First Day in the Nursery

I have to admit something that I'm not proud of at all. Our family hadn't been to church in a few months until this past Sunday. When we moved downtown, we obviously moved pretty far away from our home church and so we had to make a decision. That decision was to stay at that church. We liked it so much and knew people that attended there. Only problem is that we have to leave about 40 minutes early to get there on time and with Jane, its hard. Another reason I kept putting it off is because she was getting too old to sit in church with us, especially with her loud yells, squeals, and talking. The church service is at 10am which is Jane's nap, so I thought the nursery would be a total melt down epidemic, and that always made me nervous. Of course none of these are good enough excuses for not attending church.

Finally after a few months of listening to the sermons on our phones at home, we knew we needed to go, just do it. So what if Jane missed her morning nap which is only ever 30 or 45 minutes. Its one day out of the week and we can deal with a cranky baby. 

So Sunday morning we got ready and out of the house late of course. I really wanted to get there early so I could slowly leave her in the nursery. We dressed her up super cute.

Mr. Hunt dropped me off in the front of the church to run her in since we were already late. I walked her in, handed her to the lady and said "this is her first time staying in here" and stood there for a minute. Once I saw Mr. Hunt, I walked out and she didn't even notice me leave.

The service was great, but I will admit, I thought a few times about walking out just to check on her. Then I kept reminding myself that they would probably come get me if she was having a complete meltdown, so I stayed in place. Mr. Hunt also reminded me that they are probably holding her the entire time since I never mentioned that she could sit or crawl. Oops!

haha....look at this face!

Once the service was over, I walked in and sure enough they were still holding her. A different lady was holding her but I'm pretty sure they held her the entire time. There weren't that many kids in there. They said that she was like a doll and drooled alot. They also said she didn't cry at all once I said that it was her nap time.
My old neighbor Shanyn's son was in there with Jane and as we were leaving the nursery lady asked Shanyn about something that her son Malachi was trying to say....something like tate, or change. We couldn't figure it out until he pointed at Jane and said it again. He was saying JANE! He remembered baby Jane and was saying her name! How cute!

So all in all it was a good experience. The rest of the day wasn't even that bad after having no nap. Shows how much God really takes care of us to go prasie Him. With that said, I'm not convinced every time will be that perfect, but it was a good first experience.

This tongue thing has been happening again. So silly!

Of course, here we are three day later and Jane woke up not being able to breath out of there nose and dried boogies everywhere. Poor thing.

She seems in good spirits and no fever yet, so I think she's fine. But, when they say they will get sick when they go to the nursery or school for the first time, they weren't kidding! Wow!

I'm hoping its just a runny nose and it will be gone soon.

Love
Jen

Cool Kid in a Swing

Every Friday night we all go out for happy hour and dinner. Jane's happy hour just consists of water..no worries! Although we do veer off and try new places every once in awhile, our favorite place is Freddies. Mainly because we can walk there, but its also fun because there is live music and outside seating with misters (on hot days) and a playground for the kiddos.

This past Friday was super fun. Jane discovered my sunglasses. Every single time I would put them on her she would shriek with excitement. When they would fall off, the smile would fall off just as fast. She go the attention of everyone around from her silliness.

Then we went on the swing. This is her second time and she LOVES the swing. Scares me a little since there is no belt, but to see these smiles, Ill hold my breathe a little.

She even got called a boy and that didn't stop the smiles. Does she look like a boy? I guess I should have kept the bow on.

Now you see why we like Freddies? Its not just us.....


Love,
Jen

She's 2

Its this girls birthday today!

Cameron Elise is 2 today! Man, the time has flown by! Isn't she super cute? PS: Jane even looks alot different than this already and this was only 2 months ago.

Happy Birthday sweet Cameron. Cant wait to see you in a few weeks. I hope you have a great birthday and Mommy and Daddy let you eat lots of cake.

Love,
Aunt Jen

Plans for the Rest of the Year

Hey everyone! Ive got alot on my mind today so this post might just be all over the place. First of all, did y'all celebrate Christmas in July yesterday?

I'm always excited for Christmas every year, but I keep finding myself wishing it was almost Christmas already and its only July. Maybe its because its so HOT here I'm ready for a change, or maybe because that means Jane's birthday is close, or maybe it because we didn't really celebrate Christmas last year since we had a week old baby and no family in town. Who knows, but I lunged at the chance to celebrate Christmas in July, but by the time the end of the day snuck around, we hadn't done anything but think about it. Anyway, we didn't get to the Christmas movie we were planning on watching, but I did enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. That's kind of like Christmas right? Especially because you don't normally drink hot chocolate in the middle of the summer. I did find this blog post this morning and kind of wish I found this yesterday, although last night was a "school night" (that's what we call a week day around here), so the whole drinking part probably wouldn't have been good, but we may think of playing this at least once this December. Go check it out at Little Baby Garvin.

OK, on to what this post is really about. We have a very busy rest of the year. We are super excited and cant wait to spend some much needed time with family, but we are also in a pinch with money around here since we have a total of 7 more flights to buy before the end of 2013, and that doesn't count the flights we've already bought! Besides living closer to our family, the other main reason I cant wait to move back closer to family is so that we could possibly drive when we go visit instead of buying flights. Man, they are so expensive and stressful with a baby. I have a funny feeling these flights are going to just get more and more difficult as Jane gets older. She's no longer going to just lay in my arms and sleep.

So, this is what we have going on:

Coming up in a few weeks, we are headed to Bluffton SC to see family and friends. One of my best friends Adrienne is having her bridal shower that I'm going to attend, and Mr. Hunt is hopefully going to squeeze in a fishing trip with his brother and Dad. Also, we are going to take a day trip to North Augusta SC to have Jane meet some more family members (most importantly her Great Grandmama).

(I was going to try to find the oldest picture of us, but then I got annoyed at how far I had to go back. This is pretty old!)

September: This is my best friends wedding that Im in. Jane will stay with my paretns while Mr. Hunt and I are in Charleston SC for the wedding. This will be a short weekend trip.

(another oldie but goodie! I LOVE THIS GIRL)

October: I'm leaving Jane with Mr. Hunt at home for the first time ever and I'm headed to Augusta GA for my sister in law's bridal shower. I feel the need to be at both of these showers since I'm in the wedding and couldn't make either of the bachelorette parties (sad but true).

November: My sister in law gets married and I get a new brother in law!!! This wedding will be in Charlotte NC. Cant wait!

December: We are going to be headed back to Bluffton for a few days for Jane's first birthday and Christmas. I know what you are thinking, if money was an "issue" than we could have skipped this trip. Yes, but we want to be with our family for these special occasions. You see, last year we spent Thanksgiving by ourselves for the first time because I was too pregnant to fly. It was fun, but at the end of the day, we were a little sad and missed family. Then a month later we spent Christmas by ourselves for the first time too. Again, really lonely. I guess that's what happens when you grow up or are far away from family, but we didn't approve. This year we will be spending Thanksgiving by ourselves again (plus Jane) because we certainly couldn't afford to make another trip, so making sure we made it for Christmas was important. Also, while we do have a handful of friends here in Texas, we would rather throw a huge first birthday party for Jane when family and close friends could attend.

So, with all that said, I'm still going to try my best to update this blog as much as I can. I will also have alot more fun stuff to look at besides my gorgeous hilarious baby. So stay tuned!

Love y'all,
Jen

So What!

This is my first link up but I like to read others and find new mommies to follow so I thought Id give this a try. I'm linking up with Shannon from Life After I Dew. Go check her out!

So What Wednesdays is me listing a few things that I'm saying "So What" to this week. Here we go...

• So what I'm trying my hardest to walk at least 2 miles a day before it gets over 100 degrees here in Texas (trying to lose some baby weight), but not really paying attention to what I eat for dinner. Mr. Hunt and I had hot dogs last night from Sonic. So what....it was National Hot Dog day and they were $1 each!

• So what I continue to stay awake looking at Facebook Instagram and YouTube until midnight every night lately, then complain the next day that I'm tired. So what....its the only time I get to sit, relax, and catch up.

• So what I still haven't baby proofed this house and Jane has officially been crawling for two weeks now. I know I'm just making it harder for myself because I have to constantly follow her around everywhere until I do so. So what....I'm lazy and have no clue even where to start or what to buy, Id rather just watch her like a hawk!

• So what Ive been painting my nails even when I know they will chip within a day. I keep trying to paint them and just hope they will stay nice looking, only to remember and ask myself why the next day. They just look worse all chipped up than not painted at all. So what I cant keep nail polish on to save my life. I'm a mom and that means I do tons of dishes and wash my hands all the time...ain't nobody got time for that (nail polish that is).

• So what I hate ironing. In fact, I used to never ever iron Mr. Hunts shirts until recently. We always buy the ones that don't require ironing, but they still just don't look perfect, so Ive recently started ironing them. Yeah, Mr. Hunt could do it, but I'm the stay at home mommy and I feel like I should do it since I do the laundry. So what my husband has been walking around a little wrinkly until now, he didn't seem to mind.

That's it for this week. That was fun, I like admitting things like this! Maybe Ill do this every week!

Love y'all,

Jen H

Family in Town

Mr. Hunt and I love when we get to spend time with family, even if its for a short two days. Its like our tank was running low and we got a little juice back. We feel rejuvenated or something. It wasn't until we moved this far from our family that we realized how much family time really is the best....sad but true.

Anyway, Michael and Rachel came to visit for Friday and Saturday this past weekend. It was short but fun.

They came in Thursday night but Mr. Hunt had to work the next day so we just said hi, showed them around the house and hit the hay.

The next day we hung around the house, Rachel and I walked to get some pastries for breakfast, and we waited for Mr. Hunt to come home. He was able to break away and eat lunch with us which was nice. We tried a new place called Habana which was yummy.

Then we took them to Freddies for happy hour and dinner (Mr. Hunt and I go there every Friday). Mr. Hunt and Michael played a game of washers and Rachel, Jane, and I caught up on life.

Friday night after we put Jane to sleep, we played some wii. We haven't got the wii out in forever so it was fun to do something different.

Saturday morning, Mr. Hunt and Michael went to shoot guns while Rachel and I played with Jane and went to the grocery store to get ready for the evening festivities.

The one and only request that Michael and Rachel had for when they came was to go to the Salt Lick which is a yummy BBQ restaurant here. They have an average of 2000 people who eat there on Saturdays so its busy all day, but there is an outdoor area where you can sit and listen to live music and you also bring your own beer and snacks for while you wait.

Michael made a little art on the table we were sitting at. This is all of our initials.

Jane is at a fun age where she can sit up and look around and take everything in. She was more interested in Uncle Michael's beer than her sippy cup.

Such a  beautiful little girl

While packing the cooler with beer, sodas, and snacks, I totally forgot Jane's nipple for her bottle. Bad bad mommy. Hey, at least I remembered the bottle. Good thing she drinks out of a sippy cup. We just poured the formula in the sippy.

Jane loves her Uncle Mike and Aunt Rach.

We hardly have any family pictures.  Here are a few.

We had a few drinks and snacks and enjoyed ourselves before we ate.

The BBQ was delicious as always and Jane ate blueberries and apples for her dinner.

She liked it as much as we liked our BBQ. By the way....this girl will NOT wear a bib! As soon as I put one on, she pulls it off. Guess I need to get the ones with snaps so that she can't pull them off as easy.

She was SO tired when we got back into the car. 

I had a few extra marshmallows from the last time I made smores in the backyard and I knew that Rachel also enjoys smores, but we weren't too excited about starting a whole fire in the backyard once we got home from the Salt Lick, so we went to Pinterest and made a recipe that I had pinned. 

Only problem was that our oven doesnt have the top broilers to toast the marshmallows, so Rachel tediously toasted them with a lighter. It was good, but would have been better if we made a few adjustments. 

They had to leave early the next morning so we just played Wii again that evening once Jane went to sleep. 

The next day, Mr. Hunt and I just relaxed and cleaned up the house. Jane is officially ALL OVER THE PLACE! She doesn't sit still anymore. Here she is trying to go play with Hannah. She is also growing like a weed. I asked Mr. Hunt to bring me a onsie from her room and he brought out this one that I swear fit her like a week ago. I couldn't even snap it at the bottom, but I didn't feel like going to get another. 

The dogs were super tired too.

Once again, we really enjoyed our time with them. Sometimes though, it makes us more home sick to spend time with family for such a short time and know that it may be awhile before we see them again. I cannot wait until we can live closer again.....whenever that might be.

Love,
Jennifer