Let's Go Rangers, Let's Go!

Yep- I am still trying to catch up on our fun Summer adventures. There were so many more than these, but I am touching the highlights so that I can get back to the every day blogging like I REALLY want to do!! I love my girls so much, and every day with them is a treat and a blessing. I just don't want to forget a second of it.
In June, Josh and I decided to take Brenna to a Rangers game. She went last year on a "daddy/daughter" date with Josh, and his friend Sean and daughter Makyla. She LOVED it and kept begging to go back. We decided that it would be WAY more fun to take a friend with her, so she chose to invite Tia (because in her mind, Tia should do EVERYTHING with us and we are OK with that!!).
After dropping Macie off to spend the evening with MeMawMom, Brenna, Tia, and I headed to Ft Worth to pick up Josh at the fire station (as he was still working 8-5 shifts). And what would a trip to a fire station be with a little photo op??

Complete with brand new shades. :)

The girls had a blast giggling in the back seat on the way to the ballpark. I am pretty sure most of their conversations revolved around what foods we were going to eat!
When we got there, our seats were still in the sun a bit, so we walked around until it cooled off (and I use the term cooled off very loosely because let's face it...it was Texas in June!!). While on our walk, we ran into some of the Rangers girls and they gave Brenna and Tia free hats! Pretty sure I was more impressed than the girls though! ha!
Before the game started, we got hot dogs and juice boxes to eat for dinner, then the topic quickly changed to SNACKS! Who knew that two 4 year olds could eat SOOO much??!! I had packed some snacks in anticipation of them loosing interest in the game (which happened about 30 seconds after the first pitch!). They munched on those, until we got peanuts. Those girls are some Peanut eating fools!!! I had no idea that 4 year olds could pack away the peanuts like that! But they were having a blast, and I figured we cold deal with the tummy aches later! (sorry Nikki!) ;)

Check out the mouth FULL of peanuts!

SERIOUS peanut concentration going on here!

I love these two little girls almost as much as they love each other!

After snacks got boring, we resorted to some Leap Frog games, Magnidoodle, and IPhones!

We even had a really nice lady in front of us that offered to take our picture! And apparently I thought she was too close and wasn't going to get us all in the picture, so I leaned WAAAAAYYYY over so that I didn't get cut off.....wonder if she realized what I was trying to do, or just thought I was a freak who liked to lay down to have my picture made? Either way, she should have informed me that I would still be in the picture if I sat up like a normal human...oh well.


 The girls got a little restless after a while, so we decided to head to the car. It was a fireworks show, and both girls insisted that they wanted to watch the show, so we decided to head to the car and watch it from there since we were going to have to walk 1/2 way around the field anyway to see it. The girls were just as happy to watch from the parking lot, and I think the look on their faces says it all!

It was a GREAT night, and we had a blast! It wasn't about watching a baseball game (because there wasn't much of that going on at all!), it was about having fun and making memories! And I am positive that these two had a blast, because they were sound asleep about 10 minutes after we got in the car....aaaahhhhh peaceful ride home. :)

SLUMBER PARTY!

Over the summer Brenna had her first "slumber party" at her house. Her first away from home slumber party was with Blain and Kallie over the Christmas break last year, but this was the first one at her house. She was really missing her BFF Tia, and had been begging for months to have Tia come over for a slumber party. I had been wanting to do it, but just hadn't found the energy time to pull it off. I finally decided in July that we needed to get it done!! So we talked to Nikki and got everything planned. Brenna bounced off the walls for two days and planned every detail of what she and Tia would do during their sleepover. By the time that the actual day got there, I could barely contain her! I have to admit, I was a little excited too!! We planned lots of fun things to keep us busy.
As soon as Tia got there, Brenna was ready for our first activity-painting picture frames!


After they finished their artwork, Nina brought us some pizza! Neither girl was really interested in eating at that point, but I did manage to talk them into eating about a 1/2 slice each before they were off to Brenna's room to play some more. I was VERY glad Nina was willing to bring us pizza, because I knew there was absolutely no way I would be venturing out of the house with THREE kiddos all by myself!
After a little more play time, MeMawMom came over to make homemade ice cream with us! The girls LOVED it! They were very helpful in the ice-adding department. Waiting on the ice cream to freeze did prove to be a bit of a bit of a challenge, but with a few distractions and some dress up clothes, we managed to wait it out.

FINALLY! We get to EAT it!!

After Ice Cream, we put Macie to bed and changed into our jommies. The girls played in Brenna's room and did a little more painting. Then when we decided it was about bed time, we made some popcorn and a very comfy pallet in Brenna's bedroom floor and got ready to enjoy "Free Willy". The girls had never seen it before, so I was very excited to watch it with them. I was instructed to sleep in Brenna's bed while they slept on their pallet.

This is the QUEEN of all pallets! There are like 6 quilts under them.
*Notice Shamu laying between them. Brenna said he wanted to watch Free Willy too because it was his favorite movie.

They lasted about 45 minutes watching the movie and then they were done and ready for some Dora. Then they lasted about another 15 minutes before they were done with the pallet. I didn't think they would ever make it with both of them in Brenna's bed, so I sent them into my bed to watch cartoons. I think Brenna lasted about 5 minutes before she fell asleep (because at this time it was about 11:30!!). So Tia came to the living room and got me and told me she needed me to come lay down with her. So I did, and within 30 seconds, she was snoring. I realized quickly that the 3 of us would never be able to sleep in the same bed, so I opted for the couch! When I went back in to check on them about 20 minutes later, this is what I found...

Sweet Girls!

We had a BLAST at our slumber party. Pretty sure we were all worn out the next day, but it was totally worth it. Brenna is still talking about it. I LOVE making memories with my girls.

Happy 1st Birthday Macie Claire!

Our sweet birthday girl

On Wednesday, May 11 our sweet Macie Claire turned 1 year old. It was a bittersweet day for this Mama! She is such a blessing in our lives. We love her more than we ever thought possible. Before having "baby #2", I wondered how on earth another person would fit into our family. Then Macie Claire entered our lives. She filled a hole in our hearts that we didn't even know was there! She made our family complete.
We got her up that morning and sang Happy Birthday to her numerous times. Each time she just looked at us and grinned like we had lost our minds! She got all dressed up for her day, and headed to Mrs. Nikki's with her cookies we made the night before to share with her friends for her big day.


"1"

Throughout the day, I got text messages and pictures from Mrs. Nikki telling and showing me how much fun my baby girl was having on her birthday. Mrs. Nikki made her feel like a princess with a crown to wear while she enjoyed her cookie. :)



Before I picked her up that afternoon, I went to Wal Mart and got her two new toys so that Brenna and I could give her a present to open that afternoon. (Daddy had to work.) I knew Macie wouldn't really know if she got a present ON her birthday or not, but Brenna would. And I was right, Brenna was SUPER excited to give her sister a present on her birthday.

Macie was more interested in the tissue paper than the gift!

After we opened her present, we took Brenna to church for her Wednesday night class, and Macie and I headed to Pulidos to eat dinner with MeMawMom. Aunt Emily called us right after we got there and wanted to see the birthday girl, so she and Wyatt came and met up with us. Then Graddy called and said he was off of work and was headed our way! It was an impromptu party! I even left and went to get Brenna and bring her back to join us! Aunt Emily couldn't wait to give Miss M her present, so she brought it in with her. Macie loved the snacks and books in it! (and Mommy loved all the new clothes!) Sadly, I got ZERO pictures of her birthday dinner. :( But we did have a good time!

BIRTHDAY PARTY!

We had Macie's birthday party on Saturday, May 14 from 4-6 at the church. We LOVE having parties at our church because there is enough room for everyone to be comfortable, it is easy, and the kids have the bounce house to play on! Since Macie was still a bit young to really enjoy the bounce house, we brought two of her little coupe cars and Brenna's tricycle to play on. The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves!
Her friends at her party included: Brenna, Blain, Kallie, Wyatt, Tia, Hartliegh, Ainslea, Baby Paul V, Kyson, Hanna and her friend Kathleen. And yes, I know that the majority of the kiddos on this list are technically Brenna's friends, but, hey- how many friends does a 1 year old really have??!! :) It was for sure a list of  people who love Macie Claire!

The CAKE! A friend designed it to match her birthday theme- "Birthday Princess"

Her own personal cake to play in and eat!

Water bottles with personalized labels! I LOVE Etsy!

With Brenna's first birthday, I had no trouble at all coming up with a theme. It HAD to be Barney. She was totally in love with Barney, and got excited every time she saw something with his picture on it. Macie's theme, on the other hand, proved to be a bit more of a challenge. She doesn't care much for TV, and doesn't really gravitate toward one type of toy or character over another. I didn't want to pick a character theme that she didn't recognize, so we went with "1st Birthday Princess". I thought that was very fitting for our little princess!!

Catrena made her shirt and matching pants. I LOVED them!!

Daddy and I got her a "ball pit" to play in, and Brenna and Memaw decided to test it out! The pool was a little big for the amount of balls we bought, so we went back and got a smaller pool the next day. This toy has proven to be a favorite at our house!!!

While the big kids played in the bounce house, Macie and Wyatt took a ride in the Coupe. Macie enjoyed it WAY more than her cousin Wyatt! :)

We eventually kicked all the big kids out of the bounce house so that the birthday girl and Miss Ainslea could have a turn.

After all the playing, it was time for some presents. I thought Macie would enjoy unwrapping the presents, but she could have cared less. One toy and she was good to go. She helped with some of the tissue paper, but for the most part, Brenna and I opened her presents. She just sat in my lap and looked around.

Macie's audience

I love the fact that my girls still have their great-grandmothers around to love on them. Nana, Nina, and Mimi are an important part of our lives and I hope that my girls realize how lucky they are to have these wonderful women to love them!

4 generations

After the presents had been opened, it was time for the main event....The 1st Birthday Cake! I had put a lot of thought into how we were going to be able to do Macie's birthday cake at the church. I knew she wouldn't just sit in a chair or on the floor to eat it, and I didn't want to haul her high chair up there and then try to clean it up to haul it back. I finally came up with the idea to put her in her bumbo with the tray on it, and it worked out great! She was really too big for the bumbo and could climb out of it but I knew we would be standing right with her, and with chocolate cake in front of her, I knew she would NOT want to climb out! It ended up working out perfectly!

"Why is everyone singing to me?"

YUMMY!

She would take one bite, then crumble some of it on the table, then repeat.



"Hey- Wait a minute! I am NOT done with that!!!"



After the party was over, we all headed over to Pops and Memaw's house to celebrate Mother's day. Brenna enjoyed playing with Hanna and Kathleen. Macie was so worn out from her party that she spent a lot of time doing this.......

It was a great day. We enjoyed celebrating our second gift from God with all of our family and friends. We appreciate everyone who came and helped us celebrate! I still can't believe my baby girl is a year old, but I am sure that is a statement I will be making each year for many many more years to come. Time goes by so fast, but we are doing everything we can to enjoy each and every stage of her life. We love you Macie Claire Bear!!

I am BACK!

Wow- long time, no blog! But, I AM BACK! Life got a little crazy after Macie's 1st birthday, and I absolutely refused to do a blog post until I blogged about our precious baby girl's birthday. I kept putting it off because it was way more fun to spend time with my girls than to blog. But I don't want to ever forget the wonderful memories we have made over the last 5 months! (seriously?? 5 MONTHS?? Holy cow) But I am ready to get back on the "blog wagon"! So hang on, because I am the proud Mama of these two precious angels, and I have lots of new adventures to share!!!

Happy Easter-2011

What a great Easter we had! Brenna really started to understand the meaning of Easter, and Macie was old enough to actually enjoy her first Easter.

The Easter season kicked off with our Giggle Snaps Easter picture session. I first did this with Brenna for her second Easter. It was so much fun, and the pictures were so cute!

Besides the one incident with her holding a poor innocent chick by it's neck, the session went well. She smiled, laughed, and looked AT the camera. Man..I had no clue how easy it was with only one child. Photo sessions are no longer that easy, nor are they fun. I love having the pictures for keep-sakes, but it stresses me out and makes me want to hang both of my children by their toes! Getting two kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time is pretty close to impossible. However, I have to admit that Tiffany does a great job, and despite the unwillingness of my children to cooperate, she manages to get some good pictures!

Giggle Snaps Easter session 2011:

Macie wanted NOTHING to do with the animals. It is a miracle we got her to sit next to this one for so long.

That plastic yellow egg sure did help!

And just to ensure that I was completely insane, we decided to add a third kiddo to the mix. Emily and I decided that it would be SO cute to have a picture of all three kiddos. And I still hold to the thought that it would be SO cute! It was also SO stressful. We could have won a prize on America's Funniest Home Videos if someone had videoed me, Emily, MeMawMom, and Memaw all making goofy faces, singing, yelling,jumping up and down and making very strange noises just to try and get three uninterested children to look at the camera and smile. But yet again, Tiffany did her magic, and we managed to get a decent picture of the three kiddos together! I know that they are all capable of bigger and much cuter smiles, but we did what we could with what we had to work with. And I think it turned out pretty cute! The basket that the babies are in is the same basket Brenna sat in during her first Easter photo shoot. :)

I love these three with all my heart! My prayer is that they grow up to be the best of friends and remain very close.

Quail Springs Ranch Egg Hunt

Quail Springs Ranch is where our new land is and where our new house will be (hopefully in the near future). They have a super neat HOA, and set up a egg hunt for all of the kiddos in QSR on Saturday. Josh and I got an email about it and decided that it would be a great way to meet people, so we took the girls.

It was wonderful. We had a great time, and met some super nice people. They had it at one of the home of one of our future neighbors, and they had three age group areas set up and had a "prize" egg for each kid. Brenna had fun running around and playing on the swings, and really enjoyed the hunt. Macie was very content with one egg-that was all she needed!

Helping her sister! Sweet moments do happen...rarely, but they DO happen!

Go Brenna Go!

She found one egg, then sat down and opened it and proceeded to try to eat the chocolate candy inside...wrapper and all!

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Brenna and Daddy checking out the goodies!

After the hunt, they told each kid that if they had found a "prize egg" they could go and pick a toy from the prize table. And since they ensured that each kid got a prize egg, they all got to pick a prize! It was such a neat set up! Brenna is currently obsessed with the movie Tangled, so she picked a little plastic blow dryer/hair accessory set. Macie got a white bunny.

This was the best we could do for a picture of the two of them. They were tired and just wanted to go run around and play. Sitting for a picture was not high on the priority list. :)

Saturday Night Family Dinner

We had originally planned to get together with the Jackson clan to celebrate Easter on Saturday night, but the week was filled with many wild fires at PK, so Jeff was still there helping out. We decided to postpone until we could all be together.

Since that was canceled, Josh and I decided to have our parents and Joey and Emily over to let the kids hunt eggs and enjoy some family time and dinner. Luckily, we talked Nana and Papa into joining us too! We had to rush the egg hunt because of some pretty big storms that appeared to be heading our way. They never hit at our house, but they sure looked bad on the radar. :( We enjoyed the hunt anyway, and enjoyed seeing Brenna, Macie, and Wyatt all together with their Easter baskets! Brenna was super excited to hunt eggs again. Macie was excited to chew on her basket handle. And Wyatt....well...he was just trying to figure the whole thing out!

Macie needed both of her hands free to help with her balance, so she decided her best approach was to hold the basket in her mouth! Such a resourceful little thing!

She just wanted to hold the egg. She must have heard that it is never a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. Smart girl.

Brenna didn't have much competition at this hunt, but she had fun anyway!

Wyatt: So Macie, have you heard about this bunny that is supposed to come to our houses tonight while we sleep and leave presents? I have to admit, it kind of freaks me out. Think I might just stay up all night to make sure he doesn't try to sneak into my room or anything tricky.
Macie: Maybe he will bring me some SNACKS!! I LOVE snacks!

Teething much?

Once again, getting 3 kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time...not happening. Not sure why we even try. We were just happy we had 3 kids IN one picture, and none of them were crying! :)

Easter Sunday
I can't believe we made it to church on Easter Sunday with absolutely no pictures of all 4 of us. We didn't even manage to get one of just the girls. :( But we know how cute they looked in their Easter dresses because of the adorable Giggle Snaps pictures, so I am not too upset that we didnt' manage to get one on Easter.
Brenna was so excited about the Easter Bunny, that she was up at 6:30 am. I managed to hold her off until 7, but after that, the anticipation was about to kill her. So we let her go check out her goodies, even though Macie was still sound asleep.



Getting her first look at her loot!

Both girls got matching PJ's and Gerber snacks! Yep, Gerber snacks. Brenna LOVES them, and I have to work overtime to keep her out of Macie's Gerber puffs! So the Easter Bunny brought her her own!
Macie got a refrigerator magnet set with the alphabet letters.
Brenna got a Rapunzel Barbie, and she was sooo happy!

Showing off her Rapunzel Barbie.

Silly girl!

As well as not getting any family pictures of us on Easter morning, I also failed to get a picture of Macie checking out her Easter basket. Bad Bad Mom! But she did LOVE it! She loves refrigerator magnets, and the set she got sings songs for each letter. She can clear all 26 letters of the alphabet off of the refrigerator in seconds, and she giggles the whole time!

After church, we went to MeMawMom and Graddy's for burgers. And what would a trip to a grandparent's house on Easter be without another egg hunt?? Macie decided to sit this one out. She was getting tired and hungry, and when you are 11 months old, that is not a good combination.

There is really no need to rush around or get in any kind of hurry when you are the only one hunting eggs.

She colored them herself, but still had to admire the beautiful artwork on each one as she picked it up!

CHEEEEEEESE!

After lunch, we took Brenna over to the Farmer's to do one last egg hunt. Macie was napping, so we let her stay with MeMawMom. Hunting at the Farmer's was way more fun because there were lots of other kiddos there, and lots of room to hunt. Brenna actually had to exert a little energy for this hunt, because she had competition! :)

Run Brenna!

Aunt Kristi shows Brenna where more eggs are.

This was the only shot I got all afternoon with all 3 kids in it...yep- that's Blain's shoulder in the bottom left!

Overall, it was a great Easter! The girls had a blast, and we enjoyed seeing them have fun. Next year will be even better when Macie is out there running around too!