Lots of sentences. Zero pictures.

This is my 304th post. It really doesn't seem like that long ago when I was writing my 100th post of 100 Things I Love. How many posts I've written has nothing to do with this particular post. I just have a few things on my mind that need to get out of it.

p.s. I just looked over that list again, and it made me happy just reading it. :)

I really want to redo my blog layout. I gave it a mini-face lift not too long ago, but I want a serious makeover. Oh, did you know you can search my blog for past posts? It's pretty sweet. Check it out in the sidebar.

Campmeeting is in two weeks! That's so soon! I already made our packing list and everything. Hello, I'm a freak.

I smell like spit up right now. And I've already taken a shower tonight, so I'm pretty much screwed.

The days need more hours. There is just not enough time to snuggle and play with my kids, do the Sunday paper crossword, read my Kindle, sew fun things, work out, keep up the blog, obsess over Pinterest, play board games, and sleep (aka all the fun things I want to do) and still be able to keep the house clean, finish thank you notes, cook dinner, go grocery shopping, balance our budget, and run errands (all the bleh things I need to do).

We're going organic. Okay, so not really. I wish, but we can't afford to do it all. We used to do organic milk before I couldn't bring myself to fork over the money for it. But we're going back to it. That and cage-free eggs. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Some of my very favorite people in the entire world are coming in town to visit this weekend!! Candie and Ricky and Jacob are coming from Austin to meet Landon and I can't wait to see them!

My phenomenal photographer of a sister updated her blog look this week. I still miss her cutesy logo, but it's nice this way, too! Plus, you can find things by category. Go check it out. You know you want to.

Why am I still awake? Landon's sleeping (probably for the night; yes, I'm spoiled), Avery's been down for a couple hours, Matt's not home, and I have no reason not to be in bed right now.

It's so. stinking. hot. I hate Texas right now. Okay, fine, I never hate Texas.

GO RANGERS. Had to throw that in there. The boys are definitely on an 11 game winning streak. No big deal.

My daughter is hilarious. I'm about to write a post of all the funny things she's been saying lately. And by "about to" I mean "will try to get to sometime in the next couple of weeks." They probably won't translate as well to the blog, but her comedic timing is spot-on in person. :)

She did see her first movie theater movie today! My mom took her (and my [adult] brother and sister) to see Winnie the Pooh. Apparently she loved it (and the popcorn; she is her mother's daughter after all). I'm still a little sad I didn't get to go with her (Matt and I took the preteens to church camp). We did have a date night last night though and saw Horrible Bosses at the drive in. I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty darn hilarious. It's also pretty darn adult if you know what I mean, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Um, I think that's it. I'm going to bed. Right after I eat some cereal. I told you that wasn't just a pregnancy craving. Gosh, I'm so glad I'm not pregnant anymore.

Okay for real now. Goodnight.

Party Like a 2 Year Old!

Okay, I promise this is my last birthday post for Avery's 2nd (next year is another story!), but I had to post pictures from her birthday party!

(Oh, and she had her two-year-old check up last week, so for the baby book, here are her stats: 28 lbs [70%], 35.5 in. [95%], and head circumference 19.5" [90%])

We had a small family party this year (we'll start doing friend parties for her 3rd), and we were joined by NeNe, Pop Pop, Grandma, Grandaddy, Uncle Nick, Brittany, and Amy. 

hot dogs and watermelon for dinner

homemade birthday cake balls (my husband is amazing)

ready to open presents!

opening her new dollhouse from NeNe and Pop Pop

Amy hooked her up with Fancy Nancy and all the fancy essentials

homemade play dough (in gorgeous colors!) from Uncle Nick and Brittany

 (Grandma and Grandaddy got Avery an awesome new kitchen but couldn't put it together because of their flight delay. I'll post pics of it later.)

blowing out the candles

teehee. (princess blanket from Nick and Brittany)

our little birthday girl

flashback! 1st birthday

Amy, Avery, and Grandma

Check out those shades!

so glad they made it back from Europe in time :)

We're trying to turn NeNe and Pop Pop into Rangers fans. :)

I love it when we get a family shot!

Go Rangers!

Licking an ice pack. Don't judge; it was hot.

I couldn't resist posting this. Ooh that face just gets me!!

Avery was fascinated by the visiting bullpen. Her eyes were totally glued to the ball.

One of the pitchers threw the ball up to the boy behind us, and he gave it to Avery. Oh, it was so sweet I totally teared up. His dad was so proud. It was a special moment. :)

The girl was wiped out from her birthday week, but I think it's safe to say she had a great time. :) So here's a final happy birthday to our new two-year-old. We love you, Avery!!

Happy Birthday to Avery and America!

We have just had the best two days around here!

{Avery's Birthday Celebration}

We're having a small family party next weekend, but we wanted to do something fun for Avery's actual birthday. I love birthdays and really want to make them memorable and special for our kids.

Since her birthday fell on a Sunday this year, she got to wear a special birthday skirt to church (complete with cupcake bow!). She even got to sing "Beautiful One" into the microphone on stage during worship team practice. Everybody was wishing her a happy birthday all morning, and her little Sunday School class even sang to her. I don't think she minded the attention one bit.

We came home for a delicious lunch of sausage, diced sweet potatoes, and (A's favorite) green beans. We'll do a cake at her party, so her birthday treat was No Bake Oreo Bars. The girl loves dessert (um, that might be my fault). But she's allowed to love dessert because she also loves fruits and veggies. See, I'm not such a bad mom. :)

After stuffing her face with chewy Oreo goodness, Avery got to open her birthday present from us, a Leapfrog Tag Reading System with a Disney princess book. (We decided to go with the Tag instead of Tag Junior because you can still use the Junior books with the Tag, and since the Junior system is a little more limited, we thought we'd get more years of use out of a regular Tag system.) She LOVED it (like gasped when she pulled it out of the bag). Point for Mommy and Daddy!

We snuggled on her bed for awhile with her new book and then she got a great nap. Yippee! Good naps make late nights bearable.

Our good friends Kendra and Carlos joined us for the rest of the evening, which consisted of Cotton Patch, fountains, and our town's fireworks show.

If I had known she would actually play IN the fountain this time, I would've brought her swimsuit. Good thing I had extra clothes!

Every time a firework went off, Avery would yell, "They hit a home run!" Um, someone has been to too many Ranger games.

Lauren and Brian joined us for the fireworks!

{4th of July}

Our town had a 4th of July parade, so Allison got up "early" to meet us at the house to go with us, and Kendra and Carlos met us out there. Um, the "parade" lasted maybe five minutes and was completely lame. 

Oh well. So we went over to my parents' (who are still in Europe-- come back already!!) to eat pizza and swim next door. 

We headed home for Avery to nap (she fell asleep in the car like two minutes after we left-- we wore the girl out this weekend!), and then we got our stuff together for the Talleys' annual 4th of July celebration. 

We just love the Talleys (Kendra's parents), and every year they invite over whoever from the church wants to come and watch the Duncanville fireworks from their front yard. They fire up the grill, and everybody just eats and hangs out until the show starts at dark. Avery loved playing with her friend Lily (and all of her other favorite people), and Landon was definitely not lacking in snuggles! The fireworks were awesome, and it was a nice, low-key way to spend the evening.

After a couple of busy days and late nights, I'm looking forward to a "normal" day tomorrow. Goodnight, everybody! Hope your holiday weekend was as fantastic as ours. :)