Summer fun

I love that smile. Emily loves swimming. She really has no fear when it comes to swim-time. We have had lots of fun the past few weeks getting used to the pool. It is also a nice way to cool off too during these hot days. We have been staying busy and doing good. Had a fun last weekend celebrating my dear friend, Caroline's, beautiful wedding in Dallas. Jeffery and I enjoyed some time alone away from home and saw so many friends! That will probably be the extent of my summer traveling since I am due in 8 weeks. Crazy. People told me that this second pregnancy would go by faster than the first and it certainly has. I can't believe that we only have a few days of June left then onto July. August will be here before I know it. I am feeling good, just pregnant and beginning to have heartburn with EVERYTHING. Oh well, I just remember how quickly the heartburn left after Emily was born and I trust it will be the same this time. 

I have been reading the Psalms lately and today the truth and power of Psalm 23 has stood out in my mind. A Psalm that many of us know by heart and have heard or prayed so many times, but how comforting to claim it's truth and promise. 

'The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all of the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.' Psalm 23

Hot.

Not complaining, just saying. It is starting out to be a HOTTT summer. Me, this pregnant belly of mine, and Emily will be spending a lot of time at the pool (Thanks Mom :) ) this summer. 

Emily in her swim-gear when we went for a little swim earlier this week. No, she doesn't always swim topless. It is just easier when its just the two of us! 

 Beating the heat is okay with a yummy dessert like this. I tried this 'Blueberry-Peach Crumble' last week per Jeffery's request. The recipe comes from Barefoot Contessa and YUM, it is GOOD. Of course even better with a grande scoop of ice cream on top. 

And just for fun! Kinda creepy to look at, but she apparently wants to look like mommy. 

     *On a more serious, informative note, I had my 28 week prenatal check up today. All is well. I had the Diabetes screen today so my breakfast was the super sweet Glycola Juice drink...delicious...NOT. Hoping that the results come back normal, they did with Emily's pregnancy, so I expect the same. We did not have an ultrasound today but heard Annie's quick and healthy heartbeat. It is now already time for me to start going to the doctor every 2 weeks. Time is flying, it's strange that June is already here. We are getting very excited about meeting Annie. 

Stay hydrated, it is hot. Oh, I already said that didn't I! 

Landscaping...finally

     It has been quite some time since I posted my ideas and visions for some landscaping in our yard. Well, since I know the suspense has been killing you people, I now have something to report. I have two new flower beds, one in front and one in back, new Saint Augustine grass,  lots of cleanup around house and to the existing landscapes, and a big smile that it is all done! My dad and Alvaro are excellent landscapers, whether they knew it or not, and I am so thankful that they helped me out. My dad had some great ideas and he made it happen. Yay!

The front bed, the Azalea bush was the really only viable plant to work with, so it stayed and everything else went. Lots of clean out and a new border was made before planting new plants. 

Before the planting took place. We now have 4 more Azaleas, 5 Hawthorn shrubs, Periwinkles, 2 new Knockout Rose bushes, Monkey grass, and 4 Cleyera shrubs. Its alot, but it was needed and its looking good! 

After planting. Here you can also see the new 'blanket' of Saint Augustine grass in front of the bed. It makes a big difference, a good one. 

This is my backyard herb garden box. Jeffery made this for me for Mother's day. I have Rosemary, Cilantro, Parsley, Basil, and Mint planted. They are growing well. The Rosemary looks a little dinky, but only because I have already used it several times for cooking purposes, so it keeps getting snipped!

The new back flower bed. There was an existing landscape but I did a poor job of maintaining it after we moved to the new house. So, it got a big cleaning and what remained was the two bushes seen and the little Crepe Myrtle that you can see in the far right of the picture. Everything else is new, including the new border and new grass in front. I wanted more flowers in the back so this bed is a little more colorful than in the front. It is also a bit of an experiment to see if the old plants are going to hang on and make it. The roots were weak after all the cleaning, so we shall see. Lots of water for now. There were some Lilies in the existing bed that we hope can be salvaged. They have a lot of growing to do. That is what is right in the middle (barely seen in this pic), but its the tall stems sticking up. Other new plants in the back flower bed are Geraniums, Caladiums, Zinnias, and Gerber Daisies. 

     

     Most of this work took place last week when Jeffery was out of town in North Dakota seeing some customers. He was pleasantly surprised and happy to see the changes around here. And I am pleasantly hopeful that I will keep it looking good! 

Emily gets a haircut!

     Once again, I know I am a little behind on blogging. So here comes a little catch-up. A couple weeks ago, I decided it was in fact time for Emily to have her first haircut. As I look back over pictures from the last several months, it really has grown a lot. She is not too much a fan of clips, bows, or rubber bands. They always end up out and in the car seat or floor board before we get to where we are going. So, she needed a little trim, shape up, to help with all the stray hair that she won't let me clip back! Lea did a good job to give her a nice little cut, not too much off, but enough to make a difference and keep it out of her eyes. Emily was such a big girl during her hair cut. She sat still for the most part. She started out on her own, but ended up in my lap which seemed to work better. She was interested in what Lea was doing and curious to watch her closely. 

     Later that day, sporting her new haircut and her two-piece, Emily went for a little swim. She loves being outside, and she loves water, so she was having a grand time enjoying the sunshine!

Her daddy calls this her body-builder picture. I mean...look at that belly! Cuteness. 

So fun!

What we've been up to.

I guess my blogging just takes temporary hiatuses from time to time. Yes, thats what I have been on. But we are still here, still plugging along. Emily is doing great, she is a busy body and becoming such a big girl. So is mommy, now in my 26th week of pregnancy number 2 and doing great. I feel a lot of movement from little girl which is always exciting. I am becoming increasingly excited about meeting her in just a few very short months. I keep telling myself it will be very short because I know it will be VERY hot! I guess I can announce to whoever is reading this blog that her name will be 'Annie'. We have not decided on a middle name, but we are working on that. So, our girls will be Emily Beth and Annie _______ here pretty soon. How exciting. Jeffery is staying busy and making strides at work. I am always thankful for his hard work and dedication to all he does. He is a good man, really good man. :)

We had a wonderful Easter day celebration with our family and friends. We hosted Easter supper here with Jeffery's family and some of mine too. It was a great day. Emily tried the Easter Egg hunting thing, but I think one more year and she will really have it down. It was fun to help her 'hunt' the 5 or 6 eggs she filled her basket with. The week after Easter, Emily and I went with my dad to Fort Worth for a couple of days to the Pate Swap Meet which takes place at Texas Motor Speedway. We got to stay with Aunt Sissy (Lindsey) and Uncle B, and of course Campbell! Lindsey and I took the girls out to the swap meet for a little bit to walk around and see the sights. It was a hot day and a little difficult for Emily to enjoy since she much rather would have been running around, and mean mommy was keeping her confined to her stroller. While we weren't at the swap meet, my sister and I got to just hang out. It was a nice getaway and great to let the girls play together.

This past weekend was my brother, Allen's, graduation from Baylor University! Yeah! Congratulations Allen! Although, I would have liked to take Emily with us to celebrate, it would have been no fun to chase her around the Ferrell Center during the ceremony, so she stayed home with Gran (Jeffery's mom). I am certain she had a much better time playing and not having to ride in the car for several hours! Allen was excited (of course) to be the graduate and we are so proud of him. I tried my baking skills at making him a 'decorative' cake for his graduation. And with the extreme help of my sister in law, Kristen, who did the BU logo topper, it turned out pretty good! I enjoyed making it for him.

 
May and June are busy busy busy months already for us. Jeffery has a 3 day business trip coming up, we have Diamond C Events, wedding events and weddings, birthdays, and more filling up our calendar for the next several weeks. We are excited to enjoy these last couple months together as a family of 3 before we become 4! As I get ready for Annie to be here, I have been looking back and remembering Emily's first few days and weeks. What a blessing and a wonderful feeling I remember having the first moment I saw Emily and held her in my arms. She was beautiful and perfect, such immediate love flooded me and Jeffery. I know it won't be any different when we see Annie for the first time. God's creation of life is beautiful and perfect. He is the giver of all good things and we praise Him alone for how he is blessing and keeping us. To God be the glory, for the things He has done.

Peace, have a good week.

easter love

Emily goes to the Zoo!

Before it gets too terribly hot and I get too terribly big and pregnant, we decided to take Emily to the zoo this weekend. We made a quick trip to Tyler to Caldwell Zoo Saturday afternoon for a few fun hours at the zoo. The weather was great. I enjoyed being outside for a little while. Emily liked the zoo. My mom asked me if she loved it to which I said that 'love would be a strong word, she liked it, hopefully loving it will come in a few years.' She liked the birds. I guess because of their noises and bright colors. As for the other animals, it was difficult for me to spot some of them in their zoo habitat, so I'm not even sure if she saw what we were looking at. She rode in her stroller most of the time that we were there because if we got her out, she just tried to run away. Sweet baby she is, trying to run from mommy and daddy! She loves to be outside though, so she was very content. It was a very fun first trip for Miss Emily...we hope to do it again soon and at a time when she will enjoy it even more!

Emily and Daddy time with the penguins. She liked watching them (well really just one, at that time) swim back and forth in front of the window. 

At the monkey exhibit...not sure what kind of monkey this was. You can barely even see it in the picture, but look closely over on the rocks there are two black and white monkeys. Maybe she saw them. Maybe. 

My sweet, happy girl. 

She stood there forever looking at the flamingos. They were our first exhibit and our last, since they are right at the entrance. She liked this part alot. Funny birds-those flamingos. Pretty interesting to watch, even for me. Some things never change I guess. 

Leaving the zoo, eating a snack of animal crackers. Coincidence? Perhaps.

We finished up our afternoon in Tyler with a trip to Target (gotta go to Target when available) and some good Mexican food at Mercados. Fun stuff. We are thankful for a fun day with our fun little girl!