2013 look back!

Well, here I am, with a free second to get on here and catch up! One of my New Year's Resolutions (who keeps those anymore?) was to stay on top of my daily planner and keep everything in my life organized. So far, so good! Something I've been writing almost twice a week in my planner is to blog about our 2013 year! It's only been 45 days since the first of the year, I'm not too late right?! Wow, last year was really something for us! We had so much happen that's worth recognizing, this is going to be an awfully long post! To start off with, we got engaged!! January 21, 2013. Our engagement story is not too sappy, but perfect for who we are, Kameron is such a simple guy, and that's what I love about him!

How perfect is this ring?! He truly knows how to spoil me! Of course I said yes, and we are now patiently waiting for the big date! The very next day was our sweet Lacey's first birthday! How bittersweet it was to see our little girl growing up sooo fast! We had her birthday party at our house, and everyone in our family and some close friends came. I think there ended up being over 40 people in our small house! She was so spoiled and got tons of stuff, like so much stuff, we literally had to turn our spare bedroom into a playroom because we just simply didn't have enough room for all the toys she had accumulated. She still was not yet walking on her big day, but looking back now, I wish she still wasn't! lol. here's a few shots of her party!

She is quite the ham, is she not?! And look at that grumpy face in there, she looks like she's very tired of having her picture taken, haha. She is definitely her father's child. Just like him, and daddie's little princess. Gosh how we love her! Looking at these pictures, she already looks so different over such a short amount of time, granted, she still has chubby cheeks, but look at them! So freakin' adorable. The weekend after her birthday, we took a trip out to La Push and walked the beach and just got away for a while. Bailey was still such a puppy and we forgot her leash! So we wrapped a tie strap around her neck and called it good. 

It was so beautiful out there, I can't say it was very warm, but still amazingly beautiful. I think we sometimes take for granted how great this place we live in really is. After we hit the beach, we went into Forks and visited Forks Outfitters and daddy treated Lace and I to some new clothes, camo and all. 

We always stayed busy doing things throughout the house, around this time, I had quit my job working at a local bank, I just really wanted to spend all my time with this precious girl, and time truly does slip through your hands in the blink of an eye. She's only a child once, and I intend to be in her life as much as possible! Who needs money these days anyway? :) On March 2nd, 2013, our babygirl decided she was ready to walk! This literally brings tears to my eyes.

Once she decided she liked walking, there was no going back. She was constantly on the move! We couldn't believe we had a baby on the run all the time! We were in for it from there on out. Shortly after she started walking, we took a trip over to Toys R Us in Silverdale and got Lacey her first bike! She still to this day loves this thing.

We as parents totally love this thing too, Right now she is still in "trike and we push mode" but once her feet can reach the pedals, the parent handle comes off and she can race around on her own!Shortly after, it was Easter! This Easter meant a lot to me, it was our 'first' Easter as a family with Lacey. Her first actual Easter, I had spent with Kameron in Harborview Medical Center after his accident and Lacey spent the weekend with my mom. Thankfully, my mom was able to have her for that long, but it pains me to even think about being away from her for that long! So for her second but first 'family' Easter, we went all out. When she woke up that morning, the Easter bunny had visited our house and he was quite generous! 

Not long after that, I had my cosmetic surgery, April 11, 2013. Everything went super well, I just wasn't supposed to hold or lift anything for 4 weeks. I can't say I totally stuck to those restrictions, I had a 15 month old! My parents were so helpful throughout the whole process, they both pretty much lived with me for the first week and watched over Lacey and with each day I just felt better and better. Lacey was so amazing throughout the whole process, she must have sensed Mommy didn't "feel good" because she would just snuggle on the couch with me, watch movies and let me rest as I needed to. What more could I ask for?!

For some odd reason, her father let her have a chocolate sucker, but that's a different story. Our next fun outing was for Mother's Day! We went with two of our great friends, Michael and Chelsie, over to Seattle for the day and went to the Seattle Aquarium and the Woodland Park Zoo. I think this will become a Mother's Day tradition. We had so much fun, Lacey especially, but I couldn't have asked for a better day, I got to spend it with my family and there's nothing greater than that. 

She loved the bears, I think they were her favorite, that's what she's pointing to in the above picture. And of course, on her daddy's arm. Just a few weeks later, it was Memorial Day! We took a vacation with my dad over to Ephrata to visit my Aunt Deana and Uncle Rob. It was nice to just get out of town for a weekend! Lacey did not do well with the car ride, but were still working on that, and she lived. :) 

Isn't that place beautiful! The top picture is of Sun Lakes, which is north of Ephrata, we visited up there for a day and explored the area, quite a different atmosphere than home!We visited the airport and got to see all the show planes take off and land right in front of us, that was quite a show, and Lacey learned how to fish by her Daddy! All in all, it was a great weekend. In the beginning of June, Kameron and a few of his friends got this crazy idea to run down to Oregon 'real quick' and all buy UTV sidexsides. They came home with three brand spankin new Yamaha Rhino's and the fun began. We really have gotten so much use out of this sucker so far.

Lacey of course loves it too, she is such a little daredevil! Takes after her daddy. At the end of June, we visited nearby Port Townsend for a drive-in movie. We watched Fast 6, but I will say it probably was a little too young for Lace. She loved all the preliminary activities, like pop, popcorn, running around and us chasing her, but by the time the movie started, it was way too late for her and we ended up leaving in the middle of the movie. It was fun while it lasted though!

The very next day, we got our kitten! Lacey was just starting to have her obsession with animals and she was so in love. We had to bring my dad to the Seattle airport the very next morning and we didn't want to leave a tiny baby kitten alone with our young hound dog, sooo, we decided to just bring him with us for the ride! He rode in Lacey's carseat next to her leg and she was in heaven lol. 

So sweet! At least he was then, haha, a few weeks later, I and a few of my bridesmaids spent the weekend over in Seattle and visited the town of Snohomish for some wedding dress shopping! I had so much fun trying on different dresses and deciding what would be the perfect fit for our wedding!

I ended up choosing one of the dresses pictured above, but no one will know until the wedding! In the beginning of July, Kameron's job took him out of town for a few months, but he only had to work four days a week so we got to spend our three day weekends together. The time actually seemed to go by farely fast and before I knew it he was back working in town. Lacey and I surprised him down in Humptulips, we drove four hours and he had no idea we were coming! It was quite a drive but so worth it to stay with him! On the way home, we stopped at Kalaloch and got to enjoy the sunshine a bit.

In August, mom got married to a great guy, Ladel, and Lacey starred as flower girl! She did amazing and looked absolutely adorable as always! It was really a beautiful event and I am so happy for her. 

Summer came and went within the blink of an eye it seemed, and then it was the most important time of the year, hunting season of course! This is a really important time in our household, I can pretty much kiss my hubby goodbye, but of course, being the amazing girl I am, I LOVE to spend my time hunting with him! It gives us a chance to just get away from everyday life and really be with each other. It may be one of my favorite 'seasons' of the year.

Quite a few things happened for us in September, one of them being that we got our Engagement pictures taken! Here are a few of my favorite.

I just adore my family! Something else that was a big deal for September was...we put Lacey in a big girl bed! I will say, this was harder on us than her, she all the sudden had the ability to decide when she wanted to get up and it was not easy. Long story short, this only lasted about two days before I threw the crib back together. It was cute while it lasted, but emotionally she just wasn't ready.

How cute is she trying to screw the bolt in?! Haha. Next was Halloween! We had so much fun hanging up our pumpkin lights and decorating the house and of course trick-or-treating! We went downtown to all the businesses that celebrated with Rae Anne and Lacey's best friend Hadley. The girls were to die for.

Of course we visited the pumpkin patch as well earlier in the month, but that wasn't nearly as fun as receiving candy from every possible stranger! That's my sarcastic attitude coming into play lol. In the beginning of November, we made the decision that would completely alter at least the next ten years of our life! We put an offer in on a piece of property just on the outskirts of town. We are so fortunate for everything life has dealt us. 

Later in the month, it was of course Thanksgiving. Lacey just so happened to get totally sick so we weren't able to visit all of our usual rounds that were supposed to. We had a small dinner at our house with us, my dad and grandma and that was plenty! Lacey ended up being diagnosed with Fifth's disease and had a terrible rash all over her body, but thankfully, she is now immune and will never have it again with no lingering side affects!

After Thanksgiving, you know what that means! It's the most wonderful time of the year! This Christmas was one to remember, Lacey was so spoiled, as was I, and it was really just a great time with great family. We did catch a hint of snow towards the end of the month but nothing worth shouting about!

 

It was such a great holiday! We enjoyed the little snow that we got and had a half snow day but it left as fast as it arrived. We visited my mom's house for Christmas Eve and Lacey got tons of stuff there, we then came home and opened her stocking, and gave Bailey her presents. Kameron got me a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, but it's kinda a shared present because we use it equally :) I am beyond blessed. I have a healthy, happy family, I truly could not ask for more. This year was full of so much excitement and as sad as I am to see it go, I am so beyond excited for 2014! There is so much ahead of us in the upcoming year, some huge life changes! Building a house, getting married, Lacey is officially a toddler, so much! I love my family! Stay tuned!

XOXO