My favorites...

These could possibly be my favorite beach pictures ever. 

Collier has been determined to do what he wants this week, and Landry is just as sassy as ever. 

Happy Friday!

Beach fun!

There isn't much to say in this post except that we are having a wonderful time! The weather could not be better, and the kids are soaking up the sun! Enjoy these somewhat random pictures from our first few days. Like always, more to come! 

Me with my girl....love being her mommy! 

We got an updated family picture! I love the silly personalities coming out. :)

My mom and Aunt Linda

Aunt Linda LOVES her great nieces and nephews! 

My precious husband and a REAL (not forced) smile! He is relaxing!! :)

And lots of beach time...

I'm crazy about documenting these sweet memories with my kids. I really am enjoying the trip...I take a few pictures and then put the camera down and play...promise! 

My Grandparents...

We are so fortunate that Micah and I have had all of our grandparents around until the past few years. At our wedding, we had all 8 grandparents there! We have lost Micah's PawPaw and my Mamaw since, but it is so special to be able to talk to our kids about their great-grandparents and tell them important traits about who they are...things that will shape their lives! We are so, so blessed to be able to spend time with my grandparents this week. 

Grandma and Grandpa took our family to Destin with my cousins every year that I can remember growing up. We have pictures on the beach with broken arms, diapers, eye patches and more...not much stopped us. :) 

3 years ago, my grandfather decided that he wanted to start the trip back up. He wanted to be able to see his 4 great-grandbabies enjoying the sand and water just like his grandchildren got to. We've been to the beach the last 3 years and have enjoyed every trip! Even though Grandpa can't make it down to the sand with his walker, he sits out on the patio and enjoys watching the kids playing. He is so happy to see them happy. 

Grandma and Grandpa (or G.G. and Pepaw as the kids call them) will be married 61 years this year. They are a testimony to what good people are, and we are blessed to get to share this time with them. 

 On top of all of that good stuff, Landry and Pepaw have a special bond. Some might even agree with me that she is his favorite great-grandchild. :) Tonight around bedtime, I was trying to find Landry. We found her in Pepaw's room "making donuts" in bed. They were describing how they tasted and what they were decorated with and "feeding" pretend donuts to each other. It was precious. 

It seriously makes my heart smile to see these two together! This week is so special...can't wait to share more with you! 

A Time to Relax...

We are away for a time of  relaxation, and that is exactly what we're doing....

 Tons and tons and tons of pictures to come! 

Parke's Beads...

Today would have been Parke's 4 month birthday. I've told several friends lately that this is an interesting milestone for us. I remember when Landry turned 4 months old and Micah commented that she came to life all the sudden. She was smiling, she was acknowledging that she knew if we were there or not, she started showing preferences to different things. We looked forward to this milestone with Collier knowing that the "newborn" days were short lived and soon we would have a baby that would be fun to interact with in ways besides feeding and snuggling. It was a fun transition for us from newborn to baby. 

That would have been today. Parke would have been changing, developing, learning new things. I've struggled with seeing some babies lately and wishing I had him back. I've broken down at the most random times...I can feel it coming on, and can sometimes excuse myself before I make a spectacle of myself boo-hooing over a strangers baby at Target. :) 

Tough times, but God is so merciful. He gives me so many bright spots in my day with sweet memories of Parke. Landry says the most precious things about her brother in heaven, unprovoked. She talks about him all the time, and even said "Something is missing! Oh, it's Baby Parke." the other day. 

We have such precious memories of him, and try to find neat ways to honor him as a part of our family. Here's something we finished about a month ago...

When Parke was at Arkansas Children's Hospital, he was accepted into a program called Beads of Courage. You an read about the program here, but basically they provide beautiful beads for different milestones for critically ill children. While kids are in the hospital, they get different beads for each night they stay, each IV poke, each x-ray, etc. They beads help tell the child's story, and they have them on lanyards that the older kids wear. We saw some kids with 10+lanyards full of beads! 

Since Parke was only there a few days, he had just the right amount of beads for us to put together some sweet keepsakes. 

I knew I wanted Landry to have something special to remember Parke, so I picked 3 beads to make her a necklace. The middle is a blue heart (showing P was a heart patient) and two glow-in-the-dark beads (for x-rays and or echo-cardiograms). After that, I knew I wanted to have a bracelet made for myself. I took the leftover beads into a local shop planning to add some things to it to make it a complete bracelet. Once the sweet owner put it together, it fit perfectly without any additions! I am thrilled with the way it turned out, and I have worn it every day since I got it back. My favorite bead is the big pink heart....it was the "parent bead" given to me at the hospital. All the beads are hand painted and unique. I just love this sweet reminder of our boy! Landry doesn't like to wear her necklace much yet, but she likes to show people and tell them it was from Baby Parke for her birthday. :)

Happy 4 month birthday Baby Parke. Give Jesus a big grin for us! 

Collier's New Friend

This is a happy and a sad blog post. First, I have to admit that my baby boy has no friends. Second, this was Collier's first official play date. All of our play dates seem to be with Landry's friends or older kids who don't want to play with the "baby." :) 

The happy part is, that Collier has a new buddy! And...he got to have a play date that was all about him and had a good time with his friend. Landry was not thrilled about that, and she had some funny things to say before Braxton came over...

She said, 

"Collier, he really wants to play with me. We are going to do girly things, and I will dress him up like a king!"

After I explained to her that they were going to play together and probably not dress up...

"Yeah. They are going to do boy things and probably say, "Hey! Where's my basketball?"" 

And, she was kind of right! 

They took a little while to warm up to each other, but they did end up playing basketball. 

Then we played upstairs and ignored each other for a while...

And, we finally got some hugs in before nap time. 

The boys are a month apart and will be two in August and September. It was so fun to watch Collier play with someone his own age, and it was absolutely adorable that we accidentally dressed them like twinkies. :)

So fun! 

Now, I don't have to worry that my kid is the one with no friends. Ha!

Meet "Dainty"

We have been crazy and traveling. I had the best of intentions to blog every day while Micah and I were out of town because I had a lot of down time while he was working. Well, I hauled our laptop down to Dallas and then realized that I hadn't uploaded any pictures before we left. So, I didn't turn it on once, and didn't get bored for one second. :) I enjoyed the mindless break. 

This was one of the posts I had planned on doing, and I have been meaning to do this for 6 months! So, here it is...documentation of Collier's must-have item. 

"Dainty" is Collier's green snuggle blankie.

Dainty was a baby gift from a sweet friend, and one of many snuggle blankets Collier had as a baby. Around 5 or 6 months, he really started showing that he liked this one the best, and it has been through a lot since then! He calls it "dainty" just because that is how blankie comes out. It's cute, and that is the name that stuck. When he can't find it, he will whine and say, "Dainty dow? Dainty dow!?" (aka: Blankie go?)

Dainty then.... 

Dainty now...

These pictures were taken straight from the dryer. This thing just stays looking nasty! 

Collier decided that chewing on the tag was his source of comfort, and this thing has been CHEWED. I tried buying a replacement, but he knows the difference and only wants the old one. 

13 months....

19 months...

21 months...

Do you think he'll take this thing to college? :) 

I love my sweet boy...and his dainty. We thought that we lost the blankie (for real) one day, and I almost started crying. This will be one of those baby items that I keep forever! 

Do your kids have snuggle items? Do they have one favorite? Landry will pretty much sleep without anything, but getting Collier to sleep without his blankie is a chore!