Bloomington Vacation Day One

Last week we had some extra vacation time we needed to use up this month so we decided to take a little family vacation to see some of our good friends, Brandon and Anna Chasteen. I grew up with both of them from 11 years on. We played together at church, went to movies together as teens, hung out all the time, and saw each other get married! (They got married about 6 years before me though. I had to wait a little while longer for my Prince Charming! Hehe...)

In 2008, when I moved up to Kentucky, the Chasteens also moved to Indiana. Their new hometown is only a couple hours away from us here. Somehow, in the first three years of us all living up here, we never saw each other. Then, this past Christmas they invited our little family to come for a visit and we were able to go. We had a fabulous time together and Kyle got along great with them as well! We were excited to plan another trip back. However, it took a while since we moved and had a baby this spring. So this last week was the perfect timing because Abigail was finally old enough to enjoy playing with theirs kids.

We drove over Monday evening. Tuesday morning us moms got the kids ready and we went to their church's Mom's Playgroup at a park. It was so much fun!


Jack and Abigail
We piled all five kiddos into their mini van. I know some people will think I'm crazy, but I can't wait to own a mini van! It's so wonderful to be able to ride together with friends!


Kaitlin, Elissa, and Eliot


Abigail loved the slides at the park!!


She loves to be active and going!

One of the best parts about visiting the Chasteens is that Anna is a fabulous cook! We love to eat her cooking. She makes almost everything from scratch and it's all delish! I hope that one day I will be as good of a cook at she is! :-)


Anna and Elissa cooking together.


Us girls! (Minus Abigail who was already in bed.)

Swimming Fun

Last week Abigail and I went with a couple of our friends up to the Seminary campus to take advantage of their indoor pool. Abigail loves the water!! We can't wait for summertime! :-) We're going to be living at the pool and the zoo. Haha...

 Abigail and Laedin

 Abigail likes to place her face in the water. Haha... just like at bath time!

 Playing

Generations of Friendship...

One of my absolute dearest childhood friends, Jessica, and I have known each other from birth. We grew up playing together, graduated together, were in each others weddings, etc... The Lord has graciously allowed us to walk through life together. However, after I moved to Kentucky, soon she and her husband joined the military and they have been stationed in New Mexico. So, because we live in different states now, our trips home to Texas to see our families do not usually coincide. Because of this, we have not seen each other since I was 20 weeks pregnant and she had just found out that she was pregnant with twins. We gave birth in separate states and have been raising our children for the past year, apart from each other. While this is the Lord's will for this season of life, we so look forward to the hopeful day when we will once again live near each other and our kids can enjoy frequently playing together, like we did!

One of the most exciting parts of our trip to Texas last week was that Jessica and her little family were also in town visiting their families, so we actually got to meet up for a short visit and allow our children to meet (and here I was, 16 weeks pregnant again!!! haha...). It was such a sweet, sweet time! We chatted and laughed while we watched our kids play together. SO CUTE! It's crazy to realize that there will be four children between us the next time we see each other!

 Our two families!
(Kyle, Michelle, Abigail, and Baby Roland. Mark, Jessica, Aksil and Avery.)

 Aksil showing Abigail how to ride his super cool toy!

 Abigail loved their ball toy! It shoots the balls up in the air...

 Avery... so cute!

 Our girls!

 Avery and Abigail playing together.

 I love Avery's enthusiasm for life!

 Trying our best to take a group photo! (Notice they each have toys! haha)

 *Cheese*

 Abigail thought she'd surprise Aksil with a kiss... Avery thinks it's pretty funny! (Aunt Jessica, we've got our work cut our for us with these kiddos!)

 Abigail is acting like the big sister... haha...

 This is a more "natural" shot of our kids! haha...

Abigail being Abigail... haha... she loves to touch other kids! Avery's like... "Uhh... Mom!!! What's she doing?"

I am so incredibly thankful for the short time that we had to visit with these dear friends! I look forward to many more playdates in the future, Lord-willing!

Play Time

The last few days Abigail has had a little cold and yesterday she was really cranky! Today she seemed to feel better but we stayed inside and just enjoyed a "jammie-day." In trying to think of something fun and different to do in our home with her, I decided to make a little play fort. My brother and I used to make these as kids and would spend hours playing in them. I was amused to see Abigail's excitement at playing in ours today! I really want to help cultivate her imagination, even at a young age. This was perfect!

Abigail got so excited when I made our little fort in our living room.

"Is it safe to come inside, Mommy?"

"Ok... I'll come in!"

"This is so fun, Mommy! I love it when I have someone to play with!"

No fort is perfect without snacks!

Abigail enjoying her raisins.


I'm so grateful that I am able to stay home with our sweet baby girl and spend my days investing in her little life. She is such a blessing to us and her enthusiasm for life is contagious! She makes us smile every day and adds such life to our little home!

Twinkies!

The first night that Kyle and I walked into our Bradley birthing class, we met a wonderful couple who we sat next to. Little did we know then that a great friendship would be formed and that our daughters, both named Abigail Grace, would be born just five days apart! Emily and I have sent countless text messages back and forth, seeking advice and wisdom throughout our pregnancies and also with our baby girls, who have had many things in common.

Today, Emily and I met up and took some fun pictures of our girls. Emily's Abigail Grace (Abby Grace) was born on November 20th and my Abigail Grace (Abigail) was born on November 25th. It's so fun to have the girls together and to be able to chat Mommy to Mommy now!

There are so many cute pictures that I just have to share a bunch. Emily also posted more pictures over at her blog along with more fun stuff about the similarities between our families! Check it out!

 Mamas and Girls...

 Snow Buddies...

 Abigail is so excited to play with Abby Grace!

 Acting like twinkies! haha...

 I love this close up of both of them! So cute!

 Precious baby girls!

Wanna hold hands?

Ok! haha... 

 Emily and Abby Grace

Michelle and Abigail