it's {another} boy!

it looks like we are going to be auntie and uncle to another little boy!  

the pictures aren't very clear, but justin sent these images to us today.  we've known for a while we were going to have another baby in the family {i can't remember if i've announced it here before or not}, but now we know it's going to be another nephew.  i kept saying i was going to have a niece {without remembering that i didn't actually know the gender of the baby}, but it seems that is not the case.  

either way, of course we are thrilled and can't wait to meet this new little guy later this year in september.

welcome to the world baby lucy!

I happily introduce to you Miss Lucy Smith and big sister Gracie.

This week our friends Tasha & Justin Smith welcomed their sweet baby lucy into the world.  I'm sure it doesn't seem like it to Tasha, but I feel like she was just announcing to me that she was pregnant and now we have a new little girl in our midst.

Travis and I still haven't gotten to meet her, but we're over the moon for the Smiths.  Isn't Gracie just the cutest? She's so excited to be a big sister.  You're a lucky, lucky girl little Luce.  You have an incredible family who loves you so much.

Welcome to your adventure! 

ashley & isabella's shower.

usually we start out july celebrating our independence and travis's aunt sue's birthday.  this year,  however, we kicked off the month with a baby shower in edmond for ashley, adrian, and baby isabella.

i didn't capture any pictures of the big day, but did get a few shots of the cake.  seana hooked me up again with a fabulous cake to match the invitations ashley asked me to design.  the woman is talented, let me tell you.

we always have so much fun hanging out with that side of the family.  the guys stuck around long enough to get everything set up, and then they quickly bailed.  aaaaand, they may or may not have grabbed a few drinks well before it was 5:00.  all in all everyone had a great time.

man, just looking at these pictures makes me hungry.  i can smell the chocolate through the screen.

congrats ashley & adrian! we are so excited for you guys, and we can't wait to meet miss bella.  

welcome home, parker!

we started off  2012 in such a special way -- spending time with sweet baby parker in his home.  look at how tiny this little guy is! 

travis didn't get to meet parker at the hospital.  we had been at hastings hospital in tahlequah all day long, and travis had to work the next day.  he waited until midnight and finally headed home.  just as he walked in the door to our house, parker was born.  travis was so disappointed he had missed it.  

{i'm writing this post well after this date, and knowing how close these two boys are now, it's fascinating to look back and see where and how it all started.}

welcome home, parker.  we love you so much, buddy. 

baby lily.

please keep my friend jen collier's friends, the whittens, in your prayers. their newborn daughter, lily, has been diagnosed with the edward syndrome. most babies with this syndrome don't survive birth or, at most, 15 days past birth. little lily is now 17 days old. however, this news is heartbreaking for michael, chrissy, and the entire family.

please pray for their strength and comfort in this time of need.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/liliangracewhitten/journal

julie & baby keaton's shower.

last week i got to spend some much needed time with several girls who are so very near and dear to my heart. julie gosnell cochrane is expecting her & slade's first baby, a little boy name keaton. several of our friends got together to host a shower for her to help celebrate this very special time.

amelia, andrea, and i were all going to the shower, so both girls drove from their respective homes and met me in muskogee. from here, we hopped in the rodeo and away we went to the quah.

it was so. good. to see girls who were such a big part of my life for so many years. jen (gosnell walker) and i hugged several times. she and i had lunch together a few days before the shower and have made a pact to get together at least once a month.

below are pictures that ms. andrea snapped at the event.

my auntie pam & jen's baby boy, james.

one of my all time favorite teachers (and jen's mother-in-law), ms. walker & tracie lou.

andrea, jules, and the soon-to-arrive mr. keaton

trace & andy

oh my goodness. these next few shots of jules and tracie crack. me. up. they remind me so much of the crazy girls we were in high school and

how much fun we used to have together just being silly.
i love this next picture!
tracie, amelia, yours truly, jules, andy, and nancy

favorite. favorite. favorite. picture of the day. love you girls.

the {pregnant?} bear cake toppper

eh, not the best photo, but still fun to see the girls

mims & jules

with the yummy spread, the mountain of presents, and catching up with old friends, the shower was absolutely fabulous.

after the party was over, andrea wanted to drive around our "old stompin' grounds" and see the sights of tahlequah. we drove past jen & jon's house {where we got caught stalking}. they invited us in to see their home. then we drove past julie & slade's house {less than a minute away from jen & jon's}; downtown tahlequah; the junior high and high school {where we talked about all the changes and our upcoming reunions}; and finally back to muskogee feeling a little depressed about the little town that held wonderful high school memories. after that jaunt down memory lane we decided drinks were in order and headed to chili's for chips, salsa, & margaritas.

thanks for such a wonderful weekend girls.

baby shower.

anyone having a baby any time soon? i found this picture {again while looking for wedding ideas}. it's supposed to be a wedding cake, but i think it would be excellent as a baby shower cake {on a much smaller dimension, of course}. what do you think?

meeting hudson.

last week i met jen and court for lunch at chili's. it was my first time to meet hudson, and i couldn't wait. he was such a good baby ... well, actually he slept for most of our lunch ... but still, he was so sweet and such a little angel. he is completely beautiful and look so cute bundled up in his car seat.

while at lunch we discussed my job (and how much i don't care for it). after we chatted for a bit, court left the table. when he came back he said, "i think i just ran into your boss." momentary panic set in as i realized that if dave or rob was there, they could have heard everything that i was saying. jen and i searched for a familiar face, but never saw dave or rob. as we were on our way out the door, we ran into rob! court introduced hudson and i tried to keep my heart from throbbing out of my chest.

on the way back to the office, i called claudine; she and laughed and laughed all the way back to the office ... what else could i do?

i don't think that he overheard anything and [fortunately/unfortunately] i still find myself employed by the addison group.

the highlight of the day was most certainly meet hudson and spending a little time with jen and court. it seems our time together has been sparse. i am definitely looking forward to the next outing.

january 11, 2009: welcome hudson.

on january 11, 2009, our dear friends jen & court welcomed their baby boy, hudson gray to the world. we have anxiously awaited his arrival, and we were on pins and needles all day waiting to hear from the colliers about jen & hudson's progress.

hudson, you have no idea how blessed you are to have the family that you have.

we can't wait to get to know you better and watch you as you learn and grow.

congratulations collier family!

and hudson makes three.

a couple of weekends ago i helped host a shower for one of my dearest friends, ms. jen. it was so fun to get together with all of jen's friends and family. there were friends she had known from high school, former co-workers, her family, and then court's family. i had so much fun getting to chat with different ladies and hear new stories about jen. i wish that i had gotten better pictures ... i may have to snatch some from jen. everything is ready and waiting at the collier residence. the nursery is all put together, hudson's clothes are all washed and hung or folded. even the carseat and baby carrier is ready and waiting. i know we've said it a thousand times, jen, but travis and i couldn't be more excited for you and court. baby hudson, we can't wait to meet you!

busy. busy.

wow. it seems we have been so busy lately. last week i found out that i have an inner ear infection, which would explain why i was so dizzy all last week. on friday, i left for oklahoma city (the rodeo rolled over 100,000 miles on the way there) to meet my good friend andy -- one of the few friends from high school that i still keep in touch with. travis made his way to muskogee and spent all weekend riding bikes with roy, justin, ryan, steven, and a couple of other guys.

after i got to andy's we picked up her good friend kat from college and the three of us headed to dallas for jenny's bachelorette party. jenny is another friend of mine and andy's from high school. we had a good time catching up, but the trip to dallas couldn't have been longer! once we got there we picked up leah, one of their friends from college, at the airport ... only to find ourselves at the wrong airport. she was flying in from one airport and flying out of the other, which explains the confusion. we made it to jenny's sometime after 1 in the morning, i believe, and we stayed the night. the next morning andrea and i woke up, went shopping, and headed to hotel zaza. it was beautiful!

we got everything set up for the party and kat and jen and most of the other girls had arrived by that time. kat helped us finish setting up and everyone came upstairs. everyone was so impressed with the hotel -- way to go andy!!! lil wayne was staying there the same weekend, but we just saw his crew. we had jen's lingerie shower where she received lots of cute things and then we went to dinner & out on the town for a bit. i was thankful that no one got too wild and crazy.

we took this picture right before going out. i kept saying all weekend how interesting it is that a group of friends can be so diverse and everyone get along so well.

i did like the final pub that we ended up at. we got to go up on the roof and we could see downtown dallas from where we were. most of the people were friendly and the music at that particular place was better than the one we started at.

travis spent the weekend in muskogee riding bikes with the guys and getting to know lindsay, a girl that my was recently introduced to, a little better. andrea, kat, and i got back to okc on sunday, and i couldn't wait to get home. travis wasn't home. he and justin and lindsay were all trying to get ready so that we could go to a movie. my stomach was rolling the entire way home from dallas, so i wasn't the most talkative person when they all got to the apartment.

we headed to starworld to finally see wall-e.

it was such a cute movie. we were all laughing the entire time ... but i started feeling worse. i actually ending up getting sick before we left the theater. i felt terrible, especially since it was my first time to meet lindsay.

after the movie we had to drive justin and lindsay back to muskogee ... even more embarrassing than throwing up at the theater? throwing up on the side of the road with multiple people in my car. sheesh.

all in all it was a pretty good weekend. i used to love to travel, but i have never been more homesick than i was on this weekend trip to dallas. i was so glad to see eveyone, but since i didn't feel well most of the weekend, and since i was so homesick, i was very grateful to be home.

one of travis's friends tron wrecked while they were out riding this weekend. he seems to be doing okay, though, and none of the other boys were injured.

the week started out well. last night travis and i ended up being out until almost midnight at one of his clients. he had to do some updates that had to take place after hours ... updates that were only supposed to take ten minutes, and ended up taking 3 hours!!! i felt so bad for him. sorry baby, i know it had to be frustrating.

today we fell asleep together after work. we've wanted a nap for so long, but usually find other things to do. plus it's so late once we home from work that if we nap, we usually aren't able to sleep at night. i think we were just so worn out, we couldn't help but cuddle up and go to sleep.

we made another meat, cheese, vegetable, and cracker tray and we're nibbling on that. i like how fresh everything is and that i don't have to fix a lot to eat for a couple of days after making them.

now travis has put in into the blue and since one of our favorite things to do is cuddle and watch a movie, i think i will take this opportunity to do just that!

oh! and on a side note, our friends court and jen found out today that they are having a little boy!!! we couldn't be more excited for them! congratulations you two!