dallas, smu and a sprinkle

Daniel and I headed to Dallas last week before my 30th birthday. It was our first time to be in Dallas and at SMU without the girls since before they were born - total treat! We stayed in a hotel across from SMU and enjoyed feasting at Cafe Brazil and Half Shells - two of our old favorite places to eat while at college. We had gone to SMU on Thursday night to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Hunt Scholarship... Daniel, being the smarty he is, was a Hunt Scholar at SMU and was a part of the planning committee. We got to see lots of SMU friends and hear from President Turner all of the wonderful happenings around SMU. It definitely made us leave feeling proud of our alma mater and made me ready to commit Emma and Claire to the class of 2032! Afterward we went with friends to Gloria's for drinks, chips and queso - we had so much fun laughing and catching up. Crazy to think we are all parents now. 

Friday we spent the entire day walking around SMU. We stopped by Jenny's store - Uptown Country Home - and bought the cutest dresser for Henry's room. (Side note - everything in there is adorable and I would have cleaned shop if Daniel would have let me!) We spent about an hour with Jenny and it made us wish we lived closer to her and Loren. After some shopping, we headed over to the Bush Library. Wow. If you live in Dallas or are visiting soon - you have to check it out! Politics aside, everyone should go. It's amazing... it's beautifully built, the grounds are gorgeous and the 9-11 exhibit is gut-wrenching. Truly powerful and incredible to think it's on SMU's campus. We ended up eating a late lunch at Cafe 43, the cafe there at the Bush Library. Ummmm... SO GOOD. I would definitely recommend that as well! Order Laura's famous cowboy cookies with W's favorite homemade banana-pecan ice cream for dessert. Trust me, it's the best thing ever. 

SMU continues to be beautiful and amaze us how it grows and gets better. The new basketball stadium is so cool - we are totally making it up for a game next season. The new residential quad will blow you away. We walked over to Boaz Hall, went into all of our old classroom buildings, student center, etc... it was definitely a walk down 'memory lane' and really a perfect day. Daniel and I had the pleasure of talking with several high school seniors and we kept saying "you will not regret it!" and "we would come back and do it again!" ... all of them said after being on the campus, they felt SMU was the right place for them! 

That night we headed to Fort Worth and Saturday my mom and Laura hosted a little sprinkle for Henry and me. It was perfect - there were just eight of us there and it was a perfect balance of conversation, delicious food and presents! Henry is set when it comes to clothes. Laura brought a ton of stuff that was CJ's and my cousin Erin already sent me a big box of stuff from Caden. We got books, burp clothes, blankets, art work and more clothes... Daniel and I kept saying "well this sure does make everything more real!" Amazing to think that Henry will be here in just 8 weeks! 

Overall, the weekend was just wonderful (beside the atrocious traffic coming back into Houston) and I am thankful for grandparents and godparents who kept Emma and Claire so Daniel and I could kick off my 30th the best way possible!

turning 30

My 30th birthday is on Monday. Everyone keeps saying "oh my goodness - it's a big birthday!" but I don't feel like it's a big birthday. Yes, I'm venturing into a new decade but quite honestly, I have felt like I've been 30 for a long time. 

I consider myself an old soul. I've felt like this since I was much younger. When I was in middle school, I got along better with teachers than my peers. I had friends and acted like a pre-teen, but I never felt comfortable at that age. I felt older. Same in high school. I remember going to friends' houses and just talking it up on the couch with their parents for an hour or more. Ha! College was the first time I truly felt myself and my age... but reality is, I was in love at 18, engaged by 21 and married by 22. 

Did I always act older? Of course not. I got into some stupid stuff as a teenager (like, super dumb). I could have taken academics more seriously in college... and even today I'm still learning, growing, searching. But I'm not having the 'cry-myself-to-sleep' panic attacks some friends have had and am actually looking forward to saying I'm in my thirties. It will finally be a number that represents how I feel - both physically and emotionally. I always giggle when flipping through In-Style magazine because they have a section that's titled "How to Dress in Your 20s, 30s and 40s" - and I always like the 30s and 40s outfits better than the 20s... and have for years. 

When my sister KK asked how I felt about turning 30 the other day I said "I've felt like I've been 30 for a long time" she quickly texted back "yea, you've been 30 since you turned 18" - and then my other sister, Laura, just wrote "agreed"... 

Maybe 40 will be different. Maybe then I'll be freaking out, demanding plastic surgery (no shame!) and a huge birthday party. Monday will be calm. I'll want Mexican food and shopping money. It will be just like any other birthday I've had so far (except 21 - that was a little too fun and it would take me weeks to recover from that now). I know I will feel so grateful for the thirty years I've been blessed with - great friends, good health, an amazing family and the best husband and kids anyone could ask for. Cheers to turning 30!

Jessica and Joe get hitched!

We spent the past four days celebrating the wedding of Daniel's sister Jessica in New Orleans. We had a wonderful weekend and the wedding truly was so beautiful and special. It was a true family affair - Daniel officiated, I was a bridesmaid, E and C were flower girls... the ceremony was just perfect and the reception was fun, fun! The girls are very excited to have Uncle Joe officially in the family! Blessings to Jessica and Joe as they venture life together as a married couple! Here are my favorite pics from our trip.

first dance

the flower girls breaking in the dance floor

emma, claire, jessica and me

four generations

my sweet family at the rehearsal dinner

family road trip // part one

We went on our first road trip this month last weekend... we left Thursday for Dallas to meet my sweet niece, Landry. She really is the most precious thing!! So sweet, so little... we were all smitten. Of course, having a one week old, I assume my house will be a disaster and I will look like someone recovering from labor/delivery/surgery... Laura looked like Carrie Underwood and her house was spotless. No sibling competition there or anything, ha! Joking aside, Laura looks healthy and happy, CJ has adjusted well so far and Landry is pretty perfect. We didn't get to see Uncle Colby since he was out of town for work, but based on stories and pictures, Landry has Daddy wrapped around her finger... just like it should be!

From Dallas we drove over to Tyler to celebrate our friends' wedding. Austin is our current worship leader and we've become friends with his fiancé (now wife!), Claire - or as my girls call her "big Claire". Emma and Claire were the flower girls and were very much looking forward to the wedding. It was a good practice run for when they are flower girls again for Aunt Jessica's wedding (which is very close!!). Traveling with two busy three year olds is tough work. Daniel and I need a vacation from our "vacation" - but at least we are lugging two pack-n-plays everywhere and they sleep well at night. They did such a great job walking down the aisle and listening to the directions given by the wedding coordinators. I teared up when they walked down the aisle then sweat my face off during the ceremony because they wouldn't stop talking - come on preacher's kids!! I think they are just too comfortable in a church (which, I guess, is a good thing). After the wedding we danced the night away and had a blast. Really, so much fun. My pregnant body didn't thank me for that the next morning, but it was totally worth it. 

Sunday we worshipped at Dayspring UMC in Tyler where our friend Matt is the pastor. His wife Margaret was our good friend at SMU and it was so wonderful to see their church and meet their kids - silly that it took so long for us to all get together, but it felt like our kids had known each other and they played so well together! It was a great way to end our trip. Now we are home for a little bit before we hit the road again for New Orleans. Can't wait!

Emma and Landry

Irving Family on the dance floor - light up glasses and all!!

The bride and flower girls - so sweet!

Landry - the most precious little girl!!

All in love with the newest member of our family!!

Happy Birthday, Boaz!

We celebrated Boaz's 5th birthday yesterday. I cannot believe my puppy is five (and that in dog years he is now older than Daniel and me!). Boaz has been a great dog and a wonderful addition to our family. The girls are obsessed with him - we can't leave the house until they have given him a hug and a kiss. Claire says frequently while we are out and about, "I miss my puppy" - so sweet. 

I remember when we brought Boaz home from the shelter five years ago. He was so little and so cute... and then he cried/screamed/barked all night for the first few nights because he missed his litter mates. Daniel slept next to his crate to provide some comfort and eventually he got settled in and very happy to be with us. It's still hard to believe that we potty trained him and shaped him into such a good dog. Daniel had no experience with dogs and every dog I had growing up we got after the puppy stage... silly as it sounds, it was a good parenting lesson. We couldn't just leave when we wanted. We had to set a schedule to take him out. Babies are clearly way harder, but Boaz really was the perfect firstborn for us!

There are days I resent Boaz... He's gotten on the couch. He's eaten something important. He's dug in the trash. He sheds like crazy and I hate sweeping up his hair... admittedly I forget to feed him some mornings! Whoops. But, he's loyal, silly and really a very low-maintenance dog and we are blessed to have him in our life!! 

love is in the air :: valentine's day

Valentine's Day is Friday. Daniel and I just booked dinner reservations at a local restaurant and I am so looking forward to going out with Daniel - sans children, what what! - and being able to talk over a yummy meal. We haven't had a date night since before Christmas... life has been that crazy. So this year, I am really looking forward to Valentine's Day! (And shout out to the grandparents for giving us a night out - we are very thankful!)

Daniel has already gifted me the best gift I could think of: a house keeper. It's just a one time, three hour long clean, but I am so excited about it. I think I'll wait to use her when I'm more pregnant and have no energy to scrub toilets and sweet floors. Really people, this is true love. He knew exactly what I needed. Thank you, Rev! 

Maybe you are not in the position or stage to desire a house keeper for Valentine's Day, so here are a few gifts ideas. I'm not doing a big gift giving idea page because so many other blogs have such great stuff picked out (click my side bar and follow some!). But these are my favorites:

1. Something personalized: monogram tote, new monogrammed towels, or monogrammed jewelry. Daniel gifted me this beautiful monogrammed necklace for Christmas from Golden Thread. It was my favorite gift I received. It's a large, gold disc on a 30" long chain. It's my favorite piece of jewelry now and I wear it almost every day. Yes, I know little babies like to grab jewelry... no fear! She makes a large selection of short necklaces, bracelets, rings... you can be cool like Pippa Middleton by wearing one of these necklaces, too! The girl who started it lives in the neighborhood next to me, so it's a really big fashion staple right now in Houston. 

2. Manicure/Pedicure. I am treating myself to one come March before Jessica's wedding (it will mark one year since my last one, ha!)... but women love this and feeling pampered. How cute is this new color from Essie? 

3. I know people love to buy new bras and underwear for Valentine's Day, but how cute is this sleep set? I'm more practical and would actually wear this all the time. It's definitely an upgrade from baggy college tshirts and leggings. I have a gift card to Anthropologie and this might be a gift to myself... looks like it will be perfect for a postpartum body, too. 

4. Jewelry. Duh. Daniel bought me a Michael Kors watch two years ago for Valentine's Day and I love that watch. I wear it everyday. Kendra Scott has beautiful costume jewelry (love these studs, modern update to pearl studs) and Bauble Bar has gorgeous jewelry for very reasonable prices. 

jessica's getting married // showers and parties

Sandra and I hosted a bridal shower for Jessica last weekend - after several planning meetings we came up with all the details for the luncheon. We hosted at Hasta La Pasta in Katy and had a set menu the ladies could pick from. We enjoyed the BEST cake and cupcakes from Sweet in Houston (location - City Centre)... both places were so easy to work with and helped with whatever we needed. Sweet even matched the peach color from the invitation for the cake! The banner was from Paper Source and the flowers came from a florist in Katy and they were gorgeous. We had a great time celebrating and showering Jessica and I think Sandra and I could go into a planning business together - we make a great time, ha! Emma and Claire were big helpers (and tasters) for us as well!

After the shower I set up a Kendra Scott Color Bar party for Jessica, bridesmaids and family. There was champagne (water for me!), more cupcakes... and they had the cutest little set up done for Jessica. Jessica had picked out the color scheme and treated us to a pair of earrings for her wedding as our bridesmaid gift. Overall, it was a busy day (I was pooped by 7pm!) but it was a lot of fun and a great way to start off the wedding season.  

this is my bridesmaid dress - I ordered it online from ASOS last week and am anxious to get it in! i won't wear the navy belt and will wear a gold or dark peach instead... here's to hoping it fits and will be perfect!

Christmas 2013

It's amazing how long you can prepare for Christmas... the decorating, shopping, wrapping, hiding, parties, Santa, baking and cooking... and then it comes and goes in a flash! I felt like Christmas went so quickly this year and I'm kind of sad about it! It was the best Christmas. Nothing is more special than experiencing Christmas through the eyes of two three year olds. Their wonder, their excitement, the thrill of Santa and the eight reindeer, lighting the candles at Christmas Eve... it was so sweet and beautiful. What a special gift to Daniel and me.

My mom and sister Katharine spent the week with us and we had a great visit! Daniel's sister Jessica is also in town so we hosted everyone over for Christmas Eve dinner following the worship service and for brunch on Christmas morning. Emma had asked Santa for a baby doll bunk bed set and a Doc McStuffins Doctor kit... Claire just wanted anything princess. Santa brought those things and a few extra goodies. They were blessed with a plethora of toys and clothes from family and they were giddy with excitement with entire day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Amazing to think next year there will be a third Irving baby in the mix!

Girls first trip to Brennan's!

After just eating at Brennan's for our first time (our anniversary back in June), the girls got to go on Friday! We all dressed up in our "princess clothes" and went to celebrate Pops' 70th birthday. We feasted on a lot of delicious food (I tried the shrimp and goat-cheese grits, omg!!) and the chef prepared a special steak and french fries meal for the girls. I think the girls really enjoyed watching our waiter prepare the banana's foster and seeing pops wear the silly birthday hat. The girls were SO well behaved. Daniel and I were holding our breath for the first thirty minutes, but honestly, they were great. I think they could tell the place we were at was really nice and they even sat still from 7-9:30pm! Can't wait to take them back!!

new orleans

We headed to NOLA on Friday for the weekend to celebrate Jessica and Joe. Aunt Jessica is getting married in March and their best friends hosted a lovely engagement party. The girls did great in the car (8 hours there, 7 hours back, gross!) and were amazing in the hotel room. They both took naps and went to sleep immediately - thank goodness! They were totally flexible with their schedule and just seemed to have a great time. We got to be with my in-laws and Daniel's grandparents... and got to meet Joe's family for the first time, too. It was so fun to celebrate Jessica and hear about the wedding details. I'm already on the hunt for my bridesmaid dress. I've found some on J.Crew and Jenny Yoo - so if you have any suggestions for a coral colored dress, I will take it! We just have to pick the dress and match it to the color samples Jessica gave us (see above). Super creative and cute!

happy birthday to emma & claire!

Emma and Claire turned THREE on Saturday - I can't believe it has already come and go. We had family (dad, stepmom, sister, nephew) in town since the third and everyone left on Sunday. We ate lots of delicious food, played with the kids, watched movies, celebrated the fourth and celebrated the girls. I had a small party here at the house on their bday - we did it at 9am and served breakfast foods: chick-fil-a chicken mini biscuits, donuts, fruit, quiche, ice coffee and hot coffee bar, juice, milk and cupcakes. I had done the tassels myself and hung pictures up of the girls all over the house... I bought the birthday sign from Paper Source. Every child that came to the party was a boy - so we went all out on the girly clothes for their birthday! Those outfits are made by Giggle Moon and I might have to buy another outfit set -just too cute!! The girls had a great time and I think smiled the entire day... they were so happy to have their birthday and to have their favorite people surrounding them! On Sunday we all went to church together - CJ wore the new smocked john-john I gave him (so cute!) and the girls wore their new dresses and boots from their bday. They looked adorable!

emma, me, dad, susie, cj, laura, claire and daniel

family road trip // part one

We are back from our family road trip and honestly, it was one of the best vacations I've had in a very long time. The girls traveled so well and I got to see all of my favorite people in just eight days. Daniel and I actually felt relaxed... we were well taken care of, had long conversations with dear friends, got to hug on lots of kids and babies, ate very well and soaked up as much sun on the beach as possible. 

We headed up to Fort Worth on Thursday afternoon, making it to my Mom's house in time for dinner. We got stuck in horrible traffic so we took the back roads up to FW... it was a lonnnng drive up to FW but we couldn't help but laugh about the silliness of the situation. Friday we swam in the pool with Aunt KK, saw Monsters U (highly recommend!), played with our best friends, Robbie, Ashley and Liam, and checked out their fabulous new house, and then drove out to Midlothian for a family dinner with Laura, Colby, CJ, Dad, Susie and KK. It was jam-packed but so good! 

Saturday was CJ's FIRST birthday party!!! I cannot believe my sweet nephew is one! Laura went all out with the party. It was a "little monsters" theme party and she had the cutest monster cupcakes and smash cake... the kids had a blast swimming in the pool. Emma and Claire are in swim lessons and do well without the floaties, but they provide safety and sanity for mama... and plus, the girls just run and jump into the pool like wild-women! We saw my grandparents, Aunt Pam, Erin, Nick, Caden and baby Elle (Emma's favorite part of the day), plus lots of friends and family on Colby's side. CJ was so cute the whole party and did great! 

After CJ's party we drove to Dallas so I could meet Chelsey, Trey and London. It was so surreal. I felt like I was on a blind-date... ha! London is so itty-bitty and her bottom lip tucks in just like Claire's did. She had gotten her cardiac lines taken out that day so Trey and Chelsey got to hold her for the first time since her surgery. We caught up, learned a little bit more about each other and I prayed over them just like I said I would. I definitely left with my heart full.

Sunday Daniel went to church and saw our college friends who are pastors there and I got more quality time in with my Mom and KK. We drove to Austin after lunch and stayed with Jonathan and Kirby... and baby Shane! Emma was smitten - baby heaven! The girls destroyed their house in a matter of minutes and the four of us just caught up with one another. I am still amazed how God worked through our living arrangements freshman year of college... Kirby and I lived across the hall and Jonathan was our RA (and in small group with Daniel!). Incredible to think we are married with kids now. 

That was the first half of our trip - I'll blog about the second tomorrow! 

celebrate :: seven years of marriage!

June 10, 2006

Daniel and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday. Seven!! Where does time go?! We met nearly eleven years ago, dated through college, married two weeks after graduation and started the greatest adventure I've ever been on. We've gone through two colleges, two states, three houses... we've had two kids and a dog... it's amazing to reflect on all we have been through and done in just seven years. I pray God blesses us with many, many more! 

Emma and Claire kept asking me when I was going to put on my princess dress. It's hard to explain you got married a long time ago to two year olds! Nevertheless, they were very excited about our "nan-na-verse-a-ree"!! Daniel and I went to dinner at Brennan's - it was our first time to go and we loved it! When we arrived, there was the most beautiful floral arrangement I've ever seen. Daniel had a surprised look on his face... that's because the flowers were sent from Emma, Claire and Boaz (from Joe and Sandra, the girls' Godparents)! What a sweet gift to the both of us. Daniel and I feasted on turtle soup, salads, a ton of bread, steak and, of course, Bananas Foster. We had a great dinner, laughed and talked about our life. We are both blessed and are so grateful to have found each other when we were 18 and 19 years old! So funny to think I had such big plans to date as many cute college boys as possible and I ended up meeting "the one" on day one of school!

diy :: fabric tassel garland

I admit that I'm slightly obsessing over my tassel garland I made for the girls 3rd bday party (and that will eventually go in the big girl room)... as I gushed to my sweet husband about it, he looked and said "it looks like panties hanging from a string." Awesome. Got to love a man to tell you bluntly what they think. Ha!

Anyway... for those of you who think keep seeing the tassel garlands popping up on Pinterest, I've laid out my little instructions below. I used the tutorial from Pretty Prudent as a guide and then added in a few of my own steps/touches. Note: I decided to use fabric because I thought it would last much longer than tissue paper.

What you will need:

1 yard fabric, various colors (I chose light pink, coral, dark pink and flax in broadcloth from Hobby Lobby)

1/2 yard tulle (optional!)

scissors

Instructions:

1. Take one yard of fabric - it should look like one big square. Fold in half and then half again. Open the square back up so you have a t on your yard of fabric. This will be your guide to cut... I never measured this but each "square" should be an 18" square. Cut along the t so you have four squares. 

2. See picture below to help: Take one of the squares and fold in half. Put the fold at the top. Using your scissors, cut the fringe upward toward the fold, about 2/3-3/4 up. (top left I made each fringe about the width of my thumb. Once the fringe has been cut, open up the fabric and using your fingers, make sure everything lays flat. (top right) Carefully roll the fabric, tight as possible - grip that middle section that hasn't been cut and use your fingers to untangle the fringe as you roll. Once the whole piece has been rolled up, fold in half so the folded part is at the top and the fringe hangs below. (bottom left) Using a scrap piece of fabric tie the tassel at the top and ta-da! (bottom right)

 3. Repeat this process over and over again. Now... doing this produces pretty big tassels, so I actually started to halve the 18" square and the tassels were much lighter and easier to roll up.

4. Cut a long piece of jute or twine and layout how you want your tassels to flow. I had actually only made tassels out of the flax, dark pink and light pink fabric. I tied on my center tassel to mark the center of the garland. The rest of the tassels I just slid the jute through each of the loops on each tassel.

5. I cut strips of the tulle and coral fabric and just tied them onto the garland between the tassels as filler. (see below) I tried to make a tassel out of tulle but it was such a mess and looked horrible. Tying it on the garland was much easier and effective. I didn't want too much coral in my garland, hence why I just tied on about six strips.

 6. Voila! All finished and looks so cute!