The New Boy

So Jas and I have been tossing around names for the better part of TWENTY THREE WEEKS! and I was finally ready to lock it up. I spent two weeks bombarding Jas with texts and emails until "we" were finally ready to negotiate. We are proud to announce that our new baby will be named: 

Everett Reed Cassady.


As you may know, my granddad on my dad's side was named Everett. He was a pretty admirable man - I remember how much he loved sweets (he preferred RC Cola and Milky Way bars from the freezer) and how he was easy to laugh. He used to have a coyote and road runner on top of the fridge at their old house, which tickled me at the time. He also used to collect these googly eyed stickers from the dentist's office and put them around the edge of this cork board that he had. Quirky. He flew in a B-17 bomber during World War II called Myasis Dragon (say it out loud), and he was awarded some pretty cool medals as a result of his service. All of these things put together made this an easy choice for us.
Plus, we like the sound of Wyatt and Everett together.

A monogrammed onesie that I sewed once we decided for sure.

 Once we committed, I immediately started placing a few strategic orders so that we couldn't change our minds/Jason couldn't change his mind. I think that naming a kid is one of the most difficult decisions.

Personalized burp cloths - because everyone should spit up on something that has their name on it!

L.L. Bean Diaper Bag - Easy to hose out when messes occur!

This week, Everett is weighing in at 1lb 3oz.
He is doing all kinds of circus tricks while he still has room, but he does his best work at night.
Only 17 weeks left (insert scoff: SEVENTEEN WEEKS IS FOREVER!!!).

How cute are these things from Baby Gap? Can't imagine someone small enough to wear them!

And that is our latest baby news!

Backyard Easter

We had a tiny Easter celebration in our backyard for lunch today. Mom and Dad, Katie, Brad, Jason, Wyatt, and I celebrated together - our last get together before the wedding.
We had some pretty delicious snacks:

Katie made pimiento cheese biscuits ready for us. She used the Red Lobster biscuit recipe to make mini-biscuits, cut them in half, and then packed in the cheese. They were amazing!

Mom made some pretty solid spinach artichoke dip!

And I put together ham and cheese buns, a cheddar-apple-pecan salad, and fried couscous cheese balls.

We finished it off with Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes...wow!

I had an Easter Egg hunt planned for Wyatt and one planned for the adults. I'm not sure who had more fun!

Wyatt is one lucky boy - Gabby and Katie both brought him Easter baskets FULL of cool stuff. We played with bubbles and all sorts of fun things while snacking before lunch. Gabby even brought over a lawn mower, which Wyatt is using in the house as we speak.

Happy Easter everyone! We are in a sugar coma over here!

Spring Break

Spring Break couldn't have been prettier. Despite a non-stop rain forecast, the weather was actually great. We had some lunches with friends, and spent some time with family. We kicked off the week with a St. Patrick's Day feast with Gabby, Pop-Pop, Katie, and Brad. It was delicious.


We did some shopping for the baby and for Wyatt's summer swim collection at Firewheel. We had some friends come meet us, and Wyatt got to ride the train. He was in love and the conductor even let him ring the bell.

On the Choo-Choo with K!

Sharing a rootbeer float with Aunt Katie. Wyatt posted his review of Better Burger after trying the fries. His favorite: purple fries. He requests them all of the time now. What a food snob!


Pop-Pop came down and met us as Twisted Root for some burgers and homemade root beer.

Daddy & Wyatt - enjoying the gorgeous weather together.

Climbing a tree like a big boy!

With our friends K & J at the park.

Now we are in full tilt wedding mode, counting down to Aunt Katie's big day. There are lots of fun things on the horizon and we are looking forward to every single one of them!

Baby Shower Banner

Getting ready for a big baby shower at our place this weekend for our friend...and I'm trying to crafty it up around here to prepare.

Today I whipped out my new sewing machine and since I have ONE LESSON under my belt (I can sew a straight line), decided to try and create a burlap banner.
This banner is super easy to put together and I think it adds a lot of sparkle. I used the nursery colors for baby Parker to tie it all together.

Okay, so first I printed a banner flag from the Internet. Then I traced the flag onto burlap. Burlap is kind of absolute crap to work with. It sheds, it moves a lot. So it's easier to trace and cut than to try and cut to the shape. I did it outside so all of the fuzz could blow away. Is that litter? No - birds can use it to make nests or whatever.


After I cut my flags, I cut out the letters for the baby's name and then traced them onto the flag with a Sharpie. I know you can use acrylic paint on burlap. I've tried that for pillows and it's decent. Sharpies are easier to control, more precise for corners, and they come in such a variety of colors, it's really my weapon of choice. I prefer to do this on top of a magazine because burlap is chunky and your color medium can easily bleed.


Once that was completed, I sewed all of the banner flags onto a piece of ribbon. I then did an overlay of another colored ribbon to tie in the nursery colors. Then I tied that up on my mantle.



So - easy peasy and I think it looks pretty solid. :) Happy Baby Shower to my friend, Emily!

Gender Reveal Party

Tonight was our gender reveal party. We had our sonogram on Thursday, but didn't peek. Instead, we took the note from the sonographer directly to the baker. We asked the baker to make the icing inside the cake either pink or blue so that when we cut it, we were clear on what our baby would be.
Looks like August will bring us another precious boy.

Sonogram Photo Banner

Quack! Ducks floating in our made from scratch lemonade

Aunt Katie brought this treat for W!

What's it going to be?

The cake is cut! We're having a boy.

That is some blue icing...

Wyatt and his bud, Noah.

Aunt Susan put together this onesie at the party.

I made this banner by sewing burlap to a ribbon and stenciling letters on top. I have plans for it later - when I'm a little bigger - thanks to a picture I saw on Pinterest.

Great day. We are very excited about our news. :)

El Tigre

Today our Playgroup met at the Arboretum for Mommy and Me.
It was a pretty fun time - in the Pecan Grove section they have crafts, face painting, a petting zoo, and Kindermusik for kids ages 5 and under.

We waited in line for face painting. Wyatt was an excellent customer, sitting very still while the face painter was working, and then admiring himself in the mirror after.

The petting zoo, as always, was a hit. In the car Wyatt said that he wanted to pet a goat (ugh!) and this place was packed full of goats and sheep. There was even a donkey so that W could practice his he-haw sound (which is getting pretty good).

Whoa. Donkeys are bigger than I thought...

Hi, donkey. He haw!!!!!

We wrapped up with a picnic in the little Texas town. It was a really nice day - perfect weather, gorgeous flowers, fun with friends, and a pretty tame tiger.