Things I Love Thursday: Terrible 2s Edition

With the terrible 2s rearing their ugly head(s?) and a very rough couple of days, I thought I'd do one of these to focus on all the good around here. Lord knows I need a solid dose of positive perspective through the tears and frustration (from both of us!)


Things I'm loving today...


The Today Show. I just don't get to watch very much anymore with all the school and swim lessons and morning play dates but I look so forward to it when I can. I'm super stoked that Matt Lauer re-upped his contract! Now if only Savannah would replace Ann Curry. :/


Good morning texts from Beau. Of course I wish they were good morning kisses but it's only half the week so it's okay. But his texts are sweet and comforting and consistent. Every morning without fail and I love hearing from him. 

My sister is ENGAGED! Rogan proposed last week and I couldn't be more thrilled for them! Grayson is especially excited that I-wish-I-was-your-Uncle Rogan is now I'm-almost-your-Uncle Rogan. 

The future Mrs. Giles. They just get each other.

Sleeping. I hope that one day this will be replaced with exercising. I remember when I was a lot more active and worked out many days during the week, sleeping was just something I did and not looked forward to. I'd like to get back to that. But in the meantime, I so look forward to melting into my bed each night after I put Grayson down! :)

Shelby waits for me as I get ready for bed. Such a princess! 

Toddler independence. Yes, the terrible 2s are terrifying. And I doubt myself a thousand times a day. And I go to bed thinking I could have done so much better as a mom. But I love that he can now walk, run, explore, create his own fun, eat and drink and wash his hands on his own. He likes bathing himself, climbing into his chairs and car seat without help, and I love letting him. Those first 18 months of carrying him and creating 100% of the fun can be tough! I miss it a lot but I look forward to this new chapter of exploration with Baby Grayson!

Eating with a big people fork in his big boy chair. Growing up before my very eyes.

Creating his own adventures. :)

Praying for patience and to be a better Mama and actually seeing it go to work in me. Maybe it's just a new day but beginning it with just a quick prayer can really start and keep my day on the right track. Related (sorta), I can't get through this blog post without crying...although I haven't gotten to the "feeling under appreciated" point, so that's good :)


Exciting upcoming plans! We have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks: Frisco Food Truck Festival, our Church's 10 year anniversary event, Otto's baby shower with the girls, Derby party and a fundraiser out on a really cool ranch in Aubrey. How can I let the bad moments outshine these good ones?! 

Neighborhood Block Party

My neighbor Britney and I organized our very first block party for our two streets and I must say, it was a smashing success! No really, a car actually smashed into another as a result of the blocked off street. But that's not what I want to focus on :)

Our partial cul-de-sac worked really well for the party after we blocked off access from either of the allies. We grilled out, had music playing and had a bounce house for all the kids. The latter will be an essential at any future block parties - HUGE hit.

I don't have any pictures from when the party really got going since we were really getting to meet everyone and hang out but it was a great turn out! We'll do it again but next time, we'll be sure to specify that kids must be attended by at least one parent. We are not your babysitters, people!

I got 99 kids but a parent not a 1.

I would say that the three coolest things that happened (besides the bounce house) were all made possible by our next door neighbor, Chuck, who is a Frisco Police Detective...

1) In passing a few weeks ago, we told his wife our plans, to which she responded that we need to file paperwork with the city if we are going to block off streets for a party. Good to know. Chuck filed the paperwork for us. They made a good point - these filings are sent out to the police and fire departments so that, in the case of an emergency, their maps show blocked roads and alternate routes. Cool, huh? I never knew.

2) He brought home orange cones from the police station. One less thing for us to deal with!

3) He got a FIRE TRUCK to come by, y'all. We were just planning to grill some hot dogs and chat. This was such a surprise to all of us and the kids loved it! It also gave me the chance to say a big THANK YOU to the Lieutenant for the great care his guys took with the house during the water heater incident a couple of years ago (when I was pregnant and in tears).

Grayson had never really had Doritos before. So once we set up the long tables of plates, condiments, chips and desserts, he went to town! His white shirt was completely orange by the end of the day since he, of course, wiped his hands after each bite. And there were A LOT of bites. All day. :)

The rest of the pictures I snapped....

This made me laugh - it looks like all 4 drinks are hers :)

They played 7 hours of cornhole!

Before everyone arrived - in heaven by himself

The older girls were SO good with my baby in the bounce house! They calmed down each time he wanted to get in :)

Britney's youngest, Molly, is THE happiest, easiest baby in the world. I've never seen anything like it!

Smile! ;)

Our neighbors have dogs that look just like Brinkley! Here they are meeting for the first time.

Yes, he played beer pong with Shelby in his coat. 

And yes, Scooter played while holding Molly.

Oh, and that fender bender I mentioned earlier. It really wasn't a big deal. But I DO feel sorry for the kid whose super brand new Jeep Wrangler was hit. He just got his license on Monday :/ Poor guy. He's the friend of one of the 7 sisters next door to us and they were all being so wonderful playing with our little ones when they had to call him over to tell him about his car. Kind of ruined the day for him.

I was including this because they look like little old men discussing politics and religion. :) But that yellow Jeep is the one that was hit. Don't buy your 16 y.o. such nice things! :) Although an accident like that could happen to anyone.

Happy 3rd, Beaubs!

I mentioned that our anniversary was this past week and while I was looking for my wedding blog post, I realized I never really did one. :/ I said I was going to go back and detail the food, flowers, friends and fun but I never did. I still don't really feel like doing it but I thought I would at least post some wedding pictures (with captions) taken by some of our guests. A little tribute to Beau and I being 3 years old this week. :)

That's tough to read but I think it says welcome, we're getting married and don't worry, it's not a typical Catholic ceremony ;)

My Mom gifted me my great-grandmother's wedding bands before I walked down the aisle. It was such a surprise and a moment that will never be forgotten.

Jeff walking my Mom to her seat

We were both so nervous!

We had a Catholic priest and a Church of Christ minister officiate out of respect to both of our backgrounds. It was just really cool that the Corpus Christi Cathedral invited a minister to stand up there along side our Priest. That isn't very common.

I like this one with my grandmothers in the front row. :)

A favorite of the professional pictures.

Our wedding party! From left to right: Amanda, Nikki, Thea, Whitney, and my sisters Andrea and Amanda.
Beau's brother Reyn, Deran, Justin, Nick, Whit and Ethan. It meant so much to Beau and me that they all stood up with us. 

We had our monogram (duogram?) as a subtle "theme" throughout the reception. Loved the centerpieces! 

They were able to add it to the cake too. Okay so I loved our cake also :)

The reception was at the Town Club and the groom's cake actually got it's own room (due to lack of space anywhere else!) We LOVED this cake! It's a cigar box up top and the cigars were edible. And an "R" on the lid. So masculine, in my opinion.

These floral arrangements were in the groom's cake room and actually came from the rehearsal dinner the night before. They worked well in that room and were able to stand alone without looking strange with the otherwise, blue decor. :) (The rehearsal dinner was a beach theme since we were married in Corpus and the dinner was at Water Street Seafood Co. - hence the birds of paradise...that's what these are, right?!)

My bouquet? A bridesmaid's? Who knows. I really should have done recap 3 years ago ;)

First dance - Van Morrison's "These are the days"

My cousin's caption to this picture on FB was "Stupid happy" :)

Father dance - Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" (I can't find the sweet picture of Beau and his mom but they danced to Stoney LaRue's version of "Forever Young". An absolute favorite song of ours! Everyone should have this on a play list :))

These guys were like a 10 or 12-piece band. Couldn't have asked for more (literally....they crowded the dance floor - ha!)

I don't remember tasting the cake!

The Dallas girls! I adore every single one of them.

Our flutes were a gift from my former Manager at RAZOR. So sweet of her!

With the Rockenbachs. I loved that so many friends made the trip to South Texas! 

My Mom and I dancing with the girls!

Busted looking at all the rose pedals falling down my dress :)

I feel better now that I captured all that! I wish I could just wrap up every single memory and guest there and include everything and everyone in a nifty, little blog post. :/ I have been wanting to detail that week and night for 3 years now and while this was a weak attempt, I love looking back at it all and remembering how excited we were. We couldn't have known all the wonderful things God had in store for us! Happy 3rd Anniversary, Beau! xoxo