Sunday, June 29, 2008

Real Life Super Heros

James was out of town on business all last week. I definitely need people around me or I get pretty lonely, so Hunter and I kept busy.

(Thanks for hanging out so much with us Court and Kate!)

Monday we went to Hawaiian Falls...
Tuesday we went to Target where I got some new shorts and these new shoes (both on clearance!)....



I also got these new shoes...


and this new swimsuit (the one on the right - I couldn't resist the swim skirt, especially with my hatred of my thighs)..


I sadly realized on Monday that my bikini is so not cutting it for public swim anymore. My post-pregnancy body is not the same as my pre-pregnancy one or maybe it's just my post-pregnancy body image that's so different...either way I made it a priority to buy a new swim suit. I felt kind of ridiculous walking around in a bikini on Monday while carrying my 15 month old. I am gonna keep the old bikini in my drawer...just in case I ever get that pre-pregnancy body and self confidence back:)


Wednesday we had play group...
which was pretty small this week, but fun! It was just Ronnie, Hunter and Meryn. As you can see, Meryn has forgiven Hunter for this incident. Hunter looks so big making lovey eyes at Meryn. That cradle robber...I guess he follows in his father's footsteps;)


Thursday we were back at Hawaiian Falls after buying my season pass. We had fun, but the experience was for sure different from our first visit. For some reason there were way more teenagers there on Thursday. I seriously did not know I was that annoying all of those summers in middle school and high school hanging out at Wet N Wild. Just an FYI for you teeny boppers - playing Marco Polo in the Lazy River is not the best idea ever.
Friday James came home (finally!). We were both so excited to see him!

All week I kept thinking how hard it must be for single parents. I didn't even really come close to understanding what life must be like for them, but without James there to help me with the small day to day things, I really got to thinking about how much I respect single parents. It is not any easy task to raise a child with your partner, I can't imagine the challenge it is when you are alone. These men and women are my heros!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Hawaiian Falls

So Hunter and I made the short trek over to Hawaiian Falls earlier this week, and we loved it! Both of my sisters have season passes, so I decided to go ahead and get one too. Y'all feel free to come with us anytime!


Hunter loves to take off mine or James's glasses (or really any glasses on any person that he is within a step of), and then try to put them back on. FYI - this can be very dangerous. We've learned to keep our eyes shut once those little hands start flying at our faces. The next time you see us, you might want to make sure you're wearing your contacts.


Hunter spent the majority of the day in his little tube. He LOVED kicking his feet and moving around in the water.

Glasses again. What did I tell ya? You really can't get too close to that kid. He has an obssession.

After hanging out in the pool and the lazy river and one ride down the terrifying baby slide (and it was terrifying. Hunter let everyone in the kiddy area know exactly how he felt about said slide), we had to stop for a snack...


and some laughs with Aunt Courtney.

We're going back tomorrow. Hopefully Hunter will have just as much fun!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

C & J Landscaping Services

Well our muscles ache, our fair, fair skin is burnt (and covered in bug bites), and we've sweat a little more than I wish to in a lifetime, but we are finished with the landscaping. And I must say it looks oodles better...

Before
(Well those are before the planting began on Saturday, but after James and I dug up weeds for a couple of hours on Friday - plus the time I spent doing this last week.)

After


I did make one mistake during our first big landscaping job, but James swears it's not noticeable. Let's see if y'all can tell...
Do you see it?

We ran out of Begonia's on Saturday morning, so that afternoon we went and got more. I picked out the wrong kind, though. See how the front ones are different. I'm trying REALLY hard not to let this ruin my appreciation of our new landscaping, but unfortunately I'm being a little psycho perfectionist about it. Maybe it will get better in time...or maybe worse. If history is any indicator, I'm going with the latter on that one.

Anyway, Hunter was a GREAT help on Saturday. He went with us to the nursery to pick out the plants and flowers and was an angel the whole time, and then came home and took a 2 hour nap so we could get a lot done. He even helped out after he woke up by sitting patiently in the shade for a while contemplating putting the grass in his mouth. After trying dirt, he figured he could brave putting anything in his mouth.

After much consideration, he ultimately decided to go for it...As you can tell, he gives grass a much better review than dirt. Who wouldn't?

Here's the closest thing to a full view of our house that I could get with my camera.

Hunter says, "Great job mommy and daddy! I'm so excited to have a beautifully landscaped front lawn!"

I know. He's super advanced in his expressive language for his age. I've been working with him on it:)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Today my kid ate dirt.

Oh yes he did. You read that right.

Since we moved into our house 1 1/2 ago, our flower beds have looked horrible. I'm totally embarrassed by them. So we decided to use our economic stimulus check to have a landscape architect come and fix it for us. But when we got our check the other day, we decided that although it'd be nice to have a beautifully, professionally landscaped yard, we could use $995 for other important things. Like gas.

So we're going the cheap route. I.e., Carole and James Landscaping Services will be doing the flower beds. It is hard work people. Especially when its 100 degrees out. And just an FYI, tilling the flower beds and pulling weeds in 100 degree heat = LOTS of sweat. And I do not like to sweat, so when James got home and saw what I had done today, he said (and this is seriously a verbatim quote), "I'm so proud of you honey." That man knows me well.

Anyway, before we went out to sweat like half of my body weight off, I put on Hunter's hat and glasses and sat him under the tree in the front yard for shade. It took about .5 seconds for both pieces of protective sun gear to come off. He looked dang cute, but this is the best picture I could get...

You'll have to just use your imagination.

It didn't take long for Hunter to crawl over to me and start pulling the weeds out of the trash bag. I was so thankful when he was over that game that I barely noticed him grabbing handfuls of dirt and didn't look up in time to use the mommy block and prevent him from shoving TONS of dirt into his mouth. He quickly spit it out and we ran inside where I tried my best to use a washcloth to get it out.

When we went back out, Hunter started picking up piles of dirt again and rubbing them into his scalp. Yep. My kid is all about personal hygeiene.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Tagged Again

My friend Kaitlin tagged me, but this one is a different one than I've seen before, so here's some more info on me. Yay for y'all! Totally kidding.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Hmmm...I'd just graduated from good ole GHS and was trying to recover from a really bad haircut - the worst of my life. It was awful y'all. I wish I had a picture to show you. In fact, I'm going to go find one to scan and upload so you can see just how horrible and traumatic it was for me. I was also hanging out with my girlfriends because we were all about to part ways as we went off to college.



yeah. told you - worst.haircut.ever.

2) What are five things on my list to do today?
Okay since the day's over, these are 5 things I did today:
1. sent out the cutest invites ever for a shower I'm hosting
2. worked
3. went to the grocery store - this may be my least favorite thing in all of the world. I hate it with the passion of a thousand fires.
4. organized stuff - I love organizing and try to organize at least one time a day:) Am I making you crazy?
5. watched The Bachelorette - and oh was it good.

3) What snacks do I enjoy?
here's my top five in no order - just depends on my mood
1. chips and salsa
2. ice cream
3. pickles - no I'm not pregnant. I don't know why I thought of those back to back.
4. cheese and crackers
5. sonic drinks

4) Where are some places that I've lived?
Ready to be bored? I've never lived out of the metroplex...
Garland, Sachse, Denton, Corinth, Richardson

5) What things would I do if I were a billionare?
I hate questions like this because I feel like I always dissapoint, but I'll give it a shot. I guess I'd travel, but not too much because I hate being away from home for long periods of time. I'd redo my kitchen. Well I guess I'd actually just get a new house, but I've been really fixated on my stovetop lately. I want one of those flat ones - do y'all know what I'm talking about? I can't think of what they're called, but my sister got one and I'm totally coveting it. I'd probably figure out some other really extravagant things to do also. Then I'd go and donate a bunch because I'd feel guilty for being so extravagant.

5 people I'm tagging...
court
kate
mom
BH
laura - you're close enough to family Laura, so you fit the trend;)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Cousins

Aunt Katie took the kids to the library one morning while I was at work so cousin Zack could see the snakes. (I know that's weird, but there really were snakes at the Sachse library). Hunter found his Gerber puffs in his diaper bag as soon as they got there, so Kate had to feed him the WHOLE TIME or she said he would scream like crazy! So he's too busy shoving the food in to smile for the camera.


Zack and Vanesa got these clown noses at the library and they kept trying to put them on Hunter after I got home from work, but he quickly took it off every time, so this is the best picture I got.

Hunter also got to see his cousin Brooke this week because they were in town from Odessa. Hunter had lots of fun playing with her at Grandee and Poppy's house.

Brooke kept taking James's hat off and putting it on Hunter. He loved it!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ouch

This past Saturday night James and I went to my 10 year high school reunion. I have been blessed with great friendships from my high school years and fortunately still keep in touch with a lot of people. So if anything, this night was fun because I got to hang out with my friends! I also got to see some of my favorite friends from high school that I don't get to see anymore.

Like this girl...
and this one...
and this one...


They are all so fun and still so easy to talk to!

Of course I took plenty of pictures with friends that I still keep up with...
me, Dustin, Emily

Matt, me, Marcy


me and Crystal


Marcy, Taylor, me


I found a super cute dress to wear to the reunion from my all time favorite store, but since I spent so much on the dress and jewlery, I decided to opt for shoes from one of my other favorite stores, Target. Not my best idea people. A bit of advice - if you're going to be standing for 4 hours, don't wear cheap shoes.

When I saw these awesome shoes in Target with an even awesomer price of $10 (on clearance), I knew they were perfect (especially since they went so well with my outfit)...


But then the end of the night came, and the stabbing pains shooting through my feet were so severe that I couldn't even make it to the car. James had to carry me...

The moral of the story...$500 Manolo's don't seem like such a crazy idea when, because of your "frugal" purchase, your feet are still hurting 9 hours after you've removed your cheap $10 shoes.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Fun in the Sun

We've been braving the heat and having a lot of fun outside this week. Hunter loves to play in the backyard, fortunately we have a pretty big shaded area that I can usually convince him to hang out in.

He especially loves to hang out around the patio furniture. Our backyard is pretty bare other than that, and this area has two positives for him: 1. no grass touching his hands or feet and 2. he can actually walk around because he has something to hold on to.


Here's some photos from the other night when we were hanging out in the back yard...

We called Hunter over to us (we were in the aforementioned shaded area), and he thought about heading our way...
But then he saw the grass...

and then felt the grass and decided to sit his stubborn behind down until we came to get him...

which of course we did, and he was soooo happy!

Then later this past week some of my work friends all went to eat on the patio at Matt's. Hunter and Parker had a great time picking up the chicks. Parker is a real ladies man.

These little mac daddys are way too cool to smile for the camera.


And last but not least, this weekend our church youth ministry had it's annual Scogames. We went on Friday night and Hunter had a pretty good time. James and I got put on separate teams, so Hunter joined my team, Scobabwe, in all of the activies. Doesn't the yellow face paint compliment him well?


Hunter says, "Daddy, Scobabwe is totally going to kick Mexisco's behind!"
(They didn't by the way. James's team, Mexisco, came in first, but Scobabwe was a close second!!)



Hunter tried the water slide with daddy. This was definitely not his idea of fun. It's hard to hear his sream of terror over my big mouth, but if you listen carefully it's there (right before James gets his second push off)...

Friday, June 6, 2008

Miracles

The craziest thing happened today. Two of my very best girlfriends both had their sweet little babies within hours of each other. I was so excited on my way to work this morning when I realized that these two kindred spirits of mine were about to have such an amazing experience.

The new mommies Laura and Amy (as well as Marcy and I), have been friends for 14 years. FOURTEEN YEARS PEOPLE!!! That's a long time to be consistently invested in each others' lives! Together we've been through every emotion a woman can experience, as well as a lot of laughter, tears, crushes, heartache and heartbreak. We've seen each other through new boyfriends, old boyfriends, repeat boyfriends, and finally each woman's last boyfriend. We've shared many secrets, many movies, many phone calls, and many stories.

Fourteen years of friendship. Real friendship. That is remarkable. These 3 women have been pillars of strength for me. They've supported me through my hardest trials and rejoiced with me in my greatest joys. All three of them stood beside me the day I pledged my love and my life to James, supporting our union and making a committment to pray for us for the rest of our lives.

The four of us now have seven kids between us. Seven kids that I will love and pray for as long as I live. I feel so honored to have women like this in my life who I know will be there for me whether they live in Utah or Virginia or just up the street in Plano. I'm so excited for Laura and Matt and Amy and Josh today!

Sweet Victoria Grace arrived at 8:44 am (Utah time) and sweet Noah Gregory arrived at 11:55 am (Fort Worth time). I can't wait to meet them both! I don't have pictures of the babies yet, so here's some pictures of the mamas...



I scanned this one from winter 2003. It's the newest picture I have of the two new mommies and me all together. The sad truth is once the babies arrive, pictures start to focus on them.

Since I spent so long reminiscing while looking through all of my photo albums, I just downloaded the rest of the pictures from my computer. Spending all night scanning old pictures would not be helpful in getting rid of the piles of laundry on my kitchen floor. So no trips down memory lane for this post. Maybe when we've been friends for 20 years I'll dedicate a post to that:)



Amy with Hunter the day after he was born.



Laura, Hunter and I when she came to visit last summer.



Laura, Hunter and I when we went to visit in Utah this past January.




Marcy, Amy and I this past February in Houston.


Amy and I this past March.