Visit with Brianna!

We kicked off our summer with a visit from Landrie's birth mom, Brianna!  Of course, Brianna brought her daughter Brynn, but this time we got to meet someone special too!

Landrie was so excited to see Bri-nana!

Brynn and Landrie just played and played!!  Landrie's latest obsession is this set of Dora puzzles.  We do the set of 3 probably 10 times each day. :)

Tatem was right in the middle of the action too!  She got passed around and showed off her beautiful grin. :)

Brianna read some books, which always makes Landrie happy!  

You girls are so silly!

Congratulations!!  Brianna and Brian got married a few weeks ago!  We got to spend lots of time talking while the little ones played, and we are so exited for them!  She deserves someone amazing, and they are so happy. :)

He even took a picture for us. :)  Next time we'll have to have a waiter or someone take the shot so we can all be in it!

We are so happy for you, Brianna!

Our Park!

Landrie LOVES to go to the park.  In true 2 year old fashion, every time she sees a playground, she hollers "PARK, Mommy!!  PARK!!!"  We pooled the girls' birth/birthday money from their grandparents to put in a "park" in our backyard.

Yes, the girls' birthdays were about 7 months before we managed to order this, but we got a bit behind on our to-do list when Tatem arrived!  After lots of research, we ordered this one.  The whole 17 foot play set came in this box!  Have you ever put together furniture from IKEA?  Yup, it was just like that...but bigger!

Landrie was over the moon excited to help!!

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We unloaded all the pieces, then Tatem woke up.  Hmmm....

We tried a blanket in the shade with some snacks.  That bought us about 2 minutes!  I grabbed the booster seats and strapped the girls in with their snacks, and that was MUCH better. :)

By the end of the day, we should have been able to finish the whole thing.  The directions didn't mention how long it would take if you had a baby and a two year old to help you!  This is as far as we got, but that includes the 1,000,000 times we stopped to take care of the girls or to take pieces away from them!

Each night that week, we would inhale our dinner, put Tatem to bed, and work like crazy with Landrie until dark.  Then we'd work a bit more. :)

Landrie loves the little bench and picnic table. :)  She also loved staying up past her bedtime each night because we couldn't stop long enough to put her to bed!

Finally, a few days later we got it 90% done and we able to put a swing on it.  Do you see the JOY on her face during her first swing ride??  That made it all worth it!!  We didn't put the anchors in the ground because it was too dry, and the ground was too hard to hammer them in.

A few days later, one of those crazy Texas storms blew through with HUGE gusts of wind and knocked it over!!  We watched it happen in slow motion out our back window!  That was about a month ago, and Landrie is still talking about it.  "Mommy, my playground fell DOWN!  Mommy and Daddy FIX it!!!  I so happy!"

We play on it ALL THE TIME now!  

The girls adore it!

And we adore their precious grins...

...and squeals of laughter!!

Baby Dedication, Take 2!

I can't believe that it was just two years ago that we celebrated Memorial Day weekend with Landrie's baby dedication, and this weekend we dedicated Tatem!

Jenny took pictures of all the families dedicating their babies.  Isn't that sweet?  Click here to see all of the other families who dedicated their little ones this weekend!

Last time we did it on a Sunday morning and had brunch for our family back at our house.  This year we decided to do it during our church's Saturday night service so more family could come!  

I managed to not take any pictures during our pre-church dinner at our house, but thankfully I got one of Aunt Beth (Mark's sister) and Gramm before they headed out for the long drive home. :)   At this point there was no way I was going to pry that paci out of Tatem's grip.  She loves to chew on them!

Our pastor, Brandon hugged Mark as we walked in.  It is SO amazing to dedicate Tatem (and Landrie) at the same church where SO many precious friends walked with us and prayed for us as we walked the long road to parenthood.  

Look at all those families who LOVE GOD and are promising to teach their babies about HIM!

Some of Landrie and Tatem's sweet cousins!  They have so much fun together!

Tucker, Abbie, Landrie, Anna, Colson, Tatem, Cade, McKinnan

The girls love my parents! 

Uncle Kevin (my brother), Aunt Christy, Landrie, Uncle Greg, Tatem and Aunt Megan (Mark's sister)

It was great to see you all!

           

Oh, family pictures just make me SO happy! 

I love the verses that our pastor used.  Here is part of it:

^{13 ...love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul... 18} Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 11:13, 18-19

I love how honest God is about what He expects, and how He wants us to do it!  I pray that we will be able to teach Landrie and Tatem to love and serve God with their whole hearts.  God is so clear that this is not just a Sunday School lesson once a week, but that it is our job as parents to be continually pouring into our babies. What a great reminder for me in the middle of this busy, busy time in our lives!

Just like her big sister, Tatem wore her great-grandpa's christening gown!  This gown is 92 years old, and has been worn for 4 generations.  I wrote the full story of the gown here. :)

Putting Tatem in this gown reminds me that while times may change, two things remain.  Families want to raise their babies to love God, and mommies love to dress up their babies for special days! :)

Landrie was the exact same age when she was dedicated!

Tatem and Landrie's great-grandpa, D, wore it,

then my mom did,

then my brothers and I did,

then the girls and their 6 cousins did!

Here's all the family who was there for the dedication that also wore the gown.

Kevin, me, my mom

Landrie, Abbie, Tatem, Anna

Sunday we went over to my brothers for a day full of swimming, family and fajitas.  It doesn't get much better than that!

Want to take a look back?  Here's the post about Landrie's big day. I can't believe how much our family has changed in just 2 years!  :)