{I'm an Aunt!!}

My darling sister-in-law, Natalie, had a baby! I am now an aunt!! I didn't think I'd be as excited as I am because I've had my own kid for 2 years now, but ever since I found out she was pregnant I've been over the moon excited! When I heard that she was in labor I was skipping and singing around the house all day - that and checking my phone frantically for updates. And then little Baby James made his debut. I'm pretty much in love with this kid. We changed our travel plans and went down to Houston as soon as we could to celebrate Evette's birthday with the family but mostly to go visit that little bundle of happiness.

I mean, seriously - look at that face!

We've been talking about Cousin James with Evette nearly every day since we found out. We prayed for him and Aunt Natalie and she got to see Natalie pregnant a couple times so she knew all about the new baby. She was pretty excited when we told her we were going to go meet him.

I'm kinda a baby hog so it was very difficult to not swoop in and steal that baby from his Daddy's arms the second I saw him, but I'm glad I resisted because Evette desperately wanted to hold him first. She was in awe with him. She liked to stroke his hair, play with little fingers, and give him baby besos. It melted my little heart. She's going to be the best big sister.

Once I got to hold him I may or may not have just cried and cried. I love babies and I'm pregnant and I fell in love with this little boy and it made me excited [and a little bit terrified] for mine to get here. See how many emotions? You would have cried too, guaranteed. 

Evette also loved to give him little nuzzles. She loves to nuzzle and snuggle and it was precious to see that. 

The little visiting party.

  

I cannot wait to see this little man again! 

{Evette's 2 year old Photo Shoot}

My baby turned 2. I'm kinda in denial. She's pretty much a full blown human now - you know, has her own personality, is talking, expresses a full [FULL] range of emotions, and gets more fun to be with every day!

Sean and I took these pictures at the Houston Temple this weekend.

This face - pure joy.

Always studying....

This is what we call her Sassy Face.

In case you can't tell - she is flapping her wings and jumping away.

Squinty face but great angle.

We should submit this one to go in the church magazines - hold to the rod - go to the temple - yada yada....

I am in love with this face.

Studying leaves....

And a couple outtakes because we're real people with a real 2 year old.

This was her face when we told her we couldn't go inside the temple.

 Hot, tired, and sweaty - ready for nap time.

I'm so proud of my Baby Girl. Proud of the girl she is growing up to be. Proud of how brave, and strong, and excited she is. Proud of what a good friend she is learning to be. Proud of how hard she works at things. Proud of it all.

Proud of my Baby.

1 year old photos

{Mid-Week Date Night}

Sometimes leftovers don't sound appetizing and neither does staying at home all evening. So sometimes you gotta turn your Wednesday night into date night so you can make it through the week.

So you go to dinner at Hopdoddys - the best burger place in town.

 and then drive up to the temple to walk around a bit. Evette was so excited - she loved it. Loved it so much she cried and threw a fit when we couldn't go into the "tem-po"

After the temple we went to the mall to play on the playground.

Mid-week date nights are awesome.

{First Haircut}

Evette's hair has been growing and growing and getting kinda scraggly at the ends - almost mullet-esque. So last night she got her first haircut!

We turned on Veggie Tales and she did pretty great!

 I cried just a little bit...

 All that baby hair gone...

 She looks so grown up now!

 It's a cute little bob and looks nice all evened out!

 cheeser face.

 I can't believe we have already reached this milestone - and I can't believe how big of a deal it was for me.

She's growing up too fast and it's freaking me out.

[yes I saved some of her baby hair in a little baggie... no idea what to do with it though so I only blog and don't scrapbook... hummm....]

{Babies, Babies, Babies}

There must be something in the water down here in Dallas - everyone is pregnant! I have 5 friends who are having babies in the next month or so - it's pretty crazy. So we've had baby showers up the wazoo.

I co-hosted a shower for my friend Emily and we had a lovely little brunch at my place. It's her first baby and it was a fun shower. When she opened a present filled with little baby girl pjs I started crying. I'm super emotional right now, being pregnant myself lol

We also had a girls night for another friend who is expecting her second boy. It was so so so much fun.

 But we got a couple sideways looks since literally half of our party was pregnant lol.

While we were having our girls night some of the daddies and babies met up for a little swim date.

Babies babies everywhere - I'm getting close-ish! 25 weeks this week!

{Looking in a Mirror}

Once upon a time I had a child. 

And she looks just.like.me. 

Sometimes it freaks me out. 

It's like I'm looking in a mirror.

Squinty eyes, flyaway hair, and scrunched up nose. Yup, that's us.

And she acts like me, too. Stubborn, independent, and headstrong.

Looking at a miniature version of myself is terrifying. 

But it inspires me to be a better person so that she has something worth growing into. 

{Mommy School}

This Fall Evette started "Mommy School." A couple Mommy friends and I put together a little joy school for our babies. There's 7 mom/kids involved with the kids right around 2 years old. We meet 2 days a week for 3 hours a day. One mom is in charge of teaching and one mom is there to help man the kids - the rest of the moms get a little break :) It's great. We built our own little curriculum where each day they focus on one letter, one color or shape, and one overall theme like "farm animals" which lasts for a couple weeks. 

Evette LOVES school. She's only gone twice so far but has cried the entire drive home both times. She likes to talk about all the fun things she did like songs, and painting, and all her friends that she played with.

She's such a big girl and is growing up so fast! I'm hoping that through this Mommy School she learns how to get along with other kids, to share, grows her vocabulary, has lotsa fun, and hopefully some of those shapes/colors/abcs, too. 

I may have sat in my car after dropping her off and then cried for a little bit for how grown up she was!

Then I went to Target and looked at everything without a toddler crying at me - it was awesome.