Kimberly's Bridal Shower Tea

Our Grandmama's best friends (they call themselves "The Posse") threw Kimberly a beautiful bridal shower tea this past Saturday at the Stone Mountain Country Club. It was a gorgeous day outside, and the shower was so nice. We brought the girls because so many people wanted to see them, so it got a little interesting there for a while with Lila thinking that all of the presents should be for her. Once she found the piano down the hallway and her new best friend, Jeanie, she was much better! The food was delicious, and Kimberly had SO many presents to open. It was so good to see everyone again since many of the guests were friends of my parents when we lived in Lilburn 20 years ago (I can NOT believe that it's been that long since we moved from that area!!).  We are definitely getting into the thick of the wedding celebrations for Kimberly, and I'm so excited for more to come!

Happy Father's Day

Just as a father has compassion 

on his children, 

So the Lord has compassion 

on those who fear Him. 

Psalm 103:13

I'm so sad that we couldn't be with Josh on Father's Day this year. He is such an amazing father to our girls! He is also the only man I know that understands that a girl's outfit isn't complete without a matching bow, and he even tries to "match" his own clothes with them on a daily basis. He loves them SO much, and they are definitely wrapped around his finger! Thank you for being such a selfless, loving father, Josh! Happy Father's Day!

"I guide you 

in the way of wisdom 

and lead you along straight paths. 

When you walk, 

your steps will not be hampered; 

when you run, 

you will not stumble. 

Hold on to instruction, 

do not let it go; 

guard it well, 

for it is your life." 

Proverbs 4:11-13

Thank you also to our Heavenly Father for providing us with strength, courage, love, guidance, and most importantly, grace.

Eleven Months Old *June 13, 2012*

I can't believe this is the last monthly post before my baby girl is ONE! This was by far the fastest and busiest year of my life so far, but also my best! Having these two girls and watching them grow closer every day is such a blessing. I'm so glad that they are so close in age, even if it made us a little more busy (and crazy in the first few weeks!). I can't wait to celebrate this little one's first birthday next month in Atlanta with our family and friends!! 

Here's what you're up to:

*You weigh 17.2 pounds and are just under 27 inches tall.

*You have THREE teeth! You are working on that top left tooth that is taking forever to come in.

*You learned how to CLAP this past week! You still love to WAVE at everyone and everything. You will say "bye bye" when you wave sometimes.

*Still doing a mixture of a monkey walk and crawling on all fours. You have stood up by yourself for several seconds, until you realize that you are standing and then you sit down. I think it freaks you out a little to be standing alone.

*You pull up and cruise on everything! We can't let you play in footie pajamas because you slip on the feet when you try to climb and cruise.

*You're still our cuddle bunny and prefer to be held over anything else. However, you have wanted to get down and cruise around a little more lately than ever before.

*You are in LOVE with your sister and call for her from your bed sometimes. Lila loves you just as much, and you both have a great time playing with each other already.

*You have started mimicking what she says, such as saying "No, Lila" after Lila says it to her. Anytime Lila says "NO!", Alli has to scream "NO!". It's pretty funny...when Lila isn't being too ugly. You also said something that sounded JUST like "bye bye Lila" when you were going to bed last night. It was so cute!

*You're favorite toys are the remote control, my iPhone (although I don't let you play with it), iPad, empty water bottles, a snack cup, sippy cups, a bouncing Fisher Price dinosaur, and board books (to chew on).

*Sleep schedule hasn't changed: Naps at 10:30 and 2, Bedtime from 8-7ish and then again from 7-8ish after your morning bottle.

*Your favorite place to sleep is still nestled in the corner of your crib in the bumper pads.

*Your eating differs from day to day. Some days you will eat 2 jars for every feeding, but lately you've been satisfied with just one jar at each feeding. You still don't love solid solids, but you do love Cheerios. Your favorite thing is to eat them out of the no-spill snack cups. Your good with yogurt melts too.

*Still drinking formula, and even though I started mixing whole milk with Lila at this age, I'm going to stick to formula with you for a while since your iron count was borderline low at your 9-month check up.

*Wearing size 3 diapers now. You're also wearing a mixture of 6-12, 6-9, and 12 month clothes depending on the brand. Most of your 12-month smocked dresses are still too big, so you're still wearing some 6 and 9 month smocked dresses and bubbles. The 9-month cotton sleepers are still too long for you, haha, teeny little thing!

*You're starting to fight back (a little) when your sister takes your toys. You give up pretty easily and find another toy to play with though. You're much more easy-going than she is!

*You think sneezing is so funny, especially when you are the one sneezing!

*You LOVE playing peek-a-boo, and you will play any chance you get!

*You've already gone swimming several times, and although you didn't love it at first, you are getting more used to the water! You really didn't enjoy the sand at the Galveston Beach, but hopefully you will get used to that too!

Alli's Birthday Invitation

I think these turned out SO cute! I need to give credit where credit is due, though. Rosie with Reflections by Rosie took her adorable picture, and the invitation was created by Kelly Dvyig with ShopPrinttheParty on ETSY. Kelly created them, and I used my favorite photo printing service, mpix.com, to print them!

We are officially ready to party! 

front 

(I didn't want to give away my parent's address or my cell phone number, so that's why there are spots missing and smudged out)

back

First Pool Day of the Summer

ready for the pool!

We spent last Saturday morning with some friends at our neighborhood pool. The first swim of the season is always exciting, and this time it gave us a chance to see just how much Lila has grown up since last year. Last summer, Lila's favorite thing to do was walk straight in the pool and go until she couldn't walk anymore (i.e. until the water was well above her head). It was so exhausting to try and keep her in the shallow end.

girls hanging out in the pool together

This year, she was so good and well-behaved. She loved her swimmies and had the best time splashing and swimming around by herself. She still loved jumping off of the side into Josh's arms, just like last year. Josh even let her go for a few seconds in the deep end, and she did a great job swimming by herself (even though she was a little freaked out to be out of Josh's arms).

Lila splishing and splashing

Alli had a great time sitting, crawling, and splashing in the water. She also had fun getting thrown up in the air and splashing down into the water. I love that both girls love the water, and I hope that we get to enjoy our nice neighborhood pool many more times this Summer!

jumping into the pool

daddy and Alli

My girls and me

Nikki's Shower 6*9*12

My friend, Ashley threw Nikki a beautiful shower for her new baby boy, Denny, on Saturday.  Nikki already has a little girl, so we were able to shower her this past weekend with many things for a baby boy. Ashley did a fantastic job with all of the decorations, games, and cake (which was a cute little sleepy owl). There were also tons of dips that another one of Nikki's friends homemade for the party, which were yummy! I had such a great time catching up and laughing with Ashley's mom, who, in my opinion, I don't get to see often enough :) ! Nikki looks great, and I can't wait to meet her new baby boy in a few more weeks!

food and drinks

name game

Nikki and her hostesses

MOMs Club Annual Dinner

all of the ladies at the table

On Thursday, we had our MOMs Club League City East's annual dinner at Opus Bistro. Opus is a fine dining restaurant right on the water in Kemah. It's such a good restaurant, and the views are beautiful! There was a great turn out for dinner, and it was so nice getting to know some of the ladies whom I've only met once or twice. It was also great to visit with the ladies whom I've gotten to be really close to in the last two years.  This group has been such a blessing, and I'm glad that Josh was home and that I was able to attend this year!

the group

secret sister reveal

swearing in the new board