between phone calls, good friends are always there when you need them- to celebrate, to commiserate, to vent, to cry and to laugh with you.
20. You are the only one who can decide to make the best of the situation and be happy or wallow in self pity and be miserable.
21. Having a tea party with your daughter and her favorite stuffed animals is better than any fancy corporate luncheon with a CEO.
22. The more you know about something, the more annoying it is when people misrepresent it or decide their 'truth' about it is all that is important rather than finding out the facts- specifically for me, this applies to the military, the Catholic church, Mary Kay, and politicians.
23. The Facebook feature of "Hide this story" is wonderful.
24. Every woman can pull off a red lip as long as it's done correctly.
25. Dancing is a great way to beat the blues.