Happy Birthday Zoey!

I know I keep saying it, but boy have we been busy lately.  So many fun events and so much work stuff.  In fact, even today Nick and I both have a work event; luckily at mostly different times.  But on to the recent fun.

The girls had Presidents day off so we got to go to a sand foam playdate.  Zoey refused to do it.  Sam loved it.  She was pretty funny though, slapping her hands together and proclaiming she was clean, despite her face being covered.

We also recently made a trip to the Galveston Children's Museum since the groupon was about to expire. It was small but nice.  The girls had a blast.

And since we had a free babysitter in town, Nick and I got a few nights out.  A friend threw a New Orleans themed murder mystery dinner party to celebrate Mardi Gras.  Nick was assigned the role of a chef, so he tried to channel the swedish chef.  I got French maid, a bit difficult with my belly, but I was able to find a two piece costume.We had a blast.

And we had lots of celebration for Zoey turning 4 (where did the time go?!?!).  We had a birthday dinner out.

Lots of presents.

And a super fun party.  It was an outdoor party and that was stressful as rain was on the forecast the week before.  We decided to try anyway with a backup plan of no pony rides, just petting zoo and pony painting in the barn.  But it was a gorgeous day.  We were so lucky, since the weather since has been pretty cold and often wet.

The girls loved the pony rides and each got quite a few.

The petting zoo was a big hit.  The baby goats were 2 weeks old.  And there were guinea pigs.

It was super windy, so the candle blew out, but that did not ruin cupcake time.

By far, the biggest hit was pony painting.  All Zoey's classmates were still raving about it the next day.  It was an option when we did Sam's pony party and I did not even add it on, but now I wish I had.  The kids lined up to go over and over again.  Zoey went first.

And we are so proud to share that Samantha got the Voyager Character award at school this week. They chose 2 kids from each grade at each monthly spirit day.  Sam's teacher let me know with some very sweet words about how wonderful Sam is and we all got to see her name called.  We are so proud that not only is she a stellar student, but a sweet girl and a great citizen of her school.

Hope everyone is staying reasonably warm.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Tons of fun here in Texas.  We had some cold weather, but also lots of sunshine and nice weather.  The leaves just fell off the tree in January, so we made a pile and had some fun.

Zoey has become quite the artist.  She can write her name.  And she loves to draw our family, usually with a tiny Petunia :)

She sometimes make silly faces.

And she loves "ice skating" on the tile.

Samantha turned 7!  Yikes!  Here she is on her birthday.

We are so lucky that Nana came to town to celebrate.

There were lots of gifts.  We spread them out.

And we celebrated with a lunch with the girls, me, Nana, and 2 friends and their mothers.  We went to American Girl Cafe and had a birthday bistro lunch.  The girls were so excited.  They wore fancy dresses and dressed their dolls. 

Sam and her friends.

She even got a crown.

It was yummy!

I continue to get bigger.  Here is 20 weeks.

Here is 25 weeks, hearts for Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's day!

Happy New Year Florida Style

 After we celebrated Christmas, we headed to Lakeland for New Years.  We had so much fun seeing family and friends.  We even had a PALS reunion party/surprise baby shower for Petunia.  We have some great friends!  The trip was so busy it is a bit of a blur.  It sure was hard to come home.  Even harder because it has been cold and damp.

Of course there were presents from Nana and Papa.

My cousin Linda and her family plus came to go to Universal studios.  Here are the girls with their second cousins; Blake, Kevin and Olivia.

Mom, Linda, Sam, Zoey and I had a girls day of fun shopping.  

And of course Papa was there to entertain.

We had a fun playdate with Zoey's best friend Nick and his brother Rowan.

We also overlapped with Sally, Scott, Izzy and Charlie.  We had breakfast and some fountain playtime.  It is so nice to get the kids together.  

We also got to see a former colleague and his family.  The kids played really well.  

We also overlapped with Aunt Tracy and Uncle Bruce.  They are always a big hit with the girls, so it was great to spend time with them.

And we got to celebrate a very special little boy's first birthday.  Happy Birthday Rowan!

Rowan stood for the first time!

And right after we got back, I had my anatomy scan.  Petunia looks great.  The maternal fetal specialist said he could scan me all day.  Everything was "gorgeous" from her brain to her heart.  And she was estimated at 11 ounces.  Nick was also told that he was not allowed to stop at 3, but needed to try one more time for a boy :), ironic since the doctor has 4 boys.

We hope everyone is enjoying 2015.  We are staying super busy.  Marshall started Monday and UHCL starts Tuesday.  And of course, we are about to enter birthday season.  Sam will be celebrated with a small lunch at the American Girl Cafe.  I still have to plan Zoey's.

End of the year fun!

We went to the park for a cool but fun time.

I got a nice picture of Sam.

Zoey has informed us that she does not like the name Zoey.  She has declared that she shall be called Zo-Zo, after we rejected swapping names with Samantha.  So here is Zo-Zo with her Santa gift, Ella Grace,

Here she is being silly on the truck.

The girls got matching swan necklaces from Nana and Papa and matching swan shirts from us.  We love and miss Lakeland!!!!  They would not both sit still for a great picture, so here is the best I got.

We hope everyone has an amazing New Year!  And Go Jackets in the Orange Bowl!