9, 6 & 3

We went to the annual Radiology crawfish boil last night and there were a bunch of resident wives all hanging out in a group with their new babies.  Someone asked me how old my kids are, and I almost did not believe myself as I rattled off "9, 6 & 3".  Seriously?  I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I was one of those resident wives bringing my 6 week old, Aubrey, to crawfish boil.  I even remember the sweet little outfit she wore there the first time.  Awww, memories.  I have nothing deep to add.  I am seriously just in shock at how old our kids are getting!!

funny story...

So...the other morning we left the house early before school so I could take the kids to the new donut place that opened up in town.  Before we left, I grabbed Aubrey's adderall so she could take it with breakfast.  I was holding it in my hand when we ordered so I wouldn't lose it.  We got our donuts and kolaches and went back to the car (still holding the pill in my hand).  When I got in the car, I opened my Diet Coke and then proceeded to pop the adderall into MY mouth and swallow, without even thinking!!  Right after it went down, I looked at Aubrey in shock and told her that I had just taken her medicine.  From the backseat, Adelyn pipes in by saying, "WOW, mom.  You really are losing your mind."  And then, without skipping a beat, Aubrey says, "Well, at least you'll be really focused TODAY!"  Ha!!  It was pretty funny.  I am glad we left early enough to go back home for another pill before school started....and yes, I was a little more focused that day.  :-)

For Allena :-)

2000- engaged!  

2001- Newlyweds

2002- with our Yorkie, Tootsie.  We were living in Amarillo at the time.

2003- Pregnant with Aubrey, at our first house in Temple.  Dave was in intern, so we were both a little tired that year!

2004- First Christmas with our precious girl!

2005- Loved this picture!  

2006- I look a *little* tired here...

2007- Kody and Candice have an amazing picture with the girls, but this is all we got.  No smiles, oh well!

2008- Dave's fellowship year in Iowa.  We drove down for Christmas.

2009- a glimpse into the craziness...

2010 

2011- The year I gave up and gave in....It's really more fun that way :-)   

tradition

My Great Aunt Joan started a tradition a long time ago to put a family picture from every Christmas in a photo album.  My parents have done this since their first Christmas together, and we started it with our first Christmas as an engaged couple.  It is fun to go back through the albums and see how we have all grown and changed.  I usually try to get a picture where everyone is looking at the camera, but starting last year I figured pictures like these were way more realistic (and so much easier to capture).  So, this is 2012's winner. :-)  

New Orleans!---a little elaboration....

A) Yes, it was the best. weekend. ever!

B) As with most of our ideas, we usually lack planning.  {ex. deciding to drive to San Diego with no hotel reservations, only to realize upon our arrival that it was the week of Comic Con}.  New Orleans was no different.  We wanted to take a road trip, we had never been to NOLA, so we booked a hotel and just went.  Turns out, it was the first weekend of the series of Mardi Gras parades.  No biggie, really, except we probably paid more for our hotel than we would've any other time of year.  Anyway, we got there late Friday night.  BTW, our kids are AMAZING little travelers.  We started early on Saturday morning with breakfast at Cafe Beignet, where Adelyn discovered beignets for the first time.  She was in pure powdered sugar heaven and became obsessed with getting more the rest of the day.  We walked around Jackson Square and learned a little history from Dave about his favorite president, and then we hopped on a carriage ride that took us around the French Quarter and to the oldest cemetery in town {which happens to be where they filmed a scene for Easy Rider....the scene that then made the Catholic church ban future filming in the cemetery}.  After the carriage ride, we wanted to try the beignets at Cafe Du Monde, but the wait was over an hour.  Boo.  We stumbled upon a street performance that was pretty entertaining and then found another little cafe that served...you guessed it....beignets.  Adelyn, seriously, in heaven.  After that afternoon snack, we headed to an awesome Insectarium for the kids.  It was seriously super cool, and I am not a huge fan of bugs.  We bought a pass that included the IMAX and the Aquarium so we headed there next.  After that, we went to eat an early dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's {a recommendation from our friend, Ashley, who is hopefully reading this....I am updating my blog, yay!}.  We scored because our waitress had a private room that was open, so we totally got to relax without having to worry about the kids disturbing the other restaurant patrons.  It. was. awesome.  We also got frozen hurricanes, per Ashley's recommendation, and they did not disappoint.  Random sidenote, we tried chargrilled oysters for the first time, and they were seriously yummy.  After dinner we decided to walk around the streets a little and Blake became part of a street act.  The guy was making balloons and told Blake to come out to see him.  He totally hooked him up with....pictures below.  It was so cute and the girls thought it was hilarious to see their little brother out there with the guy.  Now this is where we might seem like we were losing our minds....we found a spot to sit for the parade.  We sat there for a few minutes until we realized we were literally the ONLY people with small children in sight.  I sparked a conversation with the lady next to me {as I am holding my light up to-go cup full of frozen hurricane} and asked her if the parade was inappropriate for children.  She heard that people may not be dressed, but they would be painted...ok, that seemed fine to me, as long as everything was covered.  We sat there for a little while, and then decided we just couldn't be "those" parents and started back toward the hotel.  As we headed that way, there were a TON of people heading toward the parade and the crowd just kept getting bigger and bigger...and crazier and crazier {pretty sure Addy got a decent glimpse of a flasher's boobs}.  We made it back safely, however, and spent the rest of the night swimming in the hotel pool.  *I sent Dave to check out the parade while I took the kids swimming since it was supposed to start at 6:30, but he said it hadn't even started when he was down there around 7:45.  Anyway, the kids and I pretty much passed out from our long day, but Dave was still wide awake so he headed to the casino to play Craps.  He needs practice for our upcoming Vegas trip!  The next morning we heard of a family friendly parade starting at 12:00, but we needed to head out.  We managed to get one last beignet fix at a drive-thru Cafe Du Monde in Kenner, and then made the long drive back home.  We managed to pack A LOT of fun into one day in New Orleans!!

For the record, it was a GOOD call to leave the parade....this lovely float has been tweeted a lot this week:

Nothing screams "Parent of the Year" like a Giant Man-eating Vagina.  Glad we left.  ;-)

LOVE

my afternoon project, using materials from the craft closet.  kinda diggin' it.  ;-)

Adios, 2012

2012's most memorable moments....

*Daddy/Daughter Valentine Dance

*Surprise Spring Disney Vacation

*Weekend with friends at Great Wolf Lodge

*Addy's preschool graduation

*Sold our house in Round Rock and moved to Salado

*Two week summer vacation to Maine, Vermont & New Hampshire

*Random Galveston roadtrip to finish out the summer

*Aubrey started 3rd grade and Adelyn started Kindergarten

*We got a baby niece/cousin, Harper

*We became a diaper free household

*11 year anniversary cruise

2012 brought many great memories, as you can see.  It is easy to focus on the best times here on the blog, and that is really what I want to do.  It is easy and lighthearted and fun.  However, sometimes I think it paints an unrealistic picture of our life.  2012 presented some challenges for Dave and I as a couple, that were mostly brought on by a lack of communication over the years.  We got caught up in the day to day and put our marriage on auto-pilot.  We started to take each other for granted.  We kinda lost our connection for a while.  It happens to the best of us.  We spent a good half of the year mending what we thought was a fantastic union.  It took lots of late night discussions and quite a few arguments to really understand what was going on, how we got to that place, and how we were going to fix it.  Luckily, as with any strong marriage, we worked through our issues and we are looking forward to starting 2013 stronger than ever.  

We think moving to Salado is one of the best decisions we have ever made.  The kids are so active here and always want to be outside.  Aubrey and Adelyn love their schools.  The teachers love them.   Aubrey has struggled with reading since kindergarten, so we finally had her tested for dyslexia this year.  She was not diagnosed as dyslexic, but she was diagnosed with ADD.  We started her on Adderall and it, in my opinion, has made a tremendous difference in her learning and attention.  I think it's a freaking miracle drug.   She is the sweetest, most loving child you will ever meet.  She is always thinking about others.  She likes playing games on her Kindle, singing along to Taylor Swift, and playing with Addy & Blake.  Addy has ruled kindergarten like a boss.  She was recognized at the first assembly for showing respect to others.  I am so proud of her because I wasn't sure how kindergarten would go.  She is very opinionated and talkative, but apparently she knows when to shut it off at school.  She loves to draw and says she wants to be an artist when she grows up.  I wouldn't be surprised if that came true.  She and Blake are big buds and she gets way jealous if he hangs out with Aubrey instead of her.  Blake is doing awesome too.  He started going to school everyday and he loves it.  I drop him off around 9 and pick him up about 2:30.  He can't wait to get there in the morning to play with his friends.  He cracks me up.  He either loves stuff or hates it and there is no in between.  It took him a while to start talking, but he is making up for it now.  He told me this morning, "you so sweet, mom".  Kid knows how to butter me up already.  These little munchkins make life interesting and fun, as well as frustrating and challenging.  I am always amazed by how much they can change in a year.  

This year has taught me many things, but the most important is to not take anything for granted.  

Enjoy every single day.  Don't get caught up in the unimportant details.  Don't stress out about things you can't control.  Don't get caught up in drama.  Show people you care through your actions.  And ask yourself this question:  If you were to record yourself, would you like what you see?

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.” –Unknown

With that, I will bid 2012 farewell.  

May 2013 bring you lots of love and laughter.  

Happy New Year!! 

Girly day!

My friend, Angie, and I took our girls to The Nutcracker today in Austin.  The girls are all very close in age and they hit it off when they met each other.  We had a great time.  Ate at Monument Cafe beforehand, managed to score VIP parking at the Long Center, and enjoyed a great day with our sweet little girls.  

They picked out their outfits yesterday, and you can totally tell the difference in personalities.    I think they look SO grown up here, it kinda freaks me out!!

Sweet friends in Austin!

Love these girls.  

Llama, llama...

I'm one thankful mama...

a bedtime story

Tonight I read Blake a book.
Then I told him it was time to get in bed.
He didn't want to get in bed, he wanted to play.
I told him if he didn't get in his bed, he would be in trouble.
I repeated this two more times, getting a little more serious each time.
Then he told me I was mean.
I told him that I didn't care if he thought I was mean, it was still time to go to bed.
Then he looked at me and said, "You have stupid hair."
Seriously?
Not sure where he got that one.
I have awesome hair. ;-)
Goodnight.

organization works!

Yay!  I put these hooks here for the kids a while back.  They are hanging on the first wall you see when you walk into the house.  I had to remind them for the longest time to hang their backpacks up when they came in, but today....holy cow!  Look what I found when I walked through the door....ALL THREE kids hung up their stuff.  Without. Me. Asking.  BOOM, that's how you do it!