The latest and greatest

Y'all. I have been so neglectful of my little blog. I feel like there's so much going on that in order to keep this updated it would more so overwhelm you (or me) and therefore I put it off!

We've become more involved with our church - Blake and I are now youth leaders and I'm so excited to be giving back of my time to an age group that I have such a heart for.

My little niece is going to arrive any day now...and if she doesn't, then she's being "evicted" next Wednesday....I could NOT be more excited to be an aunt to a little girl I'm already in love with before I've even met! I'm so so so blessed beyond words to have such a close family {both mine and the one I married into!} I love having family so close by and love that I feel such a part of Blake's family, too.

Stella. I just can't imagine my life without her. You'd think I'd have more time to blog now that I'm not working, but I find the only times I can write are when she's sleeping. Nap times are full of me taking care of what I don't like to do when she's awake {folding and putting away laundry, balancing check books, paying bills, prepping dinner, or just laying on my back taking a breather...but you get the point}. And most evenings I'm just plain tired - but tired in a good way. The kind of tired I want to be!

I can't believe that Stella will be two years old next month. Her enunciation of her words is incredible and there are so many times when she speaks in sentences that it just blows my mind. She can keep herself quite entertained by taking care of her babies {she's going to be such a good big sister....one day} or coloring or sitting on our pool table playing with pool balls. However, the mood swings are killing me! I hate being cliche and saying that we're in the throws of terrible two's....but it's just the truth. We're definitely in the boo-boo phase where we have to show everyone our boo-boo's {real and imagined}. Most of the time we just kiss them or "shake it off" but lately I've been telling Stella when she comes to me with {another} boo-boo that we need to pray and ask Jesus to heal it/make it feel better/etc. So, it's precious when she comes running to me with her boo-boo now and says "Jee-shush" and wants to pray.

She is quite the dramatic little thing, especially now when there's something that I have to tell her no about or things she can't do. The tantrums have started and they are NOT pretty. I just continue to pray for wisdom in how to react and train her up. I'm not gonna lie....I see how parents get overwhelmed and would rather just ignore the tantrum or behavior, but I know that's not going to benefit her in the long-run just so I can have a momentary bit of laziness. So, again, I just continue to pray and know that God equipped me, specifically, to discipline her and my judgement is best. She's also just now starting to be a bit more timid and reluctant to new people than she was previously. I don't know if this is because she's staying home with me now versus being exposed to lots of children and teachers at school OR if it's more of an age thing where she's starting to be more aware of people she doesn't know. But I promise, if you give this kid a "pop" {lollipop} she will be your best friend for life. If I had a penny for every time she asks me during the day for a "pop" or a "Nack" {snack} - I would have a quite a chunk of change! This little girl would graze all day if I let her!


Here are a few pictures of our last few weeks :)

{She loves the "fwing"}

{Family Block Party at our church on Easter weekend}

{Quite the fan of bubble baths}

{Our first attempt at a family photo...}

{Blake and my sweet brother in law, Paul}

{My sister, Rachel, her husband, Paul, with Blake and I}

{Lauren and I at Texas Antiques Week}