Family Vacay to Florida

There is no way to describe the white sandy beaches of Destin, Florida; they are a must see for yourself, picturesque sight.  Simply beautiful.  If you've never been, go!!!

We drove, which was wonderful because we got the pleasure of seeing the different states, rather than simply flying over them.  Mila is such a great traveler, so it's no big deal to hop in the car and hit the road.   When we arrived in Destin about 5:00pm, it was lightly raining, so we unloaded the car as quickly as possible. We decided to grab some to-go food from a Mexican restaurant, rather than trying to go out to dinner, since we were exhausted from the drive.  We briefly walked the beach, then called it an early night.

The next morning was perfect weather.  The sun was shining, the water was the most beautiful shades of blue and green, and the sand was white like snow...it's even soft like snow too!  We got our buggy, loaded up a cooler of drinks and snack, took some lawn chairs, sun screen, and other essentials, then got to the beach around 10:00am.  We picked a spot just off the water and set up camp  About an hour later, Mila was already snoozing on a towel.  She's definitely our child; such a natural beach bum!

We met a couple sitting next to us, from Oxford,  Mississippi, Brady and Kathryn.  They were jamming to some country music and had corn hole boards (two of Josh and I's favorite things).  We began talking, then their friends, RJ and Renee from Nashville, Tennessee showed up, and we all hit it off.  They were a lot of fun.

Josh and the guys decided to get a tee time and go golfing the next morning, which was perfect, because anyone who knows my husband knows he loves to golf!  We stayed out most of the day, soaking up the sunshine, watching Mila eat the sand, and playing games on the beach.  They all fell in love with Mila and her silly personality.  When it started to get dark, we made plans to go get cleaned up, then meet for dinner.

The next morning, as the guys golfed, the girls decided to head to the beach around noon.  We relaxed, played with Mila, and awaited the guys arrival.  The day was spent like the one before, not a care in the world, no cell phones, or social media, just music, the beach, six new friends, and a baby girl.  At the end of this day, we made plans to hopefully all meet up again at some point...maybe in Nashville, or at an Ole Miss game, or even good ol' Dallas, Texas.

That night, our little family went to Baytown Warf, which is such a neat little spot.  It has restaurants galore, live music, games for the kids, and a sunset view off the bay. We enjoyed having an adult beverage, while walking around, listening to the music, and people watching.  It was a great night to end our trip.  When we got back to the condo, we packed everything up so we would be ready to hit the road in the morning.

It was so hard to part with such a gorgeous beach, and fabulous vacay with my perfect little family, but what great memories I will hold of Mila's first time on the beach.

We will cherish all our pictures and memories until we see you again, Florida!

 

 

Months 7-9

These months have been some of the funnest.  Each day she is getting more and more personality, and constantly learning new tricks.

Month 7-

Our sweet girl said her first word...MAMA!! Yay!!  It's generally when she's upset or wants something, but I'll take it.  She also said Dada and baba, and she LOVES to babble.  She's been teething this month, but hasn't been super fussy...hopefully this will last...hopefully?!  Ha!  She has two teeth so far, and she looks precious with them.  Mila is a great eater, but green beans (yuck) are her absolute favorite!   She's getting smarter and more active each day.

Month 8-

How is my child already 8 months old???  Ahhh, time please slow down.  This year is flying.  Each day that passes, she's becoming more and more of a big girl.  This month she is really coming into her personality.  She's waving hi and bye, gives big, open mouth kisses, and stands with assistance of whatever random object she can find.  We tried peas...I thought she would love these since she loves green beans...I was wrong.  She spit them out at me, then just straight up shut her mouth so no more could enter.  :)  She's a mess.  Mila LOVES puffs-any and all flavors.  She's so smart...she pops the top of the puffs off with her teeth and feeds herself.

Month 9-

This month Mila got a 9 month check up, with no shots, YAY!  I hate those dang shots.  I like her check ups because we get to see how much she's grown, and the doctor is always impressed with her new skills.  We love Dr. Grace Khouri, she's great!  At her appointment, she weighed 16lbs and was 28in long...she is long and lean.  She's my lil' bug.  She started crawling and climbing, so she's into everything.  She loves music, clapping, and dancing the most.  Mila is a great travel buddy, which makes mommy and daddy very happy considering we are always on the go!  We joke about getting her registered, so she can start gaining hotel points.  She's going to have a gypsy soul like her mommy.

What a blessing these past three months have been.  Although she's not my teeny tiny baby who just lays around all day with me, I love watching her grow and gain such a fun personality, and we are so thankful for her health.

Family Roadtrip!

Josh and I have been talking about going to Nashville for a while now, especially because of our recent obsession with the ABC t.v. show, Nashville.  When we received his friend's wedding invite in Kentucky, it was a no brainer...we could stay in Nashville and drive up to Kentucky for the wedding.  Yay!

Thursday, May 29th
We left our house about 3:15 and headed towards Memphis.  We decided to stay in Memphis to help break up the trip for Mila and because we had worked all day.  It took up about 7 hours to get there.  We stayed at The Hotel Memphis.

Friday, May 30th
The next morning, we woke up and drove around town.  Graceland was neat to look at, but too pricey and time consuming, so we decided to opt out of that.  We ate at a cute restaurant, The Blue Plate.  It was home cookin' and just what we needed before we headed to Nashville.  When we arrived in Nashville, we went straight to our hotel, Sheraton Music City.  This place was amazing.  I would definitely recommend it.  It was set on acreage, had a fabulous veranda and pool area, and was gigantic.





After checking in, we decided to drive to The Bluebird Cafe and try our luck at getting in.  There were about 35 people in line.  They allowed reservations in first, then started pecking away at the line, letting s small groups of people in at a time. We were the last group to get in. Phew!  This place is so tiny.  The show that night was known as the "songwriter's circle".  Four songwriters set in a circle in the middle of the room playing their guitars, explaining why they wrote the songs, and sang them for us to hear.  So cool!

Mila loved hearing the music and was so good throughout their songs.  We were there a little over an hour, then decided to leave.  We drove around Honky Tonk Central, ate dessert at Tin Angel, then heading back to the hotel.  We were exhausted.

 Saturday, May 31st

We decided to get up and tour The Grand Ole Opry.  This day would be a quick one, as we had to get ready for the wedding and drive to Kentucky.  The Opry was amazing.  It was so neat hearing all the great stories about the artists and their journey to fame.  Being asked to join The Opry is a big deal, and only few country singers have the honor.  Nashville decided to maintain the original stage from the Ryman Auditorium. They cut a 6ft x 6ft circle of the stage and moved it to The Opry.  We got to stand on it and take pictures. I basically feel like a celebrity now.  Haha!  Afterwards, we went and spent way too much money in the gift shop, but we got lots of cool stuff.

We decided to have lunch before heading to the hotel to get ready.  I googled different options, and we decided on a place called 12th Taproom and Grille.  This restaurant was quirky and had an Austin feel to it. We loved it!  After eating, we heading to our hotel to rest for about an hour, then got cleaned up and headed to Kentucky.  The wedding began at 5:00.  It was beautiful.  The reception was on a golf course, so naturally Josh was excited.  We stayed until about 10:30, then headed back to Nashville.  It was great meeting so many people and sharing our sweet Mila with them.

Sunday, June 1st
Today, we had the entire day to tour Nashville and enjoy the town.  This place is truly so neat.  We went to Starbucks, drank coffee inside, and enjoyed our sweet family time together.  For brunch, we ate on the patio at Silo.

It was delicious. Then, we toured the Ryman Auditorium.
 It used to be an old church, that was turned into The Grand Ole Opry and eventually became the Ryman.  Like The Opry, it has seen the best country musicians.  The architecture is beautiful.  It has stained-glass windows and old wooden pews to sit on.  It's smack dab in the middle of the downtown area.  Next, we drove around near Vanderbilt University. I would totally recommend that college...it's in the best location.  I'm sure you can get a good education there too.  Hehe.






We checked out where the character from Nashville, Deacon Claybourne's house is on the show.

Like I said...I'm obsessed with that show.  Afterwards, we ate a late lunch at Mellow Mushroom (they have a new one in Rockwall).  The pizza was delicious.  Once we were super stuffed, we decided to head back to the hotel to let Mila rest for a bit and get cleaned up for our dinner at Kayne Prime Steakhouse.  OMG...that place was amazing!!  We started off with an appetizer of duck tacos (I wasn't a huge fan, but they were okay...I kept picturing Daffy Duck and his disappointing face staring me down, so it was hard to enjoy).  For our meal, Josh ate a 10oz Wagnu (Japenese steak) filet mignon and I had the 6oz filet  It was served with a side of creme brulee cream of corn (THE BEST THING EVER) and fancy mashed potatoes.  Our bill was a little high, but the food was amazing and it was the perfect ending to our trip in Nashville.  We finished the night with dessert and a tall glass of milk at our hotel restaurant.  

Monday, June 2nd
We had a long drive ahead of us, so we threw our stuff in suitcases, then in the back of my car, and heading out.  We stopped in Memphis at a cool little joint, Avenue Grill.  Then, made our way back to Texas.  Home sweet home.

Overall, our trip was amazing.  It's such a blessing to have a husband who is always willing to pack up and travel with me.  I love the quote, "I'm in love with places I've never been to and people I've never met."  It's so true.  There's something so neat about discovering new places, seeing different cultures, and meeting new people.  Mila was the best little traveler too.  She is such a perfect addition to our family.  Her happy disposition is such a joy in our lives.

My 1st Mother's Day!

Wow, I can't believe I'm celebrating my first Mother's Day.  I've always thought about being a mom, and here I am responsible for this perfect little being that I was privileged to carry in my belly for 9 months, and birth.  God has truly blessed me with Mila Ann Saenz.

Motherhood is the hardest, most selfless duty I've ever had, but it's the best blessing.  Motherhood is messy buns instead of curled hair, spit up down my back without even knowing, late nights followed by early mornings, silly sounds and faces just to get a smile out.  It's snuggles, spit bubbles, tickles, and tears. It's singing "Jesus Loves Me" and "ABC's" over and over.  It's dirty diapers and "shoo shoo wee's", good mornings, and prayers at night.  It's thanking God every chance I get for allowing me the blessing to be my Mila bug's mama.  I could never possibly prepare my heart for a love like this.  My cup runneth over!

Mila's 1st Easter

Easter is such a wonderful time.  It's a reminder of Christ's love for us.  We are all such dirty sinners, but because of our Savior, we may have everlasting life.  What a blessing it is to know the Lord.

The Easter bunny visited Mila.  He gave her a book, Easter basket, and a jumparoo/excersaucer.  She loves it so much.

On Easter, we went to church at my grandparent's church in Lavon.  Afterwards, we celebrated with my dad's side of the family at Aunt Joy's house, then went to Aunt Denise's to celebrate with my mom's side.  It was a great day hunting eggs, eating, and enjoying family.

Months 4-6

There have been so many exciting changes in the past three months.  As hard as it is to see my baby girl grow up so fast, I'm so very thankful for her health and cute lil' personality.  Here's a little insight into months 4, 5, and 6.

Month 4-
At the docter, Mila got her 4 month shots which totally stinks, but I know how important they are, so we tough through it.  Daddy got to go to this appointment with us, which makes everything better. Mila was 11.9lbs and 24in long, which puts her in the 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. She was extremely talkative at the appointment.  In fact, the doctor said she's never heard a baby her age talk so much.  Yep, she's definitely my daughter.  Ha!

At four months, Mila rolls from her tummy to her back.  She did this for the first time at a slumber party with my college roomies in Belton.  It was so much fun getting together with my best girlfriends and our babies.  Mila has learned how to squeal...and holy moley, it's high pitched, but super cute. We may have an opera singer in her near future.   

Month 5-

Mila has found her toes!!!  She lays on her back, reaches for her toes, and even chews on them.  This lil' thing is obsessed.  I love it.  Mila drools nonstop too.  She is definitely starting to teeth, but hasn't started the fussy stage yet.  Just lots and lots of drool.  This month, we started giving her banana oatmeal, which she enjoys very much.  She has become aware of her big brother, (our dog) Maverick.  He loves to lick her and she just grabs his floppy cheeks and lets him.  I'm so happy he's calm around her and she's not afraid.  

Month 6-

As the months go by, I'm enjoying each one more and more.  Month 6 has been a blast so far.  She had to get shots again...boo!  But, she is healthy, healthy, healthy.  The doctor calls her petite and perfect.  Mila weighs 13.8 1/2lbs and is 26in long, which means 10th percentile for weight and 50th-75th percentile for height.  This chick is long and lean.  My precious girl says "Mama" too.  It's mostly when she's upset, but I'll take it.  I love hearing it.  I can't believe our little bug is already half a year old.  What a blessed 6 months it has been so far!  

Bluebonnet Baby!!

The bluebonnets are simply gorgeous this year.  I was so excited to capture pictures of Texas' state flower and our sweet baby girl.  She is just perfect!! :)