Hopper Happenings

Catching up with Reese

2012-01-21T21:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve tried to be a good mommy since I became one three and a half years ago. Part of that is a bedtime routine. I sing the same four songs almost every night to Reese. (I’m currently only singing two to Kylie. Eh.) “Jesus Loves Me”, the “ABCs”, “The B-I-B-L-E” and “Twinkle, Twinkle” are the ones I’ve sang to him over and over. I just knew that one day he would start singing with me. Any time we’ve asked him to sing he refuses. Last night as I was putting him to bed, we said a prayer and then I started singing “Jesus Loves Me” and lo, and behold, he started singing with me! It was the sweetest thing. He didn’t sing every single word but he did sing parts with me and it was enough to prove that he has been listening and learning the songs. It melted my heart. I often feel like I’m not doing a good job teaching my kids about the Lord and the Bible. Thursday night reinforced how important that part of my life is to me so I am going to do a better job.On that note, Reese made a significant move at church recently. A couple of weeks ago his teachers in Bible school suggested he try to move to the big boy class. I was hesitant only because the next class has several first graders in it. (Our church is in the process of building a new building and our temporary meeting place only has space for three classrooms for kids ages 7 months through high school.) He surprised me and loved it. Mrs. Lori didn’t mind him moving in to her class despite the big age difference and he seems to have transitioned seamlessly. Last Sunday I was waiting in his class with him and a couple of other kids were in there and he told me to go to my class. “You go in there, Mama.” I giggled and then left. It makes me proud and a little sad at the same time that he has grown up so much. Other cute things he has said since my last update:“Aww. Sister’s so cute.”[To Kylie] “Aww. You’re so cute.”“Sister’s a princess.”In the bath the other night he counted to ten pretty much by himself. I was impressed. I’m excited for him to go to pre-K next year because I want to see him learn even more. He is generally a happy, fun-loving BOY. He loves to play outside, wrestle, play tag and hide-n-seek. He also loves him some computer time. Currently pbskids.org is his favorite website. He likes to “cook” which usually means mixing things in the kitchen that he finds. The other day it was egg shells, Tony Chachere’s and flour. He “cooks” in the bath tub, too. He loves bath time and usually complains when I tell him it is time to pull the plug. He keeps us smiling and laughing every day. The best part of my work week is walking in to day care and hearing, “Mama!” and seeing his smiling face run to me. I love you more than you’ll ever know, Reese Walker!

Little Miss Personality

2012-01-21T20:52:00.000-06:00

Today my daughter is 7 months old. She has grown so much over the past month in many ways. We're really enjoying watching her personality blossom.- Eating: She finally decided that baby food is not so bad. In the past two weeks she has eaten baby food for dinner and seems to like fruits the best. She has had some fruit and veggie combinations but when I try to feed her just green beans, she makes a yuck face and eats more when I alternate or mix fruit in. I’m enjoying her eating these foods but my supply is starting to be affected. I'm still planning to nurse for the whole first year so hopefully we'll make it. - Sleep: She put up a good fight, but we finally got her to sleep in her crib in her room over the past three weeks. She goes down between 6:30 and 7:00 most nights and it seems like her middle-of-the-night wakings are less and less.- Talking: Over the past week she started moving her mouth like she is really talking and makes a sound like “ba-ba-ba”. I love to get her laughing. She seems to be ticklish on the sides of her belly.Kylie lights up when she sees her brother. I hope that they continue to enjoy each other's company in the years to come. Overall, she is a Mama's girl. She rarely lets others hold her for long if Mama is around. It's a blessing and a curse. I love that she loves me so much but it can be draining to have a little growth on me. ;o)

Half a Year

2011-12-29T21:23:00.000-06:00

My only excuse for my lack of blogging is that I find it rare to have both hands free for any length of time these days. When I do, it is usually bed time and I choose sleep over blogging.Our sweet baby girl turned 6 months old last Tuesday. She had her check up with her pediatrician that day, too. She is a perfectly healthy baby and I was glad to have it confirmed by a professional. ;o) She weighed in at 17 lbs 1 oz and measured 26.2 inches. She around the 70-75 percentile for both. She got all of her immunizations plus a flu shot. Reese did better with her getting shots this time. I had them give him a flu shot, too, which he did not like. I think he cried and whined more than Kylie did.She is sitting up unassisted and has been for a couple of weeks now. She can roll over but I still haven't witnessed it. She is still chewing on everything but does not have any teeth yet. She loves her brother and always smiles at him. He had her belly laughing one night when he was rolling a car past her. It was the cutest thing but by the time I got my camera to video it, she had pretty much stopped. She loves to smile at her daddy but still doesn't let him hold her very long before she starts crying.We survived our first three nights away from each other. K had the gastric sleeve surgery and I spent the night in the hospital with him and then we had the kids stay with a family member the first night home, too. Last night my sister-in-law offered to keep Kylie since she was going to watch her while I went with K to his follow up appointments today. I took her up on that so I could get a little Reese time and better sleep.Speaking of sleep, tonight is night one of CIO (Cry It Out) for Kylie. I hate it but her pedi said it is better to get it over with now because the longer we wait the worse it will be. I'm really hoping that it won't take more than 3 nights for her to learn to sleep in her crib. I think she will sleep better and so will I. She still wakes up every 2 - 3 hours when she sleeps with me. I was also reassured that she won't remember this and it is harder on me than her. That doesn't make it any less stressful for me as we're going through itI still need to get her official 6 month pictures taken but here are the ones I take.

Thanksgiving and the Zoo

2011-11-25T21:57:00.001-06:00

Kylie celebrated her first Thanksgiving like a trooper. We spent the majority of the day with family at two different houses and she was a sweet girl. Reese loved playing with his cousins and a new toy at Pop's house.

Today K surprised me with our first family trip to the Houston Zoo. And then he surprised me again and got us a family membership so we can go back as many times as we want over the next year. Yay! Reese is a big fan of the zoo and I'm sure Kylie will be, too. She did well with her first visit today and I'm looking forward to many more trips to the zoo with our whole family. I have to tell you about Reese not liking cotton candy because I didn't get a picture of that. We think our son is strange because he doesn't like a lot of sweets. He only eats buttercream frosting, sometimes the cupcake the icing is on, lollipops, Starbursts, pixie sticks, sugar cookies and some other hard candies. No ice cream or chocolate for our boy. Definitely not a trait he got from either of his parents. Back to today...K took R to get a snack when we stopped near the elephants so I could feed Kylie. They came back with a Coke and a bag of purple cotton candy. Reese took a bite or two and then was done. Kyle and I made quick work of the rest of it. ;o)Here are the highlights of our first family trip to the zoo:

5 Months

2011-11-21T20:05:00.001-06:00

Sweet Kylie turned 5 months old yesterday. She is really grabbing things well and gnawing on everything. No teeth yet but I expect them any day now. I still haven't seen her roll over yet but she is strong as an ox. She loves being in the middle of the action and isn't going to miss anything. We all love her to pieces!

Look who wanted in sister's bed with her...

Thankfulness

2011-11-19T22:07:00.001-06:00

I've been watching people post their 30 days of Thankfulness on Facebook and I just don't have time for that. I decided I would list 30 things I'm thankful for on here instead. 1. Jesus Christ - I am so thankful that Jesus died for my sins and I have a chance to spend eternity in Heaven.2. My Husband - I am not perfect, or even close to it, but my husband loves me anyway. He is my rock. His laid back personality is a great balance to my high strung ways.3. My Son - My first baby and handsome little man. He is the cutest, sweetest, most loving little boy I've ever known. He is the best big brother, too.4. My Daughter - She has the sweetest smile and I'm loving having a real baby doll to dress. I can't wait for her to sleep!5. My Mom - I don't know what I would do without her! She is the best. My kids love their GiGi.6. My Dad - I can always count on him for a laugh! Pop knows how to make my kids happy, too.7. My Sister - Without her I might never have continued my boy band love. New Kids on the Block and *NSYNC will always gave a special place in my heart. She is the best Auntie, too!8. My Grandparents - I had great role models on both sides of my family tree. Gram is a character and our lives would be boring without her. Granddaddy was my wrestling buddy and a wise, Christian man. Mammaw was always fun and spoiled us rotten. Pappaw let Mammaw spoil us. ;o) I wish I could've met Pappaw Kyle. 9. My In-Laws - I couldn't ask for a better bunch.10. Friends - I have some really great friends that make life more fun.11. My Job - I love the schedule that goes along with teaching. I love when I get the kids that care and connect with me. The ones that I know I've touched in some way are the ones that make it all worth while.12. My House - Although it isn't our dream home, it is ours and I know that there are others that can't say they have their own home.13. My Car - It gets us around and it's almost paid off. We've been a one car family for about 10 months now and we're going to try to stretch that as long as we can so we can keep paying down other debts.14. Facebook - Don't mock me but I love FB. I am a naturally nosy person so I love being able to see what everyone is up to. 15. Dancing - I have always enjoyed dancing and even though I probably shouldn't these days because I don't still have the body I had in high school, I love it. 16. Arts & Crafts - I have always enjoyed painting, drawing and making things. I credit my mom and aunt with this love. My mom always took us different places around Houston and encouraged us to do what we enjoyed. My Aunt Andy was an art major in college and an elementary art teacher that always planned fun activities for me and my sister growing up.17. Family Traditions - As the holiday season has arrived, I am reminded of my family traditions and how I am trying to continue many of them with my little family.18. TV - We like to watch television. Yes, we probably watch it too much, but it is a stress reliever for us and in a way, we have our "stories". Kyle and I have a few shows we watch together and then we have our own shows. I'm glad that Nick @ Nite has started showing "Friends" reruns. 19. College - I am glad that I had a "real" college experience even though I'm still paying for it. My time in San Marcos was a great learning experience for me and I am a proud graduate of Southwest Texas State University, NOT Texas State. 20. Food - I love to eat. I love almost all food. I have to learn how to control my eating habits because I need to drop some dress sizes but I love delicious food and married a great cook.21. Laughter - I love to laugh and try to laugh every day. It usually isn't hard to meet that goal because my husband is a funny guy and my kids are cute and usually do/say something to make me giggle.22. Starbucks - I know some people think it is cliche, but I love me some White Mocha from Sbux. I was once addicted to this coffee but I have since turned it in to a treat. This school year we have Treat Thursdays at my house because that is meeting morning for K and I at school so I have a couple of extra minutes to run by the closest Buckles for a fix. 23. Mani/Pedis - I love manicures and pedicures. They make me feel pretty.24. Flowers - I've always loved flowers and I still appreciate a beautiful fresh bouquet.25. Alone Time - It doesn't happen often these days but I cherish the quiet moments alone that I can steal from time to time. It is nice to be able to update my blog or watch what I want on TV.26. Date Nights - I am thankful that we have so much family close to us because that means multiple babysitters. We were given a book about marriage when we got married that told us to make sure to always make time for your spouse. I remember reading about making sure to still make time for your significant other after baby arrives, too. We are so thankful for the nights we can get away together and enjoy kid-free time. 27. Pictures - I am so thankful that digital technology allows me to take thousands of pictures of my kids and family to preserve precious memories. I love having pictures to look at whenever I want. I also love sharing pictures with others. ;o)28. Travel - I've been fortunate to have had a chance to visit some beautiful places in the world. I love to see new things and hope to visit many more places before I leave this earth.29. Service Men and Women - I realize that freedom is not free and I am grateful for all of the men and women that have served in a military branch of the United States of America. I know that I could not do what they do and for that I am thankful.30. Sleep - I don't always get much of this any more so I really appreciate it when I do. I know this ended up kind of random and I want to say that this does not reflect every single thing I am thankful for. I try to thank the Lord for my earthly and spiritual blessings every day.

Baby Loves

2011-11-06T22:14:00.000-06:00

I got a little picture happy today. I think I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. I love my beautiful babies!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T16:52:00.000-05:00

Don't hate me... I've yet to get all in to this holiday with my kids. We dress up for Mrs. Sarah's party but we haven't done much trick-or-treating other than grandparents. We had an easy time with costumes this year. Reese wanted to be a dinosaur again so we recycled his costume from last year. I didn't feel too inspired for Kylie so I made a lion costume my nephew wore when he was a baby girly. Here are my favorite pictures of my babies in their costumes. Happy 1st Halloween, Kylie!

Sitting Pretty

2011-11-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

Kylie has decided that she likes sitting. We have the Bumbo-esque chair we got for Reese at my mom's house. It comes in handy in the mornings when I drop the kids off. K decided his baby girl needed one at home, too. She loves to play with the toy on the tray. Of course, R loves to help her.

Not Ready Yet

2011-11-02T15:05:00.000-05:00

I thought my daughter was going to eat me out of my stash recently but luckily a bottle change seems to have remedied that problem. Of course, since she hit the four month milestone, I thought we'd try cereal as a possiblr solution. I tried it once and realized that she just isn't ready for it yet. I got some cute pics to commemorate this first. I love when she gets her big eyes. It cracks me up.

4 Months

2011-10-29T07:24:00.000-05:00

Sweet little Kylie turned 4 months old on October 20. She weighed in at 15 lbs 3 oz and 26 in at her doctor's appointment. She is a perfectly healthy baby girl. Her big brother was hilarious when she got her shots this time. Of course, she cried after the first shot, but R immediately got a mean look on his face and told the nurse, "You hurt my baby!" It was hilarious. He is the sweetest, most affectionate big brother ever. The ladies at day care told me this week that they have never seen a big brother love his sister as much as R loves K. ;o)

K has really started wanting to sit up a lot over the past month. She is using her Bumbo-esque seats at our house and GiGi's a lot. (The one we got when R was a baby is at GiGi's so her daddy decided to go buy her one for our house, too.) She is grabbing for things and talking up a storm. She hasn't officially rolled over yet, at least, not that I have seen but I don't usually lay her on the floor a lot. I'm working on that. Just like I'm working on getting her to sleep in her own bed. So far we aren't making huge progress but I'm hoping one day soon it will just "click" and we'll be set. I love watching her learn.The day after that we had fall pictures made by Janey Wood. She had mini sessions at her house with a cute fall scene. Neither kid seemed like they cooperated that night but Janey still managed to capture them in beautiful photos. Reese was doing silly smiles and Kylie refused to smile but that is life right now. Their personalities are developing and this is what they are like right now. Here are a couple of my favorites. To see them all click here.

Sunday School

2011-10-29T07:10:00.000-05:00

Kylie sat in a seat at the table in Bible class on Sunday, October 9, for the first time. She is such a big girl! She did it again the next week. She hasn't lasted more than 10 minutes but I love that she is starting to get in to get in to this routine now. K and I were both raised in the church and it is important to us to instill the same love for God in our children.

I remember the first time Reese sat at this same table. It is exciting and sad at the same time. It reminds me how quickly time flies with my sweet babies but I know they can't stay babies forever.

Need.more.time.

2011-10-29T06:49:00.001-05:00

I now understand why the second child has less pictures than the first. I get why there is not as much of a baby book for the second child. It is not because that child is loved any less, but because that child is getting the same love as the first. Having two kids is a lot of work. I now have two mouths to feed, two times as much laundry, etc. That has caused me to neglect my blog. I hate that because I feel like I am not being fair to Kylie because I'm not recording as much of her first year as I did of Reese's. With my poor memory, I only hope that the love and bonding we're doing now in person will make up for the lack of memories later. ;o) I am adding pictures to Facebook pretty consistently so if you want to keep up with us less sporadically, make sure to check there.Let me see if I can attempt to catch up on some things over the past month. Sebastian turned 3 on October 2 so we made a quick family trip to San Marcos to help him celebrate. In case you don't remember, Sebastian is my good friend, Nicole's, son. Nicole and I share the same birthday and that helped us bond when we met in junior high. We have been friends ever since and I love continuing to share life experiences with her. Our boys are 5 months apart to the day and I am excited that she will have a daughter in March. We had fun at Wonder World on the train ride and hanging out with the Diaz/Chargois bunch. Reese was the only kid that still had food left at the end of the ride through the animals because he only threw one piece at a time. Haha. It was cute! The poor birthday boy got a little upset when an emu pecked off a piece of his mater hat but luckily he managed to carry on and enjoy his party anyway. ;o)

I am going to make separate posts for other highlights.

Mommy/Daughter Day

2011-09-25T02:50:00.001-05:00

Today my mom, sister and I had a Mommy/Daughter day. We ate lunch at Barnaby's Cafe and then went to a cupcake decorating class. About a month and a half ago Rachel saw a deal on Urban Dealight for a cupcake decorating class and we all grabbed it. My sister-in-law, Kristen, agreed to watch my kids for me because my husband still doesn't do well with K by himself. Plus, R loves to play with his cousins.

We had fun at Sugar Bunch Creations even though we went to one of their kids classes. We each made a lion, a scarecrow, a cupcake based on the theme "A Day in the Park" and an original design. We also got to decorate our cupcake box. We decided that we have a lot of work left to do before we attempt to go in to business of any kind for ourselves but we enjoyed playing with the icing, candy and fondant. Pictures are in order of Rachel's, mine and Mom's cupcakes.

I can't wait to do things like this with my kids. We all agreed that R would love to do something like that and I'm sure K will, too, when she gets older.

Grow, baby, grow.

2011-09-25T02:40:00.001-05:00

Our sweet little chunky monkey is growing fast. I call her "chunky" because Reese was born long and lean and has stayed that way. She was born with a little cushion and has only added to it. We love her little thigh rolls. ;o)

We have been busy still. After both kids had illnesses, it was my turn. I fought an ear infection of my own along with sinusitis for two weeks and still have a bit of a cough but am feeling much better overall. I had a date with my sweet boy recently. We went to eat at McDonald's (his favorite), play on the playground at the mall, played games at Power Play, looked at Christmas ornaments at the Hallmark store and watched The Lion King in 3D. I loved spending some alone time with him because I feel like I've struggled with balancing my time with two kids and I want him to know that I still love him and think he hung the moon. Daddy was even able to join us for the movie. R wasn't impressed with the movie, he did better at Toy Story 3 and Gnomeo and Juliet to me. It was a lot slower than I remembered, too. I sang along some anyway but I didn't remember all of it.

I plan to take the kids to get pictures made at Sears or Picture People within the next week or two to commemorate Kylie's 3 month birthday (yes, it will be two weeks later by that point but who is counting). With R I took him to Sears every month to have pictures made. It was silly and expensive and I am already exhausted thinking about dragging both of them there and hoping for a decent picture. I've decided to have professional pictures taken of K every 3 months. It works out because 6 months is in December so I'm planning to do Happy New Year cards instead of Christmas cards and I contacted a photographer today. If she isn't available, I will find someone who is the week between Christmas and New Year's so I can execute my plan. I guess that is about it with us. I am slacking on blogging because I rarely have time when I'm awake at home where I don't have a baby in my arms or am trying to get some laundry done, etc.

Baby Loves

2011-09-03T16:47:00.001-05:00

We have already finished the first two weeks of school. All I can say is that we survived. I already missed a day and a half of work because I took Kylie to the doctor last Monday to get diagnosed with RSV after I found out another baby at daycare had it. Today I made a trip to Urgent Care so Reese could get diagnosed with an ear infection. Luckily, he can get antibiotics to help him get better. We also had to have our car air conditioner fixed. We are grateful for Kyle's friend Wes because he was able to replace the part for us which saved us about $900.

Of course my spare time these days is consumed with my baby loves. There is nothing better than their kisses and hugs.

What a difference a year makes!

2011-08-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

The first day of school last year I was not standing in the Patriot Competition Gym at 7:30 with butterflies in my stomach about meeting my students. I was not standing at the door of my new classroom waiting to meet the kids that I would spend the next 9 months with. I was not particularly excited like I should have been.

I spent the first day of school last year driving to my OBGYN's office in Houston by myself to find out what I already knew. I had an ultrasound to confirm that I indeed had lost the baby.

Last August I briefly thought I was getting everything I wanted in life...a new job at the new school in town and another baby at the exact timing I wanted. It turns out that God needed to remind me that my life is not mine to plan out to a "T". He is in control and we have to accept His ways.

I was crushed. I had heard of chemical pregnancies before but I just knew that since we got lucky getting pregnant with Reese the first try, that history would repeat itself and I would get to be paid for my month off with my baby this time (thanks to the short term disability that I had been paying for over the past two years). I even bought Reese a Big Brother t-shirt the day I got the positive pregnancy test. Then the Friday before school was to start, I noticed some spotting at work. I figured it was just the normal kind that wasn't anything to worry about so I kept going about my day like nothing was wrong. I worked until I had to leave to get Reese and then we even had friends over that night. The whole time the bleeding was continuing and my suspicion about it increased. When I woke up Saturday morning and saw it hadn't stopped I knew in my gut that I was having a miscarriage. I didn't want to admit it and hoped against hope that I was wrong so I continued to go about my day like normal. When I got to my classroom with my mom and sister (I had to show them my new room at my new school) I confessed my concerns and my mom told me to call the doctor. I did and was told to be at the office when it opened on Monday morning but as long as it wasn't mass amounts of blood then I didn't need to go to the emergency room.

I never imagined that I would miss the first day of school. I never imagined that I would lose a child either. I know that some people don't consider it a baby at conception but I do. It is hard not to think about "what if" but it is easier now that I have my sweet Kylie.

The Lord does work in mysterious ways. The doctor told me that it was probably my body's way of "taking care" of the baby because it was most likely a chromosomal abnormality. I was supposed to be glad that I didn't need a D&C or any kind of invasive procedure. I was reassured that I would probably have another normal pregnancy since this was the first time I had any type of "issues". It didn't make me feel better. I was crushed and in shock. I didn't have a choice though because I had a little boy and husband that needed me. Not to mention the 100+ students that I hadn't met yet waiting on me to do my job. So I went to work the next day and life went on.

Even after I conceived again two months later, I still had moments where I thought that I should be further along. I should get more time with my baby than a June birth would allow. Those thoughts were selfish. I know. There are women out there that never even have one healthy pregnancy so I should just be grateful for my blessings. I'm human though and it is hard to accept when things do go according to our plans.

This year I have my sweet big boy and my precious baby girl and I am starting my sixth year of teaching. Am I excited? Sure. Do I wish I could have more time at home with my babies? Absolutely. But life goes on and I am a responsible adult. I have a family that depends on my paycheck to live the lifestyle we are accustomed to. We can't live in today's society on one teacher's salary. So here I go. I am going to go to work and enjoy my babies as much as I can because life goes on. It is not a choice for me to sit around and pout about things not being how I wish they were.

Most importantly, I'm going to continue to thank the Lord for my blessings and pray for those that don't have sweet little faces to kiss on when they get home at the end of the day. My husband is my rock and I can't imagine my family without the two little angels we created.

2 Months Old

2011-08-21T16:51:00.002-05:00

My baby girl had her two month birthday yesterday. She has grown so much and the doctor said that she is "perfect". We love our sweet baby girl and our big boy. Reese still loves his sister to pieces and I love watching him with her.

She weighs 11 pounds 8 ounces (72%).

She measures 24.5 inches (98.7 %).

She is starting to smile a lot more.

She is focusing on us when we talk to her.

She is still super strong and can hold her head up very well. She also tries to stand some while we hold her.

Her eyes are still a beautiful blue. I never would have guessed in a million years that I would have two blue-eyed babies.

The End of Summer

2011-08-20T17:39:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Kyle and I decided to end our summer by making a quick trip to Austin. I took a couple of pictures of the kids before we left. I love these two more than words can express. I am so blessed to be their mommy.

Kylie made her first visit to Bass Pro Shops this month so I had to record it with pictures.

We had dinner with Aunt CoCo and Sebastian in San Marcos at my favorite Chinese restaurant, Imperial Garden. I miss that place. We made it to Round Rock Donuts which was delicious. We just enjoyed being a family and staying in a hotel. We love the Austin/San Marcos area. I didn't do as good of a job at taking pictures as I would have liked but some are better than none.

Another First

2011-07-27T15:32:00.003-05:00

Reese went to the dentist for the first time on Monday. He surprised Kyle and I by doing everything that the hygenist and dentist asked of him without crying or whining. He was such a big boy. The waiting area has two old school video games, Donky Kong and Pac Man. Reese had fun playing with them as well as the Lego table.

We rewarded our sweet boy with donuts and a new Hot Wheels car. ;o) Hey, he had gotten a good report on his teeth.

Oh, I should say that our visit was not totally drama free. While we were in the waiting room, R peed in his underwear and it actually soaked his shoes, too. My little ragamuffin went barefoot for the rest of the morning. Just another joy of parenting!

Proud parent moment today...we have a budding artist on our hands. I had a meeting at school this morning so we made it a family outing. Reese and Kyle went to his room and, of course, Reese had to color on the whiteboard. Below are his renditions of penguins, a mouse and dinosaur bones. :o) Enjoy!

31 years of love.

2011-07-24T22:07:00.003-05:00

Today is my birthday. I have to say that I feel pretty blessed to have spent 31 years on this earth because they have all been filled with love. My family is wonderfully supportive and caring. Birthdays are always celebrated in my family in a fairly big way. Of course as I've gotten older and started my own family the celebration has changed. These days it consists of a family dinner and I still get presents even though I don't really need anything.

This year I decided I wanted to eat at Ichibon again (we did 3 years ago when Reese was born) and then have everyone over to our house for tres leches cake. My mom and dad treated us to dinner and I made the cake (yes, I made my own birthday cake because I wanted to). It was delicious and entertaining. It is hard to say if the hibachi chef or Reese was more enjoyable to watch. R loved the show this time and we thought for sure he would want to come home and try some of the tricks he saw.

I have to say that my biggest accomplishment in my 31 years has to be these two.

My beautiful babies are perfect combinations of me and my wonderful husband. I love watching them grow and develop their personalities. I have no doubt that their lives will always be full of love, too. They are lucky kids that have a lot of people that care about them and will do anything to help them blossom in to the amazing people they are going to become.

I have to share all of the pictures that I took today of them because I couldn't narrow it down. Plus I think it helps you see their personalities. ;o)

Tomorrow my sweet girl is 5 weeks old and that means I have only 3 weeks left until I have to go back to work. I plan to love on my babies everyday and try not to think about school too much until I have to. I know I am going to be a ball of emotion come August 15 so I am trying to play it cool until then.

One Month Old

2011-07-20T22:09:00.003-05:00

I will be posting monthly pictures of Miss Kylie to document the first year of her life. Today was our first attempt and she was not having it. Here are the best that I could get this morning.

She has really filled out to me over the past week and she is strong as an ox. She lifts her head all the time and pushes like she wants to stand up with her legs.

We love our sweet girl!

Where is time going?

2011-07-13T17:05:00.011-05:00

I have wanted to blog many times over the past 3 weeks but I have found it hard to find time to sit down and do it. R has been using the computer a lot, I have had a baby in my arms a lot or I've been trying to sleep.

We are all doing great and settling in to life as a family of 4 pretty well if I do say so myself. I think it was a blessing in disguise for K to not get a summer school job. He has helped me a lot, especially with R, and I can't imagine this transition without him.

We have been very blessed to have so many visitors over the past few weeks. Our family and friends have been very supportive and we have had so much food brought to us that we haven't had to cook but a couple of times. It fills my heart with joy to know that our family is so loved.

Reese highlights:
- pooped in the potty 3 days in a row and then quit
- pees in potty more often than not (he has peed on our bed and the carpet a couple of times but overall has done pretty good)
- LOVES his sister; he constantly kisses her and pets her and wants to know where she is
- holds sister's hand in the car
- said "I love sister and Mama" unprompted yesterday (first time he ever said it to me unprompted!)
- one day he put a sticker on each of our bellies and said they made us Care Bears

Kylie highlights:
- eats like a champ
- weighed 6 lbs 10 oz at birth, weighed 6 lbs 7 oz at 3 days old when we left the hospital, weighed 6 lbs 14 oz 5 days later and weighed 7 lbs 8 oz at 2 weeks 3 days old
- sleeps better than her brother but still keeps Mama (and Daddy) up a lot
- still has a lot of brown hair and blue eyes...I'm interested to see if she keeps both
- holds her head up a lot...we call her floppy
- has great eye contact and reflexes for her age according to our pediatrician

I love being a mommy despite the lack of sleep. I was super emotional a couple of days after coming home from the hospital but it evened out about a week later. I was crying at everything and it got to where R would see me start and run to the bathroom to get me some tissue. He is the sweetest boy in the world! I was a little sad about having my tubes tied while I was on the operating table but now I am glad that I did. We are complete with our two beautiful babies and I can't imagine having any more.

I hope to get better about recording things my kids are doing and how I'm feeling. My fingers are still crossed that R will master potty training by the time we go back to work in August and K will magically start sleeping for at least one 5 hour stretch at night by then, too. I'm trying not to think about going back to work because I know it will be difficult and emotional. Instead I'm trying to enjoy every day with my family and keep reminding myself that the sleepless nights won't last forever so I need to soak up all of the newborn cuteness while I can.

GCM Family Bowling Night - July 7 - R's first time to bowl. We had a glowing baby!

After R peed on our bed the other day his daddy decided he didn't want to sleep on urine so he made a pallette in R's room. When he got ready to go to sleep this is what he found. Silly, sweet boy!

***I don't know how to fix the formatting issues with the pictures. If anyone can enlighten me, please do.

First Family Photo

2011-06-22T21:29:00.002-05:00

My sweet sister captured our first family of four photo yesterday. I am so excited about our newest addition and how she completes our family. We are looking forward to adjusting to our new life as a family of four.

K and I should be going home from the hospital tomorrow so it will be interesting. I have missed my boy and am looking forward to seeing him for more than 30 minutes at a time. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family to help us out with this new chapter in our lives. R has been well taken care of this week and I think he should feel pretty special, too.

Happy Birthday Princess!

2011-06-20T17:44:00.008-05:00

Today, at 39 weeks, I delivered our princess. We are pleased to introduce Kylie Nicole. She weighed 6 lbs 10 oz at birth and was 18 3/4 inches long. She is perfect and we are all in love!

Here is my last belly picture:

Mommy and Daddy with Miss Kylie:

Daddy is smitten:

Me and both of my babies:

Pretty Princess:

What do you think? Do they look alike?

Diggin' Up Bones

2011-06-17T21:55:00.005-05:00

Not really bones, but they pretended. ;o) A couple of weeks ago I saw an hour long movie on the documentary channel with T-Rex in the name so I recorded it for Reese. Turns out it is a cheesy movie from 1998 about a girl whose dad is a palentologist and she ends up going back in time to the dinosaur times to prove her theory about T-Rex. Who would have thought that my boy would want to watch it over and over?

When Gram came over last night he had an instant playmate. Gram is awesome like that. If you've never met her, you're missing out on a good character. They ended up going outside to play after they wrestled on the bed for a little while. Turns out R was "digging up dinosaur bones" in the dried mud on the back porch and taking them to Gram in the fort. Gram made a baby dinosaur city and then attempted to put the "bones" in the shape of a dinosaur.

When R was done digging up bones, he went back to making more mud. He loves to get water and pour it on the dirt and then play with the mud. The funny thing is, after he gets covered in mud he wants to wash it off pretty quick.

I love my family!

38 Weeks, Only One More To Go!

2011-06-13T15:18:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe that this time next Monday, I will have my sweet princess in my arms. Today marks 38 weeks in my pregnancy and as much as I want to savor this last week so far it isn't going well. We started the day at the doctor's office for my husband. He hasn't felt well since Saturday. What he thought was just some sort of stomach bug turns out to be something else. We didn't get a clear diagnosis because he didn't want to pay for a cat scan today but the doctor did rule out an obstruction in the bowel from an x-ray. She went ahead and gave him two antibiotics and a pain medicine and he promised to go back if it doesn't get better in a couple of days. Please pray that this works. We don't have time for him to be out of commission much more. I already feel like my patience is super thin and I know it is only going to get worse once I have two kids to take care of.

My mom, sister and I got some more craft projects done this weekend. Check them out on our craft blog, Fruit of Our Tree. The only project that I have left to start (there is no way I will finish it in a week) is my girl's stocking. My mom made us Bucilla stockings when we were little and I continued the tradition when I got married. With my mom's help, I have made Kyle and Reese stockings and I've had the fourth one purchased for a while. We all have snowman themed stockings and I love that each one is different but made with love.

I was reading a baby message board last night and one post really hit me. It was about how moms are worried about their first child adjusting to a new baby and how much it will change their world. To be honest, I haven't spent too much time worried about that yet. I have definitely had my moments where I wonder how R will adjust to sharing his momma, but not to the point that I was super emotional about it. That is, until last night. As I read the posts from other moms I started crying. I wonder how I will balance my time with two and make sure that they both feel equally loved. I am worried about my patience and being a good mom while I'm sleep deprived over the next few months. I have to admit that I am hoping that she will sleep ten times better than R did. I also hope I have learned my lesson about doing what is best for the baby's sleep pattern opposed to what is easiest for me. There are things I want to do better this time around but we will have to see how she is and how strong I feel once we get in to the swing of things.

I really think R will be a great big brother. He has recently started paying attention to babies more and was so sweet with one at church last Wednesday. I hope my baby girl likes dinosaurs because that is what her brother is consumed with again these days. ;o) He is all boy and loves to be outside, preferably in the dirt or water (or both), and can't get enough of his "rawrdys".

I believe everything is set up for next week. I know I'm scheduled for the first c-section of the day so my sister is going to spend the night with us to allow Reese to sleep in his own bed while we get up super early to head to the hospital. K and I agreed that it was silly to get R up that early just to see her roll by on her way to the nursery. This way they can come up when she is in the room with me and meet her there. My mom is going to be off a whole week with me just like she did with R. I am really looking forward to her help again. My sister is off Monday and Tuesday to help care for R. My dad offered to help with R some next week, too. I know my in-laws will do whatever they can to help us as well.

I'm excited and anxious and ready to meet my baby girl.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

2011-06-09T13:53:00.003-05:00

A couple of things to celebrate at our house this week.

- Reese has been using the potty by himself some this week. We are really proud of our big boy and hope this is the beginning of the end of diapers for him.

- I finished the yearbook yesterday! That means that I can welcome my sweet baby girl any day now without any school related stress.

This a picture of what popped up on my screen when I published the last page.

For some reason I started crying after it was done. I think it was part of the relief of having that weight lifted off of my shoulders combined with the weeks of stressing over it. Not to mention, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to creative type projects and when I was wrapping things up I saw some errors that I could do nothing about at that point. It is a little embarassing and disappointing to know that I worked so hard this year and still have a long way to go. Anyway, I feel better now and am going to do my best to improve on things for next year.

We made my doctor's appointment today a family affair. I liked having my boys with me on the drive in and home. They got to hear baby girl's heartbeat which was fun, too. The best news I got out of the appointment was that I managed to not gain any weight over the last two weeks. My urine was normal, my blood pressure was fine, her heartbeat was good, I'm measuring a little big but not enough to be concerned and everything is still on for June 20. I go back next Thursday and will get to take care of my hospital registration and pre-op set up for the following Monday.

I have a list of things to do over the next 11 days so hopefully I can get them all done in time. The most important thing will be taking Reese to the zoo. Monday he started asking to go to the zoo and has proceeded to ask multiple times a day since then. It didn't work out with our schedules this week so we plan to take him on Monday. It should be fun, hot and picture worthy. Check back then to see how we do.

37 Weeks

2011-06-06T21:04:00.002-05:00

Today is two weeks from my c-section. It is hard to believe that we will get to meet our daughter in 14 days! It sounds so close but still so far away.

I wish I could say I am ready. The truth is, I'm not. I need to find a way to finish cleaning our house, get the pack-in-play set up, clean up the infant car seat and try to make sure Reese is ready for this. I was hoping to be able to say that I was done with the yearbook today but life just isn't working out according to my plans lately. I am going to try again tomorrow so that is one less thing I have to worry about.

Am I excited? Of course part of me is, but mostly it hasn't set in yet. It probably won't until she gets here. I have had one heck of a week at work and can honestly say that it was the worst last week of school in my 5 years of teaching. I won't get in to details. I will just say that I feel like the rug was ripped out from under me and I'm not exactly looking forward to the next school year.

As soon as the yearbook is done I am going to focus on spending the last few days with my sweet boy and plan to try to squeeze in a trip to the zoo among other things.

How am I feeling? Fine. I'm uncomfortable, don't sleep well and feel mentally exhausted but I really don't have anything to complain about. I am very lucky to have a worry-free pregnancy because I know that so many don't. I have to admit that I've started to get a little jealous again of people that have their baby early. It seems like a lot of people that are due around the same time as me are giving birth early and I just know that it won't be me again no matter how much I wish it was. I let myself get my hopes up with Reese and have been determined not to this time around. I've stuck to my guns on that one but within the past couple of days, I've noticed a small part of me that is wishing she would surprise me and make her debut before the 20th.

Other than that, my boy had his 3 year well check today which turned in to a sick appointment, too. Thankfully he didn't need any vaccinations at this appointment because we would've had to go back. Yesterday morning he woke up vomiting and had a low grade fever. 24 hours later when we got to the doctor's office, he had vomited about 10 times and his fever was up to 101. I love his doctor because she is so thorough and she suspected that he might have strep. Sure enough, his swab came back positive so we got a prescription for Zofran and an antibiotic. Due to me already scheduling work this morning, K got to get the medicines and give him the first doses. I was so glad to see my sweet boy feeling better when I got home this afternoon. He only needed one dose of Zofran to be able to keep food and drink down again and although I'm not sure his fever is 100% gone, he is acting like his normal happy, monkey self.

My next doctor's appointment is on Thursday and I will report back with any news.

Grow, Baby, Grow!

2011-05-31T21:06:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday while Reese and I were trying to entertain ourselves during day 2 of project swing set, we pulled out his plant kit he got for Easter from GiGi. R planted and watered three little pots. He loves watering! I thought he might have watered them a little too much but I was pleasantly surprised when he went outside tonight and ran in to tell me "It grow Mama!" I got super excited with him and had to take pictures. Here are our 3 little pots with our seedlings. The dirt had started to dry out a little so I let him water them some more. I'm hoping my brown thumb doesn't prevent these little flowers from fully blooming because my boy is loving this.

Kyle put up the see saw swing tonight so we have a complete swing set tonight. Yay! He mentioned possibly attempting to attach a tarp to the top of the fort but we'll see if it actually happens or not. Doc thought R needed a pole to slide down so he made sure to get one on Sunday.

R also decided to try out his photographer skills tonight. He didn't do too bad for a 3 year old. ;o) He took the ones of me and K. Then he told me to take some of him.

I love my family!

Happy Memorial Day! 36 Weeks

2011-05-30T21:33:00.004-05:00

We had a busy, productive weekend. I love 3 day weekends but I'm not sure I like them in the middle of finals. We'll see how well that fares for the students tomorrow. ;o) With that being said, I enjoyed my weekend of swing sets and sun.

Friday night we went over to my aunt and uncle's house in Clear Lake to get their swing set loaded up to bring to our house. I say "we" because I was there but I didn't get to help. They kept telling me that pregnant people couldn't do much. I got to watch Reese play with my cousins and even catch a little cat nap.

Saturday was spent watching Kyle, my mom, Doc, my dad and Gram help reconstruct the swing set while I entertained Reese. It was a lot of in and out but thankfully K set up a small canopy over our back porch slab so I spent most of my time outside in the shade. I did manage to clean inside our house some, too.

Sunday we went to church and then Mom and Doc came back and finished remaking the ladders, redecking the second story of the fort and the see-saw swing. Reese had a low grade fever so we didn't go to evening worship but Kyle did.

Today we spent some time over at my in-laws house while K and his brother grilled bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos, deer wraps and ribs. We also went swimming which I never thought I would do while pregnant. It wasn't really a choice though because R wasn't getting in without me. Once he got in he had fun and relaxed which was good. We all got some sun but luckily avoided the crispy friend hurtin' burn. ;o)

I also got a couple of baby items this weekend with some giftcards. I made two different trips to Babies R Us because I had left one giftcard at home the first time. I am now down to needing newborn diapers and I would like a Moby wrap before my princess arrives. I hope that we make a trip to Sam's some time this week where I will probably go ahead and get a box of diapers. The Moby wrap is not a need but a want so we'll see if I break down and buy it or not.

Here is the obligatory weekly belly shot. Today marks 3 weeks from my c-section. That is only 21 days people! I'm ready but I have to finish the dang yearbook this week before I can really relax and be 100% ready. I went ahead and started packing my diaper bag and hospital bag for our hospital stay just in case she surprises me and decides to come early. Again, I'm not getting my hopes up, I think this was just a "nesting" thing.

Wish me luck with the yearbook this week! Friday is my last official day of the school year but if the yearbook isn't done (which I know I will have to do the graduation and project graduation spreads) then I'll be working some next week, too. My plan is to have it done by June 10 no matter what. Here goes nothing.

35 Weeks

2011-05-25T19:24:00.003-05:00

Here is the belly shot that I challenged myself to post once a week for the last 10 weeks. This was taken this morning so it is technically 35 weeks and 2 days. I apologize for the poor quality. Obviously I am no photographer. I'm pretty sure it would help if I cleaned the mirror but I don't seem to have a steady hand lately either so who knows. It was the best that I took though.

I had another boring doctor's visit today. Weight and blood pressure were fine. Baby's heart beat was nice and strong and he even told me not to come back for two weeks again.

At this point we're just waiting for June 20. Despite other people thinking I won't make it, I don't think she will make her debut early. Only time will tell.

Sibling Time

2011-05-23T19:48:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we went to The Woman's Hospital of Texas where I will deliver and participated in a sibling class. Reese has seemed very nonchalant about becoming a big brother for the past 8 months. I guess that is probably normal for a 3 year old. I was happy to see him get a little excited about the baby doll.

He was too cute loving on the baby doll, practicing holding the baby, changing a diaper and swaddling her. He was a little rough with her which is to be expected. He kept poking his finger in the baby doll's mouth so that will be interesting. I have a feeling that I won't be able to leave them alone in the same room together for a while.

Another fun thing in our class was that one of the Channel 2 anchors/reporters, Rachel McNeil, was in the class with us and her husband and son. They were cute and very sweet. It was a little local celebrity sighting for Kyle and I. ;o)

Today I am 35 weeks pregnant and finding it a little hard to believe that in only 4 weeks we'll get to meet our daughter. Over the past week I started getting the following comments:

"You look like you're going to pop."

"Are you having twins?"

"When is your due date? I don't think you're going to make it."

I try to not take it in a negative way. I know they don't mean any ill will. I actually got all of the same comments with Reese. I want to say, "I'm short and was overweight before I got pregnant so it's no wonder I look huge." I took comments like that to heart with Reese and let it get my hopes up that he might arrive early. He didn't so I'm not getting my hopes up this time. To be honest, I will be extremely surprised if she makes her appearance before June 20.

Anyway, I go to the doctor on Wednesday and I'll let you know if he says anything exciting. I forgot to take my belly pic today so hopefully I can remember tomorrow.

Early Anniversary Trip

2011-05-21T15:45:00.004-05:00

We just got back from San Antonio this afternoon and my boys are napping. I thought this was the perfect time for a quick recap of our trip.

Kyle and I like to do something to celebrate our wedding anniversary each year but since Miss Priss is due fairly close to the big day, we decided we should take advantage of our district's 3 day weekend and go ahead and celebrate early. We attempted to get a hotel in Galveston for Thursday and Friday but none of them would accept our offers on Priceline. K decided we should try for the Riverwalk area in SA and voila! we had a hotel.

My mom and sister were kind enough to keep Reese for us on short notice and he had a blast at Camp GiGi's! We are really very blessed to have such wonderful family always willing to help us out!

Thursday after school we picked up Reese from day care and dropped him off at Gram's house until GiGi got home from work. He immediately went to playing in Gram's backyard and didn't seem to care that we were leaving. We hit the road and made it to SA about 7. We decided to go ahead and check in to the hotel, freshen up a little and then head out to dinner. Kyle got a recommendation from two of his friends for a Mexican restaurant called La Fogata so we decided to check it out. The tableside guacamole was good and fresh but we weren't impressed enough to call it the "best we've ever had." We shared a sampler plate which was also good and then headed back to the hotel.

I didn't sleep well that night due to some sinus drainage that I've been fighting all week so in turn K didn't sleep well either. We got up and got dressed and headed out to another place that was recommended to us, The Magnolia Pancake Haus. This was de.li.cious! I have to agree with them...they have the BEST pancakes in the world. ;o) K had original Eggs Benedict and I had a crabcake Eggs Benedict and we each got two pancakes with our meal. It was so good we ended up going back there this morning before we left town. I would definitely recommend this place the next time you go to SA!

After our delicious breakfast we headed over to Bass Pro Shops. My husband has to hit every BPS, etc. he can because they might just have something different than the others. Luckily for me, it wasn't open yet and there was a Target right across the street. I got to peruse Target (which is awesome no matter what city you're in) and then we head back to BPS. Now at 8 months pregnant I have to go to the restroom a lot. I went when we first walked in to BPS and managed to find the ladies room just fine. K looked at everything he wanted to and as we were leaving I decided to go back to the restroom. This time for some reason, I turned and walked right in to the men's restroom. I quickly realized that it looked a little different and walked right back out. Luckily there were no men in there for me to embarass myself in front of and I'm pretty sure there were no witnesses outside of the restrooms either. I'm going to blame that one on pregnancy brain and move on.

We ended up taking naps when we got back to the hotel and after our rest we headed out on foot. We weren't on the Riverwalk but about a block or two away so we felt adventurous and decided we'd see what we could find. I should know better than to wear cute sandals when I'm walking but I didn't. We went down to the Riverwalk and started walking by the river. It was fun to figure out where we were and where we were headed. We decided to take a boat tour and then realized how fun it was to squeeze in like sardines on a little boat. It turned out to be fun but it was not the most comfortable seating. I think R would like it and I hope we can take a family trip to SA within the next year. Here we are not long after we squeezed in to our seats. Can you tell how thrilled we were with it!? (I didn't take my real camera because K isn't big on being in pictures and I didn't feel it would be worth it.)

After the ride, we walked to the River Center and found one of our favorite restaurants, Fogo de Chao. We got there just in time for the lunch special (which costs about as much for two people at lunch as one for dinner). Score! We stuffed ourselves with the salad bar and delicious meats but managed to not over do it. After that we walked around in the air conditioned mall a little and then headed back to the hotel. We aren't in the best shape so this was a lot of walking for us. We cooled down, bathed and then decided to head over to Buda so K could visit Cabela's. (You know if you're that close, you have to go.) What we thought would take about 45 minutes was over an hour trip thanks to some traffic leaving SA. I caught a little nap in the car so I can't really complain. After browsing through their gun collection and selection we headed back to SA.

K wanted to try at least one of the eateries that has been featured on "Man v. Food" or "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" so we decided on Chunky's Burgers. This establishment was featured in an episode of "Man v. Food" where Adam Richmond defeats the Four Horseman Challenge. We did not even attempt that challenge but we did enjoy a good cheeseburger and shared a basket of fries.

Our trip would not have been complete without a stop on the way home at City Market BBQ in Luling. K loves their ribs and we both love their sauce. If you've never tried this place, it is a must.

We enjoyed our quick get away but we missed our little man. He was happy to see us when we picked him up and that made our hearts happy.

Now if you made it through this entire post, Thank You. ;o) As you can tell, my quick recap turned in to a bit more than that. If you didn't read every word, I don't blame you. At least scroll through and make sure you check out my reviews of the restaurants. ;o)

***Please note that I started this on Saturday afternoon but life interrupted me until Sunday morning so it is not exactly accurate.***

Officially "Uncomfortable"

2011-05-16T20:51:00.003-05:00

Today I am 34 weeks pregnant and I feel like I have officially hit the "uncomfortable" stage. I am uncomfortable when I try to sleep, when I sit, when I stand, when I attempt to bend over...you get the picture. I am trying to focus on enjoying the next 5 weeks but the closer it gets the more anxious I am about having two! I worry about balancing my time between the two kids and making sure that they both know how much I love them. I know it will work out.

We had a great weekend! Kyle went on his annual sporting clay shoot and Reese and I had fun together. Saturday we met Nicole and Sebastian at Katy Mills and had fun visiting with them for a few hours. We ate lunch, rode the carousel and train, played in the kid area and even got to do a little shopping (for the kids, of course).

Sunday was my baby shower given by three of my friends from work. It was beautiful and gloriously girly. :o) They held it at the Mustard Seed Tea Room and both sides of my family joined us along with girls from work. Reese even got a big brother present that he loved. It is a new dinosaur that he didn't put down until he got out of the bath last night (yes, it got to take a bath with him). We are very loved and lucky to have such wonderful friends and family to spoil us. Miss Priss is set in the clothes area and I got the breast pump I wanted. It was awesome!

In lieu of a picture today, I'm posting my belly pic from the shower yesterday at 33 weeks 6 days.

33 Weeks

2011-05-10T18:49:00.005-05:00

I am officially 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant. That means that I get to meet my daughter in 5 weeks and 6 days...not that I'm counting or anything. ;o) I have 16 work days left until my summer vacation starts and about 70 pages of the yearbook to finish. Yikes! I sure hope that I can get it all done in time to enjoy my two weeks of vacation before my life changes forever for the second time.

So I had a little excitement today at my doctor's appointment. As I was walking in to the office building, I managed to step wrong on the bricks and lost my balance. It was like slow motion...I could feel myself falling and couldn't stop it. I managed to catch myself on all fours (mostly on my right side) and get up and keep walking. Yes, there was at least one witness. Yes, I have at least one big bruise. No, I did not hit my belly. Yes, I told my doctor and he was not worried and said that unfortunately that is part of pregnancy. Oh, and I was wearing a dress.

As far as the actual appointment...no excitement. Weight is still o.k. Blood pressure was fine. Baby girl's heartbeat was a little higher than the last appointment but nothing to be concerned about...loud and proud which made me feel good. I am going back in two weeks and will have the strep b test then (normal test). I'm all set for June 20.

I received a fun package in the mail yesterday. Carter's had a free shipping day recently and I took advantage of it to buy Miss Priss's going home outfit. (I also got Reese a pirate pajama set.) I'm not big on a fancy outfit for the ride home from the hospital to the house so I went with something sweet and simple. Now I'm trying to decide how to get a bow on her head. I think I might make one on an alligator clip so I can clip it on her hat. ;o)

I guess that is about all for now. I still haven't finished the last two projects in her room. I might try to knock that out this weekend. We'll see.

Argh, Matey!

2011-05-09T20:10:00.008-05:00

We celebrated Reese's 3rd birthday with a pirate party on Saturday. It was held at my mom's house and I couldn't have pulled it off without the help of my family! My sister was kind enough to share her actual birthday with Reese since his birthday was on a Monday this year.

My Aunt Andy made a ship out of cardboard boxes for the kids to play in and it was amazing. My dad rented a bouncy house for us (and Rachel). My sister helped me get all of the fun little things together. My mom allowed us to use her house and helped me set up and clean up. Mrs. Sarah (also known as MaMaw Sarah) made Reese's cakes which were super moist and delicious.

I have to admit that the day didn't go exactly as I had planned. I busted my glass drink dispenser by pouring boiling hot water in it trying to make tea. My poor mom was kind enough to clean up the big mess. Reese refused to wear his pirate costume that I bought him. I put it on him and he cried and then took it off as soon as he could. I didn't even get a picture. I put his "Captain Reese" name tag on him and he immediately took it off and put it on my belly. :o/ But the party went on despite these irritations and Reese seemed to have a blast.

I am grateful for all of our friends and family that helped us celebrate. Reese is one lucky little boy and definitely well loved. I ended up taking almost a hundred pictures so I am not going to post them here. I will just share some of my favorites. If you'd like to check them all out click here.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:44:00.005-05:00

This has been the best Mother's Day I've had yet. I was pleasantly surprised when my husband brought me the napkins I asked for before Reese's birthday party yesterday and the bag had a nook in it, too. I didn't expect much more than a card so that was a shock. He told me that I needed to charge it up if I wanted to use it on Mother's Day. ;o) Then this morning my sister and mother showed up at my door with a bouquet of flowers and a card from them and Reese.

The only thing I would have changed about today is my sweet boy had a bit of a stomach bug this morning. He threw up four times before he quit so we missed worship. The plus side to this was I got extra cuddling time in with him and at his age this doesn't happen often. ;o) Another awesome thing my husband did was call after he got out of worship and tell me he'd pick us up lunch from any where I wanted. I still got my Carino's I wanted because he is the best!

I saw this on a friend's blog the other day and started crying when I read it. This is what I have tried to do throughout the past three years...just enjoy each stage of my child's life. I love my boy for teaching me about being a mommy and I am sure that my girl will just add to the joy of motherhood.

I have an awesome example of a mother and I hope to be half as good as her. My mom is fun, loving, caring, giving, loyal, intelligent, crafty, energetic and patient. Thank you Mom for all that you have done and continue to do for me and my family! I love you!

32 Weeks and Room Progress

2011-05-03T14:02:00.005-05:00

I am officially 32 weeks and 1 day as of today. I wanted my sweet boy to have his day yesterday so I postponed updating about sister until today.

I only have 7 weeks left until her eviction date and I began the 8th month of pregnancy yesterday according to my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. I go for my next check up with my doctor a week from today so we'll see if there are any changes at that time. I feel like I've started waddling some and my hips have been sore some the past couple of days. Especially when I wake up in the mornings I seem to notice the sore hips. I feel like I'm still getting a lot done during the day but when I finally sit down in the evenings I'm exhausted. Last night about 6:15 I started falling asleep on the couch sitting by R. Of course I didn't actually go to bed until about 3 hours later but ya know...

Last weekend my family was a bunch of troopers and helped me just about finish Miss Priss's room. I know I've been driving them all nuts with all of my projects but I decided I wanted to have it done and they helped me make it happen. I have two little things left to do (one of them is attaching the bows to the front of the crib where the bumper ties on and the other one is pictured below) and then it will be 100% complete. I'm going to go ahead and share it with you now though because I am so proud and excited about the way it turned out.

We are still not revealing her name just yet. ;o)

The Strawberry Shortcake painting was done by my Aunt Andy when my sister and I were little. I always liked it and I'm glad that I get to share it with my daughter.

This painting is special, too. Reese painted the pink background all by himself. We then put the blue paint on his hand and stamped it on there. My talented sister made the handprint in to a bird and painted the limb and leaves. I painted the word "Love". I think this is my favorite piece in the room.

This is going to be a bow holder. My hot glue gun pooped out on me so I have to finish securing the fabric and add the ribbons to it before it's done. I will probably hang it on her closet door somehow.

This weekend is going to be another busy one with R's party on Saturday afternoon, Saturday is my sister's actual birthday so we'll have dinner for her that night and then Sunday is Mother's Day. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about all of that. It will be more fun than anything, though, so I'm looking forward to it.

Happy Birthday Sweet Prince!

2011-05-01T21:45:00.009-05:00

My sweet baby boy is 3 years old today. I have been thinking about his birth a lot over the past couple of months as I am preparing for the birth of my daughter. R was born at 2:19 p.m. on Friday, May 2, 2008 at Woman's Hospital of Texas. He was due on April 27 but when I went in on May 1 for my appointment I still wasn't showing any signs of having a baby and my doctor thought he was going to be a big baby and I might not be able to handle him well. When I was asked if I wanted to go ahead and have a c-section, I said "yes." I was more than ready to meet my son. It was a little surreal leaving the doctor's office that day and registering at the hospital so I could return the next day to have a baby.

K and I went to work that Friday morning and stayed for half of the day. We didn't have to be at the hospital until noon so we decided we'd go ahead and get paid for the waiting. We were nervous and excited all at the same time. By the time I was ready to go back for surgery, both of our mothers, and at least one sibling was there waiting to meet the newest member of the family. To be honest, I wasn't really nervous about the surgery part. I just wanted to hear my son cry so I knew he was o.k. Luckily, he didn't disappoint and it wasn't too long until I got to see his sweet face. I had no idea what he would look like but he was perfect. K was so proud and I loved seeing the smile on his face.

I've been told that K got to wheel R down the hall to the nursery and introduce him to the family along the way. GiGi loves to tell the story about how R picked his head up when he heard her voice.

After I woke up from my nap in post-op recovery I was ready to see my baby. I am pretty sure I called the nursery as soon as I got in to my room. After that, I don't remember too many details. I loved holding my boy and sharing him with our family and friends.

The past three years have been challenging and rewarding. I have learned to trust my mother's intuition and like to think that I have become more flexible and patient in that time, too. R is a beautiful boy that brings so much joy to our lives. He is smart and funny. He is stubborn and all boy. He is a mommy's boy and I wouldn't trade that for anything. I am trying to soak it all up while I can because I know that the day will come when he won't say things like "Mama, I want to give you a kiss" or just come up and kiss me for no reason. His smile melts my heart and his faces make me giggle. He can make some faces (like his momma). He loves icing like his daddy and seems like he will make a good fishing and hunting buddy for daddy when he gets bigger.

We love you Reese!

Check back tomorrow for my baby update. There will be pictures!

My Little Gardener

2011-04-25T20:26:00.014-05:00

My sweet boy got three little gardening tools in his Easter basket and another three from his GiGi for Easter. Naturally when he decided he wanted to go outside tonight I made sure he took some of his new toys with him. GiGi also got Reese his first can of Silly String. As you can see below he really enjoyed playing with that, too.

31 Weeks

2011-04-25T16:37:00.004-05:00

I don't have a lot to report today other than 31 weeks means that we only have 8 weeks left until we get to meet our daughter and complete our family. I am hoping to complete her room soon but first I have a 3 year old birthday to celebrate and Mother's Day. I don't know if I'll get to make much progress in the next two weeks but if I do, I'll be sure to share it with you.

Today my school had a TAKS pep rally for our students. My English department chose to wear black shirts as our team uniform. My friend Danielle and I made English related black t-shirts to wear so we had to take a picture together. (The front of our shirts say "I like Big Books and I cannot lie".) I decided to have her take my belly shot while we had the camera out. Here I am in all of my glory. ;o)

I don't have any odd symptoms unless you count lack of motivation to be productive as one. I am just a baby making machine. I keep reminding myself that I am lucky to have such healthy pregnancies because there are so many women that don't. I have to admit that there is a small part of me that is selfish and wishes I could have something that causes enough concern that I could go ahead and get to use my short term disability and get a little extra time with my girl. My mother's intuition just knows that my daughter is going to make me wait as long as possible just like her brother did. :oD I will just continue to countdown to June 20.

Hoppy Easter!

2011-04-24T22:15:00.008-05:00

I think it is fair to say that we had a busy, but good, day. The Easter Bunny came to see Reese and he really seemed to enjoy it. This was the first time he showed genuine excitement when opening his surprise gifts. It made my heart so happy to watch him open each egg and say "ooh...more" or "ooh...coins". I was also pleasantly surprised that he watched his new movie, Disney's Pinnochio, before we left for church and again when we returned home.

Even though we were a little late for church, we made it and then enjoyed lunch at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. Reese loves his cousins, especially his "Woo" (what he calls Will). After lunch the teenagers hid eggs for the younger kids. Reese got about 6 eggs in his basket and then found Will's grabber toy and was done. He tortured the poor dogs by chasing them with the grabber and attempting to get them. He was funny but made me nervous at the same time running around the pool.

When we came home from the Hopper lunch/egg hunt K and I got a nap while R watched Pinnochio. I got up and started the corn casserole for the Walker dinner/egg hunt and then took R to my dad's house for a quick visit with him and Patch. R loves Patch and Patch is kind enough to let him. ;o)

We went back to church for evening worship and then over to Gram's house for the Walker side festivities. Reese got to hunt some real eggs at this one and all he wanted to do with them was crack them and peel them. Haha. We also had confetti eggs at this house which Reese got in to pretty quickly. Miss Priss even got her first confetti egg thanks to my cousin Addison cracking one on my belly.

All in all it was a busy, but productive weekend. R and I had fun shopping with my sister on Friday. I got some things at IKEA for Miss Priss's room and can't wait to get them hung up. Saturday my mom and I managed to make two Boppy slipcovers and some burp cloths. To see pics of those projects, click here.

Eviction Date is Set!

2011-04-20T17:35:00.004-05:00

I haven't done one of these in a while so I figured I would update with my news after my doctor's appointment in this format.

Size of Baby: Miss Priss is about 17 inches long and weighs about 3.5 pounds.
Maternity Clothes: All maternity clothes. I've even pulled off a couple of dresses and skirts lately.
Gender: Sugar and spice and everything nice. ;o)
Movement: She is active...I love feeling her move.
Sleep: Well I was up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. It is night to night.
What I Miss: Maybe that extra Coke? Nothing substantial.
Cravings: Nothing really strong. Chinese food and Italian have sounded good the whole time.
Symptoms: Some swelling (especially if I spend much time outside). My belly seems to have rearranged some because I have gotten several comments this week that I look really pregnant all of a sudden.
Best Moment this Week: Hearing my daughter's heartbeat today and getting a good report from my doctor. Even though I am already close to the maximum weight I was hoping to be by the end, my doctor said my weight and blood pressure are good. I got to go ahead and schedule my c-section, too. It turns out that my doctor has a vacation that has been planned for six months the week before my due date so he won't actually be the one to deliver her. I'm fine with it. He set me up with the doctor he shares an office with and I'm sure it will be just as good. As long as Miss Priss doesn't decide to make an appearance before June 20, we will meet her on that day. Since her brother went 5 days past his due date and had made no signs of wanting to come out on his own, I don't expect her to make an early arrival. I'm excited that we have the date on the calendar and our families can make plans to be there for her birth.

One more fun thing...I scheduled a sibling class for us on May 22. I don't know how much it will actually help Reese, but I want to do it anyway. I think it will be cute and we can tour the new addition of the hospital to make sure we know where we'll be in June.

30 Week Belly

2011-04-18T20:35:00.002-05:00

I didn't want to break my word, so as I said last week, I am documenting my belly for the last 10 weeks on here.

I almost forgot today but luckily I didn't. I guess I should try to remember my real camera next week. ;o)

30 Weeks!

2011-04-17T21:18:00.004-05:00

***I accidentally posted this tonight but I don't want to re-do it and don't know how to unpost so pretend I posted it on Monday. ;o)***
Today is the 30 week mark! Only 9 more to go and about 63 days left. I don't have a lot to share today but hopefully I will have more on Wednesday after my doctor's appointment. I did breakdown Saturday night and borrow one of my grandmother's rings because I was afraid mine wouldn't come off one day soon. I feel like I have swelled more with this pregnancy and I see it only getting worse. I am not always swollen but usually by the end of the day I have some swelling. I have noticed it happening when I get hot, too. Since I live in Texas and we're already in the 80s in April I have a feeling the rest of the pregnancy will involve more swelling. I'm really hoping that I get to pick a date for Miss Priss's eviction on Wednesday. My family is asking me if I know already and I would love to be able to start planning.

Saturday Reese's day care had their Easter egg hunt. Mrs. Sarah did an outstanding job as usual. Reese and I had a lot of fun and now I'm really looking forward to more egg hunts this week. To see all of the pictures, check out the album from Facebook here.

"Me" Time

2011-04-15T19:48:00.004-05:00

I have been feeling a little stressed lately and am getting a little burnt out at work so I decided to take a half day and do something for myself. I don't know about all ladies, but this one feels better about herself when she gets a shampoo, cut and blow dry and her nails done.

I hadn't had a trim since the beginning of February so it was time for me to go see Jamie. I really like going to her because she is usually punctual and we grew up playing Highlands softball together so I feel comfortable with her. I was especially excited to see her today because the last time I saw her was a couple of days before the birth of her daughter. We both have boys about the same age and our girls will be fairly close in age, too. I enjoy talking about my kids with other moms that are going through similar situations so I wanted to hear how they had adjusted to a second child and how her son was adjusting to having a sister. She said it has been hard but they are doing well. I have to admit now that I am not looking forward to the lack of sleep that goes along with an infant and the fact that my body will still not completely be my own for about another year but I know that the payoffs will far exceed the hard times. And, like I kept reminding myself during Reese's first year of life, the infant stage really is just a short period of time when you consider your child's lifetime. So not only did I get my hair trimmed, I had some nice mommy chats.

After my cut, I treated myself to a sandwich from Colonial House. This place is only open Monday through Friday and only for lunch. That means that we don't get to eat there often. I had a delicious BLT with avocado and cheese. It really hit the spot.

My next stop was the nail salon. When I pulled up the parking lot looked a little crowded so I was worried that I would have to wait to get my pedicure and manicure but luckily I walked in and got a chair right away. I really enjoyed the massage chair today as well as getting pampered. I haven't had a pedicure since December when I got to use a giftcard I had received as a Christmas present. I left relaxed and ready for a nap.

I had just enough time to go home and get a 20 minute nap before I had to go pick up K from school. It was so nice to be able to do a few things on my own and I even got a couple of other errands done before the hair cut so I feel pretty accomplished for the day.

Tomorrow morning is R's Easter egg hunt at Mrs. Sarah's day care and I'm looking forward to watching him along with the other kids hunting for treasures. Other than that we have a low key weekend planned.

Passed the Test

2011-04-11T18:31:00.004-05:00

I am officially 29 weeks today. That translates in to 10 weeks left and approximately 70 days until we get to meet our princess!

I called my doctor's office again today since I still hadn't heard from them about my glucose test results. The nurse told me that my levels were normal so I passed the test! Woo-hoo!

My next appointment isn't until next Wednesday so that is about all I have for you today.

I decided that since I feel huge already I will be brave and document the belly growth these last 10 weeks. Here it is in the kids' bathroom. Please excuse the quality because I still haven't found my camera battery charger. I'll work on that. ;o)

I didn't work on the nursery at all this weekend but I did make my list of things I still need to do/would like to get. I'll update when I get more done.

28 Weeks, Bows and Bedding

2011-04-05T15:40:00.005-05:00

I am 28 weeks (as of yesterday) which means that I only have 11 weeks left! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. This time of year is especially busy so I think that it will keep flying by and I will get to meet my daughter before I know it. (By the way, no news on the glucose test yet. I am hoping to get a call any day now.)

This past weekend was a busy one, indeed. Saturday my mom, sister and friend, Danielle, took a Bow Making class at Lee College. We are all certified beginner bow makers now and baby girl has a nice bow collection started. I am looking forward to being able to make her bows to match her outfits as long as she will let me. ;o) Here is a look at the fruits of our labor from Saturday. (These are pictures from my sister's camera phone because I can't find my battery charger for my real camera.)

After our class my sister hosted her first Scentsy party as a consultant. We had a better turn out than I thought we would and I enjoyed seeing our friends and family. Saturday night was a birthday party for a co-worker's wife so Kyle and I made an appearance at that. Then as I was putting R to bed he vomited all over me, his bed and himself. Luckily it happened just once and he ended up sleeping through the night.

Sunday we had church and then the lunch fellowship and evening service immediately following. Our church started doing that on the first Sunday of each month and we really enjoy it. Since we were done with worship by 1 we got to all three take a nap together. It was a glorious two hours but of course that meant that R was not going to bed at his normal time. We got out of the house for a little while as a family and then R and I went to my mom's to work on baby girl's bedding.

I am proud to share that the bedding is 96% complete. I am so pleased with the way it turned out! The best part is that my mom, sister and I made it with love. It will have bows on the bumper ties when it is 100% complete. Now I need to figure out curtains, a light fixture, dresser knobs and some wall decor. It will all come together and I will be sure to share pictures when it does.

Last night I painted some decorations for my school's Relay for Life tent. The theme is "Celebrate Birthdays. Celebrate Life." I did one for each of my grandmother's and one for my friend Tammy's mom. Despite my husband making fun of me for taking so long to paint them, I am proud of them because they turned out pretty close to my vision.

As soon as I finish this post I am hoping to get some rest. Wish me luck!

Doctor's Update

2011-03-31T05:40:00.002-05:00

Here is the update that I promised. All is well with baby girl and there were no concerns about me either. When my mom called to see how the appointment went I told her that nothing exciting happened. She said that a boring pregnancy is good and we don't want an eciting one. I guess that is right. When I was leaving the doc said he wants to see me back in two or three weeks. When I repeated that, (because I didn't realize I was already at the every two week mark) he told me I am a good kid so I can wait three weeks. ;o)

I went ahead and had my glucose test yesterday, too. That drink is gross. It was super sweet fruit punch and I had to force myself not to think about it as I tried to drink it as fast as I could. I didn't remember drinking the sweet stuff at the doctor's office, but that is what I did. When I walked down the hall to the lab, the girl at their front desk informed me that they normally don't take any tests after 4. I had finished my drink at 3:25 so I needed my blood drawn at 4:25. Luckily, she was nice enough to make an exception for me and let me stay to finish the test. I forgot to ask how quickly I will know the results but I'm hoping to get a call by the end of the day on Friday.

I am very blessed to have wonderful family that lives close enough to help us out a lot. I can't remember if I have shared this on here or not, but we are a one car family. We decided to sell K's truck at the end of January in an attempt to get our finances in a better place before baby girl gets here. So far it has been a fairly easy adjustment. It really helps that we work at the same school. The only times we have to make arrangements is for things like doctor's appointments. This time my grandmother actually drove me to my appointment and home. It was nice to have my own driver. ;o)

The last thing I want to make sure I share in this post is that this week started the THIRD TRIMESTER! Woo-hoo! That means that we are in the home stretch now, for sure.

Sneak Peek

2011-03-27T20:06:00.003-05:00

I am 27 weeks tomorrow. Only 12 weeks to go (since I get to schedule her arrival a week early)! I have an appointment on Wednesday along with my glucose test. Wish me luck that I pass and don't have to take the 3 hour test. I will update more after my appointment.

The sneak peek is of the first part of the bumper in the crib! My mom is the best and after I went over and cut out the material Thursday night she cut out the batting and has started sewing it all together. She got the first section done today and asked me to try it out to make sure it fit properly so I had to snap a picture with my cell phone. I love it but told her we need to make the ties a little shorter so it fits more snug to the sides. We are going to make bows to go in front of the ties out of the same ribbon. I am loving it so far!

I ordered some hot pink zebra material to use as a trim on the crib skirt so we will hopefully knock that out next. I am still trying to find an alternate sheet but for now, I actually like the green dots that came with Reese's crib bedding. I would love to find something exactly the same but with hot pink dots. So far I haven't located it. Let me know if you come across something that you think would work.

Again...pray that I am gestational diabetes free. I will update you as soon as I can.

26 Weeks and a little progress

2011-03-21T20:41:00.007-05:00

Today I am 26 weeks pregnant and officially in the double digit countdown! Baby girl's due date is 98 days from today. Since I will get to schedule my c-section a week earlier it is more like 92 days! Yay! I can't wait to meet her and see if she looks like her brother or not.

I finally obsessed enough about her room that my mom and sister gave in to my nagging and came over to help me slap some paint on the walls yesterday. ;o) I have to say that the process of picking out a color was a lot harder than I thought. My original plan was to paint the walls a lighter blue (a couple of shades lighter than the fabric) and then accent with pink throughout the room. That proved much harder than I thought.

All of these blues and I didn't like any of them accept the one that was almost exactly the same shade as Reese's room.

So then I considered pink. I have to say that I was never a "pink princess" when I was little but it is a girly color and in the fabric so I thought I had to consider it.

I just kept thiking that it would look like Pepto Bismol and I couldn't do it. My next thought was to pull out a yellow from the leaves.

That just didn't blow my skirt up either. I took my sister, Reese and my fabric back to Home Depot Saturday morning and she picked out two shades of green that I agreed could work.

She even bought me a sample of each and we went home and put them on the wall. Almost immediately I knew which one it was.

Without further adieu, here is the winning color with the fabric draped over her crib. (Excuse the plastic because I haven't made a final decision on a second coat yet.)

It is Behr Cabbage Green and even though my husband and dad aren't crazy about it, my mom, sister and I love it. ;o) I think the blue and pink will pop off of it and be easy to coordinate with in the future.

Reese tried very hard to help us while we were painting and his daddy was sick yesterday so I called Pop to come get him and entertain him while we worked our magic. Pop and Reese had fun together and I feel so much better now that we can see some progress in her room. Mom and I hope to find a night this week to make the bumper. I will probably wait until we get more done in the room until I post more pictures.

I have my next doctor's appointment next Wednesday along with the dreaded glucose test. I am just looking forward to hearing her heartbeat again and making sure she is still growing like she should. :o)

Zoo Madness

2011-03-15T22:09:00.003-05:00

My Aunt Andy asked me if I had a day over Spring Break that we could get together and, of course, I said yes. Today we loaded up and headed in to Houston to visit the zoo. They are members and know their way around, which was lucky for Reese and I. We started out driving around worried that we would never find a parking spot. Luckily, we got a spot in an area that we thought was closed and close to a swing set. We headed in and went straight the giraffes. There was a baby giraffe born recently that we wanted to check out and we also decided to feed the giraffes. It was worth the wait in line and very exciting!

We then headed to the sea lion show were I stood with Reese on my shoulders for about 20 minutes. As I was doing that I found out that I could feel all 30 pounds of boy in my shoulders and decided that I probably wouldn't do that again any time soon. ;o)

We had to check out the chimpanzees in the new African Forest exhibit. Boy was it crowded! I let Collin and Aunt Andy fight the crowd to get Reese a good view while I hung off to the side with Kayla and the stroller. I believe it was at that point that we went ahead and ate lunch back by the giraffes. We got lucky and got a table out on the deck right next to the giraffes so we could watch them some more. We had to check out the elephants and the petting zoo quickly after that.

We manuevered our way through most of the other animals throughout the day and ended up leaving at about 2 (we got there about 10).

Reese was fairly tired and seemed to have lost interest by that time. Before we got in our cars to head home, we enjoyed the swing set in the park.

It was a beautiful day in Houston with the sun shining and a cool breeze blowing. It was in the low 70s and, in my opinion, perfect weather for a zoo visit and to spend time outside.

I have to say that Aunt Andy is a master at navigating the zoo and finding good spots to view the animals. She can spot all of the animals in their habitats, too. I really enjoyed our time together today and love watching my cousins with Reese. It is nice to have the age difference at times like this. ;o)

If you want to check out all of our zoo and Dallas pictures, click here.

BABY UPDATE: I just want to mention that I am 25 weeks (as of yesterday) and she will be here in about 14 more weeks! Eek! I am hoping to buckle down and make some progress on cleaning out the rest of the stuff I need to get out of her room tomorrow. Then, if all goes as I plan, I will paint Thursday or Friday. I might even see if my mom and sister want to start on the bedding this weekend! I am ready to get her room done and try to enjoy the rest of this pregnancy since it is my last. Kyle and I have decided that this will definitely be it for us as far as kids go.

Happy Spring Break!

Dallas Weekend

2011-03-15T21:22:00.004-05:00

We had a fun, quick trip to Dallas last weekend. We went with my husband's sister and her family and a friend of our families. While we were there Reese had a blast in the hotel room and enjoyed spending time with his cousins, too.

Saturday we got up and ate breakfast at Chick-fil-A. It was nice to have someone there to play with Reese in the kid area. He loved climbing with Kassie and Brandon and running around and being a silly boy. Then we hung out at the Irving Mall a little while before we caught "Gnomeo and Juliet." We stopped at almost every one of the ride-on toys that they had. Reese got lucky and the man cleaning them/taking out the money let him ride the Thomas the Tank Engine for free.

We spent a good amount of time in Barnes and Noble which is easy to do. They had a playground area that we found fairly close to the movie so Reese only got to play there for about 10 minutes. We liked the movie but I did think that the humor was a little mature. We ate lunch at El Fenix and then had to go check out the Bass Pro Shops up there. Reese was so tired that he actually slept in the cart throughout the store! He has never done that before and I will be surprised if he ever does it again. I had to take a picture to document it.

Sunday we went to Bible class and worship at Brown Trail church of Christ and then lunch at Snuffer's. They had some awesome cheese fries and good burgers.

After that we headed to the Fort Worth Stockyards to catch a ride on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad. They have a Trinity River Run that begins and ends at the Stockyards.

The whole ride was about an hour and the tickets were reasonably priced. We enjoyed riding on a real choo choo and after our ride we had to visit the candy store. We all decided that we needed a couple of things from Wal-Mart so we visited one in the area before heading back to the hotel.

Monday we slept in and packed up. Before leaving town we ate lunch at a neat little place called Lucky's Diner. They had good diner food and I especially enjoyed my Rueben sandwich.

Of course, we stopped at Bucee's on the way there and on the way back. Who can resist the nice, clean restrooms and numerous food choices!? ;o) Our favorite treat there is definitely the Beaver Nuggets. If you haven't tried them, you should.

Now I can't end this entry without telling you about Eatzi's. My mom, sister and I were very sad when the Eatzi's in Houston closed. They have terrific tea and super salads! We used to go there fairly often when we worked in the Galleria area. So as we were leading up to the trip Kyle discovered that Dallas has two Eatzi's. I knew I had to go and my sweet husband obliged me Saturday night. I got a spectacular salad and enjoyed every bite!

We also got some fresh pineapple for dessert and it was delicious. I had to mention to the guy that made my salad that I was from Houston and missed having one of their stores. He told me that I should mention it to the manager because he was the same one that managed the Houston store. As we were checking out, I asked for the manager and told him how much we missed having them in Houston. He said he missed Houston and appreciated me letting them know. He then gave Reese a free cookie as we were headed out the door. Yesterday before we left I had to stop at the other location to get my mom and sister each a bag of the tea. I love that store and hope that they find a way to open one in Houston again soon!

24 Weeks

2011-03-07T19:52:00.004-06:00

Well today marks 24 weeks for baby girl. Nothing much to report since my doctor's appointment. I debated on whether or not to post this belly pic from yesterday because it was a bit depressing to see how big I actually am. Then I remembered that the truth hurts and despite my extra weight this is an exciting time in our lives. I am still pretty sure that I am already the size of a beached whale and am scared to see what a pregnant elephant looks like but it is what it is. I asked Reese to pose with me by putting his hands on Sister and this is what Kyle got. I love my babies!

I finally decided on a fabric and am excited to share it with you. As a reminder, this is the designer bedding I fell in love with. I just don't have the designer budget to go along with it. Plus, even if I did have the budget for it, it is on back order until the beginning of June and that would be cutting it too close for me. So, I have scoured the internet for material so my mom, sister and I can make something similar. I was going to go with Amy Butler Soul Blossoms but then I found Elizabeth Scott's Red Rose Farm collection. I fell in love with the Rose Bouquet in Aqua. I was nervous about ordering fabric off of the internet but I took a chance and placed my order last Thursday night. Much to my surprise, I had a package in the mailbox today! I have to say that this first fabric order off of the internet turned out to be an awesome experience. I love my fabric!

My plan is to paint the walls a lighter shade of the "aqua" and then to find coordinating pink fabrics (a solid, a polka dot and a little hot pink/white zebra) to finish the look. I want to accent with pinks throughout the room and can't wait to start making progress!

A Picture Perfect Day

2011-03-07T19:16:00.007-06:00

Our church had the first Sunday fellowship lunch and early service yesterday. (We eat a potluck lunch at the building immediately following morning services and then have a short business meeting followed by the evening service.) So we were done with church for the day by 1 p.m. Kyle and I like to try to do something fun as a family on those rare Sunday afternoons and this one was no exception. Kyle's first idea was to go to Galveston but then he remembered that Mardi Gras was going on and we decided to come up with another idea. I suggested Discovery Green in downtown Houston and he was a good sport about trying something new.

We started out at the kids playground area but didn't last long. My son is not as aggressive when he just wakes up and there were a lot of rambunctious kids running around without a care about any one else. I will just say that this Mama Bear became very protective very quickly and possibly got too aggressive but I am happy to report that there were no instances of major concern. When Reese spotted the splash pad it was hard to restrain him. He would have run through the whole thing and gotten soaked if we would have let him. We will definitely have to take him back some time when it gets warmer so he can do just that! We watched a boat and then walked past the horses that Reese wanted to pet. We ran up the hill and then played hide-n-seek around the statue for a while. One of my favorite moments of our time there was when Reese spotted two birds and ran after them to try to catch them. As you can see in our pictures we also enjoyed the color block wall.

After the park we ate dinner at Katz's Deli.

I remember eating there once when I briefly worked in downtown and all I remember is that it was a lot more expensive than I expected. Kyle had never eaten there and for whatever reason, he wanted to try it out. Reese ate all but 3 bites of his footlong hot dog! I'd say he enjoyed it. Kyle enjoyed a French Dip sandwich and I got some sort of Turkey and Pastrami with cheese sandwich. Oh, we also started with potato skins which were pretty good. Our friends had recommended the cheesecake shake but we were too full by the time the waiter asked if we'd like dessert. All in all, it was a good meal but, in our opinion, over priced.

23 Weeks and 2 Days

2011-03-02T17:54:00.003-06:00

I'm 23 weeks and 2 days today...only 117 more days!

Size of Baby: Baby is 10.5-11.8 inches, 12.7-20.8 oz, roughly the size of a papaya.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I was really worried about this at my appointment today but I was pleasantly surprised when my doc said I'm doing o.k. in this area. The scale wasn't as bad as I thought it would be so I hope I've plateaued for a little while.

Maternity Clothes: I pretty much wear them all the time.

Gender: It’s a GIRL. I think we have a name but I'm not ready to reveal it yet.

Movement: I am positive that I feel her throughout the day. I feel her really low but I can tell when she is movin' and shakin'.

Sleep: Still not great. I want to go to sleep really early but then I wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep.

What I Miss: More than one Coke a day. Yes, I am an addict.

Cravings: Nothing in particular.

Symptoms: I'm feeling really good. However, my energy is GONE early in the evenings. If I sit down about 6:30 or 7:00 I want to go to sleep. R usually won’t let me go to sleep that early so it is closer to 9 before I actually hit the hay.

Best Moment This Week: Hearing her heartbeat loud and strong today at my appointment. It is always reassuring to hear the heartbeat and/or see the baby on an ultrasound. Doc also said that all of my bloodwork has come back good and she has tested negative for Downs syndrome. I have the dreaded glucose test at my next visit on March 30. I hope I pass the 1 hour test this time. With R I failed the 1 hour but passed the 3 hour.

I'm still trying to decide on fabric for her bedding. I am pretty sure I want to go with the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms collection but I have to narrow it down to 2 or 3. I hope to make a trip to High Fashion Fabric in Houston soon to get some swatches and see them in person. I still hope to paint her room over Spring Break. Hopefully pictures coming soon.

Welcome Warmer Weather

2011-02-22T20:39:00.002-06:00

While I played outside with my boy again Sunday afternoon we discovered that his sidewalk chalk was destroyed. So when I decided that I needed to go to Wal-Mart yesterday I was very happy to see that they had a box of sidewalk chalk for sale for $1. R couldn't wait to open it so as soon as we got home, I barely had time to put our purchases down before we ripped off the plastic and pulled out the chalk. R was much more independant with his drawing this time and I managed to snag a few pictures of him making his inaugural drawings of 2011. By the way, I am pretty proud of his new $3 sandals I got for him at Academy this weekend (he is sporting them in the pictures).

BABY UPDATE: 22 weeks and 1 day today, only 125 days left. I have my next appointment in a week and I'm looking forward to making sure she is still growing on track. I really don't have any other exciting updates yet. We haven't decided on a name yet but I'm still hopeful we will be able to make a decision before too long. I am still hung up on my dream bedding but haven't made any trips to a fabric store yet so no progress there either. I am still planning to get the room painted over Spring Break so I will have to get to a fabric store within the next 3 weeks to make that happen. I will definitely share pictures as soon as we have some progress.

The Return of Auntie Days

2011-02-22T20:26:00.004-06:00

Last Friday marked the return of the infamous Auntie Days. My sister, a.k.a Auntie, works a schedule that allows her every other Friday off. Since Reese was born she has made most of her Fridays off, Auntie Days, where she keeps Reese and they do fun things together. A few months back her office put Auntie Days on hold but we were all excited to hear that they were back.

Of course, I made sure to pack my camera for her to capture some of the fun of the first Auntie Day in a few months. They had a busy day around town. I believe one of the first things they did was go on a walk with Pop's dog, Patch. No pictures of that but I know it was a treat to see for anyone that got a glimpse of it. Rachel said that R wanted to hold her hand the whole time while she attempted to keep up with Patch on a leash with the other hand. Haha. After that they took Gram some lunch and hung out at her house for a little while. Reese loves to help Gram feed the birds in her backyard. He also loves to play with all of the yard art and knick knacks she has back there.

I am so happy that they have that special time together and I can't wait to see how baby girl changes the dynamic of Auntie Days in a few months. ;o)

"Shhh, Mama!"

2011-02-16T19:50:00.003-06:00

This evening I got off of my lazy bum and took my sweet little man out in the front yard for a little play time. He loves to pick up the rocks that line our flower bed and throw them. He likes to dig in the dirt. He even decided to throw some rocks at the bushes. He is all boy. ;o)

At one point he decided to start hiding his toy horse he had brought outside with us. He hid it under a bush and then walked around the yard saying something along the lines of "Where horse?" "No, that's not it." And then he would call me over and tell me "Shhh, Mama!" and ask me "Where horse?" He also put the horse to sleep at one point and said "shhhh!" and told me to walk away. I wish I could bottle up his cuteness. These aren't the best pictures but I couldn't resist trying to capture him in his hide-n-seek with the horse game.

In baby news, I found my dream bedding today. I say dream because there is no way I can afford it. I might just try to recreate it but I'm not sure yet. It is definitely an inspiration picture. I don't think the web site allows you to save the picture so you'll have to click here to check it out.

Sweet Little Man

2011-02-14T20:58:00.003-06:00

Reese’s personality is really coming out more and more all the time. He cracks us up constantly. He is definitely in the toddler stage of pushing the limits and I find it harder to be consistent than I thought it would be. He is just so cute that I fall to his charms more often than I would like to admit. On the way home from the ultrasound Saturday he was sitting in his new spot in the back seat (behind the passenger seat) and he did not like the sun in his eyes. He pointed at the sun and said “No sun!” and then proceeded to stick out his tongue and give the sun a raspberry. He has decided that he likes Go Diego Go within the last couple of weeks and the crocodile episode and monkey episode seem to be his favorites. He is still playing with choo-choos and rawrs (dinosaurs) almost daily. He was the sweetest helper in the kitchen yesterday. I got some slice and bake sugar cookies for him and his daddy and he even wanted to help me cut them. He also iced one for himself…well he ate icing out of the jar. I made a tres leches cake to bring to work today for our Valentine’s Day dessert buffet and he had to help me with the cake. He was very good at holding the measuring cups and spoon for me and dumping the ingredients in to a bowl. I think the eggs were his favorite part, though. He has cracking them down but still can’t quite manage to break it open and pour it in the bowl. I hope that he continues to enjoy being in the kitchen and cooking with both of us. His daddy is definitely the better cook in our house and I’ve always enjoyed and admired that. Reese really is a very loving boy. He gives us kisses and hugs daily and has gotten to where he will hand out kisses to family members that ask, too. One morning last week he decided he wanted to see his Auntie and grabbed GiGi to head up the stairs to find her. He says Auntie more like “A-E” but he loves his Auntie bunches. I’m excited that they are going to get to have their Fridays together again starting this week. My sister works a schedule that allows her to have every other Friday off so those have been designated “Auntie Days” since he was born. Those days are going to get much more interesting when baby girl arrives. ;o)

I need to do better at documenting all of the cute things Reese does so I will try to be better at writing them here. I love my little man!

This is my sweet boy on the way home today. Mrs. Sarah gave him a cookie and he couldn't wait until we got home to enjoy it. His daddy and I figured it is Valentine's Day so why not let him eat his cookie before dinner. ;o) The best part was that he ate all of the icing off and then told me "take Mama" when it was just cookie left.

21 Weeks

2011-02-14T20:56:00.001-06:00

I'm 21 weeks today...only 133 more days!

Size of baby: Baby is 10.5 inches long, the size of a banana and weighs about 12.7 ounces.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don’t remember my exact weight when I started but I think I’m up about 10 pounds. I’m still not thrilled with the way this part of the pregnancy is going.

Maternity Clothes: I pretty much wear them all the time.

Gender: It’s a GIRL. No name yet but I’m hoping we can agree sooner rather than later.

Movement: I am pretty sure I keep feeling her but it is still pretty light. I am looking forward to knowing without a doubt that it is her. And I really can’t wait for my boys to be able to feel her, too.

Sleep: I haven’t been able to get comfortable at night throughout this whole pregnancy. Since we found out that we are going to have a daughter on Saturday I have woken up thinking about how to decorate the nursery and what kind of girly things we might need.

What I miss: More than one Coke a day. Yes, I am an addict.

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I have been craving sweets more lately than I was. And I still don’t want anything to do with Mexican food.

Symptoms: I'm feeling really good. However, my energy is GONE early in the evenings. If I sit down about 6:30 or 7:00 I want to go to sleep. R usually won’t let me go to sleep that early so it is closer to 9 before I actually hit the hay.

Best Moment this week: Finding out the gender! Kyle, Reese, my mom, Doc, my sister and my mother-in-law all got to go with us on Saturday to the ultrasound. Of course I shed a couple of tears when the tech said that she was absolutely positive that it is a girl. It was such a relief to finally know! And I have to admit that my mother’s intuition was right again. I had a feeling that Reese was a boy when I went in for his ultrasound and I had a feeling that this one was a girl. Even Kyle admitted Saturday morning before we left that he thought it was a girl, too.

I am hoping that my mom, sister and I can make her bedding. I have been looking at fabric and have narrowed it down to Amy Butler, Heather Bailey or Michael Miller pieces. I am thinking of a turquoise (Tiffany blue) on the walls and hot pink accents. If you know me, you know that I go for bold, bright colors so there won’t be any pale pink in my daughter’s room. We are using the same crib and changing table/dresser that we used with Reese (compliments of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law). I just need to get her room cleaned out so we can paint and get it set up for her. I don’t know how quickly we’ll get to work on the room but I’m hoping to at least have a good bit done by the end of Spring Break (which is only 4 weeks away).

Finally know!

2011-02-12T11:38:00.002-06:00

20 Weeks - Halfway through!

2011-02-07T05:48:00.002-06:00

I am 20 weeks exactly today! Only 20 more to go. ;o)

Baby is roughly the size of a cantaloupe. Average length is 6.5 inches and weight is 10.6 ounces.

I am not going to bore you with all of the same things that I posted last Wednesday because nothing much has changed.

I will share that I went ahead and scheduled an elective ultrasound at a place in Houston for Saturday. I have invited all of the grandparents to go with us and get a peek at the little one so I hope baby doesn't disappoint with such a big audience. Of course, I'm taking my boys with me too so hopefully he/she will show off for daddy and big brother. Fingers crossed!

And since I haven't posted a picture in a while, here is one from Saturday that my sister took on her phone. Isn't my little man handsome!? And he is getting so big.

19 Weeks and Still Don't Know

2011-02-02T16:45:00.002-06:00

I'm 19 weeks and 2 days today...only 145 more days!

Size of baby: Baby is 6 inches long, the size of a mango and weighs about 9 ounces.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don’t remember my exact weight when I started but I think I’m up about 10 pounds. I’m still not thrilled with the way this part of the pregnancy is going.

Maternity Clothes: I pretty much wear them all the time.

Gender: I am super disappointed to report that I still don’t know if I have another boy or a girl after my anatomy scan today. I do, however, have a healthy, stubborn child.

Movement: Not yet. I don’t think I felt movement with R until 21+ weeks, so I’m not worried.

Sleep: I haven’t been able to get comfortable at night throughout this whole pregnancy. And I have felt like I get up to go to the bathroom a minimum of two times a night the whole time, too.

What I miss: More than one Coke a day. Yes, I am an addict.

Cravings: Nothing in particular. I have been craving sweets more lately than I was. And I still don’t want anything to do with Mexican food.

Symptoms: I'm feeling really good. However, my energy is GONE early in the evenings. If I sit down about 6:30 or 7:00 I want to go to sleep. R usually won’t let me go to sleep that early so it is closer to 9 before I actually hit the hay.

Best Moment this week: Finding out that baby is measuring right on schedule and everything looked good. My due date is right on according to the anatomy scan and my doctor said he would schedule my c-section a week before my due date. I’m still going to shoot for the Friday before because my due date is on a Monday. That would make the baby’s birthday June 17. We’ll see if I get my way or not. ;o)

I plan to look in to having a private ultrasound done within the next couple of weeks and might even do the 3D thing this time. I’ll let you know if I get that scheduled.

18 Weeks

2011-01-24T16:57:00.002-06:00

I'm 18 weeks today...only 22 more!

Size of baby: Baby is 5.6 inches long, the size of a sweet potato.
Total Weight Gain/Loss: At my last doctor’s appointment at the end of December I had already gained 6 pounds. I’m not thrilled with the way this part of the pregnancy is going. With Reese I didn’t gain any weight and after I had him I was down 20 pounds. I was very much hoping for that same kind of pregnancy again but now I am scared at how much I might weigh when June comes.
Maternity Clothes: I fully embraced maternity clothes over my Christmas break. I wear pants everyday and shirts fairly often. I can still wear some of my regular shirts but I make sure they are long enough to hide the stretchy part of my pants.
Gender: I have to admit that I am feeling GIRL, but I don’t know if that is just wishful thinking. I will be happy either way because I know that it will be more cost effective to have another boy and I think that R will enjoy having a brother more. I really just want another healthy baby!
Movement: Not yet. I don’t think I felt movement with R until 21+ weeks, so I’m not worried.
Sleep: I haven’t been able to get comfortable at night throughout this whole pregnancy. And I have felt like I get up to go to the bathroom a minimum of two times a night the whole time, too.
What I miss: More than one Coke a day. Yes, I am an addict.
Cravings: Nothing in particular. I have preferred salty to sweet and have eaten a lot of pickles so far. The odd eating symptom is my aversion to Mexican food again. I did it with Reese and I’m doing it again. I LOVE Mexican food accept when I’m pregnant. It never sounds good and if I try to eat it I end up getting nauseous.
Symptoms: I'm feeling really good. However, my energy is GONE early in the evenings. If I sit down about 6:30 or 7:00 I want to go to sleep. R usually won’t let me go to sleep that early so it is closer to 9 before I actually hit the hay.
Best Moment this week: Getting a week closer to finding out the gender! I am hopeful that baby cooperates on February 2 at the anatomy scan and lets us see if we have a boy or girl in there.

Exciting News!

2010-12-19T21:53:00.002-06:00

We are thrilled to announce that Reese will be a big brother on, or around, June 27, 2011! I will be 13 weeks tomorrow and so far everything is going well. I have been fortunate this pregnancy that I have not had any morning sickness (I was sick the first 4 months with R) although I have had some nausea. At this point I can't wait to find out if it is a boy or girl. I really just want a healthy baby but I'm also nosy and ready to start planning more. ;o)

Shutterfly and Christmas Cards

2010-12-09T21:18:00.002-06:00

I am behind on getting my Christmas cards done this year but I am hoping that Shutterfly will help me out. I have used this site a couple of times and have always gotten great service and products. If you've never checked them out, go here. I'm thinking of using Reese's 2 year pictures for our card this year. I'm playing around with adding a little something extra on them, too. I'm trying to decide if the extra part is appropriate or not. I will see what I decide. I know I need to make decisions about all of it pretty quickly. When I decide on everything, I will post on here to share with you. ;o)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-12-03T20:32:00.004-06:00

We are slowly but surely getting in the Christmas spirit around here. We took Reese to get his picture taken with Santa early this year. My sister-in-law's father is a Santa and he is working at the Bass Pro Shops in Pearland this year. Reese loved the BPS set up and wanted to play with their displays instead of get his picture taken. He still did a good job. ;o) They had a choo choo on display and he didn't want to leave it at all. He also took a turn at shooting the Nerf type arrow gun...like father, like son.

Tonight I finally forced myself to clean up a little and put the tree up. I feel better now that I did it. I can't wait until I can get some presents bought and wrapped. I haven't really bought anything yet but I'll figure it out.

Happy Holidays!

Family Time

2010-11-29T20:24:00.003-06:00

This Hopper family really enjoyed their family time over the Thanksgiving break. K and I were off Wednesday through Sunday and it was a glorious 5 days. K surprised me by taking us to the Kemah Boardwalk on Wednesday for lunch and some fun. I have to say that we were pretty disappointed with the Lighthouse Buffet. I would not recommend that restuarant to anyone. Despite the poor food we had a good time taking Reese on the carousel and choo choo. Reese picked out his dragon to ride on the carousel and it was precious to hear him say "bye dragon" when the ride was over. He even pointed to it to show his daddy when we were passing by him. I love my sweet boy! He wanted to ride the choo choo again as soon as we got off of there. We plan to go back again some time and let Reese ride all of the rides as much as he wants. :oD

Mom's 50 & Fabulous Party

2010-11-29T19:27:00.005-06:00

My wonderful mother turned the big 5-0 on November 17. Since her special day fell on a Wednesday we decided to surprise her early with a party. Her boyfriend, Doc, along with my sister and I managed to pull off the first real surprise of her life. ;o) It was awesome. Her reaction was priceless and you can tell in the video. The woman who brings life to every party and lights up a room was literally and gently pushed in to the room of about 30 of her family and friends. We served Antonio's lasagna and chicken alfredo along with salad and breadsticks. My fantastic husband made us two of his outstanding cheesecakes for the party, too. Gram was a huge help in putting all of the finishing touches on the decorations and final preparations. I think it was a huge hit and am so proud of my mommy!

Quilt Show 2010

2010-11-28T14:28:00.009-06:00

I've been slacking, to say the least, with my blogging. There are a couple of reasons but nothing too exciting. ;o)

So, this will be the first of a couple of posts to try to catch you up on the Hoppers. Mom, Rachel, Reese and I went to the Quilt Show for the second year in a row. It was a lot of fun again but we took over 100 pictures that day so there is no way I can take the time to post them all here. If you are interested in viewing all 100+ photos, click here and check out the album on Facebook. We even went to Discovery Green before we went to our car and they had a metal sculpture display going on. Reese loved playing there.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Mom had to go straight to the booth that was giving away these bags before we did anything else. We each got a bag. ;o)

Reese was matching his rawr (as he calls his dinosaurs) to the one on the material.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T20:45:00.005-05:00

I love Reese's costume this year and he does too! He is the cutest dinosaur I've ever seen! ;o) He had fun at Mrs. Sarah's yesterday with his friends. Here are a couple of my favorites.

We went to the pumpkin patch in Baytown this afternoon and I managed to get a couple of cute pictures. Reese loved riding the choo choo and was pretty fixated on it the entire time we were there.

I still haven't decided if we are going trick-or-treating tomorrow or not but we shall see. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

2010-10-20T19:26:00.004-05:00

This will be Reese's third Halloween but our first attempt at pumpkin carving. My sister was a big motivator to make this happen. She even went as far as to buy a pumpkin ang pumpkin carving kit for me. We had big plans for Reese to help me dig out the pumpkin and then help Rachel paint some mini pumpkins. When it came down to it, Reese wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin goop. He ran away quickly and left me to do all of the work. I was excited to have picked out my pattern and ready to make my pumpkin look just like it. Sooo...professional pumpkin carving is not a career option I will ever have. When you scroll down you will see how it turned out and what it was supposed to be. It was a lot of fun spending time with my family and Reese ended up painting himself in addition to the pumpkins. I am looking forward to next week when he wears his dinosaur costume and I get some cute pictures of that!

Race for the Cure 2010

2010-10-09T14:56:00.006-05:00

Last weekend was the 20th Anniversary of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Houston and I am proud to say that my family and I participated. My grandmother was celebrating 6 years of being cancer free and we couldn't be prouder of her. This event is amazing in that about 36,000 were there this year. It was crazy crowded but a lot of fun. Gram, Rachel, Reese and I did the Family Fun Walk. Mom and Terri Jacobs did the noncompetitive 5k walk. Doc ran in the competitive 5k. Reese loved playing with the ducks in the park and he even got to play with some bouncy houses (including one with a slide). We kept our race tradition of eating brunch at Ninfa's on Navigation after everyone had completed their events. I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Beware that there are a lot of pictures. ;o)

Playing Around

2010-10-09T14:47:00.002-05:00

Reese has really loved playing with his choo choos lately. I owe a big THANK YOU to my sweet cousin Collin for passing them along to Reese. The track stays set up in his room and he loves for Kyle or I to stay in there with him while he plays.

A little over a week ago Gram, Reese and I went to watch my cousin Kayla play one of her 8th grade volleyball games. She did a great job and I wish I could get over to support her and Collin more. Reese and I still need to go to one of Collin's football games so look for those pictures soon.

Simple Fun

2010-09-25T21:36:00.003-05:00

Reese and I had fun today on our adventure with Kyle. Our little Hopper adventures usually consist of driving in to Houston to go to Academy or one of the other sporting goods stores and possibly getting something to eat. Today it was Academy in Katy, Target on Westheimer and Central Market.

Reese loves to play hide-n-seek among the clothing racks at stores. You can see in the picture that it brings him great joy. ;o) He is enthralled with the fishing poles, too. I am still hoping that he will follow in his daddy's footsteps and love the same outdoor activities like fishing and hunting. I know that they will have many great memories together.

We got lucky at Central Market today in that the greeter was very nice and gave Reese a balloon as soon as we walked in the door. It was a great source of amusement as you can see in the pictures. We were also lucky because they had some delicious apples in stock so Kyle treated our family to some of nature's candy. ;o)

Who needs a pool...

2010-09-16T23:06:00.002-05:00

when you have a perfectly good water table? ;o) We ventured out in to our backyard this evening and Reese quickly found a way to have some good, clean fun. (pun intended) He and his daddy spent a good while out there making bubbles and splashing around. They were both soaked by the time we made him go inside.

I love my boys!

Cutie Patootie

2010-09-12T20:00:00.005-05:00

I am a little partial, but I think my son is a cutie patootie! He just keeps getting a cuter personality and he can't help but be a beautiful boy. ;o)

My sister and I took Reese to Target yesterday just for fun. While we were down a Halloween aisle she gave him two light toys to play with. He ended up putting them up to his ears and listening to them. Of course Mommy needed a turn too. My sister couldn't pass up catching all of that on film so I had to share them with you.

Reese has really started talking more. I have been worried that he wasn't on target developmentally because he doesn't talk much but I think he just chooses not to talk. Part of that is because we haven't weaned him off of his binky yet (much to my mother's chagrin). We know he can speak but he just doesn't. Two of the cutest things he has started saying recently are "love you" and "k". He has only told his daddy "lub ooh" but that is o.k. It melts my heart every time and his daddy couldn't have a bigger smile on his face when it happens.

I didn't realize that I say "o.k.?" to him so much but I became aware of it recently when he started answering me with "kay". ;o) I am now working on changing that to "yes ma'am" but it is still cute.

Our potty training extent has been to buy the training potty. I put him on it from time to time but he has yet to tee tee or poo poo in the potty. I think I will get him some underwear this week and start trying to have him wear those when he is at home. I should have done it over the summer but I kept putting it off.

I had borrowed a pair of cowboy boots from my friend Lori for our pep rally this week and left them in our room. Reese found them and decided he needed to try them on. I couldn't miss the photo op but I only had my cell phone handy so the pictures aren't great quality. I had to post them anyway. ;o)

Other than that we have just been super busy getting back in to the swing of things with work. It is hard to believe three weeks have already passed of this school year but they have. I am learning a lot with yearbook and reacclamating myself with sophomore English. Kyle is enjoying have a couple of Pre-AP Algebra II classes in addition to his academic ones. It is a little interesting that we are in the same hallway and actually have several students that have both of us for class. So far the whole working at the same school thing has been nice. We don't see each other too much and if I need him he is right there.

We went to Kyle's 20th reunion last night and it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I think I'll just post those pictures on Facebook.

Until next time...

Go Pats!

2010-08-28T22:06:00.004-05:00

Thursday was my new school's first football game. It was also our first home game so we had a pep rally before school and of course, I went. ;o) I LOVE pep rallies! There is something about the band playing, the cheerleaders and dance team shaking it, and the student body cheering that gets me all giddy. I have a ton of school pride from my high school days and I try to pass that on to my students because I believe it is important.

Kyle and I were good faculty members and went to the game. We took Reese, too, and enjoyed sitting by some of our colleagues and their families. We only made it to half time because it was a school night and we didn't want to get too far off of our nightly schedule. We all enjoyed ourselves even though it turned out that the Patriots lost. We are looking forward to attending at least the remaining 3 home games if not more.

Friday night was "The Game" in Baytown between Lee and Sterling. Being that I have so much school pride and wanting to see my teacher friends and former students, I went to the game. I only stayed until half time again but I loved it. It was a good game and tied 7-7 when I left. I was so proud to realize that I had taught 11 of the varsity football players, a couple of cheerleaders and a handful of Stars. I have to admit that I do miss "my kids." My students become "mine" whether they like it or not. I connect with many of them and love to watch them blossom throughout their high school careers. I have even stayed in touch with a couple of them since they graduated. My students have a special place in my heart and that is why I teach.

Now that I've rambled on and gotten all sentimental on you, I will finish my bit on "The Game." RANGERS WON! We pulled out a victory in overtime for a final score of 28-20. Unfortunately Lee has won "The Game" more than Sterling so it makes it even sweeter when we pull out a win. Some might say that it wasn't an even match this year because for the first time in 40+ years Lee moved down to 4A and Sterling is still 5A...but I don't care. We drove 'Ol Dixie down and I will keep singing about it for the next year. ;o)

Whoa!

2010-08-11T09:59:00.004-05:00

Since it has been so stinkin' hot here lately we haven't spent nearly as much time outside. It is our last week of summer before Kyle and I go back to work so we are spending it as a family for the most part. I have wanted to take Reese to see the dinosaur exhibit at the Houston Zoo but that is super hot. (And I have a friend that went and said that the dinosaurs are animitronic which makes me think we'd have another Rainforest Cafe experience on our hands. I'd like to avoid those experiences as much as possible.) As an alternative to the zoo exhibit I thought that he might like to see the dinosaurs at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Luckily, when I checked out the museum's web site I found that admission is free on Tuesdays after 2. Perfect.

As soon as Reese saw the dinosaurs we started hearing "Whoa!" and "Ooh!" It was worth the drive in to see his reaction to the big creatures. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in the small area of the paleontology exhibit but we got some good people watching in, too. ;o) Kyle was kind enough to be my photographer for the day and he did a great job.

Fruit of Our Tree

2010-08-09T22:59:00.003-05:00

My mom, sister and I decided that we wanted a blog dedicated to our creations this weekend. Check out Fruit of Our Tree to see what we've made and keep checking back for future projects. We all love being crafty and creative and we all usually help each other along the way. It is a lot of fun and a great release for us.

Also, I need to write down somewhere that I am starting the Couch to 5k program again in the morning. I have my new tools (toys) to play with and am hoping to get back in to the swing of things. I can tell a difference in how I handle stress and the quality of sleep I get when I exercise opposed to when I am a lazy bum. ;o)

Bathing Beauty

2010-08-07T17:37:00.003-05:00

It has been a while since I posted on here and it has been a while since I posted pictures. Reese loves playing with bubbles in the bath! I think these pictures speak for themselves.

We have just been hanging out and enjoying our time together as a family before school starts up again. Nothing too exciting other than my trip to Dallas for the Taylor Yearbook Adviser Conference at the end of July. Oh, and I turned the big 3-0! ;o)

Mommy and Reese - Summer Part 1

2010-07-17T19:31:00.006-05:00

I wrote the paragraphs thinking that they would be above each picture or two so that you could read the description that went with the picture but apparently I had the wrong layout chosen for the photos. Sorry!

I am going to give you a quick update on my summer with my boy.

We've gone swimming a couple of times over at my in-laws and Reese is fearless when it comes to the water. He will jump in without anyone there to catch him (yes, this has happened twice so far but luckily I was close enough to catch him quickly and he didn't suffer...very scary for Momma!). He has gone down the slide several times. The first couple of times were with my oldest nephew and then we let him go a couple of times by himself with one of us at the bottom to catch him. He loves it!

We have visited our neighborhood park. Reese isn't too interested in the playground because he would rather chase the ducks by the pond.

He chased every duck out of the water all the way to the water and I think he would have gone in after them if I would have let him. ;o) It was hilarious to watch! Reese wanted to pet them so bad but they wouldn't let him. Haha.

We have had a playdate with Miss Riley. She is a lot of fun and they play well.

Reese got his first library card! He played at the kids computer a little but we've spent most of our time at the library at Toddler Time. I had to make sure I got a picture of the first two books he checked out.

He has entertained himself with a box.

I tried a new recipe...sweet potato brownies. They were good but my husband said they tasted more like a cake than a brownie.

He finally got a haircut and he looks like such a big boy with it so short. Again, he loves getting in to boxes. We went around the living room some in this one.

Our good friends that live in San Marcos and weren't able to make Reese's birthday party threw him a "make-up party" when they came to visit their family. It was complete with cupcakes and presents. Reese and I had a blast at Grandma Jan's with her and Paw Paw Charles, Nicole, Sebastian, Aunt Pat, Allison, Shawn, Avery and Megan.

We took Reese to his first movie in a theater. We saw Toy Story 3 and loved it! Reese did so good sitting in my lap through the whole movie and not crying once. He even told Buzz and Woody "bye!" at the end. ;o)

We spent the 4th of July weekend with family. Reese wasn't too sure he liked the fireworks up close but luckily he has plenty of family to hold him. This is my Uncle Kenneth holding him while they popped fireworks at my grandmother's house.

Last, but not least, we had VBS at our church last Saturday. It was a Bible Boot Camp theme and I love this picture of my sweet boy as a soldier. I pray that he grows up to be a great soldier of Christ!

We went to the beach Monday with my sister-in-laws and three of my nieces and nephews. I will post some of those pictures later. Let me just say that I should not have been in the sun for about 6 hours straight with only two sunscreen applications. I was in pain that night and the following day.

We will be traveling to Dallas soon for my first Taylor Publishing yearbook adviser conference. I am really looking forward to this new aspect of my career!

It's Official....

2010-07-13T19:12:00.003-05:00

I am going from this

to this

I will be a Goose Creek Memorial Patriot beginning in August. It is bittersweet to say goodbye to the Rangers of Ross S. Sterling High School because, not only did I spend the first 4 years of my teaching career there, but I graduated from that school myself. I am a blue-blooded Ranger and am proud to say that my husband, parents, sister and most of my in-laws were, too. I feel a sense of pride for being a Ranger for 8 years (4 as a student and 4 as a teacher) but I am excited about my new adventure.

I will still be teaching English but I am moving back to the sophomore level. In addition to English I will have Journalism classes including being the yearbook adviser! I can't wait to jump in to my new role and see what it has in store for me. I will be heading to a conference in Dallas before the month is over to learn about being an adviser and I am stoked.

Of course Reese and I have been busy but I will have to try to catch you up on that later. ;o)

A Couple More Firsts...

2010-06-27T22:50:00.005-05:00

Despite being 2 years old, last week held a couple more firsts for Reese. He went to his first Astros game and got his first library card! Of course I documented both with plenty of pictures so don't fret. ;o)

The Astros game was courtesy of me running in the Race for the Pennant 5k. My mom, her boyfriend, Doc, and my sister all participated in the race, too. As particpants we each got 2 free tickets to a specified game. Unfortunately, Rachel got sick last week and Doc had to go out of town for business, so they missed out on the game. They generously gave their tickets to my Aunt Andy and her family which made for quite a nice evening. Gram, Mom, Reese and I drove in together and met up with the Brown family at the ball park. Reese was glad to see all of his relatives and especially had fun with Kayla in the kids area.

You might remember me taking Reese to Toddler Time at the library last summer. Well I had to keep that up again and last Thursday was our first time to go to the Sterling Municipal Library in Baytown. (We went to Toddler Time at the Mont Belvieu Library two weeks ago but that is a whole other story. It was hot and there was a talkative farmer there with a milking cow.) Anyway, we got to the library a little early this week so I decided to take Reese to check out the kids section. While we were back there I figured we'd spend a little time playing on the computer. Well it turns out that you need a library card to log in to a computer. I have one but mine wasn't working so I figured it was as good a time as any to go ahead and get my boy his very own library card. We went ahead and checked out 2 books, too. I went with Dr. Seuss, of course, but two that we don't own yet, "I've Got a Wocket in my Pocket" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" I am loving the Wocket in my Pocket book! I don't remember reading it before and some of the phrases crack me up when I'm reading it. I can't wait to see if my son enjoys reading and going to the library as much as I do/did when I was a kid!

We had a busy Thursday because after our visit to the library we went to Chick-fil-A with some of our friends and Reese climbed as far in to the play equipment as he ever has. He made it to the car but not down the slide. It was still a little scary for this mommy who couldn't exactly see her child the whole time and had to trust that he could handle himself with all of the other crazy kids running him over because he was a little hesitant and they were old pros. After that momentous feat we went home and took a nap. When we got up we found Gram and asked her to tag along to Sam's for some diapers. My sweet boy did one of the classic baby moves with the empty diaper box. I missed catching his cute little face smiling proudly when he revealed himself and crawled out of the box. Just know it was adorable. ;o)

I have to say that I would probably update this blog more often if my stupid computer wasn't so slow. It is such a pain in the rear to make a post anymore. Blech.

Like Father, Like Son

2010-06-21T10:42:00.008-05:00

In honor of Father's Day yesterday, I got a little nostalgic about watching my husband in his role as DaDa. I figured I would share with you some of my favorite pictures of my boys together. Kyle is not fond of having pictures taken of himself but I force him in to it as much as possible with our son. ;o)

As a father Kyle is gentle, patient and kind. I think he got a lot of his qualities from his daddy. He and his daddy had a special relationship and I keep hoping that Reese and Kyle have one that is very similar. Richard was a wonderful man and an outstanding daddy. He loved kids, especially his own and his grand kids, and Kyle often remembers the fun times they had together. I am blessed to have a husband who had a great example of what a father should be. I am looking forward to watching our family grow in the years to come because I know that we have the best foundation in Kyle.

We love you!

Playing Catch Up...

2010-06-14T22:24:00.003-05:00

You know you haven't updated your blog in a while when your husband asks you when you are going to get around to that. ;o) It has been over a month since my last post and I can't tell you how many times I wanted to post but just didn't have the time or energy. May was a crazy busy month and although I started the second week of my summer vacation today, I can say that I've still been busy. Here is the unconventional recap of the highlights since my last post.

May
- Mother's Day
- Rachel's Birthday
- Cousins graduated from college
- Uncle Kenneth's 50th Birthday
- Mom and Doc jumped out of a plane
- Addison and Blair got married
- Mitchell (my oldest nephew) graduated from BH High School
- Ran second 5K race: Houston Astros's Race for the Pennant

June
- Ended 4th year of teaching
- Celebrated 5th year of wedded bliss in New Orleans (first time to leave the baby for a couple of days, too)
- Began massive cleaning out of house

You can imagine from all of the events above that I have way too many pictures to post on here. I am thinking about putting them all on a photo sharing site and posting a link for those that are interested. ;o) I'll let you know what I decide.

I can't post without a couple of pictures so here are a couple of my favorites over the last month.