On a Roll!

Kyle & Alexa & I just returned from a fun filled weekend with the fam...well some of the fam..
Friday, we left for an Arkansas getaway to visit John, Shannon & Addison! We had a blast, shopping, playing at the park (beautiful weather), swimming & just lounging around and playing video games and of course....eating!
There was no special occasion for this visit, except for the fact that we haven't seen each other in a while...a total of 2 1/2 months! (we're a pretty close family)

I was sooo excited to visit my very first garage sale of the season...and baby-less (Daddy-Daughter morning) Now I'm all hyped up for more garage sales and more stuff I don't know I need until I see it!

Alexa absolutely loved hanging out with Addison (who I must add is a very happy/smiley baby & very very kissable!) Alexa couldn't resist hugging and kissing on her & they actually played quite well together!
Now it's back to normal life as we know it! Thanks to the Hufford family for having us and showing us such a great time!

2 Months & 22 Days

Yeap, 2 months & 22 days is exactly how long it's been since I've published my last blog post. It's really pathetic and overwhelming...I don't know where to start on the catch up!

Actually, I'll start off by saying/making excuses that I lost the USB cord to my camera that I need to download the pictures and I just didn't feel right about blogging with no pictures.

So take a deep breath and prepare yourself for the randomness in all it's glory....



Happy Valentine's Day! Here is Alexa opening up her Valentine's gift. She had no clue why she was getting a present but that didn't matter, all she needed was Grandma to help her open it and get it out of the box pronto!





I woke up to a huge breakfast, roses & this on my kitchen table on Valentine's Day from my oh so sweet husband. I also have to add that not only did he make me & my mom breakfast that day but he made dinner the night before, breakfast & lunch that day and then took my out for dinner! These are a ton of reese peanut-butter cups...from the sweetest man alive...can life get any better?



CAUGHT! This is a random picture of Alexa getting caught red-handed trying to sneak into the junk food cupboard. I couldn't even get mad...look how cute she is, and she even posed for the picture...so yes, she did get a treat in the end.

Here is the oh so adorable Alexa playing in Mikenzie's room (Carolann's daughter) on our visit to Humansville. It was cool getting Carolann & Alise & I together again and watching our kids play together! When did we all grow up?

We also got to visit Grandma Bell that weekend to celebrate her birthday with her! Here is Alexa helping Grandma open her present. It was a fun filled weekend complete with eating, swimming & shopping. Can life get any better?

If you have had the chance to meet Alexa I'm sure you soon found out how lovey & affectionate she is. And this is a demonstration of that love to Christian..who I'm pretty sure is not enjoying the hug like Alexa is.

And yes, Grandma only gets one candle on her piece of birthday pie, its hard to find a pair of scissors in that woman's house...I counted my blessings with the one birthday candle.

So my camera is currently broken; consequently, I have taken a whole lot less pictures than before. Life is going great, I'm registered for college classes to finish up my degree and I only have 4 more classes to take!! Alexa is almost 18 months old and is repeating almost everything...which isn't always good when she's got Kyle for a dad. Kyle's insurance business is doing great and he's working very hard! He's an amazing husband and father and friend! I seriously don't know how I ever deserved such a wonderful man! We are living the high life with nothing too exciting going on (which is sometimes very nice to have ordinary). Alexa is growing up so fast and running around everywhere...and LOVES reading books...more specifically "Little Critter" books (does anyone remember those?) we've had to make several trips to the library to check out different editions...I'm going crazy reading the same 6 we have here at home. We recently purchased a new 2000 Ford Excursion Diesel and we all love it very very much. I love the space and the comfort knowing we are safer against those crazy drivers out there, Kyle just loves having a "manly" truck that gets decent gas mileage and Alexa loves sitting up high and being able to see everything out of the huge windows! I'm still adjusting to driving it since I technically drive it the most, it's sure a big difference from the honda civic! We are all doing great and anxiously awaiting the warmer weather that summer brings along! So we can get riding our bikes more (which is a whole 'nother blog entry in itself) staye tuned...

hopefully my next blog entry will show up a lot sooner than 2 months down the road!

Another Day in Paradise

As many of you have been doing, the LaBrue Crew has been preparing for another Christmas together. Who would have ever thought.... jk
Christmas time and December in general is always such a crazy time...but yet so fun! Kyle, Alexa, and I ventured to Kansas City last weekend to visit family and to celebrate an early Christmas with my Dad and his wife Marchelle since they won't be able to visit on Christmas.
Alexa had soo much fun running around and playing with all her cousins and their toys. She's getting so grown up and she doesn't need me there to hover around her anymore to make sure she's "ok". It was hard for me to just sit back and relax and let her do her own thing. That's not to say there wern't some disputes between the 5 cousins but sure enough they seemed to work it out on their own. Whenever we're in a large room with a bunch of people Alexa just takes off and doesn't even care where Kyle & I are. It was nice to come home and try to enjoy some time at home before we leave again for our other Christmas in Willard.
Unfortunatley, a few days ago I started getting sick and in turn Alexa started feeling pretty crummy too. But like the trooper she is she is still runnin' around hammin' it up for everyone just to see them smile. (Just like her Daddy)
Let me just say it's so nice to have my sweet mother-in-law nearby to help relieve my in my time of need while Kyle works.
Knock on wood Kyle hasn't gotten the sickness yet....it's really hard for me to resist loving and kissing on my little girl and amazing husband all in the name of not getting them sick.
Kyle has been such a help taking over my responsibilities while I'm under the weather and on top of that still taking such good care of Alexa & I.
Earlier tonight Kyle requested Puppy Chow so as I was making it Alexa was playing around in the kitchen and I looked down to find her sitting on the Chex cereal box scooting around on the floor like it was a car. I tried to get some good pictures but she wouldn't hold still long enough.
I swear that girl is soo creative and can make anything a toy. We all know she gets her imagination from her Daddy, because there isn't any in my blood.
Puppy Chow complete and Alexa doesn't even like it, instead she insists on picking up the pieces one at a time out of the bowl and handing them to Daddy so he can eat them. She was pretty proud of her role as the chow hander outer, until Kyle got impatient with his rations and had to hold the bowl himself. Now she's feeding mommy the chow one at a time until a sugar over-load starts to induce and I have to put the bowl out of her reach.
Yep, we're all just kind of existing and trying to get over this sickness that Alexa & I have but doesn't mean we can't still have fun in the process.
Needless to say, there aren't any pictures of us lately because no one looks good when they're sick but stay tuned for following posts and you may be in luck to catch a glimpse of the cutest little girl there ever was.....and yes, I'm talking about Alexa. : )

Florida Pictures

Alexa haning out pool side. Her favorite spot. She loves sitting on chairs and pretty much anything she can.

Swimming with Daddy. She fell a couple of times & went under, she didn't really get scared or anything but I for sure did.

Here is the Pink Shell Resort where we stayed. Our room was the third floor up on the left.

Posing for a family picture after the wedding.

Alexa is all smiles but when it comes to holding her down for a picture it's a little more complicated. Lucky for us whenever she is near water she's very very happy but hates when we hold her hand or just hold her in general.

Again, with the chairs. She's a climber and got up & down there all by herself. She's growing up sooo fast.

Here is Kylie giving Alexa a kiss...or is it the other way around?

Picture Perfect

The white sand was beautiful and not hot at all so it was fun to walk around bare foot. It's just that when you want it off of you it's not so easy.

Here is a picture of Alexa a couple of days before we left. I had just painted her little piggies for the first time and we were trying to show them off.

Mommy & Boo Boo's newly painted piggies. Not too much longer & we'll be going to get pedicures together! : )

Pretty Pink Toes in White Sandy Beaches

As most of you know Kyle, Alexa & I recently went to Ft. Myers Florida for 5 days to attend his cousin, Kelly's wedding & to get together with all of his brother's & their families.

Alexa did great on the plane ride playing for the 1st part and sleeping the 2nd half. We left Missouri in coats & toe covered shoes and when we got off the plane in Florida we stuck out like a soar thumb. The weather was beautiful and I couldn't believe it was the middle of November.

Alexa loved seeing her cousins Kylie & Tyler again and we even got to meet her new cousin, Jordan (Jeremiah & Sharon's Son).

We stayed at the Pink Shell Resort right on the beach and our Balcony over-looked the most beautiful view I've ever seen. We heard the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach as we slept! So all together there were 9 adults & 4 kids... Belle & Jerry, Verle (Papa), Westen, Amber, Tyler, Kylie, Jeremiah, Sharon, Jordan, Kyle, Alexa & I. It was a lot of people to coordinate timing with but we were pretty successful.

Kyle & I took shifts taking Alexa back to the room in between swims so she could get a nap in. Becaeuse we all know how important those are for the little kids & everyone around them. haha

She loved swimming in the pool & ocean and didn't mind the saltwater at all. She is little miss social so she would walk right up to random kids at the pool to play with them & one little boy was even lucky enough to get a kiss on the cheek.

The resort had different activities for kids to do & on one evening they had the Crab-Tona 500 races. This involved each kid picking a hermit crab & naming it and cheering for it as it raced to the edge (finish line) of the table. The funny thing is Alexa was last in line to pick so she got stuck with the last crab. We named it Boo-Boo & cheered it on and guess what...Yep, she won 1st place!

Boo-Boo was the fastest crab of them all! Alexa didn't seem to care until we all started cheering in celebration & then just wailed because we scared her so bad! 1st prize- ice cream sundae...that she didn't even eat! : )

We got lots of sun & I think I got enough for everyone.

We got there on Thursday & left on Tuesday. Kelly & Travis' got married on the beach Sunday afternoon & their rehearsal dinner was Sat. afternoon.

I had a blast hanging out with my family & their kids. Our nephew, Tyler, around age 10 has a passion for food & G.I Joe action figures. While waiting for the wedding to start he asks me "So if there was meat at the rehearsal dinner last night, do you think there will be meat after the wedding today?" I couldn't stop laughing. I assured him there would be meat, and as promised there was.

We had a blast and it was nice to have Grandma there to babysit. It was hard to head home & see people still laying by the pool. I was wondering what Alexa would think when we got home & she realized it's life back to normal & not near as exciting as vacation was.

But don't worry she was excited to see all of her toys again & her own room & bed, as was I.

When the freezing cold weather hit us as we stepped back onto Missouri grounds it was very very tempting to not turn around and move back to Florida...the thought did cross my mind.

Better Late Than Never Pics & Updates

A pre-halloween trick or treating session at home so we can get all the cousins together in their costumes! If you couldn't tell Alexa was a bear for halloween so we saw it fitting to stick her with her collection of bears in her bedroom!





Instead of door-to-door we did bedroom to bedroom and paraded Preston, Ashlyn, Alexa & Addison and made them beg for candy so we could say "ahhh how cute" and take tons of pictures!
What else is Halloween for anyways?




Alexa's 1st Birthday Party. The girl was flooded with gifts and needless to say she was a little bit overwhelmed but her oh so sweet cousin Ashlyn stepped in to assist and I think got more excited than Alexa. I think Alexa was just wondering why all those people were at her house and why they were all starring at her.





Here is Mommy trying to rassle her down so we can try to get a good picture to send in our thank you notes! It was quite a lot of work...more than I expected but we did get a good one in the end!

Happy Halloween !

The LaBrue Crew had a great Halloween, even though we celebrated it on Friday, so Kyle could take me to my Rob Thomas Concert in STL Saturday night. I don't know why it's so fun to dress up our little kids like animals and parade them around but it's sooo cute! Aunt Michelle was sweet enough to loan us this bear costume that Alexa loved! We had to pin a bow on her head so she didn't look like a boy bear...I had a complex about looking like a boy when I was a little girl so I am making up for that! My friend Jill and her baby Kambrie and son Tanner accompanied us, along with Grandma Bell, Shannon and baby Addison. The outlet malls do a Trick or Treating thing where they give candy from the stores! Alexa loved it..I don't think she's ever had candy before...except for her cousin Ashlyn sneaking her some at her party but she became quite attached to holding a piece of candy in each hand all day! She got a lot of loot...that Kyle and I are still eating! : )
After the outlet mall Kyle & I took Alexa around to some people we know to show off the cutest little bear in the world! It was a fun and at the end of the day I realized Alexa was working up a sweat in that costume but she didn't seem to mind! I think she'll grasp the concept of Halloween and trick or treating better next year!