long overdue UPdate.

I think today is the first day since we've been back that there hasn't been something written on the calendar for us to do! And it feels nice to still be in my PJ's at 10:30. Let's start from the beginning...(if I can remember everything)

June 6--Bink graduated from high school. Dave, the girls, and I packed up the Tahoe and drove down from Iowa. We found a house to rent in the school zone where we wanted Aubrey to start kinder, so we had to start our lease at the beginning of June. The girls and I decided to stay in Round Rock while Dave went back to Iowa to finish out his fellowship. Here are some cute pics from Bink's graduation day:








Dave flew back to Iowa after the graduation party, and the girls and I were left with a big empty house for the rest of June. I called our movers to see if they could move us sooner, but they were completely booked for the month. It's amazing how little voices echo when there is no furniture to soak up the noise! We lived on air mattresses and ate off a card table for a few weeks, but the girls and I had a lot of fun! We made a couple trips to the Dollar Store for dress up supplies and coloring books:

Then Mimi made the ultimate discovery...all my old costumes from my dancing days:




Next on the agenda was to bid farewell to our good friends, the Hogg's, from Temple. They were moving back to Louisiana, so we spent as many days as we could with them before they left:

Aubrey attended a Princess dance camp at Tinka's for a week in June. They had a performance at the end of the week. My favorite part was the "Little Mermaid" dance. At the end, the girls were supposed to dance with their dads, so Pops had to fill in since Dave was in Iowa:



The following week came Vacation Bible School...Addy cried during Princess Camp week because she wanted to go too, so I tried to find something they could both attend. Technically, the kids were supposed to be three, but I volunteered to help with the elementary kids so Addy could go too. She ended up being in my friend, Karen's class, and she instantly fell in love with her. By the end of the week, she was calling her "My Karen". That gives me hope that she will enjoy her preschool teacher here soon.

I think that pretty much sums up June. At the end of the month, I flew back to Iowa to help Dave with the movers and tie up loose ends. It was nice to spend a few days as a couple. I had to visit the doctor for the last time before our Iowa insurance ended because I knew our S&W insurance takes 30 days to kick in from Dave's start date (yeah, still haven't seen a doctor here). We drove back together, our stuff arrived July 2, and our first weekend back was July 4th. We spent that day at home with the girls and my family came over to cook for us. Dresses and glasses courtesy of Mimi:






On July 5th, we helped host an engagement party on Lake Travis for our friends, Houston and Katy. We had a blast!



Dave spent the next three weeks at home before starting work at S&W. We thought about taking a trip, but then we decided to stay around the house and unpack. We took the girls to the Austin Zoo one day and they really enjoyed feeding the goats and deer. I still can't get over the ginormous lion and tiger that inhabit that place. All that separates them from us in a flimsy little chain-link fence....hmmm.







We spent the rest of Dave's time off relaxing and unpacking and eating lots of Mexican food. We've spent lots of time with family and friends, and we realize that we made the best decision by coming back to this area. I've been to a wedding shower for my good friend Allison, been to Canton with my mom, been to Build-a-Bear with the girls and my mother-in-law, been to lunch with old friends, been shopping at the oh-so-awesome Austin stores, been to TWO movies with my husband, been to several little kid birthday parties, and the list goes on and on.... It's been even better than we thought it would be. Dave and I have had time to ourselves and the girls have had time to spend with their grandparents (great grandma Nawnee included) and uncles. Everyone is happy.

And through all that, I've continued to grow....

Hard to believe I have LESS THAN 8 WEEKS before Blake joins us! Here is a shot of his nursery in progress...if we weren't renting, those walls would be painted! The theme came from a signed Kevin Durant Sonics basketball jersey that Dave received for Christmas from his parents. I didn't exactly know where to hang it, so I was pumped when we found out we were having a boy so I could hang it in his room!


The craziness continues this next week with a baby shower tomorrow, both girls starting gymnastics, meeting Aubrey's teacher, and an orientation at Aubrey's school. Now that we are settled, I'll be better about posting. Especially since this update took me two hours to complete....