Our little girly girl

Just a few pictures Bret took of Shelby wearing her new birthday outfit. Shelby is such a girly girl. She has always loved dressing up and bows in her hair. For her third birthday, she asked for nothing but sparkly shoes. This year she wanted her bedroom decorated. She is always asking for funny things like that. Let me tell you, it is a lot of fun having girls! I just love this watermelon dress, and Shelby looks so cute in it. Her favorite parts are the bows, shoes and purse. What good is an outfit without accessories right?

Happy Monday

That's what the card, attached to the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, said. My hubby is so sweet!

Dear Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Dave

You are awesome!!! Shelby got to go on her special birthday date with her Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Dave tonight. They took her to Cold Stone and she had a blast! My girls are so lucky to have them in their lives. Dave won't technically be their uncle until August 15, but he is in every other way. The girls adore him. As for Aunt Lizzy, she just rocks!!!! What can I say she is related to me. :)

A CD player of her very own! She was rocking out to Disney music all night.

A big kiss to show her appreciation.

Lizzy took this video with her new iPhone.

Apparently, Shelby worked her magic and talked Lizzy and Dave into buying her another bowl of ice cream. This time it was cotton candy with sprinkles and gum balls. That girl knows how to work it!

From pirates to princesses

Now that summer is here and the girls are home all day, I am falling way behind on blogging. Even though I am doing a lot less running around, I seem to be much busier! It's a good kind of busy though. I love having my girls home with me!!!!

Shelby's fourth birthday was last Saturday. Unlike her sister, Shelby went all girly girl for her birthday and requested a Cinderella cake. She had a great day, and I think she really felt like a princess all day. She got lots of presents because between my family and Bret's mom these girls are spoiled rotten! However, for her birthday, Shelby wanted to have her room fixed up. She has the biggest of the girls bedrooms, but we have not done much with it. She started climbing out of her crib before we left Houston, so she has just had a mattress on the floor. It worked out well because I didn't have to worry about her rolling out. I guess now that she is a "big girl", that just wouldn't do. A friend of ours from college lives nearby and is an artist. She came over and painted a beautiful tree and bunny rabbit (Shelby's request) on her wall. The whole family chipped in and decorated the room. My dad and Bret worked all day hanging curtains and putting the bed together! We have such an awesome family, and Shelby could not have been happier.

If you don't already know, Shelby has a bit of an addiction to Starbucks. She loves their cream cheese Danish rolls. In fact, loves is putting it mildly. I finally had to stop letting her have them because she would wake up every morning and the first thing out of her mouth was "I want a cheese roll." I mean every single morning! If she didn't get one, she would cry all morning for one. Every time she saw a Starbucks sign she burst into tears. It was ridiculous! I decided that going cold turkey was the only option. It was a rough couple of weeks let me tell you. She did not give up easily. So for her birthday, a "cheese roll" was one of her top requests.

After weeks of waiting she finally got her cheese roll!

You can't have a princess party without Balloons and a Cinderella cake.

What? This cake is for me?

Mom won't notice if I just take a little bite.

She didn't catch me!

Shelby had a blast swimming with her friends (all are boys by the way).

Finally time to eat cake!!!

That Dora card was FUNNY!

I love you Josiah.

Checking out her new room.

So Zach, what do you think of my room?

The New Room

Here are some pictures of Shelby's new room. I should have taken before and after pictures. Basically, all she had before was the bed and box springs on the floor.

Happy Father's Day

I am such a fortunate girl because I had a great daddy growing up! He was strict, supportive, and oh so loving. I was hugged and kissed often, and I heard the words I love you every day. The biggest blessing though is that my dad was involved in my life. He wasn't just this person who went to work and came home. He knew about my friends, classes and dreams. I know that a lot of who I am today, and a lot of the confidence that I carried with me into the world came from him. That is why I am so thankful for him, but also for Bret who is the same kind of father. It's sad to me that so many kids don't have a relationship with their dads. It's not just the kids who don't have dads. I see it all the time, men who simply don't talk or play with their kids. Bret is a great father. He loves the girls so much, and he tells them so every single day. I am so thankful that God blessed me with my dad and blessed my girls with Bret!

I hate to admit that I didn't get a picture of the girls with Bret on Father's Day! We were just so busy that I forgot. This is my favorite picture of the four of them right now though.

Look how they have changed from last year.

Summer Vacation

The girls and I, along with my mom, took our first trip of the summer. It may be our last for a while! We had such a great time, but I was so exhausted when we got back. Most of my mom's side of the family lives in Tuscola, Texas which is about 25 miles outside of Abilene. Tuscola is a really small town. I think it is population 600 something. The girls call it the country, and they are in heaven when we are there! Being city girls, they think there is nothing better than open fields as your backyard. They get to experience a feeling of freedom that they just don't get in their fenced in backyard. I know, because I felt it when I was little, that there is nothing like running around outside all day without having your mom watch you every second. Not that I wasn't watching them! In fact, it is very hard for me to just sit back and let them go. Bret and I have always been a little overprotective of them. I kept reminding myself what it was like for me when I was little, and that kept me from checking on them every second.

The other perk to being in the country, is that there are always lots of animals around too. There were dogs, cats and kittens galore to play with! Plus, my cousins have a horse and a newborn raccoon who lost its mother. My cousins also own a party business that rents out inflatables and teddy bear stuffing machines. It's so much fun!!!

It's not just the stuff that we got to do and see, but the fact that I have the most amazing family! They are some of the most wonderful people I have ever known. I cannot put into words all that my extended family has brought to my life. To have strong, loving, godly people to look up to your whole life is something I wish everyone had. It is an amazing feeling to know you are a part of something so strong. That no matter what happens you will always have these people around you. Maybe you make mistakes, or don't live up to expectations, but bottom line they are always there. I am SO grateful that my girls have that. My Nana is almost 90, and she is the most special person. She is so strong! I was lucky enough to live there when I was in college, and I learned so much from her in my years there.

The only bad part of the trip is that I forgot my camera. I could have kicked myself. All this beautiful scenery and all I got were a bunch of cell phone pictures. Bret was really disappointed to, but what can I do? They are terrible quality, but seeing as they are all I have, I will share them with you.

Abilene has a really great zoo. It is small, but the habitats that the animals live in are really great. We went in the evening when it was cool, and all the animals were out and playing. The other highlight was that you can feed the giraffes. The girls loved this!

Cousin Jennah

Cousin Hannah took the girls for an early morning ride even though she would have rather been sleeping. She is so great!

Shelby loved this cat, and surprisingly, the cat her too. At one point, I thought she had strangled it. See picture below. I took the cat away because I was worried, and it ran up to her and jumped right back into her lap.

The baby raccoon drinking its bottle. The girls loved watching it eat! It's eyes were not even open yet.

The girls with Nana, their great grandmother.

Build a Bear in your own garage. What could be better! Macey made a biker dog in honor of her daddy.

The girls love cousin Jordon! When Shelby found out that he has a girlfriend and she was coming over, she got very serious and said, "I am not going to talk to her!"

Playing in the backyard with even more family.