McDowell-Hughes-Johns-Underwood Family: Together Again

This August, my family from Florida came up to visit. They'd had a vacation planned, and ended up spending most of their vacation in the hospital. My grandmother had several kidney stones the size of golf balls. She went to the ER and they sent her to St. Joseph for surgery. Unfortunately, since she was on blood thinners, they couldn't actually do the surgery. Their temporary fix was to give her some stints and take her off the thinners until she was able to have the stones broken up. 

Fortunately for my grandmother, and the nurses, we were able to take her home on Thursday. 

We had made plans to get family photos made since it was the first time we'd all be in the same town in years. The last time we had a family photo taken, I think I was 9 - so it had been almost 20 years! I'd say we were overdue. We were really glad my grandmother was out of the hospital so she could come with us. Since she started the whole mess, it wouldn't be a family portrait without her in it! 

After our appointment, most of the family came to our house for BBQ (although we missed Kacy, Jordan and Clayton)! It was the first time my extended family had seen our house, and it gave me a really good reason to CLEAN, so I was excited!! 

My amazing husband whipped up some pulled pork and everyone brought some delicious dishes. It was such a beautiful day to spend outdoors enjoying good company! 

My cousin, Eric. 

My Aunt Jo enjoying some QT with her grand-niece!

Mimi and Evey enjoyed a piece of corn on the cobb. Evey is the only person I've ever seen my mom eat after. LOL. 

My dad and sister, and my husband, the photo-bomber. 

My cousins, Samantha, Eric and Hannah.

L to R: My sister: Ali; My cousins: Hannah, Joshua, Eric, Noah, Samantha; and, of course, my daughter: Evey

Even Whitney enjoyed the festivities.

We had so much fun, and I hope it isn't 20 years before we're all together again! 

Celebrating Evey's First Year

This is the movie I made for Evey's birthday. It shows some of my most favorite moments from the first year of her life.

365

Here are some of the pictures from Evey's 1 Year photo shoots... Yes, shoots, plural. The studio shots were done at Portrait Innovations and the non-studio shots were done by Sarah G. Photography! :)

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

We had one of the wettest July's ever, and August is shaping up to be pretty similar! The other day, Evey and I got home from Mimi's house and it was pouring, but there was no thunder or lightening.

Evey was tired, and screaming the whole way home, but I couldn't resist the warm summer downpour! When we got home, I threw her little raincoat on and out we went to play!

At first, she was a little unsure. She just stood in the same place, looking down and every now and then would move her little hand to feel the rain. After about 5 minutes, though, she got a little adventurous! She was toddling through the puddles and splashing when she could! It was so cute to see her enjoying the sweet summer rain!

She was excited to find a small hole in the sidewalk. Something I never would've noticed, but Evey stooped right down and had lots of fun splashing in her small little hole. I love seeing her discover things that are often taken for granted. The wonder of a child is inspiring to me!

Little Mommy

I never realized how natural of an instinct mothering is, but Evey has it.

I love watching her with her stuffed animals and baby dolls, mimicking the things I do with her. We got her a Cabbage Patch Doll for her birthday because of the way she plays with one at her Nana's house. The first time I saw her nurture this baby, my heart melted!

Nana would tell her to get her baby and she'd go over and pick it up. She'd hug it tight, pat it's back and give it a sweet, slobbery kiss on the nose!

The other day, she was playing on her own and when I looked over at her, she was tucking in her bedtime pal, Violet. Every night, we read together, pray together and nurse. Then I put her in her crib with "Vi" and tuck them in together. When I saw her doing it, she was placing the blanket over violet, patting her (just like I do) and repeating the process over and over!

A few days later, I caught her doing the same thing.

I have no doubts that Evey will be an amazing mommy one day. It's weird to think about at this point, but I can tell that mothering is written on her heart, just like it is mine!