A Few Firsts.

One the bests parts of parenthood is sharing firsts. From the little firsts to the milestone firsts it is so much fun to share those moments of joy and wonder together. 

A few firsts as of late:

Rhett's first carousel ride.

Ava got her her first professional manicure and pedicure and boy did she love it!

And a first for me too, my first real Camera!
Ryan got it for me and I am loving it!

My favorite snapshot so far with it. 

School's Out!

Ava wrapped up her first year of preschool last week:

Her first day of school pics from the fall.

Last day Photos! 

Card in hand she wanted to make for her best school buddy.
Best school buddy randomly also made her a card that she brought this last day.
Moms had nothing to do with it on either side. 

Ava and her beloved teacher.

Ava was pretty sad about it being the last day. One day she will look forward to the last day of school but this year she was a bit heavy hearted for the summer goodbye. My inward girl thrived in this space that was all her own apart from us. It was a great year but pretty glad I get to have her back each day for summer! 

H-Town

There are just too many people I love in the Houston area! We made another trip down to visit the Lahmeyers and to meet my newest little niece this weekend. We plan to be back again later in the summer to visit my nephew after he arrives and spend more time with my family, so that will be at least 3 trips this year to H-town. I have tucked away so many fun and dear H-Town memories since my college years and I realize this place is also becoming a treasure trove of a fun childhood memories and experiences for my kids. 

Traveling with young kids can be a toss up. You have on one hand the challenges and difficulties that are inevitable with tiny ones in tow and on the other you have the hope and promise of lots of fun and great memories. You never know ahead of time nor can you control how those will weigh out on the scale of "is it worth it". But I seem to more times than not come back to  yes! - the fun and memories are worth the challenges almost every time. And somehow along the way the challenges also become woven into the fabric of the memory and either way I smile thinking about all of it together. So a few highlights of this round of H-Town:

The trip started off on a rocky note with crazy traffic jams, adding close to 2.5 hours to our drive time! 

We had one of our epic late night talks once we got in and stayed up till 3:30. I love that even knowing our kids would be up at usual time we just enjoy those moments none-the-less.

We only did slightly better the other night on our bed times - one of the hallmarks of our Lahmeyer visits, we get the kids to be and we enjoy late night talks, movies and usually some ice cream in there too! 

Poor Rhett, he has never been more clingy or miserable then he was for the first part of the trip.  I think he is teething and had a fever to go along with it. Poor guy was attached to my hip during most of his waking hours this weekend and was not his usual exploring, happy self. 

We hit up Lupe's for the best fajitas in the world for lunch on Saturday then back to the house for naps all around. 

Saturday night we enjoyed hanging outside of the Lady A concert in the Woodlands and listened to great live music spilling out the amphitheater from the comfort of our picnic blankets. The kids had a blast running, dancing and even Rhett was a happy camper for the fun. 

Sunday I drove over to see my newest little niece, Emilia when we all had lunch at my brothers on Sunday. I really wanted to make lunch and dessert for everyone as I wished I was closer to bring my sister a meal since Emilia's birth or my sister-in-law who was just placed on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. So I embraced my spirit of adventure and strapped Rhett on in the carrier and put Ava in the basket and went to the grocery store and picked up what we needed and made lunch and dessert for everyone. 

Sunday night we ate a Fudruckers, good burgers and sand for the kids to play in. A win - win. Rhett was pretty miserable or the first bit of dinner but once he found the sand and other fun he settled down. Daicia snapped some pics of the kids:

Matt reading the kids bed time stories:

Bye H-town - till we meet again! 

A birthday letter: What a difference a year makes!

Dear Rhett,

Your first birthday letter! How is that you are already one!? Time to reflect and share with you some of my favorite moments and memories from his very special first year:

You had us guessing for a few weeks about when you would arrive and then just like your older sister you came three days before your due date, sending us to the hospital in the middle of the night. Labor started about 12:30 in the morning and you were in our arms about 6 hours after that at 6:31am. You captured our hearts from that first hello! There are a few things that I enjoy being awake for at 6:31 in the morning but meeting you was one of the best reasons I can think of and it really did overshadow being awake all night! 

\

You were such a calm easy baby from the earliest days. From the moment you arrived you fit so very perfectly into this family in this space that must of been yours all along. Your sister adores you and I can tell you adore her too. You light up when you see her, you often crawl down to her room to find her or to play. Seems she can get you to laugh better than anyone. I know we will have typical sibling conflict and fights as you both grow but right now I love this season of the easy ways you love and interact together. 

*Photo by Courtney Waugh

You have a few regular nicknames around our house, seems we rarely call you by your actual name: 

Rhett-Rhett, Rhetty, Rhetty-Betty, Bub, Bubs, Bub-a-roo. 

You traveled to Arkansas and Texas this year to visit family and Friends. 

You were a pretty good little traveler. 

*Photo by Daicia

*Photo by Daicia

You had so much hair! by now you've had 4 hair cuts. I loved your newborn fuzzy head. I had so many cute hats for you but that head of fuzzy hair was too cute to cover up. It has grown lighter over this year. Your eyes were deep gray for awhile but then they settled into a shade of blue. Your dad was hoping they'd turn brown like him but I was pleasantly surprised when you took after me instead. 

You love water. Bath time is one of your favorite activities and sometimes I have put you in the bath when you are teething or fussy because it works such magic on you. You also love climbing our stairs if anyone forgets and leaves the baby gate open you spot it quickly and crawl as fast as you can to try to get up them. Actually you love climbing anything you can.

We had fun celebrating your first holidays! We went to Orr family farm for the first time during fall and enjoyed it so much think we will make it a yearly tradition. You were the cutest little frog for Halloween and showed off your costume at the fall festival at church. 

You never would consistently take baby food so we just waited it out a bit and now you are eating regular solids while you are still nursing some. Your favorites are avocado, any kind of cheese, pasta, gold fish, bananas - but your favorite of them all has been steamed apples I make for you with a little bit of cinnamon on top. 

Your sister went to preschool 3 days a week this year and I made a change in my work schedule so you and I get to spend some time just the two of us on those days. I loved sharing those quiet mornings together!

While you have been an easy daytime baby you have not slept through the night but a few times this year. On a good night you get up once but sometimes you get up multiple times. You nap pretty good and I am crossing my fingers that all night sleeping isn't far around the corner! 

*Photo by Annaleise

*Photo by Annaleise

So Happy Birthday sweet boy! We can't imagine our lives or our family without you! You have captured my heart in such a special way. Being a mom is a whole new way to fall in love and we have all fallen so head over heals for you. So looking forward to first steps, first words and all the other fun the coming year holds!

Love you! 

Your Mama