Happiness

My happiness today is this simple text from Zach:

"Do you care if as of November 1st I move back in with you guys until I leave?"

I'm feeling pure joy right now, we get to have him with us for the last two weeks before he leaves, yay!!!! We also get to take him to Des Moines, usually he has to ride with the Marines but they told him family can take him :)

Last night I was cleaning up his room, it had become the room where I just throw crap and shut the door, not good! While I was working on it Bella was helping and she started crying, I asked her why she was crying and she said it was because she misses her Zachy. I can't wait to tell her he will stay with us before he leaves for the Marines, she is going to be so, so happy!

November 15th

On November 15th Zach will be embarking on his greatest adventure, Marine boot camp. He got the call yesterday and it is official, he is leaving four months earlier than planned. He is very, very excited and ready to get out of here to start this journey.

I'm so, so proud of him! We will be having a going away party for him on November 12th at my work, so lucky we have this huge hall I can use when it is available :) This was Zach's idea and he even offered to pay for all food and drinks, yeah right, like I'll let him do that! Thankfully I have so many family members that all food duties are already taken care of and Zach just gets to buy soda :)

Zach is such an amazing young man, I truly couldn't love him more if he was my own son. To have watched him finish out high school and make the good choices he has made, it just makes me proud knowing he could have easily taken a different path in life.

Our weekly dinners will come to an end, I will make each one that much more special for him before he does leave. I will miss his daily random texts to me, I will worry constantly that his drill sergeants are being too tough on him, I will miss midnight pick ups from the bar (he loves that entertainment, trust me ;)), I will miss the excitement in Bella's eyes when she knows it is a Zach night.

And yet I couldn't be more excited for him. Worries will be never ending, but the proud feeling I have for him and knowing what he is doing for our country and our freedom, and even more so for himself, makes it totally worth it.

Bella is 5!!!

How can it be, how can my little princess be 5 today??? It seems like yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting her debut in this world, deciding to have an induction on Friday the 13th. Now Friday the 13th is a "lucky" day in our world :)

Our world is filled with joy every single day due in a big part to Isabella Jean, we are so proud to be her mommy and daddy. She truly has the sweetest personality, always giving hugs and kisses, telling us how much she loves us at least five times a day. I'm so lucky that my heart gets melted many times a day by her various expressions of love.

Now she does have her "Koch" temper and attitude, it seems that is a given for all girls in our family :) But it helps me to know that she can handle herself, she may be small in size but watch out, this little girl won't be pushed around. She will be the first person to tell you that she is a big girl, not a little girl anymore, she tells me at least twice a day.

I never knew how I could love until I became a mommy. I am so blessed to have such an amazing daughter, I love her to the moon and back!

Baby Shower Numero Uno

Mindy's baby shower was wonderful!!!! I had great helpers with the food the night before and Mindy helped me with the crazy Mrs. Potts cake pops the Friday night before.

The first cake pops I made were easy, although no baby faces, my baby faces were horrid and scary so instead I sprinkled pink sparkly sprinkles on them and tied cute ribbon with little baby fit on the sticks.

The Mrs. Potts ones just make me giggle, they were so horrid to make and took us like three hours and they look so silly :) But everyone loved them and thought they looked great. I took square floral foam holders and covered them in scrapbook paper, ribbon and tissue paper, they turned out so cute.

Each table had a different teapot with floral arrangements, I made little cards that listed each type of tea and color coded the tea bags. This went over really well, especially all of the different teapots and saucers.

This photo is one of my favorites, she got TWO cribs and was so shocked. She does not need two cribs so she is excited to take one back and get more cool stuff :)

My little peanut and I, she was excited we both got to wear flowers in our hair :)

The blanket I gave Mindy, one of my favorites. I adore this yarn and the heart pattern throughout is just lovely :)

The beautiful little momma and her diaper cake. I love this cake, the flowers reminded me of the colors from her wedding so I couldn't resist.

Now the planning is really beginning for Missy's shower, I'm having a lot of fun with all of this and I love my little twin sisters and seeing the joy doing this for them brings just makes my heart soar.