say it ain't so. 10.

okay...I felt confident I'd get through this post without getting too emotional before looking through photos to upload. And now I'm holding back tears crying:'(

am I crying because she's TEN? Or because TEN years has gone by? One in the same, I suppose.

TEN years ago...she was just this chubby little baby. I was also chubby...but not because someone had just birthed me...mostly due to the abundance of alcohol my 19 year old waste of space ass was consuming;)

anyhoo...this fine young lady. Man. She is great. So thoughtful and kind...when she's not being a typical kid;) I am so proud to be her Godmother and Aunt:)

i hope Courts doesn't mind me sharing an email that she received regarding Lia back in 2010 and then shared with us. Lia was only 8 years old:)

Courtney and David,

I just wanted to let you know what a sweet and caring little girl you have. Yesterday she handed me a card and told me that I couldn't open it until I got home. When I did I saw that it was a card wishing us to have a happy and healthy baby. It was so sweet of her to do this for us. Those small little things are so greatly appreciated. I shared it with MAN and DAUGHTER as well and they were both honored that she would think of us. She is just so thoughtful. As I was filling out her progress report this week I could only think that I hope DAUGHTER grows up to be just like her. Great job raising a sweet little girl.

 

LADY

*names were changed to protect the innocent;)

 as she's gotten older...we get less and less typical smiles;)

 lia and I the morning of my wedding. Good memories:)

this face is completely inaccurate. The girl fears nothing 'ew'.

 she's Homer's Godmother and that makes me incredibly happy:)

lia and I on her Birthday:)

i know Courts' kids aren't myyyy kids. But I sure have an insane amount of love for them. I'll always feel like Lia was my first daughter. I hope to be so lucky to have a baby girl as sweet as her someday:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lia Bear!!!!!!!

homer tight!!!!

i won't bother with lots of talk. These are pretty self explanatory:

i sit around taking photos of my perfect child ALL.DAY.LONG;)

UP/DOWN aunt Pigg got Homer a little giraffe while on vacation. It's his new favorite thing;) The horn now serves as a nuk;)

UP seriouslyyyyyyyyy!!!!????! This kid is killing me!!! SO freaking cute!! And thanks to Karey for the adorable onsie!!!:) 

 UP/DOWN we've had several uneventful (in the best way!!:) baby appointments in the last few weeks! Homer's doing perfectly!:)

UP lia came with me to an appt. and since it was nice out we rode the golf cart back to our car:)

 UP/DOWN homer chilling on the iSpy blanket my coworkers made for him!

 UP even when I'm completelyyyyy exhausted and it's 630AM and I've been up every 2.5 hours throughout the night...this face makes everything okay:)

 UP homer helping me with laundry this morning:)

 UP/DOWN some pics of us all together at a family function over the weekend (Father's Day:)

we're loving our time with Homer! I have less than a week before I return to work...part-time for 2 weeks and then back to full-time:( It just makes me want to cuddle him more in the mean time:)

the bear turns 9!!!!:)

our little Lia Bear turns 9 years OLD..today!!!!! Hard to believe...although, Peyton kinda cushions the blow by also getting older (he doesn't listen to me about not growing older either...darn kids;).

it's impossible to sum Lia Rae Smith up in only a few paragraphs...

she's sweet and GOOFY as all hell. I mean...she is emotional. And girly. BUT completely her mom's daughter...with my emotional instability mixed in (how proud am I;). She gets more and more beautiful with every day that passes and smarter too it seems...and maybe slower at waking up in the mornings too!?;)

just try and get a serious photo with her...it'll take a few tries;) And she's a WRITER! The girl can write about anything and it's GOOD stuff!

She's got her mom's addiction to all things pen and paper!

i think this note, that Court and Dave received from Lia's teacher about sums it up (I think she got this already a year or 2 ago)...but it's exactly what this young lady is capable of and I know she's meant for amazing things:)

"I just wanted to let you know what a sweet and caring little girl you have. Yesterday she handed me a card and told me that I couldn't open it until I got home. When I did I saw that it was a card wishing us to have a happy and healthy baby. It was so sweet of her to do this for us. Those small little things are so greatly appreciated. I shared it with (husband) and (daughter) as well and they were both honored that she would think of us. She is just so thoughtful. As I was filling out her progress report this week, I could only think that I hope (daughter) grows up to be just like her. Great job raising a sweet little girl."

with our own little one on the way (OMG!!!)...I can't help but get a little emotional at the idea of having another Lia in our lives in 6 short months. We love you so much Lia and hope you pass on some of your amazingness to our little one:)

tractors.icecream.brat.brat.brat.

the Steam Engine Show is a yearly festivity that my boy's family business participates in every year. They cook food....oh, so good food...for the show:)

and every year...I got out to the Flea Market and spend money on things that make our house a home (aka. stuffed with randomness, which I tell Jacob will look amazing once we live in something bigger than 900 sq. ft.:).

and now...photossssssss.

UP oh yeah...there are tractors there. Weird;)

UP hanging out with the kiddo's.

DOWN the crib that I wanted for our future/nonexistent baby. Why Jacob said no, I have no idea!!!!;) BUT he did promise that once there IS a baby in this belly...we'll go flea market till my face falls off for wonderful, one of a kind baby items. Hello...reason number 320759275790572 why I love Jacob so:)

UP bench that I bought...got her down to $60 from $75 but then I realized I needed streamers for the wedding and EVERYTHING that I thought was going to cost x amount of dollars has come in at at least $100 more than that. For real. SO I sold it to my mother:)

DOWN the boy hanging with the tractors:)

DOWN oh, how I love Flea Market jewelry:) Got a few gems over the weekend. Added to my gold bracelet collection.

UP/DOWN there was food food FOOD and I ate my fair share. Man...the ice cream is to DIE for. Maple Nut on a waffle cone....be still my heart:) And to be served by this raw ass. Yes. Totally worth it;)

UP the kids had some money of their own to spend and we put that towards some awesome sunglasses. Seriously...they looked freaking kick ass in these!!!:)

DOWN PONY RIDES!!!!! A.Dorable:)

good times were had by all. And the weather was amazing! Posts like these make me feel like we've actually been DOING things this summer. Not far from home...we'll save that for Spain;) But doing things none the less:)

PS. i think today was the last day of summer. Officially. LAME!!!!!

iphone photo daily.

last night we celebrated some birthdayssssss! YAY. Post to come on that:)

after dinner we walked up to the High School to see our nephew, Peyton, run the field in anticipation of their upcoming football season (and because Jacob and I will be catering tonight and will be missing his first game...arg).

And we also got to see Lia put all her practicing to work with their first cheerleading...um, cheerleading thing. It was adorable and she was FAR less annoying than all of the other 8 year olds out there;)

seriously. These kids are growing too fast. It hurts to see but I couldn't be more proud!:)

UP jacob and Nasher watching the game:)

DOWN our little Lia posing for photos!

moa all day:)

we just took a recent trip to MOA to get some last minute wedding things, as well as a bit of shopping. Let me tell you. MOA is NOT the place to go when you have 6 hours. That is not enough time for even the most seasoned shopper:( It was rushed...but fun regardless. Always counting down the days till MOA:)

UP me and Drew baby trying on sun glasses!

UP/DOWN my weakness for hats got the best of me....again. I love it and am excited to take it for a spin in Spain:)

how cute is Lia!?:)

Chapel Hats

UP see...romper + me got some weird feedback from the girls but I'm not ready to give up!!

Heritage 1981

DOWN the girls (austyn and lia) ready for some MOA!!!!!:)

it was a fantastic day...followed by snacks and fun and laughs and lots o' wine at Wine Night with the Ladies (no photos though...BOO...what were we thinking. We weren't!!!)

a great great day:)