more gram time

of course when coleman decided to come visit, my mom had to come "help him finish driving home".  we all know she wanted to come see mae.  and we are perfectly fine with that!

mae loves her gram, and started saying "gam" by the end of the trip.

mae is learning to smile for pictures.  sometimes she says cheese, but she usually doesn't look at the camera when she says it.

 we made a trip to the all abilities park.  we love this park!  it's so much fun, and there's so much to do.  this little girl is becoming quite the little monkey.  climbing and hanging on everything,

 and she has a new found love of swinging.  she'll put her arms up and throw her head back, quite the dare-devil.  love her.

going to the park is a pretty frequent activity around these parts.  i've gotta get all that energy out of her somehow!  i think i've gone to almost all of the parks in pflugerville.

 she loves her "gam".  i love this picture of them. 

 having her milk with gam

 so, i've been itching for a project.  and i have yet to convince cody to let me paint.  meanwhile, i'd noticed that the paint on our patio chairs was starting to chip.  so, with the "encouragement" from my mom we decided to paint those suckers. (she lives vicariously through me by doing things like this).
here's a before picture.

 mom and i did the taping, and coleman did the spray painting.

 i think they turned out pretty darn good.  it was a fun project, and it adds some fun color to the backyard.

so much fun to have mom come visit.  it's always really hard for me when she leaves, but this time i didn't cry (coleman you owe me a soda).  because the countdown for the beach and our month long trip to the VA is on!!

uncle coleman

 coleman came to visit us! he drove through austin on his way back to virginia from school. (okay, so austin isn't en route to virginia from provo, more like 1,000 miles out of the way.)  we were so glad to have him, and we had such a great time.  mae especially loved having someone else to play with, and cody enjoyed having another guy around!

we played with blocks

 and watched shows

 

coleman was here for his birthday, so we had a lot of fun celebrating.  he and cody went to san antonio one night to see one of the spurs playoff games.  and per coleman's request we went to get some good ole' texas bbq.  he did some research and found this place...

  

so, i'm not the biggest bbq fan, i mean, i'll eat it every once and a while, but not something that is normally on my radar in terms of food. but OH. MY. GOSH.  this place was so good.  seriously, i could eat their ribs or brisket a few times a week and not get tired of it.  it was like fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, make you forget you're eating in the sweltering heat kind of good.

mae enjoyed my ribs as much as i did.

and wherever coleman was, she wanted to be.  she started saying his name by the end of his trip.  i think that's the best birthday present!

 

obligatory birthday wreath picture!

 mother's day was the same day as coleman's birthday.  we had a great mother's day/ birthday!

 i think mae wore coleman out.

 of course we spent some time at the lake.  this is becoming mae's favorite place...that's my girl!

we're so glad that coleman could come and stay with us!  we had so much fun with him.  and it was so fun to see his relationship with mae grow.  i love seeing her develop close, fun relationships with her aunts and uncles like i have with mine!

some mom's i know

i know some pretty amazing mom's.  i can't count the women in my life who have had an impact.  but, i wanted to take a minute to thank a few of the very important ones.

first off is my mama.  i'm not sure i can ever express how much she means to me.  as i've become a mom myself, i've grown so close to her.  she is my friend, confidant, support system, cheerleader, and biggest fan.  i love her so much, and am so grateful for her.

i always tell cody one of the things that made me love him even more was his family.  his mom is an amazing woman.  she welcomed me into their family with open arms, and made me feel like one of her own daughters.  i'm so blessed to have her in my life.  and i'm so grateful for the wonderful son she raised to become my husband.

i'm blessed to have two amazing grandmothers.  they are so loving, accepting, sweet, strong and kind.  i'm so grateful to them for raising amazing children.

 bom is one of the sweetest, understanding people that i know.

 

oma is a strong, valiant example to me.  she is quick to serve, and is always there when you need her.

 cody's grandmother is such a sweet woman.  i'm grateful for the time i've had to get to know her, she is so loving and fun.

i never got the chance to meet grandma joey in this life, but i know she was an amazing woman, and i know that she loved all of her children and grandchildren.  i'm so grateful for eternal families and to know that i will meet her one day.

i have some pretty awesome aunts.  and i've been blessed to be able to develop a personal relationship with each of them.  what a wonderful influence they have each been in my life.

my aunt pam is one of the most kind-hearted, loving people you will ever meet.

 

aunt virginia is so kind and dedicated.

aunt paris is always there when you need someone.

 aunt mary is so fun and always willing to help.

 

bev may not have been a mother, but she was like one to me.  i'm so grateful for her.  and even though mae didn't know her in this life, i know bev watched over her before she came to us.

cody's aunt marci is a wonderful, smart and giving person.

 

she's a mom to her fur-child, and will be an amazing mom one day.  i'm so blessed that my brother married my best friend, and i have this lady in my life forever

 

my sister-in-law katherine is a strong, valiant woman, and a wonderful mom.

 

i've gotten to know brittany better these past few months, and i love her so much.  she is a fun mom, and a sweet and caring friend.

i hit the jackpot with sisters-in-law.  bre is an awesome mom.  she is so easy to talk to, and so fun.  i'm grateful we live closer to her!

 

this lady might not be a mom yet either, but she will be an amazing one.  i've learned so much from her, and am grateful for the example she is!

mother's day is such a wonderful chance for me to reflect on the women in my life.  i'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such powerful influences in my life.  i know that i'm who i am today because of these women, and i'm grateful that mae has their examples to look up to.

the not-so-thrilling life

i didn't really want to blog this week.  not that much has happened since i last blogged, and i felt like i could do something more useful with my time.  but, it kept nagging at me!  it's not that i don't like to blog, i really enjoy it.  i guess i've felt like each post needs to be jam packed with good stuff, and to be honest my days/weeks are anything but jam packed with exciting things.  as i thought about it, i realized this is like my journal, and is something mae and our future children can look back on and read, and that's really important to me.  so even if my posts aren't thrilling, i think we'll enjoy reading them together one day, and i'm glad that i will be able to leave a little piece of me.

okay, now for the not-so-thrilling life of maley and mae.

this girl is getting some serious sass.  we're in full blown toddler-dom now.  you know all the norms; meltdowns of epic proportions over things such as the wrong cup at breakfast, tantrums when mom wont let us throw rocks at other people.  all that fun stuff.  luckily, we don't see that side of her all that much. and when we do, it makes me want to say...i'm sorry mom! thank you for letting me live!

 

last week was our last gymnastics class.  and i have to say we will be back in class in the fall! she learned so much and had so much fun, i'm so glad that we did it.  anyways, they had a little medal "ceremony" at the end and the kids all got these cute little medals.  

 

she loves it, and still wears it around all over.

it's hard work something trying to keep this munchkin occupied.  so for easter, the easter bunny brought her some color fizzes that you can use to color water.  so, we did that as an activity one day last week.

then we made some goop with the colored water and cornstarch.  (note to self, if i ever do that part again, put a tarp down, some pieces still wont come out of the grass)

i think playing with the goop was her favorite part.  it was fun to watch her play with it, except when she decided to throw some at me.  we're always looking for different fun activities to do outside, so i'm glad that we got to do this.  it might be awhile before we do it again...so messy.

this week we went to check out some fountains over in round rock.  they were way fun.  she just had fun filling up one bucket, and then moving the water to her other bucket...whatever keeps her busy right?

 

when mae was born, she had a heart murmur that never cleared up, so that first week they sent us to a pediatric cardiologist.  they had to do an ekg, and an ultrasound on her, and when they were done they said that the leaflets on her pulmonary valve were long, which affects the blood flow.  the doctor said it was something we needed to continue to monitor, and that eventually she would need to have surgery on it.  whether that was in 6 months, 6 years, or 60 years he wasn't certain, just that we would have to have regular visits to keep an eye on it.

last week we had her check up with the cardiologist and they ran all the tests they normally do.  the doctor came back and told us she could barely hear the murmur anymore, and that pretty much her heart had grown into the leaflets, so they weren't slowing down her blood flow.  a tiny miracle. because she is so active, her heart grew.  so, as hard as it can be to keep up with her, it is ultimately what made her better.  

this was such a testimony builder to me and a reminder that Heavenly Father knows us individually, and He does hear us. and that He might not take our burdens away, but He will strengthen us.

#tbt

i haven't done a throwback post in a while, so i figured i would do one.  that, and it hasn't been a very exciting week for us around here. 

this is one of my favorite pictures of cody.  i love it because i can see the love that he has for music, and the joy that it brings him.  and because, if you meet him, you would never guess that he has this amazing talent.  

 sweet little mae....where has the time gone?!

 oh yes, the senior pictures.  such an awkward pose!