Houston...

We have a swimmer!!! Madeline has finally gotten the hang of it...she's a little wobbly in the water but she is definitely swimming!!! 

The first video shows her true skills but the second one just had to be posted for two reasons...One, because I totally freak out like I always do when she learns something new, and two because of Terry's face at the end. I just love those two!!!

Oh and you'll have to excuse the overly affectionate couple in the background. Good ol' apartment living!

Dressing Up

If you're not into dressing up, you can't live in this house! 

 We've been making a lot of trips to Pier One lately, and Madeline LOVES these "costumes" as she calls them. I think they're kind of scary. She likes them, though, and she cried when I wouldn't spend the $26 they wanted for one! haha

 

Of course the dogs have to get dressed up too, but only Gizmo because Polly's too fast and Phoebe growls. Poor Gizmo...he's had a rough year! 

Fiesta

My friend Shyanne is the ultimate party planner so we knew when her 30th birthday rolled around it had to be big! We've been talking about for a couple of months, complete with secret emails, pinterest boards, and emails. Shyanne, I know you're dying right now!!! haha  We pulled off a great surprise party for her last weekend. It was a fiesta theme complete with the BEST fajitas, cupcakes, homemade ice cream, and a photo booth. Eve was our visionary and of course we could never have done it without Brianne taking her out to distract her. 

We held the party at Shyanne's house and used her party stuff! Aren't we good friends? Eve found some really cute decorations in San Antonio, and when we put everything together,  it was adorable. Shyanne was really surprised and SO mad at us! It was one of my favorite parties ever!!!

The party crew left to right; Brianne, Shyanne, Me, Kaci, and Eve. I am so thankful for these girls, and it's hard for me to imagine that I'll be moving so far away from them soon. I am so blessed to have made such great, Godly friends here. (Shyanne, I stole this from your blog! hah)

 Madeline had the time of her life like she always does. She told me on the way home that she didn't want to go to our house, just Maggie's house. She passed out like this! My sweet girl loves a party! 

Sweet Stephenville

I actually didn't even know that Stephenville, Texas existed until last week! My sister-in-law (my brother's wife) was visiting her family north of Dallas last week so we decided to meet halfway for lunch. We normally get to see each other at the beach each summer but last year I was in nursing school, and this year I have a mandatory training the week they'll all be at the beach. So anyway, we were due for a visit! My brother is working in Australia so I didn't get to see him. But I really love Cara more so it all worked out. Just kidding...sorta. haha

 

Anyway, we met up for lunch and then headed to the park. The nice thing about living so far away is how sweet it is to get together. The bad thing is my just-turned-two year old niece was less than thrilled to take a selfie with me! :)

 

 

Madeline and Lukey had a good time together though. He's just 6 months older than she is and he was the only one who didn't leave in tears! haha

 

Remember this??? Seems like yesterday.

 

 

Our sweet babies are all grown up!

 

And look at the legs on this kid...I dread trying to find pants this fall...

I sure wish we lived closer. I miss my best friend! And of course, my brother, and niece and nephews! Can't wait til we're all together again! 

 

 

Depression

Nothing makes me depressed faster than looking at old pictures of my baby growing up SO FAST! I got a little nostalgic a couple of weekends ago at Lexi's 4th birthday party. It seems like just YESTERDAY we were at her first birthday party. Madeline was 6 months old. How did time fly by so quickly?!

Lexi at her first birthday party

It was this sweet boy's party too, Karter was 4 I think...he's still that cute!

Sweet Jaxon will be four in a couple of weeks...gosh, they were all SO little and cute!!!

And my sweet baby doing what she does best...eating sugar!

 

 Well, I'm not quite as dedicated to picture taking as I used to be. Not only did I not take my camera, I didn't even bring my phone to Lexi's 4th birthday party. It was a cute bike theme, and all the kids rode their bikes through this cute "car wash" Brianne and Duane made. Well, all the kids except Madeline who chose to hide out in Lexi's room til about 9pm. She did manage to come out for cupcakes...Imagine that. Anyway, at the end of the party Madeline didn't want to go home. Lexi's parents offered for Madeline to spend the night so I said yes. I was 100% sure that I would be getting a call to come get her so I really didn't think much of it. Plus, it was our 11th anniversary so I thought we'd get an hour or so to ourselves. But they never called, Madeline slept through the night, and was less than thrilled to see us at church the next morning. It took her until about 5pm Sunday to forgive me for not letting her move in with Lexi. haha

Brianne texted this picture to me of our sweet girls. 

I may or may not have lost it thinking about moving. And I may or may not be crying now. We love our friends and are so thankful to have them in our lives!

Happy Birthday, sweet Lexi and Karter!

Big Things...

It's been an eventful week. So many things happening here in the old apartment! haha 

First things first...I found this at the grocery store. 

 Be still my beating heart!

I start night shift tonight. Like the drinkI packed? I have tried to get on more of a night schedule but it just hasn't worked. So I know I'm gonna be tired tonight, hence the coffee creamer.

Perhaps even more exciting than Taco Bell's mild sauce in the grocery store is the fact that we're now under contract for the land for our house!!! Closing should be quick and painless with these sellers (long back story on the first lot we made an offer on that most of you who read already know), and we got a good deal. Our lot is the square corner lot - the buzz words are to try to keep our address off the internet. The big dark green space is a lake on a golf course so I think we got a pretty great location! I am SO excited!!!

This is the outside of the house we picked...I REALLY wanted a side garage but it's a major upgrade so I decided I'd rather spend the money on the inside of the house. We had about a 4 hour meeting with our builder over the floor plan, and finally got it the way we want it. We added a half bathroom, but other than that, it's pretty much the same.

Now I have to decide brick colors which is really hard I think because you don't really know what it's all going to look like together. We'll have stucco and brick on the exterior. It's between these three...I think the dark is a little too dark but houses in Florida tend to get rust stains on the outside over time so I'm a little apprehensive to go with a light color.

 

Finally, Twayne and I aren't the only ones who had a big week! This girl did too but it deserves its own post! :) My crazy girl! 

Beach Bum

What's not to love about a girl who loves the beach?