Catching Up!

Life seems to go by way too fast these days! Brindle turned 5 months a couple weeks ago and I can't believe it. I'm going to be astonished when she turns 6 months. That seems like such a big girl!

Recent milestones include rolling over and over the second we put her on the floor, finding her toes, getting really good with hand-eye coordination, actually liking tummy time for a few minutes, singing all the time (sometimes it sounds more like a Tarzan yell actually), and sleeping longer through the night without eating. She's going about 7 hours now! We had a rough couple months of sleep deprivation all of a sudden so we're hoping this will last. She wasn't crying, just wanted us to put her pacifier back in every hour!

Thankfully our little friend Eli has been giving Zeb some extra play time as he is no longer the baby of the family and trying to get used to it ;)

Happy Easter!

We had a really great and laid back Easter at home. After church, we ate a church potluck lunch (my favorite) and had an Easter egg hunt for all the kids in the yard. We are so thankful for all the kids at our church these days! We took several pictures but of course, I have none of them. Gotta get someone to send one to me.

Recently, Kanyon and I have joined a small group in Lamesa and I have joined a reunion group. Kanyon was already part of one but I hadn't yet joined one. (A reunion group is a Walk to Emmaus' small group - men's or women's - if you don't know what Walk to Emmaus is, basically I joined a women's accountability group.) We have loved it! It makes for a busy end of the week with Kanyon going to his men's group on Thursday morning, us going to our small group on Thursday night, and then Brindle and I going to my group on Friday morning. The best part is that there is a lot of overlap in who is in our groups so we are getting to be even closer to several people.

Ainsley and Brindle having girl time at Reunion Group.

The weekend after Easter, Kanyon and I had our friends Tyler and Lauren out for dinner. I love that we are still close to most of our college group. And Brindle being the first baby in the group is making her spoiled with everyone's attention :)

Brindle is such a sweet and happy girl. I get told at least once a day that she is the smiliest baby someone has ever seen! She'll make anyone feel extra special. Kanyon and I enjoy being her parents so much.

Last weekend, we packed up the car and headed to Granbury for Kanyon's cousin Derek's wedding! I was busy with nieces and nephews the whole time so I didn't get any pictures but it was a beautiful ceremony and reception. Kanyon's aunt Rhnea decorated it and it was stunning! 

Before the wedding, since we had some of the family together, we had a first birthday party for Krae! 

Brindle and Papa Brown

The wedding was an afternoon wedding so we headed half-way home and stayed in Abilene Saturday night to see several friends. 

One of the families we needed to see was the Albus family. If you are familiar with Abilene, you know they own 5D Hats and Leather, where Kanyon worked in college. You probably also know that their shop burned down last fall. It was devastating. Most everything was lost including non-replacable equipment. Saturday night, we met the whole family at the new shop and it is coming along great! They are operational now and are about to start renovations. We are so relieved and excited for them! They were also excited to meet Brindle for the first time.

We stayed with our friends Shelly and Colby and got to see Bryan and Rachel Levrets for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Then we ran by Paige's shop to catch her for a little bit. Brindle got lots of great gifts from her and obviously loved her new bow:

And last but not least, we stopped by to see our friends Kelly and Brandon who had a baby boy, Hudson, a month before Brindle was born and I'd been wanting to meet him so bad!

It was great to see them and catch up a little bit. Brindle was happy to meet Hudson!

Well, Mom is on her way to Welch right now and we are packing up the car again and Brindle, Mom, and I are heading to Denver to go visit my brother tomorrow morning! I am so excited. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and lots to post about!

I also still need to blog about our recent house projects... I'll do that soon!

Backyard Plans

I have so much to share and no blog posts to show for it!

Kanyon and I are almost always working on something in our house. And the "Our Home" page on this blog is so behind. I'll make that a priority next week - a lot has changed! I've learned that it takes us a while to finish projects, though. I started chronicling the renovation of Kanyon's shop and our laundry room and Brindle's nursery and never posted finished pictures! Well that's because the nursery is the only thing out of those three actually finished. BUT Kanyon is finishing up the laundry room as we speak (....type? ... read?)!!! I'm so excited about how it is turning out, over a year later! Its inspiring me to finish out his shop, too, although I think he's finally got it through my head that its not going to be a "pretty" part of our home. Its his shop and thats it. There's just a couple cosmetic things left to do but those are always the parts that take the longest for me. I get lots of steam going to start a room and then towards the end, I lose it and it takes forever to get done!

We are also making plans to finally start work on our backyard. It is the only part of the "Our Home" page that is still accurate. Its just a blank slate. A big one that we get a little overwhelmed when we think about starting. But we feel a little more need now that we will have an 18 month old next summer. This summer, she won't be running around in it yet.

We plan on building a deck, trying again to grow grass (this drought has killed all of Kanyon's efforts), putting up a tree swing, and making a little fire pit area (got the fire pit, just need a couple chairs and a way to designate the spot). Future plans are to landscape some more, maybe have a garden (with my Aunt Rhnea's help... right, Aunt 'Nea?), have a play area for Brindle... Its such a big area that there could be so much done with it.

 This picture is old - Kanyon has replaced the roof, the trim, and the door of his shop.

..... And I gave up trying to spray paint those chairs. They're gone. Spray painting is not my strength.

The deck will extend from the back door (replacing that cement porch). We have a very nice grill that was a graduation gift to Kanyon from my parents that we want to have in view (we keep it in the outdoor closet seen in the top picture to keep it from the elements) and hopefully a dining area? The fire pit is going to be next to the tree. Something simple like this (I think I've already shared this picture on my blog...) with gravel.

This picture is an inspiration for me...

I love how the different areas are designated in the backyard and you don't have to have grass everywhere - especially since a yard is so hard to keep here. There also isn't a lot of flowers and plants to tend to. I love the look of flowers and color but have to be honest with myself that I kill everything I plant - simple is better. I just want to have a backyard that me and my family spend a lot of time in.

And THIS is my dream porch - how amazing is this!??

Maybe someday when we get really rich. ;)

Well, we are heading to Houston for the rest of the week! I am so excited to spend time at my parent's house. I get so anxious for them to see Brindle! She changes so much so quickly. Have a great week!

Weekend in Houston

Kanyon and I flew down to Houston a couple weekends ago (can't believe its taken me this long to write this post) for a weekend of celebrating! We had Brindle's baby shower, Dad and Kanyon's birthdays, Dad's ordination to an elder at church, and a family friend's wedding! It was a whirlwind of a weekend and also my last weekend to travel anywhere before the due date! 

When we got there Friday night, it was after a long day of work and racing to Midland to catch our flight, and the flight itself. Mom made a really great dinner, of course, and invited some of my favorite people over - Kalum and Ashley. I don't have a single picture of that night because it was something we do all the time but I wish I did. Plus I was pooped. A recurring theme these days.

Saturday, Mom had booked me a pregnancy massage. Oh my goodness. It was so wonderful. If you live in Houston and need a great massage, please ask my mom or dad who they use because she is awesome. One of the best massages I've ever had. I'm even thinking about continuing to get the pregnancy massage when I'm not even pregnant because it felt so good. I laid on my side hugging a body pillow and thought "I don't think I've been this comfortable laying down since I've been pregnant. I have to find out where she got this pillow!" And lucky me - she gave it to me after my session! She also gave me a free quick adjustment because she is in chiropractic school and a massage ball to keep. Seriously can't say enough good things about that session. And the bed! Ok, I'll stop.

After that, it was home to hang out with my best friend Rachel who lives in Houston, too, and get ready for my baby shower!

My baby shower was at Starla's house, a close family friend and was hosted by several awesome ladies I love. I'll let the pictures show the decorations... because I'm too tired to think too much right now.

The decorations were so pretty - a burlap and lace theme with lots of pink! I stole one of the mason jar candles to put in Brindle's room back home.

My hostesses were Starla Jones, Susan Hayes, LeAnne Robbins, Diana Wisdom, Ashley Tuggle, Jolene Curtis, and Robin Mitchell (who was not able to make it to the shower itself). All these women are very special to me!

And of course, a shot with the Nana and Grandma (at least thats what we think Mom will be called...)

And then I got showered with so many gifts, it was unbelievable. People have been so generous to me and Kanyon! Rachel helped me out by writing down all of the gifts and their givers.

I had two wonderful helpers in my nieces, Ava and Micah, for opening all the presents :) There were so many people at the shower, too, I couldn't believe it!

Diana holding my nephew, Preston, who is clearly just chillin. 

And all the presents on the table afterwards... somehow we managed (when I say we, I mean not including me...) to fit them all in my sister-in-law's car for Vaughn to drive back to Welch.

It was such a great shower and I can't tell you how grateful I am to have so many people want to give Brindle and Kanyon and I gifts. It is so humbling. 

After the shower, Kyla and my nieces and nephew came over to my mom's house because I was still needing to spend some time with them! And Kanyon hadn't gotten to see them at all. Kanyon chased the girls around the house while I was lazy on the couch snuggling with Preston.

That night, we went to dinner for Kanyon and Dad's birthday at Pappa's Seafood and had Mom's chocolate sheet cake - the best cake ever made. We all have her make it for our birthdays. Among other things, Kanyon got some hunting gear and Dad got some ammo for his new gun so we had a theme this year for their birthday.

Sunday morning, we were very honored to stand up front with my dad and mom and the other families of the elders being ordained. Mom and Dad's minister, Mark, did a great job with the ceremony. After church, we had a quick lunch with Rachel and then headed to the wedding across town.

Carli and I grew up together and she married a great guy who I knew back in high school, as well. They didn't know each other until her brother married his cousin last year! It was a beautiful and fun wedding!

The next morning, we caught an early flight out to Midland and I was back at work by 1:00! Like I said - a whirlwind of a weekend!

Mother/Daughter Trip

Mom and I took our annual Mother-Daughter Trip a little early this year. We usually take it during harvest when Kanyon won't notice that I'm gone because he's so busy. But this year, harvest time is right around my due date! I also get Friday afternoons off in the summer so going in July would allow me a little more time.

I think this year's place was our favorite so far. We went to Cloudcroft, NM, the first year and stayed in a teeny cabin. I seriously don't think I would have been able to take a shower while pregnant in their bathroom, it was so small. The next year, we stayed in Fredericksburg at a bed and breakfast. We loved the b&b and all the shopping. But this year, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country. The pool, the spa, the food, all of it was so great and I think just what we had in mind for these trips because it allowed us to talk and catch up almost the entire time.

We both got there a little before dinner time on Friday. We walked over to one of the restaurants and put our names down for a reservation and then walked around. It is a beautiful hotel and I couldn't wait to get in the lazy river the next day.

The restaurant was so nice and we both ate really well!

Of course, I took a picture of the food! Mom got a filet mignon and I got antelope! And it was so incredibly good.

Mom booked a pregnancy massage the next morning for me. I couldn't wait and it did not disappoint! She had a pillow form that allowed me to lay on my stomach for the first time in months. You don't realize how much you're going to miss that until you can't anymore. I had lots of knots and tension and the massage felt great. The spa had a cute farmhouse look to it. As well as a really cute gift shop that had a newborn bikini that Mom and I were really tempted to buy for Brindle!

After my massage, we went down to breakfast at the hotel cafe and stayed there just chatting for a long while before deciding to rent bicycles to ride around the property. That didn't last too long, though, because of how hot it was! We were soon in the lazy river for the next few hours!

After we'd finally had enough of the river, we got out to have a quick snack and then headed back to the room for a nap and shower before heading into San Antonio for dinner and a movie. We ended up seeing Step Up 4 (so good!) and going to an Italian restaurant, which I never get to eat! When we got back to the hotel, we decided to get back into the pool! They have an adult pool that we laid on floats in for a while before heading to bed. There was lots of activity going on at the resort, though, still. The resort is geared towards young families and has something all the time for them! They were showing Alvin and the Chipmunks on the lawn. Mom and I both agreed we should come back with my kids later.

Sunday morning, we slept in and then headed down to breakfast late before doing a little shopping in the gift shop and then checking out. Before leaving though, we went around and took a few pictures of the resort.

I'm pretty sure Mom has a couple of much better pictures of the two of us that I need to get. It was such a pretty resort and I really liked the country farmhouse theme. We got to relax and catch up the whole time. I'm ready to go back!