A pretty great weekend...

You know a weekend is going to be good when you turn over on Saturday morning and the first thing you see is this...  My husband is a nut. On Friday night when he came to tuck me in, he was wearing this Smart Start cereal box on his head just for kicks. I got quite a laugh out that. But the Friday night laughing didn't even compare to the laughing that happened when I opened my eyes at 7am and saw him STILL wearing the box on his head. When asked why he slept the entire night with the box on his head, he just said, "Because I knew it would make you laugh!" He was right!
The first item on our Saturday agenda was to head out to the airport for "Ellapalooza". Our friends, David and Amy, have just adopted a precious daughter from Africa. After being with her for two weeks in Africa, they returned home on Saturday. There were probably about 75 friends and family members gathered to see them come through the doors with their precious Ella.  These cute girls even made shirts to celebrate the occasion!
  We didn't get a picture of David, Amy and Ella together, but here's one of Amy and her girl! Amy has waited 10 long years to become a Mommy, and now she finally is! What a wonderful blessing!
  The next item on our agenda was to see our new niece and our sweet nephew.

After we left the airport, we caught up with Mom and Brock at Barnes & Noble. We snuck up on them in the kids area where Nana was reading to Brock. We hid behind a column and started meowing like kitty cats. Brock was looking around. Then we jumped out and surprised him. He was pretty excited to see Aunt Hotsie and Uncle Doug! He read for a little while on the floor, but then it was time to get a little more comfy and sit with Uncle Doug. He knows Uncle Doug is always good for a story. The great thing about Doug is that while he follows the pictures in a book, he makes up his own version of the story. So Brock never knows what he's gonna get!
  When we left Barnes & Noble, we headed back to Brock's house where we caught up with our sweet girl, Chloe. We enjoyed a great dinner with the fam, and then I got to do "the routine" with Chloe...changing the diaper, practicing my swaddle and then feeding her. Such a great way to end the day with this sweet face looking up at me!
 

The End of an Era

For those of you who grew up or live in A-town, this is a building that is probably familiar to you. This is, or shall I say WAS, Braum's Ice Cream store. They have been in business for at least 30 years. Some of my first memories of living in A-town are of this place.
Mallie, remember the old timer who had his own table there right by the door? He wore a bolo and a cowboy hat, and I guess he came to Braum's EVERY NIGHT because when he died, there was a wreath on the table in remembrance of him. Once, I dropped my ice cream cone on the floor, and he bought me a new one.
  This was the place that we always came to after church and school events...or just on no particular Tuesday when ice cream was all that could make the day better. (This might explain the reason for my other blog!) Anyway, all this to say that this Braum's holds alot of memories for me, and probably for most of you other A-towners as well. But don't despair, if you drive down the street about two blocks, you'll find the NEW Braum's! It's large and fancy...but it's just not the good 'ol Braum's we've known for 30 years.
I know some of you are saying, "Thank goodness! That old Braum's was disgusting!" Well, it wasn't disgusting when I was a 4 year-old! And I secretly didn't think it was ever disgusting...despite the fact that sometimes it was a little disgusting!
One more thing...you know how you could always walk into Braum's and see somebody you knew? Well when we went in the NEW Braum's the other night, we saw not one familiar soul in the whole place. Sad, sad. Like I said, the end of an era.
At least they haven't messed with Luby's. That would probably wreck my life and all the memories I hold dear.

A tribute to our first love...

With all the excitement of Chloe's birth, I can't let it be overlooked that this little fellow has been our family's first love for almost FOUR years now! Brock is so precious! Tonight I asked him, "Brockie, what do you think of Baby Sister?" He said, "Well, she is kind and she is polite!" He kills me! That statement just about split his mommy's c-section incision open because of the laughter! And that's just one of the million hilarious, but very SMART things he says on a daily basis. Brock, your Aunt Hotsie and Uncle Doug love you so much!!!

 

Chloe=PRECIOUS

I'm not sure that there are many things in this world that beat or even measure up to the wonderful feeling of holding a new baby in your arms. My heart has been bursting with excitement and happiness ever since Monday when I first laid eyes on beautiful Chloe.  I'm so amazed that in just a very few hours, this sweet little wonder has already brought so much joy into our family.
  She's a precious, beautiful bundle of love...
  and she's MY NIECE!!! How did I ever get so lucky?
  I'll never know...but I sure am thankful!!