EastCoastLove

Last night we pulled another fun event from our date jar! Kimmel picked this week and it was to take a walk around lake grapevine. This is one of our favorite spots around us. It is where we have had some fun picnics and where he proposed to me 3 decembers ago. We had coupons for free chickfila sandwiches, so we swung by and got some dinner to take with us. We hadn't been to the lake in a while so we kind of got turned around and found a new spot.  After we ate Kimmel wanted to find 'our spot', so we did.  It looked completely different. Due to all the rain, the beach area was underwater. We sat down on a log and watched the ducks fight and play. It was a lovely evening.  It was a fun date night! Kimmel told Shepherd this is where it all began :) Our family. It was here that right before he proposed i jokingly said as he skipped rocks, "the next rock is how many kids we will have" ...it skipped 5 times.  That is really up to Jesus! i might h

This past weekend my sister flew in from Va., my home town. We were super excited cause the last time she came was for our wedding, 3 years ago in april. It was her first time to see our house, and our baby boy! I realized how much i miss having her around, its sad to not have family close. We made the most of the weekend. She came in early friday morning, leaving 4 kids back home with lots of games and school to get done. We went to southlake and walked around, had lunch at the corner bakery and Deb got Shepherd his dedication outfit! It is sooo cute! She also wanted to get him an Easter outfit so to Gap we went and found some cute stuff. She is already spoiling him!  Saturday Kimmel's parents had gotten us all tickets to see the Hunger Games movie. So we took shepherd along for his first movie. It was a good movie, they left out some things i thought would be cruical, and the peeta katniss in the woods was so short! I think Shepherd thought it was super!  Before sh

In honor of Hunger Games movie opening this week i am going to recommend this trilogy. I must admit i have read the books 3 times now. It has been my obsession since thanksgiving, when Kimmel finally convinced me to read them. The story is awesome and even the love triangle doesn't bother me (i hate those they just are annoying!) The characters are beautifully written, both main and supporting. There are so many i love and just enjoy reading about them. I wish i could write more but i don't want to spoil anything for anyone! Read them you won't regret it. If you have read it who was your favorite character? I think mine was Finick! :) Aside from Katniss and Peeta :)

Kimmel and i have started a new tradition for our date nights this year. I was reading my friend Monica's blog the other day and she had a great suggestion she found on pinterest. Filling a jar of free things to do for a date night. Each of us wrote like 10 things down that are free and fun or cheap. So like i put go get a shake from Chickfila and go to a park. Last night was our first night to pick a thing. It was Play Disc Golf. At first i was like no i don't want to! lol but then i could see how excited he was and i knew it would be fun after we got out there. Which it was! We didn't have any frisbee's ourself so he called his buddy whom we could borrow from.  We took our lil man with us and had a blast. The weather was perfect and we were playing as the sun set. It was a great first date night of 2012!  Do you do date night? If not you should at least try for once a month if not every other week. I know people are busy and just want to relax, but there

Four things i have learned so far as a mother. 1. My clothes will never be clean and i will change sometimes 3 times a day. 2. Just cause the nap, nursing, swing, toy or whatever went well one time it doesn't guarantee it will work the same the next time. 3. Patience is required for all aspects of every day (minute) life to make it thru 4. My son is so cute i forget the last three issues and keep on keeping on!

Found another great recipe that is simple and delicious! It has ingredients that just happen to be around the house all the time.  If you don't look on allrecipies.com you need too! I used the app this time and put in chicken for main meal and got this delicious... Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue  6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves ( i used 4 and still worked great) 1 (12oz) bottle barbecue sauce  (i used Jack Daniels, but Sweet Baby Rays BBQ works great too!) 1/2 cup italian salad dressing 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tbls Worcestershire sauce place chicken in slow cooker (i thawed mine a bit, they say you can do it frozen) In a bowl mix 4 remaining ingredients Pour over chicken Cover and cook for 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 on Low See SIMPLE! the way we like it! Throw it together early morning you could even use it for lunch! Hope you get a chance to enjoy it!

In the midst of always writing about myself and our family i thought it would be good to shine light on other people and interesting things. Either blogs of my friends or books i recommend. This weekly little segment will be about that. Back about a year ago, we shared our journey about loosing babies, and wanting to have them with our cell. There was another couple there as well who had similar (but different) issues.  Our cell encouraged us and prayed with us both for direction and help. Right about the week we found out we were pregnant this couple felt God leading them to adoption. And just this past week of spring break their boys came home. The Pendes Click on the link above to get the full story. It is a great one! Its the weekend you have time. Read about the process and the fun. Celebrate with them!

This spring break has been a busy one for Kimmel. He had a couple jobs he wanted to accomplish while off from school. First our yard is amazingly all just WEEDS!!! its annoying and he tackled this problem. He started with our two back flower beds and then cleaning out our front one of some unsightly gross green "plants". Then cutting the grass and putting weed killer and seed on it was the final step to beautifying the outside! I think he slept really well these two nights...that wears a man out!  The other project Kimmel tackled was our faucets in the house. The tacky ones the builders put in just wasnt' cutting it anymore for him. So off to Lowes and Home Depot we go. ( I prefer Lowes and He prefers Home Depot) In the end we got new faucets for our bathrooms, and kitchen and a new light fixture for the bath.  I love home improvements! Even little ones...they make things look pretty and these suckers function so well!! I love the new kitchen one for su

One of my favorite things we got is this sweet lil boogie board tummy time thing. Shepherd looks so tiny and cute on it. I had registered for it at Target and my friend Stephanie picked it out for me! I was super excited. Hoping he will like it as much as i do!   We have done tummy time a couple times and he likes it ok, its not his favorite. Sometimes i lay him the other way so he can look all around.  The top part has a spot for water to put inside with some fish that move around. I haven't done that yet but think it will be awesome!  Did your kids like tummy time?? 

Shepherd was still awake when Kimmel got home last night after work so i snapped some pictures of them together. He is growing so fast. He is super sweet too! Kimmel's parents came over and gave him a bath last night. He did well, cried a little more than the last time we gave him one. But at one moment when he was crying looked right at me like saying 'Mom save me" :( it was so sad and funny all at once. Do your kids like baths? What age did they start liking them? Do tell!!

Shepherd has been with us for a month! The time has flown by and yet it seems like he has been with us forever! We are of course enjoying each lil moment both fun and cute, and frustrating and confusing. I dont' think i grasped how difficult some of this is...God is teaching me loads.  We prayed for this lil man and we are very thankful for him. We hope to share him will all our friends soon...i just can't seem to make it out the house. Supposedly thats normal and ok, so i am not too worried. I am doing great physically and emotionally just can't leave the house. :P lol We do go for walks and strolls. I have to nap during the afternoon or i am a beast at the midnight and 3 am feeding. Thank you for all your prayers and sharing in our joy! I promise i will blog about other things soon...but its my world right now!