July July July...

We just finished up a very full and fun month with lots of visitors!  So I just thought I'd tell you about it...

First, my great friend from Deerpark Middle School/soccer/college roomie did an internship (really an externship, but there's a difference for vet school students) here in Dallas for two weeks.  And we got to be the lucky ones that got her to stay at their house!!  For anyone that knows Ericka Davis (soon to be Dr. Ericka Davis DVM), they know she's a person that just glows with happiness... It was a pure joy to spend her downtime together and introduce her to Emma for the first time.  It was the fastest two weeks ever and ironically funny that she came into town exactly when she did.  God knows exactly when you need your friends around!  Billy let us go out for a girls night and we went to Painting With A Twist!  Besides that, it was a whole lot of talking/gabbing/laughing and so nice to catch up on each other's lives and hearing about what's coming down the road.

Ericka loved feeding Emma!

Next Aunt Meredith came into town for a long weekend to help watch Miss Emma while Mommy and Daddy were involved with a wedding.  Mer helped us out so much and Emma loved all the extra attention.  Sweet Mer is 7.5 months pregnant so its was definitely an extra effort for her to play with the 'wanna-be-mobile-but-cant-walk-on-my-own-yet' Emma.  Thank you Mer and I owe you a lower back massage for all the extra bending over my daughter caused you.  It's always a blessing to see my sister(s) as our time together never seems to be enough.  We had fun talking about Mer's baby and how we can't wait to see Austin (her son's name) and Emma playing together soon!!  We hope they grow up to be close. 

Emma and her Aunt Mary

Throughout the month of July we also had a few 'Cousin Swim Days'... Sandy and Kelli bring all the kids over and we swim in the morning before the pool becomes totally exposed to the sun.  Emma is napping during the swim times, but she enjoys seeing her cousins for lunch and playtime afterwards!  Because of all the leftover hot dogs I had from our 4th of July party... every time the kids have come over, I just cook up some more dogs.  Micah and Kaila have suggested that I do the same thing next summer, but choose another item like hamburgers and serve it every time they come.  It's fun making memories with the kids and glad they can all live so close as they grow up!

All the Bruce cousins in one room!

Last but certainly not least... my Mom came up for the weekend to get her Emma fix!  Mitty (my Mom's grandma name) loves the 8 month stage and showered Emma with so many kisses/squeezes and too many gifts!  I love having my Mom come into town cause even though I'm still here at the house with her and Emma, it still feels like I get a break somehow.  She insists on feeding Emma her food and just loves dotting on her granddaughter for any of her whims.  It was a great visit but, of course, not long enough... Mom also gave us another opportunity to go out on a date, which we very much appreciated.  We felt the need to get out and do something we can't do with Emma... I won't get into the details but it involved guns and ice cream.  (No we did not rob an ice cream shop) Such a blessing to know Emma is safe at home with her Mitty.  Mom also helped me get organized for Meredith's upcoming shower that I'm hosting.  Mom's are so helpful.  What would we do without them?

Mitty playing 'piggies' with Emma after her bath.

So that's our July in a nutshell... we loved getting to see our house guests and spend more time with each of them. Thank you Ericka, Meredith and Mom for taking time out of your busy schedules to visit us!!