Weekending, MCM, and a big FIRST!

The weekend was swell. We spent time doing chores (yawn), making traditions (yay!), and hanging out (awesome).  Saturday was literally spent all day deep cleaning the living rooms. I can't thank my hubby enough for vacuuming the blinds and helping me move furniture to clean under. I know he would have rather done a million other things, but the fact that he helped me and didn't once complain means the world. 

Saturday night we started a new tradition: letting Charley stay up late so we can all watch a movie together. We got Liza down then the three of us cozied up on the couch with some popcorn and watched "The Lego Movie".  Hilarious! Char made it until about 9 pm (two hours later than her normal bedtime) and then requested we read her a book. :)

Sunday we went to the store early (now that I think about it, that happened Saturday...) met Meemaw and Papaw for breakfast, and hung around the house. We went to Sarah and Dusty's house to watch the USA vs Portugal match where we ate amazing trout and spinach. The kids had a blast, and as usual, I had the sweaty kid :) <--- She plays hard!!

^^^soooo much cuteness here!!

^^^Mallory put stickers all over Liza's chubby legs!! 

^^^best momma in the making <3

Definitely want to shout out to the hubs on this MCM!!! He's been soaking in the newness of his new position at work and still hasn't skipped a beat at home. I certainly couldn't do this whole parent thing without him and I'm thankful I don't have to. I'm also thankful he understands my sensitive heart and gives good hugs ;)

Today Charley Cate had her first ever dentist appointment!!! It went as well as expected, with some crying and big alligator tears, but I really think all my hype leading up to it along with the goodie bag the dentist provided and the toy I provided made it an overall pleasant memory. She proudly told anyone that would listen, "I have clean teef!"  Plus, she just about broke Dr. Youngbloods heart when she cried and then followed it up with her super good manners!!! I was a proud mommy! 

In the waiting room with Grandma. 

Getting LOTS of goodies at mommy and Grandmas office! 

I think as far as dentist appointments go, this was really just a trial visit that, if followed up regularly, can help teach Charley that the dentist isn't a scary place but it's a place to have fun (well, not really fun, but it's necessary for a healthy mouth!) I seriously doubt that at her age the ten minutes she was "in the chair" (aka, my lap) will make or break her dental hygiene but it did put my mind at ease that, yes, we are brushing enough, and no, her teeth aren't rotting out from the candy and occasional juice. It's a good feeling to hear someone else who doesn't see you that often say, "Good job, you're not half bad at this parent thing and your kid doesn't have to have silver capped teeth..."  ;)

Just a plug: If you're in the Midland area I highly recommend Dr. Youngblood at Children's Dental Center. He is SO nice! I taught his son when I worked at Goddard and he's just a regular, sweet, down to earth guy :) He is really fast yet thorough and has even looked at (and cleaned!) my teeth for me ;) He only works a few days a week though, so make your appointment early and specifically ask for him. 

Last thing...a Bran in Real Life moment: 

The nurse called back "Charley's mom", to which I am, so I went back with her (me and Charley and my mom). She told me to have a seat in the red chair which I thought was really odd, as there was only one chair (and three of us) and a girl sitting in the dentist chair near the red chair. The nurse then asked me, "Charley, your oldest daughter?", and I was thinking, yes...Charley is my oldest daughter...how did she know that! Then I stared at the red chair again and thought, this must be some demonstration or something, like to help Char not be scared. So I sit in the red chair and this little tween girls says, "that's not my mom!" Hahaha!

Yaaa...I'm Charley's mom, just the wrong Charley. I was a little embarrassed and my mom had been trying to call me back the minute we walked through the door. Guess I was nervous too! Anyway, that poor girl called her mom and those nurses probably thought I didn't have a clue! (I didn't.)

Happy Monday, Friends!! 

MCM

Happy Monday!!

I thought that in honor of MCM I'd share some of Joseph and my favorite things :) Just random things we love to do together or just both really love! 

1) World Cup Soccer! (Ahhem, Joseph calls it football because you know, he's cool like that, and has even taught Charley to call it football as well!) the World Cup begins THURSDAY! And we are getting prepped and ready for the month long celebration of the worlds sport. I've ordered shirts and jerseys and have big plans for house decorations in the works! It will be so fun! 

Us at the Netherlands vs Denmark Match at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa - 2010

2) Luther. Joseph and I love watching good tv and we have been in search of a new "show" for a good while. We love what the BBC produces, and Luther does not disappoint. It's about a homicide detective, John Luther, his genius ability to get in the minds of criminals, and the big question of what is truly right and wrong. It's sometimes gritty (it is a show about murder) so we have to watch after the girlies have gone to bed. It is a mini series so there are only four or so episodes a season, but they are so stinking good! We only have time to watch one at a time, which is good, because mentally I think that's all one can take. We stream this on Netflix. 

http://youtu.be/aEwrOnrlERY

3) Basin Burger. http://www.basinburgerhouse.com I'm not sure if it's sad or awesome that I have their number programmed in my phone!? While we love to dine in when we can, takeout is more convenient for us and the girlies early bedtimes. The best burger in town in my opinion. Homemade buns. Yummy sweet potato and regular fries, and their meatloaf is to die for. When we eat here we feel like it's a game to see which "side" we sit on. The "family" side (on the left of the door with the booths) or the "cool" side (on the right of the door with the bar and patio). We only get sat on the cool side when we are sans kids. The only con to Basin Burger is it's all the way across town. But it's well worth the drive :)

4) Indian food. Gosh it's no wonder out waist lines aren't slimming down with all the tv and food we enjoy ;) But seriously, this place in Midland: http://www.indianfoodmidland.com has the BEST (and to my knowledge, only) Indian food. We only do takeout since he last time we dined in someone got stabbed in the parking lot. No lie. It's so delicious and the garlic naan is out of this world. A little pricey, but then again we do order A TON of garlic naan plus simosas and our entrees ;) (Also across town and in a shady hotel. Strange thing: they also make pizzas!)

5) Books. While we don't necessarily do this together, we do this together. As in we typically read in bed before we go to sleep (or we did before we found Luther!). We both love reading and it's a treasured part of Charley's bedtime routine that we swap out on. 

6) The Girlies. Obviously. :) We adore our lil ladies and love watching them grow into bigger people (even if it is painful that they can't be little forever!) It's amazing to think that we are allowed to be their parents forever. When I see our girls I just see the Grace and Bigness and Beauty of our God. So much goodness. 

MCM

This is going to be a super quick MCM post. Not because my man doesn't deserve a long, well-thought out, lovely post, but because we are both exhausted and want to lay in bed (at 8:25pm) and enjoy some down time.

Last night was our first night of hardcore, no more bringing the baby to bed when she cries night. And it was killer. On us all. I ended up sleeping on Liza's floor because she seemed to be comforted with me in the room and it's like less of a bandaid pull to break her from co sleeping with me to being on her own. 

Just now Jojo pulled Charley's trundle bed in there so that when she starts wailing {in about one hour I'd say...} I can have somewhere more cozy to sleep. 

My husband is awesome! He really is the foundation of our family and the level headed thinker, the do-gooder, the selfless giver, and the happy maker :)

Throw in a few years of travel, kids, Austin living, adventures, and lots of love, grace, laughter, and food, and you've got yourself eight years of a wonderful life! And that ain't no joke :) We will celebrate eight years tomorrow :)

Here's a short timeline in pictures: 

2005-little babies in love without a care in the world! Both college students. Engaged. And he gave me a puppy for Christmas that year (enter Addie!)

2006: we got married!!!! Hip hip hooray! I remember being so elated, it being hot, and not wanting to leave the reception cause we had such a blast with our friends! 

2006 we also took the trip of a lifetime to Italy! Ciao Bella! (Even though we honeymooned in San Francisco!)

2007: We both graduated with our Bachelors degrees. Attended tons of weddings, went to the beach with the fam, travelled to Mazatlan, Mexico with friends. 

2008: we lived it up in Austin staying involved with our church community and friends. And I had really super short hair. 

2009: we vacationed in Managua, Nicaragua and had the most relaxing, low-key and least pretentious vacay to date. 

2010: we had another trip of a lifetime attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa! On the way there we had a layover in Cairo, Egypt and got to see the great pyramids. We went on a true African Safari, drank in African bars with some awesome people we met at match, saw two football games, and had adventures in Johanessburg and Cape Town. So much goodness this year! 

2011: we made the decision to move back home so we could start a family. We boldly and blindly moved. No jobs. No prospects. And how God has so provided for us. This year we got pregnant with sweet Charley Girl, got big people jobs, bought our first house, and took a just me and you road trip to Santa Fe, NM and Durango, CO. 

2012: we welcomed Charbear into our world and family January 4. She has changed us forever, teaching us the simple joy that is found in being goofy, to love unconditionally, and to smile and laugh all day long! We visited California with a baby (crazy people!) and worked on this whole grown up-you-have-a-kid-now-thing! 

2013: we adjusted to our new roles as parents, loving the life of a toddler and getting happily pregnant with baby number two. We took our annual vacation to Cali to visit family, worked on the house, and stayed busy awaiting the arrival of Elizabeth Jo. Liza was born on December 4, 2013, making our girls exactly 23 months apart! We have two amazingly sweet, full of personality, and healthy (thank you Lord!) little girls and life is so grand! 

2014: to date, there are 1800 pictures in my 2014 folder on my phone. We are just living life with our little family and close circle of friends. We hang out with Meemaw and Papaw a lot, and love takeout food. Traveling is a bit harder with two babies, but we have Cali planned for later this year and are working on a mommy/daddy getaway! We play a ton, read a ton, listen and dance to music, and laugh and occasionally bicker. 

Joseph Lee, we have done SO much together in just eight short years! Just think what is in store for the next eight or twenty, or fifty! 

I am SO blessed to be your wife. You're my best friend. My bees knees. The creamer to my coffee. You're like my favorite comfy t-shirt that I love to wear over and over again. Seeing you become a daddy has made me fall ten-fold more in love with you. You're our family superstar and I love you a million, jillion, bazillllllion heepie gobbers! 

Happy Anniversary Man Crush!

(also, I realize this turned into a rather long post...got a little carried away, huh?)

MCM & The Easter Weekend

Technically it's early Tuesday morning, but I've been wanting to type this all day, but am just now getting around to it! 

What a weekend guys! We had a ton of fun in Rule with Joseph's family (and my momma too!). After Charley began her antibiotics for bilateral ear infections :( she was a happy, happy kid. She literally would have stayed outside the entire time in Rule if we had let her!!!

We enjoyed Easter festivities with the littles, card games with the bigs, and of course, ahhhmazing food from the family. 

One of my favorite things about going to Rule is cramming as many of us as we can into Grandma and Grandpas house! I think it's so special to spend time in the only house they ever lived in. They raised five kids in a two bedroom, one bathroom house, and when you get the whole family together, is just pure simple coziness :)

Memaw Val and her sister Julie started a big egg fight. It was hilarious to watch and didn't phase the littles one bit during their egg hunt. Charley didn't really know what to think and needed a lot of help, but she had fun nonetheless! 

We actually did our family egg hunt on Saturday since there was a chance for rain on Sunday (and don't you know it poured!!). 

Sunday I woke up late (8:30am is now considered late :) and Joseph had already dressed Charley for the day.

^^^When I asked him where her Easter Sunday dress was, his reply was, "She can't play in that!" Haha! 

I did manage to pull her dress on and put a bow on too. Not without a fight of course! And this was the result...

She absolutely refused to smile! Ohhh, that girl! 

Liza started getting really fussy on Easter Sunday and my mom noticed her tugging at her ear. She had a mild fever the night before so I tried my best to keep her coddled and sleepy. 

And did you know I didn't get one single picture of the girls together on Easter!? Or of us as a family? Dang :(

(I so wasn't feeling well so I blame my lack of pictures on that! I also missed some great shots of the fam shooting clays and Joseph and Uncle Rod riding horses!)

.................

Today I felt like was a classic Monday everyone always talks about. First thing, I took Liza to her pedi to check on that ear. Sure enough, she has an ear infection. She is so different from Charley in that I never knew Char was sick or not feeling well until she ran a temperature. She must handle pain well. Liza? Not so much. She's very vocal about her ear pain...poor girl has been extra clingy to momma and Memaw today. :(

After Liza's appointment I took myself to the doctor and came home with bronchitis. I felt poorly all weekend and passed it off as allergies. Luckily Memaw Val was around today to help me with the girlies! I had a third doctors appointment later in the afternoon and by the end of all the appointments I just wanted my Jojo! Sometimes I just need him to hold me while I cry. Corny, I know, but oh so true. 

Which is why he is, and always will be, my MCM. I texted him about our crazy day and he said he couldn't wait to be home with his girls even if they were all whiney or gripey :)

I know it's a tough job living with three girls, and it will only get tougher, but Joseph sure does so gracefully and full of faith and wisdom and leadership. His little ladies are quite grateful for our handsome daddy!!! 

Here's to a better week guys! Stay healthy, have fun, and hug your sweeties :)

xoxo