Everybody LOVES a dinosaur!

Nola wore the same dinosaur costume I wore when I was 18 months old!  My mom made them, the purple one was mine and my sister wore the pink one.  I love that she held on to one so her grandkids could wear it because it's just so cute!  Do you see any similarities?

We had a fun Halloween night.  Nola caught on to trick-or-treating pretty quickly and would yell "more house" after she got candy.  It was so neat to watch her figure out Halloween.  Sometimes I wonder why we get to be the people to exprience all of these "firsts" with her, especially because there are so many people who would love to be apart of them.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

10 years

It's been 10 years since I've graduated high school.  It's hard to believe, manly because I'm still in high school, but it's true.  And we had an amazing reunion to celebrate!

After our sophomore year our town opened a new high school so half of us went to the new school- GO JAGUARS! Our reunion was for both schools, which was fun because we got to see everyone!  A friend that I hadn't seen in 6 years flew in from Chicago and spent the weekend with us. The reunion started with a casual get-together at a bar.  It was a little overwhelming to walk into a room of people you haven't seen in 10 years.  At first we were worried that we wouldn't remember anyone, but then there was a moment when we wondered if anyone would remember us!  It turns out we were worried for no reason.

AHS/ACHS friends!

Sara entertained us all night!

And then this happened:

Seriously, if you are ever in Wichita you have to check out Club Rodeo.  It's a country dance bar.  And a hip-hop dance bar.  And has LIVE BULL RIDING.  Every hour, on the hour.  It's crazy.  And fun!

Our formal reunion was the next night and was held at Exploration Place, which is where we got married!  It was so fun to be back there!  There was drinks, dinner, a few games, dancing and lots of catching up with old friends.  

Sara and I accidentally matched.  It's a twin thing.

The "0" didn't last all night.  We may have had something to do with that.

I wish I would have taken more pictures with all of the wonderful people I got to see again.  It really was a great weekend, and so full of love.  There is something so special about seeing people you've known for years after a long absence.  It's the same feeling I had after my fun weekend in Colorado this summer.  It's so comfortable and easy.  And FUN!  Seriously, my checks still hurt from laughing!

Party #2 and 3

We celebrated Nola's real birthday with dinner and a cake.  Nothing too crazy.  I bought some balloons because she has been really into them lately.  I blew a couple up for her and they entertained her for most of the night.

After dinner she opened presents.  She is really getting the hang of opening packages.  It's fun to watch her tear into them.  We got her a stuffed cat that meows.  She liked it but I think she likes Elmo better.  We also got her some Elmo pajamas that might have been too big?

And of course there was cake.

Her third and final party was in Lincoln with her Grandparents, aunts and a few friends.  I was so busy chatting with friends that I didn't get any pictures.  Oops!  She had a great time and got a lot of fun stuff.  She especially loved a baby doll and stroller that a boy from daycare gave her.  After her party she had her first two-year-old melt down because I was carrying the stroller and she wanted to hold it.

Hello terrible twos!  

She's actually pretty terrific

:)

Happy Birthday Nola Jane.  We love you!!

Party #1

Nola is Two!!

             Two days old with Boca                                                One year old                                            Two years old

I can't believe my baby is 2!  Like a true diva, she had 3 parties.  One was the weekend before her birthday in Andover.  My whole family was in town to celebrate!  We had a Minnie Mouse party at my parents house and my mom went all out for it!  There was a lot of cute decorations and even some Minnie Mouse cupcakes.  Nola had a blast (and only a couple of melt downs.)

Everyone was in the mood to party!

Babies and Elmo and clothes, oh my!

She REALLY loved Elmo.  He talks and hugs and is generally pretty creepy.

She also got a microphone and likes to sing into it.  She's not just a singer, she's a performer!! 

And of course there was cake!

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, playing an inappropriate card game, attending a beautiful wedding and getting our family pictures done. It was another great weekend in Kansas!