picture purge...

moments i don't want to forget...

officially 'that family'...

So this summer we were taking 2 VERY long road trips in May one was 7 hours and one was 16 hours!  It got us thinking about the fact that because we want 3 kiddos we knew soooome day will will have to jump on the 'mini van' wagon so why not go ahead and get one before our road trips (other wise we would have to rent a van because Heather would be travailing with us and Heather affectionately called our car the 'clown car'....yeah it was REALLY small).  So in March we put our car on craigs list, months went by and we had NO interest!  So jakes dad rented a car for all of us and we moved on with our trips.  We got home and jake kept it on craigs list on and off, but since no one ever called on it, i completely forgot we were even 'trying' to sell it!  Then the night before labor day a lady emailed jake wanting to see it!!  Jake spent 3 hours the next morning cleaning it up for her while i scowered the internet for vans...but she NEVER showed!!  Then just a few days later another man called and came to see it...he loved it...but didn't offer us a very good price so we turned him down (we weren't even REALLY trying to sell the car anyway;)  then that night another family came to see it!!  SO weird right!! 6 months on and off craigs list with no interest then 3 people in one week!!  Anyway, they loved it and made us a great offer so jake met him at his bank the next day (yesterday) and BOOM my car was sold!! Well thankfully I have always kept a 'cars' savings account through ING and had been saving for this 'someday' van for quite a while (that's obviously savings that is on top off the money we would get from our payed off car)... so of course my late afternoon was searching all over auto trader and Craigs list...i found 3 i seemed to like, 2 at one place in south Dallas and one RIGHT down the road at David McDavid Honda (a HUGE dealership here in the area). So around 4:30 yesterday afternoon we head down, though Dallas traffic to see these 2 vans that were in our price range that were AWFUL!! grr i was pretty discouraged and by this point it was getting late.  But we go see the one at the dealership and it was AMAZING!!!  we probably played the 'game' all wrong...even piper during the test drive was saying "Mommy my like it! can we take it home!?".  So after the test drive and the back and forth game to get the 'right price', and the explaining to about 8 people 'no, we do not want to finance, thank you' (ugggg i HATE it!) and one LARGE personal check later...we are officially a mini van family!!!

i told jake...now all we have to do is fill it up;)

oh Vi....

About a month ago i signed up to go to the MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) chapter here in Frisco!  I have been super excited to get involved in something that i could meet other like-minded mommies and to grow with them in the word!! and this seemed to be the perfect thing!  Plus...although we cant afford it, Piper has been begging to go to pre-school, she is at the age that most of her friends go to some sort of school program, so this is 2.5 hours every other week that VERY much resembles a pre-school for her...MOPS even have their own MOPPETS curriculum that teaches kids about Gods love:)  Now there was just one problem...Violets seperation issues... no one has been able to handle her for more then 30 minutes away from me so how was this 2.5 hours going to work!!!  But i signed up anyway hoping that maybe this could be THE place that will work with her and she will finally start to feel comfertable away from me!  Well the big day was yesterday! we took the girls to chick-fil-a for breakfast (in hopes to at least start the day off with some fun;)

Then it was time to head to the church...we get there and Piper can hardly contain herself with excitement to go to 'school' all the while Violet is starting to catch on while we are printing their name tags and starts to cling to me pretty tight.  I have been praying about this issue for months and although i had (have) hopes that she will be happy going to 'class' someday, i was pretty realistic that she wouldn't last long this first time and had mentally prepared myself to only being able to be there for about an hour...so i wanted to wait till the VERY last minute before the meeting started to drop her off. So we take Pipe to her class and she runs in and starts playing without even saying goodbye to me...then i head to Vi's class, i stand at the door and meet her teachers (they seem AMAZING!!) i explain her 'issues' to them and point out all our 'comfort items' in her bag and they assure me that they will do EVERYTHING they can to keep her as long as possible and make her feel comfortable...i felt really good about the teachers and their assuring words (unlike Frisco Athletic Club!! but that's another story!)...i then left her in their arms...crying of course. I head to my table in the sanctuary, sit down, take a deep breath, pull out my bible and pen, say a few hellos to my table mates...then...i hear a lady...from the stage...calling for 'Violet Seatons Mother'....*sigh* really? REALLY? its been 6 MINUTES!!!  I waived my hand and she proceeds to come tell me that she got so upset that she threw up and so they are not allowed to keep her anymore:(  I leave, head bowed, and tears in my eyes...mostly worried about disappointing Piper...i called jake and pleaded for him to come pick Violet up and take her for a couple of hours so that Piper and i could stay...without hesitation he was on his way to the church! (side note:my husband is the best!)....I then head to her classroom to get her, the poor teacher was COVERED in her throw up and there was a janitor in the room cleaning up the floor...awesome...i already have 'that kid' and it was just the first meeting!  they begged me to make sure to bring her back the next meeting to try again, and of course i will!  So jake came and got her and i heading back into the meeting...the moms were amazing and i cant wait to get to know them even better!  we will see how the next meeting goes...and jake always plans to be on standby so that i will not have to miss!  and we will just continue to get down on our knees and trust God that there is a reason for this trying season with my sweet little Violet:)

a pumpkin patchin' we will go!

last year piper and i went to this amazing pumpkin patch in Arcadia, Ok with my play group...it was my first pumpkin patch experience since i was little and it was super fun! So this year i was determined to find a good patch around here for us all to go and pick our pumpkins for the fall season:) Well i found an AMAZING one! The Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch did not disappoint! I knew i wanted to plan to go the first week of October to get us in the fall mood so i checked out a couple of books on pumpkins and the fall season at the library and we had been reading them to pipe in the days leading up :) We packed up our picnic dinner and started on the 40-ish minute drive to get there....the patch was full of wooden cut out characters all over the property of every 2-10 year olds tv idol you can imagine (pipers included, the whole toy story cast, barney, & elmo), tons of bounce house inflatables, playground equipment, mazes, picnic benches for our dinner, hay ride...and TONS of pumpkins (with wagons to ride while "shopping":)...on our way home we stopped at starbux for pumpkin spice latte....i told jake that it was officially a tradition! ...the best part....after thanksgiving they turn into a Christmas Tree yard...with equally fun activities!!...so we get to go back in 2 months!!!!

our little pumpkin family! Yes the mommy pumpkin is represented by the ugly-warty gourd...but at least its skinny;)

Happy Valentines....better late then never :)

a couple of the girls in my playgroup put together an amazing little valentines day party....it was wonderful!! yummy food...lots of playing...crafts...and of course valentines day card exchange! Pipers first valentines day party was a hit!






we then welcomed daddy home with a sidewalk masterpiece (aka free valentines day card) that we worked ohhh so hard on :) Piper and i also got "dressed up" and cooked dinner for our Valentine...spegetti...cant go wrong! Jake then surprised us with cupcakes! yumm!!!





It was such a wonderful Valentines! I love that piper really got a chance to be involved this year and i really think she had fun too! I love you to the moon jacob seaton!!!!!!!!!

when you are as tall as the snow outside.....

its much more fun (and warmer) to bring the snow inside!!!







woooooohooooooo for (at least) 2 snow days with my family!!!!!

18 months & 24 weeks!!!

we had pipers 18 month appointment today....she cried the whole time...like normal....but she is perfectly healthy! 22lb and 31in tall....Dr. Grim and i talked about her "screaming for attention" according her her i have been doing the right thing by ignoring it and keeping a calm tone....she totally encouraged my desire to try to potty train....we might be going to buy a potty tomorrow! and we discussed possibly starting a vaccine schedule at her 2 year appointment....i have never really mentioned it....but we have not done any vacancies yet....but i was never convinced that we would never do them...i just knew i wanted to wait until she was 2ish....so i have the next 6 months to figure out what we should do....time to dust off dr.sears vaccine book :)
here's pipe with her daddy playing their "tars"....LOVE THIS...










little miss beanie is a little over a pound now and is the size of an ear of corn (that is really funny to me;) her heartbeat sounded good at our last appointment and she was laying sideways :) she is finally starting to make her presents known a bit more....i just remember piper moving a lot more then this?? hummm a sign of their different personality's?...who knows!

Family Birthday Date....

we love our "family dates" we make big deals about them and always do something super fun and just try to create wonderful fun family memories :) yes we are admittedly cheesy;)
For jakes birthday we went to the science museum (a favorite of ours), out to dinner then to cuppies and joe for a birthday cupcake...it was so fun!

30...

Happy 30th Birthday to this amazing....daddy, leader, pastor, musician, provider, video gamer, husband, christian, chef, honey-do-er, comedian, bed-maker,free spirit, MAN i have ever known!!

sick christmas...

i got sick this Christmas...a horrible cold....first of all it was my first Christmas to be sick....second of all it was the first time i have been sick since piper had been born....i now know that even with ALL the help from jake....mommys NEVER truly get a sick day!...but to at least give me a few hours of complete rest in hopes to feel better Christmas day, jake took piper to Christmas Eve service at church by himself! this is how they felt about that.... :)

6 years and a BIG milestone!!.....

today we celebrate 6 amazing years together....i don't feel old enough to be married for 6years(and to most people, I'm not)...but i would not have wanted my life any other way, but side by side with my best friend!! Ever since piper weaned...i have really wanted to have a overnight date with my hott husband ;) and since we only have 4 more months before i have another nursing baby....we thought our anniversary would be PERFECT for our first night away!....well...it went PERFECT! we went to a fancy place called Deep Fork for dinner, jake had some yummy ribs and i had the chicken and they even gave us a free appetizer for our anniversary! We got dessert to go (chocolate and strawberry cake) and headed to the the Renaissance hotel downtown....it was the most wonderful and lovely evening!! we "slept in" (7:45am:) and went downstairs for our fancy breakfast in our jammies :) i feel so blessed to have that time to re-connect with my hubby all alone (ok i guess baby #2 was with us ;).

And apparently Piper wants to trade us in for Nani & Pa...they said she didn't even fuss once and slept until 7:30am!!!!!!!!

and ABEDNGO!!!....

have you ever seen this video??

or what about this one??


hilarious right!!?? well my husband was obsessed with them!....he knew every word by heart.........which then in turn inspired him to pull a team of volunteers together to but this video together!!!!....
(this video is a tribute to all of crossings children's ministries volunteers...it was played at "kick off" training....the first person represents the greeter/check-in volunteers, the second person represents the Sunday school teachers, the third (played by Michael foster) represents the tech/sound volunteers, and the fourth person(my crazy husband)represents the worship/music/band volunteers).....

please feel free to show EVERYONE this awesomelly amazing video...can you tell...im kinda proud :)

Happy Fathers Day!

Today has such A deeper meaning then it has EVER had!! I am so thankful for my dad and for the amazing Godly helpmate i have in Jake!! Happy Fathers Day!!

truck coma...

Jake drives a 1971 GMC truck...so its very old, rumble-y and bounce-y...so as you can imagine it doesn't take long for little lady to fall asleep when we ride in daddies truck :) it has been so beautiful lately that we have been switching the car seat over and cruising with the windows down for hours! I LOVE SPRING!!