Aleah-3 Years

Can you say personality?  This girl has got some!  She is so spunky and fun!  I adore her.  We could all stand to be a little more like her.  I love her feistiness and her excitement for life.  She is beautiful and sweet and fun and easy.  She has a weakness for candy like her big brother.  She is independent and not afraid to stand up for herself.  She can hang with the big kids.  She is not intimidated, even by big kids outside of our family.  She is carefree and fun loving.  She is a spit fire.  She makes us laugh constantly.  She has an adorable giggle.  She takes eating very seriously which kills me because she's so tiny.  She is going to be an amazing woman one day.  She is an amazing 3-year-old.  Love her to pieces!

Big girl bed!!!

These were the items that I found in the subwoofer, her secret hiding spot:

Aleah Downing with Aleah Carder on graduation night:

Humistons-Bloomington

We met the Humistons in Bloomington for a day of fun!  Paul graciously gave us a tour of his fire station!  Then we went to Chuck E Cheese and to the mall for ice cream.  I know our playdates are getting more limited as the Humistons get closer and closer to moving to Dallas, TX!

Trey & Molly's Wedding

We had a nice getaway to southern Illinois for my cousin Molly's wedding.  I was a little worried when I got the invite because it was adults only.  I didn't mind leaving my older 3, but I was definitely worried about leaving Lucas, as he was still nursing, especially before bed.  I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I didn't want to miss the wedding.  My friend Sandy GRACIOUSLY agreed to keep my 4 kids, including my baby who had never taken a bottle.  Yikes.  She's brave!  And kind!  I'm SO GLAD we got to go though.  I would have HATED to miss it!  

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding in the woods.

The reception was a lot of fun:

I love my Uncle Art:

It was also a great excuse to getaway overnight with Josh.  It was our first date of any kind in over a year.  We had a great time!  It's always so weird to be with him without kids but also GREAT!  I love this man!

Of course we had to track down some Ski while we were in Southern Illinois:

The kids did great at Sandy's.  Lucas slept in their bedroom and did great too.  What a great weekend!

Lucas' Cubs B-day

Lucas' first birthday theme was such an easy choice this year, right after the Cubs won the world series for the first time since 1908!  We had a lot of fun with it.  We had Chicago style hotdogs and nachos with cheese.  Yum!

Grandma Jody and Papa Bob got Lucas a toybox:

Lucas wore his daddy's old Nikes on his first birthday:

I made him eggs for breakfast, and then we went to Champaign for the day and to Cross Training in the afternoon.  It was a full day!

We got some special cupcakes while in Champaign for our family dinner that night:

Lucas ate the ENTIRE thing face first!  He had this figured out better than any baby I've seen!

I made him this cute little smash cake for his family party:

With lots of tips from my friend Kristina, I also made these cookies which tasted better than they looked!

We had blue sno cones:

Lots of cousins:

Aunt Erika made him this adorable shirt:

Grandpa and Grandma Reeves sent a card and money in the mail!

It was a really fun party.  I think everyone had a good time.
And we had so much fun celebrating our boy!  The first year went so fast!