13 months & Charmed I'm Sure

I recently bought these great onesie stickers so I can record the growth of Emerson's second year of life. 

Now I know why these things are typically used the first year of life--because the baby is too small to know the difference.

Little Miss is no idiot. She immediately ripped it off and was like, "what the heck is this?!"

 Then when I stuck it back on her, she opted to show me just how much she disliked those stickers.

My gal is not one to neglect showing her feelings. 

(Big brother even tried to step in and help

and was shoved away.)

Insert bottle and all is right with the world.

Now that's what I call a happy 13 month old! (See Hunter whooping it up in the background?)

Love that girl, strong emotions and all.

(Big brother is never very far behind when Sissy gets

upset. He usually checks on her saying, "ok Sissy ok?")

In addition to celebrating my kids' milestones, I hosted another fun celebration with my friend Peggy. We gathered our close friends for a very special get together with this invitation:

Dear (names of our gals inserted here),


We think each of you is an amazing mother, woman and friend and we want to celebrate what a gift you have been in our life. 

Join us on Saturday, April 30th, from 4 until 7 pm, so we can tell you in person over fried chicken and Skinny Girl margaritas! (Yummy mocktails will be served too!)

All you need to bring is a charm. This charm will be given to another woman at the party. Choose a charm that represents the celebration and power of women and mothers--a favorite memory, a word of advice, a symbol of strength. (Note: Search "silver charm" on etsy or Google and you'll find endless possibilities! The goal is to find the perfect charm without spending much money!)

You are all strong, beautiful souls, and we are daily inspired by what you bring to each of our lives. 

Let us know if you can join and hope to see you then!

Love,

Peggy & Brooke

I found the idea for the charms on my favorite girl's blog and it turned out to be even more special than I could have imagined. 

(Yup. As gorgeous as my friends are on the outside, they are even more so on the inside.)

After eating yummy fried chicken, homemade cookies (thank you Amy!) and telling funny stories (Ali, I'll never forget the Cheerio and bottled water story as long as I live!), we sat in a circle to exchange our charms.

We each drew names from a bowl and, as stars sometimes perfectly align, every one of the 9 girls received a charm that was ideally suited for her.

Before presenting the recipient with a charm, the giver would tell her story behind selecting that charm. 

Our friend Debra even went the extra mile and made her recipient a charm locket necklace.

Here I am with my friend Amanda in my Ying-Yang necklace (thank you Peggy!) that reminds me to appreciate and love both the ying and yang parts of my personality.

Andrea, Peggy and I saying goodbye after agreeing that having a date like this made us feel refreshed and looking forward to getting back to our families at home. 

There were many beautiful moments that day and it will be one that I will never forget. A reminder to the girls of my hope for each of you:

To continue to BELIEVE that you are a wonder-FULL mother and friend,

that you will LIVE, LAUGH, and LOVE a little more, all while appreciating the YING and YANG that make you special YOU. I wish that more LADYBUGS will cross your path bearing lots of blessings and good luck, that you felt a little more LOVED walking out that night with a new thing to add to your THOUSAND REASONS to smile when the world has been giving you a hundred reasons to cry. And finally, that you feel more connected to a group of women who can be DREAMCATCHERS for each other so we can filter out the bad and be reminded of the good in each other. LOCK(et) these words in your heart and think on them when you need them most.

P.S. Hug those children and hubbies before bed because nothing is more important than TODAY.

Time will pass and we won't remember all of the silly stories we told that day but, what I do know is that we all left feeling stronger, more loved and that we're not in this alone. 

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.  It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.  We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."  ~Albert Schweitzer