Bring on the blue!

Sweet Barrett Steven Cobb!

A cupcake from our gender reveal dinner

Landry pooped leaving Leila's first birthday party

Face painting fun

A snap from dinner with friends.  My latest night out in weeks!

Our new boat house at the lake!

A sliver of our pretty views!

The big backyard where the kids will run and play.
I also see lots of football games with Michael and his boys.

A HUGE oak tree on the property.  I've always had one between my childhood home and our house now.
I thought it was a sign ;)

Thursday we found out we're having a little boy!  I have to admit, it was no surprise as I've had a very strong suspicion for the past six weeks or so.  (So much so I've already purchased many blue things for his built in bookshelf in the new nursery).

Michael was traveling the day of my appointment so I had to go solo.  I wish he could have been there as his reaction would have been priceless.  I had told him I was going to wait to tell him in person that night but I couldn't keep the secret and had to spill the beans over the phone.

Friday we had his parents and Bradley over for a little reveal party with Sprinkles cupcakes.  Jerry, Michael's dad, was so excited he could hardly stand it.  I made them sit through dinner first and the second he finished he plate he said, "okay, I'm ready for my cupcake!"  I joked that I had a house tour and story reading I wanted to do first.

Everyone was just over the moon we're having a boy.  If we didn't, the Cobb name would not have carried on so it was partially a family name thing and also the fact that his parents have two granddaughters already and with this being the last baby (so Michael says...) the pressure was on!

So, mid-January we will be welcoming a sweet baby boy -- Barrett Steven Cobb -- into the world!

But, before then, we have another baby on the way... this week we bought a lake house!  I'm just over the moon about it.

I've been casually looking at lake houses for the past year or so.  I was in no rush to have one but if the right thing came along -- lot size, water location, house style, etc. -- I was very interested.  Nothing really came along until about a month ago.

I found this darling waterfront '70s barn style home in East Texas exactly 1.5 hours away (my requirements was 2 hours or less) on just shy of an acre.  It's cozy but has plenty of room for our family and friends and has a boat house, plenty of room for the kids to run around and pretty piney woods and water views.

I went alone a few weeks ago and just fell in love with it and then Michael and I went last weekend and he gave his stamp of approval.  So, we made an offer last week and came to a final price and are now in escrow.  All looks good to take possession in August.  I have about a two month minor remodel ahead of me and then hope to spend my birthday and Thanksgiving weekend out there with family and friends.

We plan to take friends out there with us all the time and make years of memories with all of the kiddos.  I'm so excited to give Landry and Barrett this experience and also show them life outside of tony Dallas.  The house is in the country in a tiny town with a grocery store, donut shop, snow cone stand, and that's about it.  It's going to be a blast!  And this California girl is just excited to wake up to water views and a little boating fun!

Yesterday we had Leila's first birthday.  Ari knocked it out of the park!  She held it at a wine bar/event space and filled it with activities, a face painter, balloon artist, and delicious food.  Landry got her face painted for the first time and was in heaven.  I figured she wouldn't sit still but she was mesmerized by the whole thing and couldn't get enough of seeing herself transform into a little princess in the handheld mirror.

Last night we had dinner -- no kids! -- with our dear friends Kyle and Lindsey.  We hadn't seen them in months and finally just caught up to speed over a four hour meal.  Between finding out we're having a boy and grabbing dinner with his best friend, Michael has been in heaven this weekend.

Landry turned 16 months on Friday.  She was a little under the weather last week (she even got her first body rash) but she's back to her normal self and doing great.  She's getting more and more powerful with her walking -- handheld, still -- and her top four teeth are about half way in.
Her vocabulary is expanding.  She now says words like hi, banana (nana) and watermelon (melon) in addition to her favorite no-no (cue the waving finger) and mama.  She's understanding language much more, too.  I can tell her things and she'll obey like "grab that toy" or "follow me."

I'm enjoying this stage so much because she's still so cuddly and sweet but I also see the signs of her turning into an independent little person.

Even though I thought two little girls would be so much fun (and nice for Landry later in life to have a sister), I am excited for her to stay the little princess and have a little brother that introduces her to things like baseball, fishing, and hopefully keeps her from getting boy crazy.

I completely contribute a lot of my traits to growing up with brothers and see the benefits for little girls. We're so blessed to be getting one of each!