Happy 4th of July!

Charlie is sound asleep after a fun, wild Fourth of July (skipping fireworks this year, as the little guy had trouble making it to 7:30 after his crazy day). We started off the morning with the Lakewood neighborhood parade. Despite the heat, we had a great time. It was a really cute parade and Charlie was fascinated by the floats, the flying candy, and especially the firetrucks.

I don't know if you can tell how hot it was here, but it was really, really hot!

Most of the floats had a lake or water theme of some sort--it was really cute!

There was a little party at the end of the parade that was fun. Charlie took a brief pitstop at the bounce house before we headed on to a BBQ.

Charlie really perked up when we got to the Jordans' backyard BBQ and found a kiddie pool set up. There were two other little guys in the pool with Charlie and the three of them had a blast!

After a fun BBQ, we headed back to the apartment for a long afternoon nap. Then Clint headed to work for the evening and Aunt Audra came over to swim. Charlie was so happy to see her!

What a wonderful day! Now off to enjoy some very wonderful sleep! :)

Family Vacation

Right before the big move, we spent a lovely few days in Ruidoso, New Mexico with my family. My grandparents owned a condo there when I was growing up, so my family and I visited almost every summer. Some of my best memories are hiking, exploring, and going to the horse races in Ruidoso. So, this year, it was so fun to get to take Charlie. It brought back so many wonderful memories and felt so special. The trip came at a busy time, but it was a really nice break from all the craziness at home. Charlie had been getting a little frustrated with me for paying more attention to the house sale/move than to him, so he really relished all the attention that was showered on him by his doting grandparents, aunts, and uncles during our vacation. All in all, it was wonderful!

Here is Charlie and his Papa, doing one of their very favorite activities.

Charlie spent lots of time playing outside with Aunt Meg, and loved every minute of it. She will always indulge his desire to wander explore, and he loves how much fun they have together!

We spent one day at the horse races and had so much fun. Meg and I were avid horse-lovers growing up, and our greatest desire was to become jockeys. Sadly, that dream was never realized, but we still love the races. :)

Uncle Foggy, Aunt Meggie, Uncle Am, and Aunt Audra.

Charlie loved watching the races up close.

After observing the races, Charlie decided he would like to ride horses as well. So we took him for a "ride." He was very impressed.

The boys spent one day golfing. Charlie horned in on their post-golf photo.

One of my favorite nights was spent at Flying J. Not quite sure how to describe Flying J--it's a small model Western town, where they have a pre-dinner gunfight, an authentic chuckwagon supper, and then a fun post-dinner western music concert. We LOVED this place growing up, and I had just as much fun this year!

Charlie loved exploring the town. He was less thrilled with the scratchy $3 hat I made him wear.

Here's Clint posing with his target (he hit the bulls' eye, if you can't tell). Sam jumped in the photo as well, hoping that in a few months, no one will be able to remember which one of them had the winning shot. :)

Unfortunately, Charlie was arrested by the town sheriff.

But we visited him in jail...

...and bailed him out in time for another horse ride. Charlie loved riding again, screaming only when Clint took him off after the ride was over.

Someone was quite proud of his riding abilities.

Charlie watched the gunfight with Papa.

And we took a family photo before dinner. LOVE having Audra in our family photos now!

On our last day there, we took a hike around Grindstone Lake. Charlie wasn't too sure about being back in the Baby Bjorn (he thinks the word "Baby" in the title probably means they aren't meant for 1-year-olds), but he was a trooper.

He was even happier when Papa agreed to carry him for a while. :)

Thanks so much Papa and Ali for a wonderful vacation. We had such a good time and left with the best new memories!

Prayers Needed

Please pray for sweet James. This little guy and his parents have been through a lot over the past week, and just received some very bad news yesterday. We are thinking positive thoughts and saying lots of prayers for him, his family, and a successful recovery!

Moving On Out...

I know I have been a terrible blogger lately, but we have been busy, busy, busy. Because Charlie wanted a yard, Baby Girl wanted a room of her own, and Dada wanted to keep his home office, we decided a move was in order. We were lucky enough to sell our house, but the buyers needed to get in quickly, things moved faster than we expected, and since we haven't found a new house yet, we found ourselves in a bit of a bind. Thanks to lots and lots of help (many thanks to Ali, Sam, Audra, and Mimi!), we moved half of our worldly belongings into a great little apartment, and sent the other half off the storage. Although we were glad to sell our house, the move was bittersweet. We LOVED our house, and it had developed a special place in our hearts since it was our first home (purchase) and Charlie's first home. Leaving his room behind was really hard for me--I loved that little nursery! Luckily, Charlie is very adaptable and loves the new apartment. He has stayed extremely busy exploring his new digs--the cabinets don't have locks yet, so those are a source of great excitement, the printer is sitting on the floor rather that its usual stand, so he's learned to make copies, and there is a pool very close to our unit, so we have already spent many fun hours in there. Thanks to my mom working all hours of the night, we got moved into the apartment and organized in record time, so Clint has managed to start residency with relatively little disorganization at home. The apartment has been wonderful, but I am hoping we find a permanent home soon!

Here's Charlie "helping" the movers on moving day. He loved the boxes and the ungated stairs!

Charlie's other favorite thing about moving is the truck that comes with it. The truck that came was HUGE and very exciting. Charlie said "vroom vroom" every time he saw it. (This truck makes it look like we have enough furniture to fill a castle, but sadly, that is not the case. Our stuff filled about the front 1/4 of it. :)

Charlie wouldn't look away from the movers long enough to look at me for a photo...

My mom and I had to get creative in order to entertain Charlie while packing. What is better than an old-fashioned nekkid swim in a wading pool???

I see this imperious look/reach FAR too often... :)

I love this wrinkly little bottom. :)

In the midst of closing and moving, we took a few days off to travel to Ruidoso, NM with my family to celebrate the end of Clint's "summer" and graduation. We had a wonderful time, and I'll be posting pictures of that little get-away, as well as pics of us in our new digs, very soon!

Playdate with Cooper & Elliott

My good friend Kelly was visiting Dallas this week from Los Angeles, and Charlie and I got to spend some time with her and her sweet kids. I was excited to catch up with Cooper and see how much he had grown, and I loved getting to meet precious little Elliott. Charlie and Cooper played together so well--we had a very fun morning!

Trying to pose these 2 was no easy task...
Staring lovingly into each others' eyes... :)

Little Elliott was so good! She is adorable.

Congratulations Dr. Daddy!

Clint graduated from UT Southwestern Medical Center on Monday night and it was such a special night. Charlie and I are SO proud of him. He worked really hard these past four years and has such an incredible future ahead of him as a result. I can't believe Clint is a doctor--seems pretty crazy! I almost had him call in a prescription for me today, but figured I'd give him a bit more time before I put his license in jeopardy. :)

The ceremony started at 7:30, so Mr. Early Bedtime stayed behind, but he was so proud of his daddy when we left. He looks quite impressed here, don't you think?

2 proud little men. :)

The graduation ceremony was held at the Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, and it was pretty spectacular. There was a great dinner beforehand, followed by a really elegant ceremony, and capped off with an elaborate dessert buffet (can you guess my favorite part? :). It was a very special evening!

Posing with Clint post-ceremony...

Tried to get a photo of Clint walking the stage, but I was too slow...

My whole family came in town for a celebratory weekend, but those that are employed had to head back to work on Sunday. My mom stayed to attend the ceremony and we were so glad to have her!

Clint and his proud parents.

Clint with our new Dallas neighbors, Sam and Audra. We love our 3 health professionals! :)