Life, Camera, Action!!

As a senior in High School I went with a few friends to see Grapes of Wrath in Warrensburg at what was then known as Central Missouri State University. Because we went for school to earn extra credit we were required to get our playbooks signed by a member of the cast and ended up backstage---I fell in love instantly!!! I had never been in a theater that size or to a show like that, let alone to go back stage and see the actors up close and see the sets! I was hooked!!!! I knew right away that I wanted to be a part of that! Throughout my two years at CMSU  I performed in a few different shows and I adored  being on stage! The rush and excitement was unlike anything else! 

*2005-Hanging out with some cast mates before opening night of Macbeth at CMSU

It has been almost exactly ten years since I have been on a stage but I still remember the feeling of my heart pounding in my chest before the curtains opened! ;-) Now you may be asking yourself "what does this have to do with anything, Lacey?" Well, my church, the FABULOUS First Baptist of Raytown, has an amazing Christmas Pageant every year that over 20,000 people come to over the span of about 8 shows. Last year I wanted to audition for it but Lilly was just days old and having a new born baby I knew I couldn't commit the time to it so this year, I auditioned. WOW talk about nerves! It has been so long since I have stood in front of other people (besides my husband) and read lines or sang aloud. I didn't get the songs until four days before the auditions and they are just a tad higher than I would like so it took some preparation to finally feel confident when I sang them. When I finally auditioned one song was amazing and one was....well....well it made you close one eye and tilt your head to the side ;-D LOL But, I was in luck. I got a call back--I had a second chance to nail the song!!! So I sang and I sang and I sang that song that I had botched at the first audition. I sang that song so much that my husband, Kyle can sing it word for word and I'm pretty sure Lilly, although she isn't really talking yet, will be able to sing it come December! 

As luck (and lots of practice)  would have it, I got the part I wanted!!!! I am beyond honored and excited to be a part of this amazing production this December and to help bring a little bit of extra love and joy to hundreds of peoples' holiday season this year!! I am also so happy that I get to stand beside a bunch of other amazing and talented people and spread God's word this Christmas! I have felt the Lord's presence in my life so much lately and am so thankful for the talents he has blessed me with and even more thankful that I get to use those talents for his good! =) 

If you are interested in coming to the pageant this year click on this LINK for more information!! 

Lilly's 1st Birthday and Easy DIY Fall Decor

Here we are almost a month after Lilly's 1st birthday party and I am just getting around to making a blog about it.......oh well. Better late than never =) I wanted to really share with you how stress free and simple her party was to plan! Granted I am not one of those girly girls that made a big hooplah out of it--I wanted it simple, small and easy. A day and time to really soak in every moment and relish in the fact that our child has survived her first year of life! 

*Lilly absolutely LOVED the frosting on her cake and we loved watching her dig into it! 

We had the actual party at Grandma Barrett's house which worked out great! I wanted a Fall Themed birthday party and Grandma's fall decorations looked perfect all around the house! We actually just took a few decorations from my house and put them outside on the tables to bring the theme outside!

The weather was absolutely perfect that day! If you look closely in the top left picture you will see our balloon pumpkins in the yard---this was a fun and easy party favor for the kiddos! We simply put a few pieces of candy in each balloon, blew them up, drew faces on and tied green ribbon on top. Then the kiddos got to pop the balloon to get the candy out! 

The other quick, easy and cheap craft I made was for our moms. I wanted to make them some fall decor that they could take home as a 'thank you!' for both of them helping out with her party! So, first place I went was the Dollar Tree and I hit the jackpot!!!! I bought some fake flowers and leaves and two Styrofoam pumpkins. I tore off the top of the pumpkin, cut the steams off of the fake leaves and flowers and just stuck the stems into the Styrofoam pumpkins. It literally took me about 5 minutes each to make! Will make great teacher gifts as she gets older =)

*The leaves had really pretty glitter on them that you can't really tell in these pictures. 

I think they turned out great and our moms really enjoyed them! In regards to food we kept it nice and simple as well. We just BBQ'd and my mom made some delicious salads. All in all it was a great day with great friends and family around us not to mention all of the awesome presents that Lilly got!

*Lilly with my dad after her cake smashing 

*Three generations of amazing ladies! Lilly, My mom and Lilly's Great Paternal Grandma 

Today was the day!!

Today was the day!!! The day I handed in my office keys, turned in my garage pass and walked out of the office of my last full time job!! It still hasn't fully hit me that I don't have to wake up at 6:15 on Monday, drive for an hour to get Lilly to daycare and then myself to work (through downtown traffic) to sit at a desk for 9 hours and do the same thing the next four days!! 

Ooooohhhh it's going to be grand! :-) 

*Me & Lil' before her 1st Birthday Party

However, I'm not going to lie. Getting to this point has not been easy or without second and third thoughts.  You see, I am one of those rare breeds that actually enjoys working, working hard and working a lot. I like to be busy. Plus, I have always enjoyed the fact that I made money---yes, yes I know I am married and what is mine is his and vise versa but still, I just enjoyed knowing that I was contributing financially to my family (and it may or may not have helped with previous pleas to get my nails or hair done.) With all of that being said, in the past month I have realized that there are so many other ways in which one can contribute to their family. In my mind, the decision I have made to stay at home with Lilly will contribute more to the future and legacy of our family than any job ever could. 

The most important job of a mother, other than simply keeping their child(ren) alive, is to mold and shape an amazing human being. Someone that is smart, kind, compassionate, patient and all of those other phenomenal adjectives we all want our kids to be. :-) To teach them about life--what is right and wrong. I by no means am saying that a working mother can't have a well rounded child--I have simply made this decision because I want to be the one shaping our daughter. The daycare our daughter has been attending since she was seven weeks old is PHENOMENAL and we have really built a great relationship with her teachers. I also believe that if she was to stay in that daycare that she would indeed turn out to be a great, well rounded little girl--I simply want to be the one influencing our daughter the most on a daily/weekly basis. It really became clear to me when I was in Vegas a few weeks ago and did the math that in a good weekday, I saw Lilly for 3-3.5 hours (1 hour of that in the car) while the teachers were seeing her for 7-9 hours a day. 

So as I sit here watching the Royals game with my husband beside me and our beautiful daughter sleeping in her room, I can't help but be in a state of excitement and awe. Awe of how everything has happened so perfectly in life thus far to lead me where I, no WE are today. Excited to start this new journey in motherhood and for our family. Am I scared about getting used to the new schedule of staying at home with a 12 month old everyday? Uh, DUH!  Am I nervous about going days without speaking to another adult human being besides my husband? You betch-ya! In fact, there is a small part of me that is even terrified for the transition. But with all change in life there is some discomfort. ;-) I am open to any and all advice that other stay at home mamas (or papas) have for me! From daily cleaning duties (I'm sick of spending a day or two cleaning ALL day-I want to set a routine to keep it clean ALL the time), recipes, kid friendly parks, kiddo learning activities, you name it--I want it!!! 

 I am also beyond blessed and thankful to have a husband who not only has an amazing job that allowed me to turn my gut feeling of wanting to be at home with our daughter into a reality but also is beyond supportive and so on board when it comes to adjusting our family budget to make this happen <3 He is our rock and I honestly can't wait to clean his house (more regularly), do his laundry (more regularly) and make him proud to come home each day after work. : D It may be cliche and some of you may  have thrown up a little, but this is my life. These are my dreams and I've decided to live a  life centered around what is most important to me: My family and God.