Blog Happy

So, I'm a little blog happy today. I guess I'd just rather be doing anything beside the task at hand, which is preparing to leave town with my three tiny children next week. That's right...I'm flying, by myself, with three children ages three and under. Sounds like a brilliant idea, right? It should be an adventure. We're going to California for three weeks so that the kids can have some quality time with their Mama Tess and Papa Steve. So, instead of doing chores, and trying to decide how I'm going to coordinate handling my stuff and three babies on the plane, I'm posting pictures for your visual enjoyment. Isn't he cute?!
Josh's favorite thing is to point out the baby's eyes. I should say his favorite thing to do is poke out the baby's eyes.
I thought it was pretty cute when Josh opened Jack's door during his nap to get a toy...well, I didn't think that was the cutest thing to do...but when Jack picked up his head to see who it was Josh exclaimed "BABY!" and I thought that was pretty darn cute. Jack is very tolerant of the older kids, and he loves the attention they give him.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

I've really been struck lately at how much my kids have grown in the last year...beyond the growth charts. Their personalities have blossomed so much. Josh's second birthday is coming up in less than a week, and it's hard to believe he's not my baby boy anymore. He's quite the little man.
Carly is such a little lady. It's so fun to have a fancy girl to do girly things with. Today we painted our fingers and toes. She's so appreciative of everything, it's hard not to spoil her rotten. She's been saying "thank you so much for painting my toes and fingers" all day.
I feel so lucky to have these kids, and to be able to spend all day every day with them at home.
Okay, I'll stop gushing now.

Swim Time

Today we went swimming with our neighbor friends. Carly just loves the little girl that lives next door. She's a couple years older than Carly, but they play really well. We made our plans yesterday, not knowing how windy it was going to be today. Our stuff kept getting blown all over the pool area. The kids had a great time, and it was good for me to have an adult conversation. Of course, amid our talk, I look up to see Josh floundering in the water. He'd been playing out of the pool, and I had told him to come over by me. I looked down at the baby in my arms, and when I looked up, Josh was in the water. My heart stopped. I must've gasped, because Kesha jumped up and ran over to him, while I put Jack down and ran through the water to pull Josh out. It's been several hours, and Josh was hardly phased by it at all, but I still can't get my heart to slow down. I did manage to get a few cute pictures of the kids, and a couple videos, before all the excitement.

Kesha brought some toys for the kids to play with in the water. The big hit were the watering cans. They had fun filling them up with water and
pouring it out on the "flowers" in the grass.

I like this video of Jack, just because it shows off his double chin.Josh has started to say "cheese" whenever the camera is pointed at him. Of course, he turns his head before I can actually get a picture of his face, but in the video, you can hear him saying "cheese!" I love it.

Play Group--WooHoo!!

Well, today I finally took the kids to playgroup for the first time. I was so proud of myself. I hadn't even remembered that today was Wednesday until I was half way done straightening Carly's hair. I rushed them all out the door, and we arrived at the duck pond just as some other moms were showing up. I think I picked the wrong day to go for the first time. It is so blasted hot today! It's gotten super hot here, just over night. We were only there for just under an hour, but by the time we left, my makeup was literally dripping off my face. Sounds attractive, no? The kids had a great time. The big adventure was exploring for the baby ducks on the other side of the pond. Then the little girls that Carly was with found a duck sitting on an egg. The other girls wanted the egg, but weren't brave enough to pick it up themselves, so they convinced Carly to do it. I was actually pretty surprised to see her walk over to the duck and pick up the egg it was sitting on. The other girls promptly took it away from her, and ran off to show their moms. Of course, their moms were less than thrilled to hold the egg, and it got dropped in a hand off. The other highlight I guess would've been a little boy finding a dead duck and proceeding to carry it around...he just wanted to be sure his mom knew there was a dead duck there. GROSS! All in all, it was a fun time. The kids had fun running around looking at the ducks, and playing at the play ground. I had fun watching them interact with the other children, and following them around, sweating my guts out, with Jack strapped on. Yea for playgroup!

Fancy Nancy

Carly's favorite book...I should say book series...is Fancy Nancy. She loves to read them over and over and over. We read them so much, that she pretty much has it memorized. Enough to be able to "read" it to herself. She's getting pretty good. Of course, Carly also wants to be like Fancy Nancy. She dressed up in a skirt her Mama Tess made her for Christmas, and I put a bunch of braids in her hair. She took little hair things and put them on her fingers like rings. She's a crack up. She sure looked fancy. Yesterday at Target we saw Fancy Nancy dress up products. They even had a Fancy Nancy doll. We're in for it now!

Jarod: "Give us a roar!"

If you were thinking about getting a hair cut to boost your self-esteem, thinking a new look could do you some good, my warning to you is: think long and hard about it. That, or be willing to shell out the big bucks to have it done by someone really good. At least be sure that if the person doesn't speak English, it's because the salon imported them just because they are that good. Needless to say, I got my hair cut. If you can call it that. Maybe I should say I got my hair butchered by not only one, but two very cruel women. If you've never felt insecure or unhappy with your appearance as a woman, then I hate you, and you're not longer welcome to read my blog. (jk) It just so happens that I have been feeling less than pleased with my physical appearance as of late. As a remedy, I thought I'd get a hair cut, and put a little life back into my hair at the very least...what's a quicker fix than a hair cut, right? So, off we went to the salon. Let me rewind a little bit. First, I subjected myself to the painful process of swim suit shopping. It's depressing enough seeing myself in a swim suit, but seeing the look on my husband's face, and knowing he's thinking "what happened to the body I married?" is much worse. Not only do I have to be subjected to feelings of self-loathing and inadequacy getting into a bathing suit...I have to pay a fortune for it! Does it strike anyone else as ridiculous that we have to pay so much for an article of clothing that hardly covers anything?! So, if I wasn't feeling like I needed a boost before looking for a swim suit...I definitely felt like one afterward. So, into the salon. I guess I should've known better, when the stylist had me facing away from the mirror the entire time, and didn't have me check it when she was done. Note to self: always insist on facing the mirror when getting hair cut. When she was done, I was mortified. I asked "is this going to look like a mullet?!" She assured me that it wouldn't. The question I should've asked: "is this going to make me look like I belong in an 80s hair band?" Her answer would've been a resounding "YES!" I left and told Jarod how much I hated it. He then suggested that we go somewhere else to get it fixed. So, I pulled as much of it back as I could...and we headed off to another salon. When I sat down in the chair the stylist asked "what you like?" I should've bolted right then and there. If I'd had communication problems with the first girl, it certainly wasn't bound to get better with someone who didn't speak my same language. All I could say was "I got my hair cut, and I hate it. I'm looking for a fix." As I took my hair down my stylist, and the one next to me gasped and looked at me with horror struck eyes. That's when the tears started to well up...again. In the end, the best fix this woman could come up with was having my bangs start in the middle of my head, and making the already awful face frame, even shorter, so that now it's impossible to pull my hair back. My husband's suggestion...go back to being "hat girl". Maybe some of you who knew me in college remember my hat phase. So, in the end I was left looking like I should either be singing "If I were king of the forest!" or "rock you like a hurricane!" When I was talking and laughing with Kathleen about it last night, she commented that at least I have a sense of humor about it. I told her that well, in this family, I have to, and really, I have to laugh to keep from crying. I've only cried after three hair cuts in my life, and this was one of them. If you've never cried after a hair cut, you've obviously never had one as bad as this. It's a good thing hair grows back. Now if only it grew faster! Oh, and Kathleen, you were right...it is much worse after a wash and blow dry! This morning Jarod and I realized who I really look like. Do you remember the movie Wedding Singer? We're pretty sure I have the same hair cut as the girl who played Adam Sandler's fiance.

Garden Wars

I've been lucky enough to have a mother-in-law who dotes on me shamelessly. She was sweet enough to drive back to Texas with me and my three children in January. Jarod had mentioned that he would like to have some of the Iris bulbs that were his grandmother's, that are now thriving in his mother's garden. So, we loaded up the whole back of the car with all sorts of bulbs that were once his grandmother's. What a sentimental guy! I loved it. It's been great to watch all sorts of plants popping up in the back yard. Recently...about the same time we got Nacho...we planted a new tree, and transplanted the iris bulbs from the back of the yard, to around the trees in the middle of the yard. This entailed quite a bit of work, including taking out grass, putting down fabric to keep the grass from growing back, and putting in new soil, transplanting the bulbs, and putting down mulch. Of course, puppies will be puppies, and what else is there for a dog to do, but undo all the hard work and hours of labor we put in? I think by now Nacho has pulled out upwards of a dozen bulbs, ripped out the fabric, and scattered mulch and bark all over the lawn. I'm at a loss. My mom gave the suggestion of putting up chicken wire around the plants to keep him out. I tried Critter Ridder...if you're ever considering buying this product...DON'T! So, I'm open for more suggestions to solve this little problem. I am glad that we took so many bulbs from California!

Cool Dude

I'll begin by saying that Josh loves to wear hats. So, when Carly came out wearing her Harley Davidson hat this morning, he decided he needed a hat also. Carly brought out his lizard hat, and he's been wearing it all day. As we were getting in the car this afternoon, I put his sunglasses on him. I thought he looked so cool.

Splish Splash

Last week we were lucky enough to have Kyle and Kathleen stop in for a couple days on their way out to VA. We had a great time. They made it just in time for Papa's birthday on Thursday. We celebrated by having some authentic Texas BBQ from Rudy's. Ordering at that place is quite the experience! Friday I treated them to some famous Round Rock doughnuts...delicious, and we went swimming at our neighborhood pool. It's still not quite swimming weather here, and I've been surprised at how many people are frequenting the pool. Being that it's not that hot here, the water at the pool was FREEZING! I couldn't believe Carly was enjoying it as much as she was. Jack was not a fan, and I'd be lying if I said I was really torn up about it. I didn't want to sit in the cold water, either.

I feel badly that I don't have any pictures of Kyle and Kathleen from when they were here, so for all those of you who are dying to see a picture of them...I think this their engagement photo. Cute couple!

Jack preferred to sit it out with Mommy and Papa

Poor Baby!

Carly loves the camera

Jack's Movie

Well, I'm trying out the video application. If this works, I promise to add better videos.

This one is of Jack playing on the floor. Carly was making noises at him to get him to smile.