we're still here

We've been a little quiet lately.
In our post-Harvey haze,
it felt a little strange to be posting 'cute' pictures
and telling funny stories about our daily happenings.

But we're starting to return to some sense of normalcy
and the focus seems to be shifting to the 'rebuilding'
part of Hurricane Harvey's aftermath.

While our daily lives may have felt a little off the past week or so,
the two girls in our house haven't slowed down one bit.

Harvey

We saw the sun.


We are among the incredibly fortunate and are safe and dry.
Our home had no flooding.
Somehow we were lucky enough to have power the entire duration of the storm.
But we are surrounded by such devastation.
Our little community, located just southeast of Houston was hit hard.
One third of Friendswood, 3000 homes, experienced flooding.

Here are some photos of our neighborhood and community









We are looking forward to returning to some sense of normalcy in the coming days and helping those who need it the most to do the same.

Hurricane Harvey: Day 2

Safe and sound.
and stir crazy.

Evidenced by our play room


It rained off and on through the day and stopped long enough that we even got out of the house for a little walk.

Unfortunately it's not over.
The second band of Harvey is on the move and we've got more coming our way...
that's supposed to stay until Thursday!

So the playroom will probably get worse,
but we will stay safe & sound.
xoxo

Hurricane Harvey - Day 1

We experienced a little bit of the hurricane prep when we lived in Beaumont.
Once we evacuated to Austin for a little weekend get away
and with Ike we left in the middle of the night and ended up taking a 2 week hurrication.

This time is a little different.
With 2 girls and 2 dogs
and a storm that went from a Tropical Storm status to a Cat 4 fairly quickly,
we decided to try the 'hunker down' method this time around.

We stocked up on water, food, and batteries
and made sure we had flashlights and candles ready to go.
Matt took care of the generator and a window A/C unit if necessary
and we filled all the bath tubs just in case.

And then we waited.

There was wind and rain and our lights flickered a few times,
but we had no real issues and are safe and sound.

the calm before the storm

We are continuing to watch the news and Harvey has made his way from Tropical Storm to Hurricane.

We've got a generator, water, ice, bread,

and a lot of bourbon and wine.

We've downloaded some things for the girls on the iPads,

and made sure that everything from the yard is safe in the garage.

But today was the calm before the storm.

My girls weren't calm,

but the weather was surprisingly nice.

We spent more than 10 minutes outside.

That hasn't happened in a while.

a sign of things to come

Today we went to the grocery store.
Our local store is under construction and the aisles change daily so I drove a little farther to a bigger newer store.
I didn't bring a list, just a couple snacks for the girls.
We shopped, trying to remember all the things we needed.
At the water aisle, I realized people were here stocking up for that Tropical Storm Harvey
that was on the horizon.
We were out of room in our cart for cases of water,
but I made a mental note to have Matt pick some up
and then I heard the rain start.
We left our umbrellas in the car,
but by the time we checked out surely it would die down.

It didn't.
This big store has a children's pony ride at the exit.
After I let both girls ride, surely the rain will die down by then.
It didn't.

Groups of people stood in the entrance,
waiting for the rain to stop.
I had two girls who were over being in a grocery cart
and were hungry for lunch.

So we ran.
I ran through the puddles and the pouring rain and the girls giggled their little faces off.
Of course I parked what felt like a mile away and when the girls realized they had to sit in their car seats in their soaking clothes, the giggles disappeared.




Harvey is coming.

our family of four

In February, we had Caroline's one year/family photos taken.

With a day after Christmas birthday,
it seems like everything gets pushed back a little bit,
but in this case it worked perfectly.

We worked with Shalonda from Chubby Cheek Photography,
our magic fairy photographer who we can't get enough of,
on a gorgeous and warm Houston, Texas February day.

I won't share every picture,
but I could.
That's how much I love this session.





Every picture makes me smile.
And while I will mention that the girls outfits
arrived in the mail the day of the shoot,
which caused us a near panic meltdown,
that's not what I see.












I see the love.
And those smiles.
And the little girl details.
And the sister kisses.
And a sweet little family of four.

I see all that and more.

backyard play

Today our A/C is getting fixed.
Because when it goes out in July in Texas,
you don't play.
The playroom is currently draped in tarps and has an open ladder to the attic right in the middle of the floor.
So the backyard is our playroom today.

November 2016

November was full of visitors and celebrations.

We kicked off the month with a visit from Papa & Grandma and the Wilkenings.

My mom, her best friend Shawn, and daughter Tiffany traveled south for a girls weekend
and shopping trip to the Nutcracker Market.
The Nutcracker Market has become an annual occasion for my mother and I,
and we were so excited to share it with these girls!

Grandpa took over the SAHM duties for the day
and I was beyond thankful.
{we even stopped for a margarita on the way home... shhh}
He made lots of memories with the girls
and kept us laughing with his stories of the day.
If you ever run into him, ask him about his trip to Target...

We shopped {a lot}
ate {a lot}
enjoyed wine {a lot}
and laughed {a whole lot}


Next up, we welcomed Grandpa & Grandma McQuinn,
who made a special trip to visit and watch the girls
while Mom & Dad celebrated a belated 10 year anniversary trip to NYC.








We were thrilled to have Grandpa & Grandma stay to help us celebrate Thanksgiving.





And like the Texans we are,
we spent the rest of the month decorating for Christmas
and enjoying the 70 degree weather outside.