Friday, October 31, 2008

Fall fun

Mimi and Nawnee arrived in Iowa on Tuesday, just in time for all the fall festivities:
PUMPKIN CARVING:











DRESS-UP for all, including Mimi...
Addy was supposed to wear her $34.99 doggie costume that she picked out, but a last minute change was necessary because she refused to wear it! So, she became an 80's rock star! When I think of all the things I could've bought with that 34.99, I get a little annoyed... but she's just so cute that my annoyance quickly fades!
Thankfully, Aubrey stuck with the original costume that she picked. She wanted to change to a princess last week, but she was happy to dress Mimi as a princess instead....
And finally, this is what Iowans think of Texans......................

We've had a SPOOKTACULAR time!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Mess-maker, Mess-maker, make me a mess...

Addy, aka Miss thrives-on-mess, has a history of writing on walls...and floors...and bedspreads...and chairs....you get the picture. I thought I broke her of her bad habit, but today I found her like this:


As if that wasn't enough of a mess, I later found her like this:
And, if you see any typos on my blog or in emails, it's because of her recent handiwork:




I managed to salvage all the keys except for the V and B, so those are a little tricky...needless to say, she keeps me on my toes!

Monday, October 27, 2008

internet love...

There is a story I know well...it is about a girl sitting in her dorm room, searching AOL instant messenger for someone to talk to while she was waiting for her friends to finish finals. She randomly clicked on DMWMED, not knowing if it was a boy or girl, just knowing from the profile that the person was from Austin and liked basketball. The person responded, and they chatted online for a little while. This person turned out to be male, and he seemed normal and pretty funny, and come to find out he was in Lubbock too...what are the odds?? Internet dating sites weren't in existence back then, and she remembered the story her mom told her about some girl getting abducted after meeting someone online. However, there was something about this DMWMED that she liked. She sent him her picture online, and he countered with a color copy of his Texas Tech ID in the mail a few days later. They chatted online again before leaving for Christmas break. While home for the holidays, the girl found out that her grandpa used to work with DMWMED's dad at UT, and he thought he was a great guy. When the girl returned to her dorm after break, she logged into her AOL account, and up popped his screen name. They chatted again that night, he called Wednesday night, and they went out for the first time Friday, January 21, 2000 (she made sure her friends got a positive ID on the guy in case she didn't return later that night). She knew she liked him instantly, from his BoUnCy walk to his cute dimple when he smiled. She liked him more when he took her to see Next Friday because it was exactly the movie she would've picked. She liked him even more when they ran into some other med students at Outback, and he said he wasn't interested in talking to them because all they ever wanted to talk about was cardiac output. And she liked him the most when he joked about how he would've taken her to McDonald's had he not liked her during the movie. He was exactly what she had imagined for herself. They were a perfect match... and today they celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary.


OK, so I wouldn't have believed this story had it not been my own. Who knew that playing around on the internet would've led to such a fulfilling relationship? No seven year itch here, folks. I think I love Dave more with each passing year. We've had our share of ups and downs like any couple, but we've always worked things out together. I'm proud of us, and I'm proud that I can share our relationship with you through the same medium by which it started! :)


Seven Reasons I LOVE Dave:

7. He kicks butt at carnival games.

6. He chose Radiology as a specialty so he could have a life outside of work.

5.He is a loyal friend.

4. He always has my back during stressful situations.

3.He'll pose for ridiculous pictures.

2. He thinks I'm beautiful, even when I look like this:

1. Every decision he makes is based on what is best for US, not him.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US! DMWMED + B90VRG = 4-ever


Friday, October 24, 2008

will potty 4 pumpkins...

Addy told me this morning that she had to poopoo...I haven't been taking the whole potty training business very seriously because I feel like she is still so young, so I waited too long and she pooped in her diaper (oops). When I tried to change her, she said "no diaper mommy, panties". So, the adventure begins...she picked out some panties from her bottom drawer before naptime. I was in my room while she was in her bed. She kept getting up to pick out different pairs of panties, and then she would take hers off and bring me the new pair to put on her (she gets her indecision from me). However, at one point she went to the bathroom and peed in her big girl potty...what?? really?? how could it be?? I wasn't even in there to cheer her on! Her first word after peeing was "treat". I had to think fast, so I remembered the candy pumpkins I picked up at Hobby Lobby yesterday...one pumpkin for peepee, two for poopoo. And there you have it...let the training begin!


The treat:

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

It's shakin babay...

This was taken a couple of months ago, but I just figured out how to download it today...Aubrey was helping me cook so I told her to say "It's shake n bake and I helped". This is her interpretation...

Monday, October 20, 2008

Aubrey's main man...

Too cute not to share with everyone...Aubrey loves her Reaves and he loves her. I would fully approve a prearranged marriage...My friend, Jamie, sent me an email tonight that made me laugh so hard, I cried (mostly because I miss our Hogg's).

We were in McCary's jewelry store in Shreveport looking at some stuff. One of the ladies there took it upon herself to entertain Reaves for us so we could look in peace. She took him into her office and came out a while later with the news that he had selected a beautiful diamond ring for "someone named Aubrey"

This picture is of the two lovebirds last Halloween...

Sunday, October 19, 2008

weekend in pictures...

FRIDAY NIGHT
Aubrey pretending to be a puppy. She was enjoying a treat in her kennel:

The girls after playing in the kitchen drawers...these are supposed to go on the bottom of wine glasses...

SATURDAY
Drove to LaCrosse, WI to meet up with one of my old co-workers from Killeen. She was in town from Germany and it was great to see her.
Playing at the children's museum in LaCrosse...



Girls playing at the indoor waterpark in Kelly's hotel...

Aubrey decided to go to the big pool...

Addy followed more quickly than I thought she would, so I had to fish her out...look closely at my jeans...

SUNDAY
Drove to Rochester to check out the Mayo Clinic (I know, we're dorks)...figured we would never see it otherwise...


And finally, back to Iowa after another eventful weekend...goodnight.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

cheesy goodness...

Aubrey loves to help me cook, so I let her.
Tonight, SHE made pizza.

Was it messy? Yes.
Did it take a lot longer than it would have had I done it myself? Yes.
Did we have oddly shaped pizza? Of course, a 4 year old cut it!
Will I ever be able to relive moments like this with my sweet little girl? Never.

Make a mess. It's worth it.



why co-sleeping is not an option for us...

If our kids come to our room before 5 AM, it's promptly back to their own beds. Not because we care if they sleep with us (we think Aubrey has pretty vivid bad dreams sometimes), but for this reason:

They, along with their entourage of stuffed animals, take up ONE WHOLE SIDE of the KING sized bed! It is the most uncomfortable sleeping arrangement ever! Cute, but uncomfortable. I guess Aubrey, in her sleepy state, thought our curtain was a blanket...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A little boogie

While I was putting Aubrey to bed tonight, she was looking closely at her quilt. Something was stuck to it...

Aubrey: What is this mommy?
Me: I'm not sure. Maybe food or something?
Aubrey: Maybe it's boogers.
Me: Did you wipe your boogers on your quilt?
Aubrey: Yes. I couldn't get out of bed last night, and I didn't have a kleenex.
Me: You are allowed to get out of bed if you need to blow your nose.

While mildly disgusted about the hardened boogers, I was impressed that she was following the bedtime rules. Although, I'm not sure that I want to be such a harda$$ that my kid reverts to wiping snot on her bedding. Note to self: Add a small box of kleenex to grocery list. :)

Monday, October 13, 2008

me miss me old house...

Dave is talking to a guy from his residency class, and I am sifting through photos from our old neighbor...I suddenly feel the SHARP pang of homesickness...

This is me holding it together for a few seconds while my neighbor takes our picture (the last picture in front of OUR house). You probably can't tell, but my eyes are swollen from sobbing like a baby! I cried a lot more than usual last year...

It was so empty when we left...I can't believe we packed up 5 years of memories!


Dave and I are ready to come home. It's only October.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Oktoberfest and a harvest festival...

People up here have more festivals than you can imagine...we hit up Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies on Saturday, complete with a parade, LARGE mugs of beer, polka music and my favorite, the KEG toss. Later on that evening, we had a harvest festival at Aubrey's preschool. Her class recited "5 little pumpkins" for the audience, and it was really cute. Fall has definitely settled in up here, and the temperature continues to do just that...fall. I pulled out all of our bins of winter clothes yesterday. I have to say, for being Texans, we have a pretty solid collection of sweaters and jackets. I had a mildly emotional mommy moment while I was pulling out all of Aubrey's old hand me downs for Adelyn. Aubrey was wearing those clothes when I was pregnant with Addy, and I can't believe Addy can already fit into them! Here are some pictures from our fall fun on Saturday...

The girls waiting for the candy to be thrown...

Unfortunately, the horses didn't drop a pile of candy...

When there's something strange in the neighborhood...

Who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!

Aubrey with her crafts she made...for FREE! A random lady took this picture also, but she assured me it was for their visitor's bureau newsletter or something...

I couldn't believe they were all looking. That's not some random kid...he is the son of another fellow at the hospital. He turned 2 in July...Addy doesn't turn 2 until the end of November...she is really TALL!

Aubrey LOVES him...they held hands everytime we started walking!

The KEG TOSS...

And we're out...

Onto Festival #2...
a little pumpkin decorating...

a little face painting...


a lot of good photo ops...
aubrey:
dave:
random happy children:


if dave and I had a little boy, I think he would look like this: