April festivities!

I can't believe it's been over a MONTH since I've posted.. things have been busy! 
Where to begin....

The second weekend in April, Justin and I decided to take our dogs and sweet baby Arabel on a hike!  Justin researched several places and we decided on the oldest state park in Texas, Mother Neff State Park, about 2 hrs away.  When Justin got off work on Friday (he usually finishes around 1100am) , we loaded up the dogs and hit the road.  It was the perfect day!  The dogs loved climbing the rocks and Bel loved the scenery. 

The next weekend, Justin and I attended the marriage retreat for the couples at our church.  We weren't allowed to bring the baby, so Miranda and Paul came into town to help Patty and Louis babysit.  I felt so much better leaving her in such good hands!  The retreat was awesome.  I learned a lot and felt closer to Justin by the end of it; SUCCESS! :) 

The week before Easter, Arabel and I decided to go see Aunt Traci and Emilia!  We had a fabulous time and got to spend so much time together.  I think we should do that MUCH more often!  I can't describe our time together nearly as well as Traci can, so you can read about it here.  During this week, Arabel turned 7 months old, and ate ALL new foods at Aunt Traci's house.  She's growing so much!

I'm so thankful we got to see so much family during Easter weekend!  Aunts, uncles, cousins, and brothers and sisters are the BEST! :)  Arabel was also introduced to my old club Delta Gamma Rho at Harding University.  She got to meet some of my Harding sisters and their babies!

Arabel's first Easter Sunday went very well!  (Other than having to get up with her like 5 times during the sermon..)

    

Weekend Update

Friday morning our dear friends, Bridget and Brian Eaves arrived at our house.  They drove all night from Charlotte and had to be here for Bridget's grandfather's funeral.  It was a sad reason for the visit, but we are so glad they got to come and spend a little bit of time with us!

Friday night, Whitney Olsen and I went to the local coffee shop, Two Doors Down, to meet up with Courtney Prater and the girls for Karaoke night.  It was such a treat to hear Courtney sing; I knew she could, but I hadn't heard her before!  Whitney and I sang "Strawberry Wine," and yes I know what it's about; I still love that song! :)  It was a blast and we all decided we need to do it more often!

(I am so thankful for my WONDERFUL husband who stayed home with the baby so I could go out! I love him so much!)

Saturday we went out to Mamaw Martin's farm.  It was a hot, beautiful day; perfect for taking pictures in the bluebonnets!  My mom told me that bluebonnets were my Granny's favorite flower; now I think of her every time I see them.
We had a great time visiting with Justin's parents (Grandmom and Granddad) and grandmother (Mamaw Martin).  We sat around, talked, ate fruit salad, and took pictures of the baby in the bluebonnets outside!  Justin worked really hard before we left to paint the little wagon he had as a baby so Bel could use it for the pictures.  He did a great job! :)

We had a great weekend with friends and family! 

playing catch-up

Since I just started writing this blog, I'm going to have to play catch-up!   A lot has happened these past two weeks!  Let me start this post off by saying how much I dearly love our Christian friends!  Those friendships are so important to me (and I know Justin, too); they help me grow daily in my walk with Christ and help make that walk so much easier.  I think that's how God designed it; we were never supposed to face the world alone.  I must say, some of our biggest blessings in this town are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  :)

Saturday, March 19, before we went to the zoo, cousin Chi-Chi (Christi) and Mamaw Martin came over!  Mamaw's shoulders were sore so she didn't get to hold Arabel, but Chi-Chi held her, fed her a bottle, and played with her all morning! :)  I'm so glad they were able to come over and visit.  I love our family! 

Sunday, March 20, was a great day.  Arabel turned 6 months old (I can't believe that time is here already..).  I feel like Turner just turned 6 months old!  Nope.  He's 9.5 months old... CRAZY!  They say time really goes by quickly when you have a child; they aren't kidding.  It was a big day for Bel.  Her Bible school teachers said she was the best she's ever been in class.  YAY! :)  Sunday afternoon we went to the park to take some 6 month pictures.  It was very windy, but Bel was such a good sport and she sat and smiled and laughed until we figured she had enough of the wind in her face.  Just so all you other moms out there know (because I know you're thinking--she had her baby out in the wind???), it was a beautiful, warm, day and the wind wasn't the slightest bit cool.  No worries. 

Sunday night during the last prayer, Bel started acting fussy so I let her chew on my finger and guess what I found...A TOOTH!  :) That's right, my baby girl got her first tooth the day she turned 6 months old!  I think another one is breaking through right next to it, too!  Sunday was a big day for my princess.

Monday was a great day, too! Arabel and I met up with Whitney and Courtney at Chili's.  We had so much fun eating and talking.  It was so nice to be out of the house and with good friends! 
After lunch, Bel got a short nap and then we went to pick up Grandmom (Justin's mom) to take her to the doctors.  It was a super quick appointment so Grandmom treated me to a Happy Hour Sonic drink!  We took the long way back to her house and enjoyed a nice visit. 

So far, it has been a fantastic week! 

Zoo with the Jones Family :)

I forgot to mention on my previous post that we got to see our dear friend Michael when we went to Charlotte.  The crazy thing about that is, he's from Corsicana; he was in Charlotte on business the same time we were!  Michael came over before church and we all hung out a bit (he teased Arabel with pretzels), and we ate at Salsa's after church.  It was a super fun time and a great taste of home away from home.

Friday, March 18, Arabel took her first trip to the zoo!  The Jones family wanted us to tag along on their zoo day and we happily agreed!  Turner and Arabel loved seeing all the animals, but they tuckered out pretty quickly.  Justin and I loved spending time with Ashley and Michael and our kids.  It was a beautiful day; the weather was perfect--though we had to buy sunscreen for the kiddos at the gift shop.  Thankfully no one got burned and we all had a wonderful time!  

love the fishies!

playing with Daddy! :)

Spring Break 2011!

This year for Justin's Spring Break we went to Charlotte, NC to see my parents; Arabel's Mamaw and Papaw.  We had such a wonderful time!  This was Arabel's first time on an airplane, and she did great!  Things couldn't have gone more smoothly.  Sunday night was Arabel's first time to attend Mt. Island Church of Christ and hear Papaw preach!  After church, Mama Polly and Papa Clyde came over for some much needed visiting.  It was so nice to see them!  Polly fed Arabel her first apple (okay, Bel really just sucked on it). 

Throughout the week we were able to visit with Polly and Clyde, Bridget and Brian (though Arabel stayed and home and got much needed sleep), Carrie and Jessie (twice!), Jessie's boyfriend Dave, Ashley and Sean, Megan, and of course Mamaw and Papaw Wheeler!  We were all exhausted, but it was such a wonderful week.

Unfortunately, I forgot my phone in Texas so I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to!  Thankfully my mom sent me the ones she took :)