Sweet Summer Time

Last Saturday, we had the most wonderful summer day!  It was one of those days where I went to bed so thankful for the life that I am blessed to live.  We started off with Lex's first parade at the Huntington Heritage Days.  It was a sunny, hot morning, but we all had the best time!

Lex was very happy to be with her daddy during the parade.  We have noticed that when she is hurt she usually wants me, but when she is scared or nervous she prefers to be with Bry. 

We got to see several army planes fly over before the parade started so that was fun!  She whimpered a little bit when the emergency vehicles went by at the beginning of the parade, but she didn't do too bad at all with all of the loud noise.

Lots of our family members and friends were in the parade.  Shane and Michele and the kids walked with the police department.  When they walked past us, Peyton decided that he was hot and tired so he stayed with us.  Alexis got to join their family and finish the parade with them!  Of course, I didn't think to take a picture!

We had fun hanging out with Peyt while we waited for the rest of them to finish the parade and come back to us.

Next, we saw Grammy go by with her church's float.

Then, Tyler walked past with his work group.

Alexis with her mama!  I was so happy that she did so well during the parade.

Aunt Kate walked with her church's kids' ministry!

After the parade, we went over to the police station and ate some hot dogs.  Then, we ventured down to the food area so that this mama could finally get a snow cone!  I have been wanting one for a long time now and it tasted so yummy!:)

We had to walk about 5 or 6 blocks to get back to the car and Alexis fell asleep about halfway there!  She had missed her morning nap and it was hot so she was all tuckered out!

She didn't even wake up when Daddy put her in the car seat.  Sweet girl!

After we took an afternoon nap, we headed over to the Blair's for Zaya's 4th birthday party!  This cute little boy had a sea turtle themed party, complete with presents, cake, and lots of outdoor water fun!  We just love our handsome nephew!!!

After we left the party, we decided to be cRaZy and stop at the balloon glow event that was being held at the high school.  Lex was pretty tired, but we thought it sounded fun.  She loved it!  We got to see the Samaritan take off right when we got there and then we watched all of the hot air balloons set up. 

We ran into Mom and Dad and PJ and Rachel while we were there so that was fun!

It really was the most wonderful day with my little family.  I love them so much!

Baby #2: 17 Weeks!

Last week, I was 17 weeks pregnant with our sweet pea!



How Far Along: 17 Weeks

 Size of baby: The baby is 5 inches long from head to bottom and weighs about 5 ounces (about the size of a turnip).

Gender: We find out in a little over a week!!!:)

Maternity Clothes: Wearing mostly maternity pants and any shirt that is long enough to cover me up!:)

Weight gain: 10 pounds...aye-aye-aye!

Belly Button: Still in.

Movement: I have felt quite a bit of fluttery movement!  I loooooooooove it!

Sleep: I'm sleeping fine!  I get up once to use the bathroom, but that has become normal!

Symptoms: I am just hungry, hungry, hungry!  (See weight gain above for proof.:)

Cravings: I have been wanting a snow cone for a long while now and I finally got one at Heritage Days last weekend!  It was delicious.:)

Best Moment This Week: Feeling my precious baby move around in my belly.  I can't wait until Bry and Alexis can feel him or her, too!

Zoo Trip #4

Last Tuesday, Bryan had the day off so we headed to the zoo for a fun day together!  Since he had to work on Father's Day, it was a nice extension of that. 

We stopped and looked at the ponies, but decided not to try riding yet.  Someday!:)

This was our first trip through the Indonesian Rainforest this year and we had lots of fun!  This humongous snake was quite active while we watched.

Daddy and Lex tried to "relax" on this hammock, but the little lady wasn't much of a fan!  She really doesn't like anything swing-like.

I love this picture of our girl watching the orangutans!  She loved it!

She comes by a love of animals honestly...:)

We got to see the tigers out and about, as well.

I tried to get Alexis to go into the tree house with me, but she was having too much fun running up and down the ramp that she never even made it to the tree house part!:)

We got to say hi to the alligators!  After we left the zoo, we went to Olive Garden for lunch and headed home for naps!

That evening, we went back to Evergreen for a walk and Daddy and Lex went on the slide.  She may not like swings, but she LOVES slides!:)

Father's Day 2013

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day with some of the best men I know! 

This guy right here waited a long time to become a daddy and I'm pretty sure he loves every single moment that he gets with his sweet girl!

Bry had to work last weekend so he opened a couple of his presents Saturday night before we went over to my parents' house for supper. 

We got him a gift certificate to the Meat Shop so he can buy himself something yummy for the grill and we got him an arm band that holds his iPhone while he runs!

Daddy and his girl got some wrestling time in before we left...this is one of Lex's favorite things to do with her daddy!

On Sunday morning, I went to get Alexis out of bed.  I told her it was Father's Day and said, "Where is Daddy?"  This is the face I got in response...like, "I don't know, where IS my daddy?!"

Then, after a short time of thinking about her favorite guy, she broke into a humongous smile!:)

Lex and I went to church and then we picked up Wendy's for lunch and ate in the car with Daddy.  Pretty fancy!;)

After Bryan got off work, he opened the rest of his gifts before we went to Pat and Linda's house for supper. 

We made him a cute t-shirt that says "World's Best Daddy...Hands Down!" with Lex's handprints on it.  I'm not sure that it will get much public wear, but we thought he would have fun wearing it around the house!:)  (Side note...anyone who can get decent handprints from an extremely squirmy 14 month old deserves an award!:)

The loves of my life.  Alexis just adores her daddy and gets so excited when he comes home from work every day.  He is so attentive and loving towards her and it is obvious that he is her favorite guy...hands down!:)  Bryan and I are also so blessed to have loving, caring dads.  I am so thankful for my family!

Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verses 11 & 12

Well.  I took an unintentional "break" from the SSMT for verse 11 and Satan alllllllllmost had me convinced that I was too busy to keep it up.  However, in my own personal life, I feel like Satan uses "busy" to keep me from a lot of great Jesus things and I am determined to stop that.  In truth, I am busy.  I just looked at our calendar for this week and we have a lot of things going on.  Some things are God-focused, like a SIS meeting tonight or our church prayer walk next Sunday.  Some things are family-focused, like Lex's one year pictures on Wednesday or watching my sweet nephews and niece on Thursday.  Some are just plain fun-focused, like going to the library to get new books for the summer reading program or watching Bryan play softball.  I stop and look at the list of things to do and think "man, we've got a busy week!"  I am loving every minute of this go-go-go summer, but I have to keep my priorities straight.  If I can't fit in a few minutes to select a new memory verse, then something else needs to go!  So, all that to say, here are my verses for the month of June!:)

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11:18-19

I will be using the next two verses in this passage for my July memory verses.  Now, off to memorize!:)

Baby #2: 16 Weeks!

I am now 16 weeks pregnant with our sweet second baby!

How Far Along: 16 Weeks

 Size of baby: The baby is 4 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and weighs about 3 1/2 ounces, about the size of an avocado.

Gender: We don't know yet!  Our ultrasound is scheduled for July 2nd...I'm getting so excited!:)

Maternity Clothes: I am still wearing some regular clothes, but I did start wearing some maternity pants.  They are so much more comfy on my belly!

Weight gain: 7 pounds

Belly Button: Still in.

Movement: I'm pretty sure that I have felt some flutters, but nothing definite yet.  It will surely be any day now!

Sleep: I'm sleeping fine!  I get up once to use the bathroom, but that has become normal!

Symptoms: None to speak of at the moment!  I am really feeling great right now.

Cravings: Food!!!  My appetite is huge right now and I can put some food away!

Best Moment This Week: Rocking my big girl to sleep several times and having the joy of rocking both of my babes at the same time.:)

A Day in Shipshewana

Yesterday, we spent the day in Shipshewana with Bryan's family!  Linda had never been there before and Pat had been wanting to visit this cheese factory so off we went for an adventure!  It was a really fun day with absolutely perfect weather.

Pat, Bryan, Lex, Drew, and Linda in front of the Guggisberg Cheese Factory.  We left there with a large amount of cheese!:)

Me and my girl on the steps of the cheese factory...the last time I was there, I was VERY pregnant with her.  What a difference a year makes!

My little family.  Oh, how I love them!

After we left the cheese factory, we decided to go back to this bakery that we had passed.  On the way, we saw this family's deer farm and thought we'd stop and check it out.  Alexis and Grandpa petted some of the does!

She thought they were pretty neat and wasn't scared at all!

Some of the boys from the Amish family showed us around and brought out these sheds from one of their deer.  Our guys were a little impressed!;)

Grammy and Lex checking out those friendly does again.

Alexis loved touching their noses!

After than we stopped at the bakery and Alexis ran off some steam in the parking lot.

Then, we went into Shipshewana and ate at the Blue Gate for lunch.  We walked around town and did some browsing.  We thought that we would let Alexis ride a carousel for the first time at the Davis Mercantile, but she wasn't much of a fan!

In fact, she pretty much cried the whole time.:)  We left there and stopped at the Red Barn to look at furniture and at E & S just for fun.  Alexis did so well being out and about.  She slept for about an hour or so on the way up and then slept again on the way home.  We ended our day with a bonfire at the Jones' house and it was so fun!  We were getting ready to leave around 10 and Alexis fell asleep on my chest...so we stayed until after 11!  Bryan said he felt like a teenager again.:)  Needless to say, we all slept very well last night.  A day spent with family and friends is such a blessing!

Our Weekend

We started out our weekend with strawberry jam making at my parents' house on Friday night!  We made 24 quarts of strawberries into jam and that's about 1/3 of what our family needs to make it through a year.:)

The boys were very helpful!  They liked to dump the sugar into the strawberries and stir them around.

About halfway through the process!  It took us about 4 hours to get it all done.

Lex was a trooper, but she started to get tired by 9 or so.  She watched some Mickey Mouse with Grandma...

...and got some good snuggle time in, too!

On Saturday, Daddy went to a golf outing and Lex and I went to the boys' soccer games.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!

I watered this hanging basket on Saturday evening and Alexis loved playing in the water the dripped out of the bottom.:)

On Sunday, we went to church and spent the rest of the day at home together.  After naps, we went outside and played in Lex's pool! 

Daddy and Alexis got some snuggle time in before bed...watching Mickey, of course!

Alexis got her first real scraped knee.  She cried for a short time, but was right back to playing quickly!:)