Swimming lessons

Swimming lessons are well...going. She is improving a little bit and can actually float on her own now, but she isn't doing it consistently enough to graduate yet. We're hoping it will be soon!!!

Fun at the park

We had a fun visit at the park with my friend Mandy and her little one Grayson! How cute are they together??

I love how Madison Claire has her little leg popped here, like she is trying to impress him!

Of course she only wanted to climb UP the slide....with me hovering in the background

Friends!

I am so thankful for my girl friends! I feel so blessed to know so many incredible women in Nashville (and around the US) to keep me company on lonely days, lift my spirits when I am down, give me advice, and celebrate when things are great and just do life together! High school friends, Vanderbilt friends, work friends, church friends, small group friends past and present, bible study friends..I'm so thankful for all of you!

Girls night out at Chuy's

You know we spend too much time together when we meet up and find we are dressed alike - earrings and all!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to my sweet, Ryan!!! I love so many things about him, but watching him as a dad to Madison Claire has to be one of my all time favorite things! I LOVE YOU, BABE!!

Bye, Ben!!

One of my colleagues, Ben Foster, left Stockamp about 7 months ago and we finally got around to throwing him a goodbye party this weekend. Luckily for me, Ben & Phoebe live in Nashville, so I'll still get to see him. I have been so blessed at Stockamp to work with such incredible leaders, and Ben was no exception. He is definitely missed!!! We had a great time at the party!

Friday night we went out to Firefly Grill with the girls - SO FUN!

Action shot at Steph's place getting ready for everyone's arrival

Steph with her to-do list....she had EVERY detail under control!

The party planners - Stephanie, Laura, Katie, Kate & me

The whole crew at dinner

Kate's MOVING!!!

The last time Kate was in town visiting in early March, she started talking about wanting to move to San Francisco. She has been talking about moving to San Francisco for as long as I've known her - which has been for over 6 years now! I pushed her on it a little bit and asked her why she couldn't move. We then proceeded to discuss all of her reasons and come up with solutions to her barriers. Ryan even got into it and by the time she left Nashville we had run some numbers, looked up places in San Francisco and decided that it was doable!

The next thing I knew, a week later her house in DC was on the market and she had a trip planned to San Francisco to look at places! I kind of freaked out at that point, thinking "oh no...what have we done"! I guess you could say that we gave her the little "spark" she needed to move forward. Fast forward 3 months - Kate has sold her place in DC, found one in San Francisco and is in transit to her new place! She is in Nashville for one week staying with us on her way across the country...what a treat for us! We are excited for her to start this phase of her life in CA!

We had a fun time shopping, playing with Madison Claire, cooking, and working together while she was in Nashville. We love you, Kate!

Little Miss Independent

Madison Claire has turned into Little Miss Independent the past few days. She won't eat unless she is feeding herself with the fork or spoon (which means there is a big mess most meals!), wants to do everything by herself and gets REALLY frustrated if she can't do it or if I try to help her. I know it will get a LOT worse before it gets better, but I wanted everyone to know that she has officially entered into that stage. Here we go....