is it summer yet?

playing in the fountains with Nicole

completely drenched and loving it

We broke out the swimsuits this week. (Thanks Aunt Tami, for Addi's new polka-dot one. It fits her perfectly). Addison and I met Nicole in the Woodlands for a laid back afternoon of window-shopping. All of the kids were running through the water fountains and since I happen to have Addi's new swimsuit in the car, I thought "why not?". She was hesitant at first but once the kids cleared out a bit, she (and Nicole) jumped right in. It was great. Thanks Nicole, for being such a great sport! Addi loved it.

The Cox Family came to visit us this weekend. Rusty and Whitney are great friends from college that we don't get to see near enough. They have 3 beautiful kids that are as sweet as can be; Paxton, Mackey, and their newest addition, Kirby. Needless to say, Addi had a blast with her new friends. We spent most of Friday on campus. Talk about nostalgia. I forgot how charming A&Ms campus is. There were students reading on benches, napping under trees, hurrying to class. There were even some corps of cadets preparing for an engagement ceremony by the Century Tree (for a non-Aggie that probably means nothing). Ben was able to join us for a picnic lunch by his office. The rest of the weekend was filled with craft shows, baseball games and good eatin'. A big thanks to Bethany for babysitting for us. What a trooper. 

hanging out at Sul Ross Statue

enjoying a picnic at Spence park

addi & paxton watching the engagement ceremony

are addi & paxton holding hands in this picture? 

our plan must be working :)

it's a girl!

We found out today that Addi will have a baby sister come August!

Needless to say, we're really excited about it. The nurse was 99.9% positive that it's a little girl, so that's good enough for us. Addi went to the doctor's appointment with us. She pointed at the video screen the entire time and would say "ahhh" or "that" as if telling us what we we're looking at. We came home and made cupcakes to celebrate. 

As always, the icing is our favorite part. 

 Addi caught herself laughing in the mirror.

Ben entertained Addi while I finished icing the cupcakes. And this was before we ate any sugar. 

country wedding

We had a wonderful time at Brittany and Jordan's wedding on Saturday. Brittany is Ben's 4th cousin...i think. I've never quite figured it out. The rain let up just long enough for a BEAUTIFUL evening. Everything was picture perfect, down to the chandeliers in the trees. Absolutely breathtaking. And Brittany, of course, was glowing. I was able to get sweet pictures of Ben & Addi before all of the guests arrived. 

sweet kisses

Addi loves to give kisses. Always open mouthed. Always wet. But sweet, none the less. We kiss our favorite toys. We kiss the baby doll. But my favorite are the kisses reserved for Ben. There are kiss marks on the window. I leave them there. We miss you babe!

a lesson from Addi

Earlier this week, Addi and I practiced hunting easter eggs in the park by our apartment. Addi LOVES being outside, so I figured this would be a great excuse to enjoy the nice weather. Things started off great! Addi was so excited when I spread the plastic eggs on the ground. She immediately ran to the closest one, picked it up, held it out to show me what she had found, and then ran to the next one. Pretty soon she had 3 or 4 in her hands and no where to put them. I followed her with the basket and tried to convince her to put the eggs in the basket so she could pick up more. That is when disaster struck! The last thing she wanted to do was to put the eggs in the basket. She immediately grasped at each one, trying to take them back out. "Addi, you can't hold all of them at once", I repeated. This went on for about 10 minutes until we finally just sat down on the ground and poured out all of the eggs around us. Only then was she happy. I sat there thinking about how I'm the exact same way with life's "plastic eggs". I hold on so tightly to what seems so important to me at the time. The Lord has so much more in store for us, if we would just lay down the little things in life.
Lord, help me loosen my grip. Addi found a lady bug

planting roots

Yea! We've decided to build, rather than buy, a house in College Station. We signed the contract this morning! We're 5 months out from moving in, but at least we've got the ball rolling. That should put moving day exactly a month after Baby #2 gets here. Our builder joked this morning about having a pregnant woman on his case all summer. He has no idea! It's probably better that he's clueless of my perfectionism. He'll learn soon enough. Ben has opted to leave all of the nit-picky decisions up to me and I couldn't be more excited about it. I've been tearing out magazine pictures for weeks now. Front doors, faucets, chandeliers, etc. You'll have to remind me of this initial enthusiasm in a few months, when the excitement has worn off and I'm having to choose between white and off-white plumbing fixtures. As for now, I'm more than thrilled about the whole process! Here's Addi out at our new lot. Already digging in the dirt. She's definitely not a "miss priss".