Baby Time!

I have a new niece!! Well, my only niece! Sweet baby Grace Riley Hargrave was born last Wednesday, April 17th at 11:35pm. She's such a beautiful little girl and I love her so much! I'm so excited that my sister in law is on maternity leave for the next 11 weeks because that means that I can pop by and get some good lovin' from that sweet babe any time I want {well, any time that Ryan says I can ;)}! Stella of course LOVES "bay Grace." She knows good and well how to say "baby" but when she says Grace's name she leaves the last syllable off "baby" so it comes out "Bay Grace." I'd be lying if I said that it doesn't make me have a slight bit of baby fever...but all in the Lord's time. I don't want to rush things :) I know baby's are born all throughout the year, but it just seems like I know an unusual amount of people having baby's right now and I'm loving seeing all these precious newborns!

{Blake pretending to "catch" - he seriously torments his sister}

{Precious baby Grace}

{Visiting the Hargrave's in the hospital}

{Is this seriously not the most precious face?!}

We now have 7 baby calves and counting! The joys of springtime! They're so, so tiny and wobbly! And their mama's are QUITE protective! Blake got rolled up by one mama cow last week while tagging her baby and he was pretty sore for a couple days. I'm dying to get back on my horse since it's been several weeks since I've ridden. I'm hoping and praying that the weather will cooperate this weekend and maybe I can get a ride in! Blake is saying that I may get to help them when it comes time to work the cows and wean the babies so I gotta brush up on my skills....which actually means I gotta figure out what the heck I'd be doing since I've never done it before!

{Kind of dark - but you can see a couple of the calves}

Stella is doing fantastic as we plow ahead into the "terrific" two's. I'm going to try and put some positive vibes out there and hope that her second year is more terrific than terrible! We're still definitely having dramatic tantrums and she seems to get frustrated SO quickly. We're also trying to teach her manners, which she's great at "please" and "thank you," but we're also trying to do "yes mam" and "no mam" etc. And also trying to help her learn not to interrupt when others are talking...but that one's been a bit difficult!
Before church on Sunday, Blake and I were telling Stella again about how Jesus lives in our hearts. She listened intently, but one just never knows what sticks in their little brains and what doesn't {although, I venture to say most things at this point are "sticking."} After church, Stella rode with my parents back to their house while I followed in my car. My parents were asking her if she learned about Jesus at church today and she looked at them and said, "Heart!" and patted her little chest. I was pretty excited when we got to my parents house and they told me that because that meant she was really listening to Blake and I that morning. I love teaching her things and I love how quickly she's grasping them. We've sung the ABC's probably 20+ times this week and she's doing SO well! She pretty consistently has A,B,C,D,E...G...K,L,M,N,O,P...S,T,U,V...X...Z. There are times when she's not really in the mood and it takes a little more prompting. She can sing most of Ring Around the Rosie and a teensie bit of Jesus Loves Me. We've been practicing counting 1-5 and depending on the day she can usually do it. Although, when teaching her, I would always start with "one" and she would jump in with "two." So, I'm having a little trouble now getting her to start with "one"! She's also started asking for medicine for her boo-boo's since I put some neosporin on a scratch she got the other day. We're picking up speed again with the potty training since we kind of put that on the back burner just because I felt like she was still so young. The nursery ladies get so excited because she'll usually go potty once or twice for them when they keep her! Ok, I know I've babbled on and on about my kid...but I just have to record this stuff because I will NEVER remember it come two weeks from now :)!

{Cracks me up...I can only imagine what she's thinking.}

{KiKi the kitty is still getting lots of forced kisses}

{Not so sure about that bow in her hair}

{Bluebonnets!}

{Melts my heart}

{She wouldn't really stay still for very long!}

In other news - I finally got to see the musical, WICKED! Saying it was amazing is an understatement. It was glorious {I know I sound lame, but it was seriously so cool!}. Definitely becoming a musical fan and will probably try and go again next summer! And I also got to meet up with my two best friends from high school and have dinner! It was Ashley's birthday so I met her and some of her friends at Mi Cocina to celebrate. It had been ridiculously too long since the three of us had been together and it was so nice catching up!

{Dinner at Chuy's before Wicked}

{Me, my mom, and sister}

{We went with our best friends from church - such a fun girls' night - we've been friends for 24 years!}

{Stephanie, Ashley, and me}

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}

The Little Kitty

So....we got a little kitty yesterday. My friend that I worked with had "saved" this kitty from a Walmart in Uptown and after bringing the kitty home found that it had some serious predatory instincts. And since he had two small dogs and guinea pigs, he asked if I could find a home for the cat. I had all the intentions in the world to take the kitty to our friend's barn or even keep it in our shop/barn, but after spending the last 24 hours with him, he is the SWEETEST cat ever! He lets Stella drag him around and force kisses on him, plus he's a cuddler. He seems like he's going to get along with the dogs, too, which is great! So, all that to say that our "barn kitty," might just turn into our indoor/outdoor kitty {with emphasis on the INDOOR part :)}. Stella is having a blast bossing this poor cat around. She walks around telling it "NO, MAM!" and pointing her finger. I can't imagine where she's heard that ;) Ahem, ahem! Note to self - be more selective in telling Miss Stella "no, mam"! But seriously, I do NOT point my finger like that, ha!

Also, I wanted to record a few things that Stella has done over the past three weeks that have just made me realize how quickly she's growing and how much her mind is really soaking up. I have nothing to compare her to as far as "learning" goes, so the fact that I'm impressed by these things may mean nothing to anyone but me! Three weeks ago, my mom and I were running by my sister's salon so that I could pick up a few hair products. My sister works at Firewheel Salons and as we were pulling into Firewheel by the Starbucks and Eddie's Napoli's I heard Stella yell out from the backseat,"Ray, Ray!" {which is what she calls my sister} and then yell out, "Ray, Ray...work"! My mom and I quickly looked at each like "Did she just say that?" So, we were super impressed that she was able to recognize where we were and that she was correct in that this was where my sister worked!

Then, on Friday, Stella and I met Blake at Chiloso in Wylie for lunch. Stella and I had been to Chiloso about three weeks prior to meet one of my good friends, who Stella calls Missy. So, we pulled into our parking spot and as Blake was getting Stella out of her car seat she starts saying, "Missy, Missy." Blake looked at me to see why she would be calling out for Missy and it dawned on me...the last time we were at Chiloso was with Missy. Now, again, since she's my kid I know I'm going to be more surprised/impressed than any one else. But, she's not even two and her memory is crazy!

Tonight, after we got home from dinner with our family, Stella and I were playing on my bed with the new kitty and Stella looked over on my nightstand to all my books and was pointing out saying, "Mama books." I told her yes and pointed to my Bible and told her, "Mama's Bible." She looked at me and said, "Stella Bible?" and held her hands up like she was questioning and then said, "Where Stella Bible go?" So, I just told her to go find her Bible. Back up to about a month ago when I pulled out her small New Testament Bible for the first time that Aunt Ry Ry and Uncle Micah had given her when she was a baby. I keep it in the top bin in her cubed bookshelf and that was the first and last time that I had showed her her Bible. After I told her to go find her Bible {while I stayed in my room}, she apparently went and got the correct bin down from her bookshelf and dug through the books until she found her small, white New Testament Bible and brought it to me. I was floored. We really only had such a small conversation about her Bible that I just could not believe that she remembered! Needless to say, I'm happy her little brain is plugging away all this information! Now I just need to remember to be SUPER careful at what I allow in that little brain :)

March Madness

Hellooooo! I know I'm a sporadic blogger, but I've just accepted that it's my style :) I really can't begin to convey how busy the first half of 2013 has been. We really have had something every week and I don't really see any relief in sight until about June! But we're rolling with it and enjoying it!

Stella is becoming such a little GIRL! From protesting about shoes to wanting to see bows in her hair (except that she takes the bows out right after she's looked at herself in the mirror)...she seems to be all girl. I'm absolutely loving all her communication growth because it's making my life so much easier :) I'm not having to guess all the time at what she's wanting since her vocabulary is expanding daily! She really makes me laugh by referring to herself by name when she's doing things like, "Stella running" or "Stella sit in lap" or when she wants something, "Peas, Stella."(aka, please). Her empathy also just makes my heart happy. She's SO ultra aware of everybody's feelings and emotions and will point out if anybody is sad, then they're automatically crying (which when she says crying, it's pronounced without the "r"). She's so funny about wanting to see our friends and family and calling them out by name when she wants to see them (LaLa, Missy, Bone, PawPaw, NeNe...). So, I try my best to make sure she gets plenty of time with all the people she loves and that love her! Her favorite things to do right now are playing with her babies, coloring, and reading ALL her books over and over again. And, all horses are called "Sassy" now! So cute. She's still saying "no, no" to inanimate objects, especially if she hurts herself by falling or bumping into a door she'll point at the floor or the door and tell it, "NO! NO!" I try to stifle my laugh but most of the time I just bust out laughing because I think she's funny. She likes to tease and pretend to lay down on the floor and go "night night." Then, she'll pat the floor and want me to come lay down, too. Well, I could go on and on, but I like to record some of these things just because my memory is so bad and this way I'll have something to refer back to.

In other news, we've had one cow that has had her baby and boy is it CUTE! I didn't realize that the mama cows hid their babies to keep them safe and warm, so that's been neat to see what good mama's these cows are going to be. I can't wait til the day we see the whole herd with little babies beside each mama.

Playing with her Valentine's toys

I could do this every day

Trying to convince Stella that headbands are cool - but she just kept telling us we looked "preely" (pretty)!

This girl loves to read

That robe just does me in....and she loves to come her hair!

Stella has quite the extensive phone conversations

She loves all her babies

Stella likes to put her hands on my coffee mug and tell me "it's hot" and "mama's cocky" (coffee)

Monkey see, monkey do

He turned 30!!

She REALLY likes corn

Stella had quite the exciting trip to Bass Pro - we were WORN OUT

Her baby has to "ride"

She really likes puzzles too

In.love.

Cutie patootie

We have a new found love of stickers

Man, she loved the bunnies - now she wants to look at my phone all the time to see the pictures of the bunnies

Skeet shooting

Little chickies

That mama cow was not too thrilled about Blake having to tag her baby