Ella's First Day of School, Alzafar Circus, and Such

MOM'S DAY OUT
Although I am a little behind (what's new, right??) I wanted to share pics from Ella's first day of "school".  I wasn't sure she was going to get to go because the night before she started complaining of her belly hurting.  But we pushed through and she was eager to go.  She was so excited to use her new bumblebee backpack that Mimi bought her and her new lunch pack.  She is so my child ... loves school supplies :)  Wehn we got to our church she got a little nervous.  I had to stay with her until they transitioned to chapel time and then she bravely took Ms.Margaret's hand and walked with her friends into chapel.  I was so proud of her and yet so sad to see my sweet baby growing up.  She had a great first week ... didn't even cry once!!  Unfortunately, she missed the following week because she was in the hospital having her pancreatic stent placed (all went well ... hooray!!), and she was able to return for week three. I was really worried that she would have a hard time going back, but she has done amazing!  She is by far the youngest in her class (by a good 8 mos) but seems to enjoy the older kids and has become the pet project for some of the little mama hens in her class.  I think she enjoys feeling like a big kid :)  How fast she is growing up!

Big girl ready for the big day

How cute is she??!!

Shriner Alzafar Circus
Earlier this month we took Ella to the circus for the very first time.  At first it was hard to tell if she was having fun ... she looked slightly comatose!  But she was just absorbing it all :)  Her favorite was the tigers that jumped through hoops lit on fire, the performing sheep dogs, and the guys who jumped off a giant swing.  I can just see her sttempting this off her playset!  She stuffed herself on popcorn and cotton candy - both rare treats she NEVER gets!  So all in all she had a blast.  Note to self for future trips, Shriner Alazafar Circus was AWESOME but LOOOONNNNGGGG.  We had to leave a intermission so I could have her in bed at a semi-decent hour (11 pm!!).  I loved that when I tucked her in she reeked of popcorn, sugar, and excitement!  So worth seeing her smile!

                                                 What in the world?? But I like it .....

                                                LOVED the tigers!!  She is so funny!!

                          "Look Ma!  Mimi bought me blue sugar!!"  She was WILD after this!

       She was NOT happy that we left without and elephant ride ... maybe next time!  They scare me!!



Kendall County Fair

Mike and I were finally in town during the Kendall County Fair ... we were so pumped!  Usually we are out of town visiting family but not this year due to pregnancy travel restrictions. So we took the opportunity to take Ella to her very first fair.  She had so much fun!  They had a petting zoo and pony rides right as you came in the gate and I thought we would never get her out of there.  She made buddies with a baby goat and it passed out cold (looked kinda dead!) as she sat there and stroked in for 30+ minutes.  I so want a goat now!!  And they had these cool chickens in there too, that I now have to find that breed.  We only escaped the clutches of the petting zoo with bribery of a blue snowcone (her current favorite flavor!!).  She had fun looking at everything and running around, but was so bummed that she couldn't ride any of the rides (namely the Merry-Go-Round!) because she was too short :/  Maybe next year, eh?  I am glad we got a chance to go and let Ella experience it!

                                             Oh how she wanted to take this little guy home!

                                                                 " Pretty please??"

                                                                  Giddy up cowgirl!

I am laughing because this tiny goat is SO asleep he is actually drooling ... guess she has the magic touch!

No rest for the weary ... Where did summer go??

For those in the know, the fact that I have been neglecting (may be too nice a word) the blog is probably not all that surprising.  This summer has been crazy with a capital C.  Mimi has been in and out of the hospital with pancreas issues.  She really had us worried because she hasn't had any problems in close to 30 years.  Thankfully, things seem to have calmed down.  She seems to be recovering and I cannot express how relieved I am.  For a few weeks there I was carrying the weight of caring for 2 people with HP, and I am not sure how gracefully.  I am not used to being the one everyone leans on.  In between the hospital trips and doctors' appointments, my parents also have moved in with us.  They are living in the nursery till mid-October while they build their house.  I think by the time their house is ready, they will be running for the hills.  I am very excited for them (this is a big step for them!!) and love that they will only be 15 minutes away (hooray!!). 

Mimi and Pappy's house is almost dried in!

Mike and Ella have been working hard in their garden and gotten some good produce, while I sit and sweat in the A/C.  We have had HUGE squash, watermelon, jalepenos, corn, basil, thyme, oregano, cantelope, tomatoes, green beans, and a few blackberries.  Next year we are hoping to have some suar baby apples and mandrin oranges ... we'll see.  Mike put in an automatic watering system and that made all the difference.  It just gets too hot and too dry here in south TX.  I love that Ella loves to "help" Mike in the garden.

Almost 19 lbs!!  I think she ended up eating 16 lbs of it!!

We have had the chance to play with the cousins.  Ella and I hosted A playdate ... definetly something we need to pick up again after things calm down post-Tess.  All in all,  we have been trying to fit in all the summer fun we can before we are home-bound with new baby Tess.  We are so excited for her to get here!!  We have had a full, hectic summer and are looking forward to a full and FUN fall!

4th of July 2010

We had such a fun 4th of July this year!  Ella was really pumped to see all the fireworks (even though she went chicken when we started doing them).  We went to church, met Mimi and Pappy for roasted chicken tacos, attempted a nap (Ella skipped out completely!!), and then headed next door for a party!  I ended up taking E home to bed shortly after the boys started the firework show because she was exhausted.  However, she slept through all of the popping that continued late into the night.  I can't believe how fast this summer is going!

Ella and her first-ever sparkler .... I was SO nervous!

She loved it!!

Mama got a brand new roof!!

After the baseball size hail we had 9 weeks or so ago, we were FINALLY able to get a new roof.  Getting a bid was almost impossible, but my neighbor across the street had a company come out and they were fast and professional.  The only downside was they did metal roofing, which I love but doubted we could afford.  But being the eternal optimist (insert heavy sarcasm), I called to see about getting a bid.  They came out within 48 hrs and gave us an AMAZING bid.  It was so good we woulda been fools to pass on it.  Long story short, I am indebted to the hail storm because I actually kinda like my brick now thanks to the new roof :)  And to hear rain on a metal roof .... so soothing!!

Before

After

Witte Museum

I took Ella to see the dinosaur exhibit at the Witte.  Before we went though we stopped at IHOP across the street for some yummy french toast (Tess' fav!!).  Unfortunately we sat at a window facing the museum and the HUGE T-Rex they have out front.  So while I devoured my breakfast I was constantly reminded that we were here to see the dinosuars.  She is really digging dinosaurs right now so it was a perfect fit.  She was a little scared of the first one when it started to roar and move around, but was okay once we explained that it was just a robot kinda like her remote control car.  She loved trying to figure out which ones were mommy dinosaurs (the big, scary ones coincidentally!!) and which were baby dinosaurs (the small, tame-looking ones).  She is at such a fun age! 

Digging for bones!! 

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Poppy showing the grandbabies dinner :)

Ella was fascinated and got a tad upset when Poppy threw them in the boiling water!

I know these are a tad out of order but I am trying to catch up :)  Over Memorial day weekend we went back "home" to Beaumont to visit Oma and Poppy, Heather and Dave and their kiddos (most recently added James!!).  We left at 4:15 am saturday morning and surprisingly had a nice, quiet trip.  Ella slept like a champ until we were just east of Houston, so we stopped at McD's for some breakfast and a Mc-bellyache.  We made to Oma's about 10-ish and Ella couldn't wait to see her cousins.  It is so cool that she has reached an age that they can play together and she has so much fun hanging out with the "big Emma and big Anna" ... just wants to be one of the girls :)  Ella was itching to get her hot little hands on James so I played defense most of the weekend and didn't get a chance for baby snuggles either .... womp womp.  But it was so good to see him and I am excited that Ella still has a fascination with wee ones (we will see if this lasts when Tess gets here!).  On sunday we had a crawfish boil (yummy!!) ... how I miss a good crawfish boil!  Ella wouldn't try it at all, but she did steal 2 off my plate to keep as pets.  She got quite upset when they later "disappeared" ... delish!

I will call him fishie and he will be mine!

The cousins (most of them anyway) swimming in Oma's tub after we

had to get out of the pool due to thunder!

What a good trip we had .... crawfish, family time, swimming (in the pool and tub), and lots of play time for the cousins!!

In the summertime when the weather is nice ...

                                                             North Padre Island June 2010

What a busy little girl we have.  We went to the coast last weekend for a quick trip and she loved it!!  Upon our arrival she interrupted Max and Ruby blaring on the DVD player to scream (at the top of her lungs no less!) "BEEEEAAAACCCCCHHH!!!".  I didn't think she remembered it from last year, but that shows what I know.  She loved splashing in the surf, chunking her mermaid Barbie out to sea, and "swimming" with daddy.  You will note there are few if any pics of me, as I am quickly approaching the "big as a house" phase of pregnancy :)  I just do not carry babies cute ... sigh.  On a lighter note, I did get some sun which is awesome since I was also quickly approaching transparent.  We had a great little trip and are hoping to go again maybe in mid-July!

My beach baby!!

Mama and Ella walking Bob Paul Pier (she was so excited!!)

Long time coming

Ok ok ok .... I know!  I have been very naughty with my blog updates but this has been a very crazy summer so far.  My sweet girl has been on the feeling-kinda-crummy roller coaster.  The only upside to that is that we have kinda figured out what triggers her tummy troubles and are working to circumvent it as much as possible.  I never knew I could learn so much from one little girl's bravery.  I am so proud of her and lucky to be her mama!  We have also recently found out that we are expecting another sweet baby girl, Tessa Kate, in October (so much for home gender testing!!), but are so very excited.  Ella has all along said that she was having a "sisser" so I guess we should have saved the $30 and listened to her :) 

Name that baby!!

Thus it begins!  What to name baby #2??  Yesterday I took that home gender test and am happy to report we are having a BOY (supposedly)!  How exciting!!  One of each!!  Unfortunatley for this new little one, Mike and I cannot agree on boy names.  I tend to like semi-preppy meets sophisticated, while he likes rugged meets all-boy.  What he doesn't know is that I have a secret weapon (worked awesome when picking our daughter's name!!).  I patiently wait until he is sound asleep and whisper the name of choice over and over.  After a few weeks of this, he "came up" with our daughter's name .... one that I just so happened to LOVE!  I am also gonna employ Ella's help.  She gladly refers to "her" baby with my name choice:)  We shall see if this works!

Grasping at straws (of my sanity that is)

My poor baby is still sick and it literally makes me sick. Unfortunately I can feel her pain and would switch places with her in a heartbeat. But I can't. Thankfully, I (think) am helping her cope and she is enduring like a trooper. She only slows down when she feels really crummy. I am discovering all of these new worries of mommy-hood. How do I ease her through the rough times without adding stress or creating bad habits?? How do I teach her to take this responsibility as she gets older?? How do I lead by example?? I know these are all things that I will work out, but they feel so overwhelming in combination with everything else. Hence why I have been blog-deprived recently. However, I fully intend to keep trudging through and keep up with the new blog gig .... hopefully with more uplifting posts to come :) Take a deep breath and tomorrow we begin again!

Perspective And Snowflakes

Over the last week I have been granted much needed perspective. One sick baby girl, 4 days in the hospital, mulitple tests, one ski trip canceled, one teeny-weeny panic attack, and many many tears later ... I have perspective. How blessed we are to have our sweet girl and many people to help us care for her. I also have a greater appreciation for all that my mom and dad endured. Mimi is definetly made of tougher stuff than I. How did she survive all my medical issues?? And all alone?? In the middle of last week's drama I was wallowing in pity and worry and lost it for about 5 minutes while sitting all alone (mostly) in the surgical waiting area for my baby to be moved to recovery. Then I realized that this is not the end of the world and many a mom has sat and cried tears for her sick baby, namely my own mom. Knowing that actually made me feel much better. My sweet girl is doing well and will thrive under our watchful care. How lucky we are to have such an amazing support system!! So although E missed her very first ski trip and romp in the snow, it snowed here yesterday (pics asap). So I bundled her up in in umpa-lumpa snowsuit and snow boots (gonna get my money's worth - dang it!!) and we played in the big fat snowflakes. We had so much fun and it was just another reminder to me that I must keep my eyes on all that's right with the world.

Selfish Idiots Gone Country

Why do some rude people feel the need to come all the way out into the country and then build right on top of their neighbor's property line. I mean really!! C'mon people!! I have been sitting here for over an hour listenig to bulldozers and construction crews yelling back and forth across my back yard. What in the world are they thinking?! People are so inconsiderate. So now I am contemplating ways to make them move their soon to be erected house or regret it ... I'll take either one. Maybe tie a goat out there? How about a new bee hive hobby? Or old broken down cars?? How could they be so selfish?! I don't get it. I only pray that they don't erect some giant, horribly ugly house that blocks our beautiful view of the hill country ... Damn those bulldozers!!

28 with 2 kids and a mini-van

So I swore I would be cold and in the ground before I ever drove a min-van. The hubby and I have been tossing around the idea of a new (to us) car for awhile. We have a growing family and our current mode of transportation does not do well for baby-toting/traveling office/hauling all our "stuff". After much ado, I agreed to test drive one .... and was pleasantly surprised. So despite all the crap I will/already am taking from some people (you know who you are), I have been converted and am now the owner of a new (to me) Shoe-Mobile. What can I say ?? Practicality won out ... Now for some pimped out rims and a limo tint :)

Adding another branch

To the family tree that is. For those of you who haven't heard ... we're expecting our second sweet little baby October 9th! This has been a long time coming and after much ado. For whatever reason, the first time around we were instantly pregnant. With baby shoe#2 we tried for quite a bit. We are so very blessed!! We can't wait to find out the gender (mid-March unofficially). Our little family is growing and it is so exciting!

And it begins...

After much persuasion from friends and family (you know who you are), I am committing to trying to keep up with a blog. We are busy busy and always on the go, but would love the opportunity to share our crazy lives with our friends and fam! So here we go ...