Showered with love

A couple of weeks ago(Sat, Oct 25) We had our big family and friends shower. My sweet neighbor Leslie had it at her home and she took some wonderful pic's. My friend Shelley made all the delicious food and the prettiest cake : ) Kristin and her mom Vickie help with the invites, the too cute diaper cake and all the little details that come with a shower and Step (with help form my other sister) did the cutest favors. We were so blessed by everyone and can't even describe how much love we felt from all of you guys! I definitely feel ready to bring this little girl home now!

My friend Trinli gave us this super cute bag with a M for Miss MayleeKelsey (who drove in from College Station for the shower! So sweet!), Lizzy, & Jacy

The Hostess

My little dancers! Jenna & Hadley

A full house with sweet friends & family!My Sisters!

Clint surprised me by flying in my sister Katie from New York! It was so nice to have all of them here for Maylee's shower.

Once I get the next set of pics to upload I'll share Clint's work shower, My work shower, and the ever growing tummy update!

It's A Pink World

Here's a little glimpse into my world as I write.....it's a pink world.....

Mr. Squeakers Found Dead!!!!

Well as most of you might know, we have a lot of life going on at our house. From the sweet addition of Maylee to our lives to the overpopulated (and growing) fish tank, we are bursting forth with life in our humble abode.

Yesterday, however, we discovered a terrible sight. One of the very beloved members of our little family was found ravaged. Yes, murdered!!! He came to live with us about a year and a half ago and we have had some wonderful memories within our short time together. We met him at our local pet store and instantly knew that he would fit right in with our family. His name was Mr. Squeakers.

When we first brought him into our home, right away Harvey was quite cordial, but Toby however quickly became jealous of our new found friend. He became quite agitated because of all of the attention we began to shed upon Mr. Squeakers but being naive we assumed that Toby was merely going through a phase and that eventually he would become accustomed to our guest.

We were wrong. Saturday morning I awoke and began to make a venture to the kitchen. Halfway down the hall I felt an imperfection in the carpet so I looked down to find a cloud on our floor. A small cotton ball. I didn't think much of it until I detected a small cotton trail. I should have known the horror that awaited but my inquisitive mind followed the path of fluff.

And there he laid. The sight was horrible. I bent down to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation but it was too late. It was hard to see at first what had been the fatal blow because Mr. Squeakers' insides had been pulled out of his body and laid to rest upon his body. Clearly only a villainous creature could have done such a thing to Mr. S. I vowed right then and there I would track down my friend's murderer. I vowed that no matter what the cost, the time, or the effort I would avenge Mr. Squeakers!! Two minutes later, I found him.

He had already moved onto a new victim and was in the act of committing yet another act of terror! He was clearly a serial squirrel killer. Realizing that no one would believe that the cute face of Toby would be believed as a killer I snapped some shots to seal his fate. Larissa thinks we should let him go with a warning though I know what happens to little dogs once they get a taste for fluffy squirrel stuffing. They want more and more and more until eventually their craving is unquenchable and then they move on to bigger ground! First pillows, then couches, and then in a final climatic bid of passion they go for the insulation inside the walls.

Please keep our family in your thoughts. Although we found another Mr. Squeakers look-a-like, I still know its not him. This is a hard time in our life. Hard times.

Tagged

So this my first time to be tagged! I was tagged by Mrs. Kris to post the sixth picture in my sixth file. So here it is.......

This is my sister Lizzy and one of her best girl friends Darian. This was during Lizzy senior year last October. They were about to compete at the cowboys stadium. Man those lips are VERY red on those fair skinned, red headed girls : )

So now Im tagging my sisters.......you know who you are! Post it on the family blog!

This is the day the Lord has made.......

Every Wednesday at the day school we go to chapel. Being first thing in the morning its always a feat to have a group of wiggly 3 and 4 years old sit still for any extend period (exsp first thing in the morning;Ha!) So that being said chapel consist of two or three songs and a quick bible stories which includes puppets. The one thing we do every week to start chapel off is have us all stand up and raise our hands up to the sky and we all say together "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it" then we all clap our hands and cheer. I love this! What a way to start the day. I love the cheer. Isn't that how we should all start everyday off? Praising our Lord and in such child-like excitement of the day He has given us? There something so precious and sweet about the fact of getting up and thanking Him for the new day He has made.

So I've found that after doing this on a weekly basis for the past two years that I now find myself saying the whole verse to myself (and yes,with the sounds of cheering and clapping in my head is included,ha! Such a preschool teacher!) in the mornings as I get ready for my day. I never realized what a blessing this simple saying has been to me and how it has help change my perspective in the morning! Who knew that I'd be the one to learn something from the day school chapel?!? Don't ever underestimate the Word and how it can touch you in the most unique ways!

Fun time of fellowship

So this past weekend was full of friends and fellowship!

Saturday morning we went out to the Botanical Gardens with our very talented neighbors Leslie and Brian. They took the prettiest maternity pictures for us. We were so blessed by their generosity and kindness. The weather could not be better for September in Texas and the pic's turned out beautifully! Not the hard part deciding what to print.......

Saturday afternoon Stephanie blessed is with a 3d-4d sonogram. So we got to see our sweet little girl!!!! Our last sonogram was at 18 weeks so It was fun to see how much she has grown, It was such a sweet and beautiful thing to experience. We also got a video of the whole thing. I think Clint and I have watched it 10 times already. God is so good! Its amazing how He has formed this beautiful gift inside me.

Saturday evening we celebrated Clint's grandmothers birthday. By this time in the night I was exhausted (so no pics from me,ha!)but it was a full fun day of celebrating life so it seem fitting to celebrated life of all ages and stages!

Time flies when your having fun!

So Its been awhile since I've updated, but life has a way of blowing by!

I started back to work. Its been fun meeting all our fresh faced three year olds! We have alot of girls this year, I think thats just adds to the theme for my family this year! Ha!

I took my glucose test two weeks ago and didn't past the first round, bummer. So last week I took the oh so fun three hour test. Im so excited to say that I cleared the test and Im allowed to eat sugar! Yay!

We have painted Miss Maylee's room. Its a very pretty soft shade of green. I'll post pics once we have things added to the room : )

Next step new carpet.............that should be fun!

Happy Monday to all!

100 days!

Crazy! We have 100 days till Maylee is here(more or less) I can't believe its already September and that the cooler weather(hopefully : ) is on its way!

I know we still have three more months to go but I feel like I need to get things wrapped up soon(finishing the nursery, order furniture, ect.). Im afraid I'm going to blink and this little girl will be here. Just Crazy how fast the time is going!

So I started back to work this week. Last night at the studio was a little bit crazy but tonight was much calmer. Today was also meet the teacher day at the Day School. We had 14 excited three years olds come in with smiling faces(for the most part) ready to check out their new stomping grounds. I think everyone should be ready to rock n roll on Friday!(we hope) I'll have to try and post some pic this weekend of our cute room we just finished putting together.

So this past weekend we got Maylee's bedding! So cute! Im now SO ready for us to get furniture and paint on the walls. The goal is to have the painting done by the end of the month!

And of course a post is not complete with out some pics!

Me at 24 weeks

The prego girls!

Also these are some cute curtains I helped fix up for Ashleigh and a cute Bow/Tie back I made for her new apartment. I think the colors are so fun!

Hope everyone has a nice rest of the week and enjoying this fall like weather we are enjoying for the moment : )

Ramblings from the pregnant lady.....

So this week has started off to a different beat. My hubby is off on a business trip; He left yesterday and will be back tomorrow. He will also be heading over to his brother's cd release party in good ole Nashville and to also hear his band play at the Grand Opry! Good luck tonight Bryan and the rest of the band. You sound great on the live feed right now(isn't technology great!)

So me, Harvey, Toby,(the dogs) and Miss Maylee have been here at the house going it solo. I actually seem to do more when Clint out of town. I think its a distraction for me to stay busy and I have no excuse to not do it. So we been cleaning out closets, drawers, and piles of stuff that was long over due for filling. Its prob a good thing to get caught up now; the rest of my week is a busy one. Tomorrow is the cd release party for my brother-in-law here in Fort Worth. Then Thursday I'm going to a Ladies Day Kick Off for fall bible studies at my in-laws church. Fri/ Sat is the Women of Faith Conference. This will be my first time to go and I'm so excited to be going with my sweet sister Stephanie and my best friend Kristin! It will be great to have a girls weekend before the busy fall comes a roaring!

Speaking of Kristin, today she and her hubby Collin found out what their sweet little baby's gender is....A BOY!!!! YAY! We are so excited for you all! We might have to go ahead and start the papers on that arrange marriage we talked about all the way back in May! We will be praying for this sweet little boy and we know he's going to be such a strong leader for Christ. He already been blessed with two wonderful parents who will lead him there. Were so blessed to get to be apart of this journey with you guys. Thank you for allowing us to be apart of it : )

Okay now I'm off to finish up my many to do's!
Have a fun week every one!

Happy Birthday Clint!

Clint~

I hope you had a wonderful day and that this your 29th year is one you enjoy! Thank you for sharing your twenties with me and allowing me to be beside you threw the journey of your life!

I can't even start to tell you what you have done for me and how you have hold me up through all the hill and valley our lives have gone threw. Having you beside me has made me a stronger person. You have been such a huge blessing in my life and I thank God everyday for you and somehow your birthday is a gift to me as well!

So now as we head toward all the many new changes coming in our lives, I can't picture doing so with anyone else. Im so excited to see all that the Lord has in store for us!

Thank you for all the years of laughter and joy!

Happy birthday my love!

Love you so,

Riss

Had to share......

This weekend I was cleaning up my email and saving pictures people have sent me. Alot of them were from this past spring which just went by in a blur(I think I slept and worked May away! Ha!)

I adore her!

I found these two cute pic's. At the time I didn't know it would be my last recital for awhile. Its such a bittersweet thing for me. Im going to miss teaching dance but know its for such a wonderful thing to come in four short months!

Living in Cowtown

Just wanted to share our newest purchase for our little Maylee.

My Grandpa would have been so proud!

The story goes that as the first grandchild my Grandpa Gaston didn't care if I was a girl or boy but that I would definitely have a pair of boots and wranglers. So last night while we were at Cavenders, I decided it would have made him smile to see the tradition live on! Hopefully she will be able to wear them when the Stockshow comes in town next winter! Too much fun!

Hello/Goodbye

This past Fall, We introduced my family to the wonders of a place called Babes.Babes is a homestyle restraunt with only five choices for the meats and you get family style dishes of corn(so yum!), green beans, mash potatoes, and biscuits. I haven't met a person yet who hasn't left Babes extremely full and have a need to take a nap or go for a walk .

During the Christmas break Katie learned of Babes. Now Katie is a foodie. This girl LOVES her food and can eat with the best of them. We always joke with her that she can never give up her running and soccer playing cause she'd definitely would not be in a good state. So to say the least Katie has fallen in love with Babes. She's a girl that can definitely hang with the family style dishes(as well as the rest of the family!)

at Babes So somehow Katie has made it a tradition that everytime she comes home from college or heads back we all need to go eat at Babes. Now its not hard to give up an offer to go to Babes or to have an excuse either so I guess this is how the tradition came about so easily. I've never found an easier way to get all my crazy siblings and their friends togther then to mention dinner at Babes! So I think we now need to dub the Babes outing the Hello/Goodbye place(and yes I'll be singing the Target jingle in my head when we go now!).
Digging in

Babes is now Katie's Hello to Texas and her See-ya later. Gotta love a foodie!

1/2 way there.....

So we have made it to the 20 week mark! This week I have definitely noticed change in my body. The baby bump has grown for sure! I am very grateful that I've been feeling so much better. The 1st trimester was a rough one for me with all the morning sickness! 20 weeks

Now that we know we are having this sweet baby girl changes are starting to be made in the nursery. My super Mother-in-law and her friend Kathy came over all last week (while I was at VBS. That's one way of getting out of things,huh?)and got the room primed. They also took off the terrible boarder around the top of the room that we thought would never come off. We are SO thankful for all their help. Now its time for me to pick out paint!

Oh I also think we picked out Maylee's bedding! Its very sweet and has soft colors. We both love it and its exactly what we envisioned for our first little girls room!
Very exciting!

Thinks are starting to happen around here again, which is a good thing since in about a month the summer will be over and back to work I go..........thats definitely motivation if I ever heard of one! Have a cool day everyone : )

I'm Falling In Love....Again!

About seven years ago, I fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Larissa. Not a day goes by that I don't praise God for her. I never thought the day would come so soon but I must confess I'm falling in love with another little lady. When I first laid eyes upon her my heart sang! It was definitely love at first sight. It's a bit hard to describe how lovely she is. I can tell you she's pretty short, she's a bit bald right now and her English isn't so good, but she does have all of her fingers and toes. She takes my breath away!!! Sometimes at work I'll sit and stare at her picture and imagine my life with her. I'd like to introduce you....

Her name is MAYLEE GAIL SIMPSON! Her first name, Maylee, means "sweet" in Tongan and "jasmine flower" in Tai. Her middle name means "lively". I can't wait to spend the rest of my life loving my sweet and lively little girl. Seven years ago I fell in love with a beautiful young lady...and now I can say I'm so thankful to God that it's happening all over again. She's a bit shy so she's not quite ready to meet everyone. Larissa says she's in extensive training to be a black belt in karate or perhaps a World Cup soccer star, but she has promised me that come December she'll be elated to meet all of you! I think you're gonna fall in love with Miss Maylee too.

p.s. I've included the most recent picture we have of her...it's nice to finally put a name with a face!

(pictured within)
Maylee Gail Simpson...
I just like typing it

Its A Girl!!!!

So were thinking pink! Wednesday we found out that we will be having a little girl this Christmas. We are so excited. Now we need to come up with a name.....

Right now the top runners for a first name is Zoe or Lacey. Middle names we are still playing with, So if anyone has any suggestions please send them our way!

I'll post new baby pic's as soon as I figure out whats up with our scanner!(Computers never work when you want them to.)

Now Im off to look at bedding, I want to start painting before I lose all my summer help!

Hope everyone has a fun friday!

The Graduates

So the baby girl of the family has graduated high school (I know this is a month late give the pregnant girl a break, K?) Also Clint's cute cousin Kelsey was a graduating senior as well. It crazy to see these girls growing up and moving on the college. In my mind Lizzy and Kels are still in elementry school, where they probably still thought I was cool and not the big cheese that I really am. Im so proud of these girls and the accomplishments they have made.

So here is some fun pic's of Lizzy's prom first

Here's one of Kels

Now comes the grad's! The Gaston's The Guimarin's

We are so proud of you girls and can't wait to see all that the Lord has instore for you. These next years are going to filled with so many memories. You'll also grow in so many ways and just remenber threw it all God is in control!