The Binas

Charleigh's First 3 Months!

2011-09-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

Can you believe in one short week, Charleigh will be 4 months old?? It's just the craziest thing to wrap my mind around. Lance and I were just talking today about the moment we pulled out of the hospital with her in the car with us. It was such a surreal moment. It was a moment full of excitement for finally having our daughter with us after the 9 months of pregnancy, and a moment of "how do we take care of this little human without the hospital nursery?!" Ha!! Well, it has been amazing. She is just the most precious little girl. We really can't get enough of her. She started blessing us with a full nights sleep at 6 weeks old. I mean 12 full hours of sleep at night for Miss Charleigh! We are so VERY thankful for that. What is she up to these days? She is working on rolling over. She has mastered rolling over from her belly to her back, but is still trying to figure out how to roll over from her back to her stomach. Tummy time these days is much more "true" tummy time. She is propping herself up on her little forearms and holding her head up really well. After about 15 minutes, she's pretty pooped out from holding her head up and then it's time to roll over. She is also starting to laugh. Oh my goodness, if this isn't the noise every parent will do anything to hear. I promise, the first time we heard her laugh it was a mission from then on to do ANYTHING that would make her laugh. Sometimes we get a little ridiculous, ha! I love it! She is trying so hard to get so many noises out. It is so fun to watch her lay on her play mat with a huge smile and see her trying to get all these noises out of that voice box of hers. All sorts of noises are making their debut. Her whole body tenses up and high pitched squeals come rolling out. As soon as the first one comes out, it's all over from there. The noises keep coming until she is ready for her next snooze! She is so fascinated by her hands and how they move and grasp her toys. We are working on sitting up in her bumbo and with big pillows behind her. She likes her new view from time to time. All of these little firsts just bring so much happiness to mine and Lance's life. We can't imagine our family without her. What really means the world to me is to sit back and watch Lance just love her so much. Nighttime is "his" time after he gets home from work. Bath time, feeding time and putting her to sleep every night are his duties during the week. She is a fortunate little girl to have a daddy so dedicated to her. As a mom, I soak up all the little things (often with tears) that are so huge for a little girl to experience with her daddy. All of these things will mean so much to her one day. She goes to the doctor in a week for her 4 month check up and we get to start incorporating rice cereal and then some fruit and veggie purees. I have been very motivated to make all of her food from scratch, and I am so very excited to do this for her! We can't wait to see her first reaction to food outside of the bottle. As far as being a stay at home mom, I love being home with Charleigh. I will probably wait until the beginning of the year or so to look for a job. We have recently been having play dates a couple times a week. Even though Charleigh can't really "play" yet, we enjoy the company and it gets her used to other people besides Lance and I. She had her first swing on the swings last week at the park. She held on to the chain and let all of her very long hair blow in the wind (while sitting on my lap of course, ha). It was so fun! I probably enjoyed it more than she did. I have recently joined a boot camp and running club in the area, and I love it so much! It has really helped me meet other stay at home mom's that I really enjoy, and work on this post pregnancy body at the same time! Lance and I have gotten really strict about our daily eating and really just being conscientious of what we put in our bodies. It is amazing how good you feel when you fuel your body full of what it needs. Ok...so that is quite the lengthy update! Here are progression pics of Charleigh from week 1 to week 16! Time is flying by at the Bina house! Love you all!

Day 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Here She is!

2011-06-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

Charleigh was born May 26th at 1:56pm. Our original due date was May 27th, but were scheduled for an induction on the 26th at midnight. I was very thankful for the scheduled induction, however really prayed that if at all possible that my body would go into labor naturally on its own. The story of my labor still gives me chills and brings me to tears. Lance and I were packing the car at 11:45pm on the 25th, when the hospital called to tell us they were so many deliveries going on that they had no rooms available and we needed to wait to come to the hospital until they called us back. They said they would call us in an hour or 2 or worst case scenario the next morning around 6 or 7am. Well, I was super super bummed. I finished putting the items in the car that I was carrying and sat on the edge of the trunk, and felt the "gush". MY WATER BROKE! Oh man! At the time, I didn't realize without a doubt that my water was indeed broken. Lance and I had decided to try to get some rest until we received word to go the hospital. My contractions started right away. The hospital called us an hour later at 1am, and told us they now had a room available, and we were now able to come up there to start my induction. At this point, I was still not sure my water was broken. I kept thinking, that would be way too coincidental. On the way to the hospital, my contractions started to get way more intense. When we arrived at labor and delivery, it was confirmed that my water had indeed broken and I was already dilated to a 3 (which if you don't know, I was not dilating much at my appts). Tears just flowed from my eyes. What an answered prayer. God is so good. The original plan was to start cervadil at 2am, pitocin at 6am and break my water at 8am. Since my body started this process on its own, I was in active labor and none of this had to take place. The delivery process was a great experience, and our little angel arrived at 1:56pm on the 26th. She weighed 7.7lbs, was 20.75 inches long and had a full head of dark hair! It was an instant love and appreciation for a little being that we were so graciously given. Lance was so in love with her, that instant tears of joy flowed from the moment he saw her. We have a running joke that Lance cried more than Charleigh did when she was born. Ha! We love her so much! She has already been such a joy to have in our family, and Mayer loves her so much too! She is a great night sleeper so far. The most we have been awake is twice at night and this week, she has slept through the night except for one day! We like a night sleeper! She is now 5 weeks old, and changing everyday. She has started making new noises that even surprise her, and she locks in on our faces and she will smile several times when we talk to her. It is the most rewarding thing ever! Here are some pictures of our little beauty. Time is already flying by!! We love you all!

Sweet Girl!

I just love this pic!!

Week 1 of life!

Our first dinner out with Charleigh...there was an hour wait, so Lance brought the chips and salsa out the the car while we sat and waited with Charleigh in the AC. It was almost feeding time. :)

Love this picture too! Mayer loves his little sister!

This is my favorite picture of Charleigh thus far! I just think it's so sweet!

Dad is so smitten by this little girl!

Why is it so precious when babies yawn?

Week 5 of life!

After her morning feeding! Very alert!

This has been the most rewarding thing...seeing her smile when we talk to her. This is at 5 weeks. The websites have reassured us that smiling at this point in her life is intentional. It's not just gas :). Love all her smiles!!

7 Weeks to go!!

2011-04-09T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello All! Wow, it's nearly been 2 months since my last post! What have we been up to in the last 8 weeks or so...pregnancy, and trying to finish up the ABSOLUTE last semester of school, yippee!! Lance and I literally every Monday count down the weeks of school left. We are at 4 weeks left, and really can't wait! Pregnancy is still a lot of fun! We are at 33 weeks right now, and have started to go to the doctor every 2 weeks. Oh my goodness is the belly on a growth spurt! Charleigh is moving so much that often times you can see her through my shirt. I also have to apologize to my patients daily due to the belly brushing up against their shoulder. Ha! It is just such an amazing experience, and it's fun because Lance is able to experience her movement too. It is so hard to believe that so soon we will have our little blessing here with us. We are so excited! It is so fun to watch Lance interact with her in utero. He is so in love with her. We are having another sono just to see her and what she's up to in just over a week. It feels like an eternity since we saw her last. Lance and I had maternity pictures taken last weekend, and should be getting some soon. I will post some when I get my hands on them. Here are some random pics of the pregnancy...Love you all!

Week 31 of pregnancy

Here is a sneak peak of Charleigh's room. We have this put together, but we don't have anything else up yet. More pics to come soon! I love working on her room and creating fun things for her!

Our friends in our community group at church had a surprise baby shower for me a couple of Sunday's ago. This cake was just the cutest thing ever, so I had to share it with you all! One of the girls in the group is so creative and great at the cake making thing. I keep telling her she needs to sell these! It was so much fun! Thanks friends!

I just had to throw in this picture of the most precious little girl on the planet! Emersyn steals my heart every time I see her. I can't get enough of her!

Here is a peak into the life of my everyday! If I had it my way, I would be eating multi grain cheerios at every meal. I've always been a cereal lover, but these days we make special trips to the grocery to have multiple boxes on hand. Lance made sure he took a picture of this and obviously insisted I put it on the blog. Ha!

This is also another Lance snap shot. This was just this week at 33 weeks as I was getting ready for the day. The belly is looking very large, so Lance had a photo op! He is so fun!

Well, this next weekend, I am off to Dallas to take my second (of 3) state test for my dental hygiene licensing. Please say a quick prayer for me if you think about it. Thank you all so much!

25 Weeks and Counting!

2011-02-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the lack of updates lately! As most of you know, this is my LAST semester of school and boy is it the craziest! Thank goodness for a good pregnancy that does not make me miss a beat. We are preparing for national and state board testing before the end of the semester, so things are quite hectic. Noooooowwwwwww, on to more important parts of this post....I'm at week 25 of pregnancy!! I have still been feeling really good, with only a handful of days that are a little more tired than most. With that being said, the indigestion is on full fledged! Some days I feel like I'm breathing fire! So, either my unborn child has an enormous afro, or I haven't been able to tell just what I'm eating that is causing the erosion feeling coming from my esophagus. But, Tums save my life daily! I am so VERY thankful for the calcium supplement, and they are actually kind of good. :) One of the biggest joys of pregnancy has been just recently feeling Charleigh move. It took me a little longer than most people to feel her move consistently, but since I have been able to recognize that the feeling is her moving, she is on the move all the time. I LOVE it! I've only been able to "feel" this for 2 weeks or so, and Lance just felt her move last weekend. It was so incredible! This past week while I was sitting in class I was able to see her move through my shirt, it brought the most joy! As far as showing is concerned, it has taken me a while for that too. I'm not sure why, but I guess every women is just so different and carry babies differently. I've promised many to post some belly pics on the blog, so below are the latest two from last week at 24 weeks. Pregnancy has been so much fun. I love reading updates on how Charleigh is growing every week, and watching her grow is such a miracle. It is amazing how intricate pregnancy is and how God grows this little being for 40 weeks. It blows my mind. We have a good God. Love to all!!

If you look closely at the left knee, you will see my battle wound from my recent fight with the sidewalk. :/ There was no ice, no rain, no moisture, no uneven sidewalk. Just a long, flat, even surfaced sidewalk that I fell so incredibly hard on! Not to worry, I fell on all fours and Charleigh was saved! I was just walking to my car and WHAMO! I still have no idea what caused my fall. I just fell. Haha! It hurt SO bad!! I had to keep telling myself, "Andrea, you are 26 years old. You cannot cry when you fall." Haha! I wanted to shed a tear or two, but I sucked it up and kept walking to the car with my pride so incredibly hurt! Ha!

Sorry to those who don't like the bare belly shots. As the belly grows bigger and bigger I won't have to show the bareness, you will be able to see it just fine through the clothing. :)

Charleigh Payton Bina

2011-01-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

It's a girl! We are officially at 20 weeks of pregnancy, our halfway mark!! 2o weeks for us fell on January 7th, and this was our gender sonogram day. However, I was so incredibly anxious to find out as soon as I could. A friend of my family has been in pediatrics for quite some time and offered to do sono's for us whenever we would like to. S00000, we decided that it would be so much fun to have our gender sono with her at 17 weeks which was the weekend before Christmas. I have no idea why I wanted to know what little babe I was carrying before Christmas, but I was dying to know! After our one hour long sonogram and switching from side to side to move our little angel around, we found out it's a little girl!! We were so nervous we wouldn't find out that day because she was sitting on her feet, dang! But, after much movement induced by us, she finally displayed her identity! We then had our 20 week sono with our doctor this past Friday, and still a girl!! We were THRILLED!! Either gender would have been so perfect for us. We had names, bedding, furniture and room decor picked out for each before hand, ha! I am so excited and deeply anxious to meet our little girl. Lance will be such a wonderful "girl" dad. Girls have such a deep need and desire that only their dad's can fulfill. He was meant to have a girl one day. I can't wait to see their bond, love, closeness and relationship grow. This will be so amazing to witness. As far as the pregnancy goes, it has been great so far! We are starting to grow (Charleigh and I :)) a little more every week, it's fun to watch all of the changes take place. I haven't really been able to feel her move much yet. I have felt a few flutters, and that's a fun little surprise! We are still actively running most days, I am very thankful for this because it gives me so much energy even when I arrive to the gym extra tired. Cravings...I haven't really had any. I could eat breakfast for every meal, but I have always been a huge fan of breakfast food, maybe now it's just amplified! We had some super cute pics from our sonogram Friday, I will try to see if I can take a pic of them and upload if they turn out clear enough. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Love to all!

Dear Our Sweet Lemon,

2010-11-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

Hip Hip Hooray...we have officially made it through what many call the toughest time of pregnancy, the first trimester!! Due to your compliance (and I thank you so much!), we have had a really great first 14 weeks with no nausea, just a few crying spells (when I see any dog away from his home, I immediately think he's stray and the flood gates open), and occasionally fighting through times of being extremely tired. I will take that! I was told last week by a dear friend that I could hear your heartbeat if I used my stethoscope. This was exciting news!! I went straight home that evening to listen to your little pitter patter, however, I couldn't seem to find it. Not to worry, we went to the doctor this week, and heard your heart beat for the very first time. This is the sound we had been waiting to hear since we found out we had been blessed by your existence. Once again, I looked at your dad, and tears filled his eyes. He loves you so much. Your heart beat at the beginning of week 14 was a strong 152. The doctor was very pleased with your development. You are now the size of a large lemon, about 3 1/2 inches in length, and you weigh 1 1/2 ounces. Who knew something so tiny could be loved so much? This week you will be starting to squint your eyes, learning how to frown and grimace, pee, and suck your thumb. Your facial muscles are getting a workout as your tiny features change from one expression after another. Sometimes I wish there was a little window to be able to peek into to see your little face. My stomach is starting to protrude a little, which is fun to see you start growing! My craving this last week consisted of sausage, egg and cheese biscuits...eeeekkkkk :/
After my 3rd one, it began to taste a little repulsive to me. No harm done right? It was just 3...
We go back to the doctor December 22nd for our 18 week check-up and then just two weeks later we will find out what you are!!!! We tried to talk Dr. Martin into letting us find out sooner, but she wouldn't budge. Oh well, you are worth the wait.

We love you so so much,

Mom, Dad and Mayer

Our Precious Little Shrimp,

2010-11-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Today you are just over 3 inches long. It is amazing how you can be so small, yet your body already has so many functioning parts. This week you are the size of a shrimp! Your dad and I are so eager each week to read what new things you are doing and how you are growing. You have no idea how much you are loved already. We were able to see you for the first time 2 weeks ago on our first sonogram, and when trying to ask your dad if he could see your heart fluttering on the monitor, there was no response for a bit because tears of joy filled his eyes by just seeing your very existence. Your dad already talks to you frequently and kisses you every time he gets a chance. I think you already have your biggest fan. We are SO excited to be your parents! We promise to love you the best we know how, to demonstrate and show you the unconditional love that is exhibited by Christ, and raise you with a foundation that enables you to know that in His eyes you are righteous, you are perfect, you are enough. Until your arrival (May 27th as of now), we will be preparing for you the best we know how. My nightstand is currently occupied by 3 books! However, I have a feeling that most of the learning is going to be trial and error. Ha! I would like to thank you for keeping the nausea to a bare minimum. It would make it extremely difficult to leave class frequently to lose every ounce of food I've consumed. As far as all of the other symptoms that are considered "normal" for being pregnant, I feel like I've done pretty well. I have only had one hysterical cry on the kitchen floor because I was so incredibly tired. But not to worry, your dad never made me feel like a crazy person. He just encouraged me, while Mayer was there to lick up all the tears as they were flowing very rapidly down my cheeks. There is a great team waiting for you here! :) We love you so much, and we thank God every day for allowing us to be your parents one day.

Lots and lots of love,

Mom, Dad and Mayer

Yikes!!

2010-10-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Lance was about to head out of town for a long weekend at the lake with some friends he gets to see a couple times a year. It was already a longer day at work than he anticipated, and then....yikes!!!! At the end of everyday, he has to unload the back of his truck that is home to VERY heavy drill bits. Well, he was unloading a bit that was 315 pounds and whamo...finger is smashed! Thankfully, they are required to wear these certain gloves that protect the bones of their hands, BUT...his finger was blown out! Ewwwwww!! He had to go to the ER to have it xrayed, where they thought for sure it was broken, his finger nail was removed and they had to stitch him back up again. Thank you Baker Hughes for the saftey guidelines you place on these guys to wear the correct gloves...his bones were very much in tact. Here is a pic of the lovely finger for those of you who don't have a week belly. :)

Carrie Underwood! Whoop!!

2010-10-17T19:01:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, October 9th, we went with the Grimes' to the Carrie Underwood concert. It was PHENOMENAL! I love love love Carrie! She is such a great role model to little ones, and I love that about her. We got these tickets back in May, so I had been counting down the months until the big day. It was no disappointment! She puts on a great Concert! Thanks Jon for the amazing tickets! And thanks Grimes' family for a great time! We had so much fun.

Heels and Hills 10K!

2010-09-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Lance and I ran our first 10k (6.2 miles) together! The race was in Las Colinas this past Sunday and it was really a lot of fun! My Mom, Sister and Emersyn came along too. They did the 5K together. The weather was so great, it was so cool and oh so fall like. Perfect running weather. This is the beginning of our running plans!! Our next goal is a half marathon. Let the good times roll!!

Congrats friends and family...if you haven't seen what I look like when I wake up, now you have! Don't you feel so fortunate! Ha!!

The Amazing, The Beautiful, The Absolutely Stunning, The PERFECT...Emersyn Rose Kennedy!!

2010-08-18T20:11:00.001-07:00

She's here!! Yes, much to Heather's doctors' surprise, she delivered on her due date (8-9-10) with a couple of hours to spare! Her Doctor cleared his schedule for August 18th, because he was sure he was going to have to induce her, but Emersyn had a plan all her own! Heather had quite a tough day with 22 long hours of labor and then ended up having a c-section. She did such a great job all 22 hours! I probably heard her say 975 times that she was starving in all of those long hours, but she chomped away on ice chips and occasionally we would sneak a few sips of water...Sorry Jeremy! Hands down, she was a great patient and endured a long labor so very well! For a little story time...Lance and I had gone to the lake a few days the week prior to Emersyn's arrival date, and then finished up our weekend (we were celebrating our anniversary that weekend) in Dallas. We left to come home Sunday afternoon and had to make it back by 6pm to get to our church group we meet with on Sundays. We live in Longview which is about a 45 minute drive from Tyler so we drove straight into Tyler where we were meeting our group, but we got there a couple hours early. To kill time we decided to do some shopping, went and threw Mayer his ball in a field, you know just trying to find things to do until 6 o'clock. During this time we COMPLETELY forgot that when we left the following week for our lake trip, that we left from my office in TYLER and my car was still sitting at the office. Our plan all along was to pick up the car on our way back since we were going to be in Tyler Sunday night. Sunday, it never crossed our minds. After church group, we go all the way home to Longview, raise the garage, and Lance says, "Andrea, someone stole your car." Then without hesitation or a pause between sentences he immediately says, "we left your car in Tyler." Well, the time is now 9pm, we are exhausted. We leave to go get the car, get back home and as we are getting ready for bed, Heather is calling because her water broke!!!! Well, all of my tiredness escaped me and I was ready to hit the road back to Dallas. I picked up my bag of dirty clothes from our previous outing and I was on my way! I was so ready to see that little girl. I had been anticipating every little thing about her for so long, and I couldn't miss a thing. I mean this little girl has my entire heart! She is so precious, I don't want to put her down when I'm holding her and I miss her everyday. She is amazing...

Emersyn came out with some claws! But, nothing Aunt Annie and a finger nail file can't fix! :)

She already has such a special place in Uncle Lance's heart!!

This is my favorite pic of her!!

Resting after a good feeding :)

Ahhhhhhh....I love her...

What a great little outfit! I was about to change her diaper here, but after we got the 3rd diaper on her, she wasn't able to wear this anymore. She peed twice all over everything. Dang it. I will get better! Ha!

One day old!

And...how could we forget Oscar and Mayer?! :)

July 28, 2010

2010-08-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary!! Where have the 3 years of marriage come and gone to? These past three years have honestly been the most amazing years of my life. Talking to people about marriage before tying the knot truly scared me to death! "The first year is the hardest", "after the honeymoon stage is over, it's all down hill from there", "just wait, after you live together for a while, you won't look at each other the same." I mean what a death sentence right?? Who wants to sign up for that? Ha!! I can say with an honest heart that the man of my dreams 8 years ago, is still the man of my dreams today. Life, love and relationships is everything you make of them. Lance and I came into marriage naive, open hearted, and on our knees asking God to direct us every step of the way. It has been far from perfect, but every bit beyond amazing! I thank God every day wondering how in the world I received a man that loves God first and then myself. Nothing short of that is every bit of what I wanted in a mate. To wake up beside a man and know that everyday of his life he strives to be the best husband, and put my feelings and desires before his own is mind boggling. I am very thankful and at a loss for words for the gratitude in my heart for such a stand up man. Ok...enough with the mush right? Haha! Thank YOU to all of you who invest in our lives, you mean more to us than you will ever know! 3 years down and a lifetime to go!

4th Festivities!

2010-07-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday America! What a great Country we live in...we are so fortunate! This weekend, we headed to Dallas Friday night to hang with my parents for dinner. Saturday, we Met the Grimes' for Lunch, while we secretly hoped Tatum would decide she was ready to join us. :) After lunch we headed downtown Dallas to a wedding of a friend of Lance's from childhood. We had a great time. I LOVE weddings. It always takes me back to mine and Lance's wedding day which was the greatest day of my life. I would do it all over again in a second! Lance's Parents went to the wedding as well, so we headed back to their house after the wedding. Sunday Morning we took family portraits, laid by the pool, and cooked out. Lance and I had to head back to Tyler/Longview area early due to him having to be in a certain proximity to the work place just in case one of his rigs needed something from him. So, we headed to Tyler and had dinner and watched a fire works show with a few couples from our community group at church. They are a really great bunch!! Whew, what an eventful weekend! Monday, Lance and I were the laziest bums! We had such a great time with each of you! We love each of you SOOO much. :) Here are some pics from our fun filled time...

On our quick/busy trip home for a couple days, we had a quick lunch with the Mel, Jon and Cade. This is the last picture without Tatum! We love her already! She will be here in a matter of days.

Roy, Ryan and Lance. These are a couple guys Lance grew up with since he was a wee little one. This was at Ryan's wedding. Congrats Ryan and Pricilla!

Lance and Haley Playing in the pool.

Mayer, pretending he loves to swim because we want him to love it. Hehe! But, he is swimming to the steps so he can get out.

Ha! Love this picture! When we were taking family photos I got to snap this quick shot! These two are amazing. I'm so fortunate to have such great In-Laws!

Some of our community group girls. I love them!

Some of the boys from our Community group. Lance really enjoys these guys!

Mayer's first fireworks show. I was kinda nervous, because usually they scare little guys like him, but I'm not even sure he knew there was a fireworks show going on. They didn't phase him a bit. :)

Visiting The Gilmore's

2010-07-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago yesterday, Lance and I hopped a plane to Pennsylvania to visit our dear friends Jeff and Dana Gilmore. We had so much fun with these two as well as there PRECIOUS little girls, Logan and Landry. Landry was born this past March, so this was our first time meeting her since her arrival. Truly, the best baby one could ask for! We love these little girls like crazy! During our visit, Pennsylvania had amazing weather mainly in the mid 80's during the day, and low 70's at night with a cool breeze. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time outdoors, which I love!! We cooked out a lot, played games, shopped, and toured the town. We enjoyed our stay so much. It always goes by way too fast!

This walk was more intense than it looks here. There are some pretty steep inclines!

Logan, swinging at the Park!

Lance and Jack...we LOVE Jack!

Precious Landry!

Best Buds!

Jack, lounging out on the steps, Ha!

This Pic cracks me up! Logan hates the sight of anything dirty. Her whole body shakes when she sees a bug or something gross, but this morning, she decided she wanted to eat dirt out of the flower bed. Ha!!! She is so cute!

Lance helping Logan put her shoes on, love it!

Lance's first time to feed and Burp Landry. He learned a lot on this trip! :)

Ha!

I really love this picture. We stopped at the Pittsburgh Pirates Stadium and walked around a bit. Baseball will always be in their blood. Can't you just see this picture when they were 6 years old? Love it!

Saturday in Shreveport

2010-06-15T10:47:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends and Family! This past Saturday, Lance decided to make some plans for the two of us in Shreveport! We live just over an hour from the middle of Shreveport, so it was a FUN day trip that we enjoyed SO much! They have an outdoor shopping center there called "The Boardwalk" that we have briefly been once when we were previously in the area for Lance's company Christmas party. As soon as we arrived we were starving of course, so we ate at Salt Grass and forgot how truly devine there steaks are! Then, off to the outdoors to shop! Before we left that evening, I really wanted to grub on some true Lousiana food, so we went to Ralph and Kacoos, delicious! I am just starting to make myself enjoy food from the water, and this was really great! We had such a goodtime! Love to all!

This cracked me up since we WEREN'T in Texas! Ha! Love it!

This is too funny! Lance is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to Bass Pro Shop! He wanted to save it for last so we could spend lots of time in there...and trust me we spend LOTS of time in there! Ha! But, he deserves it!! :)

This and That...

2010-06-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

So...Lance and I have officially been living in Longview now for just over 3 months. We really love it here! Lance's job is going great, and he finds so much joy in doing something he loves. As a wife, this makes me so happy! As of May 4th, my brain has taken a much needed vacation from hygiene school. The funny thing is last week, Lance and I were relaxing on the couch watching a show and I felt the urge to grab a book to get a head start on for next semester. Seriously, what was I thinking?? Once I realized how ridiculous this was, I immediately put the book back and returned back to the land of relaxation. :) I have really enjoyed the beginning of the summer months! I am still working in the same dental office just part-time for the summer. The girls I work with are so great, I'm super thankful for that! Well...it has been a couple months since our last post, so here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately...Love to all!!

Back in April, Yes April...This was the absolute CUTEST Easter Egg hunt I have ever witnessed in my life! I wish I would have taken a video of this hunt, because It is just indescribable. Our little Niece Haley was the only kid at Lance's parents house for Easter, so she didn't have any one to hunt eggs with. So...Lance being the kid he is at heart made this Easter egg hunt so much fun for her. He carried the basket and he and Haley would sprint from one egg to the next and as soon as Lance saw one, he would scream AS LOUD AS HE COULD out of excitement, then Haley would scream as loud as she could as her little body would shake from screaming and excitement, they would count their eggs in Spanish as they put each one into the basket, and so on and so on. This went on for at least 20 minutes and we were all in tears from laughter. It was the greatest thing to watch! I really really hate that I didn't get a video of it!!

Also in April, my cousin Sherrie turned 40, so we threw her a surprise party! It was so much fun!

The gang showering Mel for Tatum's arrival in only 5 short weeks!! Love these girls!

Look how precious this little face is!! Isabelle is Michelle's little angel, and it is so hard to believe in a matter of 3 weeks, she will be turning 1!

Just a couple weeks ago, at the end of May, we gave my sister, Heather a baby shower. Showers are so much fun, especially baby showers! Emersyn keeps growing everyday, I love her so much already!

For my sister's shower, I thought I would take on a new project. Instead of having a bakery make a cake, I decided to attempt it myself! So...Voila!! Not that I can take all the credit, I have a friend here in Longview who has started this as a hobby and she helped me so much! Thanks Kara! It really was so much fun, and I would love to do it again. I was kind of nervous that the cake was going to be dry because I had to make it a couple days in advance since I was traveling with it, but the fondant sealed all the moisture in. I was quite impressed! :)

This was a gift for my sisters husband at the baby shower. I thought it was so genius! It is a tool belt full of necessities for the dad. It was made up of Tylenol, a face mask to help with the gag reflex when changing the dirty diapers, wipes and many other items that a dad must use and all wrapped up in just his style. Such a great idea, and too funny!

Doug, Lance's brother came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. Good times we had! Lots of cooking out, making smores and the boys played some golf. Thanks for visiting Doug, we enjoyed having you! :)

This weekend my mom and sister came to visit. My mom's 48th birthday was this past Friday, so we had to have cupcakes and a small celebration. Heather and I were laughing just a little too much. We all had such a great time together. We went to Canton on Saturday, OH MAN was it hot!! But, we sweated and laughed and had a great time!

I had to post this picture because it truly just melts my heart! I LOVE this little guy so much!

Until next time...hope everyone is doing well! We love you all!

Oh how the days have FLOWN!

2010-03-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Many really fun things have been happening in our neck of the woods, and I am so sorry the whirlwind has caused the blogging to fall by the way side in the meantime! Lets play catch up...Lance has started a new job, we sold our house, we moved to Longview, Texas, and are now officially settled. This all transpired in a matter of a little less than 2 months. Let me take a few steps back and not leave out the details...We originally moved to Tyler a little less than 2 years ago for Lance's job, which he LOVED. Due to the major crash the oilfield encountered, he was laid off. He was fortunate to find another job right away during such a hard time economically and for that we were thankful. He had high hopes that things would turn around in the oilfield and at some point (hopefully soon:)) he would have the opportunity again to be back with the same company; and...He did!! Right after Christmas, he was offered his job back!! We were so thrilled! The position was not in Tyler, yet, about an hour and 15 minutes further east of Tyler. This required us to move. We were not required to move to the same city, but within a certain radius of that specific area. That brought us to Longview. The journey since the day we found out about the job until now all happened so quickly. We found out we had to move, and we sold our house within 5 days. Praise God! We have some good friends in Tyler that had some friends at their church which were looking for a new home. They came to the house and after looking around decided they wanted to buy our home on a Thursday, we signed papers that next Tuesday and closed 3 weeks later. HOLY MOLY, right?? RIGHT!! We weren't really sure how long it would take to sell the house since the housing market stinks so bad right now, but feel very thankful it was so stress free! We couldn't have sold the house to a better couple! We developed a friendship with them, and even went to eat dinner with them the night we closed. They are so great! They really love the house, and that was my main concern. It was hard leaving that place, we had only been there less than two years, and we had put so much of "us" in there. It was hard walking away, yet very eager and anxious for our next chapter! The transition was so smooth and it was a confirmation for us to know that we were doing the right thing. We often look at each other and say with a little laugh, "do you realize how drastically our life changed in a matter of 8 weeks?" Man, from the time Lance was laid off a year ago to regaining his title merely a month ago, we have learned SO much. As controversial as this may be, I don't believe God "creates" hard times, but I do believe that in the midst of it, he uses those times to mold our character, strength, marriage, faith, and to humbly bring us to our knees reminding us that we are his children and all that we have is his, and all that we need is him. Wow, what a lesson. Hard times aren't necessarily "fun" but we are so grateful for the perspective it put on our life, and humbly thank Him for his sovereignty. Lance and I feel like through this financial "scare", we grew so much as a young married couple, and as crazy as it sounds wouldn't change anything about it. The lesson was so priceless. Whew!! So, that is our life all wrapped up in a nutshell! We are LOVING our new place in Longview, and below are some pics of our new humble abode! Here are a few other updates since the last blog update:

1.) My sister found out she is Pregnant!! She is having a girl!! So excited for Emersyn Rose Kennedy's arrival. She is going to be SO loved! :) She is due August 9th!

2.) One of my besties Melissa is pregnant with her second little precious. She is also having a GIRL!!!! Praise God for such an easy, healthy pregnancy for her. It hasn't always been easy. Tatum Lauren Grimes is due July 17th. Eagerly anticipating her arrival!

3.) This past Friday (March 19th) my mom had part 2 to her mastectomy surgery. This was more reconstruction. She is doing very well! She has one more minimally invasive surgery to come this summer, but not sure on the date yet. She is a strong lady. She's amazing!

4.) I am finishing up the first half of Dental Hygiene School! At the end of April, I will officially be half way done! WHOOHOO!!! It is a very demanding program, but SO much fun! I really look forward to going everyday. I'm a nerd, I realize this. :)

5.) No baby updates from me! :)

6.) Lance has been back with Hughes Christensen for almost 2 months now, and he loves every minute of it! He really enjoys what he is doing.

Now for the pics:

Here She is!

Don't look past that cute little brown thing on the right side of the rug! :)

Kitchen

Living Room

Master Bedroom. Still looking for the perfect curtains. Anyone have any ideas???

Master Bedroom

Bedroom #1/Media Room

Bedroom #1 that we are using as a media room. Walls are still lacking a little...

Bedroom #2

Our partially completed patio. Much more to come!

This big 'ole pot is my green thumb project. I am really wanting to plant some hydrangeas! Love those!!

PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE to post SOON!!!

2010-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

Our life has been like a whirlwind these last couple months! A GREAT whirlwind, but nonetheless, still a whirlwind for sure! :) I promise to update about our life soon!
Love to all!!

We are still breathing!!

2009-12-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

So many of you have been asking, "where have you been?", "you haven't blogged in so long". Guilty! Apologies! Since my post about Mayer's birthday, I have been buried in my books studying for the end of the semester. As of last Wednesday, first semester...DOWN!! My first semester was pretty intense. Lots of studying, lots of planning, and wouldn't have made it without proper time management. But, all in all, it was much less stressful than I had previously anticipated. It was fun, but I am glad to be a 1/4 of the way done! Lance in the meantime has been the best encourager I have. I'm lucky to have him! Below are some pics of what we have been up to within the last month or so. No more long breaks from blogging. We love it too much. Oh and did I mention, that I am going to be an AUNT?!?!?!!? My sister just announced last week that she is pregnant and is expecting in August!!!! I am so excited!!!

At the Beginning of November, My dad took Lance on a hunt in South Texas. They had a blast, and they both got the deer they wanted. They want to make this an annual thing. We will see...:)

At the Stars game with the Grimes Family. Cade just celebrated his 1st birthday. We love this little man!

Mel, Cade and I. Cade was so good at the game! All he wanted was a cookie and some ice, and he was a happy camper!

I love this picture! Lance loves Cade.

Jennifer and Her husband Mike are a couple we hang out with regularly here in Tyler. We met them a few months ago. They are in our community group at church. We love these guys. We have a lot of fun together!

The girls in our community group got together one night during the week and had a wreath making party. I had been wanting to make one, and we have a lady named Alissa that is a wreath making queen! I am in love with my wreath. Thanks for your help Alissa! We had a blast!

Here are the girls in wreath making action. It really was a fun night. Now that I've gotten one under my belt, It's time to make a fall wreath too!

Isabelle joined us for our girls Christmas party this past Friday night at Mel's. We love all the little additions that have joined our circle of friends. We love them like they are our own.

We needed a picture of all of us together at the party, so we set the timer on the camera and placed it on top of the tv. That was quite the chore. It felt like we took a hundred pics before we finally got all 8 of us in one pic together. Ha!

So we gave up on the timer and got as close as we could and snapped a photo of ourselves. We did lots of laughing that night. These girls are the absolute best!!

My mom, Sister and I also went to see the Radio City Spectacular featuring the Rockettes this past Sunday in Grand Prairie. I have no pics :(. But, if you love musicals and you love Christmas, this is a MUST see. It really is one of the best I have seen! There is a live nativity production as the last scene of the musical and it is breathtaking, reminding us of the real reason for Christmas. Enjoy your Christmas season! We love you all! More to come soon.

Guess Who Turned 2 Today!?!?!?!?!

2009-11-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

Have you tried this?????

2009-11-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

Yes...this broom is standing up on its OWN!!!!

Ok...this blows my mind! If you haven't tried this, supposedly, there is only a few more days that this will be able to happen until the next go around in 50 years. Many of you may have already of heard about this, but here is my uneducated, yet really impressed attempt to describe what is going on. I didn't research why this is happening, so this is all hear say, I know it has something to do with the moon or gravity or something??? Ha! I promise I am educated...just not on the moon, earth and gravitational forces. So...whether it makes sense or not, HURRY, put everything down, grab your kitchen broom, stand it up outside and watch it stay! It's amazing! Good Luck!!

Good Times with the Gilmores, and Weekend in the Woodlands!

2009-10-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

The week before last, the Gilmore's came in town from Pennsylvania and spent a week in Tyler hanging out and catching up on life! We had such a great time with them, and little Logan has grown SO much! She is so precious! She has her own little language right now and if you respond back to her when she is talking she keeps going like you are really having a conversation with each other. Man how great it would be to translate the gibberish! Ha! We had to utilized every opportunity to see these great friends of ours, so Sunday through Thursday it was conversations and hanging every night. Needless to say, I was a bad student that week. Not a lot of studying...oh well, it was worth it for sure! We miss you Jeff, Dana and Logan (and little baby on the way)!! Saturday morning, Lance and I left bright and early at 6am and headed to the Woodlands to spend the weekend with my Aunt Vickie and Uncle James. We had such a wonderful time with them. Lance and James golfed Saturday while Vickie and I hit the town and shopped till we dropped. They are both such great people, and we feel very fortunate to have them in our lives. We love you guys! Thank you for such a great weekend!

Precious Lo Lo!

Lance made me put this pic on here. This was me standing at the gas pump at 6am with my hand on the door. If you look closely, there is a little pink tag hanging from the arm pit area. I am notorious for leaving tags on things and randomly discovering it throughout the day. Lance thought it was pretty funny. :)

Vickie, James, Lance and I at lunch before we headed back home.

Fabulous Friday!!

2009-10-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

This is what Lance walked in the door with today after work. Thank you God for such a thoughtful husband!

I am in love with the Pumpkin Spice latte at Starbucks, but was waiting on the perfect cold weather day to have my first of the season. And, my favorite little clothing store in Tyler is Jewels and Jeans. I had my eye on a few things there recently, so Lance stopped by there and Starbucks to pick up some surprises!

We're Back!!!!

2009-10-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

So I just realized I haven't made a post since September 12th. So Sorry!!!! Since school has started, my nose has been stuck in at least one book a night. The Dental Hygiene program is so much fun, and I learn so much every day, but requires a TON of studying. Through my bachelors degree, I did well without having to read all the chapters and such, but with this program, if I do that, chances are I will fail. That's not an option!!! So, every night consists of study material of some sort. But, I enjoy it, so it makes it all worth it! Just to give you all a little update on our life since the middle of September, I have had my first hard core wave of tests, and survived, Lance has been so amazing with all the studying and I have told him on several occasions he deserves husband of the year. There are nights I have to study and am so tired or get home and need to do the dishes or something wife like, and he will get me blanket and a pillow and let me sleep for an hour while he does the chores for me so I can wake up energized to study for a couple hours. I am so thankful for him! Lance and I have found an amazing church here in Tyler that we LOVE. We have been going to this church for about 6 months now, and feel so incredibly fortunate to have found it. We just started a community group with the church the week before last, and really can't say enough about it already. We have already made some good friendships! This past weekend, My mom and sister came to Tyler and we had a blast! This was my mom's first outing since her surgery and she felt really well. She had been itching to go to Canton trade days, so we went on Saturday, and the weather was perfect for it. My mom is a HUGE fan of Halloween, so since we are so close the fun holiday, I thought it would be a good idea for us to have a fun craft. I found a recipe for a haunted house made out of pound cake, and it looked really easy. Not to worry, we absolutely, 100%, without a doubt, REALLY messed it up! Ha!! But, there was a ton of laughter and fun. it was worth it! Lance and I also found this really great recipe for spaghetti with a Halloween theme. We made it for dinner Friday night and was quite impressed it turned out so well! It was a hit! They loved it and I was so proud I did it (most of you know I am NOT a good cook)!! Here are some pics from the weekend. Love to all!!

Mom hard at work separating the oreo's for our shingle roof top!

The Masterpiece! This is what the haunted house is supposed to look like. Doesn't look difficult... right?

WRONG!!!! HA!!!! We weren't even done putting the icing on at this point, and it ended up being like a mudslide on one side. This was the pic after we caught it and still tried to salvage it. Ha!

TA-DA!!!! Doesn't this look just like the magazine pic? Ha! This was the best we could do with the side completely falling out. Then, Heather decided to draw a little man on the side that was as tall as the door to the entrance. Ha!! Ace of Cakes HERE WE COME!

Spider Spaghetti!! I was so impressed with how wonderful this turned out. I was doomed from the beginning because I really just am not good at cooking. But maybe since Lance helped it ended up ok. Yes, the head is a homemade meatball!

Introducing...My Little Pirate!!!!

2009-09-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

AHHHH!!!! I just love these pictures!! Lance, Sarah (Lance's Sister) and I went to Pier 1 Friday night and I saw this precious Pirate dog costume!! It took a lot of convincing on my part to get Lance to agree to purchasing the costume, but he gave in and I had a photo shoot with Mayer that night...Ha! Needless to say, Mayer wasn't really fond of the costume. I have never bought any clothes for Mayer. I actually said I would never do it. Never say Never! Anyhow, this was the first time for Mayer and based on the experience it will probably be the last. At least I got some cute pics. He was such a trooper!!

This is by far the best pic! Do his eyes tell it all?

He was so great, and looked so cute. We just love this little guy!

This weekend, we also went to Etox's (Lance's employer) Fall Festival. Lance and his partner Tyler won the Washer tournament! Ha!!!! We had a good time!

A Good Weekend!

2009-09-02T15:58:00.000-07:00

Friday evening, Lance and I headed to Dallas to hang with my mom for the weekend as she is in her healing process. We had a lot of fun at home. The weather was so nice, so we had a lot of time out on the back patio eating, chatting and we even went on one short walk. Lance went Fishing with my Dad Saturday morning, and they caught 1 fish...so sad! At least the weather was great!! Saturday evening we went to Kristin and Tyler's wedding. It was Beautiful! We really had a good time hanging with our friends. We have such incredible friends, and it is always so great to come home and see them! My Birthday was last week, and apparently Lance and my gal pals had been planning a birthday lunch for me Sunday and it was truly a surprise! Lance and I had planned to go see Jon and Melissa's new home (Fabu!) Sunday before we headed back to Tyler. They wanted us to meet them a little earlier to grab something for lunch. I was hesitant at first because I wanted to spend as much time with my mom as possible, but somehow Lance and my mom (she knew about it) talked me into it without me figuring anything out. It was such a great surprise to see them all at Chuy's when we walked in! I had also told Lance randomly that I wanted some new Uggs for the winter this year, so they all pitched in and got me a gift card to get a new pair!!! Aren't they amazing?!?!?!?! They are SOOOO great!! I was so shocked and it was really a great day! Thank you girls (and Lance) so much for that, it meant more than you will ever know!

The Beautiful Bride!

At Kristin's wedding reception

Remember the pic of us girls kissing Michelle's belly wondering what was inside? Here she is!!! We just love little Isabelle! She is so perfect! It looks like she is trying to kiss Mel... :)

Here she is again...little Isabelle!

The Gals!

This is the cutest card EVER!! It was from the girls, and it looks just like my little guy Mayer!

Cade is such a happy little guy!

Wow...

2009-09-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Mom's first Doctor's appointment since the surgery was this past Thursday. The Doctor was singing praises to my mom because of what was found in the test results from both breasts. Backing up a little bit...originally, the Doctor found a tiny precancer spot in my mom's right breast and for precautionary purposes decided it was best to not just have the spot removed from the right side but to have both breasts removed. At this point, the left breast was thought to be fine, they just didn't want to have to worry about this cancer recurring later in the left side. The results she received on Thursday was that the left breast had actually started to develop Ductal Carcinoma (a different kind then what was found in the right side) which had not even been caught yet. The Cancer was in the early stages, but, it was Cancer and had not traveled to the lymph yet in either side. What?!?! This confirmed that moving forward with the double mastectomy was by far the best decision. This truly takes my breath away. Just when you are in complete awe of how big God is, he sweeps you off your feet showing you yet again his perfect plan. My mom is doing really well, and goes back to the doctor at the end of the week. She has been waking up with more and more energy everyday. She is such a busy body and we have to constantly remind her when she has the urge to go clean the windows or walk a mile, that she will regret it the next day. She is starting to understand that. :) She's amazing...I'm so lucky.

Cancer Free!

2009-08-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

I want to thank each of you for all your love, thoughtfulness and prayer for my mom. I received many texts and calls letting me know you were all thinking of my mom and you have no idea how much that meant to me. Tuesday was a very long day, but well worth it! She was in surgery for 8 hrs, and we were expecting only 5. I know, you're thinking "only 5". But, the Dr's were very happy with how the surgery went and thought she weathered the storm quite well! All of her preliminary tests for the lymph nodes came out negative for Cancer. Praise God! This was my greatest concern. The first night with her in the hospital was quite interesting. She was doped up and saying some really funny things. You hated to laugh, but you just couldn't help it when she was begging you to make sure the monkey's at the zoo got fed that night cause they were hungry. She was so worried about them...ha! Every day since, she has done a little better. She is a ways away from being pain free, but making progress every day. Her surgery was at Baylor All-Saints in Fort Worth and she had such a great support system! There were ladies there who had a double mastectomy that would come to check on her making sure she was ok emotionally, and the best part was that they were volunteers. What great hearts! Their church groups made heart pillows for her to put under her arms for support and they had a welcome note in her room for her congratulating her on being a breast cancer survivor and fighting the good fight. It was so nice for her to have that from complete strangers. She came home today, and was looking forward to being in her own bed. She is such a trooper, and is doing very well coping with the loss. She is an incredible woman. I love you mom!

Not Easy...Yet Thankful!

2009-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my mom went to the Dr. for what she thought was going to be a routine Dr's visit. A week later, she received a phone call from her Dr wanting to do a sonogram on her breast due to some concern of what was seen on the results. Needless to say, they ended up doing a biopsy, got the results back and determined that she has pre-cancer in two places in her right breast. The Dr told her without a doubt, she has to have both spots removed. When being referred to a surgeon, this Dr (which is a woman as well) told my mom to be safe and for her specific case, she is going to need a double mastectomy (both breasts removed). The news...stunning, hard to swallow, scary. But, we choose to be forever grateful! This puts so much perspective on life and what truly matters. Life is about relationships and the people you love. My mom is such an incredible woman. She has remained so positive through all the trying news. She has decided to move forward with the double mastectomy and is scheduled to have surgery. She has met with a reconstructive plastic surgeon which has made her feel more at ease with what is to come. It will take her about 8 months or so to feel back to herself again, but is much better considering the alternative. We thank God everyday for Dr.... for being overly interested in this small little place on her sonogram that could have easily been overlooked. The Dr confirmed that if it would have been looked past, that next year at her check up she would have been well into stage 1 cancer. My mom has very high spirits and is looking forward to having the surgery. Life is always very good at constantly humbling our spirit and showing us that the most important things in life simply aren't things. My mom's surgery is scheduled on August 18, so if you would all please say a little prayer for her. I am confident that God will well equip her for the emotional hardship that is to come. We serve a GOOD God! Thank you in advance for your love and prayers! Love you all!

A Baby, A Bride and an Anniversary!

2009-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last week was filled with so many exciting events! Last Tuesday, Michelle and Adan's little miracle, Isabelle made her debut into the world. She is SO adorable! Michelle was such a trooper the day of Isabelle's birth and looked so beautiful the whole time! Adan, the proud daddy was so smitten with love with his new baby girl. It was so much fun to be with them and watch their excitement as they soak in the new addition to their family. Wednesday started Heather's wedding festivities and it was SO fun! We had a spa day for her Wednesday, then Hurricane Harbor Thursday, and Rehearsal dinner Friday, and Saturday was the big Wedding day!! She made the most Beautiful bride! It was truly the happiest day of her and Jeremy's life and her wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Then, this past Tuesday Lance and I celebrated our 2nd year anniversary! It is so hard to believe how quickly time passes. We love being a team!

Doesn't Michelle look too pretty to have just given birth to a baby?! :)

This visit was the morning after Isabelle arrived. We wanted her to hurry up eating because we had big plans for her. We had lots of bows and outfits we wanted her to try on! You are beautiful Izzy!

The happy couple at their rehearsal dinner.

Heather, Mom and I at rehearsal

This is the ONLY pic I have of Heather on her wedding day. :( We were SO busy and I guess I wasn't thinking to take more because she had a photographer?? Wish I had an after pic. When I get one from the photographer, I will post it for sure!

Lance and I at the wedding!

These are the flowers Lance brought to me at work Tuesday for our anniversary. LOVE them! Along with the flowers came a note that said, "2 years down and a lifetime to go, I love you." Such a great hubs he is! That night we went to our favorite restaurant in Tyler to have dinner and some wine. Very relaxing!

Since Heather and Jeremy are on their honeymoon this week, we have Oscar!!!! I just love this little dog like he is my own. Him and Mayer love each other. Watching them play is hilarious!

I'm a Lucky Girl...

2009-07-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Since Lance has started his new job, and doesn't have to work weekends anymore, it was his first weekend in a couple months to be able to go home with me (to Dallas). We left after Lance got off work Friday night, and I had a wedding shower for Melissa's sister, Kristen, to go to Saturday morning. While I was at the shower, Lance had told me he was going golfing with a friend. After the shower, when talking to Lance, he was headed towards downtown and wanted to see if I would meet him down there. I was STARVING as usual, and was craving Chuy's that was just recently added to the Highland shopping area in Arlington. So after begging him to meet my mom and I there, he agreed and we met for lunch. Come to find out, Lance was not playing golf that morning, he was meeting with the jeweler to pick up a ring he bought for me for our anniversary/happy hygiene school acceptance!!!! He wanted me to meet him down town because he wanted to give me the ring at the same place he proposed 3 years ago. But, I ruined that :). That's ok, it really couldn't have gone any better. He ended up giving it to me at lunch with my mom, and I really appreciated him doing that! I'm not a mom, so I'm not sure, but I would think that it would be great to hear my daughter's husband tell her and her mom how much he loves her daughter. It was the sweetest thing. I was SOOO surprised and so excited! He is such a great husband! After lunch, we headed to Allen to see Lance's family. It was a very relaxing weekend with a lot of pool time Saturday and Sunday. Mayer got a lot of swimming in, as well as our little Niece Hailey. She is so precious! Here are some pics from the weekend. Love you all!

Look how happy Cade is that his Aunt Andrea is holding him. :)

Happy Bridal Shower Kristin!

Love this pic of Michelle's belly!! We love little Isabelle even though we haven't met her yet!

Yay, the ring!!

My Ring!!!! I love it so much!!

Mayer looked like a little torpedo swimming in the pool. His long body, tail wagging half way out of the water and his ears dragging behind him. He is precious!! We had so much fun with him. This was his second swim.

Little Hailey...she is SO sweet!

Mayer hanging with grandpa.

Look at that two piece! So cute!

Lance's first weekend OFF!!

2009-07-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

Crazy, but this is one of Lance's first weekends EVER to have not only the entire weekend, but to get a day off the day before a holiday! We are really liking this new job thing! An update on the job...Lance is really liking his new job a lot! Right now he is rotating around to different parts of the company to get a feel for everyone's responsibilities and such. Then he will be out in the field doing some sales! So, this weekend, we were really excited to be able to spend a lot of fun time together. Friday morning, I met Michelle, Melissa and Cade in Canton for a total of 1.5 hrs of shopping...ha! We were SO hot, and Michelle being at full term with her prego belly, we didn't want to press our luck! It was a lot of fun though. We got in there, bought what we needed and then left to eat at this hillbilly place right outside of trade days. :) Cade was SO good! At the end of July, he will be 8 months old, and he was really a great little guy as mom and his aunties were shopping! I just love that little guy! Last weekend, some friends of ours Tim and Tori here in Tyler moved into their new home, so Lance and I went Friday afternoon to purchase some things for their new place. Lance was so funny trying to pick things out. He would pick things up with excitement to quickly be shot down. Ha! I love you darling! After shopping, we went to dinner with Tim and Tori, then to Bullard (a tiny little city in east texas) for a fireworks show and little festival type gig. It was fun! Saturday, we went early to go running here on the Tyler trail (which I couldn't find my ipod, then later found it in the already cycled washing machine later that day...nuts!), went to the movies to see The Proposal (We both LOVED!) and hung with the pups, Mayer. Sunday was church, workout and work on the house day! We had a really good rain Sunday, and Mayer for the first time enjoyed it! He wanted us to throw his ball in pouring down rain for about 10 minutes. It was super cute! We had a great weekend together. I love this weekend off thing!! Hope everyone had a fun, safe and happy 4th!!

We had only been in Canton for about 30 minutes and we were already a hot sweaty mess!

I am definitely one of Cade's number 1 fans! Wish you could see those 2 little teeth in there. He is chompin on fingers pretty good now!

Tori, Emily and I at the fireworks show Friday night. Lance kept trying to get the fireworks in the background, but no success. We couldn't figure it out.

Lance, Tim and Ross at the Fireworks show. This was our first time meeting Ross and Emily. They were in town visiting Tim and Tori. We all had a really fun time together!

We didn't plan the yellow shirt thing...promise!

Updates On Our Life!

2009-06-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been that great about posting these last few weeks! I dont have any pictures, but I feel that so much has gone on and would love to update everyone on our life here in good ole East Texas. This past weekend, Lance went on his first ram hunt. He was like a little kid when it came to packing up all his gear. He was counting down the days for the hunt. He went with a couple friends he met here in Tyler. They had such a blast! He showed me the ram he got as soon as I got home (it was just the head...sick!). Im not real sure what his plans are for the ram just yet, but he was allowed one dead animal on the wall in the study, so we are at maximum capacity. :-) They took some video of the hunt, but not many pics, so I will update with at least one pic soon. While he was away at his ram hunt, I went home to be with my sis and mom to do more wedding stuff!! Heather is having her wedding dress made, so she had her 2nd fitting Friday. This was the first time I have seen her dress on her. She looks absolutely stunning! I can't wait for you all to see her on her big day! Saturday was full of wedding festivities we had her trial run for makeup and went shopping with our step mom Jodi for a dress for the wedding and such. Then more wedding fun till the end of the weekend. We had a great time! Lance starts a new job today with a company called ETOX. It is a gas and welding supply company. He is SOOO excited! Lance has also started playing softball with our church. I have pics of that! I will post that soon! So, a lot of updating, and a lot of fun! We love you all!

Coming July 9th!

2009-06-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

A co-worker/friend of mine in Tyler is expecting a little boy (Evan) this July! As soon as we found out she was expecting the little guy, all of us girls at work started planning a baby shower for her. LOVE baby showers! We found out she was pregnant when she was at 6 weeks, so the planning has been going on for quite some time now. It's crazy how time flys! Tiffany had such a great turn out, and we all had a blast! Little Evan is already loved so much and got some really great things this weekend. It has been so much fun to watch Tiffany's belly grow! She is such a cute prego girl! She is scheduled to have Evan on July 9th if he doesn't come before. I have expressed to her that I would totally be ok with her going into labor at work! How fun!!

Memorial Day

2009-05-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was such a pretty day in East Texas! Lance and I both had the day off, and decided to go on a picnic with our little pups, Mayer! We woke up packed sandwiches and such in the cooler, and off to picnicking! There is a trail in Tyler that goes through parts of the city. The trail is surrounded by tons 0f trees, lots of green grass and is a perfect picnic destination. I run this trail a few times a week and have been scoping out the perfect place for a picnic. Lance and I ran the trail together Sunday afternoon and he agreed on the location. We thought it would be really super fun to take Mayer out there with us to throw his ball and let him play. Needless to say, he was worn out by the time we left! He wasn't on a leash, there were tons of dogs walking by on the trail and he didn't ever freak out (besides the dad and little son that were kicking the soccer ball right next to us, he really wanted that soccer ball)! Our picnic was a success! We will definitely be doing it again soon!

Had to keep Mayer hydrated!

Lance was working out before the picnic, so he had to cover his sweaty head a bandana

This picture is precious!

Thanks Oprah!!

2009-05-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

This is quite a late post...Sorry!

I am an avid Oprah watcher! I DVR it everyday, and after I get done with work, get my workout in and get home, it is Oprah time. This is a daily occurrence! Ha! By the time I get done speeding through the commercials, (all you fellow Oprah watchers know towards the end, she has commercials every 5 words or so) it is time for Lance to get home and we eat dinner. I like my little routine! Anyway, since I am such a religious watcher, I saw the episode where Oprah promoted KFC and everyone could print off coupons. Went to work the next day, told the girls at work about it and voila...we went the same day! We weren't huge fans of the chicken, but we did have a good time! There are 6 of us in the office, and all 5 of them are really so great to work with! We all get along so well, and there is rarely a time we aren't laughing at something! I will miss these girls so much when I have to leave (to start hygiene school). It will be so hard!

Adorable Cade!

2009-05-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, I think it is official, I have baby fever!! A week ago this past Saturday, Melissa and I decided last minute to meet in Terrell to have lunch. I was having Cade withdrawals! It is so crazy how as you get older with your friends, you go through the same phases in life together and your whole view on children slowly starts to change. People have babies, they are precious! But, there is something so different when your closest friends and family start to have babies. You see and hear all the latest changes from day to day, hear the struggles and laugh at the cravings. Then, after 9 (really 10 right?) months of anticipation , growing of the belly and wondering what this baby is going to look like, the day of their birth is so exciting! You just have these people that you care about so much, and then they have babies and you just love them to pieces! It just blows my mind how much you love these little perfect beings that God has blessed your life with! Cade is the first baby into some of my circle of gal pals, Michelle's little Isabelle is due in July, Jessica is due in August, and I am so ready for many more! Since I am starting Dental Hygiene school in August, Lance and I have decided to put our baby fever off for a while, so I am going to need you girls to pick up the slack till I am back in the running! Love to all the great babies in our lives right now, Logan in Pittsburgh, Hailey, Cade, Isabelle and others to come! This is such a fun time! Take a look at Jon and Melissa's perfect little man! Love you Cade!

Always dressed his best!

Lance-scaping!

2009-05-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our house this past July, there were a few little bushes planted in the front, none in the back, and all in all, Lance and I weren't fans of any of it! Ha! Lance finds great joy in landscaping and planting things to add curb appeal to our home and often draws things out to see if I approve of his thoughts and plans for the yard. I'm not much of a landscaper/planter, so I am here strictly for moral support and to say "yeah, that looks great babe!" I am so glad that he enjoys this so much. Over the last few weeks, he has worked so hard ripping things out, tilling up parts of the yard and planting. Last weekend we went home to Dallas to visit for Mother's day and before I knew it Lance was taking his parent's tiller apart and stuffing it in my little Honda Accord trunk! He is serious! We are far from finished, but I thought I would post some pics of what he has done so far. Lance has big plans for our back yard. Before it is all said and done, he wants to extend the patio with rock, weld a fire pit and plant a big 'ole tree! What a wonderful husband! I just love him to death!

We are still going to plant some colorful little annuals in front of these bushes. All these bushes except for the spiral ones are Azalea's. Next spring they will be bigger and in full bloom!

A closer look at the beauties. I love the spiral guys!

The man at work!

This is the back wall in our back yard. This wall backs up to a two lane road and therefore this wall is the back of the subdivision. This is after all the tilling up, and before all the planting.

These are the bushes that we are putting along the back wall. They are just babies right now, but they grow to be 10 feet tall. It took a total of 15 to cover the length of the wall! This all is the start of our landscaping project. More pics soon!!

Peanut Butter Fun!

2009-04-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

About 6 months after Lance and I got married, we had been contemplating the idea of getting a little pup. Lance is a very structured person and had grown very attached to Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer show. So, for Christmas (2007) Lance surprised me with a picture of the puppy that he had already purchased but we could not have just yet because he was about 3 weeks shy of being 6 weeks old. But, Lance saw this as a golden opportunity to prepare for this new dog we were about to get. So, the next present I opened up was Cesar Millan's book on becoming a pack leader. We vowed to read the book together to be able to learn the do's and don't of being a successful dog owner. Thanks to Cesar, we really do have an amazing dog! His theories did/do work, and I am proud to say that our dog is very balanced! With that being said, Lance made it his personal goal to see to it that Mayer (like oscar mayer) did not ever have ANY human food, EVER. Even during pill taking time, Lance would rather open Mayer's mouth and put the pill at the back of his throat and make him swallow before we would put it in some meat! So, quite the preface, but now maybe it puts some frame of reference to the break through we had last night. As I was eating peanut butter and banana, Lance and I were talking in the kitchen and Mayer was wagging his tail at our feet hoping to get a crumb of some sort. I don't know what took over Lance, but he thought it would be fun to put peanut butter on Mayer's nose. This might have been one of the funniest things ever! We really got a couple great candid shots! We weren't sure how much he was going to like it, but he really did love it! It was quite comical and the pics were great!

Ahhh...he is trying so hard!

Ha! This pic just cracks us up! If I only knew what he was thinking!

More please!!

Gal's Trip to the Hill Country!

2009-04-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

In early December, we decided to plan a weekend trip to San Antonio to relax, spend lots of time together, and shop. That is exactly what we did! We left Friday evening after everyone was able to get off work and we drove several hours till we made it to our destination. We had to make a pit stop on the way at Chuy's in Austin. This was my second time to dine in at Chuy's and it was SO very good! After dinner, we continued on our Journey to our hotel. We stayed at the Westin La Canterra. Great resort!! We probably tried to say "La Canterra" a hundred times trying to perfect the pronunciation each time. Ha! We are all "old ladies" at heart, so making it to bed at midnight felt like we had been awake for a complete 24 hours. But, needless to say, we still woke up at 7 am sharp to not lose any daylight for our shopping and laying out by the pool! And, that is exactly what we did. We headed to our favorite breakfast hangout (chick-fil-a), and off to the La Canterra shops where we shopped the majority of the day. Then ,we put our swimsuits on, laid out at the pool and slid down a water slide with all the kids at the hotel. On our way home Sunday, we decided we needed to stop at one of the outlet malls right outside of San Marcus to do a little more shopping, then we were home bound. These girls are the best! There was so much laughter, fun and catching up that took place. We are planning to take a girls trip every so often. Thanks girls for such a GREAT weekend! I thank God for each of you every day!

Fun Filled Weekend!

2009-04-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

After work Thursday, I headed home to make it to Melissa's birthday bash at BJ's in Arlington! I definitely have the BEST friends and love it when I get to come home to see any and all of them! After the Bash, I headed to my mom's house where I stayed the rest of the weekend. Heather (my sis) had her Bridal Shower this weekend, and we had lots to do in preparation for Saturday. She also had Engagement pictures on Sunday. Friday was so fun and was spent looking for outfits for the session. Lance on the other hand headed to Oklahoma after work on Friday for a hunting trip with some friends! Saturday was the big day for Heather! She was SO excited about her shower and we all had a really great time! Her wedding day is July 25, 2009. This day will be here before we know it, and it will be so great! After the shower Saturday, we went to Heather and Jeremy's new home, unloaded her gifts and headed to dinner with Jeremy's mom and sis. They are going to be great inlaws for her. Although, they are pretty lucky too! Sunday was a recouping day. Lance headed back from his hunting trip, met me at my mom's house, and we headed back to East Texas. This was Lance's first turkey hunt and he had a blast! He got his turkey a couple of hours before leaving Sunday morning to come home. What a great weekend we both had!

Mel blowing out her candles. We couldn't fit 24 candles on the cupcake, so we put 3 instead!

Group Pic of My mom's side of the family along with Jeremy's mom and sis.

Heather with her girls she works with.

Heather's gifts from the Hosts! WOW!

Me and Sis!!

Love this pic of the two prego gals at the shower! Michelle is due in July, and Sarah (Jeremy's sis) is due in May! Can't wait to see the two little girls at the wedding!

Mav's Fun!

2009-04-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Monday after Easter, Lance and I headed to Dallas after work to meet Jon and Melissa at the Maverick's game! We love being able to hang out with great friends as well as seeing the Mav's in action. Before we made it to our seats, we peeked in a souvenir shop and Melissa and I separately found a great shirt and it ended up being the same one! Ha! So, we decided we needed to get them and support our Mavs in their last regular game of the season. They ended up winning in the last minute of the game. It was a great game to attend! Thanks Mel and Jon for the invite, we love spending time with you guys!

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

This year for Easter Lance's family (and my WONDERFUL inlaws) decided to come celebrate at our house. As most of you know, cooking is not necessarily my forte. But... I am learning! Lance and I decided to go with a Mexican food theme this year. So, we made a new chicken enchilada recipe (turned out great!), beans, rice and margaritas! Nancy baked some really delicious desserts and finished the day off with those. We had such a great time with everyone and family time is always the best! We really enjoyed hosting our first holiday, it was a success! Thanks Bina's for being the BEST inlaws a girl could ask for!

We Missed you Doug and Wes!

Lance opening up his Easter Basket. Yes, we still get Easter baskets! Our parents are great!

Mayer loves Hailey so much! He is sitting in her stroller and she is bending over letting him give her kisses. They were so precious together. Hailey is the cutest!

My Pride and Joy!

2009-04-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

My Grandparents!! As most of you know, these two people have the biggest part of my heart! They are the most amazing people wrapped up in two bodies. I have been so attached to my grandparents since I was a little girl, and I just love them so much! They mean more to me then I could ever explain! On Good Friday, My mom brought Ga and Papa out to Tyler to see mine and Lance's house. This was the first time they had been out to Tyler since we moved here, so we were SUPER excited! I had seriously been so anxiously excited all week awaiting their arrival! My grandma makes this AMAZING strawberry cake that is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine and she made me one and brought it with her to the house. After they scoped the house and we chatted, we went the a great Mexican food place for lunch in the area called the Jalapeno tree. We visited for a while and then they had to head home. What a "Good" Friday it was! I am so blessed to have them!

Go Rangers!

2009-04-10T12:45:00.001-07:00

Opening day was Monday, April 6th. It is a tradition for some of our friends to go SUPER early to the stadium and cook out then make it to the game by 1pm. So, this year Lance and I decided to join in on the fun for the first time. We are so glad that we went. We had such a blast! We arrived at the stadium at 8:30am and it was FREEZING cold. But, without fail the guys were already cooking out on the grill when we got there. All the guys had no problem hanging out by the food all bundled up, but us girls hung out in the car until the sun decided to take the chill out of the cool air. We ate ALL day and the game was really great! George Bush threw the opening pitch and I am a HUGE Bush fan, so that was well enough worth it for me! But the Rangers pulled out a good win too! Lance and I will be making this a tradition as well every year hopefully. We really enjoyed the day with everyone who went!

After hybernation in the car. We bundled on the tailgate!

Lance LOVES the Rangers, so we had to show our support!

Going up the escalator to our seats. We are crazy!

I loved that they did this before the game started! There were hundreds of troops all around the U.S Flag as everyone cheered for our country. LOVED LOVED LOVED this! What a sense of pride for our country!

My Little Precious!

2009-03-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Lance and I do not have any kids yet, but we do want at least one in the next couple of years. We are having so much fun with just us right now. However, we do have this little dog that we love as if he were our child. We actually call him our son...I know we are crazy dog owners. So, since we love him so, we thought we would post some updated pics of the little guy for all to see! I just love him to pieces!

He loves to ride in the car!

The Azalea Trails of Tyler

2009-03-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Lance and I finally finished our backyard. Yeah, you're right, we wish!! This weekend marked the 5oth anniversary of the Azalea & Spring Flower Trail. There is a historic part of Tyler with older AMAZING homes, and every year there are about 7 different homes that are part of the Azalea district that open up their Garden's for the public to walk through. These are honestly some of the most beautiful, well put together gardens I have ever seen. Flowers are not my expertise, but Azalea's are GORGEOUS! I know most of you think of roses when you think of Tyler, but roses pale in comparison to Azaleas when the new blooms come out in the Spring. I mean they have a district of homes that are named after the flower! Everyone's homes are just about full of Azaleas, and I just love them!! Here are some pics of the tour. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

Amanda and I in my favorite backyard!

Now that is A LOT of Azaleas!

An up close look at the beauties!

Just a cute little house.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

Since we are farely new to the Tyler area, we don't know of all the best restaurants just yet. A co-worker of Lance's told him of a place called Jake's that is located in downtown Tyler. Lance scoped the place out, and made reservations. This was all a suprise to me, and we really couldn't have gone to a better place! The atmosphere and food were so amazing! We had a really great time! Along with a great dinner, Lance had gone to a florist in the area and asked them to make me an arrangement of Peonies, renuculas and others we used in our wedding that I LOVE so much. I have such a wonderful husband! They were/are GORGEOUS! I am not much of a flower girl, but I do have a few favorites that really make me happy! Needless to say, we had a really great/simple valentine's day! Here is a pic of the flowers...

They are SO pretty!

Ahhh...I have such a great husband!