An "OLD" Friend

Well, she's not really old, considering she just turned 30 on Saturday and I'm 31! I've been looking forward to her birthday for quite some time (almost a month). I've blogged about my dear friend Katie before, but just in case you forgot, I'll give you the "down low" on us! Katie and I met our first year teaching 1st grade in Alvin and clicked immediately. Within a few short days, we knew that our husbands needed to meet, so we planned a dinner date for the 4 of us. And guess what, our husbands hit it off too. Her husband Rob was finishing up his last year of med school in Houston and they moved to Waco that summer so that Rob could complete his residency. They now live in their hometown, Llano and we always try to get together in the summer for a weekend to catch up. We traveled to Llano last summer and I've been looking for a good excuse to make the 5 hour drive again and guess what...I did it this past weekend to surprise her!

When the invitation came in the mail, I was thrilled and bummed all at the same time. Thrilled to have made the invite list and bummed because it was on a weekend that Cory was on call and it was the same weekend as our 7th wedding anniversary. But, after doing some talking and a lot of planning, I decided to make the trip. I didn't want to make the long trip by myself, so I talked my mom into coming along with me and the twins. We drove to Austin on Friday morning and stayed with my aunt and uncle and then I drove over to Llano on Saturday afternoon (a very SIMPLE drive that I will for sure be making again after Baby Zoe arrives in November).

I left Austin around 1:30 so that I would have plenty of travel time (just under 2 hours) to make it to my destination before the birthday girl arrived! I made it safe and sound around 3:15 or so and to my surprise the birthday girl was already at her own SURPRISE party! She DOES NOT like surprises, so Rob ended up telling her what all was planned, but she had no clue that I was coming and a few other out of towners! The look on her face and those crocodile tears were PRICELESS! I mean, who on earth would travel 5 hours for a birthday party that started at 4 and then get up the very next morning (after staying up until 2 chatting) to drive home?!?!?

It was a great surprise and I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of her special day. And I'm so thankful to all of those involved in making this happen...for without them, I wouldn't have been able to make it!

So, Happy 30th Birthday KATIE!!! I hope I surprised you!!!

XOXO

**Can you tell who was saying CHEESE and laughing in the picture...I couldn't help it, I was so HAPPY**

Mommy, I need to...

...go tt in the big potty.

So, that explains my reason for being a blog slacker!!! Yep, last Saturday, I woke up and decided I was done with diapers. When Brooks and Burkley woke up, I took them to the potty with their big girl panties/big boy undies and explained to them that we were out of diapers (which we were not). They both sat on the big potty and went tt and were so excited. Each time they went tt on the big potty, they were given a sticker to put on their paper. Silly, I know, but it worked and it was cheap (and since I woke up that morning and decided that today was the day to begin potty training, I had to think fast and be creative)! I'm not going to lie, potty training is HARD work. Nightly feedings every 3.5-4 hours and breaking them from the bottle and paci were a piece of cake! Now, I'm not complaining, but I seriously spent every 20-45 minutes in the bathroom for the first 3 days. It was worth it for sure because they are going AWESOME. Both are wearing undies/panties during the day and only wearing a pull up at nap time and at night...and some days they wake up dry and some days they are just a little damp! Burkley has only had one accident in a WHOLE week and Brooks has had only a handful. Burkley is going tt and poo poo on the big potty and is telling us when she has to do both, but Brooks is struggling with going poo poo on the potty. He's had a few accidents in his undies and tells us he wants to be a baby and wear a pull up when he has to poo poo! I've heard that this is normal and I'm hoping that he will decide to go on the potty soon...or else, I'll have to tell him we ran out of pull ups!!

All in all, I'm a little sad to be letting go of the last "baby phase" but I'm thrilled to death at their progress. Daddy is going to get a pay raise now that we can scratch diapers off the grocery list!!

July 4th Beach Weekend

To say that we had a BLAST at the beach this past weekend is an under statement. Cory and the kids and I headed down there Thursday afternoon, my parents met us there on Friday afternoon, and Nana came down for a few days on Saturday afternoon. When we first arrived (Thursday afternoon), I thought it was going to be a looooooooong weekend because the seaweed was so thick and was still washing in. And not to mention it STUNK! It pays to know someone that works down there let me tell ya! All it took was a sweet little Facebook message and a phone call and the beach in front of our neighborhood was scraped! The seaweed was still rolling in on Friday, so we let the kiddos play on the slip and slide at the house and by Saturday, it seemed to be slacking off.

We were lucky enough to spend a few days at the beach with the DeSanto family. They just moved to Forney and it just so happened that they were going to be down at their fish camp the same weekend, so we made it a point to get together. Anthony is 2 weeks older than B&B (and he was even Burkley's pod mate in the NICU) and little Miss Avery is 4 months old and is just as precious as she can be!

Brooks fell in love with Miss. Tassie this weekend! Looks like Uncle Mark is going to have some competition!!Brooks was the "ladies" man this weekend on the beach. He loved playing washers, digging in the sand, sitting on the "boat ski", and playing in the water. Little man was WORE out every day!

The beach was PACKED. All you could see for miles and miles were tents hooked together. We enjoyed our little neighborhood block party on the beach!Burkley had a BLAST on the beach this weekend too. She wasn't a huge fan of the seaweed (she's just like her momma) and really didn't want anything to do with the water until the last full day on the beach. She enjoyed playing washers, digging in the sand with her cousins, and taking naps on the beach!Brooks showing off his washer skills! He's going to be a pro in just a few years!I just LOVE the middle picture of Burkley! She sat and dug in the sand for HOURS! And nothing cools you off better than a big ol' rocket pop!Various pictures of everyone having some fun in the sun/shade!And this just blew my mind! My little ones, along with their cousin Karson and friend Anthony, were playing with little dead fish that were on the beach. I was in shock that both of mine were even touching them, especially Burkley. They had fun playing with them and I guess that's all that matters. And don't worry, I made sure their hands were clean afterwards!On the last day, I realized that I was the one taking all the pictures, therefore, I wasn't going to be in any. So, to document that I was indeed part of the July 4th beach party, I had my mom snap a few pictures! And if you look closely at the pictures of everyone in the water, you will notice Brooks. Yep, he decided that he wanted to venture out on the last day! He kept saying that he wanted to go deeper!!Can you tell which 2 pictures Brooks took all by himself?The ice cream man had to have made a killing this weekend. He drove up and down the beach all day long! We for sure kept him in business! If you can't tell from the collage of pictures, we had a BLAST at the beach!!! It's so nice having a place to go to relax and hang out with family and friends. I love that B&B love the beach just as much as I did when I was their age. I can't wait to make more memories at the beach with them! Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th just like our family!

XOXO