Dallas Visit, Part 2

So it may seem a bit ridiculous that I am still posting about our trip to Texas but we had such a great time that we ended up with over 1,000 pictures many of which must be shared!

We spent more hours outside than we did inside in the last few days of our visit to Dallas.  We stayed with my Aunt Debbie & Uncle Joe whose home backs up to the prettiest little pond that we all enjoy fishing on.  Char had not really been around a fishing pole & found it quite entertaining that a line could be cast & return with a little fishie attached to the end.

Uncle Kyle, my baby brother drove in from Lubbock to spend the weekend with us....LOVE HIM! Charlotte & Eloise have the best uncles!  Uncle Kyle loved his time outdoors & Char wanted to be with him & Paw Paw the whole time.



Still quite a bit of difference in height : ) 2 feet 11 inches, 6 feet 3 inches.



Char fishing with her Paw Paw.  She was "calling" the fishies leaned over like this.  She would say "Here fishie!" & make some kiss kiss noises to entice them to bite that little worm. HILARIOUS!



Apparently it was pretty enticing, the fishies started to bite! Uncle Kyle & Paw Paw helped her reel one in herself!



The child who is terrified of a love bug didn't even skip a beat when encouraged to
touch the fish....she put her fingers right in his mouth!



Me & one of my favorite brothers.





My mom, Auntie Deb & Zak, my little cousin who is so not little anymore : )





Char & her Gaga





Chocolate, our favorite puppy in Texas. 
He was not as excited about Charlotte as she was about him : ) Let's just say she is used to dogs that are at least 8 times the size of him!





















I got to spend a few hours on Sunday afternoon with my good friend Halie. I always enjoy seeing her but this visit was really special because she has sweet baby Calvin growing inside her belly!  She & her husband Eric are expecting Calvin to arrive in mid December & couldn't be more excited.  Can't wait to meet him!


I left the sweetest friends in Dallas when we moved to Orlando.  Jocelyn & I have been close friends for 10 years now & our friendship has only deepened since we have been apart. We have now gone through two pregnancies at the same time & have welcomed our babies very close together.  I have to share this story
because it makes me laugh. Last September Jocelyn & Levi came down to visit me & Charlotte at my parents house. Check out the pics here. Levi & Charlotte are only 10 days apart & we had both planned to nurse them through the 1 year mark which extended a bit past the birthday.  We were catching up while the kiddos played & she said that she had stopped nursing Levi the month before & asked me if I was still nursing Charlotte.  I said that I had stopped the week before our trip.  She then said "well, I bet you will be pregnant soon because I am!" I just about died I was so excited for her & then laughed thinking, no way, I won't get pregnant soon! Who knew, just two weeks later I was calling Jocelyn to say, "Here we go again!"
Even though we are miles apart, our lives are so similar. We are each pretty much full time stay at home mommies working one day each as Labor & Delivery nurses.  We both have 4 legged pets that we sometimes wish we didn't have.  We are both married to God lovin', beer brewin', gun shootin' handsome husbands.  Our big difference is that she has the boys & I have the girls! We don't think this is a bad thing at all since after becoming parents we are all for arranged marriages ; ) We have joked that if we each have a third child of the same sex, we will trade. Ha!

the mommas

The two year olds, Charlotte & Levi - 10 days apart

The 5 month olds, Joel & Eloise- 4 weeks apart



as sweet as they look in the pictures above, when not confined they looked like this : )



We had the best time together despite the crying, fighting, dog pile of babies & listening to Levi say "my brother!" & Charlotte say "my sister!" all day long, we came to a conclusion.  If we lived close, we would want to hang out all the time but with basically two sets of twins between the two of us, it could be insane!  We would suffer the craziness though just to get our momma time together! We hope they will come visit us sometime....Disney would be a blast with these kids!
It was so wonderful to spend time as a family.  Debbie & Joe are such wonderful hosts cooking fabulous meals & providing lots of laughter all day long.  Charlotte & Eloise warmed up to them quickly & enjoyed their visit with them. 

Deb, Joe & the girlie pies

My Uncle Mike, Aunt Cindy & cousin Zak came over Sunday evening to enjoy Uncle Joe's famous Chicken Tacos.  We hadn't seen them since our trip to Colorado over Christmas last year so it was fun to introduce them to Eloise & let them experience silly Charlotte in person.  We were so sad that my cousin Mallory couldn't join us, she was in the middle of finals for Law School at Baylor & couldn't make it. So here you go Mal, a pic of your mom & Eloise!

Great visit, all 2 weeks! I have to end on this picture.  It was from Halloween, as you can see with my little ladybug smiling ear to ear with her "yayipop" as she calls it.  I am so thankful for my mom & dad.  They love us so much...and we love them so much too!