Some more goodbyes . . .

Our fantastic friends John and Ashley hosted a dinner at their house with our friend Christie for us! We had a great dinner, played some cards and just had an awesome time like we always do! We know they will all be coming to visit!


Our neighbors, Steve and Stephanie, have the cutest,sweetest kids! This is Emily and Ryder playing with their little friends. Emily is so sad to see the babies leave! She loves to feed them and help me every chance she gets. We talked last night about her coming and having "Mommy Camp" with me!!! She fed Avery so well and is always a big help!



Our good friends and neighbors, Brian and Heather, had us over for dinner too! Boy, are we getting spoiled!! They got to get a good snuggle in with the babies!! Brian and Pete met the first day that Pete moved us into our house here, and they have been great friends ever since! Since Heather has never been to "H-Town" we know they will be visiting us too!

Happy July 4th!

Happy July 4th!


We spent the afternoon at a neighbor's pool party . . . and the babies had a blast! We bought them these inflatable crab floaters and they loved them. Avery was actually kicking underneath hers to move closer to her Daddy! Pete sat and just smiled the entire time he was in it. When I would take him out of the water he would cry - and stop when I put him back in. We fed them at about 6:30 and they were so fussy that we put them to bed! They were asleep before they even hit the mattress. We've never put them to bed that early, so hopefully they are so worn out that they will sleep all night! We took about a million (I'm totally not exaggerating!) pictures of them in the pool. We're hoping they are going to be water babies. If today was any indication, they are going to love it!

Beginning our good byes

We've started the so "un-fun" process of saying our good byes to so many of our friends here in Denton. I have been writing this post in pieces because as I look at the pictures and reflect I get a little choked up!


This is our poker group. We have been playing with this group for about 5 years almost every month!! Yikes! Alot of the memebers have come and gone but Christie D., Joe, Clem, Pete and I are part of the original group that has been playing so long together. What are you guys going to do without Pete a.k.a. "River Rat"!?

We had a little happy hour get together last week . . . it's amazing how many babies were there!! Times sure do change! Braden W. is pleading with his girlfriend Avery not to leave him in one of the pictures. Braden's parents are fellow Red Raiders and Pete even knew them before we moved here. Braden's daddy even came to our wedding so many years ago! Our amazing friend Christie is holding Miss Avery in the other picture. I'm not sure what I would have done without Christie over the years. I could not ask for a truer friend. She has always been there for us and we appreciate you so much!!




I have waited and waited for my best friend Shawnie to be DONE with the military and move back here! AFter all those years of waiting she finally did . . . and only lived 45 minutes away from me! I wish that we had taken advantage of that more often but that is what happens when she has 3 kiddos and I have 2! Shawnie you are awesome . . .I know I'll be seeing you in Houston alot! You have been such a good friend since we were in 10th grade!! YIKES!! Watch out for us (those 30 year olds) next year in Vegas! The pictures below are of Shawnie, her son, Matthew, and her twin girls, Lorelei and Aeoife! I think Pete found his new girlfriend with Miss Lorelei!



Connie . . . where do I even begin. You and Johnny have been not only amazing neighbors but have become part of our family. I promise to bring Avery and Pete to visit so that you can see "your" babies!!!


Here comes trouble! In two years, the girls from my girl's night went from zero kids to FIVE kiddos!! Whoa! Thank you girls for giving me an excuse to get out of the house every once in awhile and enjoy a fabulous martini!! As the kids began coming, the girl's nights slowed down . . .but I still want to thank ya'll for your wonderful friendship!! The pictures below are of 4 out of the 5 kiddos (Julie was at camp!) These are the kiddos from the Class of 2026! Braden was born in November, Avery and Pete in December, and Mark in May!

Under contract

Well, Pete says I'm testing fate by already writing about this but . . . our house is UNDER CONTRACT! We just signed the paper work a little while ago. Our house went on the market on Friday, the buyers came Sat. night and by Monday morning we had reached our agreement! We can not believe that is has gone so fast. We thought for sure in this market it would take a few months! So, now we are really feeling confident about our move! Please, Please keep good thoughts coming our way so that this house really closes on Aug. 4th!!!

The "For Sale" sign is in the front yard

Well, we finally decided to do it. We are moving to Houston. WOW! We have really made a life here in Denton for the past five years, so to think about leaving is really scary and at the same time it is really exciting to get back to our hometown. We have made some of the best friends here and people we feel like are our family. It's going to be hard to say goodbye. I'm not sure how the babies feel about it! It sounds silly but I'm super sad to leave our pediatrician. She was there during the night while I was in labor and then she was there when the babies were born. I saw my OB yesterday and I was so upset to tell him we were leaving - I have a history with all these people!! I can't even imagine packing up the nursery . . .but luckily I don't have to think about that yet - we have some time until our house here sells! We love our house here, and our neighbors . . . I'm not sure you could find a better neighborhood or better people anywhere.

I can still smell the sunscreen

We made it back late last night from our trip to Port Aransas to visit with Pete's family. This was our 10th annual family trip to the beach! Ten years ago it was ALOT different - only one little baby (David - 10 years old now!) and this year there were THREE babies (Avery, Pete, and Kylynn)! Plus there was Avalynn (2 years old) and the other set of twins in our family: Justin and Jon (8 years old)!

Avery and Pete spent the whole week looking cute, smiling for Grandma and Grandpa and had a blast! They seemed to really enjoy the beach and smiled alot. In all of the water pictures you will notice that they are both looking down at the water constantly . . .they couldn't quite figure it out! Avery did not like her bathing suit so she went naked most of the time!! She would cry and cry until I would take it off her (we are hoping this is a trait that doesn't continue later in life! hee hee) Little Pete really liked to nap on the shore and watch everyone and everything.


Little Dave, Jon, and Justin took such good care of the babies. The played with them, helped feed them, and kept them smiling! They are such special boys and loved on my kiddos so much! The three babies looked like triplets and liked to smile and coo at each other. I was afraid that today we were going to go through "holding" withdrawls but both babies seem to be doing great! All the cousins: David, Justin, Avalynn, Jon, Avery, Kylynn, Pete III

Our beach vacation PREVIEW!!

I'm up late with a little insomia - downloading pictures from our beach vaca with Pete's family. More pictures to come later - this was just my favorite!

Happy Daddy Day!

It's a special day today for Pete . . .it's his first Father's Day! I pulled him in here a minute ago to look at the pictures of the day that he became a father! He did so good taking care of me all day and night while I was in labor, and then he did such a great job taking care of the babies after they were born. He was the first to do the diapers and had to teach me how later!! He surprises me everyday with how much he loves our kids and how much they love him back!


Pete with his first born: Miss Avery Grace
12/13/07 6:11 a.m.


Pete and his little boy: Pete!
12/13/07 7:27 a.m.


These are two of my favorite pictures. The first one is while we were in hospital and the second is the day after we got home.

Our six month photo shoot

We went yesterday to get our pictures taken for our 6 month birthday! The babies did SO good! I always have to worry about Pete and pictures but he just smiled and smiled! These are definitely our best pictures yet. I'm so glad to have some really good ones of the babies together, because at home its really difficult to take them!

Our six month stats:
Pete - 17 lbs. 26 1/2 in.
Avery - 13 lbs. 24 3/4 in.

My first twenty-nine years

(Notice the outfit - all courtesy of my hubby. Shirt, shoes, pants and purse . . . shocked aren't you! I know I was impressed!)


Wow, I can't believe that this is the first day of my last year of my twenties! When I was younger I couldn't even envision 29 and then thrity and look, here I am! So this has definitely been my most eventful year yet! What a difference a year can make. Last year at this time Pete and I had rushed to the emergency room, fearing the worst, only to have our prayers answered when we saw those two beating hearts and two bouncy babies on that sonogram machine! Last year on my birthday, I was having to take it easy and have a modified bed rest at home! Last year on my birthday, we decided that I was going to quit my teaching job and spend my time working to form two human beings!!! hee hee So to say that this past year of my life has been eventful would be a complete understatement! I was asked this morning a few times if I felt older . . .and the answer was: YES! Every part of my body feels older, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

Pete outdid himself for this birthday. We did something tonight that I never have done in my first 29 years . . . we had sushi! The last time we went to eat sushi, I was pregnant and therefore couldn't eat any. So, this time I ate, ate, ate! You might think "raw fish - yucky" but it was SO amazingly good! I was the first to doubt it and the first to stand corrected! So, some pictures are included to mark the occasion!

Also, I just wanted to say thank you to all the people who called and emailed to wish me a happy birthday. I didn't realize how many people were checking out this blog, but I am overwhelmed to find out how many of you "keep up" with us through it!! It's tough to live so far away from so many people we love and care about, but the internet sure makes it easier!

So, yeah, I had a great birthday and I can't wait until next year!!