Friday Five: Looking Forward

I like having things to look forward to. So to add a theme to my weekly items of randomness, here's what we're getting excited about:

1. Nick and Brittany's wedding. My little brother is all grown up! He couldn't have picked a better girl, and we're so glad to add Brittany to the family. They get married on the 26th, but this weekend is the guys' camping trip/bachelor party, and next Friday is the girls' bachelorette festivities.

2. Landon and Avery's birthdays. Landon turns one on May 31, and Avery turns three on July 3, so this year we're actually having two birthday parties in June! L's party will be pretty low key (mostly family), but we're gonna actually invite some of Avery's friends to hers this year. It'll still be relatively low key since we're just having it at home, but we might be crazy to have multiple three year olds here at the same time!

3. Children's ministry happenings. We promote kids to the next grade level the first Sunday in June, so summer time is our kick off for new curriculum and teachers. I'm excited about both! And then between VBS in June and preteen camp in July, I can't wait to see how God works in the lives of our kids this summer and on into the new school year.

4. Vacations. Ahhh, the best part. We're taking a big trip to Tennessee with Matt's family in July, and we can't wait to relax in a gorgeous cabin in the Smoky Mountains. Plus, everybody's so spread out geographically that we're way overdue for time with everyone together! And then in August we'll make our annual trip back out to West Texas for campmeeting with my family.

5. Summer days.  Including (but not limited to): drive-in movies, Ranger games, evening walks, popsicles, sleeping in (haha!), playing in sprinklers, sewing, playing games, and just being together.

What are you looking forward to?

What I'm Loving Wednesday

 

The kids are still napping (which I'm obviously loving), so here's what else I'm LOVING today:

Sophie Kinsella: Her new book, I've Got Your Number is SO stinking cute. It's mindless chick lit and made for a fun, quick read.

Our Keurig: Landon hasn't been sleeping well (more teeth?), which means that I haven't been sleeping well either. Enter the best invention ever (and thanks to my mom, who passed hers on to us when she got a new one). I never made coffee with our regular coffee pot (partly because so much ended up wasted, but mostly because I never knew how to do it. Embarrassing I know.), but this little genius makes it possible for me to make just one cup with the push of a button. Good morning, Mocha Coconut!

The Paper Bag Princess: This is one of my favorite pieces of kiddie lit, so when I found it at the library I knew I had to borrow it for bedtime reading (Avery's, not mine, duh). I really do need to just buy it; it's classic.

My new phone: Hallelujah! I'm so glad AT&T lets me get a new phone every two years because it seems like that's about the maximum amount of time I can keep a phone alive. Mine was on the verge of death, so yay for my HTC Freestyle! But what is up with the vast majority of new phones requiring a data plan? I DO NOT WANT ONE! Really, all I want from my phone is to be able to call, text, and take a decent(ish) picture. I don't have enough self-control to have the internet at my fingertips everywhere I go, which reminds me that I loved this blog post that I read today.

These guys: I'm so glad that summer vacation will be here in less than a month, so Matt gets to hang out with us every day! Woohoo!

Annnndddd naptime's over. Happy Wednesday!

Kid Bedrooms

I wrote this post in May, but I'm linking up today (June 29) with the Kelly's Korner's home tour. If you're stopping by on the tour, welcome!

I've been meaning to post a picture of Landon's nursery since he was born.

He turns 1 this month (eek!).

So I'm taking this opportunity to make sure I remember what his room looked like while he was still (kind of) a baby.

Actually, those name letters were what was holding up the nursery picture post! It took me almost a year to finally make them, but they were SO easy. They're just scrapbook paper mod podged over some wooden letters from Hobby Lobby (bought at half-price, of course!).

The toy corner is a little bit of an organizational nightmare. Baby steps (pun totally intended).

I love love love cube storage! I still want to make some labels for each bin. I have all the stuff to make them, but it's just a matter of time/motivation.

Sheesh, talk about some crappy lighting here. And the wall hangings are too small for the enormous wall, but it's alright for now. My mom made the quilt on the rocker, and a friend made the baseball cross (with the Rangers logo!) when Landon was born (check out this link for more info if you want one, too!)

And while I'm at it, here's Avery's room. I rearranged some furniture and organized her toys (again) while she was at Mother's Day Out today. (You can check out this link to see what her room looked like before.)

My sister-in-law Chelsea did the amazing tree and verse painting (freehand!).

I've had the metal storage system since COLLEGE; it's awesome. The little baskets on the dresser are from Dollar Tree, and my super talented sister painted the canvas for Avery.

I'm no design expert (obviously), but I'm pretty happy with both rooms at the moment.

Now if I could just get our master bedroom under control. Whew, now that's a whole other post.

Sting 'Em! (aka Allison's College Graduation)

My baby sister's all grown up!

Allison graduated today with honors from Howard Payne University. I am so proud of her!

It's so weird that everyone around me is getting older while I stay 24!

My parents are awesome and paid for all the siblings to go down to Brownwood on Friday night so we wouldn't have to get up early to leave on Saturday morning. Matt's in South Padre this weekend for a choir trip, so I was especially grateful to have some travel help!

We witnessed the senior "Chime Out" ceremony when we got to campus on Friday evening (It wasn't cult-ish at all... Haha, campus traditions always seem weird when they're not your own.) and then went to have a celebratory dinner at Underwood's.

(Practicing her stinger!)

I may have had a meltdown during said dinner. I'm sorry for the unkind words I said in hunger. And stress. Really, I'm ridiculous sometimes.

The kids were so great in the hotel room. Landon slept well in his Pack n Play, and Avery didn't kick me once while we were sleeping. And Brittany didn't even seem to mind being awakened before 7am. She's also just nice like that.

I love hotel breakfasts. I mean, where else do you get to eat a Texas-shaped Belgian waffle? The answer is nowhere. Well, except in the ETBU cafeteria. Gosh, I loved that place. (Go Tigers!)

We cheered really loud when Allison walked across the stage. Landon even woke up for that part!

And then we took the standard post-graduation pictures. You know, the ones where everybody gets their turn with the graduate. See?

My AMAZING siblings. Love them all SO MUCH.

Allison took us by the library to see the mural that she and three of her art major friends painted. Have I ever mentioned how talented she is?

We ate our weight in Italian food before stopping by Al's campus apartment to say our goodbyes (she's not coming home until tomorrow) and making the trek home.

And can someone PLEASE tell me why it was 100 DEGREES in MAY?!?!

Holy moly, it's gonna be a long summer.

Congratulations, Allison! I can't wait to see what your future holds!

Nice to Meet You

I linked up with Kelly's Korner today, so I thought I'd give a brief intro if you're stopping by from the link up.

I'm married to the best guy on the planet. His name is Matt and he lets me pick chick flicks when we go to the movies.

He also gave me the two cutest kids in the entire world. Avery's almost 3 and Landon's 11 months old.

I was a high school English teacher and soccer coach for five years, but now I get to stay home with our little munchkins. (I also work part time as the children's ministry coordinator at our church and am in the process of opening an Etsy shop {HeatherAileen: diaper bag essentials}.)

I love Jesus, crafting, movie theater popcorn, making fun of watching The Bachelor/ette, reading, going to Target by myself, Chuy's Tex-Mex, and the Texas Rangers. Not in that order. Well, Jesus is.

Did I mention that I have a tendency to ramble?

I mostly write about, well, life.

You're in the DFW area, too? Leave your blog address in the comments; I'd love to check it out.

That didn't sound creepy at all.

Wordless Wednesday: Pajamas and Puzzles

Landon: 11 Months

Look who's 11 months old today!

Oh, I just think he is the cutest little boy I've ever seen in my entire life! I could just squeeze those precious cheeks all day!

Landon's a snuggler! He's gotten much more squirmy and active as he's gotten older, but he's still pretty content to sit in our laps or be held. I love that because Avery was so independent that she didn't like to sit still for one second!

He wears a size 3 diaper and 12 and 18 month clothes. He wears size 4/5 shoes if we can keep them on his feet.

Landon loves to move, but he's still not walking. I'm okay with that; it's tough enough to keep up with him as it is! He crawls for real now (instead of army crawling) and loves to walk holding our hands. He'll stand up by himself every now and then but promptly sits down once he realizes what's going on. He climbs on EVERYTHING, so I really have to watch him.

He has 6 teeth (2 on bottom and 4 on top) and eats just table food now (with the occasional baby food jar in emergencies) and nurses 3-4 times a day. He likes his sippy cups, but he LOVES to drink out of a real straw. Oh, and he puts everything in his mouth.

He loves bath time and having his teeth brushed, and he goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and sleeps for 12 hours a night.

Landon adores his big sister. She makes him laugh harder than anybody else can! He watches everything she does and gets so excited when she pays attention to him (which is pretty much all the time). They're starting to be able to play together a little more, so that's been fun to watch.

We just love this kid and his little smiley self!