Aubriana's arrival and Ira's 2nd Birthday!

Brother and sister "bumping fists"

BEST FRIEND in the world!

Ira enjoyed his 2nd birthday by having an indoor carnival (fighting over 100 degree heat, the "indoor" part was important). :)  He loved his cake topped by a hot air balloon (his favorite), cupcakes in a ferris wheel and just for Ira, Rice Crispies.  He was a little overwhelmed by all the family and friends but some extra time outside with De helped him alot. 

Mommy must learn to time his parties better with his naps.  LOL

July brought a wonderful addition to the family.  Aubriana Pearl was born July 10th and has stolen the hearts of all of us.  At 6 weeks now, she is just over 9 pounds, in the 90th percentile of length, 50th percentile of weight and is so beautiful.  It is like looking at Haley almost 20 years ago. 


Little Maggie (going on 4 years old, she is not that little anymore!) posing for her pic in the Muscle Man/Glamour Girl cut out :)

Handsome Gabriel!  We will be celebrating his 1st birthday in October. 

Kale and Alynn - the bestest of friends. 

Ira and his hero, Claire, opening up a present from my dad; his first fishing pole!!!

Spring has Sprung

It has been a very busy past 4 weeks.  Wow!  On Valentine's evening, I accepted an offer for a consulting job.  I've been working there ever since and have now been offered the perm position.  It's in HR, I am very excited and feel this is the right move for me (professionally).  I've been slammed, have a lot to learn but believe I'm heading down the right path right now. 

So where does that leave my little man?  Top Gun is going to a local daycare (just down the street from my work) and after a couple of weeks where he broke my heart every day, things are much better.  This morning he left me without any prodding and walked over to join a classmate playing on a little horse that jumps up/down.  awesome....

Baby girl and HER baby girl are doing great.  She is working, going to school and sleeping...a lot.  I hope this is a sign to come that little baby girl will sleep a lot at night. :)

My groom is working very hard for the state and as hard for the Guard in the JAG Corps.  He's also training for his annual physical like I've never seen him train before.  He looks awesome!

Other than that, I'm helping plan Haley's baby shower and Ira's 2nd birthday party.  Our thinking was that we would take Ira to Sea World at San Diego, SD Zoo and Legoland for his birthday.  However, with my new job, we may have to put that off to the end of the summer when I have leave.  Awww - the joy of starting fresh with a company including NO leave....:(

Hope your Spring is starting off with a bang and not horrible weather like we have.  Stay safe and dry everyone!!

Oops!

Oh, our bath time started out just like every other bath time this morning.  Just the two of us, getting the bath water *just* right, letting it start to fill up (I have a jacuzzi bath tub so it takes a while) and deciding it was more than time to trip Ira's nails and his weekly hair clipping.  I trimmed his nails, got the bath ring and placed it on the bathroom counter to clipper his hair. 

He was acting silly and so was I when I took the clipper out of the packaging.  As the guard on the clipper has NEVER been off (since I bought it), I didn't even think to check as I started down the middle of his hair - front to back.  But there was no guard.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?  WHERE IS MY SON'S HAIR?  then....Jeremy is going to kill me. 

I had to do the best job I could, wiping away the tears at my mistake, while Ira was trying to rub his head.  Bless his heart.....okay, where is the horizon in this?

Well, after thinking about it all day, I have thought that since his baby hairline still showed and his baby/baby hair had not caught up with the rest, this COULD be a good time to let that all grow out together. 

Okay, it's kinda weak - but it is all I have. 

Thank goodness he is an adorable baby so he is handsome looking like Michael Jordan or Denzel Washington.  Thank goodness Jeremy took it basically in stride (after an initial reaction). 
Thank goodness we don't have any family pictures scheduled.  Thank goodness his hair seems to grow very fast.  And most of all, thank goodness my baby boy is having a blast rubbing his head!  That makes my shame and embarrassment a little easier. 

Will I cut his hair again?  No..........Oh, I'm sure I will.  As fast as it grows, I'm sure I'll have to. 
Will I ALWAYS make sure the guard is on?  You can bet you HAIR on it.

Angie's birthday (celebrated in Destin, FL)

Can you imagine a cuter Valentine?  We had a great time in Alabama and then Destin, Florida (which coincided with Mommy's 42nd birthday!).  While Daddy was in a conference in Alabama, Ira and Mommy shopped, went to a great zoo and played at every park we could find.  Of course, once we hit Destin it was all about the BEACH!  When we got home, a few days later we found out that Haley is having a little girl!!!!  The house is SO excited.  The next six months are going to fun, busy and rewarding.  God continues to bless us.  We hope you are being blessed as well.

All our love,  the Lasiter Pack

What a precious site for a parent :)

Seeing my two "babies" curled up on the couch with Ira hugging onto Haley is awesome.  Thank you God for blessing me with Haley in 1992 and then with Ira in 2010!!  Only YOU could have created two amazing children like this!

Two days until Christmas!  Our second Christmas with Ira and he loves the tree :)

This year we will know that next Christmas we will be sharing it again with a new baby!  Haley will have a bundle of joy, peace and love this summer so Christmas 2012 will be brand new baby time all over again!  Ira will be an uncle at the spry age of 2!  Love it!!

Christmas is full of going here, going there, baking, remembering where all the presents are, making sure (via spreadsheet, of course) that everyone is getting something and it is at the right house.  So, before it gets too crazy, I want to pause and remember what I am thankful for this year.

1.  I am thankful every day that I am a child of God and of our relationship.  He has blessed Jeremy and me so much with our two babies and each other. 

2.  I am thankful that Jeremy and I will be married 10 years this summer and he still makes my heart flutter. 

3.  For Haley and Ira, you are the cherry on my ice cream sundae (well, okay, frozen yogurt).  I love you both.

4.  I am so thankful that Grandma and Grandpa are such a huge part of our lives.  We love you to the moon and back!

5.  Every day I am thankful for Phyllis, her hubby and kiddos.  Every great memory I have had in the last 10 years has you all in it.  I love you dearly.

6.  I am thankful this year that I have rekindled a relationship with my father and his wife, De.  True joy!

7.  I am thankful to be surrounded by Jeremy's family and their dynamic personalities. 

8.  I am so, so, so thankful that baby Gabriel is healthy and sharing Christmas day with us this year!

9.  Heifer South Africa - it is such an honor to work with you and be a part of your story.  I love you all.  I am also thankful to Mike Grober for sharing his dream with me, Your Mission Matters, and trusting me to help me make it a reality. 

10.  I, along with every other Christian, am thankful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for me....little ol' me.  Wow - it's almost too much to even fathom. 

I hope you have a beautiful time with your family.  I wish for all of us that we do not get caught up in opening gifts, lunches, dishes and full bellies that we don't pause and just enjoy each other's company and remember why we have this time together. 

Merry Christmas,

Love,

Angie

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas is right around the corner and it's a "hustle and a bustle" everywhere I look.  We have our own around here!  :) 

We just learned that in July, we will be blessed with a child!  (grandchild, that is).  Haley is about 8 weeks pregnant.  She's still working at Potter's Clay (still such a blessing!) and is starting to school at Pulaski Tech in January.  A lot of work ahead of us, but God will lead the way on this and it will be wonderful. 

Ira and I are still hanging out together everyday together.  His vocabulary is improving and eating habits are better.  (not great, but better - LOL). 

Jeremy is busy with a new trial and depositions so he's always going, going, ....you get the idea. 

I came home a few days ago to find my house exterior decorated for Christmas by Grandma!!  She is such an incredible blessing to us all.  I love you, Grandma!!

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord Savior this month, I also pray for peace, tranquility and answered prayers for our family and many others. 

Love to all~
Angela

These photos were taken Halloween weekend. The top one is Jeremy and Ira at Burns Park and the other two are of Ira doing some early trick or treating at Nanna Phyllis' house :)

What a day this has been! Grandma, Ira and I went to my new nephew's Meet and Greet (after a couple of weeks of him being at ACH in the NICU). Ira had SO much fun playing outside on cousin Maggie's playhouse and swing set. I MUST get him some of these things. He loves them so much!!!!

Our plans were to:

1. come home afterward and feed him a late lunch and down for a nap

2. go to Phyllis' big Fall Event in Bryant with Ira and Haley

Did that happen? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ira was SO overtired he would not lay down and was walking around like he was dizzy (so sleepy). He ended up slipping on the floor and face planting on our wood floor so then I HAD to keep him up for a while to make sure there wasn't any concussion or bad things going on. So, I walked outside while Jeremy had Ira and an ice bag, called Phyllis, had a meltdown about how much I was sorry we couldn't come and once Ira was able to go to sleep, I crashed like I had been up for 24 hours straight.

Highlight of the day was that while the Razorbacks were playing and Jeremy was listening for Ira, my baby girl and I got to go eat some yogurt at Three Flamingos and just "talk" - so, so, nice. In fact, I loved it. It made the day so much better. I missed out on Phyllis' amazing food and fun, but I did get some quality time with my girl and that was worth it.

On a personal note, I'm reacquainting myself with someone who hasn't been in my life in a long time. Taking it day by day - but am happy about it.

Platform time: Why do Stay at home Moms NOT get a W-2 at the end of the year??? This is hard and SUCH important work. Attention Michelle Obama!! Love what you are doing in other areas............how about this? I'm not a creative person at all, a hermit at heart and so it is a challenge.

Little news for folks: Jeremy and I are slowly starting a nonprofit. It is "Veterans United Against Hunger". I've registered us a Facebook and Twitter account already, working on a URL and a logo. Then I can file for IRS 501c3 status and trademark protection. This will be a slow start as we are really busy right now but we are finally moving on some thoughts we have had for a long time. Stay posted.

Getting ready for Haley's 19th Birthday ON Thanksgiving this year - will fly back in from South Africa just in time. (doing a little shopping already....yes, Haley, if you are reading this...)

Haley is doing so well at her job. One of the parents call her the "baby whisperer" at CAC's Potter's Clay Daycare. This is such a God thing for her to be there. In some many ways.......

All who reads this: please pray for me for my South Africa trip. Some new and exciting things going on and I need to be on top of my game. (and not sick from plane food - :( ).

Love to all~

Blessings,

Angela