December Daily | 18

Congratulations Jadie! And Josh and Erin too! We love you so, Little Dear One, and pray that God continues grow you into the amazing woman and child of God that we already know you are and will be.

I swear I meant to take more photos during the day, but with Ben not feeling well {we left him to sleep and recover at the hotel while we went to lunch at the Carroll's} and trying to soak up every possible minute snuggling a sweet little baby boy, well, my camera was only really out during the baptism!

December Daily | 17

This morning we loaded up the Sequoia and headed down to Abilene for a little weekend getaway - partly for fun, partly for work. Jadie, our friends Josh and Erin's little girl, accepted Jesus as her Savior and is getting baptized tomorrow! To celebrate and to have a little mini-Life Group reunion before the move, the Prysocks and Lyons drove in from Dallas and we all met up at the Carroll's house for an evening of fun and fellowship...

and to enjoy the cuteness of the Little Ones!

♥

Saturday

{Just a small warning... it's a photo heavy post. And had there not been so much rain, there would have been more.}

We started the morning off trying to decide if the zoo was a bad idea due to the sprinkles that we were already recieving and the potential storm clouds we saw in the distance. But, after some coffee and "forcing" the Prysocks to drive 30 minutes out of the way to come to Starbucks, we figured we might as well go for it.

The kids {and adults} had a blast. As is evidenced by the millions of photos I took during the course of our time at the zoo.

{Jonah totally photo-bombed the pictures.}

{And, can I just interject here how much I love our friends? Because who else, but Dear Friends like ya'll, would tote a slightly cranky child around whom wasn't their own flesh and blood?!}

We left the zoo and headed to Chipolte for lunch. And, on our way home from the zoo, the rain started. And hasn't stopped since. We're grateful for the rain, but it ruined our plans for family photo shoots and dinner in Bricktown tonight. Instead, the Prysocks and I headed up to Hobby Lobby to take advantage of the perfect background {great thinking, Erin!} for a family photo for their Christmas cards:

We picked up pizzas on the way home and enjoyed a "Life Group" night in! Friends, I can't thank you enough for coming to visit. I miss you all, almost as much as I miss Ben! :D And I'm very much looking forward to seeing you all again - SOON! ♥

{And Mom and Daddy-man, as much as this makes me sound 15 years old again, thanks for letting me have my friends over! lol!}

Friends.

This afternoon, after Ellie and I picked Noah up from school, we were excited to get back home to have a visit from David, Stephanie, and Baby Jonah! Back in August when Erin and I went out to meet Jonah and visit his parents, we made plans for the Prysock's and the Carroll's to come up to OKC for a MUTEMATH concert and some friend time.

It was the first time the kids met each other. Ellie was in love. She liked sitting next to him. She liked kissing him. She especially liked showing him the picture of her Daddy on my phone.

But most of all, she just liked him. Can't say that I blame her - he's too cute!

The Prysock's left just before dinner so they could eat dinner with her family and get Jonah settled before we met up at the concert. But not long after they left, we had another set of visitors! Marlene and David were taking care of Addy this weekend, so they walked around for a little visit. Both of my kids just adore Addy!

After they left, Noah asked, "Who's coming over now, Mommy?"

♥

Baths and bedtime for the kids, and then I headed out the door to meet our friends for the MUTEMATH concert!

I was more than grateful to see my friends, listen to a new-to-me band, have some earplugs, and even enjoy part of the concert while outside in the cool air with Erin and Jadyn!

Heading Home

It was almost painful to leave this Little Man and his parents. He's just so snuggly!

But, after lunch, that's just what we had to do... we had our own kids and husbands {in person and on Skype} to get back to.

Stephanie, David, he's darling. And amazing. And I can't wait to see the big things that God is going to accomplish through him... and through you, as his parents. We love all three of you to pieces!


Also, you're lucky I didn't try to just bring him home.

And Erin, can't wait for more adventures in Maryland! ♥

Crazy Love

Erin and I stayed up late last night at the theatre watching Crazy, Stupid, Love. Highly recommend it - we laughed SO hard! And, with no children of our own with us, we slept in and it. was. awesome. We got over to David and Stephanie's just in time for lunch {Chipolte... again. It. was. awesome.} and spent the rest of the day snuggling with Jonah, talking, and just enjoying each other's company.

There might have been a ton of photos taken as well. ♥

Meeting Baby Jonah

I've been waiting for this day since November.

True story.

I have SEVERAL friends who are having babies this summer. Many of them are second-time Moms and it's fun watching and listening to them deal with some of the same issues that I dealt with when Ellie arrived... and mostly agreeing with me that going from 1 to 2 is a little more difficult that it was going from 0 to 1 {though, I'm convinced that #3 and on is a breeze}. A few of them are first-time Moms. And I'm loving watching them turn into "Mommies". Especially the ones for whom it has been a natural and easy process...

Stephanie {and David - dear friends of ours from our Life Group} had Jonah at the beginning of July and since they live in Ft. Worth, I haven't had a chance yet to see them or to meet Jonah officially. So today, Erin and I drove in from our respective cities and met up at their house to visit the new family of three.

It was all I could do to not smother the Little Guy with kisses.

I'm seriously in love.

And totally ready for Baby #3.

MMM {with the DFW crew}

Early this afternoon, some of our favorite DFW friends came into town to spend some time with us while the kids were away and before Ben deploys. It's always fun to have the Lyons and the Prysocks visit... but it's even more fun when I don't have to cook! For dinner, we took advantage of Monday Mug Madness at Cypress Street Station...

All four guys had at least one mug of Bell's Dubbel Trubbel. David got in trouble with Stephanie... so he got to take a photo with the bubble. {And, clearly, I spelt "trubbel" wrong}.

Ben and Jadyn had a staring contest... Ben says he won, Jadyn says she was the victor.


{I think she was just a little sad not to have Noah and Ellie for company.}

Overall, another good visit to Cypress Street!

Dabid and Stef-nee

We all {minus Ben, who had to go to work} hung out at the house this morning, playing and getting packed up. I wish you could have seen the looks of confusion on mine and Stephanie's faces when David came dragging Noah's "car tub" into the living room with Noah's sleeping bag stuffed in it.

It looked too flat to have anything in it... or so we thought.

That is, until Noah emerged.

Noah has definitely taken to "Dabid" and knows just what to say to get him to come play with him. I was even told, "Mommy, living room. Living room." this morning, all while the Little Monkey was pushing on my leg trying to get me to leave him and David alone to play cars and tracks.

Ellie, on the other hand, is quite taken with Miss "Stef-nee". I'm pretty sure they would have taken both kids back home if I hadn't of kept a close eye on them.

We love you guys and can't wait until we get to see you again!! ♥

Monday Mug Madness {Take Two}

Don't laugh, but we actually rearranged the Prysock's visiting weekend so that we could make sure everyone could go to Monday Mug Madness this week.

The guys, armed with their newly etched and personalized mugs, were pretty excited to go to Cypress Street Station tonight... especially since the new Red Ale beer was ready. They also managed to get on the owner's good side {by talking beer brewing and mug making} which is always a perk.

The ladies, well, lucky for me, they love to love on my kiddos.

I'm pretty sure my kiddos love them right back. ♥