Madison's first tent camping trip!

Alan took Madison on her very first weekend tent camping trip to Montreat, NC! Madison has been to Montreat twice and it's the ideal spot for a first camping trip! He picked her up from school on Friday and they headed up. After a lunch stop in Hendersonville at Sonic, they made their way!

They got set up and headed to the playground and creeks

After playing for a few hours, they headed back and started a fire!

Here's the short video of their weekend.

If you can't view it in email, click HERE

Alan's birthday adventures

After that, we headed toward the mountains. He wasn't real sure for a while what he wanted to do. We ended up going to Santa's Land in Cherokee, NC. It's a small amusement park and zoo for kids aged 2-5 basically.

Paddle boats

After we spent most of the day there, we went by the man made creek downtown and let the girls play for a while. I didn't get any pictures there. The girls were asleep within 10 minutes of being in the car :)

Happy Birthday, Alan!

Today, Alan turns a year older! Everyone he is surrounded by is so very blessed. He is caring, loving, supportive and will give the shirt off his back. He is my rock, best friend and I am so very blessed to have him by my side through life and just as blessed to have his as Madison and Riley's Daddy. He's the best father they could ever imagine and seeing him and the way he is with our girls makes me love him more and more. We love you as big as the sky, babe. You're the best! Happiest of Birthdays!

I surprised him Sunday night with a surprise dinner at a local Japanese restaurant with 26 of our friends and family. He was suspicious but it was very nice and we appreciate everyone that came out! Here are some pictures!

 They let him cook!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Daddy in the world. Alan goes above and beyond for me and our girls. He comes home tired but helps me so much with playing with them, taking Madison to the park once or twice a week, and lots of other things!  Anyone that knows him knows how hands on and involved he is with them.  He's the perfect Daddy for these girls and we love him so much!

We've had a crazy past few days(and next few days) but were able to squeeze in a quick trip to the mountains this morning. We left around 10, stopped by a Mexican restaurant for lunch and then took Madison to a playground to play. We then went to Mast General Store for a few minutes before heading to QT for a Fathers' Day slushie and coming home. I ran out of the house without my camera and didn't get any with my phone either.. :( We hope he had a good day!

Happy Father's Day to our step-dads, my father in law and all the other dads out there! Love you all!

Soul Mates

Let me preface this with this.. Alan is probably going to hate that I spilled my guts on here about him. I'm not a guts spiller. I'm not very emotional nor do I openly show I am a caring person. It's just been one of those weeks and I felt led to write this. He deserves lots of public praise and I never do it on here. 

Love you babe :)

When I say I've had a rough couple of weeks, I mean rough. I have been an emotional, temper filled, exhausted, pregnant girl. Add potty training in the mix this week and my sciatic nerve hurting like crazy and that just piles on the emotions. I think I cried for an hour yesterday and I've cried quite a few times over the past couple of weeks from the pain from my leg/hip from it. I'm not much of a crier, people. Riley must be an emotional girl because I've been one walking hormone with her! Alan has, not surprisingly, handled it with great ease. I'm not easy to deal with at times but he knows what I need to hear, when I need to hear it. If it's silence, that's what I get. 

I was watching this video the other day about moms beating their self up and not thinking they are good enough. Then they bring in their kids and video them of their thoughts on their mom and the moms watched it. All of the kids talked about how awesome their moms were and none had a negative thing to say. It really was touching. I seriously was only watching it because I had seen it on Facebook about 8 times from different people. I had no idea what it was even about until I started watching it. Somehow Alan knew what I was thinking. "Why are you watching that?" he asked.. bring on the tears. We had a long talk about parenting and Madison and it was just what I needed. Sometimes you have no idea you need to cry until someone says just the right thing.

Here's said video.

Alan had no idea I had a meltdown yesterday. I feel like I had finally hit a wall. With everything going on with the potty, pain, pregnancy and going stir crazy, I just had had enough, but he had no idea. He gets home and I'm cooking supper. He and Madison play around while I'm cooking. After a bit, I go into the bedroom and find a card on my nightstand. It was just what I needed. I go cry in the bathroom a few minutes and come walking through, composed, until I go to tell him Thank You. "Not the reaction I was hoping for" he said... "No, it was perfect timing.." I said. 

Take time for your spouse or partner. Buy him or her that card unexpectedly. Take them by a coffee, slushie or a hamburger by surprise. Take a day/half day off to have a breakfast date or go get a cupcake while your daughter is at school. Run them a hot bath when you know they need to rest or bring home takeout if you know they are too tired to cook(just make sure supper isn't in the process of being made) Take those moments for you two when you get the chance. You never know what it may mean for the other person. You may have no idea what a random card will mean to them or what kind of day they secretly had.

I know how blessed I am to have a fantastic husband and father to the girls. We have the perfect marriage and I feel we were made just for each other. I rarely tell him, though. I need to work on that..

Fathers Day Recap

 We got up at our normal time and went to breakfast at Waffle House. Alan said he'd like to go to Mt. Mitchell, so that's where we went! We went up to the tower and then hiked a short trail that made a loop. It was about 20 degrees cooler up there, but was actually kind of nice.

 

 I think Madison enjoyed riding in the backpack but I'm afraid it will be her last year in it. She will have to hike next year!

After we left, we came back through Hendersonville and ate outside at an Irish Pub. We had a really good day doing all the things we love. We hope Alan had a great day because he deserves it! He's an amazing Daddy and Husband and we love him so much!