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".