Happy 2nd Birthday, Blakesley Ann!

My baby is 2.  Happy Birthday, Blakesley Ann!  Your smile and sweet voice can light up a room and you've already spread so much joy in your 2 years of life.  You will always be my angel, my light in the dark, as you got me through the worst time in my life just five months after you were born.  We have such a special bond and my love for you grows each and every day.  I wish you the happiest day!  

XOXO, Mama

Blakesley's Birthday Movie

We hosted a 2nd birthday party at our house with family.  It was a "Frozen" theme, as Blakesley is obsessed with all things Frozen!  She wakes up and goes to bed singing Frozen songs, and she cries for the movie all day long.  She loves Anna and Elsa, so I was happy to add some Frozen touches to her birthday celebration!

July Vacations

 Sonoma and Cora took a week vacation with Grandma and T down to their cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia.  It is the same place we vacationed for Spring Break this year!  Except this time, the girls were going back with their Grandparents, and their cousins in Atlanta, Adair and Flynn, came to the cabin too!  It was a special cousins trip and I am glad they got to make these Summer memories together!

Cora (5), Sonoma (8), Adair (6) and Flynn (4)

We missed the girls sooo much while they were gone ( especially little B! ) and Daddy surprised them with flowers when he picked them up!

To help get my mind off of missing Sonoma and Cora, and to do something special with Blakesley, Marcus and I decided to take a long weekend trip with her!

We drove up to South Haven, Michigan and it was absolutely beautiful!  We stayed at The Old Harbor Inn, which my Aunt and Uncle recommended, right on the harbor so we could watch the boats ( and ducks! ).  We could also walk everywhere downtown.  It was super charming and such a darling little beach town.

When we arrived the weather was picture perfect. Unfortunately, that didn't last long.  It started raining Friday afternoon and continued throughout the weekend.  

Anheuser-Busch has a cider, Virtue, and their orchard is up in Michigan near South Haven in Fennville.  Marcus set up a tasting and a tour.  It is super kid friendly, with tons of games and lots of space to run around and play!  We love their new rose and have been drinking that this Summer.  I was excited to try it there!

We stayed through the second red door on the right!

After breakfast on Saturday we went to the Farmers Market and then stopped at the library and had a blast letting Blakesley play.  They even had a sing-along with a childrens' author that was really cute.  We made the best of the rain.

Oh Blakesley!

One of the winery's tasting rooms had a "Kids Corner" set up in the back.  Blakesley colored while we sampled some wine!

Blakesley loved watching boats and ducks!

We sure enjoyed spending quality one-on-one time with Blakesley.  We have never had the opportunity!  We can't wait to bring the whole family back to South Haven some time!

July Randoms!

Here are the rest of my random July photos.  Posts coming up about our two trips in July!

Work picnic that we went to with Daddy

My dear friend, Todd, came to stay with us for a weekend all the way from California!  It was a treat having him as a house guest and the girls all loved hanging out with him!

We hosted dinner and then some of Todd's friends on Friday night and then we went out with the Ertels to dinner on Saturday night, and met up with more people later in the evening.  It was a weekend full of laughs and good memories.  Todd, Marc and I all worked together at Tourdesign 13 years ago, and have had amazing friendships over the years.  

I'll be honest -working during the Summer is HARD.  But, it is always nice when the kids play together outside and I can sit out back and try to sneak some work in :)

She always cracks me up!  Lately she has been undressing herself and has even taken off her diaper a few times when she wakes up.

We were so sad to say goodbye to Soso and Coco as they left for a week trip down to Georgia!  

I thought the monitor looked funny!