Babysitting Fun!

My sister left me in charge of babysitting my niece, Natalie for 4 days while they went on their 4 year anniversary weekend on July 9th. Could it have been more fun to stay with my 1 year old niece?? I doubt it and have the videos to prove it!

So Nattie (Natalie) loves bath time. And loves even more when fish come at her to eat her. Watch this?

So next I pull Nattie out of the bath and she sees herself in the mirror and starts making faces at herself. Then I open my mouth and she tries to copy me!

Isn't she so darn cute!!! Meal time has to be her next favorite time! I think she loves food as much as her Aunt Candice?? Look at this face.. Yep, just like me! So she sees my sad face and decides she is okay sharing her food with others. She begins telling me how wonderful things taste, my mouth starts salivating and then next thing I know she is feeding me!!! check this out!

It didn't stop there though, nope. She took one look at the drool hanging about 5 inches from Nala's mouth and thought she needed to be fed too!

July 4th marked Independance Day & My Engagement

The mark of my new life began on Thursday, July 12th when Jeff Hawkins walked back into my internet life after one year when I abruptly stopped talking to him for someone else. He found that I was once again single and on Round 103 or so in my dating life. That very day he decided he didn't want to "lose me" again and bought me a plane ticket to visit him over the Fourth of July. The next 3 weeks we were nearly inseperable from the phone.

The big day came and my flight landed in Houston, Texas. With butterflies in my stomach I proceeded down the escalator searching for his face among the crowd of other weary travelers. It was 12:40 in the morning on July 4th and he was nowhere to be found. I picked up the phone and dialed his number to ask if he had stood me up.. :) Then I turned around and behind me I saw him running along the corridor towards me. I knew at that moment that the panick I was feeling of envisioning how we would say our first hellos to each other would now come to an end and it would obviously be in a hug. But I was more wrong than I ever could have been. He ran towards me and then immediately got down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me?"

Shock is the only feeling to describe how I was at that moment and I could only imagine what I must have looked like with my wide eyes staring at this man holding a gold box up in his hand as he knelt on one knee. I backed away from him and asked if he was serious as I looked around I noticed the entire airport was staring at us. The one I can remember so vividly was a brunette girl to my left with her hand over her mouth and pointing right at us. I looked back at Jeff and he again asked, "Will you marry me?" A smile lit up my face and I replied "YES!". He stood up and hugged me which was the first physical contact we had ever had!

We walked to the car and I opened the gold box to see my beautiful 3 stone ring looking back at me!! I almost died! It is so beautiful. As we got to the car he kissed me for the first time and I nearly melted! The night ended in what can only be described as a fairy tale come true when we strolled along barefoot on the beach in Galveston. He pulled out a blanket later that night and we fell asleep on the beach listening to the waves , smelling the sea, and watching the stars in the sky.

Sunrise came and we watched the sun come up as the beachcomber machine or sand flattener or whatever you want to call the thing that apparently wanted to run us over, came to flatten the sand. What they are doing waking all of us romantic couples up that early in the morning, I won't know but at least we were able to see the world start a new day. We took a fairy ride across the Galveston Bay and headed to Port Arthur where he lives. The rest of the day was basically spent napping. So did we miss the celebration fireworks that night? Well you betcha! Staying up all night didn't allow us old timers the energy to celebrate the rest of our Engagement and Independence Day.

Jeff thought that it would be fun for me to walk myself out in the heat the next morning in what had to be the most humid day I have ever experienced in my life. Not to mention that this girl's hair doesn't do well in moisture. Yeah it turns it into a frizzy and wavy mess! How is a newly engaged girl supposed to keep the ring when she looks the way I did? But little did I know that I am going to be married to the best men ever who will accept the what can only be described as... well there aren't even words for what happens to my hair! So we went golfing! So for those of you who know me, you can now pick your dropped jaw back up because Yes I did go golfing.. Now Jeff would tell you I didn't golf the whole time because he doesn't believe that throwing a golf ball across the lake counts but well you know... there is no way it was going to make it with me hitting the ball with that club! Surprisingly I wasn't too bad. Well is it bad if it takes you an average of 12-16 hits to make the goal... :)

Not to mention that in this humidity he tells me my butt was all sweaty after only 4 holes completed. Yep thats right, I had a sweaty butt. One big circle of moisture on the back of my cream colored shorts. So now I have to face away from him and golf using the wrong side of the club. Not the easiest thing to do. But you know, He doesn't know it but his moisture circle was even bigger than mine.. or at least I hope so considering I actually couldn't see mine.

In conclusion, my "first date" was more than I could ever imagine it to be! And to think that I used to be one of those who swore that all those people were crazy who dated and were engaged after a few weeks and now I've become one of them!!! Even worse than they are, I was engaged before Jeff and I had ever kissed, hugged, or even had any kind of face to face contact! His first words to me when we were face to face for the first time was in a proposal! How much more shocked can a girl be!? But isn't he so darn cute?!?!? or is it me thats so darn cute? Yeah, he's a lucky guy isn't he? ;)