family!

we made the trip to houston this weekend to see cody's brothers and sister and their families.  it was so much fun.  i love them all so much, and continue to count my blessings to have married into such an awesome family.  it was our niece tessa's birthday party, and there were tons of kids, it was a blast.  i loved having parties with my cousins growing up, and i'm so glad that we love close enough that mae will be able to have that as well.

grandma karen had all 12 of her grandkids together for the first time!
mae did not want to sit for the picture, nor did she really want to look at the camera.  brittany actually got some good pictures.

 this was the best i could get...

 mae was in little people heaven.  she loves other kids. i'm so glad she got to meet all of her cousins!
 i'm pretty sure her favorite part was sitting in this little chair...

 and breann.  she is mae's new favorite person. mae just wanted to sit with her, or be near her. it was really cute.

it made me so happy to see everyone!  and having made the trip, and knowing that they aren't that far from me has helped make the move a little easier.  and makes me excited to be able to go down and see them more often!


mae has become very opinionated, even though she can't talk very much.  the other morning she was trying so hard to get these tights on her head, and whenever i tried to take them off she threw a fit.  so, she wore tights on her head all morning.

 

tantrums have become part of our daily lives around here.  some days they are worse than others.  everyone who has had a toddler before i'm sure can relate.  here are a few live action shots.

there's a reason toddlers are so cute...

we had a rainy and cold weekend, so we were super excited to be able to spend the day outside yesterday!  we had fun down by the lake, mae was chasing ducks all over the place.  and almost fell into the lake chasing them...good thing i have cat like reflexes.  we love to be outside, and we love that we live on this lake!

more ear infections

 little lady had a cold for a while, and finally i decided to take her to the doctor.  i was holding off because i hadn't had the chance to really look for a pediatrician, so i spent sunday asking people at church and doing some research online.  i was nervous because i absolutely loved our pediatrician in virginia. luckily for us, i found a great one.  and yes, mae has another ear infection. so they put her on super anti-biotics.  usually mae is a good medicine taker, not so much with this stuff.  it's a fight to get it down. ugh.

we have had some cold weather, so we haven't been able to be outside as much as we would like.  but we've spent as much time outside as we can.  she loves exploring.

 

this girl cracks me up.  we have some pretty awesome toys. but things she always gravitates to are travel size bottles of things, tupperware, wash cloths, and this box.  if she isn't being pulled in it, she is pulling her dolls in it.

one thing that make me so happy is when mae sees her daddy.  seeing her reaction when he gets home, or when he walks in her room, makes being here so worth everything.  i missed seeing her with him while we were apart. 

 

 mae isn't the only one getting new stuff.  mama got a new toy!  at the beach we rented bikes and a trailer for mae, and she and i loved them so much, i've been wanting one since then.  cody's so sweet and put some money aside for me to be able to get a bike and a trailer for mae.  and here she is...it's a schwinn.  the admiral.  i've nick named her bad addie.  i did not waste any time taking that baby out for a spin.

 mae loved it.  i think she likes the wind in her hair.  heck i wouldn't mind someone pulling me around in what can only be described as a mini chariot.  (in this picture she is looking for the piece of cookie that she dropped.)

we took a ride around the lake.  i won't get tired of this view anytime soon.

 of course we had to take a pit stop and play on the "beach"

 

loves the beach and water...just like her mama.

we're settling in, this week was harder for me dealing with a sick little lady, and being a little homesick.  but, i'm trying to catch myself whenever i think that and remind myself that i need to try to make this my home.  hopefully i'll be able to convince myself!

we finally have internet!

well, i can finally post because we just got the internet set up yesterday afternoon.  it's a long story, but in the end we have internet!

what a busy week we've had!  last friday we closed on our house.  we are home owners in texas.  after closing we headed over to the house. 

 mae has a few favorite spots, but one that she is loving is the balcony off the second floor.  she loves to be out there.

she has spent way too much time in the car the past two weeks exploring with me. i've figured my way around for the most part.  it's silly, but i get excited when i figure out a new way to get somewhere, or find a new route i want to try.  i'm doing my best to make myself comfortable here! mae has been a trooper.  this is the face i get most of the time when i turn around and look at her.

in the apartment, mae had this awesome ledge to line up all of her toys, which has become a new thing for her.

 

but my favorite new thing that she does is sing and dance with her stuffed animals.  it is so hilariously adorable.  here she is singing to her puppy "rufus" (her cousin rufus got it for her so she wouldn't forget him!)

 i think whenever someone moves there is an obligatory trip to Ikea.  and we did not break the mold.  we stocked up.  and i'm sure we will be back before long.  here is mae's new dresser, which i put together myself thank you very much.  ( i will not disclose how long it took me, or how frustrated i got.) i'm starting to regret getting because it is way too easy for her to open and pull all of her clothes out of. this is what she does multiple times a day.  i have yet to find the amusement in it...

 

it's been like christmas around here for mae.  tons of "new" toys to play with.  she didn't really get to play with many of her christmas toys because we packed them up, but she has sure had a chance to play with them now!

one toy that is new is her castle tent.  she loves this thing.  she likes to go in there with the ipad.  and mommy likes to go in there too.  the stuff they have for kids these days is pretty awesome.  thank you Ikea.  actually, as i sit here typing, i'm looking around and realizing that more than half of our furniture is from Ikea.  maybe one day we'll be able to afford furniture we won't have to put together ourselves! (i can hear cody saying "where's the fun in that")

 "new"toys.  she has seriously gone miles around our house with this stroller.  and no, she will not push anything in the stroller.  it needs to be an empty stroller.

  we have met quite a few people in our new ward.  and there are a good number that live in our subdivision.  2 more weeks and then it's hello nursery for this little lady!

one thing i am definitely loving is that we can afford to sign mae up for classes.  i signed her up for her first gymnastics class.  our first class was yesterday.  it's awesome. they teach some really great stuff, and she's learning to take turns, and actually play with other kids without tackling them. she was pretty sad when  it was time to leave. 

we are loving our house.  and still in the process of unpacking and figuring out where we want everything to go.  we've had some wet, chilly days, so it's been good unpacking weather.  now that it's clearing up, mae and i are headed outside, which is where we love to be!!

Hello Pflugerville

that's right, pflugerville.  that is for reals the name of our new town.  love it.


mae is starting to get into baby dolls.  she loves playing with kasee's old dolls at grandma's house.  and she likes to put their clothes on her.  if you look at her toes, she has the baby's shoes on her feet.

all i'm going to say about the airplane ride is it was hard. it made me consider never flying again with a toddler.  this is the best and most still she was during the whole flight.  but we made it.

 

she was so excited to see daddy when we made it to austin!

 

sunday was a super early morning for us, so we took a drive to see our new house, and take a walk around the lake. the lake is seriously a block from our house, we're so excited about that. there's an awesome trail around it, and cody plans on getting his fishing license so he can go fishing. it's so peaceful out by the lake.  we loved it.

 

especially mae. 

the new ward was so friendly, and we met lots of people.  it's so wonderful to have an instant support group when you move.  and to know that no matter where you go, the gospel is the same.

mae and i have spent the last two days exploring the area, just trying to figure out where everything is.  one thing i love already...how they spell things.  it's not the farmers market in pflugerville, it's the pfarmers market.  i can't get over it.

taking a nap on one of our adventures.

 

when they say things are bigger in texas, they aren't lying.  homegirl's hair has gone from crazy to big and crazy.  it seriously has poofed out like 2 inches.  this picture doesn't do it justice.

we plan on spending this week while we're still in the apartment checking out all the stuff around us, and trying to figure out where everything is.  and on friday, we close on our house!

i'm excited to be able to share all of our adventures with this blog.

snowchi

a little play on the olympics and massive snow storm we had last week.  speaking of the olympics, i've never really enjoyed the winter olympics that much, but this year i have been totally obsessed!

well, it looks like mae and i had our last snow storm of the season.  we're headed to austin on saturday...3 days!  a lot of people have asked me how i feel, and i really don't know how to answer.  i'm so ready to be done with this move, and to be in my own home. and i'm so excited to finally be with cody.  and to be honest, very excited about 70 degree weather.  but, at the same time i struggle to keep it together.  this is really the only home i've known.  and when cody and i got married and both our families were here, and our jobs were here, i just figured this is where we would stay.  funny how life happens.  there are so many amazing memories here, and i'm going to miss our families so much.  but, i'm really excited to start this new adventure. 

back to the snow storm. 18 inches!! we spent a lot of time outside shoveling...we even shoveled the pool cover. (you're welcome dad.)  and mae of course had a ball because she was outside.  her new word is stuck.  and because the snow was seriously almost up to her shoulders, i heard "stuck, stuck, stuck" quite a few times. 

the next day it was warm and sunny, so crazy!

this girl is going to love austin.  she'll be able to be outside so much!

we got to skype with uncle coleman during the snow storm.  mae loves anything and everything that has to do with an electronic device.  she was even trying to give coleman some of her lunch through the phone.

 

we're getting ready for the flight to austin by using headphones during ipad time.  she's pretty good with them.  i'm driving myself crazy about the flight.  i'm stressing so much about flying with her.  it's not a very long flight, and she's such a good kid, that i'm hoping for the best. 

she's been a little grumpy and clingy lately, and when my mom was watching her, she was pulling on her ears.  so, we went to the  doctor...double ear infection.  hopefully that'll clear up before our flight!

 

love to virginia...my next post will be from austin!!

empty house

well, everything is packed and shipped out.  the movers came yesterday and got all of our stuff.  last night i was talking to my parents, and my dad made a comment of how i've had to do a lot of grown up stuff the past few weeks. 
these past few weeks have been really challenging, but i can tell that i've grown from this experience.  we're officially in countdown mode...10 days until mae and i fly outta here.  i'm trying not to get sad, so instead i'm focusing on the exciting things i have to look forward to once we get to austin.

mae kind of has a routine of what she does at my parents house.  we usually spend time in the piano room every morning.  this was taken right before she stood up on the bench and had a major fall.

my brothers can't grow much facial hair.  so when mae was eating lunch one day, and looked up at me with a sweet fruit mustache, i had to snap a pic and send it to my brothers...she has more of a mustache in this pic than any of them could ever grow.

 she also has a routine in the mornings.  when we first wake up, i work out and she plays.  this is how i found her the other morning.

 my parents took a trip to florida last weekend (ugh, don't even ask how jealous i was, and still am because they are tan).  so, we had mattie, erich and rufus come for some sleep overs...my parent's house scares me a little when i'm alone a night.  mae had a great time.  she loved her new playmates and all the attention she got.  poor rufus put up with a lot.  she chased him around, tried to sit on him, ride him, pick him up, you name it.  he was a champ.

mae's new favorite spot in the house...

 my parents were having some work done on the house.  and whenever the workers came they put these tarps down.  mae was fascinated by them.

 we called them "mae's catwalk".  she strutted her stuff up and down those tarps.

 we've spent lots of time with grandma.  mae loves aunt kasee's old baby doll.  karen got out the stroller for mae to push her doll in.  we put the doll in and she tossed her out and climbed right in, she was not about to miss out on a ride!

 precious moments with gram and gramps...

i could not have made it these past few weeks without all the help from my family and cody's family!  we're so blessed to have such an amazing family. 

week four without cody

we're headed into week four of being in a different state than cody.  including this week, we've got three more to go.  the past few days mae has given me a run for my money.  seriously, if we were keeping score it would probably look similar to the score of the super bowl.  mae: 43, mommy: 8.  it's a good thing she's cute.

one of my goals this year was to run/walk 1,000 miles.  that averages out to almost 3 miles a day.  for the month of january I did 97.35 miles, on track to finish 1,000 by december.  hopefully i'll be able to keep that up!  another goal i had was to read the bible...cover to cover.  i've read the new testament plenty of times, the old testament...not so much.  i've heard some scary things about the book of numbers...and it's looming right around the corner.  i'm hoping i'll just plow right through it.

here is what we've done the past week...

it cracks me up when she picks up the remote and points it at the tv

of course we went to story time, and we danced with scarves,

 we experienced amazing bed head. 

 speaking of hair, girlfriend's hair is getting a little out of control.  it's getting super full and long.  but instead of growing down, it's growing out.  her little flips just go farther and farther out from her head.  it actually matches her personality to a T...a little crazy.

we put a blanket on her play house, and she loved it.  it's funny how adding a blanket to the top made it a whole new experience.

i decided to get a little crazy and make some play dough.  i thought about only doing half the recipe, but my mom was like just do all of it.  well, i did.  it made a massive amount of play dough.  so, if you want some play dough, i'm happy to give you some.  although, i'll warn you, it's kind of an ugly color.  that's what i get for mixing a few different colors together.

cody is still loving austin.  his job is challenging, and he's still getting the hang of it.  but, it sounds like he is really enjoying it.

the tow truck came today to take our other car to austin, it's getting even more real! (as if putting our house on the market, living with my parents, cody being gone, and buying a house down there didn't make it real enough.)