Meet and Greet.

This past weekend we headed down to San Antonio for the first time.
We had a little meet and greet with some of the family.

 Lilly loved her! She wanted to take her home...literally.
Her baby sister is due in November, so it was good practice.
She will be a great helper.

 Cousin Adam Jr. and Reyna met for the first time!
Adam is 6 months old. Hopefully, they will be good playmates for each other.
 

 Most importantly, Reyna got to meet Grandmother Reyna, whom she was named after. 

I must say, they hit it off! Reyna loved her. Just look at that smile.

 Four generations.

So many people came out to meet her and she was a big flirt. 

She had her smile on, never cried, and kept a clean diaper!

2 months.

Two months with Reyna.

We are learning so much about you. 

We are so blessed to spend all our days with you. 

You have grown so much this month. You are outgrowing your clothes faster than you can wear them! 

 

You are still eating well. We are doing our best to soothe your belly aches :(

We cheer for dirty diapers and have mastered the "blow-out" that occurs daily.

 You had so many visitors this month. Grandma and Grandpa came down from Iowa and you had your first trip to San Antonio!

Because she's too cute.

Our baby bear.

Had to get some pictures in her little uniform before she out grows it..which is very soon!

 

 These make me smile.

The making of a Father.

So far, (one of) my favorite part of motherhood is...fatherhood.

Seeing this new father love on his baby, melts my heart.

Seeing him get wrapped around her little finger so fluidly, is priceless.

He adores her and I, him.
He is so patient and gentle with her.
Always the protector.

 She thinks he is pretty awesome too!

She loves when he:
reads to her
sings to her
dances with her
makes silly faces

To say thank you Reyna and I worked on a little gift.
For Valentine's Day, Neil wrote her a book about how we met.
We decided to publish that book into a hardback so Daddy could read it to her any time!

Only 50 days as a Daddy and he is catching on quickly!
I really couldn't do it without him.

The art of investing.

The best gift by dad ever gave me was his time.

When I think back on my childhood, it seems that all my memories are wrapped up in him.

It felt like he was there EVERY DAY after school....cause he was.

He was not a teacher, and in fact, spent his workday with other "kids" but he found a way to be there as a coach. It started when I was in first grade and went through my high school graduation.

For basketball and softball. Practice, games, traveling teams, and at home. That is A LOT of time. I wonder how many hours of my life he was actually there. 

2100 days of school ...two hours a day...4200 hours...at least!

 And to be honest, I can't think of a single time that I wished he wasn't. Even through my teenage years, it was kind of a relief to see him in the gym with that whistle in his sneakers. I loved that he tied my shoes before EVERY game until I graduated. He always took that piece of gum out of his pocket to give me just before game time. 

His time was more than enough. I gave me a sense of security and freedom.

Thanks for the lesson on investing, Dad!

Hopefully, your investment is starting to see some return :)

The (almost) forgotten anniversary.

Today we celebrate 5 years of marriage!

We woke up and it took us a couple of hours to remember it.

We talked about it earlier in the week but it kinda snuck up on us.

In years past, we spent our anniversary on vacation. 

Mexico in year one, Colorado in year two, Minnesota in year three, and Thailand in year four.

This year is a little bit different. We are in our town, our home, our couch....and it feels great!

Our family, and our marriage has just changed drastically.

As we get used to our new roles, it is so nice to have a partner that is so PRESENT!

Literally and figuratively. We always joked that we spent more time together than anyone we know but that is more true now. 

More than that, he is always worked hard and made me a priority. 

We have fun and he is still my very best friend!