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!