September

I can't upload pictures because of our slow internet, so you'll just have to make do with some stories... hope you all like to read.  :)  So here are a few things that I wanted to share as of late:

• Hudson is really starting to talk more. At around 17 months, I was beginning to worry about him a little because a lot of other kids his age were saying a handful of words and all he was saying was "Hi" and "Wow".  Now he's almost 20 months and he's been saying "Tane- Yuuuu" (Thank you), "Wa-Wa Woo Woo (Wow Wow Wubbzy - one of his favorite shows), "I dah et! (I got it!), "Deh es" (There it is), and a few other little things.  It's all very cute, of course.
• Reed is loving school.  They have a "color system" for behavior - if the child has a great day, they stay on the smiley face.  If they at a warning, they go to green, the next warning to yellow and finally to red.  Reed has had a smiley face every day and I have been exceptionally proud!   This last week, I picked him up he told me that he got in trouble and had gone to green.  I asked him what happened and he said "I was wearing my shirt wrong."  I KNEW there had to be something more to the story - his teacher is awesome and I knew there had to be more of a reason she moved him to green.  After much prodding, he told me that he was putting his arms up through the neck hole of his shirt where it was down around his chest.  The kids were laughing at him, which he loved, so his teacher had to ask him THREE times to stop and finally moved him to green.  I was livid that he didn't stop the first time she asked - and frankly a little embarrassed.  That would never fly at our house and I don't want him to act like that anywhere!  Anyway, he evidently redeemed himself somehow, because he had been moved back to the smiley face by the end of the day.  
• Last weekend, a lot of the guys went on a dove hunt.  Us girls spent the night at Sarah's house with the kids and had a great time.  Sarah's niece, Tatum, was there and Reed hadn't been around her too much, and he's not great with names anyway.  All of the kids were playing in Grae's room and the moms would take turns going in to break up fights, etc.  On one of my turns, I headed in and asked what all the ruckus was about.  Reed turned to me, pointed at Emory and Tatum and and said "Well, Emory and Potato were...." and that's all I heard.  I corrected him and told him NOT to call her Potato. Then I began to laugh.  HARD.  At another point during the night, we were trying to get the kids to go to sleep and I headed back in to the bedroom to try to quiet them down.  Reed, once again, updated me on the situation.  "We're trying to go to sleep, but Potatum keeps bothering us!"  At least he got the end of her name correct this time!
• I have been going up to Reed's school on Wednesday mornings to help his teacher.  She has had some jobs that are quite time consuming, but I'm glad that I'm able to help.  When I start to think "Wow - this is going to take a while," I try to instantly change my attitude to "...and she would have to do it ON top of all the things that she already does!"  It takes a special person to be a teacher and I'm thankful for all of you who do it and do it well!  You are truly a blessing to our children.

The most important thing of late...FALL is coming!!  People, I love me some autumn.  Cute sweaters, jeans, boots, fall decor, pumpkins, falling leaves... I'm all about it.   Happy Fall Ya'll!!

Busy, busy..

I assumed that when summer ended, so would the busyness!  Maybe it's the combination of moving and our first kid starting school, but it has been crazy.  With all the normal day to day stuff on top of working on things for the Open House...whew!  Brian has been working on his to do list and has made quite a dent - he hung up my TV in the kitchen (which will be totally awesome when I do my marathon holiday cooking this year), fixed various things that were falling off or apart, hid all the wiring for the entertainment center and computer desk, etc.  There is still so much to do, but I am finally resigned to the fact that not everything that I want to be done will get done.  I won't have curtains hung, my flower beds haven't been touched, every light fixture/ceiling fan needs a makeover or replaced, I need to decorate the screened-in porch... the list goes on.  It's a work in progress.  :)

Brian's been busy outside - he bought the boys some rain boots so they could "help" him outside in crazy amount of rain we've been having lately.  (I ended up getting me a hot pink pair of rainboots - stinkin' cute).  We went out Sunday to trim the trees and pick up fallen tree branches and the boys played in the mud puddles.  They had so much fun and were absolutely filthy by the time we came in the house. It was pretty cute.  As far as country livin' goes, we are loving it. Brian taught me how to drive the tractor and I even mowed a big section of the pasture.   And yes, I do have boots and a straw cowgirl hat.  Yee-haw!

Life goes on...

There has been so much going on lately and I think we have settled into our routine fairly well.  The boys have been in bed by 8:30 (on school nights) and up by 6:45.  Reed and Brian leave at 7:20 for school.  Normally Hudson and I will head to the gym (for sure three days a week, but trying for 4), but he's been sick this week.  I took him to the doctor on Monday morning because of the fever he couldn't shake from Sunday afternoon.  I just knew it was another ear infection (grrrrr...) but turns out he had a virus that had been going around.  He was better by Wednesday and we were back in routine... or so I thought. This morning he just wasn't himself.  He took a way early nap and as I started to size up all of his other symptoms, I had decided that his allergies were bothering him (as are Brian's and Reed's also). On the way to pick up Reed at school this afternoon, Hudson coughed (which sounded like a smokers cough) and as I thought to myself "Oh, no!  He has a respiratory infection!", I heard the unmistakable sound of vomit hitting the seat.  Ewwwww.  I turned the car around, went to the shop, cleaned him and the car up and left him at the shop while I went to get Reed.  We got home and he slept an hour and a half, was awake for 15 minutes and is back in a fitful sleep now.  

So, I guess so much for a carefree holiday weekend, but I wouldn't trade my pukey kid for the world.

My Husband Rocks

It's Monday and you know what that means...My Husband Rocks!

My husband rocks because of his amazing work ethic.  He has spent years building up his business to the successful shop it is today.  Back in January of 2001, he started school at Wyoming Tech and spent 15 months living in Laramie, Wyoming.  That was HARD for us.  We missed each other like crazy, and I visited when I could, but it's something that he had to do so he could have the right education for his job.  Not only does he know his way a round a car, but he also is a great businessman.  Small businesses are hard to run and he has done a great job at it.  There have been some ups and downs, but I never worried about our financial security - he would go dig ditches if he needed to so he could support his family. Right now his average work week is 10 hours a day Monday through Saturday and about 4 hours on Sundays.  We are were we are because of his work ethic and I so appreciate being married to a man who is not only self-motivated and does what he does for his family.  Oh, and I also think what he does is pretty cool...turning something like this:

into this:

Yep...my husband rocks.

Many of you mentioned that you'd like to start doing the My Husband Rocks posts and I want to encourage you to DO IT!  It's a great thing for a marriage to look for the good things that your mate does and brag about it! I would love to read about why all of your husbands rock, too! 

Facts of Kindergarten

Reed just finished up his first week of Kindergarten.  In the last 5 days, I have learned some things.  These are just a few:

• I will never be able to tell the things my child will choose to eat from the items I have packed in his lunch until I unpack it at the end of the day.  Choosing grapes over Oreos was a real shocker for me.
  
• I love my child's teacher and am looking forward to helping her as much as possible.
• I don't have as much "free" time during the day as I once thought I would. 
• Kindergarten makes a child thirsty.  Have a drink available as soon as said child gets in the car or be prepared to listen to whining all the way home.
  
• You have to get to the school at least 30 minutes before pick-up if you want a spot in the shade.  Won't matter much in a few months when the weather changes, but it matters now.
• If you get to the school 30 minutes early, remember a snack and sippy cup for younger brother to ingest while waiting.
• Failure to forget snack and drink makes wait time seem a LOT longer.
• If you aren't near the front of the pick-up line, getting out of the "school pick up congestion" is not fun.
• Seeing my little kindergartner at the end of the school day and waiting to hear all the stories of the day makes me smile every time!

Day 2

Well, we're nearing the end of day 2 and I'm much less anxious than day 1! If today went anything like yesterday, I think Reed will have a wonderful year. ( A fun side story ~ I went to pick him up yesterday and when the woman came up to the car and I told her Reed's name, she said "Mrs. Donahoo told me to keep my eye out for that one!"  I cracked up laughing.  It's no secret that Menielle is not only a fan of Reed's, but of many children at our church.  Turns out, since she wasn't going to be at the same school as Reed, she wanted someone to watch out for him.  It was very sweet - thank you for loving our kids Menielle!)  Hudson and I went by Sonic so I could have a drink waiting for Reed. After Reed got in the car (and sucked down that Sonic drink like crazy), I asked him how his day went and he said "Good.".  It took a little prying for him to tell me what all went on, but he volunteered that he went to the playground 3 times, he made a lot of new friends and he liked his teacher (but not as much as he likes me - thank goodness for that!)  I told him that I had a surprise for him at home and after dinner, we dove into the special cake (see above) that I made him for his first day.  When saw it, he said "That's a good surprise, Mom!"  Sweet kid.  He looked forward to going back today and after an earlier bedtime, woke up in a much better mood.  We're looking forward to a great year!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Reed's first day of school.  Brian, Hudson and I walked him into the building and to his classroom.  He seemed very even keeled - not too excited, but not scared at all.  I gave him a hug and a kiss, told him good bye, and Brian did the same. 

Okay.  Here's how the morning really went.  I got up at 6:00 and took a shower.  I made Reed's sandwich and checked his lunchbox 3 or 4 times to make sure that everything was in there (how great of a day would my kid have without a drink?)  I rushed around to get myself ready, get Reed some breakfast (that he barely ate), get Hudson up and dressed and Reed's stuff together.  Reed was in a bit of a bad mood because it was so early and he was tired.  (Note to self: earlier bedtime)  We finally load in the car and leave the house at 7:20.  The school is understandably a circus with all the parents milling about.  As I follow Brian and Reed to his table in the cafeteria, I get a little teary eyed because my baby looks so big holding his daddy's hand with his backpack on... I will not cry, I will not cry...  We do the Pledge of Allegiance and listen to announcements and it's time to head to the classroom.  We get to the classroom and Reed goes in and sits at his spot.  I squat down, tell him to have a great day and that I'll see him in just a few hours when I pick him up.  As I head out in the hallway, I feel the tears and am so glad that I didn't cry in front of Reed.  Brian goes in to tell him good bye and as he bends down with Hudson in his lap, they hug and then Reed grins as Hudson gives him a hug.  Reed blows Hudson a kiss and that's the end of that.  The tears begin and I can't believe I'm leaving my child in his Kindergarten class.  My stomach still hurts at this point.  Don't get me wrong, I love his teacher and I feel very confident in her, but at the same time, I worried for my baby - will he feel scared about what he's supposed to do?  Will he worry about where the bathroom is?  Oh man... when he goes to college, I'm in SERIOUS trouble...

Meet the Teacher

Tonight we went to meet Reed's kindergarten teacher. We also got to check out his classroom and see where he will sit.  His teacher had a "scavenger hunt" for the various things for us to go through in the classroom so Reed could familiarize himself with it.  She had a bulletin board that told a little bit about her and when he heard that her favorite color was red, he instantly felt they were kindred spirits. :)   She is a very soft spoken sweet lady and Brian and I really liked her.  It was neat to see his classroom and where he would be spending the majority of his day.  I'm looking forward to Monday because I know that he will love school and all the learning and socializing that come with it.  On the other hand, I'm anxious for him.  I want him to feel comfortable, I want him to make friends and I want him to be happy.  

Wow - kindergarten can be rough. Not only for the kid, but the parent.  Who knew? :)

Vacation: Part 3

The sweet cleaning ladies came today and our bed got re-made.  I had to take a picture...

This is our awesome bathroom.  Yes, the tub is in the middle of the room, but it is so cool!  To the left of the tub is one of the huge walk-in closets.  There's also on to the right of the tub.  The grey stone to the left is the walk in shower.  With 2 rain shower heads and a third body sprayer. I ♥ it.
The vanity is so awesome as well. As you can see, there are no mirrors directly above the sink.  There is a great view all around the house, so they took advantage of it by putting windows above the sink.  There are swivel mirrors attached to the wall beside each sink and swiveled lighted magnifying mirrors behind the regular mirror.  The natural light coming in from the windows worked great when I am putting make-up.  Not only is it super user friendly, but it is gorgeous!  Just check out those light fixtures hanging form the wood thing!!  
I love this bathroom!!

Vacation: Part 2

Today we headed to Sea World.  We had heard the best place to start is the dolphins.  We got to see the last of the feedings for that hour and the dolphins were frisky and active.  you could just almost touch them if you reached over and put your hand in the pool.  The boys really liked it!

Next, Reed and Gammy rode a little roller coaster.  If you look closely, they are in the car second from the back.
While we waited for them on the ride, Hudson sat with DadDad and sucked down his drink.
Then we headed to the pirate 3D show.  
Grace and Hudson hated it because of the super loud noises and puffs of air.  They both took an early exit.  Sara and I began to despise it once we had been sprayed with water 3 times.  Then there was a part with a skeleton and Reed wanted to leave, so none of us lasted the entire time.  The good news is that we got to sit in the a/c for at least a few minutes. :)  Next we headed on to the sea lions.  We only had a little while until the Shamu show started, so we didn't spend too much time there... but man, those suckers were cute!
By this point, it was way past nap time and Hudson was SO whiny.  DadDad ran him around in his stroller and he quickly went to sleep...  So precious!
Grace had also fallen asleep, so Eric and Sara (who had both seen the Shamu show) volunteered to watch the sleeping kids while we went.  Here's Reed and his Daddy getting ready for Shamu!
The Shamu show was by far my favorite part of SeaWorld.  It was no need to see the huge animals that were so sweet and gentle.   Some of the pictures aren't the greatest, but I had to put them in here.  
I couldn't catch both the people in the frame, but I thought it was so cool how they stood on the whales noses.
It was amazing how far they could come up out of the water...

We had a great time today, but are pretty pooped.  The kids did great and we have some really great memories.

Vacation: Part I

We are at the rented vacation house near Comfort.  The ride down was fine - good at first, but a little annoying at the end.  Reed rode with Gammy and DadDad, so we were down to one kid to entertain.  It took about 4 hours drive time and by the end Hudson was ready to get out of his seat.  The last hour was filled with some screams with intermittent "No!"' yelled out here and there.  Hudson only slept about 25 minutes, but he kept his blanket close by and enjoyed some of Dad's orange slice candy on the way down.

Brian loved me taking a picture of him for my blog...he's such a good sport!
The house that Brian's parents rented is ABSOLUTELY beeeee-u-tiful.  The man that owns it is a builder.  He built the house as a retreat for his family and I can't imagine why they don't live here full time.  The house is nestled on top of a hill and has a gorgeous view.  There is a main house with 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths, and 2 casitas - a 2 bedroom and a one bedroom.  Brian's parents gave us the main house since we had the most people to spread out.  As you may remember on our trip to Galveston, Hudson was an AWFUL room mate.  I wanted him to have his own area, so I set up his pack and play in the laundry room.  It was some kind of laundry room if I do say so myself...check out that rockin' sink.
The next picture is on the Master Bedroom.  Brian and I are in there and it is awesome.  Huge four poster bed, gas fireplace, nice TV and the best bathroom ever (which I don't have pictures of yet because it has our stuff scattered all over it.  Don't worry, I'll post some pics!)
Lastly, this is the view from the courtyard.  Over the pool is the most amazing view I've seen in a while - you can see miles and miles.  Talk about vacation!
Tomorrow we head to SeaWorld, so stay tuned!

My Husband Rocks - Anniversary Edition

The best decision I ever made was this guy right here:

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary.  I'm so happy that God led me to Brian.  We started dating 13 years ago and our relationship has been a wonderful blessing.  Brian is a great husband and a super sweet daddy. We have a lot going on right now with the move and Reed starting school, but this is the happiest I've seen him in a long time. The other day he told me that with me, our boys and moving out to our land, he has everything he's ever wanted.  Wow - that's never bad for a wife to hear! It warmed my heart and is another reason that my husband ROCKS!

Settling In...

We've about to embark on our 4th night in the new house and everything is going well.  I still need to do some organizing, cleaning and decorating, so no pictures just yet.  Things are definitely falling into place though.  My parents have helped do a lot of cleaning and hanging things on the walls and Brian's parents have helped us with a lot of the technological things such as the TV stuff and the internet (which is no longer an air card, but still VERY slow - at least it is to me.  I'm a DSL kind of girl.)   The thing that makes me most excited and happy is that after only 4 days, this house truly feels like home.  I'm lovin' that!

Just a quick update...

We're in our new home!  Lots of unpacking left to do, but we're in!  (A quick plug for our movers, A+ Moving.  They were awesome!  Very fast, efficient and super nice guys.  I would recommend them if you're looking for someone.)  We slept in the new house last night and both boys did great in their new rooms.  We don't have internet service at this point, so I'm using an air card on my laptop.  It's much slower than I'm used to and has kicked me off from checking my e-mail a couple of times, but other than that its working great. :)  Direct TV won't be until Tuesday, so the boys have been watching Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E over and over.  No phone until next week, so it's a little technologically sad at our house now.  On the upside, I LOVE it out here!  It's super quiet and all I can hear is the cicadas.  Sweet.  Off to do more unpacking...

My Husband Rocks

This past weekend Cami and Sarah took me on a SUPER fun surprise weekend to Fredricksburg for my birthday (stay tuned for a post about the trip).  My sweet friends had asked Brian to stick some money into my purse so I could do some shopping. Brian was very sweet to not only send quite a bit of money but also to act interested while I showed off my loot when I got home.  Even though he could not care less about things such as animal print flip flops, clothes or cute jewelry, he still knew that I was so excited to get something new and fun just for me.  He sat and smiled and said "Yep, that's cute," about 20 times.  I really love that guy!