Rantings of a Surviving Daughter: Pic-Palooza Part 1

To try and put these in order would be so time consuming and just plain impossible.....So it's going to jump back and forth from season to season from the last several months....But, I just thought you might want to see some of the things you missed....

Typical Neva

Nay Nay (Michael's mom) about to get out of the hospital

VACATION!!!!! We rented a little condo in Perdido Key and stayed for a few days...Michaels parents came along and I think our non touristy, slooooowed down type vacationing style actually bored them! HA!

Gotta go to Lamberts!

And The Original Oyster House

Did a little school clothes shopping too

and lots of beach time......

Summer Days

cutie Mili

I knew Neva was starting school....So I made it a point to cherish every last minute of her being a preschooler.

Neva had a "Bird" Themed 5th bday party. We painted birdhouses and ate chicken strips. We had several little houses left. The girls painted every single one and we hung them in the trees that line our driveway.

Speaking of driveways, ours and my Inlaws' have the coolest mud puddles to play in.

Happy Meals at the park..

Digging out cool rocks from the driveway

ZOOOOO trip with all our favorite folks!

The splash pad is awesome! It was so needed on this particular day!

My girls' very first VBS...(and mine too)

I got to plan the activities! It was awesome! I learned as much as the kids did.

And I got to tap back into my creative side working with little kids again and creating activity plans that keep them entertained while simultaneously teaching.

My girls LOVED it!

Alot of work goes into these things....Lots of good folks over at Journey Church.

We had a Gender reveal cook out at the house....The girls opened the box to find a very familiar color.

I'll never forget the "interesting" look on my Father in law's face...

Emily is precious. While swimming, Neva got a HUGE knot in her hair. HUUUGGGEE knot.

Emily was able to detangle most of it hair by hair. But, it still had to be cut the rest of the way out.

Noah's superhero party at Chuck E Cheese

It so was cute!

Logans's water slide Bday Party!

Sleepovers!

Daddys Girls

Full Moon...Neva went through a "I want one braid and one pony tail" phase for a few weeks. I choose my battles very carefully.

We love the movies!

Uncle Bubbas movie nights with his blow up projector screen!

More sleepovers!

I think this is the coolest thing....Pretty awesome set up he's got.

more sleepovers!

Mili and Maxx

Open House...I cried for days leading up to this.

Ms. Ingram....She...is....WONDERFUL!

The Kissing Hand. I read this to her the night of Open House. And every morning before I drop her off for school, I kiss her hand, and she kisses mine. Such a sweet tradition.

The first day. This picture was taken as I was leaving. She was SOOOO excited...But right when I was walking away, I saw just a smidge of fear on her face....And she grabbed me and hugged me tight....Then she walked away like a big girl.

In the parking lot, I cried. I won't name names, but someone else did too.

First day without Neva was tough on Nori. They are worst enemies, but also BEST friends.

GYMNASTICS!

Mili is just going through a tough phase....This too shall pass.

We switched to Planet in Hattiesburg because the drive to Oak Grove was just too much.

The girls LOVE it!

And they're pretty darn good at it too.

I usually let Neva pick out her own outfits for school. I don't mind her not being all matchy matchy.

She was obsessed with birds when her bday came around. In addition to her little home party, we took to school donuts, chocolate milk and the cutest owl cookies that we got from Candi Glenn.

Ms. Kim is precious...

Supper of choice was "MI CASITA'S"

Mili's unruly hair

Then it happened.

Michael narrowly missed being hit by a drunk driver head on.

There were beer cans and pills found in the car.

She was doing some where between 80 and 90 mph on a back road and though Michael was able to think quick and avoid a head on collision, he wasn't able to avoid the wreck altogether. Because of the tremendous amount of speed, a tiny little car totaled his big ole truck out. My baby Mili was in the back seat. The car hit on her side. Everyone who saw the out of control driver, reported that they knew something horrible was about to happen.. Pulling up on the scene with crowds and cops and fire fighters and paramedics everywhere..... I almost collapsed at the the sight of my unharmed husband and baby. God is good.

More crazy hair.

Time to support Uncle Bubba!

Sweet Aunt Sharon

GO TORNADOES!!!!!

We love Tayler!!!

Being huge and pregnant, I didn't make it to as many games as I would have liked...But they had a great season!

Hair, tamed..For the moment.

Had to get rid of my second favorite car of all time (my venza) to sell out and get a MV.

And. I. LOVE. it.

Nobody can fill daddy's shoes :)

Comfy

Amber threw me a surprise diaper shower! Here I am with Kristen and Aunt Punk

Jamina and me

Me and Amber

I had originally shot down the idea because the thought of having a gathering like that without Mom hurt so bad. But I'm glad she didn't listen to me. It was sweet and I am STILL using shower diapers!

SOCCER!

Neva was too old to play on Coach Bob's team, so Michael coached her team instead! The Sharks!

I sure do love this dude..

Little Nori played too! She got on Coach Bob's team...The Betty Blue's

Mili is STRONG!

Michael has been setting up his cook trailer at various festivals to make a little extra money!

Ambers Bday

She was on a diet, so I improvised on the cake.

Bunk beds! It was a tough and scary decision, because you know your kiddos could get hurt. But we LOVE them!!!!

Maxx Michael Garcia born 10/18/13

I do know she is a girl. I am very aware. But I truly love the name "Max" for a girl. I wanted it to be 4 letters like the other girls, hence the extra 'x'. And her middle name is spelled like her dad, because I wanted to name her after him. But it isn't pronounced the same. It is pronounced "McKale". Yes, I know on paper she looks like a boy. And obviously in person too, because I get "you finally got your boy!!!" a lot even when she's wearing bright pink...... She may hate me later in life, but I just love it.

Proud big sisters

first ride in the MV with all 4 kids. Since this day, the floor has been covered in filth.

Had to experiment a little

They didn't care for it after the mystery was gone.

First night home..

Mili is sweet with Maxx....But I still have to watch her very closely.

Her "help" is sometimes dangerous

So cute....Maxx too. ;)

Totally obsessed with this lil monkey

I'm not the only one

One week after having Maxx.....5 days to be exact, I got Jamina to keep her and Mili and we took our big babies to the fair. I just couldn't see not taking them...And I didn't want to miss watching them. Only a few people asked me when I was due

"a week ago"