Celebrating Baby Lixey

It was a lot of fun getting to throw my dear friend Nicki a baby shower along with other dear friends Cassie and Trish.  Babies are a great excuse for a party!!

The spread

Yummy cupcakes

Trish and Gna!

Decorations and Trish's delicious coffee punch aka Wendy's frosty with hint of coffee flavoring

Water and tulips.  Couldn't find teal flowers...go figure...so went with contrasting color instead.

Nicki sharing her funny stories and workin the crowd

Trish's crockpot party mix was yum. 

Hanging out while playing Cassie's fun games she made for us

Present time with Cassie and Nicki

Baby boy or girl???  We won't know until July!

The lovely mama and Tiffany

Nicki's husband Brian on boy patrol

Jen learning way more than she could ever want to know about babies

Watermelon baby carriage.. haha.

Seems like crystal goes better with tablecloths but we just kinda tried to mix elegant and rustic!

Wreath for baby boy/girl.

My husband ate a steak for dinner, with his bare hands.  Nights like these I wonder what his life would really be like without a woman in it..... #Isaybarbaric  #hesaysmanlier

Nicki and big brother Sawyer!

Mom and Paul Bring Green Thumbs!

My mother and stepfather Paul came through on their way to a wedding (tis the season for matrimony!!!).

In true Mills-Wilson loving fashion, they always help us with the projects Matthew and I have usually somewhat started, attempted, and then left half-done with a big "we'll get to it...sometime!" :)  It's always more motivating for me to have someone else step in and give that extra push and assistance to finish a task.  And since mom and Paul know about plants (and we don't), we tackled the front yard!  Of course there was lots of snuggling with lil' bit as well.

Now the real challenge is if I can keep these plants alive.........

William with YaYa and PopPop

Looking at the new pretty flowers

Checking out the lavendar

Got a couple new Cleyera bushes (right), a gardenia (right front),  two hydrangeas, some hostas, and then some midwestern type flowers.

Japanese maple coming this fall.  We were too afraid to plant something that large in this heat.

Still needs more distinct bed lines, irrigation and mulch

<3

It was fun laying the rocks out that mom and Paul brought to us from the side of the road!  We broke apart some with the pick axes to get the right shapes and sizes.  In the fall we'd like to transplant the three big bushes to another corner of the house and just have flowers in this bed.

Waving to cars

Cute toes

Giggles with Pop Pop

Love having coneflowers.  They remind me so much of our time in Colorado. 

Hillises Bring the Beach!

Matthew's parents came to stay with us recently for a wedding they were attending in Nashville.  We are due for a beach trip with them come September.  But since that's still a few months out, they brought the "beach" to us!  Thanks grandmama and granddaddy!

One sandbox and a kiddie pool equals William's new awesome summer fun activities.

First time in his sandbox

Figuring out how these tools work

Pool time! (naked baby alert!)

Aunt Bec Bec came to visit!

The Lixeys came over one night for family dinner.

Sawyer loved the sandbox as well.  

The guys watched kids while the ladies went house hunting for Nicki and Brian

Summer nights with kiddos!

William loved snuggles from granddaddy after getting his nighttime "bath" in the pool.  

Bear

William and "bear" continue to grow very close.

If I let bear out of the crib more often, William would probably carry him everywhere, toting him by mouth when his hands are being used for crawling.

Beloved bear

William and bear at 9 months.  Sitting up with bear after his nap.

William and bear at 10 months after waking up from a nap.

William and bear at 11 months. 

William and bear at 13 months.

It makes me think so much of Matthew's favorite comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Watterson.  The comic is about 6-year-old Calvin and his adventures with his stuffed tiger "Hobbes."

Who knows, maybe William and bear will be the best of friends.