My Cup Runneth Over

little picasso.

2012-01-26T13:54:00.000-06:00

junie painted for the first time yesterday.

big, big day!

i think it's officially time to get this little budding artist an easel.

it was fun to watch her little mind at work as

she put different colors on her paper.

sweetest girl, i love you.

i know there will be tons more art days just around the corner!

i made my first batch of rice krispie treats yesterday afternoon.

how in the world have i never made these before?

they are delish!

. . . and almost all gone.

what a great rainy day at home.

we are looking forward to some

sunshine and a mighty fun weekend!

xoxo.

the real & short of it.

2012-01-22T22:14:00.000-06:00

things have been real nasty over here.

june and i both caught that nasty ole' stomach bug

that has been making everyone miserable.

it reared it's ugly head on us and boy was it u-g-l-y.

i cannot remember being that sick in a looooong time.

june was a trooper through it all and besides some

nasty diapers and just getting sick at her stomach once, you would

have never even known that she wasn't feeling too hot.

tough girl.

me on the other hand didn't take it so well.

i was a big helpless baby and hardly moved for an entire day.

so pathetic.

thankfully, our sweet daddy doctor stayed home

from work to get his girls all better.

i honestly don't think june or i would have survived the day without him.

on any given day, i am reminded of how i hit it

out of the park with this guy, this day was no different.

he takes care of us so well.

all of the time.

love him.

two little miserables watching elmo.

our girl is obsessed with elmo.

she lights up anytime she sees any device that could play

her a quick youtube of her favorite character.

we are thiiiiis close to having to limit her technology time.

and just like that, the next day we were all better.

definitely was all of that tlc we got from andy.

here we are so happy to be heading out of the house. . .

with new shades of course.

what girl doesn't need her own

pair of pretty pink wayfarers?!?

goofball.

she and i wrapped up our week with some fabric shopping

for some new projects and

were eager to get our weekend started.

it was a great weekend with a surprise treat from bapa and tootie!

such sweeties, always thinking about their girl.

she loved their treats and can't wait another second

for them to be here with us next weekend!

hurrrry up.

here's our little queen ready for friend liza's royal birthday party!

be still my heart.

i cannot even look at this picture without fighting the

temptation to go and scoop up her warm,

sleepy body and just squeeze her.

i sorta want her to wear that little petticoat every day of the week,

with her keds of course.

who's with me?

we had such a fun time at liza's party,

loved eating sugary treats,

loved all of the dress up clothes,

loved all of the chit chat,

we just love us some willbanks sisters!

the rest of our weekend was spent just relaxing,

going to church and eating out almost every meal.

the best trifecta.

such a great time spent with my two lovebugs.

hope yours was wonderful too!

one year old video!

2012-01-12T16:53:00.000-06:00

i have been trying everything i know

to try and show this to y'all!

i finally did it.

at june's birthday party we had this playing for all of our party guests to see.

it made for a fun and sweet attraction and i'm so hoping

that i can create something like this

for every year of her precious little life.

hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

sit back,

relax

and enjoy the show.

warning: it's a little long. :)

click here!

15 months!

2012-01-11T08:31:00.000-06:00

june bug.

you are my 15 month angel and i cannot believe

how quickly you are growing.

you are getting better and bigger

with each day.

you are truly the funnest kid around,

i love spending my days with you.

here's what you have been up to recently!

at your well check this month you weighed 23.7 pounds

and were 31 3/4 inches tall.

i think you are going to be long and lean like your daddy, so fun!

maybe you will like volleyball or you will be the best back spot on a cheer squad?

whatever you choose will be great!

we continue to praise and thank the Lord for your healthy little

self and leave every doctor's appointment so overcome with gratitude

for how well He's growing you.

you got your shots and we both were of course devastated about that.

your little cry gets more heartbreaking the older you get which really

breaks your dad's and mine's hearts.

we love you so much.

you are a very good little sleeper girl.

you are in bed by 8 most nights and we won't see you again until 8 or later the next morning.

you are taking two naps on most days, sometimes just

one depending on what we have going on.

last week you didn't seem too interested in taking

two naps but this week you are again, hooray!

just like when you were tiny, it seems the more you sleep the better you sleep.

i am thankful that you love snoozing and also thankful

that if you miss a nap you can roll with the punches

and are still your happy, sweet self.

that doesn't' happen too often though because i'm still a freak out nap natzi.

your daddy is helping me work through that. ;)

you are already such a feminine little lady.

you love your babies and are such a good little mommy to them.

you love to take good care of all of your stuffed animals and

carry them or your babies with you all day.

you love bows and necklaces and can put your necklaces on all by yourself.

it's a daily fun that you choose to do, get all dolled up in jewels.

i love that you like little lady things.

you also love being crazy with daddy!

he pushes you so fast around in your car or boxes and gets wild

with you in your monkey tent and you just die for it.

he thinks you like adventure. . .

he's right and so proud.

you love to go places with me and i try to make sure you love our time running errands.

i'm hoping that all of my favorite places like target,

hobby lobby and little antique stores become your favorite places too.

so far it seems to be working!

i love having you as my buddy, we have a whole lot of fun together.

you are definitely the apple of your father's eye.

you squeal with delight and run to him with these crazy open

arms when he comes home each day.

he melts, literally and it's the best thing i see all day.

y'all are really in love with each other, so sweet.

you are kind of funny about your eating.

you typically eat two very good meals a day which

i hear is better than some little ones, so high five for that!

the third meal you just pick and choose and graze around

but it's probably because you love to have snacks.

you know where they are and how to help yourself.

we've moved things around in our pantry so that these little

goodies are not so available to you anytime you want them, ha!

you are drinking milk like a champ from a sippy cup and can even say the word milk.

it sounds so cute!

milk is not the only word you can say. . .

mama, dada, daddy, coookie, bapa, tootie, becky, paw, laci, jackson,

duck, book, elmo, apple, rock, paci.

you also can say bye-bye, night night and where are you? (tootite taught you that one and it's the best)

talking is fun and your little voice is irresistible,

i could listen to you for days!

you are trying so hard to say christopher, you get the all of the

syllables but it sounds like jibber jabber.

he loves to hear you attempt it and it really

is the cutest little word.

last night you even said octopus, wow!

speaking of animals, you know the sounds that the

bear, bunny, lion, sheep, monkey,dog and horse make.

my little girl genius, ha!

you also know where your nose, belly, ear, mouth and hair are.

smart girl, the teacher in me is so proud.

oh, and you know the tune to the abc's!

you are a growing, gorgeous girl june bear.

there are not enough words to tell you how proud we are of you.

everywhere we go, people want to talk to you and compliment

you on your sweet, beautiful self.

i pray you are always noticed for having a sweet heart.

my little angel baby, i just am not sure how we managed to

make it before you came along.

we are so crazy about you.

everyone that knows you is crazy over you.

just cannot get enough.

love you my sweet girl.

all i've got.

2012-01-09T11:30:00.000-06:00

so here's the latest hodge podge of my life.

1. andy and i recovered a couple of old chairs i've

picked up here and there a few weeks ago.

we do not have a future in upholstery that's for sure.

one cushion, yes.

more than that. . . way over our heads.

2. christopher got his one and only niece her first car for christmas.

she loves it and is pretty stinkin' cute sitting in it.

she honks the horn, turns the key, gets in and out and

even turns the steering wheel but just cannot manage to make it go.

luckily, daddy likes to push her all around and she even says "wheeee!"

he'd push her for days just to hear her little voice.

3. as of today all of our christmas decor is down.

still not in boxes but it's off the shelves and our normal

everyday decor is back in it's rightful place.

i always feel sad and happy to see it go.

i know i'll be way ready to put it all up again next year

but it was starting to feel a little too messy.

4. our friends brandon, ashley and savannah had us over for a

delicious dinner, snacks, cowboys game and a tea party on the first day of 2012.

june made herself right at home in the popcorn bowl and

had some fun sippin on tea with the kiddos.

such a great way to start the year!

5. we also got to celebrate our cousin jonathan who just turned seven!

it was a fun afternoon at the yogurt shop

celebrating our favorite seven year old cousin.

can't believe how fast these kiddos grow

and they keep getting better and better!

6. june is dabbling in scribbling.

i am looking forward to sitting and coloring with

this little bug girl, i love to color!

and what better place to color than outside?!?

can't wait for spring!

7. i made these for dessert a night or two ago.

you must try them!

one box of devil's food cake mix

two eggs

1/3 cup of oil

rolos

hide rolos inside dough

bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes

sprinkle with powdered sugar

do ten extra crunches and push ups.

yum yum!

bapa + tootie = fun!

2012-01-08T08:19:00.000-06:00

with one day left on christmas vacation bapa and tootie raced

down to see their girls and we were so glad they did!

june definitely was thrilled to see them and i guess

they were pretty happy to see their little baby as well.

our first stop of the morning was at ol' south for some yummy pancakes.

it did not disappoint and we will
definitely be frequenting there more often.

so yummy!

since renovations are still taking place around the clock at

the new house my mom was needing some inspiration so

we popped into pottery barn for a look around.

luckily, bapa was there to keep junie entertained

while us big girls did some brainstorming.
they are the cutest pair.

next up was the insane apple store for an ipad.

yay! for this incredible technology that allows
us to see our faves whenever we'd like.

facetime addicts!

andy and i joked that this was probably the first store that
june didn't leave with a treat from her grandparents. . .
maybe they have her very own ipad tucked away somewhere.

i'm joking.

as soon as andy got home from work we whisked him back

downtown for a yummy dinner and a few last moments with

my parents before they headed back home.

what a great day!

let's do it again next week. . . and next. . . and next.

love y'all to pieces.

nye!

2012-01-07T11:14:00.000-06:00

2012 here we come!

we had a wild and crazy new year's eve

with dear friends and sweet little babies,

tons of yummy food and festive drinks.

it was the perfect ending to a sweet year and

a great kick off to a new year ahead of us!

we are excited for what's to come and so thankful for what's behind us.

we didn't make any crazy resolutions this year but

i have a feeling this new year is going to be just as good as the rest have been!

happy new year to you!

christmas morning!

2012-01-05T13:41:00.000-06:00

christmas is so great,

no wonder it is everyone's favorite time of the year!

our family does 'santa' and i hope we always will.

here's our little christmas girl, clean and ready for

dreams of sugar plums dancing in her head on her 2011 christmas eve.

after she left these treats for santa, we gathered to read her

children's version of Jesus' birth.

she was so sweet each time we would read this story

throughout the month of december, always paying such close attention

and loving story time.

this night though was different and even sweeter.

it is a powerful thing to tell your child about our Lord,

who we celebrate every day of the year,

pray with her; thanking Him for coming to this earth for us and

then lay her down to peacefully sleep knowing that come

morning we get to lavish her with His love and ours.

it's a surreal gift being parents to this little lump of love.

thank you Lord for all that you do, 365 days of the year.

june walked down the hallway of my parents house

to a true toyland awaiting her arrival.

santa definitely paid a visit to our very good little girl.

in fact, he came three times!

her face was priceless, she was so confused!

i can't imagine how this morning could have been any better.

there is nothing better than putting together christmas memories for your babies

and with the help and generous hearts of bapa, tootie and

uncle pher this christmas morning was extra sweet,

extra memorable and extra long. . . lots of gifts to unwrap, lots of hugs to give.

i am already so excited for next year!

merry late christmas morning from our family to yours.

we are all truly so blessed.

piggies.

2011-12-28T09:10:00.000-06:00

look closely.

the day has arrived.

june wore herself some pigtails.

mama cried.

love this growing girl!

buck fever!

2011-12-27T08:27:00.000-06:00

our good friends ryan and laci accompanied us out to the ranch,

what now seems like ages ago!

it really has been weeks.

gah jessica, get it together.

we had a great weekend together and ryan got his very first buck!

we were so excited for these two newhouse boys.

what's a trip out west without dinner at the clyde pizza house?!?

their pizza is so good to us, the kiddos loved the yummies and the music.

such a fun night, such a fun weekend, such sweet friends.

let's do it again!

merry christmas!

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

merry christmas from our family to yours!

oh christmas tree!

2011-12-24T08:34:00.000-06:00

we have loved having our halls decked this year.

it is so sweet to watch june oooh and aaah over our

trees every morning when we make the rounds turning each one on.

witnessing christmas through a child's eyes is so

sweet no matter how young or old they are.

here's some little christmas tidbits from the insides of our festive house this year!

may all your days be merry and bright!

xoxo.

conGRADulations!

2011-12-23T09:38:00.000-06:00

my little baby brother is a real life college graduate.

we are so proud of him and we are so excited to see

what the Lord has in store for him just around the corner.

the Lord's favor is definitely upon him and He has continued

to prove His faithfulness in the life of my brother.

it has been a great ride.

the list of accomplishments and greatness for my brother is a mile long

and the fun has just begun!

june loved herself some graduation.

she was very proud for every graduate and clapped for each one.

sweet little soul.

stay sweet forever.

we had a fun weekend celebrating the graduate.

two highlights that stick out were. . .

1. getting to meet hannah!

and

2. sitting so very close to this guy at dinner saturday night.

he even waved at june.

all in all, great weekend!

leaves are falling!

2011-12-22T09:41:00.000-06:00

we have some crazy leaves in our yard.

i have never really been the biggest fan of raking leaves.

my parents used to have a whole day devoted to

tending to our leaves when we were younger and

christopher and i never could really get the best attitude about it.

until now. . . how could you not love leaves when

this little doll is sitting in the middle of the pile.

almost makes you not want to pick them up.

like mama, like daughter the leaves wore us out!

june decided she had had enough and climbed up in the flower

bed and got cozy leaning against a bush.

funny girl, just taking a little rest.

hope your leaves are under control now too!

oh, you better watch out!

2011-12-20T12:47:00.000-06:00

you better not cry,

you better not pout

i'm telling you why. . .

santa claus is coming to town!

our little christmas girl did a decent job with the jolly old man.

she didn't love him but she didn't exactly despise him either.

she did have the most confused look when we plopped her down in his lap, sweet girl.

after our quick visit with santa, we stopped

off in macy's to send our letter off to the north pole.

just in case santa forgot what she had asked for,

he's so busy with all the kiddos i'm not sure how he keeps everything in order.

june was sure to write about what a good little girl she has been this year.

our little angel baby.

see you soon big guy!

i'll be sure to leave you the best cookies and some of my favorite milk.

merry christmas!

the liebster blog award.

2011-12-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

the liebster blog award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

my precious julia, who i miss! awarded my tiny blog with this award.

if you check in here often you already know julia but if you're new here let me introduce you two. . .

julia is one of my dearest friends.

she is the newest mom to sweet little perry girl.

she is wife to mr. b, aka andrew.

she is wonderful.

she is beautiful inside and out.

she cloth diapers.

she is a jcrew magazine.

she has a charming house on the cutest street.

she is encouraging and real.

she is a true blessing in my life.

she is just fantastic, love her.

thank you dear one for this blog nod!

Liebster is a German word meaning 'dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome'.

To keep this award going (by passing along to other new deserving blogs), the recipient must now recognize five other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have really stood out in the crowd.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Thank the person who gave the award and link back to their blog.

2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know!

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog post.

4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love too! 

*like jules, I personally want to add to the rules by saying a little something about the blogs below!*

So, here are my top 5!

1. growing up grier.

brittany is married to my cousin brent.

they are the best couple and have dated since highschool, which means we have all had the pleasure of knowing and loving brittany for quite some time.

together they have the cutest little girls, grier and ardynn.

her blog is full of the girls,

their cute pups, their incredible house and the cutest little things they are up to on a daily basis.

she literally is super mom!

2. everyday lovely.

i get school girl giddy when kristina updates her blog.

she is such a sweetheart, so incredibly creative and just so stinkin' cute!

i have known kristina forever and have enjoyed cheering with her, helping her highschool bf shop for the most perfect gift for her (ha!) and now enjoy in a non-pyscho way catching up with her and her cutie patootie ellie trough her blog.

i know you'll love her too!

3. keeping up with the manns.

i can't say enough about kelly mann.

she seriously should have her own television show on hdtv.

the things she and her husband brandon have done to their home is incredible and so magazine worthy.

and that's not all, kelly also is a photographer, a graphic designer, an interior designer, a former younglife leader and a lover of high heels. :)

she seriously does it all and does it all very well.

you're the best kelly!

4. beth and co.

i have only had the pleasure of meeting beth for one afternoon over a year ago when she took my families pictures.

at the time, her dad was the high school football coach for the cooper cougars and she was in town for thanksgiving, so somehow my mom got hooked up with her and she snapped our pics.

we all loved her and i remember thinking just how cute and professional and real she was.

so, i've been stalking her every since. :)

she has the best taste, the cutest girls, the coolest pictures.

she is the mind behind this incredible birthday party and has the funnest blog posts.

i love it when she updates.

5. all's bright at the allbrights.

how do i 'know' all of these incredibly talented ladies?!?

sharon is redbud designs.

she designed june's birth announcement and i used one of her designs this year for our christmas card.

i love everything she creates, so so much.

and. . .!

her second daughter august is about a month older than june so i love to read up on what she's up to, just makes me so excited to see what june will be doing next.

cutest girls.

thank you again julia!

will you do a tutorial on how you do your cute top knot?

i know you've taught me once, but ~~the world,~~ i am dying to know.:)

baby girl vinson.

2011-12-08T08:46:00.001-06:00

we are so over the moon for this new little girl that

will be coming into our world early may!

our dear friends sam and lucy are having a

girl and i am thrilled to add another little pink to our mix!

lucy's sweet friends kelsey and mckinsey put together the

cutest little fiesta for these cute new parents

and their little pink bundle.

we were so excited that it fell over thanksgiving

weekend so we could be there to celebrate!

congratulations to the vinsons!

we are already so in love with your girl and so excited to

do this whole 'parent' thing with y'all!

it's the absolute best.

a whatchamacallit thanksgiving.

2011-12-07T08:45:00.000-06:00

what a great thanksgiving we had this year!

we spent it at my aunt ginger and uncle jack's land in a tiny town

called miles, right outside of san angelo.

it was a great day of food, fun and family.

three things that are essential for any successful thanksgiving!

we surely do have so very much to be thankful for not only

on thanksgiving day but everyday of the year.

thank you Lord for all of the ways your continue to bless us,

our hearts are always running over.

after all of our bellies were full from the

second go 'round we had an intense. . .

no, intense doesn't even begin to describe it. . .

viscous sounds more like it. . .

game of charades.

there was enough competitiveness in that room to give

alabama and auburn a run for their money.

it was my kind of fun!

the girls won, see you next year pedro gonzalez gonzalez.

thanks to our fabulous super mom brittany, we got to start

a fun new tradition with june for her every

thanksgiving night from here on out.

tootie had found her the cutest little christmas pj's,

so just like brittany,

we wrapped them up for her to open that night before bath time.

such a fun and memorable way to ring in the christmas season!

brittany, thank you for this new family tradition.

like everything you do, we love it!

hope your thanksgiving was as sweet, yummy and memorable as ours.

may our hearts always be so thankful!

itty's.

2011-12-06T17:04:00.000-06:00

this is a sad post.

sad because it's waaaaay late but

mainly sad because the post office failed us.

in a BIG way.

i'm still not over it.

our poor pen pal slade was left without a package this month because

it magically disappeared in route to his house.

makes me so upset.

i'm most devastated about the book about brothers that went missing.

i'm still crossing my fingers that it will appear on his doorstep

any day now but since realistically i know it probably

won't we have some new fun

headed your way as we speak, little slade.

slade did not disappoint june this month with his pen pal assingment.

she loved each and every treat in her box and was such a cutie

opening up her packages and getting so excited about all of the goodness.

slade always finds the best stuff!

this month he sent june the Jesus Calling devotional

for kids that i cannot even start to tell you how

excited i am for that new read, just so sweet.

he also sent some bath time essentials:

a kitty loofah sponge

some cozy pj's

fun elmo bath fizzes

june is just as obsessed with her nightly bath as you are slade.

she loved it all!

he also sent her all kinds of fun orange goodies!

like silly string, orange melts, some orange

thanksgiving cookies cutters and some glittery orange nail polish.

she was thrilled with each and every treat but

especially loved her bag of melts.

our girl can put away some melts!

last but certainly not least, slade sent june the cutest book label

stickers and a picture of himself and his older brother carson.

cutest brothers in all the land.

thank you so much slade for your thoughtfulness, we have had a load of fun

with our goodies and can't wait for you to get ours.

hopefully this time around the post man won't snipe it for himself, little stinker.

jitter bug.

2011-11-17T11:07:00.002-06:00

our little bear cub is totally blossoming.

her little personality is coming out more and more with each day

and i must say it's pretty darn cute.

she is goofy with a capital g and we cannot get enough of her!

. . .and she's walking!

big time life changer and so much fun.

crank up the volume just a teeny bit, enjoy!

bookworm!

2011-11-10T10:22:00.000-06:00

"there are many little ways to enlarge your child's world.

love of books is the best of all."

- jacqueline kennedy

i have heard great things about half priced books but had

never stepped foot into one until yesterday.

june and i went in between her naps and found a new favorite place.

i'm still not positive if we found used books or what but either way this

place is a wonderland for little readers.

we really loved it!

they were playing willie nelson, gotta love them for that.

they had books on their shelves that

i had never seen for her before and

it just had that good feel about it,

you know the one?

the one where you just want to sit with her on your lap and read for hours.

her little new walking legs had a different plan, ha!

still a great afternoon outing.

then on our way home our neighbor horses were out close to the

fence grazing so we pulled over to say hello!

we are going to need to take them some apples soon and really get to know them.

junie was heartbroken to say goodbye but we'll be back.

when we got back to the homefront for june's afternoon nap

and we sat down to read her new reads, my heart felt so

thankful for her little curious sponge of a mind.

i know all children are like this and are so eager to soak up

whatever we give them but i think it's extra great

when they soak up good books.

plus, the kindergarten teacher in me appreciates

story time more than ever now. . .

it's a full on production with every page we turn, like i'm vying for an oscar nod.

ha! june is going to be so dramatic.

love story time.

"children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

- emilie bachwuld

zoo day!

2011-11-06T19:25:00.000-06:00

we took june to the zoo today and had the best time.

she was crazy about all of the animals and so were andy and i.

we can't wait to go back again!

"God made the wild animals according to their kinds,

the livestock according to their kinds,

and all creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.

And God saw that it was good." genesis 1:25

family pictures!

2011-11-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

i'm not sure why we waited so long to have more

pictures of our little family of three taken.

i guess it was worth the wait because i am in love

with each and everyone captured below!

tara maples, thank you for capturing our family so well.

we will cherish these forever and always.

you are so talented!

summary.

2011-11-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

my hunting husband goes on an elk hunt once a year for an entire week.

it's a bitter sweet trip for us. . .

bitter for the obvious reason of being away from our main squeeze,

sweet because us girls get to spend a week in abilene.

the moment he leaves we are ready to have him back!

cheese ball, emotional me wrapped him up a treat and a letter for each

day that he would be missing his girls.

a little part of us went with him to the manly mountains.

the moment we pulled into town we had a lunch

date with our other two men.

everyone in our party of four was excited to see each other

and eat the best chicken strips in all the land.

country club, i love you.

while i was getting my hair cut that evening june's caretakers

loaded her up to go feed the ducks.

her papa has been chomping at the bit to take

her for a ride on his new golf cart.

i'd say it's a new tradition for any visit home!

my parents house is currently under construction.

they started knocking down walls and completely demoing things

left and right the minute us jeffreys hit the road monday night.

we are all excited to see the progress and i know my mom is

extremely excited and ready to make this house into a home.

it's going to be great!

so. . .

since their kitchen is still in boxes we did a whole lot of eating out!

no one was complaining,

especially this little monkey.

junie was so funny this trip with her little babies,

she wanted to take them everywhere with her.

sweet mama in the making.

i'm thinking santa might be bringing her a stroller for christmas.

tootie wanted to buy her girl some new books.

our little bookworm was thrilled!

so we loaded her up and headed to hastings for lots of new reads.

thank you tootie!

love this picture below of them reading together, love.

june also scored a new christmas book from my aunt frank

that she oohed and aahhed over immediately.

thank you for thinking of her and for helping us start our collection of christmas books!

you are so sweet.

we ventured out to the big crosstown showdown friday night,

only to leave promptly at halftime because things weren't

looking too promising on our side of the field.

poor cougars, better luck next year guys.

despite the terrible loss june loved all of the action;

the band, all of the people, the team, the lights.

maybe cheerleading is in her future!

one guy that did not come out losing friday was our hometown hero, the hunter.

andy shot the biggest elk that ever roamed the earth on friday!

we were all so proud and so excited for him.

i think my dad was the most excited and i guarantee you

everyone in abilene has seen this picture on his phone.

it's sweet to be proud.

goodness gracious that animal is huge and

goodness gracious andy's hands are disgusting.

love him, love his adventures and love that he is now back with his girls.

who doesn't love a pumpkin smocked little girl?!?

we've been ready for fall fashion for a while now.

my mom and i spent a few hours working on june's mouse

costume and if it wasn't for her june the mouse probably

would have been missing some ears and a tail, ha!

i'm thankful for this trip home and for all the necks we got to hug. . . if only for a second.

so thankful for my parents and brother for the memories we

made and for all that they did for june and i.

so thankful andy's home safe and so thankful for the memories he made with his dad.

we'd love to share some elk meat with you, come by anytime!

junie the mouse!

2011-11-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

best little mouse ever!

i love a good reason to play dress up so we were excited for

our girl to be a little mouse for her

first official trick or treating halloween!

i probably shouldn't even say trick or treating because she

wasn't having much of it and only made it to one house

and didn't even get to eat any candy.

mean mama but i figure she'll never know.

we were super proud to show her off at my

grandma's and she was quite the hit!

my grandparents live on a pretty busy street for trick or treaters

so we got to pass out treats for a little while and then head home to. . .

get our little mouse some cheese!

it was a fun night, fast and furious but super fun.

already looking forward to next year's dress up party!

itty's.

2011-10-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

if you don't follow meredith and her boys you must be living under a rock.

she is the definition of super mom.

literally, she can do just about anything and make it look so top notch.

her home, herself and her boys are the absolute cutest.

so it's only natural that she came up with the cutest itty bitty pen pal idea for our little ones.

i couldn't sign june up fast enough and we were so excited to be paired with slade!

maybe one day these two can fall in love at acu. . . just sayin'.

slade sent june the best little treat box full of halloween goodies!

she loved digging around and finding treat after treat.

slade, you are the best little guy.

thank you for all of our fun, i am so glad you are my pen pal!

here's the rundown on her loot:

-the most hysterical little cow noise maker that she hasn't put down since the day she got it.

so perfect for her, since 'moo' stands as the front runner in her short little list of words.

- the cutest halloween shoes and bow! you will die when you see the picture of them on her feet.

wowee, meredith those were so beyond precious!

-halloween funfetti mix, icing and perfect cupcake liners. slade, you know us well.

funfetti is the only way to our hearts.

-pink glow sticks for safe trick or treating. duh!

we can't wait for november!

june is already at work on her next goodie bag for you slade.

pen pal high five!

my fall favorite.

2011-10-25T09:05:00.000-05:00

two of my all time favorite things:

fall and this little pumpkin girl.

loved this afternoon of pumpkins with my baby.

pink or blue, who are you?

2011-10-24T13:18:00.001-05:00

saturday we were celebrating perry.

sunday we were back celebrating a new little pink baby brooks!

andy and i hosted what might have been the quickest thrown

together gender reveal for my sweet sister in law becky and her family. . .

soon to be family of six!

they are expecting their second baby girl early march and

we were so excited to share the exciting news with them, our family and the brooks' dearest friends.

when i got the go ahead from becky that she wanted to live it up

gender reveal style i couldn't believe that i was going to be the

only one in our family that knew if this baby was pink or blue for four whole days.

that's a loooong time to keep that great of a secret but i knew

the payoff was going to be priceless when they opened their cakes!

you're now invited to share in the fun of our night. . . take a peek.

(thanks to brittany polk for these great pictures)

baby shelby grace we can't wait to meet you!

you are already loved and celebrated in many, many ways.

yay for more pink!

woohoo acu!

2011-10-22T10:09:00.000-05:00

this was a memory making weekend i've got coming 'atcha, one for the books.

andy and i, the most brilliant parents in the world thought it

would be so smart to leave for abilene when it was time for

june to go to sleep, at her normal bedtime of 8 o'clock.

our sweet girl is very predictable when it comes to her sleeps,

a trait of hers that i think my lucky stars for, so we thought this was a genius idea.

so on the road again we were, headed home for acu's homecoming and baby perry's sip and see!

once we pulled into town, it was late. . . like pushing midnight late and june was just waking up.

sweet little girl, the moment she realized she was in her papa and tootie's house she knew she could do just about whatever she wanted.

so she wanted to walk for the first time ever (yay!) and stay up until 2:30 (yikes!).

told ya, memories!

i don't think we will be leaving at bedtime ever again.

lesson learned.

somehow our sleepy heads woke up in time for the parade

and that's about all the homecoming participating we did.

better luck next year.

best part of our weekend was seeing these two girls, calli and clarke.

hands down, best part.

we have a weekend planned coming up soon for some time

away for us four girls and i could not be more excited about it!

is clarke not the cutest thing ever?!?

i love her.

and is her mama not the most talented thing ever?!?

best little kojie jersey i've ever seen.

good work turner.

oh perry, you are the prettiest little doll with the prettiest mama!

our afternoon was perfect.

we got to love on sweet perry lucille at her very own sip and see at lucy's parents house.

everything was beautiful and i'm beginning to think that lucy

should open a party planning business, the girl knows her stuff.

we loved our afternoon with the belcher girls and wish we could

spend every afternoon of the week with them.

junie slept through her friends party but managed to make

it down the street for a cupcake, surprise, surprise!

she will indeed love you forever abby.

the rest of our time was spent just maxin' and relaxin. . . just the way we like it.

my mom dug out our old collection of beanie babies.

good grief, we had a ton of those ridiculous things!

june was in heaven loving her new babies.

of course, what's a trip to papa and tootie's without a ride in her wagon?

before we headed back she got one little tease of a stroll down

what might possibly be the most beautiful street in all of abilene.

we are in love with our parent's new neighborhood.
it's a modern day mayberry.

until next time!

we will be back so soon.

santa monica.

2011-10-21T11:49:00.001-05:00

i'm way, way behind on catching ya'll up to date.

let's cut to the chase, i won't even bore you with

my empty promises of trying to do better.

***

my parents moved!

big, big news!

i think i'm the only one that's a little disappointed

that they didn't pack it all up to be closer to andy, june and i. . .

but i'm still holding out hope for that day.

we had sixteen years of memories in this house that my brother and i truly grew up in.

we had moved once before but this house was home.

the smells, the sounds, the walls that had seen it all go down,

we surely couldn't not be there to tell it goodbye one last time.

so pack it up we did!

we had lots of good laughs this weekend,

mainly at my dad's expense (we love you charlie)

and we are all excited, so so excited to make a home out of my parent's new house.

goodbye to you santa monica street,

we will cherish you forever and remember you always.

moo!

2011-10-20T17:59:00.000-05:00

we spent some time at the ranch a couple weeks back,

it was so nice to be out there and i'm embarrassed to say that

i can't remember the last time we were out there before this one weekend.

life is good and busy, but hopefully

we'll be back out there sooner than later.

we were excited to show junie the moo cows,

since that is her newest word.

i love that 'moo' is one of her first words.

sweet little girl, it was a great opportunity to

get up close and personal with her "pets".

she went crazy for them just like we thought she would.

i love this picture of my babies.

proud daddy showing his girl the ropes, his girl being ever

so aware of the baby calves behind her and that storm rolling in.

praise the Lord for rain this weekend, those raindrops

saved a lot of life at the ranch.

sweetest cousins at the gate when we headed

out the next morning.

this bunch is going to get even funner with our two new

cousins who are on the way!

thanks for a great and relaxing time rock ridge!

keep junie's pets so safe, we'll see you soon!

all i'm good for.

2011-10-11T17:29:00.000-05:00

all i'm good for these days is a bunch

of random pictures from my phone,

but have no fear lots of fun is ahead so surely i'll be here more often.

surely.

so junie can't get enough of being outside and holding her babies.

my parents bought this little red wagon for their house

but we had to use it for the big party. . . so before they

headed back west one quick stroll was indeed needed.

all three babies enjoyed the ride.

is it strange that i took a picture of june with her pediatrician?

it was a congratulatory picture of sorts. . . congratulations for

making it through a year of life?

does that count for something?

sure!

andy and i both think her doctor is the best and are so thankful

for a year of leaving his office praising the Lord for our healthy little bug.

goodness, that's blurry.

after shots that day, andy stayed home with us to

knock out some things at home.

literally.

he installed a new potty and a new microwave all in an afternoon.

we loved having him home with us one extra day and are loving our new toys.

that's weird to love a potty but we do.

as a little girl, i would never be caught digging in the dirt.

that is not the case for june.

she would dig in this pot all day if i let her.

my little grubworm, i love you so much!

these two are just for kicks.

nothing but cuteness.

we used to meet andy for lunch a whole lot

and we loved these outings.

these days it seems easier for him to come home for lunch

and we always love our visitor.

this day we got to meet him and it was a sweet reunion.

you would have thought we took june to the circus, she

was so happy to see every single ~~stranger~~ person at the restaurant

but especially happy to see her da-da.

one of june's birthday goodies from tootie was this pair of jeggings.

who doesn't love a good pair of jeggings?

these were the cutest little things on her chunky legs.

thank you again mom for keeping her instyle.

***

so there you have it.

stay tuned for lots of action coming up!

you are my sunshine!

2011-09-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

time to party!

we were so excited to celebrate our little sunshine girl with friends and family.

the theme of the party was 'you are my sunshine' but looking

back now through the decorations no

one would have probably known that, ha!

i had gathered and made plenty of orange and yellow goods

to add some details to our backyard bash,

love is in the details at our house.

these pictures are pretty self explanatory, so i think i'll let them do the talking.

it was truly a perfect afternoon.

pause.

andrew cardwell jeffrey, it has been a joy to venture down

this parent road with you for the past year.

we did it!

your girls could not ask for a better daddy.

you could write the book on it for sure.

i love you so much, thank you for making me a mama.

let me interject.

the belcher's came with baby perry!

junie was so honored to see these party guests.

sweet sweet friends.

surprise! surprise!

june loved her cake so so so much.

she didn't hesitate at all digging right in.

love her little sweet tooth.

big thanks to everyone for all of june's goodies,

sent from near and far.

it is overwhelming for a mama's heart to see

her baby girl loved so well by so many.

thank you!

and big time shout out to my parents, who like always,

we couldn't have pulled this shin-dig off without their help.

my mom put in hours upon hours making buntings and cookies

and then they along with my brother showed up with their minds

right to work, work, work until the final seconds before the start of the party.

we are forever grateful for the way y'all continue to bless us.

proof of a yummy and successful first birthday!

can't believe this one is in the books.

now it's time to plan the next one!

september 21, 2011!

2011-09-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

the day had finally arrived!

our little girl was turning one and i was determined

to make it as 'tradition-full' as possible.

for that's the fun of it all happening for the first time right?

happy first birthday our sweetest love, you are the best thing to celebrate.

she got balloons and happy birthday serenaded to her by her

two favorite people the morning of her first birthday.

be sure to watch her video, her little bashful smile is priceless.

i love that we will do this each and every year with her on her big day!

before lunch she got her presents from andy and i;

an outfit since she doesn't have enough :),

a new pair of jammies and

a crawl thru tunnel that we were certain she would love.

we were wrong, way wrong.

poor baby has only made it through max two times.

oh well!

i think one day soon she will grow to love it.

i whipped her up a yummy turkey melt with fruit and

yogurt for her birthday lunch with birthday bear.

told ya, people. . . traditions.

then we were off for a cake pop at target and to grab a few last minute things for her big party.

she loved her pop and i love these pictures of her,

her little chubby hands touching each and every tiny sprinkle,

her sweet little smile, thinking "this is too good to be true!"

and her little angel face.

we couldn't have loved this day any more.

after a good long nap, daddy loaded us up to meet

papa and tootie at uncle juliio's in downtown.

it was a yummy birthday dinner and it was so good to be

sharing her birthday night with them.

she was so excited to see them and we were too!

she and i both were shocked at the goodie bag my mom put together for her.

ridiculous!

junie's new jon hart was overflowing, literally with all

kinds of outfits, and shoes and new babies and the list goes on and on.

thank you papa and tootie for everything!

my crack up of a baby girl.

we laughed so hard at this picture!

we love you little one year old.

it was the best day ever celebrating your life.

we look forward to all of the years to come and continue to

thank the Lord for your health and the fact that you are ours.

happy first birthday!

happy birthday to june!

2011-09-21T07:00:00.001-05:00

one year ago today our hearts grew to a

size i never knew was possible.

you have filled our lives with so much joy baby girl.

we continue to be amazed at how just looking

at you makes our heart skip a beat.

happy birthday baby girl.

you are truly the best thing that ever was.

iphone dump.

2011-09-20T07:48:00.000-05:00

here's the latest rendition of my iphone outtakes.

we will waste no time and cut right to the chase.

last friday june and i attended our first fort worth christian pep rally.

it was so cute and spirited and was just what we

needed to satisfy our west texas football craving.

we hope to become regulars there on friday mornings.

junie is so very close to walking and since she is so

very close to turning one she got an early birthday present last week.

she feels so big cruising around on her own two feet.

love her.

this little contraption was our first attempt at a walker for the birthday girl.

we put it together one night only to quickly realize it was way out of her

league and would be better suited for an expert walker not a beginner.

i tried to hide it from her but she found it and would not give it up one morning.

it is now hidden in our guest shower, sneaky mama.

i'm certain she won't ever think to look there.

mama's smarter than the average bear.

i made my first honeybee tee purchase.

i love darby and all of her goodness and can't wait for junie

to be big enough to fit in one of her adorable tees.

we are all about comfy tees in this house and honeybee tees has the cutest.

so, i figured these cutie bags would hold us over until we're big enough.

aren't they the greatest?

one for trick or treating and one just for everyday treats.

these next three need no other words than. . .

my.

cup.

runneth.

over.

i seriously thought that june was not going to be the

baby that got into

every. single. thing.

all of a sudden, after months and months of not caring at all

about what treasures were to be found in there. . . she flipped the switch.

the cabinets will soon be kid proofed.

sweet little curious george.

our bathing beauty loves her bubbles.

she also is such a helper bee with the laundry.

she will be sitting in her room looking through her books and as

soon as she hears me open the dryer door she takes off as fast

as she possibly can to help me pull out all of the dry clothes.

we have the best time in there sorting through the laundry.

one of the highlights of our day.

the main attraction of our day is when this guy comes home.

sweetest thing to watch her light up for 'da-da'

as soon as he pulls in the driveway.

highlight of his day for sure.

hope your days are full of highlights as well!

almost old.

2011-09-19T14:33:00.000-05:00

we kicked off a round of birthdays this weekend

by celebrating andy's last year of being twenty something.

one more year until he is the big 3-0!

we had a pretty simple, laid back night. . .

just the way we like it.

dinner with friends at our favorite pizza place, palio's

and then cake and ice cream back at our house.

it was a fun night celebrating our main man.

happy birthday andy, you continue to be the icing on the cake.

these little monkeys felt so big time getting to stay up way

past their bedtime and even got to have some yummy birthday cake.

little luke harmon was hysterical, he was loving life!

andy's real birthday was on sunday so he got his treats

after church that morning because everyone out there knows

what a task it is to get out the door sunday

mornings with a little angel in tow.

he was pleased to say the least with his birthday presents!

after presents we headed over to his parents

house for a family birthday party!

his mom had the yummiest food ready for the birthday

boy and everyone gathered around to wish him another happy year.

it was a great lunch spent together.

believe it or not the fun did not stop there.

andy topped out the weekend with a total of three birthday cakes, goodness!

i whipped up a funfetti to take to our small group last night where he was celebrated once again.

a well loved man for sure.

so thankful for you, andy.

so thankful you were born and i'm so excited to celebrate you again and again.

here's to livin' large.

fairgrounds.

2011-09-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

june and i jetted to abilene last week to squeeze baby perry.

i am still kicking myself for not taking a picture with her so i

could show you how absolutely perfect she is.

she truly is the sweetest little thing with the sweetest

little mama.

a treasure of an afternoon,

chatting with my dear friend "mom to mom".

we love you three!

***

our trip was pretty speedy but packed with fun!

tootie has dreamed of taking junie to the fair since she was a

tiny baby so her dreams finally came true last thursday.

the crowd thursday night was rather questionable but

that didn't stop us from hitting the hot spots.

come along with us to the west texas fair and rodeo!

these little goats loved our girl and uncle pher nearly

let one bite off june's pointer finger.

andy and i are not really animal people but i think somehow our little munchie is.

maybe we should get her a puppy for her big day coming up. . . eh, probably not.

she sure is the sweetest little animal lover

and goes crazy for any little creature she sees.

after our buckin' bronco experience in ruidoso i figured

these little ponies would be much more tame.

not the case.

we saddled up and didn't know we needed to hold

on for dear life, fastest little carousel in texas.

june probably could have done without it but made

for a cute picture and a funny memory.

i don't know about you but our family loves funnel cakes.

i'm sure yours does too.

we couldn't leave without one!

what's a fair without a funnel cake.

junie of course couldn't get enough of it, sweet little baby girl.

i'm so glad we got to introduce june to the fairgrounds, we missed daddy and papa being with us.

a new tradition for our fall trips back home.

see you next year!

getaway!

2011-09-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

after a whirlwind of a very sweet and fun wedding week for

my dear lesley, andy and i handed june off to her

papa and tootie and headed out of town

for a little getaway for just the two of us.

it was just what the doctor ordered!

like any romantic weekend the first

stop is always to fill our bellies.

for lunch that day we had sandwiches at jimmy john's

and a yummy little cookie for the

shopping we had ahead of us that afternoon.

we just went down the road a little ways to the nearest ikea.

funny thing, this trip was for the two of us but was totally centered around june.

i spotted the cutest little table and chairs for her tea parties a while back

that i thought they would make the most perfect

first birthday gift and i couldn't wait to make one ours. . .

little did i know they were a summer item that sold out quickly

and won't be back until next summer.

i was so sad and andy was bummed to because he wanted

to keep his streak alive of never having stepped foot in that giant maze.

it was his first and probably last trip to ikea.

of course we didn't leave empty handed, we picked her up

some other little funs and were on our way to see our first movie of the weekend.

junie was having the time of her life which made our

time all the sweeter knowing that she was being loved on 24/7.

verdict's still out on wether or not my parents

were loving their life or not, ha!

dream come true for those three.

for sure.

after the movie and more shopping we were

pretty wiped out so we curled up at the

hotel in our comfy bed for nap time and woke up starving again.

we had yummy steaks and seafood at the funnest little

steakhouse called randy's on main street.

it was so nice to sit and talk and enjoy our meal,

take our time and debate about dessert.

i loved our night.

it was wonderful to sleep in to

whenever we wanted sunday morning.

we finally rolled out of bed in time

for checkout and headed to surprise, surprise. . .

more food and shopping!

we also saw another movie,

which this one i feel like i could rave on and on about.

it came highly recommended and now i would

highly recommended it to any stranger on the street.

we couldn't believe how crazy we felt seeing two movies in two days,

a rare event in the land of mom and dad.

one i wouldn't trade for a million movies.

we ended our time at sushi sam.

i've never eaten sushi faster than i did that night.

i was so so ready to see

our bug,

we couldn't stand it anymore.

so thankful for this weekend away with my baby's daddy.

so thankful for my baby who makes time alone

with her daddy so treasured now.

so thankful that my parents were able to watch june

and give andy and i the gift of sleep, ha!

no, seriously mom and dad. . . thank y'all so much.

i knew we wouldn't have to twist your arms too hard.

thank you Lord for these sweet and perfect gifts,

all of these people that i love so much.

we are truly blessed beyond measure.

flyin j!

2011-09-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

our last night in ruidoso was one for the books!

we went to the flyin' j dude ranch and had quite a big time.

isn't' our little jailbird too cute for words?

so what's a family trip without matching tees?

i whipped these up for all of us to wear and we might have

caused quite a stir at the dude ranch in our matching uniforms.

this is what memories are made of right?

as a little girl, i remember going to flyin' j and being so amazed

by this old little western town complete with a gun show and a chuck wagon dinner.

i was excited for pearce and noah to experience it all and

can't wait to take june back there one day when she can really get it.

it was such a fun night!

we missed our papa this night.

he had to rush home unexpectedly for work and we were so sad

he was not there to share in our last night of mountain fun.

my mom and i tried our hand at the pistol shooting.

my mom even got a bullseye,

look out!

i, on the other hand am a very terrible shot.

the little western town is so cute and so fun to imagine what it

was like way back when the west was wild.

this was the crowd lined up to take their seats for the gun fight.

after our nerves calmed down from the gunfight we headed into

the dining hall for the most delicious dinner. . . just like the cowboys would have eaten.

it was delish!

of course our little bug loved every morsel, just like her daddy!

after dinner there is a little concert and junie was the cutest

thing ever, dancing and singing and waving at the people

behind us and just having the time of her life!

she really could not get enough of it and it was so sweet to watch her!

and would you believe it. . . our new friend royce loved our shirts so

much he begged andy for the very one off his back.

it was funny to us and we were happy to share!

luckily, andy had on an undershirt so we did some switching with

thomas and royce got a little souvenir after his hard nights work.

mom and dad, thanks again so much for this great trip!

we love every memory and can't wait for the next one!

here's to hawaii 2012. :)

cafe rio.

2011-08-29T16:38:00.000-05:00

does this picture alone not make you want to jump

in your car and make the trek to ruidoso?

i'm with you if you do.

cafe rio is the place to be and it never leaves you wanting more.

it is so good and a must do for any trip to the mountains.

the man next to andy wanted to jump in our picture.

we loved it and welcomed him for sure.

his name was bruce and he was from michigan.

random but still fun!

i absolutely love this picture of junie and her papa and am crazy

for each and every man in the picture below.

after pizza we headed down the road to the little go-cart/putt-putt park.

entertainment at it's best!

i crack up at her little smiling face.

please stay tiny forever junie.

we love you!

the boys couldn't get enough of the go-carts.

talk about a need for speed.

are you wondering who tagged along with us?

this is my aunt caroline's family.

she is the 7th of my mom's siblings, my mom being number six.

her husband toby, the kiddos: thomas, pearce and noah.

we all loved being on vacation together and cannot wait for the next one.

again with the wooden bears.

junie was obsessed and in love with everyone she saw.

she loves her bears and she loves her tootie even more.

one more vacation post: flyin' j!

wildlife, literally. . . WIlD!

2011-08-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

there were lots of fun animals on our trip!

i take that back. . .

most were fun but there was one little evil animal

that you'll have to stick with me to hear more about.

early one morning we got up in time to take the duckies and geese some breakfast.

june's favorite animal is a duck so she couldn't believe there were

so many real ones for her sweet eyes to see.

she kept pointing and saying "duh-duh-duh" and just going crazy for each and everyone.

probably the most loving from afar they have ever received.

later that morning, noah and i were taking out the trash and saw this guy!

he of course ran off into the woods

as soon as he saw us but

we found him and brought him some breakfast too.

clearly, these little deer are quite comfortable in their

condo world and i'm sure this was not a first

but we felt very 'deer whisper-y'.

a priceless memory for sure!

this giant wooden bear lived outside of our condo and

it was by far junie's favorite animal of the entire trip.

she begged to touch him every time we were outside.

she loves bears too!

later in the week we went on a mountainside tour

on the back of some very nice horses.

it was a beautiful little trip up the mountains, so peaceful

and relaxing and another treasured memory.

june did not go but just got to be part of the picture.

are you crazy?

you know me. . . that would never happen.

she did however get to ride this little toot of a pony.

have you seen these and thought how precious and cute. . .

think again.

with andy's death grip on june i thought this would be the

funnest thing ever for our little adventure baby.

boy, was i wrong!

she got bucked off.

i'm not even joking and i'm clearly not over it yet.

thankfully the Lord's and andy's death grip was strong enough that

not even a little hair on her sweet head was harmed but talk about a mama bear moment.

good grief.

after the worst experience of my life we all tried

to forget about it with a little swinging.

it worked for june but not yet for me.

stayed tuned for more posts!

promising to be less dramatic and free of buckin' broncos. :)

fish fun!

2011-08-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

last week abbi and i took the babies to the new

sea life aquarium in grapevine!

it was perfection for everyone involved.

the babies loved it and the mommies did too.

it really was the perfect little exhibit, good for all ages

and we can't wait to go back.

i was just sick that i didn't think to snap a picture

of junie and i with the fish so daddy, with no prompting,

put her in her sea life jammies for the night and

we still were able to document our day!

sure do love days with my girl.

and God said,

"let the waters teem with living creatures". . .

so God created the great creatures of the sea

and everything that which the water teems and that moves about in it.

genesis 1:20-22

on your mark!

2011-08-22T09:17:00.001-05:00

wooho, it was race day!

one of the highlights of our mountain town is the horse races.

it always makes for such a fun day and we were all looking forward to it for weeks.

you can imagine what goes down:

ridiculous bets on ridiculous odds of a certain horse coming in win, place or show.

that's race lingo for ya', i don't really understand it all but i get

the biggest kick out of watching my husband and my brother and my dad.

we all were feeling pretty lucky going in to race one

and with our

little lucky charm girl in tow i knew we were

going to come out ahead.

boy was i wrong!

it was a disappointing day at the tracks race wise

but we all still had a blast!

junie loved the races.

she was so intrigued by the horses and all of the crazy action!

she also was loving eating little crackers, ha!

she was so sweet and content to sit and watch the horses and eat her little cracker crumbs.

sweetest little angel love.

she was so tuckered out from all of our horse cheering.

sweet girl decided to take a nap on tootie and good thing pearce was there to

hold her own personal fan!

we called her a diva that day. . .

i hate to say it but andy and i do no make a good team when

it comes to betting on horses.

we have no clue what we're doing and have

all the losing tickets below to prove it!

such fun though.

we all couldn't get enough of the race action so one day back at our

condo we decided to make our own little fun while june was napping before dinner.

the men on the trip were enlisted to participate in a speed walking race

down the mini hill in front of our house.

cheap entertainment, enjoy!

clearly the two most competitive participants on the trip didn't
follow the rules and forgot it was a
speed walking race.
you noticed the obvious running at the end right?
silly boys.
here's christopher post race with his espn top ten plays of the week interview.

the races wore us out so of course we had to re-fuel at the most delicious seafood restaurant ever!
more fun and food ahead. . .

mountain hideaway.

2011-08-21T07:24:00.000-05:00

junie made her first real life roadtrip.

like a substantial one, a six hour one to be exact and the angel girl could not have done better!

i have to admit i was kinda nervous about the whole thing.

she's a champ when it comes to her carseat but never has she

had an audience sharing the backseat with her so we weren't quite

sure how any sleeping was going to happen since we

all know she loves to be in on all the action.

she did perfectly and we were all so jazzed to be in the same car together,

headed to our mountain hideaway.

my parents so graciously took our entire family on the most

relaxing and most fun little getaway to ruidoso, nm.

we have gone there for years and made lots of memories

so you can imagine how excited i was to show our baby bug

around our favorite mountain town.

as usual, it did not disappoint!

since junie was with us we did make a few more stops than

usual and most just so happened to be under texas' stop sign, dairy queen.

the choices for pit stops along the way to new mexico are few and far between

and most are pretty questionable germ wise so good ole d.q. was the best we could do.

no one seemed to mind too much because that meant with every

stop someone came out with one more blizzard or another chocolate shake. . .

must haves for any roadtrip.

after our long drive we finally had arrived and just like any good

family does we headed straight for more food,

on tonights menu was mexican food.

i pride myself in being a mexican food connoisseur and this place

left us all wanting more but we were so thrilled to be

out of the car that we ate it anyways.

after a quick stop at the grocery store for breakfast essentials,

the boys got their monies together and headed to the casino for a little blackjack action

and. . .

the girls cozied up with the biebs and some chocolate chip cookies,

perfect night!

my favorite quote from the entire vacation

was from the mouth of my little cousin pearce. . .

of course junie girl was fast asleep for the night and we were all

downstairs watching the movie,

it was nearing the end,

right before his concert in madison square garden and she looked at me and said

"i wish june was awake so we could scream!"

i died.

she lives for jb and it was hysterical how giddy she was about his movie,

nevermind the fact that it was probably the 30th time she had seen it.

love her and i am not ashamed to admit that she gave me the fever.

justin bieber is adorable and his movie is a must see.

stay tuned for loads more of vacation funs!

showered with love!

2011-08-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

lesley's abilene shower was such a blast!

she and her andy got tons of great stuff and are totally set to be

husband and wife so very very soon!

it was a great afternoon, hope you like the pictures.

surprise of a lifetime when brooke popped out of jody's car!

growing up with these girls was so much fun. . . too much fun at times.

we were all devastated when brooke (far left) had to move away in middle school.

it's been years since we have all been under the same roof

and it was the sweetest surprise for her to come in for lesley's

shower and the big reveal went off without a hitch. . . the guest of honor

was shocked and so happy when she saw brooke.

truly priceless, can't wait to see you again at the wedding!

lesley has two of the cutest nieces on this planet.

they were so much fun and too cute for words at the shower!

the groom popped in at the end, aren't these two a gorgeous couple?!?

and look how cute they look with a little girl :) i'm just sayin'. . .

let's not waste any time making you two a family of three after the big day!

love y'all to pieces and am so looking forward to your day!

here comes the bride!

2011-08-19T08:35:00.000-05:00

weeks ago we all gathered to celebrate the future mrs. harcar!

my dearest lifelong bf lesley is soon to be the most beautiful bride

your eyes have ever seen so with all of her closest friends we

celebrated big time with a weekend in dallas.

it was so much fun and just the most perfect way to celebrate the new 'mrs.'

a couple weeks later i was honored to get to tag

along to her final cake consultation!

it was such a sweet day and made me even more giddy for her big day

because everything is going to be so beautiful and perfect.

i love each and every memory i share with this girl and my heart

swells just thinking about the memories we are going to make on september 2!

bathing beauty.

2011-08-02T17:39:00.001-05:00

junie girl has officially moved up in the bathtub ranks.

gone are the days of getting bathed in the kitchen sink.

just another step towards being a big girl.

things were getting dangerous in the kitchen sink. . .

june was trying to climb out,

suck on the sprayer and constantly wanting to stand up.

ha!

we knew it was time for a change and now bathtime is so much easier.

she loves her big girl bath and all the room to splash around.

she also loves that her entire family of duckies get to join in on the fun.

sweet little life angel baby.

we love being clean and look forward each night to bathing our beauty.

sweetest love bug ever.

ten months!

2011-08-01T16:56:00.002-05:00

my angel.

that is exactly what you are.

i know i'm your mama but i think all that have met you would agree.

you are the sweetest little girl ever.

you are changing everyday and it is the best thing ever to witness.

i am so very thankful that i get to watch every single move you make, our days are pretty sweet together.

i have started planning your first birthday and just about can cry

everytime i find a new idea for your bash on pinterest.

i can't believe you are two months away from being a year old.

that is so crazy to me.

i think it's going to be a fun time and i hope you will feel so loved and celebrated.

i have a good feeling you will because every one of your

favorite people will be here to do just that. . . love and celebrate you!

it's easy to do.

at ten months you are wearing size three diapers but i don't think for much longer.

you are wearing mostly 12 to 18 months clothes, sometimes 6 to 12 months.

you have five teeth, three on bottom and two little fangs (ha!) on top.

you are a sweet little teether and hardly ever fuss. if you feel sad about your teeth you let us know right before bedtime and usually oragel does the trick.

i feel so bad for you, much more sad than you ever are

but my heart is quickly put at ease when you fall right to sleep.

daddy and i are wondering if maybe you are tricking us for a little bit more time of loving, smart girl.

you are still a busy bee.

you crawl everywhere around our house and pull up on everything in sight.

a handful of times you have started cruising down furniture to get something at the other end.

i feel no rush about you taking your first steps

because crawling to me is very baby and we all know i want you to stay a baby forever.

walking will be fun i'm sure, all in due time.
you love to 'love' on all of your stuffed animals.

i love this trick of yours and it's pretty funny because your love

is more like a strangle than an actual hug.

we love it either way and encourage it everyday.

you wave bye bye to everything and are kinda confused.

you wave bye bye for more, pat-a-cake, itsy bitsy spider and lots of others.

it's funny to us and we are working on straightening things out.

in your tenth month of life you decided you were done

with baby food for good.

it threw us for a loop at first but you are all about feeding

yourself with your sweet little hands.

for breakfast now you have baby waffles, fruit. . .

usually banana, which you go crazy for and yummy vanilla yogurt.

for lunch you like cheese, fruit and turkey and for dinner you love

anything that mommy and daddy are eating.

it's pretty big time and we are very proud of your good eating habits!

we haven't figured out the whole wheening thing but will give a more

valiant effort when we get the doctor's go ahead for whole milk.

so we are nursing before naps and before bedtime and we both still cannot get enough.

my darling girl you continue to shake us to the core with our intense love for you.

we love you more than you'll ever know and cannot imagine a second without you here.

these past ten months have been life changing in the very best way.

we love seeing your little personality.

we love playing with you.

we love eating with you.

we love reading with you.

we love singing with you.

we love doing just about everything with you.

you are the very best junie girl.

happy ten months baby, we love you so much!

blog swap!

2011-07-31T07:59:00.001-05:00

meredith, the cutest mom to the best little boys and a bundle on the way,

hosted a super fun summer blog swap!

i was paired with the cutest haley millis.

she is my friend on twitter and i've stalked her from afar for a while.

she's so cute, has the cutest little boy and i know if we lived

next door to each other we'd be over at each other's houses everyday for milk and cookies.

i can dream!

haley, you were the best swapper i could have asked for.

hope we 'swap' again soon!

the premise of the swap was:

something orange: i went with an essie nail polish.

something sweet: a family favorite, funfetti cake and icing.

something that cost $1: a cupcake tin for cutie haden.

something funny: a pregnancy test, not pictured.

and something that you love: june and i love a party so we rounded up our fav party supplies. . . a bunting, party hats, party straws, cupcake liners and a cupcake decorator (not pictured).

we were to wrap it all in brown packaging and tie it with a string.

i had so much fun getting all of this together and if it wasn't for abby

poor haley would have only gotten one of the five because i'm slow like that and was way confused!

so really haley, you can thank abby. . . ha!

haley thought of everything.
she even thought of june which about made me cry.
we loved all of our goodies. . . you and i would have some
fun together strolling through aisles of our favorite stores.
something orange: the cutest fedora ever.
something sweet: tons of favorite candies.
something that cost $1: cutie magnets.
something funny: a hysterical little card.
something that she loves: good housekeeping and two markers.
and something extra for junie bear!
can you believe her?
she went above and beyond!
thank you so much haley, you are my swap dream girl.

coming PERRY soon!

2011-07-30T13:47:00.001-05:00

there is nothing sweeter, in my book, than a well executed surprise!

we snatched up mommy to be julia for a weekend getaway to one of her favorite places in our great state.

it took me back to my surprise last year. . . i'm still not over the sweetness of that weekend.

this group of girls are each treasures to hold close and we can't wait to hold

our newest little treasure to the group.

perry lucille, we love you and your mama so!

these two said it better.

so i'll let them speak for me! you'll like the mom's take on

her weekend and our travel planner's edition much better than mine.

these are just some of my favorite shots from our weekend. . .

i am beyond excited for you, julia and i know that you are going to be

the most incredible little mommy to baby perry.

i am excited to walk this road with you and to have a little friend for my little junie.

we love you so and can't wait to meet your girl!

blowin' and goin'!

2011-07-29T16:13:00.003-05:00

i uploaded these pictures days & days ago, i mean like forever it seems.
i have several 'drafts' sitting in blogger waiting for a little tlc.
isn't life insane sometimes?
mine sure seems that way. . . we are pros at blowin' & goin'.
sure wouldn't change it though.
this picture of our little george washington is a crowd favorite.
it was also a one time wonder that she left
that rag on her head. . . because now when we try this
trick it's ripped off within seconds.

our sweet girl is the easiest teether ever.

we hardly ever know that she is cutting new teeth.

this girl has the sweetest little spirit and has found a new teething toy.

oy june!

there's no telling what germs are lurking on that strap, gross.

we've got a little porker on our hands.

she loves any and everything we put in front of her and is officially done with baby food.
fine by me!

i'd rather you have the yummy stuff anyways.

check out my little two inch tufts of hair.

the badge of motherhood.

prepare yourself mom's to be. . . the amount of hair you lose post pregnancy is unreal.

i love this picure of us two just waiting on our favorite guy to get home.

since texas is practically the desert these days we have had a little lizard friend adopt us as his own.

i think he is disgusting and beg andy to accidently step on him.

he says the lizard should be our hero because he is eating the insects.

my husband is wise and would make an excellent elementary science teacher.
lizzie likes to camp out on our window sill. . . oh my she makes me want to gag.

if she ever somehow finds her way inside i will lose it.

so thankful for today's technology.

truly is amazing that we can chat it up with my peeps in abilene on a regular basis.

hi tootie!

we introduced june to the most delicious treat on earth . . . chick-fil-a icedream.
she couldn't believe her tastebuds were privilidged to this experience of a lifetime.

here's to many more ice cream dates in y'alls daddy daughter future.

who wouldn't give this girl whatever she wanted!

boy, we are in trouble!

told you, these are way old.

like 4th of july old.

on our way to san angelo we stopped at a random pizza hut in stephenville.

we are still trying to figure out whether we were just starved or if that reallly was the best pizza i've ever tasted.

all three of us couldn't get enough.

before mama went on her first girl's weekend away from junie (more on that later) we spent some time in abilene since tootie is on summer vacay.

we had a great time of course and ran into one of our favorite people on planet earth while doing a quick little grocery run.

it was my sweet grandma's idea to take this picture. . . i loved that she thought of it first.

four generations of food loving girls!

her little face is irresistible to me!

i'm already having panic attacks about getting rid of that silly paci.

you see she has two.

it's going to be a battle i'm sure!

does she not look a whole lot like andy in this picture?

the fact that i couldn't have her without him makes me love him even more than i thought possible and i already loved him a ton and a half before june.

our love is endless.

after mommy's fun weekend with the girls we planned

a tiny impromptu party for daddy after a long, hot day at work.

he was surprised and thrilled to come home to a nice cold drink and

i had an excuse to use our new bunting and fun new straws!

anything for our tall drink of water. . . love our guy!

after we partied we hit up the waterpark for a quick dip and

then hurried through a froyo to get our angel in bed at a decent time.

i love these summer nights but am not going to miss these too hot for words summer days.

if you're still there be on the lookout for a ton more fun posts coming your way!

helping hands.

2011-07-29T15:37:00.000-05:00

junie is a busy bee and loves to be with or helping mommy at all times during the day.

i love my little buddy and her helping hands.

she was pretty proud of herself for climbing up here and

i was pretty shocked she could do it.

her little fingers all over our clean dishes made our next few meals even yummier.

love her so.