Twirling Maggie

"Hey Maggie, will you twirl for me?"

You don't have to ask her twice!!!

For me, one of life's greatest joys is twirling!

We recently found these amazing girls dresses and they are everyones 
FAVORITE!!!

"A daughter is just a little girl who grows up to be your best friend."
I sure love my girlies.

Ta-Da!
And that's all folks!!!! 
May you all have a twirly whirly day!

Watermelon Baby

Climbing up on the counter is Luke's favorite thing... my favorite thing? Not so much! haha!

What a little stinker!!!

Every time we go to HEB and this boy sees a watermelon, he goes crazy!
For real. I can't NOT buy one.
And when we get home he yells yells at me to start cutting it!

Oh this boy!
He makes me oh so happy!

And he is growing up. Way too fast I might add.
Look at that sneaky, silly, Lukeman face! 
hahaha! I love this expression!

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Golly he is one handsome little watermelon dude! 
How'd I get so lucky to get him!?
He's mine!!! And I love it!

Watermelon is way more fun to eat when you take extra big bites...

CHEESE!!! 
hahahaha!
Nothing like a Lukeman and a juicy watermelon to make a day GREAT!

Payne Party of 6!!!

So, for the longest time I'd refer to my family as, "our little family".

After saying this recently I've realized that our family isn't so little anymore! Yep, we're adding another baby Payne to mix! Soon, we'll be a family of 6! Plus one enormous dog. ;)

When I look back on all we've accomplished as a family I can't help but feel overwhelmingly grateful.

Grateful for these 3 crazy, rambunctious kiddos.

Grateful for a home.

Grateful for a job.

Grateful for so many blessings.

Although the thought of having 4 kids makes me feel nervous, I know it's meant to be! And that it'll be great! Crazy, but great! 

Here we go!

Due March 14th 2016! 

1st grade!!!!

Yep, I have a first grader! 
Oh Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.......
You're growing up so fast and so beautifully. My heart is happy and sad all at the same time!
Here are a few things I love about my Rachel Lynn-
- She cares. She cares so much. About being a good person, a good sister, and good daughter.
- She is a great helper! She helps clean up, bring diapers, and she loves to help her little brother.
- She gorgeous. 
- She loves to tell jokes! It's the new thing. And I love it.
- She takes such pride in learning new skills! 
- And basically I love the heck out of her!

World, Rachel is in 1st grade! 
WHOOP!!!! 

Chick-Fil-A is our favorite!

Aunt Sarah introduced us to Cow Appreciation Day at Chickfila a few years ago,
and we haven't missed one since!!!
Eat mor chikin!!!

MooOOOoooOOOooooOoooO!!!!

So this day trumps halloween for me... but I'm a serious halloween party pooper. lol!
Chicken or Candy??
Duh!!! CHICKEN!!!!!

Maggie's smile these days is killing me. For realz.
Rachel's toothless smile on the other hand is just the cutest!!! haha!

My little crew!
Love them! 
And I love that Man! He goes along with all my shenangians... even if I take it over the top!
*whispers*
He really loves it. haha!

And a few instagram pics...
Again that toothless smile! 
Be still my heart!

LUKE!!!! 
He was the most uncooperative baby. 
Pulled off all his spots.
Screamed every time I tried to put on his sign.
And scowled at his cow ears.
So, he was my little white cow...

Shake time is HAPPINESS! 
Happy Cow Appreciation Day! 


Here's a look back to our first Cow Appreciation Day!!! 

The Ferocious Dixie Dog

Dixie tries to be ferocious with her deep, rumbling dog bark, and her proud, defensive stance...
But we know she's nothing but a big softie.
It's been a year since we've had Dixie and if I could go back I wouldn't change a thing.
We love her SOOO much!
While I got started on Maggie's hair this morning, Rachel decided to give Dixie a hair-do.
I heard endless and quite  hysterical laughing coming from downstairs and decided to check it out....  

Luke wants in on the action and is pretty territorial about Dixie! haha!
"Get off her! She's mine!"
We love you Dixie dog!
Now come here Miss Rachel and let me do YOUR hair! :)

America the Beautiful!

So growing up I had two favorite holidays... wait three... Christmas, Easter, and The Fourth of July (with the Fourth of July being the front runner)
There's just so many things about it! First of all it's in my birthday month!!! 
July is the best. That's it and that's all.
Second it's the summer. Hot. Pools. Watermelon. Root Beer. Ain't nothin better.
And now that I'm a Mom it's my favorite because it's no STRESS.
Ahhhh sweet no stress holidays! haha!

We had visitors for this fourth of July! 
Jacob, Itzel, Elijah, and Ila came to see us!!!
Oh how the kids were in heaven.
So much cousin love.
Just look at those tu-tu girls!

We tried out a new pool and fell in love.
Slides are the bomb diggity.

He probably went down the slide about a zillion times that day...

Maggie was being a stinker and wouldn't give me a smile, so I took one of her backside instead.
heehee... cutest little toosh ever!

My water baby did this the whole entire time we were there and insisted to have someone watch her 
every time. Thankfully we had lots of fans with us that day.
This is my favorite by far!!! 

She almost made it all the way across! 
She'll definitely get it next time!

Look at that cute family!!!
I love them.
Thank you so much for coming to visit us! 
The girls are missing they're cousin playmates oh so much!

Guess what we did next?
Yep, fireworks.
Oh boy.

Sparklers!!!

Maggie's busted lip cracks me up! 
She got it wrestling Dixie.

My brave boy loved holding the sparklers!

He also gave them a good scowl the entire time he was holding them.
haha! 
Baby scowls are the best.

New noises, new sights... Baby first's are my FAVORITE thing to photograph. Like ever.

"Whoah Mom! Did you see that?"

{GASP}
Amazing!

Mr. Luke with your messy face, watermelon stained shirt, and cute tan lines---
Will you please never grow up????

I love this face!!!
Pretty sure we're going to be doing fireworks every year just because I love taking pictures of them!

FIREWORKS!!!!

Joy. 
Just joy.

Dancing, hopping, crazy JOY!!!!

Look at those hooligans!
They're mine.
hahahaha!!!!
I love this country.
Happy Birthday AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Swimming at Nana and Pop's House!

Every time we visit Nana and Pop in the summer we HAVE to go to THIS pool.
Its a favorite and we've now gone for three summers in a row. CRAZY.
It's only fitting to begin with a picture of this crazy girl.
Pretty sure she's half fish.

The SLIDE!!!

Who's awesome?
They're awesome.

And my sweet baby. 
Once he figured out that his floatie wasn't so bad after all (took an hour), he quite enjoyed himself.

Oh the side crinkle nose and snort! hahaha!
Swimming IS fun! Who knew?

Such a handsome little man.

This toothless smile makes me so very happy.

Posing everywhere she goes... hahaha!

I'm so glad I caught this face!!!!
It's the same face he makes when he see's a cool rock or I hand him a bowl of watermelon... 
WOOOOEEEE!!!! 

Do mind if I do!

The elusive Maggie! Notice there aren't many pictures of her in here.
It's because she's lightning fast and seems to be everywhere all at once!

Nana took one for the team and went down the slide with Luke. 
And I'm pretty sure she loved it. :) 

And break time!
He must be eating three cucumbers at once or none all at all.
This boy. Such a mess. But I love every ounce of him.

Get those cucumbers Luke!

Game face is ON and these babies are going down! hahaha!

This picture! He looks so much like his Daddy in this picture.
Stop growing LUKE! stop it!

Thanks for the great visit Nana and Pop! 
Can't wait until next time!