Sunday, July 24, 2016

June 2016

As I'm sure you know, school ended on June 2nd woot woot! We greeted with the summer with happy hearts, ready for much needed rest and relaxation...and unpacking.

Emerson's last day with Mrs. Marti--always bittersweet! We have missed her this summer! 
Ending the school year at 18 weeks 
We made a quick trip to Lufkin to see my cousin, Samuel, get married.  It was a beautiful wedding and we got to see a lot of my family!

Me and my girl! 
Sneaking some of Dad's sweet tea
She has missed her Preston!
Miss Sass! 


Giving JuJu kisses 


We took Emerson to her first Rangers game! She wasn't thrilled with the heat...neither was I, but we found a kid's play area that was air conditioned so we hung out there for a bit.  We didn't make it to the end of the game, but we'll definitely try again soon! ...maybe when it's not 100 degrees.  


Emerson also went to my baby doctor appointment for the first time.  I thought she would enjoy seeing the baby on the "TV."  And she did, but I think it weirded her out a little bit too.  She really wasn't sure about the gel the doctor put on my belly. She loosened up a little when the doctor told her that the baby was waving at her. :) We decided to have a gender reveal party this time and so our doctor put her findings in an envelope and we took it straight to the bakery so they could get started on our cake.  And then we had to wait....thankfully not long!
There's the baby!
Not really sure what's going on...
We had our get together the next day.  I was so busy cleaning and getting everything ready (we were a little bit crazy for deciding to have  a party at our house a few weeks after we moved in) that it kept me distracted until people started coming over.

I remember having a hunch when I was pregnant with Emerson that we were having a girl, and this pregnancy has been different.  The baby has been more active than Emerson was, and my morning sickness lasted all day this time.  I've craved different foods than last time, anyways long story short my guess was that this baby was a boy.  Nathan thought boy as well.

When it was finally time to cut into the cake I started to get nervous/excited.  When Nathan pulled up the piece of cake and I saw pink I was in shock! (You can see this pretty clearly in the pictures. lol)  It really was the best surprise though! We are so excited to be adding another little girl to our family. Emerson cannot wait to meet her new little sister.  She has already started putting little stuffed animals into sister's crib.  So sweet!

Pure shock!
Emmy's going to have a sister! 
That night we contemplated life with another little girl, I was so happy just to finally know.

All partied out! 
Emerson and I enjoyed a sweet brunch with two of my besties, Stacy and Kendall.  It's always fun to catch up on life while eating delicious pancakes.  And while we were in the vicinity we headed over to the Kendra Scott store to get ourselves a pair of earrings.  (FYI: You get half off once piece of jewelry for your birthday) These girls have been friends with me for many seasons of my life and I''m so lucky to have them! Stacy and I will be having babies just two months apart which I am thrilled about! What's better than raising babies alongside your best friend?
Yay for Kendra Scott!  

Emerson offered to stir everyone's coffee... :)
Later that same day we went to see Finding Dory with Sadie, her sister, Jessica, and nephew, Bishop.  Emerson has played with Bishop several times and is always excited to see him! Sadie was so sweet and bought them both baby Dory stuffed animals.  That movie is so cute, Emerson loved Hank the octopus!

Then it was my birthday! This day was quite possibly my favorite day of the whole summer.  It was full of family fun and topped off with a date night.  Nathan cooked me breakfast, if you don't know me, breakfast is the way to my heart...and that has become infinitely more true the more pregnant I become. Lol Emerson brought me my birthday card which she picked out herself. (A Disney princess card, so cute) After breakfast, we got ready and stopped by Starbucks for my free birthday drink! Emerson enjoyed a cake pop. :) Then we headed to the bowling alley.  It was Emerson's first time and she loved it, she kept trying to go when it was my turn.  Nathan won...I know, right?! He didn't even let me win on my birthday! But, it was pretty close. After bowling we went to the splash pads and let Emerson run around in the fountains.  Once she got used to not putting her face over the sprayer she enjoyed herself...sometimes we have to learn lessons the hard way.  I was melting like a popsicle so we didn't stay too long.  We went home and had lunch and birthday cake.  Emerson picked out my cake, it looked like a fishbowl with a Nemo looking fish inside, and she was adamant about getting to eat the fish eyes. What a weirdo! She LOVES singing Happy Birthday so after a few rounds she helped me blow out my candles.  We took a little nap and then Nathan and I got ready for our date.  He took me to Fireside Pies...yum! We walked around the shops at Legacy and I bought a new skirt for myself from Francesca's.  
I'm lucky to spend my birthdays with him! 

I think Anna wanted some of that cake pop....
Bowling for the first time
Having a ball at the splash pad
Trying not to melt
It was a fantastic birthday! One that I will remember for a long time thanks to my sweet fam. :)


Here are a few other pictures from this month:

Stacy's going away party :(
Twins turned 26!
Besties
This might be one of my new favorite pictures of these two :)
Baby bump at 20 weeks

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

February-May Recap

It has been soooo long since I've posted.   I am bummed because SO much has happened since I posted in the  New Year that I haven't blogged about.  But, I'm going to do the best I can to hit the high points! It may seem silly, but it's important to me! Often times I get so bogged down by the daily grind of life that I forget to look at the big picture and all of the special things that are going on in our lives and remember how grateful I am.  So here goes nothing...

February

My school held their second annual pancake breakfast.  My family came up to enjoy some pancakes and Emerson was elated that Clifford was also there.  My parents came as well, which was very nice because it was my dad's birthday that day.  Not exactly how I would want to spend my birthday, but that's my dad--putting his kids before himself.  :)

These people put the biggest smile on my face :)
Yummy Pancakes!
This guy is one of a kind...

Towards the end of February I was out shopping and felt a little...different.  I picked up a pregnancy test and headed straight to the bathroom when I got home.  Nathan was pushing Emerson in the swing outside when I walked up and showed him the positive test.  I hugged him and my heart was beating practically out of my chest! I then proceeded to take 3 more tests, just to be sure.  We were so excited when we found out, and it was even better this time because we were able to tell Emerson she was going to be a big sister! ...she was more interested in swinging. Lol 

That night we went my friend, Kendall's birthday dinner.  She immediately knew when I awkwardly passed on a taste of her delicious looking beverage. 



Nathan went to Colorado for one of his good friend's weddings.  Katie came in town from College Station the weekend he flew back in so we decided to go ahead and tell my family about the baby then.  It's hard getting everyone together in one place!

We also celebrated Valentine's Day...
Yummy Valentine's Donuts!
Throwing a heart :)



March 

Our Spring Break was really early this year, and unfortunately the weather was less than springy.  It rained almost daily so we spent most of our time around the house.  We did make it to a play date with our friends Ele and Makayla, and we got to go see Zootopia--which Emerson became obsessed with.  (One of her favorite things to quote these days) At this point, I wasn't feeling awesome so laying around was probably the best thing.  With this pregnancy my morning sickness was lasting pretty much all day and I was getting very light headed in the beginning.  

At the Playstreet Museum.  She loves that place!
Zootopia! 
Playing with Makayla
The early stages of the baby bump! 
We went to Lufkin for Easter, which is when I told my extended family that we were expecting. They were very excited, but most of them said they weren't surprised.  I guess after the first one you lose the shock and awe factor.  While we were there we of course went shopping with Mawmaw and Emerson even got to watch me get a pedicure.  She asked a lot of questions about what the lady was doing to my feet. Lol we also went to our favorite pasta place in Nacogdoches with my Nana and Papa.  It's always good to see my family, but the visits are never long enough.  Emerson actually made it through the whole church service (she usually goes to the nursery)...with the help of multiple packages of M&Ms.  And then she hunted eggs with Preston, she loves her Preston! She was a pro, looking all over the place to fill up her bucket.  
Looking for Ginger and the cows






Her best buddy, Preston






April

In March we started thinking about moving.  Nathan's commute was taking him over an hour which means he was frustrated sitting in traffic, and we didn't get to see him very long in the evenings.  I hate driving, so I definitely wasn't opposed to looking for somewhere else.  We started talking to realtors and getting information on what our house would sell for and also letting them know what areas we were interested in...and then the whole process kind of went full throttle and took off without us having time to blink! We listed our house and it sold the first day for over asking price...which left us feeling very excited...and nervous because now we were under a time constraint to find our new home.  We spent several weeknights and weekends looking at houses. We spent day after day scouring websites looking for the perfect house for us. It was an exhausting ordeal.  We put in 4 offers over asking price and none of them were accepted, after a few weeks of dealing with those disappointments I was ready to be done, and homeless I guess?  
Very bittersweet! It was a great house to bring Emmy home to...
I'm remember thinking it was so weird to be celebrating our homelessness. Lol
One evening we were looking in The Colony and I had remembered a house that had just come up that day. I asked our realtor if we could just go by and look at it and she called and set it up for us to go over right then.  We walked inside and the whole house and been remodeled.  I really really liked it but had learned my lesson, I promised myself I would not get emotionally attached to it.  We decided we would put in an offer and wait to see what would happen.  A few days later (I hate the waiting game, by the way) we got the call from our realtors that said the sellers wanted to move forward with our offer! I was in shock, but once it started sinking in I was able to think about how God always provides for us. Disappointment may happen, in life there will always be hiccups, but He is holding out for what's best for us.  Apparently, what's best for us is living less than two miles from my work, and shaving close to 40 minutes off of Nathan's commute! And I would have to agree!

May

Being under contract on a house should be considered a full time job.  The month of May was incredibly stressful as the end of school was approaching (field day, field trips, class parties, meetings meetings meetings) but we knew it would be worth it to try and close now so that we could have the whole summer to get settled.  We spent several weekends in May moving everything over and both of our families, and many friends were a big help in making that happen.  
Bye bye Eastwood Avenue!
On May 6, I was recognized at the LISD Awards Banquet for being Camey's Teacher of the Year.  Nathan came with me and my assistant principal and team were all there to support me.  I was so glad they were all there.  I feel like I wouldn't be there teacher I am today if it weren't for my team. I received a trophy and had to walk across the stage, I didn't trip--yay! And afterwards they had a raffle. I won a $500.00 giftcard! It was a really cool night already, but that was the cherry on top. :)



My supportive team and AP
Two of my besties!
 Mother's Day was that same weekend.  I told Nathan I wanted to go to the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve for some family time--so we did! Emerson loved running around, walking on the trails--not so much, but it was worth a shot.



The next weekend we drove down to College Station for Katie's graduation.  I can't believe she is old enough to be graduating from college! Emerson was a trooper, she rode in the car for 3 and a half hours then we changed her clothes in the bed of Nathan's truck and she sat through almost two hours of a college graduation.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with Katie because after her name was called we hightailed it out of there to get something to eat.  Pregnant ladies and toddlers have to eat! 


We stayed with our good friend's the Glass family. I used to nanny their babies who aren't babies anymore... :( and they were my home away from home.  I had not seen them in forever! It was so good to visit with them and hang out with my Sully Wully again.  It's fun because Emerson is old enough to play with them now. :) We even got to see Sully play soccer! 



Isn't he precious?!
I love this silly bunch of kiddos!

Proud of this little soccer star in the making!
The next weekend we closed on our house! Emerson came with us and was happy to watch her movie and color while we signed all of the paperwork.  Then we came over to walk around our new home for the first time! It was a happy day. 
We're smiling because we hadn't started to move everything yet...lol
Our awesome support team! These folks made it all happen. 
February to May was a BUSY time in our household! Stay tuned for updates on what we have been up to this summer! :)