On This Mother's Day...

I'm sitting in the glider in my sweet baby boy's room.  He's not here yet, but he will be soon.  I'm reflecting on how thankful I am that on Mother's Day next year, I'll be a Mommy and how thankful I am for my own mother.

My mom has always loved me so well, but I have felt it more in the last two and a half weeks.  I've been on bed rest (more about that later), which means all the things that I normally do, plus all the things I need to accomplish before mAc's arrival, I can no longer do.  So, my mom has done so many of those things for me.  It's all the little things - she's done the laundry numerous times, she cleaned my floors, she washed my dishes.  Those are the tedious things - the things I don't really like to do, but they keep my house running, so I do them.

Then, there are the things she's  done for mAc, the grandson she hasn't met yet, but she loves him so much already.  She's done his laundry too - and the boy has a lot of clothes!  She has helped organize, put together, and decorate.  His room feels like a nursery because she has done so much to help.  She has made so many trips to the store to buy things that are must haves before mAc arrives - like diapers!

So, Mommy, thank you.  Thank you for loving me through all 27 (almost 28!) years of my life.  Thank you for loving Aaron like he is your own - your help around our house has helped him in so many ways!  Thank you for loving mAc - you are the best, Chela!

more excited than anyone else that mAc is a boy

A Shower for Micah

My sweet friend and her mom graciously opened their home and gave a shower in honor of me and Micah.  Allison and I have been friends for 15 years, and her mom is like another mom for me.  I was so thankful to have friends celebrate Micah, and it is wonderful to know he is already so well loved.  Now, we wait for him to arrive!  Here are a few pictures from the shower.

Such wonderful touches

Sweet friends - I am so thankful for their friendship

Brenda and Allison

Micah will love his grandmothers so much!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

As I mentioned, Claire turned one last week.  On Sunday, an ice cream/swim party was held to celebrate!  We had such a good time, and I can't wait for more birthday parties for that little Chick!  I made her a super cute ice cream cone headband.  I can't really take credit for it.  My sister found it on Pinterest, and I copied to the best of my ability!  Here are some pictures of the headband and the party!

I started with rosettes made from crepe paper.

The cone is real.  I hot glued curling ribbon inside.

Sugar pearls hot glued to make the cone pretty.

The finished product!

Chick in the swimming pool!

Unsure about the candle.  That headband looks too cute.

This little one likes cake.

It was hot.  The pool was great.

Happy Birthday, Chick!

Claire is ONE!!! Today was her first birthday, and what a joy it has been to be an aunt for the past year.  Aaron and I went to my sister and BIL's house this evening to have cake and open presents.  Claire was a little unsure of the cake, but enjoyed it once she tasted it!  She had a great time opening some gifts.  She got a few wonderful gifts that I think she's going to love.  Happy Birthday, Chick!  Uncle Aaron and I love you so much.  We are so thankful that God blessed your mommy and daddy, and the rest of us, with you!  I can't wait to celebrate so many more birthdays with you!

TWO

Aaron and I have been married for TWO years today!  What a wonderful two years it has been!  We have experienced so many joys, and a few disappointments in the last two years.

We had plans to go to the Ranger game tonight, but Aaron got sick, so we stayed in.  My parents got to enjoy the game instead!  Aaron and I had Chipotle at home, and he's been off and on asleep under three blankets.  He said he would like it if we turned off the fans and air conditioner and turned on the heater.  As an anniversary gift, I turned off the fan.

The best and most fun thing we've experienced since our first anniversary is becoming an aunt and uncle.  Our sweet niece was born almost one year ago, and it has been a joy to play with her and spoil her rotten!

The most frustrating thing we've experienced is fixing our foundation.  Our foundation shifted quite a bit last summer.  It got so bad that Aaron and I were unable to turn the key in our front door.  We just sent people to the back.  Having to repair your foundation is not a fun expense at all!!

God has blessed me beyond belief in choosing Aaron for me.  I am so thankful that I get to spend my life with him.  Daily, I look forward to the life that God has in store for us.  I know that it will be filled with love and joy, and that even with any difficulties along the way, there is no one else I would want to experience life with.  I can't wait for that is in store for us in year three!

A Fiesta!

As I've said before, Monica and Matt are getting married in October.  I can't wait for their big day to get here.  In the meantime, showers have started, which is so much fun!  We kicked off the showers in a big way - with a Couples Shower Fiesta!

The decorations were great, and the food was better!  Monica and Matt received some really wonderful gifts, which they will love using once they're married!  We loved having everyone over to celebrate Monica and Matt.

Adelina took more pictures on her camera, but here are a few from the night!

Monica and Matt are getting married!

My little sister, Monica, and her fiance Matt are getting married in October.  I've mentioned this very briefly in a past post, but the time has come to write just about them!  This engagement has been a long time coming, and our family was overjoyed when Monica and Matt finally got engaged.  They met in Lubbock about 4 and a half years ago when they were both working at Cricket's.  Matt had just moved to Lubbock from Nashville, and Monica was at Tech.  Their relationship has been so fun to see grow and change over the last 4 years, but even more so over the last year and a half since they've been back in Dallas.  They got engaged at the end of August, and the planning has begun!  I absolutely can't wait for October to get here so we can celebrate them in such a big way!

Monica has 6 bridesmaids, including Adelina and me.  We are her Matrons of Honor, and it is so fun to be a MOH!  This past October, Monica had this wonderful plan for asking Adelina and me to stand by her on her wedding day.  However, things didn't go according to plan.  We were on our way to San Antonio, and Monica's plan was to ask us in the car as we drove along a stretch of 35 that is almost to the exit we always took to get to my grandparents' house.  We would always start chanting, "We're almost there!" as we saw a chain link fence that let us know that we wouldn't be in the car much longer.  Monica was going to start this chant as we got closer to San Antonio, and naturally, Adelina and I would join in.  Then, she was going to ask us to be her Matrons of Honor.  It was such a good plan!  About half way to San Antonio, Monica found out that we were going to be exiting before we got to San Antonio so we could stop by my cousin's house.  So, Monica thought that she would start her chant when we exited.  Adelina and I did a great job of ruining her plan by being crabby and telling her that we weren't almost there.  So,  Monica let us know her plan and asked us to be her MOHs in the car on a random street.  We are so sorry we ruined your plan, but we can't wait to stand by you!

Yesterday, Monica's 4 other bridesmaids gave a wonderful engagement party for Monica and Matt.  We had a great time, starting all the fun celebrations to come in the next few months!  Matt has 2 nephews, Rustin and Travis, that he is very close with.  They live in Lubbock, and they came to Dallas this weekend to celebrate!  I'm so glad they were able to be here!  We had delicious food and desserts, and the wine was great too!  It was such a blessing to be with so many people that love Monica and Matt and can't wait to celebrate them!  I've included some pictures from the night.  Thank you Mary, Sarah, Megan, and Heather for hosting such an awesome party!  Thank you, Bobers, for opening your home to us!

Monica and Matt

Sarah, Heather, Monica, Mary, and Megan

Matt, Rustin, and Travis

Rustin and his girlfriend, Dani

Happy Birthday, Sharon!

After our Christmas festivities, we celebrated Sharon's birthday! Sharon's birthday is December 25, and her birthday is always celebrated in the evening.

I'm very thankful for Sharon and the wonderful mother and mother-in-law that she is. She is a wonderful example of a wife, loving Sammy so well. She is a caring, giving person. She always puts others first and is very selfless. Sharon shows her love by giving to others and doing for others. She is one of the most generous people that I know. I am so thankful for her and all that she does for Aaron and me. Happy birthday, Sharon! I hope this day was filled with joy for you!

Christmas Cheer

Christmas is hands down my favorite time of the year.  We have gotten to celebrate with friends and family, and Christmas hasn't even arrived yet!

On Wednesday, Aaron and I had plans to look at lights from the comfort of a limo with our sweet friends Courtney and Marc, Andrea and Chris, and Stacey and Jay.  However, Baby Dane couldn't wait to make his appearance in the world.  Courtney came to work on Tuesday morning, but left not long after to head to the hospital.  Instead of a limo and lights, we headed to the hospital on Wednesday to meet sweet Dane and take dinner to Courtney and Marc.  Dane is a sweet, precious baby, and I loved every minute of getting to meet him and hold him.  He's a little thing, and I love him!  It was definitely better than looking at lights!

On Thursday, the Everitt/BitsyBug/LPR Christmas Party was at the Bowlin's house.  Stephanie's brother, Sean, cooked for us.  Dinner was delicious!  Sean is a chef at Fearing's at the Ritz-Carlton.  He can cook!  One of the best parts of the Everitt Christmas Party is always the Secret Santa exchange.  Everyone is required to wrap the gift they are giving so that the recipient is very obvious.  It's always pretty funny, and I like to see how the person who gave to Aaron wraps his gift.  This year, Aaron's gift was wrapped in red paper with Buddy Holly glasses on it.  The glasses had tape around them.  It was too funny for two reasons.  Aaron is a little bit of a nerd, and before he got new glasses, he held his together with tape.

Yesterday Aaron and I celebrated Christmas with my mom, dad, Monica, Matt, Adelina, Reed, and Claire.  We always go to San Antonio to spend Christmas with my mom's family.  A few years ago we realized that it was better to open gifts together here instead of taking them all to San Antonio with us.  We ate tamales and opened our gifts.  I love spending this time with my family.

Merry Christmas, Sweet Claire!

 

Monica, Adelina, and I are in charge of desserts for Christmas Eve, so we'll be baking on Thursday.  This is our second year to make the desserts.  We'll be baking several different desserts, but no sugar cookies.  We burned them last year, and by the time they were ready to be decorated, we were ready to be done!  Aaron and I will be going to San Antonio on Christmas Eve, and we'll fly back to Dallas Christmas Day to spend the day with Aaron's family and celebrate Sharon's birthday!