Leaving My Baby Girl

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I am leaving my sweet Lorelai for the first time for any extended period of time. I'm starting to get quite anxious. Not because I'm worried about Lorelai, of course, but because I'm going to miss her oh so much!

Jeremy and I are packing up tonight and leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Dallas, Texas. We are going as sponsors to SOAR, an annual youth conference put on by the BMA. I love Soar. I've been going since I was in the 7th grade. The only year I've ever missed was the year Jeremy and I got married. Since then, we have been going as sponsors with our students, and we love it! Of course, this year is a bit different. We debated about bringing Lorelai on the trip. After all, I am nursing, and I really didn't like the thought of having to switch her to formula, or even having to supliment with formula. Unfortunately, my body has decided that it may not be up for nursing for much longer, so we started suplimenting a few weeks ago. It's gone great so far, and so Lorelai will stay home during Soar.

We are taking a group of almost 100 students! I know we're going to be going like crazy, so it's best that we not add a 6 month old baby to the mix. We will be taking Lorelai to Nanny and Pappy's to spend the night tonight, since we have to load up and head out of town before 7:00 in the morning. She will stay with them until Thursday night, when D-Dar and P-Pop will pick her up and keep her until we come home Friday evening. I'm excited about our trip! But I sure am going to miss my sweet baby girl!

I really never understood why people were like this with their children. I thought I understood that they loved them and all, but I thought that it should just be super easy to leave them for short times. But what everyone says is so true...you never fully understand the monumental love that a parent has for a child until you become a parent yourself. It blows my mind how in love with this baby girl I am! Every single day, I find even more love in my heart for her. How is that even possible at this point?

The Little Things

I'm starting to realize just how fast my days with Lorelai are speeding by. She literally does something new everyday. And I love it! I love watching her grow and change. I'm fascinated by her development and the ways that she's starting to interact with her world. I am absolutely loving every second of it! And it's making me very aware of the little things around me that I am so incredibly thankful for.

Last night was the first time since Lorelai has been here that we actually sat down, as a family, and had dinner. I even tried a new recipe! Go ahead, I'll give you a minute to catch your breath after that surprise....

So we enjoyed an evening together, just the three of us, with no distractions. Lorelai played in her highchair and entertained us. We laughed a lot. It was so great!

I understand that these days are flying by, and that we won't have many more of them. I want to enjoy them while they're here. So there will be many more family dinners to come. Whether it be my cooking or Dairy Queen, I'm not picky! I want to remember the little things.

I am so inredibly thankful for the little things.

A Few New Bows

These are pictures of Lorelai in her bows that we got right before we headed to the beach. I'm hoping to get some more soon, but I thought these were blog-worthy!:) Enjoy!

I love this face!

Those dimples are so stinkin cute!

Her daddy is responsible for this picture

She is quite the poser already! I'm interested to see how big of a ham she'll be when she really starts trying:)

I Swear it was Green!

Let me start by saying that I'm thankful for law enforcement. They make a lot of sacrifices for our safety, and so do their families. Our communities wouldn't be safe without them. There...that's my disclaimer. And now here's my rant...

It's 10:00. I have Lorelai in the backseat in her pjs. We're headed home from Bible study at the North Wing. As I approach the red light on North Street to turn left onto Dudney, I find it quite strange that my light is red, and so are the lights on Dudney. I assume that someone must have been turning left from the other direction, and their light had the green arrow. So obviously I'm aware that the light is red, right? Right.

I'm slowing down to stop, when the light turns green. Awesome! I get to go home! I zip into the left turn lane and make my turn. That's when I see them. Out of nowhere, blue lights. Crap! What the heck! I can't be speeding...I just came off my brakes! Maybe a brake light is out. Yeah, that must be it. The spotlight on his car is blinding, and I literally have to duck to get away from the light in my eyes. Up walks Mr. City Cop to break the news to me. Bring it on...I'm ready.

"Ma'am, you just ran that red light."
EXCUSE ME?! I'm in total shock!
"Did I really? You've got to be kidding me!"

I hand over my stuff so he can run it in his car. While he's gone, I can't help but play back the red light over and over again. It was green! It had to be! There's no way it could change that fast! And where did you even come from anyway? You weren't behind me on North Street, so how could you even know if my light was red?

After what seems like forever, my bespeckled friend approaches my car yet again. I've been pulled over before. I've been stopped 3 other times that I remember, and I've never been given a ticket. Well, there's a first time for everything! He begins his spill about when my court date is and blah, blah, blah, but I'm not buying it. Not without an explaination. So I question him and make him explain to me exactly what I did. I want to make sure he knows that I turned left off of North Street...I didn't just roll through the red light on Dudney.

"It was green when I approached the light, sir. I'm fairly confident that I didn't run the red light when I TURNED LEFT."
"Well, ma'am, you hesitated."
...SERIOUSLY?!... This driver does NOT hesitate. But of course, you don't tell a cop that.
"Um, I hesitated? I don't understand."
"Well, by the time you decided to turn, the light had turned red."
False! That's completely incorrect.

And I can tell now that he's questioning himself. But he's already commited to writing me a ticket, and he's not gonna back down. Fine. I sign, tell him thanks, and head home. I'm mad. Really...of ALL things to get a ticket for! Pull me over for speeding, that's fine. I tend to drive fast, so I'll admit my fault, take my ticket and be on my way. I may pout because I got caught, but I won't argue with you. This, however, I just might argue. I think it may be worth the fight. This girl is not happy.

I swear that light was GREEN!

Double Date!

I just love my baby brother and his beautiful fiance! They are so much fun. I don't get to see them as much as I would like, and that makes my heart sad. But when we do get to be together, we have the best time!

Headed to dinner

Monday night of our vacation was date night. Jeremy & I and Tyler & Abbie got to head to town and just hang out. We tried Margaritaville at Pier Park, but the wait was forever long. So we headed across the way to Guy Harvey's. The food was delicious! And of course the fellowship was sweet:)

After dinner we all walked around Pier Park and shopped a bit. We enjoyed some really great ice cream from a small dessert shop, and then headed home. While we were out, Mom & Dad took Lorelai to eat at Shade's. They enjoyed showing her off:)

I love spending time with Tyler and Abbie! We always have a great time with the 2 of them. Maybe one day we'll live a little closer together and I'll get to see them a little more often! Here are a few pictures from before we left the house for the night. I love pictures:)

Me and my handsome date!

Tyler & Abbie!

More Vacation

Sunday and Monday were spent being completely lazy at the beach in the sunshine. It was fantastic! Jeremy's not a big fan of the beach, so he was glad to keep Lorelai at the house for the majority of the time. He and mom & dad took turns staying at the house with her so she wouldn't have to be in the heat for extended periods of time, but she did enjoy herself when she was at the beach!

This is how she spent most of her time at the beach

The water was absolutely beautiful Sunday and Monday! The water wasn't exactly calm on Sunday, so it was fun to swim in the waves and be a kid again:) The four of us kayaked for a little while, which was something I had never done. I enjoyed it! We tried to get Lorelai back out in the water Sunday, but it was another fail. The poor baby just wasn't a fan of the ocean! Monday was so wonderful! The water was very calm, and super clear. As we headed down to the water, Abbie spotted something swimming super close to the beach...a Manta Ray! All day Monday we got to swim with these beautiful creatures. It was amazing to be so close to something like that. I truly marvel at God's creation.

Sunday night, we all headed down to the beach for those cliche beach pictures. I think they were a success, but no one walked by to take our picture, and of course I forgot my tripod...so we never got a picture of all 7 of us! Sad day! After pictures, we trecked back up to the house for grilled chicken and steak. YUMMY! I love nights like that with my family!

Vacation!

We had the most amazing time last week on vacation! Thankfully, we went just before the oil from BP hit the beaches. My heart is broken for the Florida coast. I grew up enjoying so many wonderful vacations on those beaches. I'm so sad that Lorelai will probably not get to enjoy the same vacations as she grows up. This is going to effect the beaches for a long time, and that just breaks my heart!

So we arrived at the beach house around 1:00 a.m. Saturday. The trip was long and slow, and I was so thankful to see that little beach cottage! Lorelai traveled better than we ever could have hoped! She slept most of the way and never once cried or fussed. I was afraid she wouldn't sleep once we got her out of the carseat and into bed, but she went right to sleep. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such a chill baby!

Our first day at the beach was a success. Dad and Jeremy set up Lorelai's tent for us before they headed out to find a deep sea fishing trip, and we enjoyed a nice afternoon in the sunshine. Lo slept most of the time, which was fine with us! Mom and I got to tan, chat, and enjoy the beautiful, crystal clear water! Saturday night, the five of us headed to Boon Docks for dinner. If you ever get the chance to visit this area, you've GOT to check out this place! The 2 hour wait was more than worth it!

Toward the end of dinner, Tyler called Dad to let him know that he and Abbie had landed, so he headed to the airport to pick up the rest of the crew! We were so excited that the 2 of them were finally there with us!

Oh, the fun the 7 of us had for the next four days...