My Birthday Weekend!!!

We are celebrating my 30th birthday a few days early (it's not until the 31st), and celebrate we did!!!

Friday night Lisa and I had dinner with some of our college friends and hubbys and had a blast catching up with everyone. Lisa turned 31 yesterday and I am so glad to get to celebrate our birthdays together again.

PS- Lisa- do you like my BLUE dress ;-)


Then Saturday my mom flew my sister Jessica in from Midland and we had a girls day and sleepover. We shopped, ate, got surprised with massages, got pedicures and then all cuddled up together for a movie and sleepover. It was so much fun hanging out just the 4 of us. I honestly can't remember the last time it was just us- without any husbands, boyfriends, or kids. It truly was so amazing to soak up all this time with my beautiful, smart, hilarious sisters. They truly have my whole heart and I am so grateful that I have them.



Allison gave me a card with a picture of two little girls hugging that said "When I was a little kid I had the greatest friend......" open the card "And I got to keep her for the rest of my life. Happy Birthday to my sister, and best friend." Makes me tear up everytime I read it.

And don't get me started on my mom. She is the one who planned and orchestrated this whole birthday weekend. She is honestly the best mother I know and everyday I am so grateful to have such an amazingly strong woman in my life. I don't know where I would be, or who I would be without her!



Then I came home on Sunday to this beautiful and tasty surprise from my adorable hubby and super-excited Avery.

It's says "HAPPY BDAY <3 A&G" if you can't tell ;-)

Apparently this was the very first cake Matt has ever made and I think he did a pretty good job. His exact words were "Did you know that all you have to do is add oil and eggs to make a cake? AND it's cheap too!" Hilarious. I love this man so much.

So Matt and Avery worked really hard to make me this red-velvet masterpiece and it was very delicious...............just ask Gracyn Paige.........

Overall I felt so much love from all my friends and family and could not have asked for a better birthday weekend. I think my 30's aren't going to be so bad :-)

Gracyn's First Steps!!!!

Gracyn took her first steps today! They were only like 1 or 2 at a time but its a start! Look out world.....here she comes :-)

Swoon

One Year Ago

Almost exactly one year ago this is what I looked like!


Seems like such a long time ago! So crazy to think about how much has changed since this picture was taken!

Just Can't Get Enough

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Our Ballerina Baby

I have been thinking about this day ever since I first heard those beautiful words "It's a GIRL!"

Avery started her first big girl dance class today! It was completely precious and adorable and a day I will remember forever.

Avery was beyond excited! We signed her up last Monday and she has been asking me nonstop for the past week to go to "dancing class." She got to pick out her leotard and the pictures above were taken of her waiting patiently for her class to start.

Avery's #1 fan in her typical legs propped up pose. She tolerated waiting for big sister really well......with a little help from a bag full of snacks :-)

Proud Mommy!!!

Avery's bestie Campbell is in the same class as Avery and they were so excited to see each other. Totally brings tears to my eyes.

The dance class at the beginning

BFFs

I think they liked it!

As a special treat to celebrate her first day of dance I took Avery (and Gracyn) to get frozen yogurt, which was conveniently only a few doors down from the dance studio.

"I don't know what all the fuss is about but I am digging all the food that everyone keeps giving to me for the past hour."

my sweet baby girl is growing up!

i love her so much it hurts

5 Reason's Why My Weekend Was The Best Ever!

1. Snuggles with Jackson

I got to make a quick overnight trip out to Houston to meet and cuddle up with our new nephew Jackson. I am so smitten by this little guy! He is so insanely cute and I miss him (and the rest of his family) so much already!!!





2. Both my teams WON this weekend!

I know its just preseason but both the Dolphins and the Texans won this weekend! Woohoo! Hope its a sign of what is to be a great season!

3. Girl's Night on Thursday

Had a super fun girls night out on Thursday that once again reminded me how OLD I am starting to get ;-)

4. PJ Party with Nana & Papa

Did I mention that when I went to Houston last night that I went without the kids? It was so much easier to make such a fast trip without them and the girls stayed home for a PJ overnight party with Nana & Papa and they had such a blast! The girls were spoiled with ice cream, bike rides and lots and lots of kisses from the grandparents! I think it was a fun time had by all.

And it still makes me tear up a little bit to think about how grateful I am that we are living in Texas otherwise going to Houston to meet Jackson, and also the girls spending a fun night with their grandparents, would definitely not be in the cards. I am just so grateful to finally be close to our families so that we can all finally share these special events together. OK I'm getting sappy......but I'm just so happy to be home :-)

5. Jackson Dennis Winston

I think he is so darn cute he gets to be counted twice. Love this little guy

I Don't Believe It?!?!

What did you say????? You said Eric and Jenny had a Baby BOY???!!!!


You mean there is going to a BOY in the family full of baby girls???? Wahooooo!!!!


We are so excited about our newest cousin- Jackson Winston! We love him so much already and can't wait to meet the newest addition to the Winston clan.

Congrats to the happiest parents in the world- Jenny & Eric, as well as the most proud big sister- Julie! We love you all so much!!!!!! Kisses to Baby J!

Anxiously Waiting

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little cousin Baby Winston! Prayers to Uncle Eric and Aunt Jenny, and big sister Julie, today!
We love you all so much and can't wait to hear about the newest addition to the Winston clan!!!!! <3


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Gracyn's On The Move!

Look out world Gracyn is on the move! I know I just did her 10 month post a few days ago but over the weekend she has learned so many things, and most importantly is WALKING while pushing the push toy all by herself. Yep, all by herself! I can't believe it! It won't be long before she is taking steps all on her own!

She is also now signing 'more' when she wants more food and also giving kisses. Its the cutest thing to see her give sugars, and she gives the majority of her sugars to Avery, who is sometimes not too fond of the open-mouthed, slobbery kisses that Gracyn is giving, but its still the cutest thing ever.

She is also clapping whenever anyone says "yay!"

Love this little muchkin! She makes me smile all day long!

My Pinterest Finds (So Far)

So I know I already told ya'll how much I love pinterest but thought I might share some of the things I've tried that I found off Pinterest.

**PS- none of these are my pictures- they are from the website.

1. Paula Deen Mexican Chicken Cassarole



I gotta say I was a little disappointed in this. I mean it was totally edible but it seemed like it was missing something. I have been trying to pick semi-bland food so that Gracyn can eat it so maybe I would add rotel or something spicier to try to make this a little better.....but I am not sure I will make this again :-( Surprised we didn't like it more since usually Paula Deen is right up my alley.

2. Bubble-Up Enchiladas-Weigh Watchers Recipe

This was actually really good. It's very cassarole-y, if you like that sort of thing, which my family loves! Also really easy to make.

3. IKEA Bookshelves

I already posted about this but I'm still really happy with how these turned out. Click the link above and it will take you to my original post

4. Cardboard Creativity

**These are my actual pictures of our masterpiece ;-)

My sister Allison tagged me on this the other day because we used to play for hours and hours in old boxes when we were little. We would turn then into houses, trains, almost anything you could think of. So when Avery's new carseat came the other day we decided to give it a shot. Granted we could have made it a little more beautiful but it was still just as fun.


5. Cheese Chicken Penne

I made this one just tonight and it was SO good! But the honest truth is that it was much more harder and involved to make. It probably took me 45-60 minutes of prep before I put it in the oven for another 25 minutes of cooking. I would have never been able to make this if Matt had not been here to watch the kids while I cooked. BUT it was really good and reminded me of something I would order at an Italian restaurant. I will absolutely make this again- but probably only for special occasions or when I know I will have lots of time to cook. The recipe does make a double batch though, so we have one in the freezer for whenever we want to eat it again!

Overall I LOVE Pinterest and can't wait to try out all the things I have pinned over there! Enjoy!

Pajama Party!

We tried to break up the monotony of the afternoons being stuck inside due to this 110 degree heat by having a PJ party with our besties the Burgess girls and it was a huge hit!

Of course everyone, including the mommies, wore our jammies. First of the list of fun things to do was play with make-up!


The girls had a blast picking out the colors to wear- of course they both picked only pink and purple- and attempting to put it on each other.

Then we decorated sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, and little Gracyn got her first tast of sugar cookie and of course she loved it!
Then it was time to do nails. Lisa got these cool, but slightly creepy, press-on princess nails that Campbell loved but Avery wasn't to keen on so Avery painted her nails alternating pink and purple while Campbell sported the press-on nails.

Next up was hair, of course! The girls both picked having ""two braids!" and then they got to pick out sparkle spray to paint on it.

Group hug!
Then they got to watch a brand-new movie that they had never seen, Cat in the Hat, which didn't last too long because all these girly-girls want to do when they get together is play dress-up so they headed up stairs to ditch the PJs and turn into Cinderella and Rapunzel!

It was so much fun getting to play with all these girly things with our little girly-girls!

Gracyn 10 Month Post

What You Did This Month- 10 months old

Weight: in mid-July she was 17 lb 11 oz

Length/Height: 29 in long

Head Circumference: ?

Diaper Size: Size 2.....i think she may need to move up sizes soon but she is still so thin!

Clothing Size: 9-12 month, but still wears some 6-9 months clothes- she is such a peanut!

Sleeping Habits: we just had nap boot-camp last week because little Gracyn was trying deperately to hold on to 3 little cat-naps throughout the day and I could tell she was just outgrowing napping that much so we sucked it up and started enforcing the 9am and 1 pm nap schedule, with her waking at around 6:30-7am, and then going to bed 6 or 6:30pm, and its working out perfectly! It's so nice to have a little more time in-between her naps, plus her two existing naps have gotten a little bit longer (about 1 1/2 hours) so everyone seems much happier. Gracyn sleeps with this little green lovey blanket and her newborn soothie pacifier. She never takes a pacifier any other time of day other that in her bed and she easily can fall asleep without out, but she seems to like it so we are letting her hang onto the paci until it becomes a problem, which I honestly doubt it ever will.

Eating Habits: Completely on table foods. It's great in one aspect because baby food can get really expensive but its also hard to find things that I think are appropriate for you to eat at this age. Your favorite foods are pizza, Rosa's chicken fajita burritos, bananas, strawberries, and rottisere chicken. You still have NO teeth so it amazes me that you are able to eat all these things, but you eat almost everything really, really well and you self-feed all on your own. She is still getting 4 6 oz bottles of Enfamil a day. She drinks out a sippy independently.

Milestones: Gracyn is so mobile. She is crawling everywhere, and crawling SO fast! She is pulling up on everything, walking while holding on to furniture, and standing independently for short periods of time (4-5 seconds). Her standing balance seems really good and I think she may take her first independent steps before her first birthday- look out world! I just moved Gracyn to a big girl carseat because she has grown way too long for the infant carrier, and that carrier is way to heavy!

Gracyn says uh-oh, mama, dada, baba, and woof (at the dogs).

Likes/Dislikes:

- She really likes crawling everywhere and exploring but also have moments where all she want to do is rest on Momma's hip and be carried around everywhere.

- She smiles immediately when she sees Avery. Best part of my day is to see these two together.

I Like Pizza

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