Easter

We did our first Easter egg hunt with AB this year.  You're always curious when and if they're actually going to "get it."  We met up with our life group at our church's big Easter egg hunt.   She did great!  And loved walking around finding all the eggs.  It was a bit hot and my morning sickness was beginning, so we left a little early.  Here are some pics from the hunt.

Then Sunday we had Easter lunch over at my parents house.

And we're growing...

I felt a little different for a couple days.  The kind of different I was somewhat familiar with.  So, I went to the store, grabbed a couple tests and went home.  I didn't tell Travis.  I wanted it to be a surprise.  Sure enough, the stick said pregnant.  I did another one just to make sure, and again got the positive result.  I immediately went to the store to buy a cute "big sister" shirt for Annabelle.  I came home and told Travis I just bought Annabelle a super cute shirt.  He, of course, wasn't too excited about it.  Not sure many husbands are "excited" to see the kids new clothes.  He humored me, opened up the bag and looked at the shirt.  It took him awhile to read it, but when he did his eyes got huge, and he yelled, "Are you serious?!?!"

The week or so before I had been SUPER tired.  I am not a napper at all, and it had been virtually impossible to keep my eyes open around noon-3:00 each day.  I mean, IMPOSSIBLE to stay awake.  I even resorted to calling my mom asking her to come over while I napped.  She said right away, "You are definitely pregnant."  I wasn't quite ready to say that, BUT I knew something was a little off.  Travis had been saying the same thing, but I'm not sure if he was really serious about it or not. Fast forward a week, and they both were right.

We're so excited to start the new chapter in our families life!

Fell of the wagon..

I totally and completely fell of the blogging wagon at the end of last year.  It was right after our little one turned one honestly.  Not sure what happened.  Maybe it was just time for a break.  We had a really busy fall and winter, and I think I just got overwhelmed thinking about all the "posts" I needed to write.

Sooooo,  here's a quick recap of how are 2013 ended.

In September AB turned one.  The rest of the month was spent trying to continue settling into our new house.  The process of moving just takes forever!  (Can I get an AMEN!)


October involved our second Halloween.   I honestly wasn't going to even waste the time and money trying to buy her a costume.  But, at the very last second, I gave in.  Here is our little bumble bee.  We went to the Halloween shindig at our church.  I realize they don't actually call it "Halloween,"  but you get the drift.  She was deathly afraid of one of the costumes there.  There was this random giant squirrel looking thing she was not sure about.  It was hilarious watching her just stare at the thing trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

November brought some great weather, and another Thanksgiving.  We stayed here in the DFW area this year.  We were finally able to get some family pics of brothers and sister in laws.  We hadn't done family pics since before most everyone got married!  So great getting some family time.

This year we hosted Christmas at our house.  Travis's parents came up from Houston a week or two before, then we had some of my side on actual Christmas.  It was great having everyone come to us!  Loved having the house filled with family.  AB got some great gifts.  Her favorite was definitely the huge playhouse she got!   A very close second was her play food and shopping cart.  ;-)  Love seeing Christmas through little eyes.

This brings us to New Years.   We actually were able to find a sitter and have a grown up dinner with friends.  We all were really hoping to actually make it to midnight, but we did...barely.  ;-)

It was a wonderful 2013!!

Christmas Time

We hosted our first Christmas at our house this year.  It was so much fun, and we loved having our families over!  We had Christmas Eve service at our Church, then a dinner after.  Annabelle was somewhat interested in the whole Christmas morning fun, but I still think the wrapping and bows trumped it all.  Here are some fun pics from the week.

Definitely her favorite gift of the day!  She started screaming and laughing the minute she saw it.  SO cute.

Thankful Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we had the rare moment in time where everyone was in town and available on the same couple days.  So, we decided to take advantage and get some family pictures done.  We hadn't taken family pics in almost 10 years.  Long overdue!  Thankful for family.

Two of my favorite pictures of Travis with our little one came in this shoot.  Just love it. 

Uncle Cam being crazy as always. 

Another shot I LOVE!

Chatanooga

AB and I had a quick trip to Chatanooga to celebrate a special couples 50th wedding anniversary.  I'm lucky AB is such a great flyer!!  And thankful God always manages putting me next to very understanding people in the plane!  Here are some pics from the long weekend!

 AB clearly felt comfortable with this little girl.  At first the little girl thought AB was pretty cute.

Then AB started getting into her personal space, and she was clearly not comfortable.  Of course, that didn't stop AB.

Ainsley and AB meeting for the first time.

Checking out Papa's boots.

It was really cold in Tennessee!! Such a cutie.

Some random lady next to me.  She was so great with me and AB.  AB decided she wanted to switch seats.  

Fall Fun

Here are few words and fun pictures to take you through our fall so far.

We love our big girl chair.

Already putting her to work!

Her faces are priceless.

She was NOT so sure about this guy.  

Cutest lil bee you've ever seen!

Czechs in Texas

It seems as if my time in Prague was a different life.  SO much has changed in my world since then.  I think back on Prague as a time that was precious, hard, full, challenging, and left me forever changed.  I met some amazing people.  One of those amazing people was my director, Billy Crossan.  Billy is one of the smartest men I know.  He is the picture of a man compelled to share the love of God too all people of all nationalities at all times.  He's someone that if you spent even a quick coffee or afternoon with you will have left changed.  Everyone should be so lucky to know someone like this.

This fall Billy led a group of Czech basketball coaches on a coaching clinic through Texas universities.  They met with different coaches on several campuses throughout Texas.  Travis and I hosted a dinner at our houses for the Czechs.  None of them had been in a US nationals house before. It was fun to be around Czechs again, and get to introduce them to some US food.  It was a bit surreal having to worlds come together.  I loved being able to introduce Travis and Billy.  Such a special time, and great memory!