Port Aransas, TX

We left home a couple weeks ago to spend a few days on the Texas coast in Port Aransas. We went with my parents and my sister, Rachel, and her husband, Paul. It was so refreshing to get away for a few days.

Growing up we went to the beach every summer with my dad's family. When I was younger we went to Holden Beach, NC because that's where my dad grew up going with his family. I absolutely love beaches with big families because there's never a shortage of people to hang out with and catching up with family is always a bonus. My dad's family is HUGE....when it's his extended family we're talking 60+ people. As we got older and the drive from Texas became such a LONG way, we decided to start going to Gulf Shores, AL or Pensacola, FL with just my dad's immediate family. He's one of four brothers so again it was always a 20+ gathering. As all my cousins get older (ages 33ish to 12ish) and married and having babies, it's become harder for everyone to commit to a certain week out of the year to go to the beach. After Blake and I got married, his family had been going to the beach all during his childhood and I loved that we shared the same love for the ocean (although, since Blake was in a forward-deployed fleet in the Navy spending MONTHS at a time on a Naval carrier at sea, I'd say his "love" is a little different than mine!) We've been twice to South Padre, TX with his big family and had such a blast!

{ME - circa 1988}

This trip was different because there was just 6 of us plus Stella! But, it was SO relaxing and I really enjoyed how low-key everything was. We got to ride a ferry across to Port Aransas and Stella loved that! It rained the first morning we were there, which was Mother's Day, but I still loved looking out our condo onto the sand and waves. We hit the beach that afternoon and Stella is just in love with the sand, seagulls, and water! You can also drive on the beach at Port Aransas, which is super cool to me. I'd never been to a beach where you can do that.

Monday morning, the guys left early and headed out to go bay fishing. Port Aransas has some of the best bay fishing in the country. They all caught their limit in red fish and it made for some yummy eating once we got home.  The girls just relaxed and headed to the beach for a while and then headed back in for Stella's lunch and nap time.

We ate seafood every night, which is one of the best things about the beach! We did breakfast and lunches at the condo, but went out every night for dinner. Who wants to spend your own vacation cooking every meal you have to eat? I do that every day at home!

We so enjoyed our getaway at Port Aransas and I'm so glad to know that there are now TWO Texas beaches that I love!

Almost Two

Here we are, a week away from Stella turning two years old and I'm having trouble believing that it was really two years ago that I gave birth to her! I never could have imagined how time would hit fast forward and how much Stella would grow and change our lives. She's a JOY! I'm continually impressed and in awe of how God designed these little ones to learn and grow - and I love having a front row seat to this little miracle!

As far as our "terrific" two's are going, she's definitely testing limits and has her defiant moments, but I am impressed with the way that she's listening to me when I'm teaching/telling her ways that we do/don't act. She'll show me she's listening by pointing to her ear and then she'll look very intently at me while I talk. She typically responds with "yes MAM" after we're done chatting (but sometimes needs some prompting from me to say it). Don't get me wrong, it doesn't always work, but for the most part I know she's wanting to obey and I just love the stuffings out of her.

I wanted to list some of things that Stella is doing BEFORE she turns two. We're in the midst of swim lessons. We've only had two so far and the first day went great and I was super happy, but the second day was pretty awful. I'm just hoping that Stella gets a better awareness for the water. I don't expect her to be doing the back stroke when this is done, but I would like her to be able to go under water and reach for the side of the pool. Since Blake was a rescue swimmer in the Navy, he'll continue to work with her throughout the summer to keep her skills going! We also went to the beach in Port Aransas, TX a couple weeks ago, so I'll be sharing those pictures soon too. Stella loves all the sand! We're wanting to get her a sand box, and I had hoped to have one before her birthday, so it may turn out to be a belated present :)

Anyway, here is my little list of recent accomplishments for Stella Josephine:

• Sing all of her ABC's
• Count 1-10
• Sing along (most words) to Twinkle, Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Ring around the Rosie
• Hear and point out "airpanes" in the sky
• Brings me books and wants me to "read it"
• Recognizes and remembers nearly everyone she meets (we do a little reinforcement with pictures!)
• Prays with her hands clasped and eyes closed before all meals and naps/night-time
• Tells me "turn on Fee-V" (TV)

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but these are what stick out to me and are the most recent things in the last couple months that our little turkey is doing!

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}