Mixed Feelings

How can my daughter turning 2 years old be so exciting and so sad at the same time?

(Okay so I know this post is kind of late but I had to start somewhere!)

One of Alexa's favorite things to do is take her mini grocery cart to the store and push it around. This happens rarely since its always so crazy at Walmart and she's not the best of drivers yet. She had a huge party the weekend before her birthday so we just kept it low key on the actual birth date and pretty much just let her do whatever she wanted, which included pushing her grocery cart around Walmart! (Believe me she always knows what she wants)

I'm a stickler for birth minute pictures and it happened to be 12:04 p.m. while we were smack in the middle of Walmart. I ran all the way out to the car to grab the camera and plopped her down by the nearest backdrop, diapers. It was all worth it! Look how cute this little girl is!

I decorated the house the after Alexa went to bed the night before her birthday so she woke up to streamers, banners, and balloons everywhere! She was very excited!
(she is also modeling the pretty dress Kyle surprised her with - he wrapped it and picked it out all by himself the day before- I was very impressed!)



The streamers dangling from the entry way infront of her bedroom was her favorite. She kept running through it and everytime she did she would sing Happy Birthday to herself.

That day was so much fun and so bittersweet at the same time!
Alexa is so sweet and very thoughtful and always knows how to make anyone and
everyone smile! I have the best baby in the world! (she'll always be my baby no matter how grown up she gets!)

*The day after her birthday she woke up asking me "What happened to my birthday?" and the question continued through out the entire day!*

Just Do It !

Why am I such a sucker for baby Nikes? I don't question it, instead I just rationalize spending $20 bucks on shoes that Alexa will probably only be able to wear for a month. But Oh well,

sometimes you just have to do it!

Here is my little model in training.
Alexa looooves them and cried when I took them off for her nap

Look at this girl though, she can make anything look cute!

Rainy Wednesday & 13 Boxes of Cereal

I got a good deal on cereal the other day, so we pulled out the extra boxes from storage

to make a house, per Alexa's request

I just love her imagination! She wanted to be completely closed in so she can do a "cool trick"

Waaayyyy to long!

Kyle & Alexa enjoying the local park. And yes it has been 95 degrees and hotter

lately so we have to go in the evening right before bedtime!

So Alexa is a girly girl but at the same time she's a sucker for race cars, trains, and trucks.

Theres a dirt track speedway that we have been to a couple of times and Alexa is still talking about it! Guess that means we don't need a boy huh?

While visiting family in KC for my new nephews baby blessings we got outdoor family pictures.
Chances are out of 8 grandkids, at least one of them is going to be in the midst of a meltdown, and yes Alexa took the honors this time

Lucky for Kyle & I, we did our own seperate pictures before the grand family one and before the meltdown and despite the heat they turned out pretty darn cute!

This is the result of being bored on a Sunday evening! We're going green

recycling diaper boxes into sliding wagons!

This is probably my favorite picture ever of Alexa! She's sooo gorgeous! And yes, the photographer did a great job too but it's easy with a subject soo cute!

Here is Alexa helping Grandma Bell while she got ready for the day. Alexa

is very much a Grandma's girl and has to be by her at all times.

Grandma has had a lot of practice with this and has become very creative

on how to accomplish something and keep a kid right by you and happy!

(I'm still in training)

Carnies, Cowgirl Boots, & Chickey Nuggies

And Yes, all in that order!

(Who knew the LaBrue Crew could be so crazy?)

This is actually Alexa's 2nd time at our local Dogwood Carnival in Camdenton

She loved the horses, even though all the rides there were a bit shifty.

Sadly enough it was kind of a rainy/dreary day- hence the coats

This is the ride I like to call "Sit on a nappy piece of rug & fly down a slide"

(the name explains it all)

After being taunted by the carnies every time we walked

by the games we finally gave in to skee ball.

Mind you I made sure we won a prize no matter what before we

forked over the 2 bucks.

(I guess its the Bell in me)

!Voila! A blow up dolphin that squeaks when you

squish its fin. Not sure if was worth $2

but the memories definitely are!

Thanks to Alexa's cousin Kylie who grew out of these boots

we now get to enjoy this adorable picture!

Alexa LOOVES shoes and changes shoes & tries

them on about 5 times a day!

These boots are a smidgen too big for her but that

wasn't stoppin' this cowgirl!

1st Daddy Daughter Date!

This is Kyle "asking" Alexa out on a date

Friday night. It was soo cute! When he was

asking her she just thought he wanted a kiss

so she kept kissing him on the cheek

It was actually a double date (since she's not 16 yet) : )

Kyle & Alexa & his friend Jose & his daughter Ariyah ventured to

the McDonald's Play Place for some fun &

chickey nuggies (Alexa's terminology)

Hopefully that's the 1st date Kyle has ever gone on
where he had to order the girl a happy meal!
(He was great at taking pictures since I made
him promise too)

Choo Choo

Alexa & I hittin' the slides at Miner Mikes

Here is the real reason we visited Miner Mikes...
Alexa LOVES this "Choo Choo Train" rollercoaster, she talks
about it all the time!

Looks like we got a thrill seeker on our hands!

Posin' in front of the much anticipated train line.
Initially I was surprised that Alexa liked it so much since
it goes around the track like 4 times and it's pretty fast!
Lucky for us, she loves it and rides it like 5 times in a row
everytime we go there.
I had to rotate turns this particular Saturday between
Grandma..I started getting dizzy after the first 2 rides

The LaBrue Crew's Easter Weekend

Here are some great pictures of our fun filled Easter weekend...in kind of a reversed order. (sorry I'm not a professional blogger yet!) We got an early start..on Thursday our good friends from Carthage..Buddy & Nadine LaRue & their daughter Makenna (22 mo. old) came and stayed the night with us! Nadine and & I had a lot of fun together...especially after we realized we had a matching outfit for the girls so we dressed them alike and then got the question "are they twins?" all day!
On Friday my mom & Grandma Weekes & my cousin's daughter Ethny came to spend the rest of the weekend with us. We attended the Egg-Mazing Easter egg hunt on Saturday and it was truly Egg-Mazing! They had a ton of blow up bounce houses & slides for the kids to go on. Both Ethny & Alexa loved the huge slide and went up & down it like 5 times. The only problem is that Ethny is big enough to go up and down by herself but Alexa required the help of mommy or daddy and it was a lot of work to lug her up that air slide! We had a ton of fun in the beautiful weather and enjoyed watching conference with all of our family (Kyle's included) ! It was a great Easter weekend!




Here is Makenna at the Egg-Mazing Easter Egg Hunt chowin' down on the hot dog! I love this picture! This girl cracks me up!











Grandma Bell & Alexa






Here I am taking Alexa down the huge blow up slide. It was a lot of work for 5 seconds of thrill but she loved it so it was all worth it!








As we were walking up to greet the Easter Bunny I was bracing myself for a tantrum of Alexa being scarred. Surprisingly enough she loved him (or her) and actually lunged at it forcing the bunny to hold her which worked great for the picture! Who woulda ever thought?





On Thursday Buddy & Nadine & Kyle & I took the girls to Miner Mikes. Again, they loved the slide and went up and down it... a lot!








I really wish I would have got a picture of Buddy playing the jump rope game at Miner Mike's arcade. He was amazing and drew a huge crowd! That guy can jump! and he won 300 tickets just from one game!






This is pre-Miner Mike's when we had the girl's dressed alike.










I tried to get a picture of them together actually looking at the camera but they were so sidetracked with the outside toys it was hard to get them to hold still. Both girls are very lovey and affectionate and they are great friends!

Lil' Squirt

Playin' in the sprinkler at home on a beautiful 80 degree Wed. afternoon







She kept filling up this cup and trying to drink the sprinkler water


























I just can't get enough of her! She's the most beautiful thing in the world and I just can't stop staring at her in awe!

Going to church in her Easter Dress. Don't get too excited, the hat only stayed on for about 3 minutes.

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid!

Yesterday, my good friends Melissa & Jill and all of our kids loaded up in our new Excursion of a bus and made the trip to Columbia to visit Chuckie Cheeses. The kids did great the whole 1 1/2 hour ride up there and the whole rest of the day! I haven't been to a Chuckie Cheese since I was like 6 & Alexa had never been so needless to say we were pretty excited! And it was everything I had remembered. I don't know who had more fun, Alexa or me watching her!
She didn't play many games but she rode a lot of rides and even the car ones that move electronically. I was wondering how she would do with those because in the past when we put her on one at Wal-mart she freaked out. She especially loved the dancing Chuckie and of course she had to boogie with him. I think her favorite out of all of it was the toddler slide that she could go up and down all by herself!
My favorite part was that we went on a Monday afternoon so we practically had the whole place to ourselves!
After Chuckie Cheeses we toured the Columbia Mall for a change of pace and let the kids play in the little Kids Court thing before heading home.
It was a fun fun trip and I'm so glad we went!



This is the toddler slide that Alexa went
up & down over & over !









Here is baby Addison hanging out (literally) with mommy.







The mini meri-go-round that Alexa loved and was un-sure of
at the same time.








Startin' the addiction young. Here's Kambrie opening her mouth anytime the straw came near it..and no Jill never actually gave her soda. It was soo cute!







Enjoying the ride and keeping her eyes on Chuckie the whole time









Alexa loves horsies and loved riding this one...I had to hold on to her at all times because the thing was quite fierce and I thought she would fall off!







Josh & Alexa riding the roller coaster simulation ride