FIVE on Friday!

1. Playdates!

I always love getting together with sweet friends and their babies. On Tuesday and Wednesday we got together with Donna & her sweet little girl, Julia. We went out to lunch, went shopping and then had a day of lounging around the house and letting the girls play. Love the both of you and we had so much fun!

 

 

2. Showering Baby TWP!

We can't wait for this sweet boy to arrive in August! Mallory is such a sweet friend and I know that she will make an amazing mama. Baby Williams' name is being kept a secret but they are telling everyone his monogram... TWP! The theme of the shower was "Monograms & Mimosas" how fun is that??

 

 

3. Lancôme DRAMA Mascara!

This mascara is AMAZING! You know how there's that saying that goes.... "If you were stranded on an deserted island, what makeup item could you not live without???" Mascara is that for me folks! I LOVE a good mascara. I went into ULTA the other day looking for some nail polish and ended up leaving with new lipstick, new mascara and two colors of polish. Haha! But no seriously, I love this mascara so if you're looking into getting something new for your lashes, this is it!

 

 

4. Loft Dress sale!

I was out shopping with C last week and ran into Loft to see what they had new and low and behold this amazing SALE was going on! I love dresses and couldn't believe what a great deal this was... I bought 4! Loft always has the best deals :)

 

 

5. My fisherman :)

This was taken a few weeks ago when Drew went to CC to go fishing. Fishing and hunting is his favorite thing to do. In the spring/summer you will find this man out on the water any chance he can get! This was the largest trout that he's ever caught!! Way to go babe!

Join the craze & link up here for FIVE on Friday!

Charlotte says MAMA!

This was technically taken last week (actually the same day as her pushing up to crawl!) but I didn't want to include it as a FIVE for Friday because I felt like it deserved it's very own post.

Charlotte has started saying many consonants lately including "Da da da" which Drew of course loves to say that "Dada" was her first word... however I know that she's just making sounds. Just like this video... I know she isn't really saying "Mama" as in calling ME, Mama. But I was lucky enough to catch it on video :)

Now to catch her saying "Dada" will be next! Enjoy :) (oh and totally ignore my annoying voice!)



FIVE on Friday!

1. Charlotte is ALMOST crawling...

We are pushing up and scootin' folks! I can't believe how strong she is getting. I know I shouldn't wish for it but I can't help but see her reach the next milestone. I'm not ready for her to be mobile quite yet... but I do love that she's right on target!

2. Resale shops!

I've recently discovered both of these little places and they are GEMS! I have never been the type of person to want to buy used things, but now that I have a child... used books, used puzzles, used toys (some) are great in my opinion. I've recently bought Charlotte lots of board books and wooden puzzles all for like $2-$4 a piece! Some were even a $1.50! WOW!

3. Charlotte's First Birthday Is Planned!

I know... she is only 7.5 months old but a mama can never be too prepared right??? My Mom and I have been going back and forth with ideas for her party for awhile now and I realized the other day... since I love anything vintage/antique and I love tea sets, pearls, lace, silver, etc... why not have a tea party for her first birthday!? I have been dreaming of the day to have a tea party with my baby girl... so I think that's what we will do... have a tea party for her birthday! In order to get in the mood, I dressed her up and we had our own for practice :) I think she is too precious in my pearls playing with my china and silver tea set!

4. READ these books!

1. 2.

3.

I LOVE a good summer read. I always tend to lean towards chic-lit books like Sophie Kinsella and Emily Giffin and don't get me wrong I love me some Nicholas Sparks... but I recently found these three books about parenting and being a mom, and I have to say I'm in love!

1. Pray Big for your Child- All about raising faithful kids... encouraging them and encouraging you as a parent. Amazing!
2. Loving the Little Years- I read this book and then I read it again and again! It's funny, an easy read and gave me some encouragement and perspective about raising young kids.
3. Sparkly Green Earrings- I just finished this book last night and I honestly could not put.it.down! A lot of blog readers out there might be familiar with Big Mama's blog. I LOVE her! I've been reading her blog for sometime now and I love lots of things about her... she went to A&M... WHOOP! She lives in San Antonio and is a fellow Texan and I love her story of raising her daughter. This book is memoir of her life and it is written just like her blog... even Beth Moore gave it a rec! READ it!!

5. We're getting WOOD floors!

I'm soooo excited to finally get rid of our carpet in the living room and dining room. I have big plans to redo our décor in our house. It will be slowly and in "phases" but I'm so excited to begin the first phase! Pictures of our real floors to come soon :) Don't you love google photos? Haha!

Join the craze & link up here! Happy Friday!



Dad's Weekend!!

We had the best weekend celebrating Drew on his first father's day! On Friday when he got home from work Charlotte and I had a little present for him from Academy (his favorite store). We got him a new fishing shirt & shorts. We ordered pizza in and just spent time hanging together.

On Saturday we decided to go over to one of the pools in our neighborhood. As much as Charlotte has been swimming.... Drew had never been with us. He loved seeing how much she likes the water. Codi, Drew's sister, came in from Dallas for the day and came over and played for awhile. We always love seeing Aunt Cece! That night we grilled burgers and had another great night spending time together.

Swimming with Dad

Daddy's girl :)

We love Aunt Cece!

Her new favorite toy... her vanity!

Codi brought her puppy, Winston

Oooh lala! Lipstick!



On Sunday, we woke up and had snuggles with Dad and then Charlotte gave Drew his gift from her :)

She loves snuggling with Daddy

Sorry for the glare but he loved it!

We got ready for church and then after church we came home, packed the car and then headed to the beach! We decided to try Surfside beach which is south of Lake Jackson. It wasn't too bad of a drive a lot nicer than Stewart Beach in Galveston that we had visited a few months ago.

We brought a small bbq pit this time and grilled some poppers and hotdogs. What a fun day celebrating Charlotte's and I main man :)



Such a little ham!

Just hanging in my bumbo

Drew and his girl :)

I LOVE the beach mama & daddy!

me and my girl

Loved celebrating my Daddy this weekend!

FIVE on Friday!



So I've seen this lingering in the blog world and I thought I'd start today for the first time doing... FIVE on Friday!

1. Thankful for this guy....

I've been working all week on getting little surprises together to celebrate him and his first Father's Day on Sunday! Can't wait to post all about it!

2. A Weekend Getaway planned...

The weekend of the 4th of July... Drew, Charlotte and I are headed to San Antonio for the weekend to stay in a fancy hotel on the riverwalk and enjoy being together as a family. We've been so busy and haven't spent a lot of "together" time as a family of three. I'm so thrilled to take Charlotte to the Alamo, ride in a boat on the Riverwalk, walk around Downtown San Antonio and go to SeaWorld!

3. Friends...

Liz and I have been planning on getting together with our littles for such a long time. We finally were able to get Miss C & William together for another play date. The last time we had a playdate was when they were only 6 weeks old. Loved seeing you Liz & sweet William! Can't wait for the next playdate!

 

4. My new wreath...

I love a great/beautiful wreath on my door! I also love to switch them out during the seasons or holidays and I needed a new one for summer... I'm just in love with all the burlap!

 

5. SUMMER...

We've just completed our Mommy & Me swim classes at the Y at the end of May and this little chica LOVES swimming! We've been not once... not twice... but THREE times this week swimming. We can't wait to go back with Daddy this weekend :)

 

Join the Friday Link-Up Here!

49th Annual Cousins by the Dozens Reunion- FIESTA Theme!

After our little vacation to Corpus we came home and then packed it back up again to head to Wimberley for the 49th Annual Cousins by the Dozens Reunion- FIESTA Theme!



My Grandmother was raised by her Aunts & Uncles because my Great-Grandmother died in childbirth and with the Spanish Flu (remember on Downton Abbey when Matthew's fiancé passed away... that was what my Great-Grandmother had). So family was also so important to my Mimi. Her cousins were more like her brothers and sisters. Our family is so unique because my 6th/7th cousins are more like 1st and 2nd cousins... Our family name is "Espy." These are the original family members of that family unit that would begin the family ties that we have today. This picture is from the 1800's.

They look so serious! The far left woman on the bottom is my Great-Great Grandmother, Henrietta Victoria Espy Jones.



From this family unit, my Great-Grandmother, Emma Angelina Jones Session would then have my Grandmother, Marietta Session Martin, and that was where the reunion was started. So, 49 years ago the very first reunion was held and it was tradition for all the women cousins on my mom's side to gather together for a WEEK and be together. They would eat, play games, pull pranks, and of course laugh. Every year there was a different theme... so we've kept up the tradition! Except now it's only for a weekend :) This year was especially unique because it was Charlotte's first time to go.

I had been anticipating bringing her because last year I was pregnant and didn't even know I was expecting a girl! I found out the day after we got home from the reunion that I was having a girl and at the reunion last year everyone kept making guesses on what I was having. With the wonderful invention of facebook, everyone has been able to see pictures of her but not actually meet her so we were thrilled to bring her and introduce her to all her crazy lovable cousins that love her so much already. Drew, my dad & brother-in-laws didn't go... so it was just the girls: my mom, sisters, niece and baby C.

We had so much fun dressing up for the theme for Friday & Saturday night! On Friday, we got in just in time for dinner. It was a short evening that night because everyone was pretty tired. On Saturday, we shopped around town, told stories, pulled pranks, ate delicious food, had a dance party and even did the Harlem Shake! Haha... you can find it on youtube :) We also took family pictures. Sadly, I didn't get one of all 53 of us dressed up but I did get some of our immediate family. On Sunday before everyone left, we worshipped together before saying our goodbyes until next year.

Can't wait till next year cousins for the 50th!!!

Ready to meet my cousins!

Her Aunts were so excited to see her! Aunt Amy

Aunt Katherine

Schedule of events for the weekend



Lunch at Marco's on Saturday... she's loving sitting up like a big girl :)



Me and my girl on Saturday night :)

Grammy & Charlotte

The girls! Best picture we could get... Katherine's eyes are closed!

Family Picture time outside

Charlotte & Me with our sweet cousin, Betty Jack

Hanging with Zane

My mom and her sister, my sweet little aunt :)

Kaitlyn and me

3 sisters... 3 mamacitas

Probably a favorite of me and my mom! Haha!

 

My cousin Matt leading worship when his precious little boy Samuel wanted to join him :)

Samuel and Charlotte playing at church... they are EXACTLY one year apart

Ready for next year cousins!