Last Sunday with Grams

We were so very glad to have my mom with us again this summer. She helped to make the move from Pittsburgh and get us all setup in our new place. Brooke loves spending time with her Grammy and so do we! We are counting down the days until she comes back in October.

Dinner at Buddy and Sharon's

Twyla bought matching dresses for all the cousins; so we decided to dress them up and take pictures. Buddy and Sharon had everyone over for dinner at their home in Liberty Hill. They have a few acres of land around their house and a HUGE porch. It was perfect for taking pictures. During the photo session their dog Lenny came up and tackled Claire. Are we bad parents for just taking pictures and laughing? Eventually Shevawn went over and pulled the dog away. Here are a few of our favorites from the cousins pictures. We accidentally left Annabelle out of the pictures. She was sleeping inside.

4th of July

We really enjoyed our first 4th of July in Austin. We were so excited to have my mom, Mark and Twyla, Mark, Shevawn, Claire, Lauren, and Maggie stay at our house. We had a blast!! It was fun to have big meals together and see the cousins playing (and fighting). On Wednesday we drove out to the Hurst's lakehouse in Marble Falls. The weather was perfect. Brooke and Claire really enjoyed seeing the fireworks on the lake. The were so cute playing ring around the rosie too. They love when everyone falls down. Yay for holidays with family in Texas. We have looked forward to this for some time.

Primrose 4th of July

Brooke's school was closed on Wednesday for the 4th of July so they invited her to come on Tuesday for their parade. All the kids dressed in Red, White, and Blue and had a parade. It was the cutest thing. They even decorated the baby cribs and had them in the parade.

Brooke's first day of school at Primrose

We were thrilled to find a little school less than 5 minutes from our house for Brooke. She had her first day on July 1st. I think she was glad to get out of the house and play with kids. She didn't cry at all when we dropped her off. She was excited to see all the toys and the small sink in her classroom. She does love to play in the water.

Move-in day

Moving day was WAY more stressful than anticipated. We drove into Austin early Tuesday morning to close at 10. When we were about 30 minutes out, Keith called to tell me that the paperwork was not ready for us and they would need 2 hours. We hung out at Chick-fil-a until 12:30 and still didn't hear back from anyone. So, Keith decided we would just take the WHOLE family to the closing office and sit there to speed things up. I think the office was a little shocked to have a wound up 2 year old and a 6 week old baby in their office. The next 3 hours were pretty intense and uncomfortable. We were not getting anywhere with speeding up the delay. Keith was really ticked and we had to call our movers and see if they could come later. Finally at 4 PM (6 hours later than planned) the paperwork came through. We signed those documents super fast and got on the road for our house. So, we get to the house and the keys are not ready. The movers were already there and no one could get into the house. One of my best college friends Liz had just driven in from Dallas to help us move. She and I hopped in her car and went to get a mattress for Brooke's bed. When we came back to the house, the movers were hauling furniture in. We lost a lot of hours that first day just sitting around, but it all happened eventually. One of my other great college friends Ashley also came in to help. Ashley and Liz entertained Brooke, which is a huge feat, while Keith and I directed the movers on where to put boxes and furniture. The next couple weeks were kind of a blur. Between unpacking, setting up furniture, working, and taking care of Brooke/Annabelle we were spent. We actually don't have pictures during that time. A HUGE thanks to my mom for watching the babies and putting the kitchen together. HUGE thanks to Keith's dad for assembling the furniture and installing all the ceiling fans. HUGE thanks for Liz for spending the week at our house being a second momma to Brooke. We could not have done it without you guys. By the end of our first week in the house we had all furniture assembled, new fridge, TV, and washer/dryer, and the majority of the boxes unpacked.

Traveling to Texas

We had a very LONG two days in the car to get to Dallas. Overall the girls did great. The first day we drove 14 hours to Dickson, Tennessee. It just so happened that Keith picked this stopping point without knowing that my grandparents were buried in this town. I had never been to see their graves before. It was very special to see all the older generations of my mom's family buried together. We stayed at a hotel in Dickson for the night and then got up early to drive the rest of the way to Dallas. We made it to Dallas in time for dinner on Saturday. It was nice to be at Mark and Twyla's house. Brooke was so ready to be out of her carseat. We had watched way to much of Elmo's world on our drive. At one point during the trip I handed Brooke her backpack, thinking it had books inside. I had no idea it was filled with plastic balls and golf balls. She sent a couple golf balls flying towards the front seat while my mom was driving. We stayed at Mark and Twyla's house on Saturday and Sunday night. On Sunday afternoon all the local family came over to Mark and Twyla's after church. It was the first time for Mark, Shevawn, Nee Naw, Aunt Karen and Uncle Joe to see Annabelle. We had a great afternoon catching up. On Monday Keith and his dad drove down to do the final walk through on the house. My mom and I drove down to Austin on Tuesday for the close and move in.

Moving Day

We picked up the big Penske on Wednesday night. The neighbor girls and Brooke wanted to "drive" in the front seat. Keith took the cutest pictures of them. We had a couple great movers come to get us loaded up on Thursday. They hustled and worked hard to make sure all of our stuff would fit in. Let's just say it was close. Keith was using a rake to push things in the top of the truck. We had the truck filled to the top and our honda completely filled too. There were a lot of last minute things to take care of, but we got it all done. Keith drove the big Penske with the Dogs and I drove the Santa Fe with my mom and the girls. We pulled away from our Pittsburgh house at 5 AM on Friday morning June 22nd. We were a little teary to say goodbye to such a great house full of memories. We are thankful to have found such a great house for our time in Pittsburgh.