.Identity Theft.

Ugh. So, in our last hour on vacation in Missouri as we were heading out to return our rental car, a quick check on our bank account showed that my debit card info had been stolen and used to buy hundreds of dollars worth of music equipment online.
Talk about pit of doom in my stomach. I called the bank right away and got the card canceled and filed fraud charges which got the money reimbursed to me immediately but as our plane took off for the 6 hour trip dread washed over me as I knew a giant mess would await me the next morning.
Since my actual card never left my possession the only explanation is that somewhere a website was hacked and my info was stolen. I have a few guesses as to which of the websites it could have been but no way to be certain. Looking back through my banking history showed that the first incident actually happened back in late February but because of the craziness of getting ready for our trip it went overlooked.
Our bank {US Bank} has been amazingly helpful throughout the whole ordeal and very very cooperative. I've filed a police report to see if there is any way to track the person{s} down to keep anyone else from going through this, although they didn't seem to think there was much they could do. I've also had to notify all three credit bureaus of the situation since we don't know if it was just my card number or if the ssn was also compromised.
It's all been a giant pain in the ass but I have officially done all that I can do and now it's just down to vigilantly watching our credit reports for a few months to make sure that nothing else happens.
Wish us luck!

.2013 trip to the Midwest.

As you know I am originally from Missouri and the vast majority of my extended family still reside in northwestern Missouri. I try to make it back for a visit every 2-5 years though now that we have the girls it's been about every 3. I'd love to see everyone more but you know how life goes.
The girls did very well on all of our flights {2 legs each way with layovers in Denver} and considering the fact that they both picked up colds while there they both handled the upheaval the their schedules, diets, social lives, etc like champs.
Here are some of the photos from the trip...

.This is maybe the 2nd or 3rd time in her life that Amelia had seen snow in person and the only time that she had any memory of such craziness {HELLO, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING WTH?!}. Here she is with my cousin Jordan trying to wrap her head around the idea of sledding.

.Amelia and her second cousin Hadley{my cousin Brynn's daughter}. Hadley is 12 weeks to the day younger and they had a ton of fun together both days that they got to hang out. It made Cheyenne & I feel terribly guilty that we live so far from our familys and that our girls don't get to grow up with the same closeness to their cousins that we did. Sadly, there isn't an easy solution.

.Hadley, Landyn, & Amelia {second cousins} - perhaps you remember when they looked like this?.

.Granny! We were lucky enough to have my Granny come visit us for a week last October  so this was actually the second time that she got to love on Alice {although Little Miss is now quite a bit bigger}.

.This is my botched attempt to get a photo of me with both girls & my Granny & Papa....it did not go as well as I had hoped.

.Alice, me, & Grandma Shalz, & my cousin McKenna all totally unaware of where you are supposed to look when getting your photo taken.

.The colds have settled in, known fact: snuggling with your sister can ease the aches and pains of a cold.

.My cousin, Brianna & I tried to get a photo of our grandparents with all 3 of their great-grandchildren {that's Bri's adorable daughter Madelyn in the middle}. Unfortunately, trying to get a photo with 3 little girls is kind of like herding cats.

.Alice & her great-grandma.

.Sneaky Cheyenne caught a secret moment between Mama and baby. 

My Grandad and both girls.

A great big huge thank you goes out to all of my awesome family who accommodated us and fed us and filled us up with tons of love. We already miss all of you! 

.7 months old.

Alice hit the 7 month mark back on the 17th but things have been crazy around here with travel, identity theft, flu bugs, and Easter prep so I am only just now getting around to updating you guys on our little lady.

Teeny Tiny is growing like a weed these days! She's rolling all over the dang place these days and is absolutely not in the same place for long. Little Miss is super close to crawling and getting teeth and sitting upright on her own for prolonged periods of time! She's at that phase right before everything kicks into 200 MPH mode and im trying to enjoy things as they are right now.