AR excursion

Two weeks ago (now three since it has taken me so long to finish this post) I was in need of rescuing. I was exhausted and cranky and feeling guilty about harping on Natalie so much to stay off Joaquin, or don't get to close to his face, or sorry mommy can't hold you right now, etc. Thankfully, the Lord's timing is good because my folks were already coming.  For an early birthday gift for Brian, we got tickets to see Brian Regan, a comedian he loves, in Ft. Worth. Since it was a week night and an hour away my parents planned to come in and help us out.  The bonus was that it was planned before we knew anything about JZ! Anyway, bad weather predicted for AR brought them in a day earlier. Hallelujah!  On Sunday later that week, the kids and dogs and I loaded up and followed them back to Arkansas for a week of fun and help.  Brian has been working a lot of overtime, and he was headed off to a ski trip later that week so we were outta there!

This was Granny's first time to see and hold Joaquin. This was great grandchild number 11! So thankful for these photos.  Granny kept saying how much she just wanted to squeeze him. =)  the other picture of Granny is with Natalie trying to unbutton her shirt. This is a new thing she is obsessed with!  That Friday we traveled up to NW AR to see my sister and her family.  This was also their first time to see and hold Joaquin (well, other than pics).  Evan and Audrey were thrilled and so sweet! They both wanted to feed him and kiss him. Sweet memories. Our time with them was short, but I am so glad we made it up there.

My excursion also consisted of meeting up with three of my friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Two college buddies that we haven't seen in a really long while. This picture is of my friend, Amy's handsome little boy, Drew. Once Natalie warmed up, they had so much fun together. I was really impressed with how Natalie took to him so quickly.  Sadly, we did not get a picture of ourselves=/

 

A couple days later I met up with my friend, Mary and her two cuties!  We went to their house and Natalie got to play with Caleb.  Look at all these handsome boys Natalie has on her approved to marry list!  NJ was a little cranky this day so she wasn't as nice to Caleb as I would have preferred. She was being stubborn with him. Imagine that!

Can you see the stubbornness?! This series of pics cracks me up!  That Caleb is a hoot.

 

And the final friend I have known since birth. Seriously. We grew up about as close as can be without being related. Here we are at good ol' Chick-fil-a trying to squeeze in some time.

Well, at least Sarah looks good and is paying attention to the camera! Again, no picture of the two of us.

 

And to wrap up our AR fun, here are some random other pics from our trip.

Mom and Dad did an awesome job rearranging my old room at home to accommodate 2 kiddos now! I love it. Wonder what they will do when there are three ;-)

Some reading time with Mimi.

That would be Poppi getting owned by Evan. You gotta bring your A game when playing with him!

 

And goofing off around the house! This smart little Westie can be yours for FREE! Let me know.

 

I was so thankful for my time in AR with family and friends. It was needed. But we were also ready to get back to our own beds and our own routines......until the next trip!