Happy 4th.

These are to tide Mopsy and Gran over until pictures from tonight are taken and shared. We have had two different rounds of house guests the past three nights, and it's been one fun weekend here. This morning after Barrett and Lindsey left, we got Reese in her firecracker gear and headed to the grocery store to stock up on all the goods for our party here tonight. More pictures and stories to come later...

Well, I actually have time to share a couple of small stories now while my pictures upload. {skip to pictures if you want} Wes' cousin Ben and his wife Claire came up from Little Rock to spend the night Friday night, and I always so enjoy visiting with them. Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic they were coming, but when I found out little Lucy wasn't with them, I did get a little sad. They have an almost 17 month old who was with her grandparents while Ben and Claire did some furniture shopping. I've only gotten to see Lucy when she was little bitty, so we have decided we are all going to visit Ben and Wes' grandmother in Camden soon. That will be a trip and have it's own blog post for sure. Back to their visit with us...we stayed up talking for several hours Friday night and then did a little Farmers Market shopping on Saturday morning before they headed out on their quest for a dining table.

Another fun day was had on Sunday when all the Walker bros, wives, and little kids ate lunch after church together. We picked up Slim's and then headed over to Bret and Jayme's to eat. Barrett, one of Wes' (and mine, too) best friends from high school, and Lindsey came over early afternoon, and we grilled burgers and looked at old high school pictures last night. They are having their first little one in January, so we did a lot of ooing and ahhing over Reese. Okay, pictures are uploaded and you can finally see what you came here for. Ta da.

Our little firecracker on her first 4th of July. Yeah, she has her first crusty nose, too. You can kind of tell her eyes are a bit watery and her nose is stuffy. Sweet girl.

It's her last first holiday. After 4th of July, the next big holiday is Halloween, and it will be her second time to celebrate that one. So, today is her last first holiday.

Getting ready to go grocery shopping in the rain.

Not too bothered by the wet weather this morning.

Day 30: Self-Portrait

Cue the chorus. The photography challenge is finished. I enjoyed playing with my camera so much and capturing pictures I never would have without the daily tasks. However, blogging for 30 days in a row has been quite the feat. I'm anxious to see how often I'll be here in July. You will hear from me for sure, just not every day.

Today was Wes' Friday, so I'm a happy girl. I'm planning on going to the gym for the third day in a row tomorrow, and this time I'm leaving Reese at home. You would like to know that she got an incredibly glowing report from the gym child care today. I was a proud mama. {Side note: Is it annoying to write/talk about stuff like that? I have no idea, and I guess before now I didn't pay much attention to it.}

I took Reese to the DMV today to get my new driver's license, and it was the first time I wore my hair up for the photo. I didn't wake up having this on my to-do list for the day, but I had an hour this afternoon, and I was three days past due. So, hair was up, tank top was on, and it was after the gym. Oh well. Four years with a lovely ID are ahead of me.

All right, on to the fun stuff. Enjoy our little self-portrait session along with cute pictures of Reese in her newest Etsy outfit. LOVE it.

Blinds pulled down.

Blinds pulled up. Big difference in light.

My little buddy just doing what we do...with my makeshift crafting area behind us.

Look at those ruffles.

Hey, big eyes. I love you.

I think her first word other than mama and dada will be book. Or maybe Emmett.
Reaching in for some new toys.

Day 29: Black and White

I did something today that I haven't done in about 11 months. I went to the gym! You have to know that I love aerobics classes and have thought about becoming an instructor more than a handful of times. My workouts for the past 11 months have been either on sidewalks around my neighborhood with a stroller or in front of my tv doing an exercise video via the Wii on Netflix. These have been fine, but I really have been wanting to rejoin the gym and get back to my routine of Zumba, Body Pump, and spin. So, Wes got me 14 months at 3 local gyms for my birthday, and today was the first day my neck felt like going. It was fabulous and so good to be back.

After eating lunch at Dixie Cafe with one of my favorite people, I showered, Reese napped, and then we got to play with all my nieces and nephews for a couple of hours. I always love any time I get to spend with my sisters-in-law and their sweet kids.

Enjoy my black and white pictures with a couple in color at the end.

The baby babies of the group. Ty and Marion.

The third youngest.

Bath time.

Getting dried off in her ducky towel.

The three babies.

She kept putting her hands on their heads. What a cute trio.

Day 28: Flowers

Today was a fabulous one. Two great naps for the little girl. One fun outing with dear friends and lots of kids to a family pool. A sweet, smily, happy baby all day. A great devotional this morning. It was just one of those great days. Wes is gone until after 9 tonight, so Reese and I had dinner and bedtime to ourselves. After feeding her some chicken, pasta, green beans, and pears, I took Reese on a stroll around the neighborhood right next to ours, swung her on the front porch swing for a few minutes, gave her a bath, read a little of a story, and nursed her before putting her in the crib. It was a sweet night time, and now I'm finishing up some of my leftover birthday dinner. I'm debating whether to indulge in a piece of my Coldstone birthday cake that Wes brought home for me last night. I think I will. And then I'll get my stuff ready to go to the gym in the morning.

My little helper watching me take pictures of flowers in her crib.

Flowers. Not real, but pretty.

Day 27: From a Distance

Today's shot wasn't necessarily what I had hoped. You see, today is my birthday, and although I didn't have big plans, I did think we would be out at the park or pool and I could snap a few pictures from a distance. Nope. We have been at home except for my trip to the chiropractor this morning. I woke up with a BAD stiff neck, and I had never felt this pain before. It's still pretty painful, and I'm in a rather frozen position, but I have hope that it will be better in a few days. I was adjusted and got worked on pretty well, so now it's just ice packs and biofreeze. Oh, and to make things more interesting, my phone completely froze this morning. I guess it felt bad for me and wanted to freeze just like my upper back and neck. Wes met me at the chiropractor's office, took Reese and my phone to AT&T while I was getting adjusted, and then brought my unfrozen phone and my sweet girl back to me. Oh, and then he came home, made me lunch, and put Reese down for her nap.

This is no call for sympathy. In fact, I was thinking on my way to the doctor that God had this planned out perfectly. He has been trying to show me lately how to let time be up to Him and how to rest in Him all the time. I have been able to have some good quality silent time today just taking comfort in knowing that I don't have to be in control. These little troubles are good, and when I can consistently remember to thank Him for these trials, eventually my heart will immediately praise God in all circumstances. I believe that.

So, Reese has been in her pack n play a bit today, and right now she's having independent play time in her crib. I'm parenting "from a distance" more than usual today. Wes is bringing home a nice dinner from a favorite restaurant tonight, and I've had so many phone calls and texts from friends I see often and friends I see way too little of, so life is good. I love that about birthdays. Three more days of this photography challenge. I'm thankful for that, too.

Parenting "from a distance."

Day 26: Close-Up

As mentioned a few days ago, my mom and I have done some furniture painting. I'm waiting to get a few more things done including seat cushions to post before and after photos, but I decided it would be a good idea to use today's challenge to highlight a little of what we did. We painted my kitchen table aqua and the chairs white. I tried to do a little distressing, and while I learned a lot and have a good idea now of how to make things look just like I want, these pieces are definitely done by a beginner. I'm ready to try my hand at a few more techniques and repaint more things around the house. I love how my kitchen furniture has turned out, and I can't wait to get my fun Amy Butler seat cushions done and a few more pieces painted white. Until then...

An edge of one of the newly painted white chairs.

A corner of the newly painted aqua table.

My inspiration for the room. Now it's nicely presented in a watermelon painted frame.

Oh. I snuck a picture of Reese in here. She's sweet.

Day 25: Something Pink

Well, I have a new crafting obsession. My mom has been making different types of headbands for Reese the past few months, and my friend Cat just recently started making fabric rosettes and other fabulous little girl headbands. I figured it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon, and I'm riding at full speed now. Nap times are now even busier for this mama.

The rosettes that have "pink" in them.

The rosettes I've made the last two days. Now I just need to attach them to the great elastic I have and voila...perfect little accessories for Reese (and a few other lucky girls, too!).