Arkansas Lake House Adventure

This past weekend, Helen Grace and I escaped reality and headed to a lake house in Cherokee Village (near Hardy, AR) for a weekend visit with our friends, the Blackmans and Bakers.

Amy and Emsley moved to Fayetteville a few months ago, and we’ve been missing them. Jennifer, Camille, HG, and I decided to meet them halfway for a girls’ weekend, and by a stroke of luck, we all had this past weekend free.

After school on Friday, HG and I headed west. This was her first time to cross the Mississippi River and her first time in Arkansas. She thought both of those firsts were pretty cool! I also wish that I had a quarter for every time she said (and continues to say) ‘lake house.’ I’m sure her teachers today were tired of it. Maybe she’s going to be a lake kind of girl!

We picked up the Bakers in Jonesboro at Jen’s parents’ house, and after a small run-in with a deer and my car (luckily, no car damage- not sure I can say the same about the doe), we met the Blackmans at our lake house. After a quick Mexican dinner and WalMart trip, we came home to get in our pjs, and we pretty much stayed that way all weekend- woohoo!

On Saturday, we did get dressed once to go into Hardy to visit Hardy Pottery and a cute old-timey ice cream place. And then we came right back home! The girls had a great time running around in princess costumes, playing in their castle tent and with Barbies, having pillow fights, and decorating Christmas cookies. And the mamas got to sit around sipping coffee, Coke Zero, and wine, and having great catch-up conversations on life from the past few months. It was just what we all needed!

Our house was great- two stories with two living rooms- with an AMAZING view of the lake. We saw some beautiful sunsets… …and sunrises too. We DID have three four year olds with us!

Dinner on Friday night- HG, Camille, Emsley Enjoying our WalMart tripOur little princesses It was literally freezing outside, so this beautiful view was about as close to nature as we got. Playing with magnetic princesses Designing crowns In town at Hardy Emsley and Camille cut out the sugar cookies while HG was in bed napping and refusing to wake up for cookies. She woke up just in time to see the beautiful sunset! Why is it so fun to stand directly in front of the tv??? Pillow fight!! And time to decorate those cookies. A pinch of sprinkles for the cookie; a pinch for her mouth.Love this pic. Breakfast with princesses of all kinds More pillow fights (At this point, Emsley was begging out because HG and C were playing too rough. HG is used to playing with her daddy and their Toohig noggins!) And more princesses (are you noticing a theme here??)

Toohig Tidbits

Baby girl was a little crowded in the bed with MoMo and the ladybugs.She wasn’t happy at first, but she finally agreed to a trim (after Danielle suggested it). She was pretty proud afterward.Looking like such a big girl in her pea coat One night, I was making pasta, and I let the water boil over on the stove. It immediately smoked up really bad, and HG dove under the table screaming, “Mama is burning the house down! I’ve never seen a fire in the house!” Ey, ey, ey. School picture day Look how long her hair has gotten. And I love this profile pic of her. Santa has arrived at the mall! Since there was no line, I tried to get her to go say hi, but she would have NOTHING of it. This is as close as she got to the old man. Taking selfies while Mama shops Having a muddy ball at Remle’s camoflauge 7th birthday Sallie Key and her parents had us over for dinner last weekend. These two priss pots had a blast. You should have seen their ‘princess show’ that they put on for us!  She was taking a nap in our bed. I went in to check on her, and when she woke up, I sat down next to her. She crawled over into my lap, put her head down, and fell right back to sleep. And I sat like that for the next 30 minutes, watching her sleep and waiting for her to wake up.An after-school yogurt date with GD and Spiffer to celebrate another trip to the surprise box!

Baby Darby is Here!!!!

Last Tuesday, we met Mary Chris for ice cream at Yolo after school, knowing it’d be the last time that we’d see Baby Darby in utero. Helen Grace got to feel her in her mommy’s tummy and thought that was the coolest thing.

Darby Dabbs Moore made her official debut in Jackson (at the hospital where her granddaddy is an OBGYN) on Friday, November 15th around 11 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs, was 20 inches long, and is beautiful!!

William was there at the hospital soon after her birth (after he jumped in the car and sped from New Orleans) and Facetimed me twice so that I could be a part of the action. I couldn’t stop crying as the pics and videos poured in. It was an amazing experience, being on this side of parenthood and knowing what endless blessings are coming their way- and to see my crazy, baby cousin become a daddy. Ah, I still get teary eyed thinking about this beautiful new blessing to our family.

I picked up Helen Grace from school, and when I told her that Darby had been born, she literally stopped in the yard and did a happy dance!  As we got in the car, William called on Facetime again, and HG got to see her sweet face.

Monday after work, I stopped by to meet Darby. Helen Grace was with Grandma that afternoon, so shhhhh, don’t tell her I went without her! I loved my snuggle time though- she barely made a peep.

And then Wednesday afternoon, Bubba, Spiffer, HG, and I went back over to let Spiffer and HG meet Darby. We had quite the hen party, all fawning over her. Helen Grace loved to look at the baby but wouldn’t get close to her, and she threw a hissy fit when I was holding Darby and made HG use hand sanitizer after sneezing and before hugging me. If the Lord ever blesses us with another baby, I fear we will be in trouble having to share time with our little princess!

(I promise she was a lot happier than she looks in this pic- this was after the meltdown.)

Darby, welcome to our wild family! You are such a blessing to us, and we love you to the moon and back!