Hanging with Her Buds

With these hot Texas days, Bailey and I have been trying to spend as much time with her friends to take our minds off the fact that we can't really play outside like we used to.

The newest friend that we can now play with all the time is cousin Owen or "Hown" as Bailey lovingly calls him. We are so excited and blessed to welcome Kyle, Ali, and Owen to Austin! I forsee many fun times with Bailey and Owen. The week before last I got to babysit Owen for a couple of days while Ali was unpacking. Here are a few shots I took during that time.

This was taken right before we left on a walk. Let me tell you that pushing two toddlers around is more of a workout than you would think!


It was time to eat and Owen wasn't coming to the kitchen as quickly as Bailey would have liked so she was trying to help. As soon as I saw that Owen was letting Bailey hold his hand I ran and grabbed the camera trying to capture the moment, but this was all I got.

Hot and sweaty in this Texas heat.

So these three kiddos love getting into these drawers and re-sorting them. To Owen's right is his and Bailey's friend Emmy, which Bailey pronounes Hemmy. We have been taking full advatage of time with Katie and Emmy before little brother Boone makes his grand appearance.

One of Bailey's other best buds is Abby whom she dearly loves. I took this the other day at Abby's house. Bailey didn't care that her arms were sweating or that there was no water around. Pictures with Bailey and Abby seem harder and harder to capture.

A rare moment when both girls were sitting still the other night at Bible Study.

House Update

I just realized that I hadn't update everyone on our house situation, but about a month ago we got an offer on our current house. Just recently we found the house we will be moving into, which is pictured below. It is a cute 3/2 in North Austin and we will be moving towards the end of July!

A Time of Opportunity

I feel like my heart has been heavy with certain thoughts and questions for the last couples of weeks and the pieces are only finally coming together. If I had to choose one word to describe my conclusion it would be- opportunity. Bailey is showing alot of signs of the terrible twos and has been for awhile. For us it all boils down to when Bailey doesn't get what she wants, whether that be the toy that a friend is playing with or her milk cup from the counter. The worst part lately has been that she just learned the word no. And she doesn't just say no, it's a NO with attitude. So yesterday was our regular Thursday morning playgroup and it was my morning to host. I actually woke up and thought "if I can only survive playgroup then we can get through the rest of the day" because when it comes to sharing, Bailey has the hardest time when it is her own toys. So playgroup was as rough as I expected and I spent her afternoon naptime pondering what to do. I have read alot of parenting books and I am just not feeling prepared for the terrible twos. In fact, I realized that I don't want to look at them as terrible twos, and this is when it hit me. I am not supposed to just survive the next year in my life in fear. What would happen when we got to adolescence if that were the case- just survive the next four years? How small would my God be if that were the case? God wants me to think of each day in her life as an opportunity. No this doesn't mean Bailey learned overnight to share, but that I am looking each day for opportunities. Right now it is going to be how to deal with frustration and anger through self-control. I also felt an overwhelming desire to just pour my heart out for my little girl to God and that my attitude towards this time would be a reflection of my walk with the Lord. I don't know about you, but it felt good to get a glimpse of how God is going to get you through a season in your life. I was also reminded of something Greg Matte shared at Breakaway one night-

Big God = Little Problems. Little God = Big Problem.

So, if you feel compelled please pray for me. That I would daily find time to spend with the Lord. Bailey's character is too important for me not to, but there are just so many distractions. Pray that I have the strength to stay consistent with discipline after long days and patience when I am not seeing any progress. And lastly, please pray for Bailey.

And as Bailey was waking up from her nap, God reminded me that the devil doesn't wear crocs.

Grow Old With Me, The Best Is Yet To Be - Robert Browning

Happy 6 year Anniversary Luke!

A Much Needed Break

Last weekend, Luke and I meet up with my family at Lake Buchanan for a much needed night away. With Luke working some really long hours and me trying to keep our house spotless for house showings, we needed a break. Plus Bailey got to spend some quality time with Gigi and Pa.


The first update is that we have made some huge progress with Bailey and pools. She still doesn't love being in the water, but she now loves jumping in. With Luke in the water, she loves to count with him- one, two, free (three) and throws her hands in the air and jumps to him. SO CUTE! Sadly, I just realize that a video I wanted to share is on my sister's camera.

I also finally got a picture of Gigi and Bailey.

One fun activity we did was feed the ducks, although the ducks weren't the ones that got much bread. We had just gotten done playing fetch with Blue and she thought she needed to "fetch" the bread we had just thrown out. After putting Blue up we had another problem- Bailey. I can't believe how much bread she ate. She would throw out tiny pieces and watch the ducks come and get it while she enjoyed most of the bread.

Another update is that she finally learned to say Uncle Fun's name, almost- she calls him Bobby instead of Robby. She also went from saying Tuh to Tawr-a. And man when Bailey learns a new word she says it over, and over, and over again. It's the word of the day. She continues to learn more words, although we realize it's on her terms. Meaning, we can tell she is listening to us as we try to teach her a new word, but until she wants to say something she doesn't.

Not too much else to update. We are in the long and arduous process of learning to share and we are getting alot of practice! Especially as we catch up and hang out with cousin Owen. Right now our strategy is distraction and is it working for the most part, but it's exhausting. One thing that has been working lately is singing. Seriously if you see Luke and I start singing and clapping in public you now know why. Also, I am not sure when this happened, but Bailey loves to pretend! She has specific toy animals that she enjoys feeding, putting to sleep, and making them go potty chair. It's so stinkin' cute to watch her imagination work.