To The Piney Woods To Celebrate Whit

A few weeks ago we had a very exciting long weekend...

It all started with a LONG-awaited visit from our favorite crews from Abilene!

My Grandmother and the kids Great-Grandmother was able to make the trip all the way from Abilene to Gtown to visit us in our new home. My sweet Aunt Martha and new-engaged cousin Clay made the trip with her. I was so so excited to have everyone at our house, even if it was just for one night... not even a full 24 hours!! :) BUT, I will take what I can get!! THANK YOU, Grandmother for making the trip!! Means so much to us to have had you here!!

As SOON, as Clay's feet crossed the doorway, Caden was ready to play hoops! And I believe they played the rest of the afternoon... quite literally. So much so that Clay is assured to have a backache for the rest of the summer. Good thing he is studying to be a PT. He's going need his own skills!

And Kaki was thrilled to pieces to have the girls to dote on her! And you better believe it was like having a real-live celebrity in her presence when she realized that Grandmother was the same voice from her beloved Night Before Christmas book... she "reads" or listens to that book ALL the time. And to have Grandmother who she has affectionately renamed Gam-maw, in the flesh was just a treat of an entirely different kind! It was so nice having everyone there as we geared up to celebrate our newest addition and one whose namesake comes from one such Grandmother... our sweet baby Whit from the Piney Woods DEEP in East Texas!

The morning before we left for East Texas, we had some game playing to do while the rest of enjoyed our coffee and got to packing! :) Martha and Chatty are always up for a good round of hippos!

By mid-morning we were all packed up and ready to head out...

In two cars we caravaned East anxiously awaiting our arrival in one of our favorite places! Nacogdoches... it's like a vacation!!

A place where you can clear your mind and eat of ice cream out of a fancy dish...

Okay, so maybe that doesn't really have anything to do with Nacogdoches but everything to do with Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh's beautiful and Aunt Emily's superb taste in ice cream dishes! :) It was treatment fit for a King and Caden was happy to indulge in his aunt and uncle's spoils, I can assure you!  :)

We all were!

We were in for such a treat that weekend because SO much of our family made the trek to celebrate Baby Whit, which gave us all a divine opportunity to meet Kennedy... just shy of 2 months old and the most precious thing you've ever seen! Clearly, I was smitten!! And whether she liked me or not it was hard to say, but I wasn't so much worried about that as long as we maintained our snuggle! :) I am so glad her Nana and Paw-Paw agreed to bring her and her sister and mommy!! :)

My cousin Michelle... 2 months post-baby... or not even... and looking A-mazing! It's just ridiculous!! Motherhood suits her though... all the way around!! 

My baby stalker was in love with sweet Kennedy too! Naturally, she loved all of the "gear" she came with too... especially her carseat buckles! :)

Kaki and Kendall got to play and that was a BIG treat for me to watch! Such cuties... and friends... cousins are your first friends! When I showed this picture to Kaki she said, "Aw, Kaki and friend Kendall." Love these two little girls!!

Kaki was thrilled to see Aunt Emily and Uncle Josh two weekends in a row... especially that Uncle Josh... she's got him wrapped up. She even played him against her Daddy when Daddy said no paci, she ran to Uncle Josh (who was in the other room and didn't hear the orders) who promptly gave her one. :) Smart girl!

Aunt Emily, as always, was the hostess with the mostess, gathering all of our favorites. In fact, it might seem that my kids are pretty high maintenance (and they are) with all of the things she stocked her pantry with! :) 

The night before the shower, after everyone arrived in the Piney Woods, Josh and Emily treated us to a yummy taco feast and of course we all passed around various children and ooooed and aahhhed and had a wonderful time just being family!

We attempted some photo ops with the older cousins and we did ok... but what did we expect??!

Cousin love... SO SWEET!!

After a yummy dinner and a fun evening snuggling with the baby (or maybe that was just me who got to do that... hehe), we all got a good night's rest before the big day... baby shower time!!

While the girls were showering baby Whit, Uncle Josh took the boys to the course to play some golf... And Cade-man got him another hat for his collection... he's going to need a hat closet before long! :)

The boys had a great day on the course and we had an even better morning celebrating Emily and Whit!

And managed to snap some cute pics!!

All of the hostesses for the shower!! YES... crazy right? Best shower I've ever help throw... so fun! Emily has lots of people who love her!!

Martha and Chatty... oh so cute!

Three Whitaker ladies... whoo, whoo, whoo!

And Sweet Emily opening her gifts! She has the GLOW, doesn't she??!!! Happy to be a Mommy! She was gracious and excited over every gift! 

We cannot wait for Baby Whit to make is arrival!! We all filled out cards on some of our predictions... weight, birthday, etc. I cannot wait to see which one of us was the closest!! :) Only time will tell for our sweet Whitters!

After the the fun at the shower, we had a relaxing afternoon shopping around town and relaxing and Josh and Em's house...

That night Emily's parents graciously hosted us at their house for dinner! It was SO fun and the perfect way to wrap up our weekend in Nac! The weather was gorgeous... cool and cloudy... it was a great night!

After Nac we made a quick turn-around at home before we headed to the beach... more to come!

Until then, We love you Baby Whit! Can't wait to meet you in September!!