The AMAZING and TALENTED Carmen Doherty!

I am so blessed to know and work with this amazing woman, Carmen Doherty. Not only is she a genius at her job (we work at the same company), but she is a GENIUS behind the camera. This lady has such an amazing drive for family, work, and her personal hobbies...she can do it all. She has launched her amazing photography business and is just brilliant. (How many positive adjectives can I really use in this post?) Oh yeah, and she is BY FAR the most positive, uplifting, and generous person that I know. Okay, now that this post is dripping with sappiness...please view the video below. I thank God everyday for her mentorship, friendship and kindness. Love you, Carmen!

Captured in this video, is an amazing photo session with my family, where we commemorated Caitlin's 2nd birthday with a tea party and Jake's 1st birthday with a homemade chocolate baseball cake!

Daddy's Little Girl

I'll let you in on a little secret...I am a Daddy's Girl...and I am more than okay with it. I am almost 31 years old, and I am still Daddy's girl. When I found out I was pregnant with baby #1, I prayed for a girl. Why? Because I wanted my girl to have a close relationship with her Dad, as I did and STILL DO, with mine. Well, God granted my prayer, and blessed us with our first daughter. The relationship with Caitlin and her Daddy is more than I could have ever hoped for. When Roger walks into the room, everyone else disappears. No one can ever take the place of her Daddy. I know the feeling, kid.

Four Years Ago...

...I married the most amazing man! He is my love, my live, my best friend. We were married on a beautiful Florida Spring day, which happened to also be on my favorite Holiday!

What a journey we have had together so far...
* Lived in 5 different cities and houses
* Added a Fur Kid to our life...little Savannah
* Welcomed in 2 BEAUTIFUL little shamrocks, Caitlin and Jake
* Purchased 2 different cars and a wonderful home to raise our growing family
* Traveled to Denver, Omaha/Lincoln, Savannah, Key West, Charleston, DC...and other fun stops along the way!

I know we will encounter so many amazing more things on this journey...and I am so thankful God brought the two of us together. In the words of one of my favorite 'uncles', 'Marriage is not a sprint...it is a marathon.' So, we are just going to continue to enjoy the journey.

"May the road rise up to meet you...may the sun be on your face...and the wind always be at your back...and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand."

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

...this is what little boys are made of...and PURE MISCHIEF!

Jake has kept us on our toes today. It first started out with a nice breakfast, but Jake managed to down an entire waffle for breakfast...he was trying to fuel up for all the havoc he was going to cause today.

I was working and the kids were calmly sleeping in their beds for their standard morning nap. Then, at about 1045, I could hear them stirring and I went downstairs to pack their diaper bag for Grandpa Sivula to pick them up. As I was packing their milk cups, I hear Jake's baby monitor in the family room start to beep, meaning it has lost signal. So, I find that odd, but thought maybe it is temporary and will come back in.  Then, I hear movement upstairs and panic thinking, 'OH NO! What if someone is in his room?!' (I know, not possible, but my mind plays tricks on me at times). So, I RACE upstairs and tear open his door to find him playing in his crib and he has pulled the baby monitor off of the windowsill and unplugged it from the wall and is playing with the chord. OH MY WORD...I run to him to take it away and almost in tears...he just looks at me and smiled and started to laugh. Thank you little boy, for giving your mom 15 new gray hairs in that moment.

Then, this afternoon, I get a call from my dad...'Erin, Jake had a piece of a plant in his mouth. I took it out, and don't think he injested it, as it was only 5 seconds, but you might want to call your doctor, ASAP.' Lovely. I call my doctor who encourages me to call poison control. I calmly dial poison control, and they assure me he is fine, as there were no teeth marks on the plant and this plant was not poisonous. So crisis number 2 averted.

Lord, give me strength with this crazy little boy...who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

...Just another manic monday...

Our Little Girl is 2! WOW!

Where did the time go? This little girl entered our lives on March 4, 2009 at 8:57PM...and like a speeding bullet, we are now 2 years later, and she is such a delight and blessing in our lives. WOW, has time flown. She is as brilliant as she is beautiful...she makes us laugh daily. She can smile at you and all your troubles melt away. She is talking so much these days. My new favorite is when she yells across the room at Jake, "BROTHER!" and then laughs hysterically. She can perform summersalts across the room, put her own pajama bottoms on, pick out her clothes (sometimes we get a match), put on her shoes, push her plate away at dinner and say, 'full'. Just last night, identified John Elway and Mario Lemiuex in our sports room, which made Mommy and Daddy the happiest. She can pick out the colors red, orange and green; and tell you which is a tree and which is a bush; she can tell you that she is 2 and Jake is 1; she tells everyone bye bye when they leave a room; she can sing to her sesame street cd, 'wubba wubba wubba'; and insists on everyone wearing a hat around her. Her favorite foods are chips and queso and string cheese...this girl loves her cheese...a girl after my own heart. I could go on and on, but my favorite thing about this girl, is that she is our little girl and God has blessed our lives with her!

For her Birthday, we took her to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort at Disney World so that she could have breakfast with the characters. Then we had dinner and cake at our house on her actual birthday, Friday, March 4. It was a lovely celebration to give this little girl her best birthday yet! However, my favorite birthday of Caitlin's was the very day she was born...We love you, Caitlin Doran Haney...you are forever our little girl.



Our First Family Vacation

On February 3, our little family of 4 ventured in our Mini Van out of the State of Florida and Up I-95 toward Virginia. The purpose of the trip was to be at our new little nephew, Christopher's, baptism. However, we decided to turn it into a family vacation on the way...our first vacation where just the four of us spent some time exploring cities in this great United States!

Our first stop...Charleston, SC. We went around the city and also visited the South Carolina Aquarium. Caitlin had a blast looking at the fish and playing in their 'toddler zone'. The first night in the hotel room was a success...although, it took some adjusting to get two very hyper children to fall asleep.

Following Charleston, we found our way to Fredericksburg, VA to Aunt Tracy & Uncle Corey's house. Saturday, we left the kids with Grandma & Grandpap Haney and Aunt Tracy, Uncle Corey & Christopher. Roger and I took a trip into DC (about an hour away from Tracy's). We met up with a college friend of his and his wife. We had a lovely lunch with them, and then we took to the streets, and the two of us explored the brilliance and amazing architecture of our Nation's Captial. I know this sounds cheesy, but I knew it was going to be an emotional tour of the city, when we were driving in, our National Anthem came on our radio...so as we drove over the Potomac, tears filled my eyes, as I heard the words to that brilliant song. Oh, it was amazing. The tears didn't stop there. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I looked down to see the words, Martin Luther King, Jr...I have a dream. WOW...to stand where he stood and look over the mall. No words for this feeling. The Korean War Memorial was also breathtaking...especially knowing that my Grandpa Sivula fought in this war...it brought chills all over. AMAZING. As I could go on and on about our brief, but amazing day in DC, my favorite of all had to be Arlington. What a very sobering experience. To walk those hallowed grounds, and see all the markers of those that fought for our great Country...what an amazing experience. Of course we viewed the Kennedy gravesites and also the Tomb of the Unknown Soliders. This whole experience just makes me realize how grateful I am for our great Military and this remarkable Country that we live in. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Sunday was also a great day, as Baby Christopher was Baptized into the Catholic Church. Roger and I were honored with being named his Godparents. It is one of the greatest questions that I have ever been asked...to be the Godmother of my new little nephew is such a blessing to me. Christopher, my promise to you is to guide you spiritually and be here for you whenever you need me...We love you, little boy!

We will skip over the Super Bowl Game on Sunday night, as you know it wasn't a good turn out for my husband and his family. However, happy for my Dad...as his Packers were victorious that evening. :)

We left Tracy's on Monday and drove to Johnstown to visit Roger's Grandmother. It was a great two days where she spoiled us with amazing meals (Pot Roast and lasagna). The kids had some fun time of love and laughter with G&G Haney and Great Grandma Haney as well. So that was nice to have that.

We left Johnstown on Wednesday and stayed at Tracy & Corey's in VA on Wednesday night and left Thursday morning to embark on our journey home.

Thursday, we stayed in Savannah, GA...one of my favorite places off of I-95. :) We took the kids for a walk down Bay Street and River Street...although it was quite cold for us on that day. We went for a nice dinner at the River Street Seafood house. And the trip would not be complete without a visit to the Savannah Candy Company Store at Market Square to pick up my caramel apple and taffy for us and G&G Sivula.

Following our trip to Savannah, we visited a friend in Jacksonville and then arrived home on Friday, February 12. 9 days of fun and family was the best thing I could have asked for. It was such a great bonding time with the 4 of us...and it makes me love my little family of four, so much more than I thought I ever could.

Thank you for the hospitality to all the family that we visited along the way...and we cannot wait for our next road trip...whenever that might be. Happy trails...photos below. :)

Grandparents Haney, Bowman, Parents & Godparents

Godparents and Parents with Sweet Little Christopher

Lincoln Memorial

WHITE HOUSE!

Breathtaking Korean War Memorial

Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

COUSINS ready for the Super Bowl

Florida Girl ready for SNOW!

Weeee! This is FUN!

G&G Haney

With Mommy and Daddy

Jake LOVES Great Grandma Haney!

Daddy and Jake

Mommy & Caitlin

Family Visit with Aunt Dorothy

On the first Sunday of 2011, we were able to visit with my Grandpa Doran's sister, Dorothy. We went out to my cousin's house in Brandon to visit with her. It was so nice to see her. She is always fun, and talkative, and such fun to be around...90 years YOUNG! :)

Caitlin also got to visit with her cousins 3, 2, and 1 years of age! 4 girls under 4...YIKES! Jake enjoyed the cuddles from Aunt Dorothy!