Learning to swim

Zach and I and the girls went down to Florida for a few days over his spring break. I was a little curious what a trip of just our family would be like, I was pretty sure we'd be bored of each other a couple days into it :). But it was a really nice relaxing time to spend with just each other. I don't see Zach as much as I'd like with his residency, so I think it was a much needed vacation! But when is a vacation not much needed? I could come up with reasons any day of the week why I "need"/"deserve" a vacation! Anyways...

First of all, don't be fooled by these pictures. It was NOT pool weather. It was actually very much freezing, pants and hoodie weather (which is what I was wearing while taking these pictures). But Miss A was determined to play in the "blue water" and Zach was a good enough dad to take her not once, but twice. Why are kids immune to cold? Zach and I are far better insulated if you know what I mean, then skinny minnie Miss A, it just doesn't make sense!

Would you look at that face! Pure Joy! And I know the lady in the background is dressed like it's a nice warm day, but I assure you, it was not.

And what I wouldn't give to have the leg definition of my 2 year old!

See, she can be sweet! Despite the video I posted of her (which was on the way home from Florida and she was sick to give her a little credit). Now that I have the pool pictures up, I'll have the beach ones coming next!

What mommas do for fun part TWO

We attend/plan/host baby showers! Five years ago I attended my first baby shower. I had no idea what to give or where to shop for baby things. And I gave the worst present, some funky insulated bottle thing that now that I am a mom and more familiar with mom gear, I have never ever seen any one use something like that. So anyways, I'm still a bit embarrassed that I gave that as a gift, but the mom world was very confusing and mysterious to me! So I did my best. Little did I know that in the young student family circles that I tend to run in, that shower was the first of MANY to come. Which is great. It's a fun time to get together and socialize, I love watching people open presents, it's great to have a special day for the pregnant mommy, there's lots of good food to eat, and coming up with simple (but cheap!) decor is a good challenge! Here are some pics from a recent shower I helped with. The guest of honor (Jeanette) is one of the cutest pregnant people I've ever seen, but I figured still she might be mad at me if I posted a picture of her without permission! So I'll play it safe with just some food and decor photos!
There really was other food there that wasn't chocolate themed, but apparently I didn't care to take pictures of it! I love chocolate a little too much...we went with Pink and Brown for colors obviously. Don't ask me how much I ate :)

What mommas do for fun part ONE

We go on girls trips! This one was not too far, just to Nashville, but more importantly, it was just girls, no kiddos. I only went for one night of the trip, Baby T was 7 weeks old at the time and Zach had a huge test coming up, so I feel fortunate to have been able to go even for a night!
We went to the Grand Ole Opry, Cheesecake Factory, shopping, and my favorite - we got pedicures. Only my 3rd in my life, and oh boy do I look forward to them, even if I only can swing it once a year! Actually my favorite part of the trip was of course chatting into the wee hours of the morning. Because when girlfriends get tired, the filters come off. Most of the funniest things I've ever heard in my life have been giggled out after 1 am!


oh and here's me :( I'm going to avoid being in pictures as much as possible until I can sit down without having to either a) unbutton my pants or b) leave them buttoned and have the circulation cut off to my legs. Sooo...maybe by October you might see me back on here. No joke.

We just got home from spending some fun family time here....

I have lots of pictures of course that I want to edit and share, but I'm still trying to recover from this {please refer to the video below :) }.....Just doing our part to ensure that our kids have fun filled family memories of car trips :)

{I had some hope that by showing Miss A a video of her acting so psycho, it would have some effect on her of perhaps a little remorse, maybe a touch of embarrassment, some realization of how unbecoming it is when she gets so crazy, just SOMETHING to help tone down her fits a bit. But instead, she's watched this video at least 30 times (as if I didn't get my fill from the real life version) and sings the ABC's along with Zach in the video. What the heck!}

Two Months

Baby T's two month "birthday" has snuck up on me. In some ways she doesn't seem like a two month old (she's TWELVE pounds already) and in some ways she still seems like my little newborn (like when she's up in the middle of the night). But it's getting to where I don't feel like I can't say "I JUST had a baby" as an excuse anymore, especially for having an extra 15 pounds hanging off me. Because "you look so great FOR JUST HAVING A BABY" is not the same as actually looking great....especially when you technically haven't "just" had a baby....anyways...

This is what prompted the photos this particular afternoon. Miss A wanted to hold the baby, which she doesn't ask to do very often. Aren't they sweet together? Please excuse that A is only in a diaper. I promise, we start off every day right with her, cute outfit, clean face, hair done. She has all of this undone by the time breakfast is over some days. This past Sunday she was walking behind Zach down the hall at church, and he turned around to see that she had taken her skirt and diaper off, just strutting away half naked, at church.

Ahhh....my little sweetheart!

Sun and Snow

Today was 70 degrees. In March. Probably not that unusual for the swampy south, and although this has been the mildest winter I've experience in a 9 years, there's still something magical about that first warm balmy day after winter. I just love the yummy sunlight in this picture. It's hard to believe that just a month ago, Miss A was having some snow day fun in the exact same spot in front of our house.

The scene one month ago....

The boogie board emerges again! Miss A loves it in the snow just as much as she loved it in the grass last summer. Being pulled by dad on snow day one (who had the day off because all schools were canceled, I LOVE that about the south!!)

And catching some air on snow day two!

Warming back up with some hot chocolate and a favorite blanket. I love those rosy red cheeks! One of these days I'm going to go through this blog and see what percentage of the posts have her ABC blanket somewhere in the picture. This blanket (made by Zach's grandma) hasn't left Miss A's side in well over a year and a half.

Oh Spring, we will enjoy you briefly before the great outdoors becomes a raging hot swampy mess courtesy of 100% humidity on 100 degree summer days. Summers here are intense!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

Over the years, as our circumstances and lives have evolved, so have my priorities and what some of my favorite things about my husband are. When we were dating it might have been his hair, or his jeans, or something important like that. But today, on our 6th anniversary, one my current favorite things about him? He's a great dad. And takes great care of some of my other favorite people in my life. Here's to 6 years baby!