I have had the same group of girlfriends for what seems like forever.  We all went to a very small elementary/high school, and we formed relationships that resemble “sisters” more than just “friends.”  Most of us met at different stages along the way, but the group of us have been tight ever since.

Nearly 11 years ago, I was young.  :)  Tracy and I were in the same prego boat.  We had no clue what we were doing, but we managed to bring a little boy and a little girl into this world just 5 months apart.  We were kind of pioneers in this new world of motherhood amongst our friends, but we had a lot of fun together trying to figure things out.  We spent many days hanging out together with our little ones, and together watched them grow.  She also watched as I had another, and another, and another….she took her time a bit more.  :)  When my girlfriends found out that Tracy and her hubby Jason were expecting their second baby, 10 yrs. after their first, WE WERE THRILLED!

A couple weekends ago I hosted a baby shower for her.  Tracy’s sister was due just a couple weeks before her and it was great seeing two beautiful pregnant ladies.  :)  We had a fall theme, and Brett made some fantastic squash soup.  One of my favorite things we did was each decorate “onesies” for the baby.

Tracy wanted to be surprised on the sex of the baby, which I think is rad and is what we did on all 4.  I’ll tell you, it’s the best surprise in the world!!!

Here were our little shirts when we were done.  Can you guess mine?

I had to snap a few of the beautiful belly.  :)

Minus a couple of “the girls,” here we are.

And then….SHE arrived one week after the shower!!!  Eveline Mae graced us all with her presence in this world a little earlier than expected.

Dark hair, and a tiny little body.

Mama and her girl…I have to say how odd it is saying that, since Nate has been their only child for 10 years.  But what a wonderful blessing.

The whole family.  They are all just smitten by her.  :)

Nate is going to be an amazing big brother!  He is very sweet with her.

She is so precious….my ovaries were starting to hurt. (just kidding mom!)

Ok, no I’m not.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this family photo.  This is so precious to me.

Jason, you are such a good Daddy.

*OH MY GOODNESS*

This one just melts me.  I hope Eveline can always look at this, and know how incredibly LOVED she is by her family.

Tracy, Jason and Nate…God has blessed you, and I am so overjoyed!!  The day she arrived I was on such a “joy high.”  (My sister got engaged that day as well!)

I can’t wait to watch her grow, and watch the kiddies play together.  I love you guys!!  And I love little Evie!  :)

~jess

If you follow me on Twitter then you know I was going through a paint color dilemma for our new office last week.  After many paint samples plastered on the walls from orange, to army green, I settled on grey.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about the sample I painted, but I decided to just go for it.  I’m not completely done yet because finding the time to finish (even a small room) is crazy hard.  So my little guy offered to help….

He grabbed my paint brush and went to town.

It was really heavy for him, so he dropped it every few seconds.  We also found out during this time what our curse word of choice is….since every time he dropped the brush, he said it over and over again.  **Note to new parents: You may not realize it, but babies pick up on EVERYTHING you say, and begin repeating at 2 yrs.  Be warned.**

After crying from laughing, we worked things out.  ;)

my sweet (sailor talking) little helper.  ;)

Oh my goodness….I am thinking I may have gone crazy when I look at our schedule for the next 3 weeks.  Lots of stuff to be blogged before year end, but even more work here behind the scenes on the editing part, so I will do my best to blog when I can.  Thanks for your patience-both on the blogging, and the editing!  :)  Stay tuned.

*and Gabe, Brett and I are learning to watch what we say a little more.*