Kate's First Fourth

Kate's First Fourth of July started and ended with a bang. We started the day like any normal morning. Kate and I got to spend some good quality girl time while Daddy played some very early morning golf with some buddies. We laughed, we talked and Kate discovered a new found interest in her swing. When Daddy got home we got ready to head out for the day to go eat some lunch with Nana and the cousins and shop a little at the mall and eventually make it to see fireworks. She got dressed in her Fourth of July outfit and out we went. This is where the first bang happened. Traffic was slow due to a motorcycle vs. car accident on 820 right by our church. When we got to the scene the motorcycle was being towed away. Nothing to rubberneck at. The car in front of us was going pretty slow and the car in back of us must have been looking at the motorcycle still because he accelerated right into us and hit us which caused us to hit the car in front of us. Both impacts were really jarring. Kate was sleeping soundly in her car seat so the impact woke her up and scared her. The only good thing about having an accident next to an accident was that there are already policemen and firemen working the scene. Before I knew it a fireman was there to see if we were alright.He said that he thought Kate would be alright since it was a low speed/low impact crash. Are you kidding me? Nothing feels low speed or low impact when your 5 month old baby is involved! Kate was wailing, but after I took her out of her car seat she stopped. We were all ok and she was just scared. She calmed down and we could see that everything was fine with her. I will say the panic that swept across me was like none I had ever experienced before. That was the first time in her whole life that she had been in any physical danger and it scared me to the point of shaking. I held her really close which thankfully is what we BOTH needed at the moment. After we exchanged information with the 2 drivers we were on our way. The driver in back of us admitted to the cop on the scene that he had caused the whole thing.It dawned on me that it could have been so much worse. We could have been in the first accident. God is good. The rest of the day involved some fun mall shopping and seeing a great fireworks display. Enjoy the day in pictures!


Happy Birthday America!


Ready for the day! Oh what a day!


Our cute little Patriotic girl


Showing off her Red Raider pride with her Texas Tech bloomers


I love this picture of Caden because it captures his personality perfectly


Toby taking a slide


Her first slide experience with cousin Caden. She said it would have been fabulous if her foot hadn't rolled up under her!


It didn't seem so bad after a hug from Daddy


Kate says she is open to all fashion trends


Caden found this stylish hat which his Dad just LOVED!


This picture is so Kate right now. She will be looking right at us but when that camera comes up she immediately looks away. Frustrating for her camera maniac Mommy!


At this point Kate was hungry, she thought the band was too loud, and she really wanted the fireworks to start


Toby loved the fireworks to! Love that smile!


I love this picture of us. Captures what we are feeling right now. True happiness and love!


Looking so cute in her Fourth of July outfit. We lost the denim dress due to comfort.


Uncle Jared and Caden enjoying the fireworks


So many sparkly lights! So many colors!


Kate loved the fireworks. She sat in her Nana's lap with rapt attention. As a Mom I will say that I don't remember the fireworks being so loud!