Conversations

Conversations with Atticus:

One day, we were talking about something in the car and it led to me to somehow discussing with the kids how thankful we are to be to God for everything. And Atticus says, very thoughtfully:

"He does a lot for us. Yeah, he's probably the best person I know". Is was just so sweet.

Another day, Atticus was helping Everly, who had knocked over a kitchen chair. As he is getting it back up, he reads the bottom and says:

"Look Everly! Made in China. You are going to learn that everything we have is made in China!" He just said it so matter-of-factly and almost as if it was a burden she was just going to have to accept. I could not stop laughing though! I mean - what does he know about things being made in China? hahaha!

Atticus's Turkey Book

Sometimes, Atticus is just too cute! He surprises me with his thoughtfulness and when he is ready to work on a project, he goes all in! He made me and Vic this turkey book and I just loved it!

 I love the things he is thankful for: holidays, The Bible, outdoors, my mom, God, Jesus, friends, my dad, my sisters, 10 commandments, US Armed Forces, Aggies, food, and football. As Vic said, "it makes you feel like you are doing something right as a parent!"

Our 11th Anniversary

Our 11th Anniversary was November 17, 2018 this year! It landed on a Saturday and we went out for the night! We got a sitter for the kids, except Hazel, because she is a nursing baby and had to go with us! We decided to do a little shopping in Downtown Bryan, on a gift card I had carried around for a long time. Then, we thought we'd find fun drinks somewhere and do dinner and do everything on our own pace because we knew Hazel would have to nurse at least once. And, it was a fun evening!

We headed to Downtown Bryan to The Birds Nest Gifts and Antiques and spent our gift card. It was fun to carry Hazel around because she could stay awake and not have to be carried in her car seat the entire time. And, of course, we got lots of compliments on how precious she was! Then, we walked over to Downtown 202 to peek in the windows and reminisce for a moment about the night we got married and remember our reception. I still don't know how we fit everyone in there, but I know they were on top of one another! We were hoping someone would walk by to take our picture, but we made do on our own.

About the time we were done with that, we thought it was getting chilly so we decided to load up, nurse, and head back to College Station to eat dinner. But, Vic really wanted to try out Cafe Capri, one of our old "fancy restaurant" stomping grounds and it was right down the street. So, we nursed Hazel and then headed in. We may have just gotten lucky, but there was NO wait and in the past, we always remember a long wait to get into this little restaurant. We ordered our wine and calamari and just knew that Hazel would be ready for a little nap in her carseat. She had been awake for awhile and had a fully belly, but she was way more interested in our anniversary dinner date. So, we took turns holding her while we talked and drank our wine and ate our appetizer. But, by the time our actual meal arrived, Hazel started fussing. So, hilariously enough, we just did what we did at home. One person ate while the other person held Hazel and then we switched. And Vic ended up walking her until she fell asleep. Sweet baby! Then, I really wanted a fun dessert at Sweet Paris at Century Square in College Station, so we headed that way. Hazel fell asleep and then woke up again in her stroller, but we got our dessert and headed home. It was a good anniversary date and I'm still happy, thank goodness, to be married to Vic these 11 years later!

Hunting in Orange Grove

This past weekend, Atticus and Vic made a boys trip to Orange Grove to go hunting! While they didn't actually hunt by shooting, they got to sit in the deer blind morning and night, and shoot cans with a .22, which Atticus loved! They saw both grandmothers at lunch, which was so nice for Vic. Atticus got to play with Keller and play yahtzee with Janice. They ate fried shrimp (Atticus's favorite) and just had a really nice weekend together with the Seidel's. Atticus can't wait to go hunting again!

 

 

 

 

 

And while they did that, the girls and I just hung out and played and stayed up too late each night. My favorite thing was that little Grace. On Saturday night, she decided she wanted to eat salads for dinner. She was SO proud to make her salad of lettuce, chicken and cheese and eat it with me. She's gone through phases in the past where she will just eat lettuce for her salad. But, she actually ate a real salad this time! She also told me "This is just so peaceful. I'm just so grown up!" and "This is fun just eating salads!" Oh and below you can see where Grace tried on my wedding shoes. I never wear heels but I did wear these under my dress at my wedding and she thought it was so fun to try on "high heels".

Veterans Day

Atticus was really excited about Veteran's Day this year. His school does a program every year and each grade learns a song and they honor veterans in their morning assembly. Atticus was just very interested in everyone in our family who has or still is serving in our military and loved filling out and turning in the forms to be posted on the wall. He really wished everyone lived in College Station so they could all go to the ceremony, but either way, he liked learning about Veteran's Day even more this year than in year's past. Here are the kids with their veteran's papers.

A Hazel Photoshoot

So, I love to play with my camera and do little photo shoots of the kids. Hazel is just big enough and strong enough to hold her head up and focus on me for pockets of time so I can practice taking her picture. Here are a few of those pictures! Oh and at the end, my photo assistant needed to be in the photos too. Grace LOVES to hold Hazel!

My youngest "kid"!

I love this onesie that Cecilia gave me that says "I kid you not!". And I love these memories of being with Hazel on this afternoon. She was snuggly and starting to smile! Oh my heart!