Broken Paci and Date Night

The time had come for Parker to learn to sleep without his Paci. My goal all along was for it to be gone by the time he turned 2 and he turns 2 in just over a week. I tried this a couple of months ago but he started sucking his fingers and I didn't want to break a habit just to pick up another one. So I gave his paci back and decided to try again later. Saturday night I poked a few holes in it. Then on Sunday night I cut the end off and showed it to him and told him his was broken. After a few whines, he was fine with it. He wouldn't even let me put it in his bed with him to just "hold." He wanted it thrown away, so we did just that. I couldn't believe he went right to sleep without it. Here is the last picture taken a few days ago with his paci.

Now we will be getting to see this handsome dimple smile a lot more.

Tonight Josh surprised me and said Emily was coming over to watch the boys while he was going to take me out for dinner. I didn't know where he was going to take me but I did have a few ideas. =) We ended up at Ruth's Chris. It was so yummy! He also surprised me with a beautiful new necklace that I love. Thank you, Josh, for a fun night out! You're the best!

By the way, I can't believe this cute kid below starts preschool in just 3 weeks at Shiloh! He is turning into such a big boy way too quickly!

My Brother is Engaged

We had a very excited weekend! After four years of dating, on Friday night, my brother asked Jessica to marry him! We are so happy she will officially be joining our family. She is precious and just perfect for my brother! We love her so much! It's funny how things turn out because Jessica's cousin, Emily, is one of my good friends that I went to school with at Shiloh while growing up.

After a nice dinner in North Little Rock, Rick told Jessica that he had to pick up something at my Aunt's house. When they went around back she heard music playing and this is what she saw....

This was half of the screened in porch...the other half she found these.

She was so shocked and of course there were happy tears! She also had another surprise. Jessica's family had planned an engagement party a couple of neighborhoods down the street. So Rick brought her over there after they left my Aunt's house. She thought only her Mom and Dad would be there. Here is a picture of people starting to arrive at the party and waiting on Rick and Jessica to show up to surprise them. It was held at Jessica's Uncle's house around the pool.

Peyton and I with Lexy, Jessica's best friend. We couldn't wait till they got to the party! Peyton was my date that night. Josh had a football tournament at the U of A and Parker stayed with my Brother in law and Sister in law back in Rogers.

Here's the cake. It was so good.

One of the beautiful tables.

Here are Rick and Jessica when they first arrived at the party. She was so shocked to see everyone there to celebrate! It was perfect.

Jessica walking down the stairs to see her Mom. I love this picture!

The happy couple!

I made Rick take this goofy picture with his "engaged" cup. =)

Jessica's BEAUTIFUL ring!

Peyton with his buddy Uncle Rick. (I'm not sure why this pic is so small)

This is our family with Jessica's parents and her sister, Lauren. It was almost 11:00 at night and Peyton was not in the mood for pictures by this point.

Congrats Rick and Jessica! We love you both so much! Can't wait for your wedding next summer!

Florida Pictures

We are back from our Destin vacation! This year we spent one week with my family on the beach and the following week with Josh's family. We were so blessed to spend that time away with our families. Our boys loved every minute and had so much fun playing while getting spoiled by the grandparents for nearly two weeks. Peyton is already asking to go back. We are glad to be back in town but still missing the beach.

Enjoy the pictures below...there are a lot of them! Also, check out Meredith's blog for more about our trip. She does a great job telling the story about us getting stuck in an elevator while at a friend's house in Seaside! We were freaking out!!

Jessica, Peyton, Josh, Parker, Kate and my brother, Rick.

The four of us with my parents, Rick and his girlfriend, Jessica.

Uncle Rick and the boys.

Sweet brothers.

Running from the waves.

My love.

Cousin Reese and the boys.

Dinner with Josh's family. Meredith's sister watched the kids that night.

Kids and Meredith's sister, Abby.

4th of July on the beach.

The boys, Reese and GiGi watching the fireworks from our balcony.

Here's a picture from our beach trip last year. A year can make a huge difference! Peyton was going through the terrible two's and Parker hated the sand at the time! It was still fun but a lot of hard work. Needless to say, this year it was much easier keeping everyone happy.