"Where's Uncle Shawn?"

We were SO excited that Jeff's brother, Shawn was driving through Little Rock Tuesday evening on his way to Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina! We have not seen him since the middle of March and have really missed him! We went over to Tim and Karen's for a yummy dinner and were able to visit for a little bit.

We told Lydia that Uncle Shawn was coming a couple of days before and she kept asking over and over again when she was going to see Uncle Shawn. It was so cute! She measures time by "naps" ... so we tell her "2 naps until you get to see Uncle Shawn" or how ever many naps it is until she gets to do whatever. It's so cute!! Once we got to Tim and Karen's she asked no less than 10 times when Uncle Shawn was going to get there. When we knew that he was close I told her to go look out the door. She said she wanted to scare him and say "Boo!". Of course, when he started walking up the steps, she ran the other way! Hah!

I am SO blessed to be a part of this family! Love them like my own!

Shawn, we are SO proud of you and so glad that we were able to see you for a little bit! Can't wait until we can hang out some at Christmas!! Love you!

When Mommy's Away ...

 Daddy and Lydie Play!!

I am so thankful that Jeff was able to watch Lydia while I was gone to Virginia. God has blessed me with such a wonderful husband! He LOVES to spend time with Lydia and their one-on-one time together means a lot to both of them. I know she had a blast getting 100% of Daddy's attention. I love that he does not feel like it's a chore or an inconvenience to him. He is truly one of the best daddy's around!

I'm not sure I want to know EVERYTHING that they did while I was gone ... but he did send me some pictures of some of what they did! =) I accidentally had the camera in my purse so all he was left with was his cell phone. Not the best quality, but some super cute pictures!

On Thursday they took a little trip to the zoo! Here are some of their pictures ...

 One of her favorites ... the giraffes!

 "I do it, Daddy!"

 Loved getting this picture of her smiling face!! Missed her like crazy while I was gone!

 Hanging out with the elephants!

 I can't believe how close she was to the elephants!

 After she finally warmed up to the HUGE gorilla, she told Jeff "Take my picture" ... guess she's had her picture taken once or twice!

After lunch, they went to her favorite place to eat ... "Chicka-Fil-A"! =)

 Guess she was getting a little work done while drinking her juice box! 

 While the picture doesn't look like it, supposedly she was sharing her ice cream with Jeff. Not sure what's up with that face.

 After her nap, Jeff said she wanted her pillow, blankets, to keep wearing her pajamas and to watch Dora! And of course ... she got exactly what she wanted!

 Playing a little play dough.

 This girl LOVES to have tea parties with her Daddy. It's one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. He took a video of her and she was VERY serious about pouring some tea. It was adorable.

Jeff's mom watched Lydia for us Wednesday while Jeff was at work and Friday night and Saturday while Jeff was working/sleeping. So blessed by a wonderful family that is willing to help out whenever we need anything!

Hanging out on Mimi's couch while watching a little Kai-Lan.

Road Trip To Virginia!

My mom and I drove out to Virginia with Craig to help him get moved and settled into his new apartment. The day started with an EARLY alarm at 4:15 in the morning! YIKES! I do not function very well at that time of day ... but thankfully I was able to get up and around!

Right before we walked out the door to begin our road trip!

Proof that we were in the truck before 5:30!!

We had an uneventful drive out to Virginia which was an answered prayer. We got there a little bit before 9:30 so it was a LONG day! Our first stop was to see Tiffany and she surprised Craig with an awesome Chocolate Eclair Cake for his birthday! It was super yummy and a great treat after a long day! Finally we got settled into our hotel for the night and got a little bit of sleep before moving day!

After a few mishaps at the apartment, we finally got things moved in Thursday afternoon and were able to get a lot of stuff unpacked and stuff kind of where it needed to be. Friday was spent shopping for groceries and a few more pieces of furniture that he needed.

Mom and Craig working hard putting his new kitchen table together. They didn't take any pictures of me working ... but I promise I did! =) I actually put one of the chair together! Hope it stays together! Hah!

Craig and Tiffany's first candle light dinner at his apartment! =)

Here is a little slideshow of Craig's apartment before we left. He still has a lot to do, but I figured some people might want to see it! ;)

Mom and her baby boy before we headed out to the airport to come back home.

We had such a good time and I'm so glad we were able to go out and help him get some what settled before he started his new job. Charlottesville is BEAUTIFUL and I really think he will love it out there. 

Here are a few pictures from our flight home. I don't think I've ever flown over the mountains when I've been able to see them. Our whole flight to Atlanta was below the clouds and it was an amazing view!

You can't really tell, but the trees were beautiful!! Such vibrant colors!

Such a different view from what we see in central Arkansas

Can't wait to come back and visit you Craig!! Good luck with your new job! We love you and are praying for you!

We Will Miss You!

My baby brother moved to Virginia last week to start a new job, so we took a trip to Searcy the weekend before so we could visit with him. I REALLY think the only reason he wanted us to come was so that he could see Lydia and Eden before he left. Probably would have been okay if we had dropped them off and came back home! Hah!

We are so excited for him and can not wait to see what God is going to do in his life out there! 

The weather was perfect, so the girls got to go outside and feed the deer some corn. Lydia LOVES doing this and asks to do it everytime we go up. Normally we bribe her by telling her if she takes a good nap she can feed the deer. And guess what?!? IT WORKS! =)

They take their job VERY seriously!

Are they not the cutest?!?

30 Days of Thanks - Day 8

This is something so little ... but something I am REALLY thankful for! I have been dreading the time change for about 2 weeks now. Lydia has been waking up at 7:00 on the dot almost every morning and all I could think was that once the time changed, she would be waking up at 6:00 thinking it was 7:00!! Not good, especially for me who is NOT a morning person! Hah!

Well ... Sunday morning came and when I heard her wake up the clock said 7:07 and I was thinking ... Jeff didn't change the clock and it's 6:00! Well ... to my surprise, he had changed the clocks!! Whoohoo! She didn't wake up an hour early! So, 2 days into time change, and she's slept to her "normal" time or a little bit later!! SO thankful for that!!

30 Days of Thanks - Day 7

One thing that I'm very thankful for is our church, Midtowne Church. We've been going there a little over a year and absolutely LOVE it! We instantly fell in love with the people of the church and have made some amazing friends. Our pastor speaks the truth and makes every message applicable to your life. You always leave with something to improve your relationship with God and others. There have been so many Sundays that I have left church thinking ... "How in the world did Doug know what I was going through?" It's been amazing!

Lydia LOVES going to church, which makes Jeff and I so happy. If we mention the word church, she pretty much runs to the door and says "I'm ready to go!" We pray that she always has a love for God's church and His Word. She's made some little friends at church and loves playing with them. Another favorite of hers is that she gets to see the puppets on Sunday morning. Every Sunday she comes out telling us about the puppets and singing the song that they sang! It's adorable!

Toy Story 3

I rented Toy Story 3 Tuesday for us to have a "Family Movie Night" ... but I forgot that ASU was playing. =( So, I got out voted and we watched ASU play an AWESOME game!! So, we had "Family Movie Night Morning" on Wednesday!!

Lydia patiently waiting for the previews to be over! She stood still for all of them!

 Jeff intensely watching the movie ... Lydia making sure he didn't take too much popcorn!

 Are they not the cutest?!?

 Notice the big red bump on her forehead?!? She decided to go head first off the couch right into the coffee table. Opps!!

She really enjoyed the movie! This was her first full-length film! She sat through most of it. I was kind of surprised! The past two days she's been wanting to watch Toy Story or as she likes to call it "story time"! She'll say she wants to watch it and when we tell her we don't have it she says "story time at redbox"! She's a smart little girl! Can't wait to have more movie nights ... or mornings!! I have a whole list of movies that I can't wait to watch with her!

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Just had to add this picture ....

Are their faces not hilarious?!?

30 Days of Thanks - Day 6

I am also thankful for Jeff's family. From the first time I met them, they took me in and have loved me as their own daughter. I could not have picked out better "in-laws"!! They are wonderful parents and grandparents to Lydia! Truly a blessing!

Lydia with Mimi!

Lydia driving Pops around!

 Papa and Lydia playing a duet!

Painting with Reedee!

Random Pics

This week has been a little crazy, so I'm behind on my day-to-day blogging! =( Here are some random pictures from the last week! We've had a lot of fun!!

Lydia's cookie mouth!

 Check out Lydia's new stAte jersey!! She wore it for the BIG game on Tuesday night! ASU played in their first nationally televised game against Middle Tennessee and played AWESOME!!

 They won 51-24!! So glad we were able to watch the game from our warm couch! It was COLD and rainy at the game ... even though it would have been fun to be there!

 For some reason Lydia decided this week she wanted to dig into my  hope chest. My dad made this for a wedding present and we LOVE it! When we first got married we filled it with blankets, or sweaters, or my out of season shoes .. but once we had Lydia, it was converted into a stuffed animal chest!!

 She felt like she hit the jack pot! Some of these toys she probably doesn't even remember having them!

 A little girls heaven!!

 Can not wait for Lydia to be old enough to learn  how to play the piano! She LOVES playing Mimi's piano. Wonder what age she can start?!?

 Happy Birthday, Mimi!! Glad you were feeling better and we were able to come by and visit!

 Friday morning Lydia went to work with Daddy while I went shopping at the Holiday House with a couple of friends. It was a much needed break ... and I know Lydia enjoyed spending some time with Daddy! Thankful he has a job where he can take her up there when he needs to!

Ending the week with a little picnic in the living room while watching Olivia!