All By Ourselves

This past Memorial Day weekend, a few girls from my rockin' small group at church decided to take a trip to the Frisco/Dallas, TX area.  We had to get approval from all the hubbys to make sure our children would be taken care of and surprisingly, we got the okay to go.  I was actually really surprised that we actually went.  Sometimes girls trips usually get talked about, but never happen.  Not this time!

There were 5 of us with 2 babies. We loaded up in a mini-van and headed out of town.  Once down there we hit IKEA and Sam Moon.  I could have spent all my time in both, but we only had half a day.  I was hoping to buy more accessories for my house, but didn't find as much as I thought at IKEA.

Sunday we were lazy and skipped church (don't tell anyone) and went shopping at the Allen Outlet Stores...all day.  We went the entire way around the loop of stores and shopped til we dropped.  I swore to myself that I would never buy anything from Coach because it's so expensive, but I found this little number for...$20!!!  It's a little wristlet and perfect!!  This picture just doesn't do it justice on how cute it really is.

After the outlets, we went to Home Goods/TJ Maxx.  I was thoroughly dissapointed with Home Goods.  I thought they would have way better prices and instead was just the "home" section of TJ Maxx blown up to a whole store.  So sad.

Monday we checked out of the hotel and went to the mall.  Not much shopping there though and soon we were on the road back to OKC.

We had a good time, stayed up way too late talking, got some time to bond, hated on our hotel staff who were so rude to us, didn't take any pictures and took turns with the babies.  My friend Tara and I might have even come up with a good money making idea...you'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks friends for an awesome time!  Who's in for next year?!

Part 2

Part 2 started right after Part 1 (duh) and we were on the road to Grove, OK for Justin's cousin's wedding.  It was a 3 hour ride and a perfect time for a nap.

 Stephanie was just beautiful.  I saw her walk down the aisle and then let Justin sit and enjoy it as I raced around with Haylie.  She was not about to sit still any longer.

 At the reception with Great-Grandma Cornell.

Love this girl!!

Part 1

I used to be so good at blogging - especially right after an important event happened.  Well, last Saturday we had a whirl-wind of a day and Part 1 started out with my sweet niece's 1st birthday party.  We were only there for about 15 minutes of the party because of Part 2, but we got to at least see her for a little bit!!

My sister did a phenomenal job with the party.  And delicious party favors too!

Happy 1st birthday sweet Evie (a week late)! I can't believe you are already one.  Love you and that blue twizzler face!!

I'm finally cooling off.  And not just because it's 95 degrees outside and it still technically the morning...it's because today we were going to have a fun morning with our friends Erin & Liesel at the zoo...and it turned out to be a scream fest.  I love my little girl to pieces but she can be so frustrating.  My first mistake was letting her out of the stroller because she kept whining.  She wanted to walk, but not at our pace so it made it unbearably slow.  She got tired, so she wanted me to carry her.  I try to put her back in the stroller but alas, that's when the tantrum began.  So, to avoid looking like the crappiest mother of the year, I carried her to keep her quiet.  Finally my arms are burning from her weight and I am sweating in places that shouldn't sweat.  I try to wrestle her back in the stroller.  Her world comes crashing down and she loses it.  Screaming, crying, thrashing, hitting, you name it.  Some woman in too loud pants walked by and casually commented, "they never want to go back in once they get out of the stroller."  Thanks lady.  You just keep walking.

Since we were at the furthest point from the exit, we had to endure the screaming and crying all the way back to the entrance.  I got several looks, but honestly, I just kept walking and acted like nothing was going on.  She finally fell asleep as we were leaving.

I know she was tired, and she was probably hot.  But she wouldn't drink her water or just lay back to relax.  I basically have no idea how to handle this and/or discipline in public.  It might help to figure it out since this happens almost every single time we go out and do something fun.  I don't want to be scared of my child's tantrums but at the same time I don't want her to ruin all the fun things we could be doing with friends.

You know you have some advice.  I'm askin' for it.

Heaven

Has anyone read this book?  Let's just say I got the book on Tuesday and I finished it today.  That's right, 2 days.  It's not a long book, but it is very captivating.  In case you haven't heard about it, it's about a 4 year old who gets very sick and he later tells his family that he has experienced Heaven.  It's powerful; it's moving.  It makes you want to believe everything this 4 year old says.  That he met Jesus as soon as he went up into Heaven.  That he was able to meet his sister who was miscarried before he was even born.  He also met his Pop who died a decade before he was born.  I can't even go into all the details about this book because it's simply amazing and you should read it for yourself.  Did it really happen?  I don't know.  But I want to believe that it did.  Because now I can get a glimpse of what Heaven might really be like - from the best way possible.  Like a child.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” - Mark 10:15 

Take me out to the ball game

 We got to enjoy a ball game this past weekend when we went to the Bricktown Ballpark to watch Mark Harmon and his baseball team play against another local team.  Mark Harmon is the star of NCIS and is apparently pretty popular.  It was fun to see a bunch of old(er) men play baseball, but the cooler fact was that the proceeds went in part to the Ronald McDonald house, where my mom works.

 Mark Harmon in all his baseball glory...bright blue shoes?!

The cool girls wear hats...Haylie...

 It was Haylie's first experience at a baseball game and she was less than excited.  She wanted to just eat her yogurt melts and wimper.  That girl is so silly.   

Jackpot!

I have something to say just so I can drive my father in law crazy...

Best Garage Sale Find...EVER!!!

I found this sweet chair and ottoman that is just perfect for Haylie!  It's actually a rocker.  She's going to love it since she wants to sit in every chair possible.  Now she finally has her own that isn't a carseat or high chair.

Saturday we had quite the adventure garage sale-ing.  My mom and I went to quite a few with some pretty good finds (like a lady who let me fill a bag for $5), but alas at one sale we accidentally locked the keys in the car.  She has OnStar, but for some reason they weren't able to unlock remotely so we had to wait for "Auto Rescue."  45 minutes later he came...thankfully the sale across the street had some hotdogs to curb our hunger.  We got to people watch and bask in the sunlight.  Needless to say, after that we made sure we left the windows a little down and had the keys with us...ya know, just in case.