High Five for Friday!

{one} The Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit was indeed magical...but alas, the magic has come to an end. Eli started rolling over in the suit, so we had to stop using it. I was really nervous about it, but he didn't do too bad. The first few naps were rough, as he seemed a bit confused about being laid down in his crib without the suit. But the first night, he only woke up once. This week he has been battling the 45 minute intruder during naps, but overall he has done really well with the transition. And he just looks so stinkin' adorable in his footie pajamas :)

{two} After 13 wonderful and faithful years, I said goodbye to Peabody. It was such a good little car! Through college, starting a new life in DFW, and marriage, this little Mazda was an awesome SUV. But it was definitely time for something else. It has been through a lot and was starting to show quite a bit of wear and tear. And we're pretty sure it was going to die any day haha. I asked Mike to take one last photo before he traded it in...

Adios Peabody! You were a fantastic car.

{three} We had already introduced Eli and Maddie to solid foods in the form of purees. But I knew we would want to use more of the Baby Led Weaning principles as they got older. So when they hit 6 months, we decided to go ahead and start. We're starting slow, but it's all just introduction and practice at this point anyway. Maddie took to it right away, and Eli was a little wary of it, but I think they're going to do just fine.

{four} We got a recommendation to take Eli to the chiropractor to see if they could help even out his flat head from the torticollis {neck muscles cause him to turn to one side only} and subsequent plagiocephaly {flat head}. It's our last attempt to try avoiding a helmet for our little guy. So we'll so how it goes. It meant that I got some one on one time with this sweet boy :)

{five} My parents are coming into town this weekend, and we are looking forward to spending time with them, celebrating Mother's Day, and dedicating our sweet babies at church!

{Flashback Friday} :: College Freshman

When my 10 year high school reunion rolled around, I blogged about my high school years. So now that my 10 year college reunion has arrived, I thought I would do the same for my college years at Baylor :) So over the next few Fridays, I will relive my time as a Baylor Bear!

Sorry for some of the poor image quality...it was still back before digital photos {or at least before I had transitioned out of film}. So I had to scan a lot of the photos out of my scrapbooks. But you get the idea. And I wish I could say my fashion choices improved in college, but sadly, they did not. Oh well. Enjoy the laugh and the trip down memory lane!

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I arrived on the Baylor campus in August of 2003. I was excited and hopeful, nervous and slightly scared. But I was so ready to take on the world and figure out life as a college student! 

I knew I wanted to study business, so I dove right into all of my freshman business classes. It would take me a couple of years to decide on my final major, but {other than a brief life choice crisis my junior year} I enjoyed my business classes from the beginning. 

My dorm room...complete with matching bedding with my freshman roomie

Megan, my freshman roomie! We went to high school together, so it was nice to know someone.

I lived in North Russell, Hall 1A. I loved getting to know a number of these sweet girls.

Game Day! Baylor football was terrible while I was there, but we still had fun going to to the games.

Our tiny dorm Christmas tree :)

My sweet friend Nicki {who lived next door}...ready for a night out, wearing each other's clothes ha!

Sweet girls from freshman year

With the bear!!

It's also worth noting that I worked in the dining hall my freshman year. That's right...I served food to my fellow classmates, and my uniform was complete with a hair net. I don't have any photos of that, but you can just imagine. It was a good job, but I was glad when it was time to move on to something else :)

Another random {and fun} thing about freshman year is that my parents surprised me with my Mazda, Peabody! The car I had taken to college was acting up and so my parents gifted me a new, more reliable vehicle. It was completely unexpected, and one of the best surprises!

High Five for Friday!

{one} We have been on the hunt for a new family vehicle, and we finally found the right one! We knew we wanted a Honda Pilot, and we have been praying for the right deal. Mike has been faithfully scouring the internet for deals, so when this one popped up, we knew we needed to check it out. We had to drive out to Fort Worth, but it was totally worth the trip. Thanks to Justin at Moritz Chevrolet for making the process painless and simple! We will keep Peabody {my Mazda}, but Mike will primarily drive it now. We are so thankful for the Lord's provision, and we cannot wait to bring our babies home in The Babymobile :)

Proud owners of a new {to us} Honda Pilot! #startsomethingspecial

{two} I wrapped up the Shiloh Bible study this week. I am so thankful for this ministry, and especially the fact that they open it up to members outside their church. There are several infertility groups out there, but this is such an invaluable ministry. To walk alongside women who have walked the unique road of infertility/loss, and to dive deep into the Word together is so special. And desperately needed. I have learned so much from the brave women who have chosen to press into Jesus and find their joy and rest in Him, even when their worlds are shattering around them. So thankful for the opportunity to walk alongside and pray with them.

{three} I have been working a few more hours the past couple of weeks, because we have begun the insurance renewal process. It still makes me laugh that I left insurance, and yet it still follows me to this day :) But I am grateful for the extra hours, and I am still so thankful that I get to work most of those hours from home. I do have to say that telling the executives that I was pregnant with twins was probably one of the most fun things...they have been so incredibly sweet and supportive. Just another reason I have absolutely loved working for them.

{four} Yeah. So this has already happened.

We found cribs for a good price, and Mike has already put them together! And Sasha and I supervised :) It is SO fun to see the nursery already starting to come together. Mike said that the reality of twins sunk in when he worked so hard to put one crib together....and then looked over to see that he still had another one to put together. It might be early, but we have waited A LONG time for this...so don't judge us too harshly. And is anybody really surprised that I am working to get things together early?? :)

{five} We have a busy weekend ahead! Tonight we are heading to have Sushi {only veggie rolls for me!} to celebrate our sweet friend DJ's birthday, tomorrow I am heading to a lingerie shower for Amy, and Sunday we have our last Re|Engage discussion for community group. My dad has a board meeting in Dallas, so my parents are coming up for an extended weekend, and we'll be able to spend some time with my dad, but mostly with my mom. It will be a packed but fun weekend!

{iPhone Rewind} :: June

Hello Summer! Hello Sun! Hello June!  :)

I had my trusty Starbucks mug for over 8 years. I LOVED that mug because it kept my coffee hot all morning long. It had become pretty beaten up over the last few years, and when the gold started flaking off on a consistent basis, I figured it was finally time to trade it in for a newer model. Isn't it so shiny and pretty? 

My brother-in-law commissioned me to paint a porch sign for Mike's sister for their anniversary. They recently built a back porch and have been working to make it a fun place for outdoor entertaining, so he thought a cute sign would be the perfect addition. I like how it turned out, and I am glad that she really liked it too! 

In my effort to read more, I decided to invest in a Kindle. I had been looking at them for awhile, but then got a sweet gift card from work, so I decided on the Kindle Paperwhite. I love how light and compact it is, and I really like the case I stumbled upon. Welcome to modern-day, Erin ;)

Peabody hit 150,000 miles this month! I got my car the Spring semester of my freshman year at Baylor. It has been a fantastic little car, and I am so thankful that it is now 11 years old and still going strong! 

My birthday balloon has made it 4 months! When it wasn't losing its air right away, I decided I wanted to see how long it would last {The Office warehouse balloon, anyone?}. It finally started to waiver, and it hung on for about a week after this photo before it finally came to rest. Not bad, birthday balloon. Not bad at all :)

My mom introduced us to a new card game. We have enjoyed playing this fun new game; it's always fun to have something different to play when people come over.

This guy. We have seen a lot more of him, and we love it! He is {hopefully} moving closer to us, and has been going to Woodcreek with us as well. I am definitely excited about seeing him more often!!

This little lady turned 8 years old this month! I can't believe how quickly she is starting to age, but despite her old lady features, she still has plenty of her normal puppy spunk. Love this pup!

Ok, so this is gross. Sasha has been shedding like a crazy woman. Like, WAY more than normal. I think it has to do with the fact that it literally got hot overnight, so poor puppy has been desperately trying to shed her winter coat. 

I found a baked donut recipe that I wanted a try, so we bought a mini donut pan. Mike wanted to try the pumpkin recipe on the pan, so we made them together on a Saturday morning. They were good, but not awesome. I am looking forward to trying the original recipe I found.

We attended the wedding of one of Mike's former students. It was absolutely beautiful {reception held at South Fork Ranch}, and we had a fun time with friends and family. We love the photo booths :)

I received a sweet gift from my co-workers for our new home! They know we will be transitioning into a new place soon, and they were very sweet to pull together a gift card for us to "feather our new nest!"

We had a free Saturday, so we decided to go see the new Pixar movie Inside Out {super cute movie}. We missed the show we had planned for, so we bought tickets for the next one and had some time to kill. So we had a little impromptu Starbucks afternoon date. I still love just getting to hang out and talk life with this guy. He's my favorite :)

{iPhone Rewind} :: June

Every Spring, Sasha starts shedding like crazy to get rid of her thick winter coat. This year it seemed like she was shedding SO much more than usual. She got a bath and we used the Furminator to get rid of as much as we could...and we ended up brushing out enough hair the size of our neighbor's dog. No Joke. Good thing I love my puppy :)

 

The first half of June was dedicated to VBS prep. I was in charge of crafts, so our living room became the working hub for all things VBS craft-related.

 

I don't know where my brain has been the past 6 months, but I finally realized that my inspection sticker was expired in JANUARY. And it wasn't like I "kept meaning to do it" either; I was 100% oblivious the entire 6 months. I got my registration sticker. I have changed my oil. But never once noticed my inspection. I am SUPER lucky I didn't get pulled over {especially given the fact that the windshield replacement guy used bright orange adhesive to put it back on}. Plus, I got a free car wash when I finally took my car in. #grace

 

Sasha turned 7 this month, and I made her take a picture with me on her birthday. She is most definitely eyeing the treat in my hand, waiting for the photo nonsense with mom to be over :)

 

Mike and I had planned a date night, but I wasn't feeling great so we ended up not going out. I came home to these beautiful flowers, which were a sweet "I love you" in place of a night out. So thankful for a patient husband who endures my bad days with me.

 

These silly kitties don't belong to us, but they are ALWAYS in our yard: sleeping in our flower beds, under our carport, on our front door mat. They have no fear, and even hopped into one of our Bible study girls' car once. In the winter, they try to sneak inside our house. The neighbor kids try to feed them on our poarch. They are siblings, so they are constantly fighting with each other. I walked outside to them wrestling with each other in the soccer goal net. Silly kitties.

 

 

Ice Days 2013

We had a lot of freezing rain and below freezing temperatures move into North Texas. I was able to make it to work on Friday, though there were like 5 people at corporate haha {I guess that's the one downside to living only 5 minutes away...no ice days!} 

Don't be fooled...that is all ice in our backyard.

Leland on Ice :)

Poor Peabody is covered in ice too

Our entire fence is covered in icicles

The trees are so heavy with the ice, especially because most of them still have their leaves. Many branches have broken off and litter the roads.

We have been holed in the house the last few days, enjoying a lot of rest, movies, hot coffee, and games. We are so thankful for the provision of a warm house, heat, and food. We are thankful for some forced down-time, though it's weird to have everything at a stand still. 

We did make it out for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon, though that was pretty short lived due to the icy ground and cold temps. Even though I couldn't feel my feet, it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit!

It was slow going but we managed to make our way safely

It's all so beautiful!

It should warm up a bit this afternoon, and hopefully the ice will start to melt by tomorrow! I'm ready for it to be back above 30! :)