Our Anniversary Day

I woke up this morning with such a grateful heart.  I looked at my sweet husband and Kaden Angus and felt so thankful for the life I have.  And, of course my ever growing belly which is only a few weeks away from delivering us our baby girl. 
I suddenly remembered how long I PRAYED and LONGED and felt so empty and all alone.  Being single is not fun or easy.  I remember being so desperate and longing for the day I would meet the right person to spend my life with and have a family with.  I would cry and pray and hope and search.  And, God had me wait, and I could not understand the waiting at the time.  But, I am so thankful and grateful that God always has a plan, even when we can't see it yet.
I had completely given up on finding someone and was about to relocate a month later to a larger city.  And, Lance saw me at the local elementary school as he was picking up his nephews and niece from school.  He had a connection.  His aunt taught with me.  He asked her to tell me about him.  She did.  I texted him.  We went to dinner that night.  Everything else is history.  We have been together since. 
Four years ago today I married my best friend.  The best husband and father a girl could ever hope for.  God blessed me with a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally and would do anything in the world for me.  He also blessed us with a beautiful family.  I am so thankful for my family!
I love you Lance Mabe!  Happy Anniversary!

Kaden's Adventure Day

A couple weeks ago, Lance and I took Kaden for an ALL KADEN DAY!  He had been asking to do SO many things, like go to the Zoo, go bungee jumping, go see Chance, etc.  So, we decided that Saturday would be all about him.  It was fun for him and we really needed the day together as a family.  We all loved it!
Kaden had initially bounced with the bungee cords at the mall a few months ago while I shopped for maternity clothes.  I was HORRIFIED that Lance had let him do this, I would have NEVER allowed him to do this, I would be to scared for his safety.  It was hard for me to believe Lance let him, because they bounce like 20 feet in the air!  CRAZY!  Anyway, he let him and Kaden L-O-V-E-D it!!!
So, the first thing on our list was to jump again!  Here he is in action!

He LOVES every SECOND of it!!!  He says he jumps higher than Spiderman!

And, how much does it cost to bounce like Spiderman?  $7 for 2 minutes!  He got to do 4 mins for $14!  He definitely has to get his own job to support this hobby!  But, the delight on his face makes it all worth it! 

On our way to the Zoo, we saw a Heritage Festival in Downtown Tyler, and we had to stop.  It was free and so educational and fun.

This was truly a neat festival they had going on!  Sometimes free and educational are the best kind of fun!  Then, we were off to the zoo.  We ended up getting to the zoo at about 4 p.m. and it closes at 6 p.m., it was HOT, and the animals were all napping and done for the day!  We know not to do that again, but Kaden still loved it!

This is not a good picture, but it is Kaden and I and baby Kallie at 31 weeks pregnant!

Kaden was reading the Zoo map in this picture!

I had to share this picture of my sweet husband, who never gets embarrassed about anything!  He carried my Thirty One Retro Metro Bag around because it quickly became to heavy for me.  It just cracked me up!  He has been such a supporter of my business, he hands out catalogs and asks everyone he knows and works with if they would like to see my bags, totes and thermals.  He has really gotten me some good customers and parties.  My husband promotes my job!!!  I love it!

Lance took tons of Zoo animal pictures for Kaden, but I am only posting the CUTE kid here! 

As you can see, it was HOT and we wore him out good this trip!

And, in case you wonder WHY he has jeans on and Lance and I are in summer clothes, well, Kaden wouldn't have it any other way.  He wants to wear those JEANS everyday and be a "COWBOY!"

What a FUN day!

Studio Pregnancy Photos with my Sister

I am so thankful for my Tonya and that we were able to share this special time together. I can’t wait for our newborn babies pictures together, they will be MUCH cuter than us! 

Love these sweet memories!

Sister Time

Around the middle week of May, Tonya and I met up in my old stomping grounds of College Station, Texas on a Wednesday and stayed through Friday for some quality girl time.

But, this wasn’t just any old girl time, this was pregnant girl time. Tonya was about 32 weeks and I was about 30 weeks along. We had the best time!

We got a nice hotel room for starters. We got pedicures together! FUN!

We ate lots of yummy places…

If you’ve never eaten at the Chicken Oil Co. in Bryan, TX, you’ve truly never experienced good food! My FAVORITE!

We both had SNUFFY specials. A half pound hand patted REAL beef burger cooked greasy. And, an order of Tijuana fries. Those are french fries covered in shredded cheese and sent under a broiler and you then dip them in ranch dressing! To DIE for good! Tonya approved!

We were already looking like big pregnant girls, so we might as well eat like ‘em!

I would weigh 500 pounds if I lived in College Station pregnant!

Tonya and I both LOVE Sonic drinks! Limeade for me, Cherry Limeade for her! We had to get a big one for our lunch outing on campus at Texas A & M University.

We had maternity pictures taken in a studio the next morning and we were so disappointed with the time it took (over 3 hours) and the overall quality of the pics for the amount of money and time it took! (More on that later!)

So, we decided to go on campus and snap a few of our own!

Sonic drinks in tow, here we go!

Texas A & M has one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever been on. The historic buildings are just breath taking.

What a beautiful Momma!

One of my oldest friendships, love this girl, Rochelle!  So glad we got to meet up, miss you!

Our pedicured pregnant feet! (Maybe a little swollen)

I couldn't be MORE thankful that Tonya and I made time to relax and share this special time together.  I hope that we will have many more of these special GIRLS ONLY trips!  Love you sis!
More to come from our studio portrait session soon...

May play days with my boy

Kaden loves the “package man.”  He refers to the UPS and FEDEX delivery guys as Mommy’s Package Men.  That’s one thing about my Thirty One business, we get lots of packages and we have lots of boxes.  Kaden LOVES to hide in the boxes and have me find him.  This little boy still just melts my heart!

By far, my favorite Thirty One box to open yet!  Love you Kaden Angus!

One day a couple weeks ago we went to the Dairy Museum and Kid’s Kingdom to play with our friends Megan and Hayden.  The boys LOVED the BIG Holstein and Jersey cows out front.  Kaden particularly liked the Jersey cow and already knew that it was a Jersey.  I thought that was funny because I had not taught him that.  And, little does he know his Momma’s favorite cow is a Jersey as well.  I used to show Jersey’s in high school.

He was showing me here where the milk comes from!

For a couple months now, Kaden has wanted to be a ‘cowboy’.  He wears his jeans (Wranglers) every day that I will let him, even though it’s hot.  He has to have on this cowboy belt, calls it his ‘metal belt’ and his gun belt everywhere we go.  And, this is light, he usually wants his ‘power ring’ and ‘cowboy hat’ and ‘mask’.  Even with shorts on!

I just love this sweet Three year old boy! 

Hayden and Kaden watching a video at the start of the Dairy Museum tour.

Kaden liked this skeleton exhibit that told about strong bones and calcium from milk.  He wanted me to take this picture to show Daddy because we had been talking about bones at home!    He is so smart beyond his age!  His other favorite exhibit was the milking demonstration where he could stick his finger in a milker and see what it felt like for the cow to be milked by the machine.  He loved that and kept doing it over and over! 

Then, we were off to play at the park!  Kaden LOVES the park and asks to go everyday.  If you look carefully at this picture it has Kaden looking over the top, but Hayden is in it too!  (Just saw that!)

Hayden checking out the musical bells.

Kaden driving Momma on the train!

Hayden was very unsure of the slide, but once he finally went down, he LOVED it!  You can see Hayden and Megan through the window here.

First time, went down screaming, came out smiling! 

And, wanted to go AGAIN and AGAIN! 

We had a FUN morning with our friends, and ended our Play time with lunch at Juan Pablo’s.  Thanks for playing with us friends!  We enjoyed it!