Welcome, summer!

We've been waiting for you!
Today was the day that we got those new bathing suits wet for the first time. We loaded up and headed to our favorite sprinkler park.

Last year, Jacob was a little scared of the water. Wouldn't go anywhere near it. I wondered how it would go over today...

This has got to be one of my all-time favorite pics of him!


Yep- that is my son, UNDER the water!


CHEESE!



Miss Thang, on the other hand, was content to walk around just looking cute in her bikini, staying mostly dry.


"Maybe I'll just stick my hand in..."
(isn't her face priceless in this one? Lol!)


Oh, and she had to ride a "quack," naturally...



Breaktime. We love Sonic drinks! I thought it was so darn cute when they sat down back-to-back. :-D Almost like they love each other...



Lmbo! I just realized that Jacob is blowing his straw-paper in this shot! A little trick he picked up from yours truly! That's my boy!

Thanks for looking!

Stole it, love it

Sue me. People steal enough stuff from MY blog! :oP

You Know You're From Texas When...

You see more Texan flags than American flags.

You know someone who ate the 72 oz steak and got it for free.

You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry, and your Cowboy Boots.

You can write a check at Dairy Queen for 2 Hungr-Busters and fries.

You prefer Whataburger to McDonalds.

You dress up to go shopping at the mall.

You've hung ornaments and tinsel on a tumbleweed and used it as a Christmas tree.

You're disappointed when a food doesn't come in spicy flavor.

You know from experience that rattlesnake meat tastes like chicken.

You can tell a rock from an armadillo at 300 yards.

You know what a 'Cowboy Cadillac' is.

You have both a dog and a brother-in-law named Bud

Your local grocery store sells cactus in the Fresh Produce department

You watch the movie Urban Cowboy and laugh at the phony Texan accents

You choose a brand of Mexican salsa with the same care that another might use to select a bottle of fine wine

You think that the 4 basic food groups are nachos, bar-b-que, fajitas, and Copenhagen.

You refer to the Dallas Cowboys as "God's favorite football team"

You know whether another Texan is from South, West, East, North, or Central Texas as soon as they open their mouth.

You don't consider people from Austin to be real Texans.

Your Pastor wears boots.

There is no such thing as a "secret" sin.

The Blue Book value on your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas it has in it.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Texas.

I'm going to be a mommy again!

I am so excited! I'm getting a new little girl!
It took a lot of convincing and pleading to get Cotton on board, but I finally won. :o)
Here she is, isn't she precious?

If all goes well, we'll bring her home Saturday.
Now I have to think of a name...

I have been a "cat person" my entire life. For the past several years, cats have been kind of out of the question. What with baby bottles and litter boxes and little tots toddling around...
Of course, we had Rascal for a month or 2, and that was okay. Until he ran off on us and broke Jacob's heart. :o(

I haven't told Jacob about the new kitty. I am scared something will happen and he will be devastated. I'll just let him be surprised when we pick her up. Yay! He wants a pet so badly, and he LOVED Rascal. This is going to be GREAT!

Happy Mother's Day

to my mom, and all of my friends that are awesome moms.
A few tearjerkers, so that we can sniffle together:

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about
how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies,

Before I was a Mom
I didn’t worry about whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom
I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts,
And my body.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I
Didn’t want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I
Couldn’t stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew that I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn’t know the special bond between a mother and her child.
I didn’t know something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonderment
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much…
Before I was a Mom.

Real Mothers

Real mothers don’t eat quiche; they don’t have time to make it.
Real mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens, and happy kids.
Real mothers know that dried Playdough doesn’t come out of carpet.
Real mothers don’t know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real mothers sometimes ask “why me?” and get their answer when little voice says, “because I love you best!”
Real mothers know that a child’s growth is not measured by height or years or grade. It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mommy to Mom.

Babies Don’t Keep

Cleaning and dusting can wait ‘til tomorrow
For babies grow up, so much to our sorrow
So quiet down laundry
Dust go to sleep
I’m nursing my baby, and babies don’t keep

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

> > If you give a mom a muffin,
> > She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
> > She'll pour herself some.
> > Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
> > She'll wipe it up.
> > Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
> > She'll remember she has to do laundry.
> > When she puts the laundry in the washer,
> > She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
> > Bumping into the freezer will remind her
> > she has to plan for supper.
> > She will get out a pound of hamburger.
> > She'll look for her cookbook
> > ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
> > The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
> > She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
> > She will look for her checkbook.
> > The check book is in her purse
> > that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
> > She'll smell something funny.
> > She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.
> > While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
> > Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
> > She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
> > Thinking of coffee will remind her
> > that she was going to have a cup.
> > And chances are... If she has a cup of coffee,
> > Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
> > ~author unknown

-----------------------------------------


And some of my favorie quotes:

“If your baby is ‘beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses, sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the time,’ you’re the Grandma.”
-Theresa Bloomingdale

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?”
-Milton Berle

“Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit.”
-Bill Cosby

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank-account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the make of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child."
-Author Unknown

"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."
-Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did like pie."
-Tenneva Jordan

--------------------------------------

Have a great day, moms! We deserve it!

A few random pics

My big 4 year old with one of his cakes:

Getting his first professional haircut- none too thrilled:

After- he looks so darn OLD:

Lucy and THE boots. Yes, she is wearing fur lined, suede boots in 90 degree weather. YOU tell her she can't! Lol!:


Thanks for looking! :o)

Forgive me

Remembering to blog is hard work sometimes!

Wellll...

the past week and a half have been pretty eventful...

I got to use my new fishing pole, and christened it with a not-too-shabby bass! (Thanks, Dad, btw. I absolutely LOVE it!)

We had our end of the season soccer party, and realized that people really do appreciate what we do. Go figure.

I went to a FABULOUSLY good mexican resteraunt, had a few delicious margaritas and some awesome food. All on the gift cert. our soccer parents got for us! Thanks guys!

I have been looking at houses with my mom. They really are trying to move really really close to me. How awesome would that be?

I tried on some gauchos, and I bought some gauchos. For Lucy. These thighs in those pants...? I don't think so. Her thighs are just as chubby, but in a cute way. :O)
She also got a bikini, because she is too chunky for a one piece. It just doesn't work that way for grown up girls, does it? Lol.

I got my office cleaned and organized, for the most part.
I made and hung my living room curtains. Theya re gorgeous.

I got fired from watching my nieces. On my voicemail. I am still tending those wounds... still pulling on that knife in my back.

We found a great new home for Toby. We are all sad, but I think he is happy. The kids will be happy once we water down this fertilizer and ant killer- and they get the yard all to themselves, all day every day!
We are not dog people, apparently.
Especially not 85lb of bouncing off the wall, eating anything in my reach, leaving mountains of poo DOG people.

Jacob's party is Sunday. It is going to be huge. If you have kids, and live withing 50 miles of us- you are on the guest list. Okay, maybe not.
But all of their friends. BOTH of the kids' friends, because I hate to leave people out, all of the family, and all of the soccer team (which are new friends) are coming. I am a little nervous, actually. I am a LOT glad it isn't at my house! I get to have all the fun, and then leave. Woohoo!
I really have to get cracking on planning that cake, though...

Hmm... that oughta catch you up. I have a camera full of pictures I could post. However, thanks to Aaron, I still have plenty of room on that memory stick. I don't have to download them yet, so I haven't.

HAPPY FRIDAY, EVERYONE!

Jacob is 4!!!

Obviously, I didn't forget his birthday. I just forgot to blog about it.

So my firstborn is 4. He is no longer a baby. He is all tall and skinny, speaks in complete and conversational sentances, uses the potty with very minimal help.
What a great age! He is so much fun now! He has a sense of humor, he makes me sandwiches, he says sweet things and kisses me because he missed me while I was at the store. :-D He can kick a soccer goal, and catch a fish all by himself. He picks out a Spiderman swimsuit instead of an Elmo one. He is such a FUN little person to hang out with these days, and very little work!

Let's go back in time... to April 2002!
So tiny and precious!


Hello beautiful!


This is my all-time favorite picture. Cotton captured us, as we were many many times, absolutely zonked out together. Being a new mommy is freaking exhausting! They don't show this on TV! lol!


My sweet little guy!


After his first bath.


Happy birthday, my Jakey the Pooh Bear. I love you because you're mine. I love you more because of the person you are becoming. I am so glad I get to be your mom!

I'll never be 26 again

The 27th anniversary of my birth has come and gone.
It was a good day! Much love to those who made me feel so special:

My sweet baby boy- thank you for the bobbers! As soon as I get a sitter for your sister, I will go fishing with you so that we can use them!

Cotton- thank you for the new camera, for bringing me mexican food for lunch, and for planning a big surprise with your parents!

In-laws and Uncle Jamie- thank you so much for the gorgeous bookshelf. My office is looking amazing!
And a big thank you to my sweetheart of a FIL, for baking me a cake! I love that man!

Mom and Dad- thank you for dinner, and for the early present of my beautiful kitchen curtains and runner!

Aaron and Ashley- I can take over 300 pictures now! thanks for the memory stick! you guys rock!

Geri- thanks for the kitchen stuff! I love that you were so very thoughtful! Come over soon and we will put that salter and those margarita glasses to good use!

Tish- I am dancing in my car constantly, thanks to you! And thanks for the slide, I love it!

Micha Baby- thanks for the fajitas! Yummmmmm! You certainly know the way to my heart!

BFF- thanks for books! If that isn't the best gift ever, what is? I'll return your bag soon. ;oP

Thank you to all of my awesome friends for all of the attention and birthday wishes! I can't stop laughing at 4 freaking threads! This attention whore will never forget that!

At the end of my birthday, I am feeling sappy. I have so much love in my life. I have a great family, and I have 2 best friends that I never want to GO A MONTH WITHOUT SEEING again! I just cannot stop smiling tonight. I love you all!

My baby... Hmmmm

Isn't she pretty?



It's a funny thing, though.
I'm not sure exactly when I started referring to my mom as "Mom." I was probably in the area of 10-12 years old. I do know for sure that I was well beyond the tender age of 2!

My daughter, however, has become too cool for "Momma," or even the cutest little "Mommy" that she was trying out for a while. It's "mom." From my barely 2 year old. Sheesh.

Me: Eat your fish sticks, baby
Lucy: It's hot, Mom. (eye roll)I want yogurt!

Me: Stop playing in the sink (for the 100th time today), and come out of the bathroom, Sweetie
Her: I wanna potty, Mom. Shut the door.(defiantly stomps over and sits down)

You get the idea. She denies that she is a loving baby anymore. She has gone from 2 to 12 in a week!
Complete with eye rolling, back talking, and all.

Let me tell you- I am sooo looking forward to a REAL 12 year old Lucy. If she gains another ounce of attitude, I may throw myself off of a bridge.

Honestly, I love her strength. I love how determined she is, and how she doesn't take shit off of anyone. I love that she knows what she wants, and she goes for it without hesitation. These traits will get a young woman very far in a man's world. I wouldn't change her if I could.
But she's not in a man's world yet. She is still living in Elmo's World for a half an hour a day!

My little blessing, my joy, and my biggest challenge.
I think I'll keep her. ;o)

Headache

Not everyone knows this, but I get hellacious migraines. Not as often as I used to, thank god. I am down to 2 or 3 a month. For a while there, it was 4 or 5 a week.
Well... I think I have one coming on. It sucks.

I have a lot to do today- I need to stuff eggs for tomorrow, I need to touch up paint before Monday, I need to do laundry in a major way, I need to clean up my office, I need to steam clean my carpets. Ugh.
Bunko is here on Monday, and I would prefer it if the house looked presentable. Right now it looks as if a bunch of wild monkeys were camping out, along with their friends the pigs family.

Anyway- needless to say, I could do without the headache this weekend.
Not to mention, I have to see 60 of Cotton's extended family members tomorrw. Hang out outside with the sun and the smoke (2 of my major migraine triggers), and try to keep an eye on my children while they mingle with 30 other children. Woohoo~ Easter rules!
At least his cousin quit hitting on me. I think.

Okay... time to pop some pills.
Sorry to be a downer. :o(

Maybe I shouldn't have...

This is kind of a long story, but I'll keep it as brief as possible. I really need to get this off my chest, even if only a couple of you understand.

I was in an online mom's group, for over a year. It was the first playgroup I ever joined, and I gained SO much from it! For the first year or so it was awesome- lots of friends, lots of fun.

Then some of those friendships went South. I got my feelings hurt a few times. The overall "feel" of the group changed, and my inbox was filling up with crap that I deleted without reading.
After a month or three of just not vibing anymore, I removed myself from the group.

A few days later, I got 3 emails from people in the group. "Are you okay?" "I can;t believe you left!" etc...
Than last night I ran into another mom from the group. We chatted for a minute, but we both had places to be, and groceries to get home. When I left her, I felt this overwhelming sadness that I probably won't see her anymore, except for chance run-ins like last night. Then I felt even more bummed because there are several others that I won't see either. :o(

When I left the group, I felt good about it. The friendships that failed were "upper management" in the group, so to speak.
But I didn't really think about those who were quiet within the roup, but still hanging on. The ones that I had bonded with, and looked forward to seeing once a month or so.

I can't go back. I don't think I can. Even if I tried, I probably wouldn't be allowed. Not that I did anything wrong, just that *I* quit and not everyone misses me- including the one who possibly would have to let me back in. I wonder if she didn't have something celebratory to say when I removed myself, since that is her MO.

So... there it is. I miss you girls. If you are reading my blog, then obviously we are/were friends at least a little, and I don't want to lose you! Just because I'm not on the board doesn't mean I'm not around!

Supermom

That's me!
After yesterday, I think I can handle anything (kid related, that is!).
Brittany, my sister-in-law, is done with the stay at home gig. She has gone out and gotten herself employed, and that means she needed child care. She asked me to keep my darling nieces 3 days a week, and I accepted. Which brings 2 new acts to our little circus! 2 year old Abigail, and 6 month old Kelsie.


(^ note Lucy's new "CHEESE face")



Well, yesterday was day 2 of having the extra kiddos. We had no food in the house...
So, I did it. I took 4 kids to the grocery store. 2 of these being toddlers, and one infant. I survived!
After loading my cart full of kids and food, barely making it through the checkout, and loading a thousand punds of kids and crap into my van- I patted myself on the back!

We then ventured out to the park, for soccer practice. I had the dynamic duo in the double stroller, fighting the entire time, and the baby in the sling. Jacob was safely in the care of his soccer coach. that is, until he decided he had to go potty!
Luckily, right on cue, Brittany strolls up to collect her offspring before I had to trek across the park with all 4 of them in tow. Whew!

I :heart: Soccer

Well- we are 5 and 2. We only have one game left to play, and Coach and I are both sad! We have really come to love these little guys and gals, and we won't get all 11 of them back in the fall. :o(
Jacob has scored 3 goals. 2 on April 1, and 1 yesterday!
He is really catching on to this soccer stuff. He gets really irritable when he can't get his foot on the ball, and is starting to actually *sprint* across the field to get to the ball! He also got knocked down HARD yesterday, and he stood up, stuck out his lip for a second, and then took off running- not to me, but after the ball! YAY Jacob!
It is wierd to me to hear people all around yelling "Get it Jacob!" and more so to hear "Take it home, Jake!" (side rant: because JAKE isn't even on our team. They may as well call him Paul as far as I'm concerned. He is SO not Jake! Not that I am mad at them, yell away for my little man, but it just sounds really odd to me.)
I'm like "who is yelling at my kid?" I actually stop watching the game for a second and look around. I guess it is just one of those things you get used to. God knows I am yelling their kids' names just as much.

"Did it really go in there?"


So this isn't the mst attractive picture of me- but it's right after his first goal, and I was bawling!

Happy/Sad

My little brother joined the Army.

He has made a few bad choices in his young life, and gotten into some trouble. College isn't happening right now.
He has found himself a path and a future.
I am so proud of him for making a good decision, getting a plan, and stepping up to his life.

But of course, I am sad. I'm scared. I will miss him.
He's leaving in June, and will be in Missouri for the next year and a half. After that...?

I think I will look at things in a new light now, having a soldier in the family. This whole war will hit a lot closer to home.
I have always cried and worried about our troops, and wanted them home, but now..
I can't even imagine my baby brother being in Iraq. In a war that should have been over a long time ago.
Please let this chaos come to an end before he gets sent over there. :o(

To the love of my life!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

The poor guy is working ALL day long today. He won't be home until after 10 tonight. :o(
The kids and I are going to bake him a cake and have a little something for him. He was supposed to pick out his own gift this year: boat seats or a tackle box. (I would get the wrong one either way)
Only now he has decided he wants a camera, and I should go pick it out. Whichever one is exactly what *I* want. Of course- I probbly won't go get a camera. I could be spending that money on something less, ummm.. for ME! But I love my man. I am still getting him something- something he's been wanting. I can't say what it is, because he could be reading!

So here are a couple more pictures from Thomas the other day. Of Cotton doing what he loves to do- being a Daddy!

Okay, okay

So I forgot my password for a little while, and was too lazy to reset it.
So what is new in the circus, you ask?

We actually played a couple of soccer games. My little Munchkins were amazing! Not that we keep score or anything, BUT we WON 2 in a row! Woohoo!
Jacob played his heart out on Saturday. On Sunday we were having some issues. For those of you that don't know him well, he is incredibly sensitive, and perceptive to his surroundings. He was having a difficult time on sunday with all of the parents "screaming," it was "making him sad." I think he was tired, had too busy of a weekend, and just couldn't handle the stimulation. he sat out for the 2nd and 3rd quarter, and rallied at the end of the 4th. He went back in for a whole 90 seconds!

Please don't think I am anything less than thrilled. I seriously dount that sports will be Jacob's "thing." I do, however, want him to learn to play on a team, and be active, etc... and I think soccer is very healthy for him. Any effort he gives, which very much 9includes getting out there despite having a bad day, makes me beam with pride!

Here's my poor little guy on sensory overload :o(


My favorite soccer shot so far!


Last Friday we went down to Old Grapevine to "ride the big Thomas" again.
It wasn't as great as last year, but the kids were still pretty enthused!
Here are the loves of my life in front of the very useful engine

Poor Lucy...

Her mom will downright torture her for a good laugh!
To be fair, she really wasn't scared of it, until I pushed her justalittlecloser, and backed up to snap a picture. However, I laughed then, and I am laughing harder now! It is just so FUNNY!



Now this is kind of cool! Comparison pics:

October 2003- Jacob was a year and a half old, isn't he tiny and PRECIOUS!?


February 2006-
Jacob is almost 4, not so tiny, but still adorable. Hubby looks a little thinner, and handsome as always. The shark has lost some paint off of his nose.

Our day at the park

Apparently Lucy walked through a LOT of puddles!
Blogger is acting stupid again, so these are the only photos you get tonight. Since I have been uploading for half an hour, I'm leaving things the way they are.

I promised pictures

So I will get what I can up!

A shot of my cutie in her new soccer Dora/Diego overalls- made by a very talented designer and seamstress! ;o)


Crowning the birthday princess

Playing at her party (this outfit is from the same place as the overalls)


And then a couple of her birthday portraits. I actually like the first one a lot!
My only complaint is that I painted her toenails for these barefoot pics, and her toes don't show. :o(

Not so crazy about this one. Note the red face, her birthmarks are glowing, her nose is running, and her hair couldn't be any messier! You can even see a tear below one of her little eyes. :o(
BUT that's a picture of MY BABY, so it's still cute!