Lyla Grace Nix

Lyla Grace Nix entered the world on February 2, 2014.  She is a beautiful, wonderful surprise!  As of today, Lashelle became a mother for the 2nd time, and Lilliann a big sister.  Lashelle is in Lubbock now getting her baby beauty.  Mimi, Papa, Lilliann, and Daren are all there to be part of the special time.  The girls and I are here dying to meet her, checking for texts with pictures, waiting for phone calls, etc..  To say we are excited and blessed is an understatement.  Welcome to the world, Lyla Grace.  You are loved; you are blessed; you are ours.  The Nix family is a fantastically wonderful family, and you are forever loved.

SMSD Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance 2014 (and a Mommy/Claire Date)

My sweet husband saddled up for a second night of dancing.  This time, he prepared to take his baby girl to her Valentine's dance.  He got her a special corsage; he took her to her dinner of choice on a date.  Harper chose EZ's which is hilarious because is a burger joint, definitely not the dinner date type of place.  But, Daren wanted to make his baby girl happy so away they went to EZ's.  Harper was so excited to get dressed up like big sister had the night before.  Claire was the greatest big sister that night watching Harper get ready; she was sincerely so happy for Harper.  It was super sweet, and it was definitely a night I felt very proud of the little family we have created together.

Claire wanted to go to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen followed by a night of fun at Main Event.  We had a great time!  Claire is a fierce competitor, and my favorite personal memory of our date night is playing her in fooz ball.  She was out for blood.

Pre party picture 

Daddy and Harper 

Daddy and his two girls

Kisses from Daddy

Dinner date at EZ's

During the dance

Outtakes from Main Event

Doss Daddy/Daughter Dance 2014 (and a Harper/Mommy date)

Each year, Doss has a Valentine's Daddy/Daughter dance.  All the little girls get dressed up.  The Daddies do, as well.  Daren bought Claire her own corsage to wear - a lovely touch, I thought.  They went on a special dinner date first to Claire's choice, BJ's.

For a man who hates to dance, he proved his deep, unconditional love for his daughter when he arrived home that night sweaty headed and worn out.  They never left the dance floor.  This man is an amazing man, but he is a truly amazing and special Daddy to our girls.  They are so lucky to be blessed with Daren as their father.  I think it will be a night she will never forget.

As a Mommy of little girls, it seems that many of the special events right now are always designed as Daddy/Daughter.  This frustrates me a bit, so I decided to take Harper out on a special Mommy/Daughter night while Daddy and Claire danced the night away.  Harper chose to go to Chuck E Cheese's.  Admittedly, this is not my favorite spot in the world.  It is less than desirable, but it was completely worthwhile because Harper was in hog heaven!  She loved it.  We had a fun night too!

Pre-dance pic with Daddy 

Kisses from Daddy

Big 1st grader ready to go to the dance

At BJ's for her dinner date with Daddy

During the dance

Photos taken at the dance

Outtakes from Harper and my silly night at Chuck E Cheese's

Play days, Snow Days, Party Days & more...

January has been busy, and a bit bipolar.  There have been beautiful days where we have worn shorts and enjoyed the sun; there have been days of freezing temperatures and sleet where school has been cancelled.  Regardless of the weather, January has been a BLAST!

Claire loves Frozen, and click on the link below of her singing "Do you want to build a snowman?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Kt4Q0fNCE&list=UU9C2si1UYpigVa4253ZZ8rw

Here is a clip of Harper singing "Stay, Stay, Stay" by Taylor Swift.  Click on the link below to watch and listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALBucOXSCqA&list=UU9C2si1UYpigVa4253ZZ8rw

Charlie's soccer fan club! 

Claire at a play date with her friend Lilly 

Snow day - school cancelled.  WGT day was 1/24/14 where we were to take a picture of us doing something active to encourage our friend who is struggling to learn to walk again.  WE GOT THIS!

Our little snow day snowman 

While Claire was on a play date, Harper and I made rainbow cupcakes 

We celebrated Caroline's 6th birthday at the Playland Skate Center.  It's the same rink I grew up attending, and it has hardly changed a bit.  The girls tried hard to learn to skate, and we all had fun.

Charlie, Claire and me 

She's got it!

Daddy and Claire bear

Cousin play date = building forts and big fun!

Happy Birthday to sweet Leah!

This crew of ladies is very special to me.  Our girls began their friendship in the daycare infant room, and we have maintained our friendship over the years.  Our girls are forever friends which means we are too.  :-)

Claire stayed at Leah's for a sleepover, so Harper got to go on a dinner date with Mommy & Daddy. 

Leah, Olivia, Claire, and Lily the morning after Leah's sleepover.  We have taken this exact picture several times over the years.  It's a special bond these girls have. 

Harper celebrated her friend Maylin's 4th birthday at Cafe Monet.  She painted a snake?!  Yes, she chose a snake where most of the other girls picked a ladybug or a butterfly.  Ha!  She is sitting next to Abby, one of her closest friends.  

It's a whirlwind of parties...

January seems to be the month when many of our closest friends had babies.  It is a whirlwind of birthday parties every year.  It is really SO much fun!  Here are some highlights:

Anna from Frozen and Dorothy from Wizard of Oz headed to celebrate sweet Lily turn 7!  Claire and Lily have been friends since birth.  

Cinderella with Lily and friends
Sidenote story that I do NOT want to forget: Apparently, Cinderella told the girls that she usually rides a carriage.  Lily's Mom told me that before she could blink, spunky Harper led the charge to go outside to see Cinderella's carriage.  With some quick thinking on Cinderella's part, she told the girls that Austin does not allow carriages on the roads.  Whew!  Only Harper...

Harper headed to Buckaroo Ranch to celebrate one of her bestie's birthday, Abby. 

Only Harper would head to a birthday party in a tutu.  Only Harper would ride a pony in a tutu.  Gotta love her!

Harper and Alice climbing trees

Claire's 1st sleepover to celebrate Olivia's 7th birthday.  Olivia, Lily, Leah, and Claire have been in daycare, preschool, and now elementary school together.  To say that they love each other is an understatement.  They are having a singing party in this picture in Olivia's room to "Let it Go" from the Frozen soundtrack.

Jeanie, Lily's mom (Sophie's too), has become a dear friend of mine.  

The girls watching a movie before the parents leave and the slumber begins...  Sophie and Harper were invited too.  Sophie was brave enough to stay.  Harper left with Daren and me. She had a blast at the party, but she told me that she wasn't ready to sleep without Mommy.  

Mary, Leah's mom, is also a very dear friend and our neighbor too.  Here we are singing karaoke at the sleepover.   

Harper and I at The Art Garage celebrating our sweet friend, Ethan, as he turns 6.  His mom, Kerri, is one of my best friends in the world and she also teaches with me.  I can not wrap my brain around the fact that her sweet boy is already 6. Time really flies!

Claire was very serious about painting her kitty piggy bank at Ethan's party.  Go figure!  The party was really fun and the girls loved it.

A Daddy/Harper Date

Since Mommy and Claire were headed to the circus, Daddy surprised Harper with FRONT ROW tickets to the circus.  He couldn't stand for Harper to miss out on the night just because she isn't a Girl Scout yet.  It was fun because Claire and I were directly across the ring from them, so we could sort of see Harper's reactions.  She was a goofball!  Daddy didn't need to buy 2 seats, because she watched the entire show in her Daddy's lap.  My girls are so lucky.  They have an incredible Daddy.  Harper LOVED the circus, and she LOVES her Daddy.

Girl Scout Night at the Ben Hur Shrine Circus

It was Girl Scout Night at the circus, so Claire's troop decided to participate.  They earned their Circus badge in addition to the "Money Counts" badge.  Each girl was given an agreed upon amount of money to spend at the circus.  They had to make choices, budget the money, and say no to things that they wanted in order to stay within their budget.  It was fantastic and it worked well.  Each kid was happy and bought either the snacks or light up toys to make her happy.  Daren and I loved it so much that we decided to adopt the idea for all family vacations and outings.  That way, the onus is on my children to decide what is important to have and stay within the allotted budget.  The girls were precious at the circus.  They were well-behaved and spellbound by all that was going on around them.    It was a fun night!  It was a late night; we weren't home until 11 or so.  Claire slept until 10:30 this morning.  Yes!

Claire, Katie, and Kylie with the clown

Troop 1183 before the circus

Claire with her face painted.  She chose face paint and cotton candy as her items purchased.  :-)

Mimi & Papa came to town

Mimi & Papa came in town to visit for the weekend.  Claire and Harper were so excited when they found out.  It has been a while since Mimi & Papa have been able to spend a full weekend with us just enjoying life with our little family.  We didn't have a home for quite some time, so it was a day trip here and there, or we went to Houston for the weekend.  To say that the girls were excited is an understatement.  On Sunday, the girls had a birthday party at noon.  At that time, Mimi and Papa left to drive home to Houston.  Little Miss Harper didn't realize they were really leaving, so when I picked her up from the birthday party, Harper had BIG tears when she realized they were gone.  She was so devastated.  Claire was sad too, but she did understand and know that they would be gone after the party.  It was a very sweet moment listening to big sister explain it to little sister.  Thank you to Claire for taking care of that one for me.

Claire cartwheels when she finds out Mimi & Papa are coming to Austin

Saturday morning, Harper and Mimi played a very serious game of Headbanz.   

Dinner on South Congress at Perla's