Finding the Silver Lining in the middle of the night.

Well, round one of Avery's costume is complete. She and it both survived the church's fall festival with only a few cupcakes gone MIA. I'll take it. There were some tears when putting it all on, I think she was overwhelmed with all the pink and she let Evan and I know she wasn't happy with us making her wear it all by refusing to do anything for us at the festival. Thank goodness for my in-loves, they took her around the majority of the time and she played games and got some candy in return. She was WORN OUT by the time we got back to their house and after a bath she didn't put much of a fuss to go to bed. We all watched the Ranger came before though, we would have kept her up from all our yelling anyways. :) Here's a few pictures....

The Cupcake Fairy's Wings.

Playing some games for candy!

(I bought the wings at wal*mart, cut out paper cupcakes and glued them to her wings, tutu and shoes)

Not too bad right?

Tomorrow we aren't going to do much for Halloween, we're going by a few close friends homes on our way back to Fort Worth for Avery to trick-or-treat at. So far when I get her to try practicing saying "Trick-or-treat" she just shrugs and screams "I Cute!" *Sigh* She's so my daughter.

I can hardly believe that Monday will be NOVEMBER. This year is starting to fly by and it's about to get crazy busy for us but at the same time, I'm welcoming it because it's the start of a new chapter. We're so ready to let all the negative of this year and more so of this season just be gone and done with.

Evan and I have had a hard time staying positive with our struggles financially as of late but one thing remains firm...we do not let Avery see us at our weak moments. She has no idea what's going on with us and that's all I can hope for. I hope she never knows our struggle to bring food home or keep electricity on or how we boil water on the stove to give her a hot bath because we can't afford our gas bill. I hope she never remembers the nights daddy doesn't come in until close to 10pm because he's working late after school so he can try to get more money for us. It hurts to see Evan have this pressure on him when we're both trying so hard. I know it'll pass, I know it's temporary but it's scary to think we don't know how we're going to make ends meet from one week to the next, it's scary to know you have no savings but you have a family and life is ALWAYS unpredictable.

Oh well, nothing to stay sad over, we'll get by like we have the past month (which still amazes me how we've pulled it off and THAT can only be a God thing). I just pray (selfishly) that we can overcome this before Avery's birthday and Christmas, I'd hate to have to cancel her birthday or have a tree with nothing to give her or Evan under it. That'll break my heart and I KNOW that's so ridiculous because it's not about the material things...trust me, I am beyond humbled in the blessings God has given me and I still get overwhelmed when I hear Evan and Avery giggling in another room , or when Avery snuggles with me and whispers she loves me or even just whispers my name with her nose pressing mine. I am rich in blessings, my cup runneth over and that's the only reason my head is still semi-held up with dealing with the scariness of our situation right now.

Which must be obvious because so many people are shocked when they find out what's going on with us. We don't really scream out "We're in need!" in public. I've been reading Isaiah and Proverbs this past week and am searching for the lesson Gods giving me in my life right now. I know this is all part of it and in the end my reaction and how I handle it will be a reflection of my walk with Christ so there's no way I'm taking the chicken way out of it all.

Alright, soapbox time is officially over, just be mindful in your prayers of us please.

You know your getting old when it's barely 11pm on a Saturday night (All Hallows Eve at that) and your about to pass out from sleepiness. We're in for a treat at church in the morning with a country christian band "Branded" doing the morning service at MSBC.I'm looking forward to it. As well as fixing Averys outfit again and going to our friends places tomorrow night.

My sister will be here next Saturday through the 16th and I'm so happy.  I'll get to get some things done while she's here and willing to watch Avery (spoil her more like it) as well as that means after she leaves we're a week from Missouri. Oh, to get out of dodge for a bit and go on a road trip to be with some amazing people is just what my spirit needs!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Be Safe and have fun.

Blessings & Love,
Britt & Co.

I think I jinxed myself.

Been awhile since I last got a moment to Blog. Life has yet again been an adventure. Needless to say I haven't been able to be near or on a computer in almost 3 weeks thanks to Avery, Evan and myself being sick.

 

Back to the drawing board.

 

Quick updates:

* Fall Festival Today. I semi-made Averys costume, she's a cupcake fairy. (Pics to come)

*Halloween is Tomorrow!

* I haven't ran or walked or worked out in 3weeks, kill me now, this is going to be torture all over again!
*Lots of bad junk hitting Evan and I and much Prayer would be appreciated. I'm sure we've been hit worse but this round of "Hard Times" has even me worried about how we're going to manage through the rest of this year.

*That last thing is not marriage related just FYI. We're great! :)

* My sister will be down from NC the 6th-16th.

*Thanksgiving in Missouri!!!!!!!!!!!!

*HP comes out soon. *squeel*

I'll give a better update before tomorrow (hopefully).

Blessings & Love.

    Britt & Co.

Lesson Learned.

 We have had such low-key weeks with Evan and Avery recovering from being sick that I eagerly awaited the weekend to head to Denton and actually get out of my house! Plus, we've had things to do for once and a social life makes me a happy girl.

Avery and I joined some pals at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Village on Friday. We had such a good time but when lunch time came around Avery got hay fever so bad and was a miserable mess. we rushed to wal*mart for some allergy relief and she slept the following 4 hours. I felt so bad for her. We were going to go to the big Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound on Tuesday but I'm thinking we'll skip it now that I've seen what happens to her when she's around lots of hay.

We had our professional photo-session yesterday and Avery was a little stinker the majority of the time! She didn't want to sit with us, didn't want to be held, didn't want to smile at all but she did want to run off, throw tantrums and ignore our pleas like crazy...*sigh* Toddlers. Thank goodness we're friends with Sarah and Drew and they know we're not horrible parents with a bratty child. I can not appreciate them and their patience enough from yesterday. Sarah is so talented and sweet with Avery, I know we'll have several good shots to choose from.

The only bad thing I can say that happened yesterday was an accident with Evan and Avery, she was being super wiggly in his arms and when he tried to adjust his hold she fell out of his arms and landed on the ground....daddy being 6'2 it was quite a fall in right in front of Sarah, Drew and myself...Evan felt HORRIBLE and it was the 1st time he's dropped her whereas I have dropped her a few times but have usually caught her mid fall to let her slid down me instead. Bless his heart, he felt so bad the rest of the day. She is sporting a slight bruise on her temple and a patchy raw spot on her face... here's a pic.

her left eye and cheek were just a tad swollen and below her left eye you can see where she scrapped the ground, her bruise is covered by her hairline luckily. This pic was 2 hours after it happend.

After the fall she let us hold her and actually cooperated with us to get some shots, it was close to the end of the shoot and she very tired. She passed out on the way to lunch and was snoring before we left the drive-thru.

We then enjoyed the UNT Homecoming Parade from Nan & Gary's bedroom. Having in-laws live on the square has a lot of perks and this was just one of them. Avery loved it! Nan snuck out the camera and took lots of candids of us with her (which are posted on FB) I'm so glad she did this, such a sweet moment to have captured of my little family. Plus, Avery was all smiles for Nana once she noticed the camera was in her hand but for our early shoot....Pfft. Yeah right. Again, what a stinker!!!

My little fam-fam checking out the parade..I love her hand on my shoulder...like she claims me...and I love how she looks like a hot-mess thanks to her McDonalds happy meal and a sprite to get her all hyped up.

Posing for Nana.

Jarrod showed up and ended up staying for the evening which was a delight, I know Evan sure enjoyed getting bro time in and Avery just adores her Uncle Jarrod. It was a nice quiet evening  with the 4 of us while N&G went to a funeral and then out with friends (which I must say is about dang time for them to get some fun time).

I hope you all enjoy the rest of this weekend and have a great week. Not to mention the Rangers won and the Cowboys seem to be doing better today as well so it's a good end to the weekend. We're supposed to get some rain this week and I for one am looking forward to it. Bring on the cooler temps as well.

Love & Blessings,

Britt & Co.

Love is......

Two Hearts Becoming One.

Parenthood.

Wait...let me catch my breath!

Seems that way in my mind anyways. Things have been BUSY here and I feel like I am always trying to just get a minute to catch my breath before going on the run again. LOVE IT.

Poor Avery had a bad virus and was out for 8 long, miserable days with anything you can think of for symptoms, I barely got sleep let alone a chance to be clean longer than an hour before we were both back in the tub. She cut 4 teeth on top of the virus, I mean seriously?! Can the girl just get a cold and be done? Seems like anytime she gets sick she gets hit hard and it takes awhile for her to recover from it.

Evan caught something and was out for 2 days with flu-like symptoms, needless to say Dr. Mom was on call 24/7 and then Mrs. Clean (I'm witty, I know) was on night duty (my only free time) being a spokesperson for all things lysol and clorox branded. My house smelled top-notch sterile. Gus & Paris were not amused nor happy with me, thier little noses seemed to be permanently stuck in that "I smell poopy" face. :)

Speaking of fur-babies. The Hartfield family pet, Matthew passed away last friday 2 days after Evan and I had agreed to bring him back with us from Missouri  when we go up at Thanksgiving, he was having some problems at his "college-home" that seemed like rebellion but I think (since it's not quite written in stone how he passed away) that he had kidney failure. He was 16 years old!!! That's quite a life for a cat.

A few pics of Matt & Evan:

He had the personality of a grumpy old man. hehe

So that was our sad news of the week, went from one e-mail about him needing to come back to Texas and was followed 2 days later with the news of his passing. :(

Other than my family being out with sickness and Matts death I haven't had much of a life. I went out on 3 runs last week (LOVING IT) and saturday I even went on my roof and cut all the low lying branches my landlord has promised to remove for over a year ( I felt all Moxie!) on top of laundry and cleaning....oh the joys of domestication. :)

Tomorrow, Avery and I are off to a Pumpkin patch...actually the same one we took these at

If only I could have bottled her up last year when she was at this much cuteness.

Sadly, due to finances we won't be doing Halloween or a costume this year but I have found a cute orange and black PJ set she may wear on the night of.

So yay for the pumpkin patch tomorrow and then Saturday we're doing our Family Pictures!!! I am beyond excited for these! oooooooooh so excited. Then a farewell party Saturday night for a dear friend moving to Hong Kong (That makes 2 now, hmmm) and then going back to church after 2 weeks away...BUSY BUSY BUSY I tell ya.

Hope you enjoyed my nothing-ness of an entry. :)

Love & Blessings,

Britt & Co.

ParentHood = Worries

Tonight I went and saw a sneak preview of the movie "Life as we know it".

I wasn't expecting much besides a little alone time and the coolness of seeing a movie a week before it came out but instead I laughed like I haven't in a long time and cried more than I'd like in a public place. Being a mommy I could totally relate to the characters as they learned how to raise a 1 year old and it made me feel like I was in the cool club since I've been there and done that and wished that hadn't happened at times....

It also gave me a very uneasy feeling of not having a plan so to speak....It's no secret that in the movie this precious little girls parents are both killed in an accident and left to be cared for by 2 single mutual friends of her parents..I knew that going in but it still hit me hard....I sobbed so hard during this part of the movie and felt heartsick...What if something like that were to happen to Evan and I? Who would take care of Avery? What would happen with her?

When we were in our third trimester I remember our insurance lady calling and asking how I was doing and wondering if we'd like to look into making out our wills so things could be done in preparation for our new life chapter...Evan and I laughed about that phone call because we couldn't fathom anything happening to us so young and at the same time....but then Avery was born. You instantly fall in love with your baby the moment you see their tiny face, you feel a sense of obligation and pride and you indistinctly want to protect them from all the bad things in the world. Your attitude and views change I mean....having a child is life altering in so many ways (all positive!). We hadn't even left the hospital when Evan and I started talking about who we'd want as Avery's God-parents, who we'd want to raise her if something should happen to us, what we wanted her to grow up knowing, the kind of schools and interest she should have to help nurture her etc.etc.etc.

She has a wonderful God-father and God-mother but they don't seem to be into kids at all, they rarely see her and we rarely see them and they never ask about her unless we bring her up which we do all the time because we'll..we're parents. However, in the 21months of Avery's life we have made so many new friends, we've grown apart from others we wished we hadn't and also some we were thankful to part from.

Maybe we're too old fashioned here? Is this something most parents already sort out before they even have children? Do you parents out their have a plan in case something happens? It was always my thought that God-Parents were the ones you would want your child to look up to and be the ones to raise your child if heaven forbid something happened to you both but I don't think in our situation that that would be a good thing for either side. The movie also pointed out a very true thing of...the two people never knew they were chosen by the parents and they never agreed to doing it but they did it because they loved the little girl.....I don't want to burden someone with that! 

Evan and I are going to sit down and make out our wills soon and look into a trust fund to start putting money in for Avery for college and what-not but I just can't help wondering who we could put under the subject line of raising Avery if something should happen to us both and thanks to this movie it worries me to not have a plan for her even though it's HIGHLY unlikely that Evan and I would both go together and leave her alone.


I could cry just thinking about it let alone the movie, which I may add is a really good movie and I highly recommend it because it's funny and so realistic and you get swept into it which is what movies are supposed to do to you.



Life is Precious.

Love & Blessings,

Britt & Co.

October is here!

Ohhh how I love all things October.

-Fall Weather
-Harvest foods
-Candy corn
-Halloween
-Fall colors
-The beginning of the holiday season

I'm so excited about this month. Not so much all it entails for us but because of whats just around the corner with November and December. How'd this year fly by so suddenly?

This months plans:
*Scentsy Party (Succesfully had last night, online orders are still available through Monday HERE )
* Family Pictures the 16th with the lovoly Sarah Vermillion, Check out her website
* 3 different Pumpkin patches.
* Weekend Trip to Oklahoma
* Fall Festival
* Halloween
* Possible trip to Abilene to see the Stewarts
*Pumpkin Day at MDO
* Donuts with Dad at MDO
* Avery's First Dentist Appointment
*Play-dates on Wed.



Busy, Busy, Busy. I love it though.