The Whitesides

Arrival of Gwyneth Mae Whiteside

2012-02-03T13:30:00.001-06:00

We welcomed Gwyneth Mae to our family on Friday, January 27th.

The story of her arrival started Thursday night around 6pm. We had an induction scheduled for Friday morning at 5am. I was still hopeful that I would go into labor on my own before that time...so on Thursday night Evie, Daddy and I went on a long walk. My contractions started getting consistent and were about 5 minutes apart. I called the on call OB around 9pm and she said we could come into the hospital at anytime. We waited a little longer at the house and headed up to the hospital around midnight.

Grammy and Pop had already planned to come to San Antonio Thursday night so they could stay with Evie when we went to the hospital for the induction on Friday morning.

Here's our last picture as a family of 3 - taken before Evie headed to bed on Thursday night

My last pregnancy picture - taken after we got checked in at the hospital
My contractions remained about 5 minutes apart throughout the night. My OB got to the hospital around 8am on Friday morning and said we needed to move labor along. She broke my water and said I needed to progress significantly in 2 hours. If I hadn't, then I would need to start Pitocin.

My contractions had actually slowed down after she broke my water - so when 10am rolled around it was time to start the Pitocin.

The nurse increased the level of Pitocin to get my contractions about 2 minutes apart. I wanted an epidural within an hour of starting the Pitocin but the anesthesiologist didn't come by the room until 12pm.

I was finally able to get some much needed rest some after the epidural! My nurse said she would check on me in a few hours to see how labor was progressing. After about an hour of having the epidural, I could feel the contractions getting harder on one side. I called for my nurse to come into the room around 1pm but she didn't show up until closer to 2pm...there were 17 babies born at the hospital on Friday so it was really busy! When my nurse came in around 2pm, she checked to see how I was progressing. The next thing I know, she was saying we were about to have a baby with just a few pushes! She called my OB and started getting the room ready for delivery. About 4 pushes later, Gwyneth arrived!

Gwyneth Mae Whiteside
Born January 27, 2012 at 2:20pm
9 pounds 5 ounces
20.5 inches long

Gwyneth and Dr. Atkerson
I was so excited to finally see that face!

One proud Daddy!

Ryan's parents brought Evie up to the hospital right after Gwyneth was born. She made this sign to welcome her little sister!

Me and my girls! Gwyneth looks almost identical to Evie as a baby!!
Our new family of 4

Evie has been great with Gwyneth! She always wants to hold or kiss her. The first few days she kept saying "that's my sister"

We were so excited to share Gwyneth's arrival with our family and friends! We had Evie meet her sister alone with Ryan and myself. Then Grammy and Pop came into the room to meet their 4th grand child. Lindsay, Paul and the twins came up to the hospital later that night.

The next day my parents got in from Arlington to meet Louis grand child #16!

Lots of friends stopped by that day too! In the morning, Nancy, Lisa and Paige came to meet Gwyneth.

Me and Nancy

Lisa and Gwyneth

And then that afternoon Carla and Kim stopped by

Carla and Gwyneth
Me and Kim
We decided to go home Saturday afternoon

Mommy, Daddy and Gwyneth outside of our room. We hung the "Gwyneth Mae" sign from my baby shower and the sign Evie made.

Later that evening, we had a quick dinner with Pat Pat and Paw Paw,

the Olers,

and Grammy and Pop

My sister Kate, brother in law Brent and their 3 kids drove in from Arlington Saturday afternoon. They stopped by to see Gwyneth before bed time and then came back on Sunday for lunch.

My brother Jack and sister in law Leigh also drove in from Austin on Sunday to meet Gwyneth!

It's been a great adjustment to being a family of 4! We are all so in love with sweet Gwyneth Mae!!

41 Week Pregnancy Update

2012-01-25T20:24:00.004-06:00

My due date of January 17th has come and gone...and Gywneth is happy where she is! We are now at 41 weeks.

I went in for a nonstress test this week since I'm past my due date. Everything looked great! I'm encouraged that I'm still progressing but my doctor doesn't want me to go further than 10 days past my due date. We have an induction scheduled for Friday morning if Gwyneth doesn't come on her own before that day. I'm still holding out hope that she's just waiting until the last minute :)

40 Weeks
Me and Evie at our friend Hunt's pajama birthday party
We're so excited that we'll be meeting Gwyneth so soon!!

39 Week Pregnancy Update

2012-01-13T08:00:00.005-06:00

I had my weekly OB appointment yesterday, and the doctor said there was good progress from last week. It looks like Gwyneth will be making her arrival any day now! My official due date is Tuesday, January 17th.

Here are some of my recent belly pictures:

31 Weeks

34 Weeks
Ryan and I met our friends Wes and Jamie for dinner and then to see the Nutcracker downtown
35 Weeks

38 Weeks
Girls Dinner at Lupe Tortilla (Me, Gwen, Nancy, Carla, Lisa and Kim)

We are all very excited to meet this little girl! I know Evie is dying to meet her sister! I think she's losing patience with me saying "we'll meet her very soon". I know it's hard for a 3 year old to hear that for 9 months without anything changing :)

Christmas at Kiowa

2012-01-12T14:00:00.000-06:00

This year we spent the 25th with our Louis family in Arlington. I was 36 weeks so we weren't able to make a definite decision on if we would be traveling until the week of...but after the appointment with my OBGYN, we felt like it was safe to make the drive.

Daddy, Evie and I exchanged our gifts the night before we left San Antonio

Evie was such a polite gift opener! She would slowly open each gift...then she put the book, toy, etc in it's appropriate place (on the bookshelf or in the toy bins) before moving to the next present.

We got into Arlington on Friday afternoon and immediately went to my brother Tom and sister-in-law Rebekah's house to meet baby Simon who was only 6 days old! I definitely pulled the "I don't live in Arlington so I get to hold Simon" card with my family who lives in Arlington :) He is such a sweet baby!!

We went to my parent's church for a Christmas Eve service. They had a section of the service where the kids went up to the stage to listen to the Christmas story.

After the service, we took family photos in the lobby.

Cousins
(Alice, Evie, Henry, Thomas, Alice, Margaret and Simon)

After the service, we headed back to my sister Kate's house for dinner. Evie LOVED holding Simon! She would ask to hold him several times each day! I can't wait to see her with Gwyneth!

We emptied our reindeer food back at Pat Pat and Paw Paw's house

and put out milk and cookies for Santa

Christmas morning pictures with Mommy and Daddy

Evie loved opening her stocking to see what Santa brought her!

She thought the Rangers foam finger that Santa put in Paw Paw's stocking was so funny!

Paw Paw took Evie on his morning run

Christmas afternoon, we went to my sister's house for lunch. My mom had a special time with her grand kids of explaining the Christmas story with a nativity scene. Then each grand kid got a piece of cake and a candle to blow out after singing Happy Birthday to Jesus

My parents give extra presents to anyone who is at their house on Christmas Day (it's hard to get all 7 kids/families together at one time so this is one of the many incentives on making the trip). Paw Paw picked out a mini cupcake baking set for Evie which was right up her ally! We stopped by the grocery that afternoon to pick up cake mix and icing to make cupcakes for everyone that would be at our Christmas dinner.

After dinner, the grand kids acted out the Christmas story. Evie performed her school Feliz Navid dance for everyone - so she kept the angel costume on for the Christmas story re-enactment

More of the extra gifts for being at Kiowa on the 25th. My dad is a huge Rangers fan so he gave Ranger themed gifts. The kids were so excited about their Rangers t-shirts! Men received baseball hats and the women received Rangers socks.
Self-timer group picture in our Rangers gear

And a self-timer goofy picture

My brother Jack and sister-in-law Leigh arrived in Arlington on the 26th. Jack bought Leigh a puppy for Christmas so we all got to meet Bug. My parents brought in an old doll house from the garage as a joke for where Bug would be sleeping during their stay.

My brother Walt and sister-in-law Megan also arrived on the 26th. We were so excited our trips to Arlington overlapped with theirs! It was great getting to see Jackson and meet sweet Dillan (who was born this summer).

Walt with Henry (L) and Jackson (R)

Evie with her cousins Alice and Dillan

After brunch we had our family gift exchange. Evie loved the dress up set from Pat Pat and Paw Paw!

Jackson got a tool set from Pat Pat and Paw Paw. The best part was that they included golf tees (which were his nails) and a huge piece of styrofoam (to hammer the golf tees into). All of the kids LOVED playing with this!

I love my coffee condiment set from Leigh!
New Year's Eve weekend, we celebrated a late Christmas with our Whiteside family. We had brunch and then exchanged gits. Evie got a new doll from Grammy and Pop that came with a feeding and diapering set. She loves being a little mom to her new doll!

We had a great Christmas holiday - our last holiday as a family of 3 :)

Playgroup Christmas Book Exchange

2012-01-11T14:00:00.000-06:00

We had a Christmas play date before everyone headed out of town for the holidays.

The moms had a cookie exchange and the kids had a book exchange.

Lisa hosted the play date at her house and had lots of fun activities for the kids! They played pin the nose on the reindeer

and made reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) to put outside on Christmas Eve
Our attempt at a group shot of the kids before opening their books

Evie got 2 great bed time books from her friend Hannah

Santa's Wonderland at the Zoo

2012-01-10T08:00:00.001-06:00

Before Christmas, we met Aunt Lindsay and cousins Presley and Cyrus at the zoo. We were excited to find out that they had a Santa's Wonderland set up in the kid area.

Evie's still a little unsure about Santa in person so we went with a family picture with Santa this year

Lindsay, Presley and Cy with Santa and Mrs. Claus

The kids enjoyed the Christmas cookies

and Evie had her first taste of hot chocolate
They even had crafts set up for the kids. Evie made an environmentally friendly ornament

and painted with different pieces of fruit/veggies as her paintbrushes

Group Picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Evie's School Christmas Program

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

Evie's school had a Christmas performance the week before the 25th.

Each class had been working on a dance the entire month of December. Evie's class dressed like angels and performed to Feliz Navidad.

Right before they started the dance
Here are several pictures of the different dance moves from the routine

She's still a pro at the kicks

Swaying side to side

Jazz hands above the head

"I want to wish you a Merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart"

After the performance, we all went back to the classroom for snacks and a craft

We had a great time watching Evie's performance! We were so proud of how she didn't get nervous and finished the entire dance! She seemed to really enjoy learning the routine and performing it - so we might need to look into dance classes soon.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-15T14:00:00.002-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday in Round Rock this year!

Thanksgiving was spent at Grammy and Pop's house with the Olers and Ryan's aunt, uncle, cousins and all of their kids!

Evie, Presley and Cyrus enjoying their Thanksgiving dinner.
Pop built and painted this adorable table for the grand kids. Each kid has their own colored chair (and their name's will be stenciled on the back)

Evie and Presley had fun pretending that Pop was a horse :)

On Friday, the girls headed to Fredericksburg for a day of shopping with no kids :) We had a great time hanging out and going into all of the cute stores! Later that night, we met the guys for dinner on South Congress to celebrate Lindsay's birthday!

Saturday evening we stopped at Jack and Leigh's for delicious dinner before heading back to Austin. We're so excited to have them in Austin!

It was a fun-filled family weekend!

Gwyneth's Baby Shower

2011-12-13T19:44:00.004-06:00

Several of my wonderful friends hosted a shower for Gwyneth last month. It was such a special day and it meant so much to be able to celebrate Gwyneth's soon arrival with my family and friends!!

Here are some of the adorable decorations from the "Sweets" themed shower

Jenny made these cute onesies and some burb cloths that hung above the fire place
Carla made this sign with Gwyneth's name. Each letter is one it's own piece of candy. She even made a few extra "candies" so I can hang the sign on the hospital door, and add her birth measurements and arrival time. I'm so excited to have this sign to take with us!
Some of the yummy food and the diaper cake that Kim made (she had her baby girl just a few days before the shower so she wasn't able to attend - but had made the diaper cake and delivered it to Nancy's house weeks before the shower even took place!)
I am so appreciative that so many people took the time to be at the shower!
Terry Lind, Emily and Robyn
(Terry Lind was just a week away from delivering her sweet twin girls - and Emily and Robyn came in from Houston!)
The Hostesses
Carla, Nancy, Paige and Jenny (Kim and Lisa weren't able to make it). These girls mean so much to me!!

The beautiful wreath that my sister-in-law Rebekah made for Gwyneth's room. It's already hanging on her nursery door!

My Mom made these matching pillow case dresses for Evie and Gwyneth! Evie was so excited when I showed her the dresses and explained that she would get to match her little sister :)

Me with my Mom and sister-in-law Leigh

Me with Pat Pat and Grammy

Me and Gwyneth with some of the hostesses. Baby Benjamin even made it for a little bit :)

I was overwhelmed with how generous everyone was with their time and gifts! I've been working on a scrapbook for Gwyneth and can't wait to add pictures from this shower. I know she'll love looking at all of the pictures when she's older - and I'm excited to show her all of our family and friends who got together to celebrate her!

Wurstfest 2011

2011-11-22T21:00:00.001-06:00

Last year we went made a last minute trip to Wurstfest in New Braunfels. We had a lot of fun and decided to make it an annual trip!

A few weekends ago, we headed back to New Braunfels for the last weekend of Wurstfest. Year 2 proved to be just as much fun as the first!

We rented a condo on the river again with the Hrycuschkos - it was great to catch up with our friends who have moved to Dallas!

Evie immediately wanted to get her face painted after she saw all of the other kids walking around with their works of art - so we headed to the face painting booth to get in line...an hour later it was our turn to get a glittery butterfly :)

The finished product!

Evie was a Chicken Dance pro!

Our friend Jamie was celebrating her 30th with a group of friends at Wurstfest. It was great to help her celebrate - and Evie loved wearing her birthday sombrero!!

Before we headed back to the condo, we stopped by the carnival rides

Mommy got to take Evie on the Merry Go Round
and Daddy got the Spinning Bears

We had a great time and can't wait for Wurstfest 2012! We might just have to get Evie and Gwyneth matching lederhosen outfits for next year :)

Meeting Baby Benjamin Burkhart

2011-11-13T08:28:00.000-06:00

Last month, I took off a day from work and Evie and I made a quick trip to Houston to meet our newest friend Benjamin Burkhart! We were so excited to meet this little boy!

Evie and Bekah picked up right where they left off - they put on dress up clothes the minute we walked in the door and started dancing to Mary Poppins songs!

Jenny let Evie help Bekah hold Benjamin

Evie was completely mesmerized with this sweet boy!!

I can't wait to see her with her baby sister!!

The next morning, Evie was a little slow to wake up. Bekah came downstairs and got into bed to rest with Evie!

We got lots of "holding Benjamin" time in throughout the 2 days!! He's such a sweet baby!

It has been so much fun seeing the Burkharts go from being a family of 3 to a family of 4!

A few weeks later we hosted a baseball themed Sip and See in San Antonio for everyone to meet Baby Benjamin

Here are some of the decorations and food:

Cassie's adorable "Benjamin" sign

Cracker Jacks as a party favor

Jenny and Benjamin

Introducing her son

Big sister Bekah came to the shower but was playing upstairs most of the time. She came down for a little bit to model her dress up dance outfit
And had a quick cookie with Kara and Kate

The hostesses with Jenny and Benjamin
(me, Christy and Cassie)

Halloween Fun

2011-11-06T12:36:00.006-06:00

This year we celebrated Halloween at the Bass's house

We enjoyed some pizza and took a few group pictures before heading out to trick or treat

Ray, Izzie, Evie and Hunt

Our sweet little strawberry

Our attempt at a group picture
(Hannah, Ray, Evie, Izzie, Demi and Hudson on the couch - Andrew and Hunt in the front)

Ready to start trick or treating!!
Evie and Izzie held hands between almost every house :)
The whole group made it out to a few houses before bed time...

and then Evie and Izzie trick or treated for another block or so

Daddy asked Evie to hold someone's hand when she was crossing the street...she already was holding Izzie's hand so then she grabbed Daddy's with her other hand. He's going to be great with his 2 girls!!

When we got back home, I let Evie help hand out candy to some trick or treaters. Daddy said this was the only angle he could take the picture because the teenage girls' costumes were inappropriate

Looking at all of her treats!

We told Evie she could pick one piece from her bag to eat that night - and she picked fruit snacks! We thought that was a great pick - and makes sense with her costume!

Fancy Nancy Spa Da

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Evie received several Fancy Nancy books for her birthday. We are huge fans of Fancy Nancy!! After reading "Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day" we decided to have our own spa day!

After taking a shower Evie needed a spa robe

And a turban hair wrap like they have in the book

Soaking her toes in warm soapy water

And our spa day was completed with a manicure

and pedicure!

We had so much fun!! So excited about future spa days with my girls :)

Gwyneth Mae Whiteside

2011-10-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Our sweet baby girl officially has a name - Gwyneth Mae Whiteside

Several nicknames have already started for baby #2. Evie's favorite is Gwennie Mae! At first, she would correct us if we called her Gwyneth - she would tell us her name is Gwennie Mae. She's gotten better about letting us call her Gwyneth but she definitely has a nickname for her little sister :)

Here is an update on our belly growth

16 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks - Our Anniversary

Thanks to the Olers for watching Evie so we could celebrate! They had just received a bounce house from a friend so Evie had a blast playing at their house!!

26 Weeks

I'm currently 28 weeks and everything is going well. We can't wait to meet Gwyneth!!

Gender Reveal Party

2011-10-18T13:49:00.001-05:00

We were able to find out the sex of baby #2 on the last day of August!

Evie came with Ryan and I to the appointment for the big news. She was a pretty shy with the sonographer and my OBGYN...but loved talking about the appointment once we were back home!

Later that afternoon Evie and I hosted a play date to share the exciting news with some friends

Here's the cake we made that had either pink or blue icing in the middle

Carla, Annie, Kim and Lisa were able to make it with their kids for the big reveal!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We're so excited to meet our sweet girl in January! I can't wait to see if she has dark hair like Daddy or if she will be fairer like Mommy :) And Evie's thrilled to have a little sister!! She's going to be the best big sister!

Evie's Photo Booth Birthday Party

2011-10-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Evie's 3rd Birthday at our house a few weeks after the big day!

Here are some of the decorations

The theme was a photo booth party

There were lots of dress up clothes for the kids to wear before posing for their picture

The Birthday Girl!

Jackson

Cousin Henry

(we were really excited that Aunt Rebekah, Henry and Margaret made the drive from Arlington with Pat Pat and Paw Paw!!)

Izzie

Jack

Brandon

Cousin Margaret

Cousins Cyrus and Presley

Ray

Andrew

Cousin Alice

(even Alice made the trip from Arlington to help celebrate Evie's birthday!)

Sophia

The kids decorated foam picture frames. They were also disposable cameras for them to be photographers too!

Evie loved the pinata!!

Evie with her Grammy and Pop

Evie with her Pat Pat and Paw Paw

We had a great time celebrating our sweet girl's birthday! Thank you to everyone who was a part of this special day!!

Evie's Third Birthday

2011-09-08T22:00:00.004-05:00

Evie turned 3 at the beginning of August!!

Leading up to her birthday, she loved talking about how old she currently was. She would go through the names of different kids at her school that had already turned 3...and talk about how she was still 2 but that soon she would be 3 years old too!

Here she is before school showing how many years old she is

After nap time, I brought cupcakes to Evie's class. She specifically requested white cupcakes with pink icing.

Evie licking the icing off the candles

The cupcakes I brought stained all of the kids faces and hands pink - I'm sure the other parents really appreciated that! It was pretty funny to see all of the boys with hot pink lips!

We let Evie choose where she wanted to eat dinner for her birthday...so we weren't too surprised that we ended up at Chick Fil A. Uncle Paul, Aunt Linz, Presley and Cyrus even met us for dinner to help celebrate!

The cousins had a great time playing on the tunnel slide!

And running down the hall at the yogurt shop we went to after dinner

Here's a video of Evie's class singing her Happy Birthday and then a birthday chant in Spanish

Here are some things about Evie that I want to remember at this age:

She has the sweetest heart!! Evie constantly loves on me with hugs, kisses or rubbing my face. She also loves on the baby - she comes up several times throughout the day asking if she can hug and kiss my belly. If I ever say "ouch" she immediately wants to know what happened - then she tells me "I'm sorry Mommy!" When I pick her up from school and ask about her day, she responds by asking me about my day. Only after I've gone through my day will she share about hers.

She has been day time/nap time potty trained since about 28 months - we're still working on being full night time potty trained.

Since we've moved, she's been promoted to a full size bed with guard rails on the side. She sleeps with 2 baby blankets, May May (her doll) and 2-3 books.

Evie comes into our bedroom every morning between 6am-7am. If we aren't already awake, she'll climb into bed and cuddle until we're ready to get up.

Ryan has introduced Evie to taking stand up showers (which makes for a quicker bath time). She's fine with taking showers but would prefer baths so she can play with her toys.

Every morning Evie has vanilla yogurt and a bowl(s) of cereal for breakfast.

She LOVES singing songs from Mary Poppins!! She went with Grammy and Pop to the park one day to fly a kite. Pop was singing "Let's Go Fly a Kite"...since then, she's been hooked! We occasionally let her watch short clips of the movie so she's seen the entire thing by now and knows most of the songs. We were so excited to find out that Mary Poppins is coming to the Majestic Theater in October so this will be Evie's first show to go see!

Evie loves tickling us and being tickled!

Evie has recently become interested in having her hair braided. Each morning she requests different hair styles - piggies, braided piggies or a pony tail. Mommy still needs to learn how to french braid :)

She loves to read books! Sometimes Evie and I will cuddle in bed and read our own books quietly. I can usually count on 30-45 minutes of quiet reading before she's ready to move on to the next thing. Some of her favorites are: Dora the Explorer, Fancy Nancy, Love You Forever and All Kinds of Families.

Evie drinks more milk than anyone I've ever met!!!

Some of her favorite things to eat: vanilla yogurt, cereal, cheese, grapes, pizza, Chick Fil A and butter (if we have butter at the table for bread or potatoes, she wants to eat it by itself rather than putting it on the food)

Daddy and Evie go on tricycle rides almost every night. They made up a game which they play throughout the ride. Daddy says "Evie, if you see a street sign, ring your bell 2 times"..."if you see a blue truck, ring your bell 4 times"...etc. She loves looking around for the item and then ringing the bell on her bike.

She's been attending a Spanish Immersion school for about 1 year now. The teachers say she understands everything they say to her in Spanish, and that she will respond to them in Spanish as well. We are so impressed with how quickly she has picked up the language!! She originally wasn't speaking Spanish to Ryan and I (since she knew we didn't speak the language). Recently, she has started trying to teach us words in Spanish - she will point at items in the house or in books and say the word in Spanish. She then says "I'm speaking Spanish".

Evie's school gave her a CD last Christmas with all of the Spanish songs they play in the classrooms. We listen to it almost every day in the car! Evie often sings the songs in Spanish while playing at the house.

She can say the entire alphabet in English and Spanish

Evie doesn't like a lot of attention on her at one time. When we sang "Happy Birthday" at her party, she was frowning the entire time and almost looked like she was going to cry. Once the attention is off of her, she's fine.

She LOVES helping me cook dinner or bake desserts!! She pulls a chair up to the container and waits until I give her a task of stirring or putting an ingredient in the bowl.

Evie definitely has a lot of her Daddy's sense of humor! She thinks it's hilarious to answer questions with the opposite of what the correct answer should be ("What color is the sky?" She'll respond green. "Are you a boy or girl?" She'll answer boy, Etc) She is constantly cracking us up!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet girl!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of who you are! We love you big!!

Our Growing Family

2011-07-20T11:30:00.001-05:00

We are all smiles at the Whiteside house because we can't wait to meet our little girl or boy in January!!!!

I'm 14 weeks pregnant and my due date is January 17th

We took these pictures after taking a pregnancy test. Evie is so excited to be a big sister!! She's going to be such a sweet and helpful sibling!

Yay for two pink lines!!

Daddy prompted these next few photos :) These are Evie's "oh no, a crying baby!!" faces

During our Surfside beach trip with the Burkharts, we had the two big sisters pose in shirts I made them

And Jenny made a cake for Big Sisters Evie and Bekah

I'm keeping a Belly Book which documents a belly picture and notes for each week throughout the pregnancy.

Here are some of my belly pictures:

Week 7

I had a major craving for Saltgrass (I worked there in high school so maybe that's why??)

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

The bump has slowly started to show more around weeks 13 and 14.

The beginning of the pregnancy was a little rough but I've definitely been getting some energy back now that I'm in the 2nd trimester.

Happy Father's Day to a Special Daddy

2011-07-20T09:11:00.005-05:00

We had a low key Father's Day celebration this year.

Daddy requested homemade pepperoni pizza and apple pie

After lunch we headed to the pool for Daddy to work with Evie on her swim lessons.

Evie gives the lessons "two thumbs up!"

We are so thankful for our Daddy!

A daddy who is always there to read a book...

Play dress up...

Go to the park...

Dance...

Go to the zoo (and share his great sense of humor)...

Attend an afternoon school event...

And paint finger nails!

We love you Daddy!!

Surfside Beach Trip

2011-06-17T20:27:00.004-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend we headed to Surfside Beach (near Galveston) for a mini vacation. We took a day off from work after the holiday - so we had a nice 4 night stay at the beach!

I took this picture of Evie through the window. We were unpacking inside and I looked to see what Evie was doing...she was sitting in her chair on the porch...just taking in the waves.

We were very excited to share this trip with the Burkharts who drove in on Saturday. Once they were settled, we changed and headed down to the beach. Once we realized that Evie and Bekah had both brought blue colored swimsuits, we had to take advantage of a matching moment :)

Such sweet friends! I love how they always pick up where they left off!

Time for some poses - Bekah looks unsure...

...but she got into it! This girl knows how to pose too!

Evie loved running into the water, and then letting the waves chase her back up to the shore

The girls had so much fun playing in the water with their daddies

Ryan and Zack rented surf boards our second day at the beach. Not sure if you can tell but Evie's giving the "cowabunga" sign

The girls wanted to help hold the leg rope as the daddies walked up the beach. They were such surfer girls!!

Daddy and Evie

I mentioned to Jenny that I don't know how to french braid. She taught me by demonstrating on Evie's hair. Evie loved having her hair braided - she kept saying she had braids like her friend Izzie! I left them in for a full day before insisting we needed to take them out :)

After Evie's hair appointment with Jenny, it was Bekah's turn to have her hair styled. The girls had so much fun having their hair braided! I've tried to french braid Evie's since we've left the beach but it wasn't very successful...I might need a refresher course :)

We had a great time - it was definitely a much needed vacation! It was so nice to wake up and go to bed hearing the sound of the waves. And we loved that we were able to share it with the Burkharts!

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T18:54:00.004-05:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with Ryan and Evie!! They surprised me with a special brunch at the Guenther House!

Since the restaurant doesn't take reservations, we put our name on the list and then waited for our table. Even though it was a long wait, I had a great time enjoying my company and the beautiful weather.

We walked around the property, listened to the harp player, toured the inside of the historic house, visited the gift shop and took lots of pictures

Me and my baby!

The restaurant had a stand set up so you could buy pastries and drinks while you waited for your table. Daddy and Evie enjoying our huge cinnamon roll!

My sweet girl loved on me all day! She kept coming up and saying "Happy Mother's Day!" and then giving me a big hug...
and a "kiss on the smackers" as she calls it
Mommy, Evie and Daddy

Later, they surprised me with a new leather weekend bag! I had mentioned to Ryan that I wanted a bag for our shorter trips rather than always using suitcases. I love my new bag and can't wait for our next weekend trip to use it!

Swim Lesson Update

2011-05-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

I finally remembered to take my camera to swim lessons last week!

Since it's only one 30 minute class each week, I'm not sure if she would actually be able to float/swim by herself at the end of the course. But Evie loves the class, and talks about it all week! Luckily, Daddy was a life guard in high school and also taught some swim lessons. He takes Evie to our apartment pool any free moment he has to help teach Evie to float and swim.

There are three kids in the class. They start by moving along side the wall while they blow bubbles on top of the water
Working on diving

Evie swimming with Miss Megan

At the end of the class, each child gets to dive/jump into the water - which Miss Megan calls the "big jump"

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we planned an Easter egg hunt with our friends at a nearby park

Daddy and Evie playing on the monkey bars
Mommy and Evie
Evie and Andrew hanging out in his wagon

Hugs for Ray...we might need to work on Evie loosening her grip :)

All of the kids with their baskets - ready to hunt eggs!
L-R Izzie (in the back), Andrew, Presley, Cy, Sofia, Evie, Ray and Andrew

Evie was very serious about her egg hunting! She didn't spend much time looking inside of the eggs until her basket was full.

Evie showing that she can lift her full basket

Evie and her friend from school, Sofia

Evie hanging out with her cousins

I was so excited I remembered to take a family photo :)

It was a wonderful afternoon...great weather and great company!

First Birthday Fun

2011-04-25T13:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had some very important 1st birthdays to celebrate!

First Evie and I stopped by Andrew's race car party. We weren't able to stay long but we were so glad we were able to wish this sweet boy a happy birthday!

Evie, Mommy, Carla and Andrew
After we left Andrew's party, Evie and I went to meet Daddy at her cousins', Presley & Cy's, party

The theme was Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. Lindsay did a great job planning the party...here are some of the cute decorations

The birthday boys' cupcakes with blue cotton candy like Thing 1 & 2's hair

Paul and Lindsay helping the boys open their gifts. Here is an adorable growth chart they received

Paul, Cy, Presley and Lindsay

Outfit change into Thing 1 & Thing 2 shirts before eating cake!

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Here are all of the kids from the party (the boys lost their shirts after successfully finishing their cupcakes)

Cousins!! Lindsay was holding her hands up saying "Yay!" to get the boys to look up for the picture...which resulted in Evie holding her hands up and saying "Yay!" while she posed :)

The Whitesides with the birthday boys

Pop and Grammy with the 3 grandkids

Evie and the boys opening their Easter baskets from Pop and Grammy

We had such a wonderful day celebrating some very special one year olds!!

Louis Family San Antonio Visit

2011-04-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend my brother, sister in law and their two kids came to San Antonio. They stayed at a resort to celebrate my brother's 30th birthday! We were so excited they decided to celebrate in SA because we got some extra Louis Family time.

Saturday morning we all headed to the Pearl Brewery farmers market. Evie loved having two of her cousins there with her!

Mommy and Evie
There was a great jazz band performing - Henry and Evie were definitely feeling the music!

Margaret, Evie and Henry dancing

Evie and sweet Margaret holding hands (kind of). Maybe more of Evie grabbing her wrist

Henry and MG helping Tom open his birthday gift

After the market, we grabbed some lunch and headed towards one of the seating areas. There was an old train that was used at the brewery on display. The kids had so much playing on it!

It was great to have the Louis family in SA for the weekend!!

Boone & Aubrey's Wedding Weekend

2011-04-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we were in Austin helping our friends Boone and Aubrey celebrate their wedding! Ryan and Boone have been friends since junior high so it was an extra special weekend!

The ceremony and reception was held at Boone's dad's property in Leander. There is a creek that runs alongside the property so the ceremony took place by that. I was too busy enjoying myself to take many pictures at the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner...here's the wedding party rehearsing for the big day!

Saturday morning Evie, Grammy and I went to a festival in Georgetown. A family at Grammy and Pop's church owns a few of these kid trains. It was definitely the main attraction at the festival! They were so sweet to give Evie an unlimited pass to ride the train. I think she rode it three times!

We also found a face painting booth. The older kids in front of Evie sat very still with their eyes closed while they had their faces painted. I mentioned to Grammy that I was wondering how Evie would do with closing her eyes when it was her turn...I think she heard me because when she got on the chair, she immediately closed her eyes and sat completely still!! :)

Evie's beautiful heart and rainbow

Later that afternoon, I left Evie with Grammy and Pop and headed back to the wedding site.

Unfortunately, my camera died within the first few minutes of the ceremony!

Boone walking his grandmother down the aisle

Aubrey's dad drove her and the bridesmaids to the ceremony site in this adorable blue pick up!

The beautiful bride and her father

And then my camera died...

It was a beautiful wedding! We couldn't be more excited for Mr. and Mrs. Putney!!

Ranger's Opening Day

2011-04-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

Ryan and I took off early from work on Thursday and all day Friday for the Ranger's Baseball Opening Day Weekend!

We got into Arlington late Thursday afternoon. Evie was very excited to finally get out of the car...but even more excited to see all of her Arlington cousins!

Margaret, Evie and Alice
Evie and Alice workin' hands on hips
More cousin love on the swing

The game started Friday at 3pm which meant my Dad had time for a mega tailgate that entailed 2 meals...breakfast and lunch!!

Here he is in the morning making pancakes

My dad brought their bikes up to the tailgate in case if people wanted to use them. My sister Kate and I had a great time riding around the stadium!

My brother Ross and his family came in from New Orleans for the game. Here's Gabe playing baseball with Evie

And sweet Isabelle playing side walk chalk with Evie

Evie even got to take a bike ride with Paw Paw

The girls
Kate, Pat Pat, Jenny, Rebekah and me

Family photo before heading to the game

I don't have many pictures from the actual game since we were mainly focused on not dying from heat exhaustion! :)

Although we were all worn out from being at the tailgate/game for 10+ hours, we managed to get one group picture

Saturday morning we headed to a park for some more family fun

Paw Paw, Alice and Evie playing on the spring animals

Ryan and Paw Paw hanging out at the swings :)

Later that night, everyone met at Kate and Brent's house for dinner. The kids had fun playing on the trampoline and playground

We had a great time during our long weekend in Arlington! I think it took us an entire week to catch up on sleep :)

Getting Ready for Swim Lessons

2011-03-25T09:42:00.003-05:00

We signed Evie up for swim lessons which started this week. She's always loved the water so we were hopeful that she would enjoy the lessons. But I wanted to be sure she was excited about swimming...so we went to the store to pick out a new swim suit, cover up, goggles and swim bag. After all of our new purchases, we had a fashion show for Daddy. I LOVE when Daddy is in charge of taking pictures of Evie!! These two have a such a good time coming up with funny poses - and the pictures are always so cute!

The first lesson was a great success, and Evie keeps talking about how she wants "more swimming"

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

2011-03-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here is Evie modeling the shirt I made for St. Patty's Day

She's still loving the heel kicks!!

A Week and Weekend of Fun

2011-03-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago the Smith family stayed with us during their trip to San Antonio/Sea World. It was great to see our Houston friends!!

Since we won't be able to make it back to Houston for Hunter's second birthday party, Evie wanted to give Hunter his present a little early.
Evie and Barrett watching as Hunter opened his gift

Evie and Hunter

After our great visit with the Smiths, we headed to Austin for the high school state basketball championship tournament. Each year the tournament honors the 25th anniversary of the winning team. Ryan's dad was a coach for Amarillo the year they won state so this was the year his team was honored!

Evie loved being at the game and didn't mind at all that she stayed up several hours past her bed time :)

Dinner Menu Craft

2011-03-03T21:57:00.002-06:00

I'm very excited about my latest craft project - a weekly wipe-off dinner menu board

The heading and days of the week are vinyl placed on the inside of the glass. The background is a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper - so it can be changed out for different holidays/seasons. Then you can write each night's meal with a dry erase marker.

I love that you put it in a frame so it's practical but also decorative

Here's a link to the tutorial

Thanks Carla for finding this great craft!!

"Life Begins at Aurelio's"

2011-02-27T16:00:00.000-06:00

This past week marked the one year anniversary of Ryan's Grandmother passing away. Ryan's cousin, Sarah, had the great idea of everyone remembering Grandmother on the one year anniversary by enjoying Aurelio's Pizza. The original Aurelio's restaurant is in Homewood, IL - right next to where Grandmother lived in Flossmoor. This has always been an Addams family favorite! Sarah was so sweet in planning the event...she ordered pizzas from the original restaurant and shipped them to each family. The Olers came over to our house for this special meal.

The restaurant gives out "Life Begins at Aurelio's" t-shirts for kids. Families can take a picture of their child in the t-shirt and then bring it back to the restaurant - where they hang the picture on the wall.

Here's Daddy at Aurelio's last year...it took us a while to find Evie's picture on the wall. He's imitating Evie in her picture :) I think she was just about to turn one in this picture.

Evie and Gigi
Lindsay picked up two shirts for Presley and Cy when we were at Aurelio's last year so all three cousins had the same shirt!

We had a lot of fun with our Aurelio's photo shoot!

We had a special time remembering Grandmother. The family has even talked about making this a tradition each year!

Let's Rodeo San Antonio

2011-02-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

It's rodeo season in San Antonio, and Evie's school decided to host their own special event.

They've been learning all about the lives of cowboys for the last two weeks. Their study was completed on Friday with a school rodeo. The school had a lot of fun activities planned like horse shoes, bull roping and line dancing.

They even had live animals brought in for a petting zoo!

The kids were able to wear western style clothes so Evie got another chance to dress up in her cowgirl Halloween costume! After the outdoor events, the kids went back to their classrooms to make trail mix.

I noticed Evie's teacher thought something going on in the class was really funny. I turned to see what she was looking at...it was Evie sitting like this while eating her trail mix :)

Evie has a new friend at school named Sophia. She just turned 2 so she's one of the younger kids in the class. The teachers told me that Evie has been very protective and nurturing to Sophia...we hear about "phia" a lot at home!

I looked over at the girls and found Evie feeding Sophia raisins

Evie and her teacher Gaby
(Evie has two teachers named Gabriella who both go by Gaby. When the second Gabriella was assigned to Evie's class, Evie starting calling one "Gaby" and the other one "more Gaby")

Evie the Cowgirl posing on the saddle

Valentine's Day Fun

2011-02-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day!

Our celebration began the week before the holiday with a craft play date at Paige's house - to make shirts for the kids.

I bought small shrunken towels that you soak in water to expand. Evie and Izzie had a lot of fun watching their towels grow in the bowl of water!
Ray and Evie sharing a pillow while watching some cartoons

Here Evie is modeling the finished Valentine's Day shirt

We spent Saturday morning at our new favorite place in San Antonio - the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market!

We were excited that the Reynolds Family was able to make it. Evie and Ray had fun dancing to the live band.

Sweet Valentine's Day hugs

One area of the Farmer's Market is near a few stores. A bookstore was having a meet and greet with Madeline. I thought it would be fun to take a family photo...Evie thought otherwise.

Sunday night I started working on teacher gifts and Valentines for Evie's class. With help, I made large lips and mustaches out of foam which were attached to a sucker. When the child ate the candy, it would look like they had a large pair of lips or mustache!

And the teachers received personalized glass containers full of candy. Thanks again Carla for your help! :)

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

25th Birthday Celebration

2011-02-09T07:00:00.001-06:00

I had a great 25th birthday! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from my many birthday celebrations. It started with a date night with Ryan while the Olers babysat Evie. Ryan and I went to another painting class like we did in Houston last year. We had a great night, and were very impressed with our artistic performance! :)

Ryan's painting is on the left and mine is on the right.

Later in the month, we continued our new Whiteside Family Birthday Dinner tradition with my birthday dinner at Capparelli's on Main in SA. In November, we celebrated Lindsay's birthday in Austin. While we were there, we decided that Lindsay should order everything we had that night...the bottle of wine, appetizers, everyone's main course and desserts. We passed around each plate so everyone was able to try a little bit of each entree. It was so much fun - a night of great food and great company! After the success of Lindsay's birthday dinner, we decided to we would continue the tradition for each person's birthday dinner.

The next night, Lindsay and Lauren put together a girl's night for my birthday. We had a great time at a new sushi restaurant!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Margaret Gray's 1st Birthday Celebration

2011-02-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

My niece Margaret Gray turned one last month. The Whitesides headed to Arlington for this special celebration! Unfortunately, Evie was a little under the weather...which then turned into Daddy being under the weather...and later Mommy being under the weather. All three Whitesides made it to the party, but Daddy and Evie only stayed for a few minutes before we decided that Daddy needed to take Evie back to Pat Pat and Paw Paw's house.

Even though the weekend didn't go as we planned, I'm glad that I got to stay for the fun party!

Henry, Margaret and Rebekah opening the gift from Evie. Evie LOVES the shopping cart she got from the Olers for Christmas last year - and thought her busy, on-the-go cousin would appreciate it too! :)

I thought this picture was so sweet! Tom is having Margaret give the lamb a kiss.
The beautiful growth chart that Amy made

Most of the kids sporting the adorable scarfs Rebekah made as part of the party favors

Some of the beautiful decorations and desserts

Singing Happy Birthday to sweet Margaret Gray

Enjoying her personal birthday cake

Rebekah and Margaret Gray

Rebekah, Margaret and my brother Tom

I love this picture of my parents with MG!! I think it's so cute that Paw Paw and Margaret are having a little moment!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-05T21:30:00.000-06:00

We spent Christmas this year in Round Rock with our Whiteside Family. It was an extra special holiday because it was Presley and Cy's first Christmas!

Evie giving Cy a big hug

And reading to Presley
Family picture after the Christmas Eve service

Evie loves wearing her reindeer nightgown! I think we're going to have to buy some more nightgowns soon because this gets chosen for bed time quite often.

Sweet cousins on Christmas Eve (we had an accident right before pictures so we lost a pair of Christmas pajamas)

Pop and Grammy with all of their grandkids

This was the first year Evie was excited about presents. She loved looking at all of the wrapped gifts when they were under our tree. We would go through whose name was on each package...sometimes when I said "this one's for Evie" Evie would say back "Oh, thank you!"

Evie left a cookie out for Santa

and sprinkled reindeer food on the front driveway

Evie slept surprisingly well on Christmas Eve! I don't think we went downstairs until after 8:00am

Evie and Daddy crawling backwards down the stairs to see what Santa brought them

Evie thought the note Santa left was really cool!

She was great at oohing and awwing at all of the appropriate times when opening her gifts!

Grammy and Pop got Evie this coloring book that makes sound whenever you color a specific area. She also got her first Play Doh Set!

She got a lot of dress up clothes, shoes, purses and jewelry

Presley and Cy were Christmas Champs! They would open a gift and then be completely content playing with the toy.

Evie was happy to help the twins open some gifts :)

Evie gave Grammy and Pop a framed school picture. Grammy asked Evie what it was...here's Evie pointing at herself and saying "It's me!!"

We also brought the gifts from our Louis family since we didn't get to celebrate with them. Pat Pat and Paw Paw gave Evie and I matching aprons since they know how much we like to cook together!

Evie's cousin Ella gave her some really cool Twinkle Toe shoes. I don't have any pictures but I think they may get a post of their own since Evie is obsessed with them!

Houston Weekend with the Burkharts

2010-12-28T21:15:00.002-06:00

Ryan had another work event in Houston a few weeks ago so we got a whole weekend of Burkhart hang out time!!

Friday night Ryan went to his work Christmas party and Zack stayed home with the girls - so Jenny and I were able to have a craft night with Emily and Robyn. We had such a great time!! It definitely made me miss our time in Houston!

Saturday morning the Whiteside and Burkhart girls had a play date at a park and nearby restaurant.

After I saw Bekah's outfit for the day, I realized I had packed a similar one for Evie...we couldn't pass up matching outfits!

Evie wanted to show Bekah her favorite modeling pose

Playing Ring around the Rosy

The girls had so much fun playing together at the park!
During our trip, we worked on hand print wreath t-shirts. The previous year, Jenny and I made the girls matching reindeer shirts to wear to Lights in the Heights, so we wanted to carry on the matching Christmas shirt tradition. Luckily we were going on a train ride to see Christmas lights that evening so the girls had the perfect opportunity to wear their new shirts.

Zack was on call all day Saturday so it was just Ryan and the girls

Evie was more interested in Santa this year - as long as we were just talking about him. Once we brought up the idea of sitting on Santa's lap, she gave the same unexcited reaction as last year. This was our attempt at a Santa picture...Ryan holding Evie with Santa in the background.

When we bought our tickets for the train ride, they gave us a colored pass. Then they announced which color was about to board the train. After much waiting, it was finally our turn to get in line. We were able to pass the time by snacking on nachos and popcorn...which you can see by the cheese on Evie's face that she enjoyed!

Bundled up on the train ride

The train ride was only supposed to be about 15 minutes long. About 2 minutes into our ride, the train stops working. It took about 45 minutes before they were able to get the train running again.

Once the train was fixed, the girls had a great time looking at all of the lights and Christmas scenes.

Sunday morning was a hard day for Evie and Bekah because it meant we had to say goodbye...

We had such a great time! Thanks again Burkharts for hosting us all weekend!

Pineapple Posada

2010-12-22T15:00:00.000-06:00

Evie's school had their own version of a Las Posada last week to celebrate the holidays.

I'll share some of the Spanish knowledge I learned at the event :) Posada means "lodging" or "accommodation". Las Posada is a Spanish celebration that takes place before December 25th within a neighborhood. There are two groups of people: the innkeepers and pilgrims. The pilgrims travel from house to house singing a song about requesting lodging. The innkeepers respond "there's no room in the inn" in song as well. This continues until the pilgrims arrive at the designated house for the party. At this house, the innkeepers recognize Mary and Joseph within the group and allow them to stay. The group of pilgrims enter the house and the party begins.

Some of the teachers were the innkeepers and all of the students were lined up outside as the pilgrims waiting to be welcomed in. Here's Evie with her thumb in her mouth! Each class was dressed up differently for the celebration the Las Papayas class were elves.
Once all of the kids were in the main room, they sang a group song. Each class had a different colored star glued to a Popsicle stick. Once the song came to their class color, they were supposed to waive their star in the air...

Evie's star came unglued during the song but she was determined to participate - she figured out how to hold the star and Popsicle stick in one hand to waive in the air (because of course, she couldn't take her thumb out of her mouth)!

During Evie's last school celebration, we had some shyness issues so I sat with Evie and her class during their performance. This time Evie was a big girl and stayed with her class while Mommy watched. At first, she just stood by her class sucking her thumb...

...but once the song and dance got started, she was ready to perform!!

I was so proud of her!! She knew all of the steps and danced the entire song!!

She was a pro at the hands on the hips kicks!

The finale...

Clapping for herself!

Evie the Elf with her hat, bow tie and jingle bell bracelet

After the classes performed, we went back to Evie's classroom. The teachers had everything ready for us to make ornaments.

We also had a book exchange. The teachers asked us to bring a wrapped book.

Each child drew a name of one of their classmates, and then took that child their wrapped book.

Here's Evie with her new book. The teachers told us it could be a Spanish or English book. I think it's funny that we ended up with a Spanish book since Ryan and I can't read it. I overheard Ryan reading it to Evie the other night...there was definitely some long pauses between sentences : )

Girls Weekend

2010-12-21T14:00:00.001-06:00

Daddy went hunting last weekend so Evie and I had a girls weekend!!

We kicked off our weekend Friday night with a girls dinner with Lauren. We went to Chacho's - Lauren described it as "like Taco Cabana, but not as nice". We had a great time and will definitely need to take Daddy back soon.

Saturday afternoon we had our first San Antonio friend birthday party - we helped our friends, Izzie and Jack, celebrate their third birthday! We had a great time!! It took Evie a while to understand they were NOT two...she thinks everyone is two.

Here's Evie, Izzie and Izzie's daddy - Joe
All of the kid party guests with Izzie and Jack

After the kids finished playing in the blow up bounce houses, they lined up for cake. The employee stands at the door and gives each kid some hand sanitizer. The kids were all really excited about their turn!

The birthday boy & girl - Jack and Izzie
Saturday night, Evie and I watched baby Jackson for our friends who had a Christmas party. Jackson could have cared less about me, but thought Evie was hilarious! She did such a great job playing gently with Jackson...she even wanted to read him a bed time story!

Evie earned another potty treat over the weekend. She decided instead of a toy, book or clothes, she wanted to bake and decorate cupcakes. I was so excited that this is what she wanted as her treat because it was special time we got to spend together!!

She loves putting on an apron when we cook! Of course I had to let her lick the beater once we were finished :)

The finished product with Evie's verde and rojo sprinkles. Evie says most colors in English but naturally says green and red in Spanish...I think it's because they've recently focused on these colors at school for Christmas.

Part of her treat was picking out a Christmas plate for her cupcake

Let's eat!!

We had such a great weekend!! I loved all of our girl time together!

Ready for Christmas

2010-12-20T13:40:00.003-06:00

The week after Thanksgiving, we went to pick out our Christmas tree. Growing up, my family always drove to a Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree. I was able to convince Ryan to continue this tradition for our first two Christmas seasons, but the last few years we've just gone to Home Depot. I lost the tree farm but haven't given up on the real tree. Ryan doesn't know this yet but the tree farm tradition will be making a come back in future years! :)

Daddy and Evie looking for just the right tree

Anytime is a good time for some modeling poses

Daddy had the fun job of tying the tree to the car while Evie and I played
Evie posing in front of the decorated tree in her new Christmas nightgown from Grammy and Pop
We decided on a small tree this year since we don't have tons of extra space in our apartment. Because we had a smaller tree, this was the first year I was able to decorate the tree completely with our personal ornaments! I was so excited to use all of my childhood ornaments and the ornaments we've collected as a family so far. Here are some of my favorites...

This is the ornament I gave Ryan the Christmas we were pregnant with Evie. The lion's shirt says "Dad to Be". He's holding car keys and has different food take out containers. I painted the year '07 on the top box.
This is my Baby's First Christmas ornament
And here's Evie's Baby's First Christmas Ornament
Grammy and Pop gave Evie "The Elf on the Shelf" this year which she loves!
She named her elf Foddle, and loves finding where he is sitting after returning from the North Pole to tell Santa if Evie is being a good girl. She likes to tell us that Foddle can't talk and we can't touch him...and tells Foddle how she wants a necklace, purse and clothes for Christmas. We've loved this new family tradition!!

Destination Wedding Extravaganza

2010-12-10T15:00:00.000-06:00

Ryan and I headed to Zihuatanejo, Mexico for our friends' (Carly and Micah) special destination wedding!!

We had a quick flight from SA to Houston, and then flew to Ixtapa. Zihuatanejo is on the Pacific side - just up the coast from Acapulco.

Only three airlines fly to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, and each have just 1 flight per day. I would say about 25% of the passengers on our plane were apart of the wedding group - so it was like a big party at the terminal!

We were excited to find a cerveza stand right outside of the Ixtapa airport.

The entrance to The Tides resort

Here are some pictures of the resort - everything was gorgeous!

They had tables set up behind each of the lounge chairs for any food or drinks you ordered while laying out. Every time I've been on a beach trip, I return to find sand throughout my stuff. I didn't find a trace of sand when I unpacked my suitcase - it was amazing!!

The infinity pool

This is part of the coastline

And here is our room...

The pillow was decorated with flower petals - guess I should have put the room under both of our names : )

The living area and bedroom

and bathroom

Each morning they brought us coffee and pastries which they left outside on our patio. When we first arrived, they asked us what time we wanted the coffee/food delivered as well as how we took our coffee. I'm definitely missing that service back at home!!
This was the view from our room

The first night there, the Kouba family planned a Welcome Sail for everyone to get to know each other. We took a charter bus to this port, and loaded onto the boat. It was such a fun night!!

I was very excited about all of the couple pictures I was going to get throughout this trip!
Paige, me and Allison

Carly and Micah
There was nothing planned during the day on Friday. All of the girls enjoyed laying out on the beach while all of the guys went surfing. Ryan had never been before and loved it! He said he was able to get up on the board several times but only "really surfed" once. Looks like we may be taking a trip just for surfing some day in the future!

That evening, the wedding party went to the ceremony venue for a quick rehearsal.

Carly found out about this venue (which is actually someone's house) while reserving the Welcome Sail boat tour. The house belongs to the owner of the boat. As Carly and her family got to know him, he offered for them to have the ceremony in their outdoor living area. It's called Casa Sol, and there are signs posted throughout the city with arrows directing you to the house. How crazy that they see this view everyday!!

After the rehearsal, we met everyone else at the Coconuts restaurant for a great dinner!

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen with Carly and Micah
We went to a small restaurant/bar across the street after dinner. Carly and Micah had a caricature drawn by a local artist

Their reaction when they saw the finished product! Everyone loved how the artist really captured Micah's skinniness!

The day of the wedding - Carly and Micah working on last minute details
The bridesmaids and bride-to-be spent the morning and afternoon in Carly's room getting ready for the big event! The Koubas flew their hair stylist to Mexico to do the wedding party's hair and make up - what a treat!!

Carly gave each of us a different robe to wear while getting ready. They definitely made for some cute pictures!

Our traditional 605 picture - Paige, Carly and I were roommates at 605 Fairview during college

The view from Carly's beach suite

The bride's turn for hair and make up - Carly's beautiful hair piece!

About to head to Casa Sol for the ceremony

The decorated venue

The gorgeous bride

It was such an honor to be a part of this special day!
Bridesmaids with the Father of the Bride

It was a beautiful ceremony! One of my favorite parts of the service was when they passed the rings around the group. Everyone was able to hold the rings, and say a prayer or make a special wish for the couple before Carly and Micah exchanged them.

Mr. and Mrs. Micah Nance!!

We had to get a picture in front of this amazing view!

All of the bridesmaids back at The Tides for the reception. We had cocktail hour on the beach before dinner was served

More couple pictures :)

Some of the guys - it was great getting to hang out with a lot of people we haven't seen since we were all at A&M

The resort decorated the cabana with these beautiful star lights

The dinner was an amazing 5 course meal - we were definitely spoiled throughout the trip!

After dinner, Micah and Carly opened the dance floor

The dance floor was surrounded by couches so everyone had a great time dancing and hanging out

At one point in the evening, we were supposed to do a traditional Czech wedding march. No one knew how it went so the march lasted for about 1 minutes before the DJ changed the music.

There was even a firework show during the reception! It was an incredible wedding weekend!!
And here's our pillow message from our last day there

We had a wonderful time, and I'm so glad we were able to help celebrate with Carly and Micah! I can't even describe how excited Ryan and I were to see Evie though!! I think we both teared up several times throughout the weekend thinking of how much we missed her! She had a great time at Grammy and Pop's house while we were gone - thanks again for watching her!!

Potty Training

2010-11-30T14:00:00.001-06:00

Evie is currently in potty training!! She's doing a great job and has made a lot of progress! Her school helps with potty training beginning with the two year old class so that's made a big difference. It's great for Evie to see all of her friends at school working on the same thing she is...there's nothing like positive peer pressure!

Each child has a chart in the classroom bathroom with their name on it. They get a sticker for each time they go potty. Evie completed her first chart the day of the Dia de los Muertos parade. We told Evie she could pick out a toy whenever she completed a Potty Chart...so after the parade, we headed to Toys R Us.

Evie has completed two Potty Charts so far at school, and should be completing her third one in the next 1-2 weeks.

Here's Evie at Toy R Us (still in her Cat in the Hat costume) with her selected toy - a grocery store cash register!

Evie was having more success going potty at school than at home so her teacher suggested we start using the Potty Chart at home. Evie was very excited when she finished her first chart at the house!!

She loves putting on the sticker after she goes potty!

It's been a lot of fun getting Evie "prizes" since we haven't really bought her toys without it being a holiday/birthday. At first she just wanted to pick out toys, but more recently she's wanted clothes (yay!!) and books (double yay!!). My favorite thing about the prizes has been clothes shopping. I love seeing which dress, skirt, shirt, etc she decides to get!

We're so proud of Evie's progress!! Hopefully she'll be finished with Potty Training soon! : )

Our Intimate Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T13:20:00.002-06:00

We were supposed to spend Thanksgiving in Arlington with our Louis family but our work schedules changed those plans. We stayed in San Antonio, and had an intimate Thanksgiving with just the 3 of us.

After talking to my brother Jack about the Thanksgiving meal they were hosting at their house in Paris, I was inspired to create our own feast. Since this inspiration came on Wednesday afternoon, the "feast" was more of a semi-homemade Thanksgiving meal. Ryan was in charge of the meat so he ordered turkey, brisket and sausage from Rudy's...what a dream come true for Ryan to have turkey as well as Rudy's bbq on Thanksgiving! Evie and I were in charge of the sides and desserts. We made our list, and headed to the HEB chaos.

Wednesday night Evie and I worked on our desserts - pecan pie and sugar coated pecans. Evie LOVES cooking! The moment she realizes I'm about to start cooking, she runs over pushing a chair up to the counter so she can "help".

Thursday morning we had potato casserole, stuffing and green beans to make. Here's my sous-chef ready to start working.
She realized she could see through the measuring cup and thought it was hilarious!

We took some time before our meal for a few family photos

I'm thankful for self-timer features! : )

Later that evening, we were getting ready to watch the A&M vs UT game. Unfortunately, our power went out about 30 minutes before kick off!! Ryan drove down the street to find out it was the entire block! We spent the next hour driving around in the car listening to the game on the radio. Thankfully, the power was back on by half time, and we were able to cheer the Aggies on to victory!! Whoop!!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Día de los Muertos Parade

2010-11-11T21:30:00.000-06:00

Evie's school celebrated Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It's a Latin American holiday - a time for family and friends to get together, and pray and remember those who have died. The school honored Dr. Seuss for this special holiday. The classes read Dr. Seuss books and worked on Dr. Seuss inspired crafts the entire week before Día de los Muertos! They even held a parade on the holiday for the parents to join in on the celebration.

I love that Evie is learning so much about another culture...and it was fun to be a part of this event so we could learn more about it too!

Here is a traditional ofrenda. They are set up to remember and honor the memory of an individual, in this case Dr. Seuss!!
The parade started in the front of the school and then wrapped around the building

The entire school

Here's Evie on the far right sitting next to her teacher. The 2's class decided to dress up like the Cat in the Hat. The teachers asked the kids to wear jeans and a white t-shirt. The week before the holiday, they made these hats and bow ties. The teachers even painted the kids faces with a cat nose and whiskers!

Me with my favorite Cat in the Hat!!

Each class put on a special presentation. Some classes acted out stories and others performed songs and dances. The 2's class had been practicing a dance. When it was her class's turn, Evie didn't want to leave Mommy...so Mommy joined the class in the middle of the room!

The little Cats in the Hats starting their dance

Daddy and Evie in front of the ofrenda for Dr. Seuss

We had so much fun, and loved the opportunity to spend this extra time with Evie at her school!

Wurstfest 2010

2010-11-09T20:10:00.004-06:00

Saturday of Halloween weekend, we headed to New Braunfels for the 50th Annual Wurstfest!!

We spent most of the afternoon eating lots of yummy carnival food!

Later in the evening, the girls decided it was time for some carnival action. Aubrey, Lauren and I took Evie out for her first amusement park rides!

First up was the magical Ferris Wheel! I'm a little embarrassed to say I had never been on a Ferris Wheel until this moment. I'm so glad Aubrey and Lauren were there with us because I would have completely freaked Evie out!! I was really nervous about being up above the entire festival in a small bucket but the girls did a great job of keeping Evie distracted from her scaredy cat Mommy! : )

Next was the Merry Go Round. This was Evie's favorite!! She loved that she could pick out which animal she was going to ride on!

And was even more excited when she found out the animal would take her in a circle and move up and down!

Our last ride was the spinning teddy bears (kind of like the tea cup ride)

After our fun girl time, Evie wanted to hit the dance floor!

She loved having Daddy spin her around and around!!

And then Evie heard the Chicken Dance start playing...it was as if the song was calling her to dance!! She headed back out to the dance floor with Aubrey, Boone, Lauren and Brian.

Workin' the chicken wings!
(And this is probably the best picture of Evie's German inspired outfit. I made her a lederhosen outfit with a shirt embellished with suspenders and her uniform khaki shorts)

Absolutely LOVING the chicken dance!!

We rented a condo on the Comal river for Saturday night. It was great to be able to put Evie straight down to bed without worrying about driving back to San Antonio. And we had a great time hanging out on the balcony that overlooked the river! We're definitely headed back to Wurstfest next year!!

50 Free Shutterfly Christmas Cards

2010-11-08T12:29:00.006-06:00

I read about this promotion on my friend's blog, thanks for sharing Amanda!!

Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Last year we printed our Christmas cards on glossy photo paper. They turned out cute but after receiving several cards from friends and family who used Shutterfly, I quickly decided that was the route I would be going for 2010. So it worked out perfectly when I saw Shutterfly was having a promotion for Blogger to receive 50 free cards!

I have not decided yet what picture I will use for our card. I am hoping to have time to have another family photo shoot before the holidays arrive...fingers crossed!

Here are some links to Shutterfly’s 2010 Holiday collection:

Holiday photo cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
Personalized Christmas cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
General holiday cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

I was also excited to see Shutterfly is offering canvas art printing! My goal is to have pictures printed on canvas to decorate Evie's room in the future. I think she would love to have giant pictures on her walls!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here's Evie the cowgirl
We spent the evening with the Bass, Norred and Oler families. Jason and Lisa were so sweet to host the group at their house.

Izzie, Brandon, Evie and Jack eating pizza before trick or treating

Presley, Evie and Cy

Such sweet girls!

Presley, Evie, Brandon and Jack

Family Picture

After dinner we were ready to start trick or treating!

Evie spent a lot of time the week before Halloween practicing "trick or treat...thank you", and now the moment she had been waiting for...

The first stop

I love this picture of the kids!! They ran back to the parents after each house to show us their candy

Time to check out the loot!

After a long night of trick or treating, the kids were ready some yummy cookies

We had a great time celebrating Halloween with our family and friends!!

Evie has been obsessed with her bucket of candy! She loves looking through it. It's the first thing she talks about when she wakes up and when she gets home from school!

Fun Fall Festivities

2010-11-03T17:30:00.001-05:00

We had a great time enjoying more fall activities the weekend leading up to Halloween!

We visited another pumpkin patch but this time met up with our friends Carla, Izzie and Andrew. The girls had so much fun playing with the wheel barrel that was meant to carry big pumpkins

They even had a mini hay maze
I was very impressed with how quickly the girls figured out how to navigate the maze!

Halloween morning we planned to visit Zoo Boo with the Olers. Unfortunately, we didn't realize Zoo Boo was only after normal hours so we got there about 8 hours too early : )

Cy and Presley gave Evie some blinking Halloween necklaces last week. They have become her favorite new toy, and she couldn't help but show the boys how they work...

...which the boys found hilarious!!

Trip to the Zoo

2010-10-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

We took our first trip to the San Antonio zoo last weekend. Evie loved it!! This was the first time she was really interested in specific animals...she loved seeing the elephants, tigers, monkey, etc she reads about in her books.

Evie and I were a little scared of the large lizard statue

We were very excited to discover the zoo has a Tot Spot. There are several animal exhibits and then open fields for the kids to play. Evie loved riding in the canoe!

Evie does a mean flamingo

Evie and Daddy give this cute monkey two thumbs up!!

Evie loved resting on Daddy's head

The elephant exhibit was our favorite! We got there right as the trainer came out for a mini show. The trainer had the elephant pick up one leg, fetch a piece of wood and hold up his trunk. This is Evie's impersonation

We bought a family membership so we're looking forward to many more visits this year!

Pumpkin Patch Photo Shoot

2010-10-25T08:00:00.005-05:00

Last weekend we met the Oler family at a pumpkin patch for a photo shoot

Daddy did a great job of getting Evie to smile and laugh while I was the photographer!
She loved holding onto the small pumpkins!!

Showing off her new fall boots

Evie, Cy and Presley

"Wait Mom! I need to get one with my stink eye smile."
Cy and Presley's denim shirts really brought out how blue their eyes are! Such cute boys!!

The beautiful Oler family

Whiteside family picture

More cousin pictures! Evie, Cy and Presley modeling their new Halloween shirts from Grammy and Pop

Evie can't keep her hands off these boys...

...which created a problem when she had pushed their heads completely down! Sorry Presley and Cy!!

Evie and Mommy

Evie and Daddy had a great time exploring the pumpkin patch!

Evie showed her incredible strength by picking up all of the big pumpkins...

...but who would be surprised after seeing her huge muscles?!!

The pumpkin lifting work out just wasn't enough...Evie decided to hold up a tree too!

Evie had lots of love to share at the pumpkin patch...

Hugs
and kisses!
Hugs for the tree too!

Mr. and Mrs. Jackson Louis

2010-10-21T12:00:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month, we traveled to Birmingham, AL for my brother, Jack's wedding!! The wedding weekend was the perfection celebration! We all had a great time, and it flew by too quickly!

Jack and Leigh at the rehearsal dinner

Going over the ceremony
My other brothers - Walt, Tom and Ross with their groomsmen gifts. LOVE the monogrammed ice cooler bags - fit right into the Southern weekend!

I'm sad I didn't take more pictures of Evie at the rehearsal dinner - and wish I would have taken at least one family picture. At least I was able to get some from Rebekah!

Henry and Evie "cheers"ing their desserts

Evie was such a trooper on Friday! She wasn't able to take nap since our flight was around 2pm. She made it through the rehearsal and the dinner without any major melt downs. Towards the end of the night, she just needed lots of extra holding.

Evie, myself and sister-in-law Jenny

Back to the extra holding...

Rebekah & Margaret, Megan & Jackson and me & Evie

If you know my family well, you know my Dad (Don B) likes providing extra entertainment for any event he's hosting. This rehearsal dinner was no different! Don B and the Bad Boys returned for a final performance with newly designed t-shirts. They originally appeared at Tom and Rebekah's wedding in Shreveport, and have had several more shows since then.

This weekend was special because of their new costumes - corduroy jackets, mustaches and dark sunglasses!

After the performance, my Dad asks the bride for a dance...

...then each brother cuts in for a short dance

Ross and Leigh

Walt and Leigh

Tom and Leigh

And finally the groom gets to dance with his bride-to-be! This is one of my favorite wedding traditions my family has!! I love everything it represents - that the family is committed to this relationship just as the bride and groom is.

My dad added a new element this wedding by having the parents of the bride and groom join in on the final dance

The next afternoon we all headed to the country club for pictures.

Sam, Ella, Addie, Thomas and Evie ready in their flower girl and ring bearer outfits!

Rather than dropping petals, the flower girls held onto these flower wreaths

Lots of practice before the ceremony! They all did a great job during the ceremony! Evie really enjoyed practicing at the rehearsal, and was even jumping down the aisle. The big day was a little different...she walked half way down the aisle and then froze. Addie and Ella gently tried to pull the flower wreaths to get Evie to keep walking. My dad was able to see what was happening up the aisle, and told me I needed to stand up so Evie could see me. Once she knew I was waiting at the end of the aisle, she continued on without a problem! Ryan and I are so proud of her for walking down the aisle with a full room of people!

All of the Louis grandkids!!
(L-R Thomas, Sam, Addie, Alice, Ella, Margaret, Isabelle, Jackson, Gabe, Henry, Arden and Evie)

The beautiful bride, her bridesmaids and flower girls

Jack and his groomsmen
Whiteside family picture

All 7 siblings
(L-R Tom, Walt, Ross, Jack, Alex, Kate, myself)

I love this picture!! I always realize the pictures I wish I would have taken after the fact...definitely forgot to get a sister picture!

Mr. and Mrs. Jack Louis at the reception!! You only have to be around this couple for a moment to see how happy they make one another!

Ross and Jenny at the reception photo booth. We got all seven siblings and spouses plus my parents rounded up for a group picture. Craziness ensued! Can't wait to see how they turned out!

Cutting the cake

Every little touch of the wedding and reception was beautiful!! Since Jack is the office manager of a tour guide company in France (which offers some segway tours), the couple left the reception on segways decorated with "just married" and "bon voyage" signs, and cans tied to the back. So cute!!

The Kimbrough family was so thoughtful throughout the entire event! They arranged for child care for all of the cousins after the ceremony so the parents could enjoy the reception. They also provided shuttle transportation before and after the wedding.

After Jack and Leigh left the reception, all of the siblings, spouses and my parents loaded up on one shuttle. While waiting to pick up the kids, Rebekah began an awesome event...a pull up contest! I was so glad she got pictures!

My turn - barely got one pull up...

And Ryan closed the show with a pull up which turned into a full flip! I was so proud of my husband! : )

It was such a special weekend, and we couldn't be happier for Jack & Leigh!!

Burkhart Visits in SA & Houston

2010-10-14T21:00:00.001-05:00

The Whitesides have been pretty lucky the last few months...we've been able to see the Burkharts twice!!

The first visit was in San Antonio when Jenny and Bekah were in town for a wedding shower. We planned a special lunch-play date for Evie and Bekah!

As you can see in the picture, these girls were so excited to see each other!

It was amazing how well they played together - they just picked up right where they left off.

Besties

Luckily Ryan was there to take a group picture! Jenny and Bekah had matching shirts on...Evie and I are definitely going to be following this trend!!

Evie loves sitting at the table with friends and sharing treats. What could be better?!

Evie showing Bekah how she scares people

And then just a week later, the Whiteside family was back in Houston for an event with Ryan's company. The Burkharts watched Evie for us on Friday night while we attended the banquet, and then we had the rest of the weekend to play!

Evie and Bekah were by each others side the entire weekend!

We had great weather all weekend so we spent the morning outside at the park. We even got to see the Smiths and LeRouaxs!!

Zack and Ryan joined us at the park which the younger boys loved! They had play mates for football and the gliders.
Emily, Samantha, myself and Robyn

Hunter and Evie (yes, Evie is wearing one of Bekah's UT outfits. Since A&M wasn't playing on Saturday, we agreed to let Evie support UT in the game vs. OU. Unfortunately, she didn't bring them much luck!)
Evie was so excited to be back in Houston with all of her friends!!

Bekah, myself and Robyn

The whole gang back together!!

Evie and Bekah were both asked to be flower girls in their uncle's weddings. The brides gave us Moms some freedom in choosing a flower girl dress...so why not get matching ones?!

Here are our sweet girls modeling their beautiful dresses

Evie showing off her ballet moves in her ballet slippers

We've loved all of our Burkhart hang out time! And with the holidays right around the corner, we'll have several more San Antonio play dates to look forward to!!

Day Trip to Fredericksburg

2010-10-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

A few weekends ago, we headed to Fredericksburg for the day!

We've been so excited about all of the fun cities just a short drive away from San Antonio, and Fredericksburg has been on the top of our list since we've moved.

We had a great time with our friends Brian and Lauren! Lauren did a great job planning the afternoon! We visited Becker and Torre di Pietra vineyards, and then went to The Auslander for some yummy German food. After lunch, we left the boys at the restaurant to watch football while the three girls went out to shop!

Evie did great at the vineyards! She loved putting our wine tickets in the bucket and snacking on the palate cleansing crackers! : )

There were a few times she needed a break from being inside so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and patio area. We didn't bring many toys for Evie so I entertained her by having a photo shoot! I asked her to try different poses while I took pictures. This is what I captured:

After wards, she wanted to come back inside and show Lauren her poses

Family picture at Torre di Pietra vineyard. Evie was still loving the modeling poses!

Evie loved hanging out with Lauren! I think their friendship moved to a new level when Lauren let Evie borrow her lip gloss!!

Evie had fun impersonating the moose on the wall at The Auslander

Fredericksburg was such a great day trip because there was something for everyone! I think Wimberley is next on our list for a weekend trip.

Evie's First Day in Uniform

2010-09-27T14:00:00.001-05:00

Evie's uniforms finally came in last week!! She was so excited when I showed her the polo shirts...she immediately knew it was the same shirt everyone else at school wears!

For her first day in uniform, Evie decided to wear a polo, khaki skort and white bow

The uniforms consist of a blue embroidered polo and either khaki shorts, a skort, pants or jumper. It's nice there aren't too many options so picking out clothes in the morning is a breeze!

Evie and Izzie

2010-09-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

Evie has a new friend named Izzie!

We met Izzie, her brother Andrew and her mommy Carla through Jenny. Jenny and Carla grew up together in San Antonio. Evie and I have loved getting to know this sweet family!

Carla, Izzie and Andrew came over for a play date. I told the girls if they ate all of their snack they could have a treat...of course they devoured their grapes and held up their plate for the exciting treat!
Yummy cookies!!

Yes, Evie is still doing the "stink eye" smile

Treats are so fun!!

Such sweet friends!

Leigh's Bridal Shower

2010-09-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

The Louis sisters and sister-in-laws hosted a bridal shower for Leigh (my brother Jack's fiance) last weekend in Arlington! We're all so excited about Leigh joining the family!!

It was a dessert shower - I can't think of a better shower theme : )

Guests received a matching blank recipe card along with their shower invitation. Everyone brought back their favorite dessert recipe to share with Jack and Leigh. We gathered all of the recipes in this tin throughout the shower...

As part of the hostess gift, we gave Leigh this Recipe Nest - it's a mix between a recipe binder and box. Great find Rebekah!! It was great to give Leigh the collection of dessert recipes from family and friend to fill her new Recipe Nest!
Leigh and her mom Pam

Rebekah, Leigh, me and Kate (we missed Jenny, Megan and Alex!!)

Rebekah and sweet Margaret Gray

Pam, Leigh, Grandmother and Mom

We can't wait for Jack and Leigh's wedding in October! Evie is supposed to be a flower girl...she has the cute outfit so now we just need her to be able to walk down the aisle! : )

Evie's New School

2010-09-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Evie started at her new school this past week! It's been an adjustment to be in a new city and at a new school but she seems to be doing really well.

She cried the first few days when I dropped her off but the teachers said she stopped almost immediately. It's been great because they tell me to call whenever I want throughout the day to check on her. I called the first day before lunch to see how she was adjusting...it was so nice for the directors to go check on Evie in her class and come back with a report.

She is required to wear uniforms at this new school so those should be arriving in the mail soon. I'll definitely post pictures whenever Evie starts wearing them to school. Daddy is excited that he will be able to dress her in the mornings without thinking twice about what outfit to put on her!

Evie's class has been learning all about faces - the parts of the face, how to make different faces, and the shapes associated with faces. One of the crafts was to make a face out of a tortilla, peanut butter, raisins, a chip and Cherrios.

Here is Evie's masterpiece
She ate every piece off of the face and then ate the entire tortilla! Maybe we should create faces with our vegetables so she'll eat those too! : )

Wedding Weekend in Houston

2010-09-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Ryan and I headed to Houston for our friend's wedding! We had a great time helping Casey and Katy celebrate their special day!

The boys at the wedding day brunch
Ryan was an usher so he was responsible for helping hold up the chuppah (marriage canopy for Jewish weddings) throughout the ceremony. The ushers did a great job!

At the reception

Casey and Katy were held on raised chairs for a song at the reception. It was a lot of fun to watch!

While Ryan and I had our wedding weekend in Houston, Evie stayed in San Antonio with Grammy and Granpop! They are building a new house so their current house is on the market. It worked out great for them to watch Evie in SA so they could be out of the way for house showings.

Evie had a great weekend!! Every day we would get a new text with their exciting plans...Chick fil a dinner and play ground (Evie's favorite restaurant), play date with Presley and Cy, and a day at Chuck E Cheeses!!

It was her first time to be at Chuck E Cheeses! Grammy and Granpop said Evie had a great time! Evie's showing off her tokens in this picture:

Playing at Chuck E Cheeses is serious business!