Lollipops & Pig Tails

Adult time

2012-07-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks to April and Cameron, we recently snuck out for the Decker's house warming party. Such fun!

A few weeks before that, the girls hung out at their grandparents while we went to dinner at Esparza's. So good!

Thursday

2012-05-03T20:31:00.001-07:00

We moved into a hotel.
After staying two nights with the Bells in Irving, we figured they needed a break.
And we needed more room and beds.
Our insurance company has us in a two bedroom suite with a full kitchen.
Of course I don't come empty handed so we are fully stocked.
Having a little popcorn and wine as I type.

Tiny closets & CEC Thursday

2010-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

Mom, NO PICTURES OF ME! She was eating slow this morning so breakfast in the car She doesn't like the pancake part, just the sausage

Such a happy girl when I rode to CEC. I'm sure she was heard for miles. What a Blessing

Stomping on ants Heading to see daddy at work

Used every bit of mom's shaving cream

Apartment closets, need I say more? Chris could fill this alone.

Trying to organize it a little

My tiny section of clothes

Fall clothes..not sure what to do with them

Today turned out to be an awesome day. I don't thank God enough for all of our Blessings but today I did quite often.

Hailey was pulled out of bed this morning while she was trying to crawl back in. She did not want to wake once again. The slowest breakfast in history landed her breakfast on the go. Still TONS of tears at school but is always so happy when I pick her up. Today, she was jumping up and down and clapping. I love the feeling when you see that smile and the kids are so excited you are there. I'm always early, one of the first moms, and it makes her proud. She tells her class that I'm there. The teachers just smile and tell me that she is for sure a momma's girl.

While she was there, Chris and I took it easy. Mother nature finally showed her evil face and I've been ordered to take it easy. Me take it easy? I did today. Came home from dropping HG off, laid around, took a bath, talked with Chris, researched a few possibilities, fixed lunch, did a load of laundry....pretty much relaxed until 1:30 and darted out the door to pick up my smiling Angel.

Rather than returning home after school, I pulled into Chuck E Cheese. I'm sure you could have hear the squeals and the laughter miles away. She kept telling me "Momma, Hailey Grace is essicted, so esssssscited" and "thank you for CEC". That alone made the trip worth while. I really enjoy going to the one in Grapevine now. There is hardly anyone there and the staff is great. I got a coke, Hailey Grace an apple juice and milk and a few dollars in tokens. We really had fun, even I had a blast. She kept saying "good job mommy" if I got her tickets or scored high on a game. Oh my, she is growing so fast.

After CEC, HG requested that she wanted to see daddy. A quick stop by the apartment and then off to an early dinner. I had the salmon, it was okay but I'm not a big salmon fan. Cedar planked or the Spicy ones from Sam's is it. Like I said, it was okay so I'm sure others just love it. HG had half of my salad and chicken tenders. The sweet waitress sold her on a brownie sundae. ENORMOUS. YUMMY. WONDERFUL. Popped my button on my bottoms. Sure did. That should be a sign correct? Step away from the food. :)

The rest of the evening was cleaning out the master closet (not sure how anyone could call this a master closet), watching a little tv, bath time, coloring time and bedtime. Miss Priss has been down since 9:15 and has her "singing" going strong. She'll call out for me by 7 or 8 in the morning and want some milk. Then I get snuggle time with her.

Not much planned for tomorrow. Chris is a MID, he closes tonight so I'm sure will be a little sleepy tomorrow. We will probably go to storage and look for our fall decorations. Not sure where we will put them but HG loves all the fall pumpkins and such. We get to go pick up our shirts for Lindsey's walk on Saturday, can't wait. Right now, they haven't had to cancel due to the flooding parks. Hopefully the water will go down by then.

On another note, our favorite couple lost their precious dog today. I feel terrible for them as the dog just turned 10 on July 4th and had been healthy until recently. They never expected this. I know it is just a dog to some but to others it is a lot more. My heart breaks for them .

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

2010-09-08T13:11:00.001-07:00

She loves her babies.Our conversation:

HG:I need more babies. Momma, stop and listen. NOW. I need more babies. They cry for Hailey Grace. see, she is crying and I kiss her.

Me:You talk too much for being only 2. :)

I thank God every day for a little girl. So much fun and always full of laughter. Girls definitely have more personality at this age.

Yep, she is wearing her Dora shirt. Almost too small. I'm sure someone will mail us one soon so she won't go without. :)

Don't get me wrong, rain can be lovely. I enjoy having a nice storm from time to time but the heavy rain won't be missed. The flooding in the roads won't be missed. The tornado's won't be missed. The curly q's in my hair won't be missed. It was raining so hard this morning that I couldn't even run to my car. Hailey Grace keeps looking outside and asking why it is still raining.

We've been in doors all day and Hailey is just about finished with her nap. Girl did not want to nap but it took a mere 2 minutes once I made her lay on her bed. I have her colors and more A letter stuff to color once she wakes. Chris is off again today. 8 days. Oh how we would have loved to take a mini trip but hunting hung the moon in Texas. I think we might get a night or two in Colorado really soon. He goes back for 3 and then is off on Sunday.
Hailey Grace helped me put the chicken in the crock pot before dinner and she had her choice of dishes. She chose BBQ chicken. Turned out great. I love chicken cooked in the crock pot, so tender.
I finally have HG back on a good bedtime routine and couldn't be happier. It just a few days at Poppy's to get back in a routine. Tonight, it was late and it was 9:10. YES! And she is in her bed, in her room and she sleeps all night. I don't have to share my tiny bed with two bed hogs. If Chris snores too much then I just climb in her bed but STILL. She is doing awesome. I think Chris is enjoying it too. For 8 months in Texarkana, she was on a perfect routine. One month moving threw her all kinds of directions. It would be 1 in the morning and she was bouncing off the wall. 7:30 she can barely hold her eyes open. LOVE IT!
Tomorrow HG has school and she is already telling us she isn't going. It is going to be a SUPER FUN morning, let me tell you.
Have a great Thursday!!

Cute kid

2010-09-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

Found this in a drawer and had to share (sorry dad!). Isn't this adorable? My dad will be 60 soon and this is him as a small child.

Tuesday in Grapevine

2010-09-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ketchup with everything
Lots of rotation today

Mia bought her new shoes, she is scared of the lights.

Today was letter A

A is for Alligator

Wanting daddy to color an Alligator

Dog kennels are not for human weight but made for great laughs.

yep, they are on my legs too!

Our day started off with us running behind. I needed gas, we didn't stop last night and Hailey wasn't ready to get in the car. I prayed we would make it to school (and we did!), got drenched on the way in and I left Hailey in tears. So hard to do but she as just fine when I picked her up.

Chris and I dined at Fuzzy Tacos for lunch. I really enjoy that place, you always know what you are going to get. We lost track of time and rushed to pick up Hailey Grace. I wrote a blog this afternoon that apparently someone had an issue with so we are debating on going private. I cleaned house on my emails and facebook and this is next. Most of my family and friends through the blog was great because I've been SOOOOOOOOOO UPSET this past year about always being put down. Like I said in the previous emails, we are going to just take ourselves away from the issues. Simple as that. We don't loose.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday. Today was Sweet Lindsey's birthday so please say a prayer for her and her dear family and friends tonight. I am super excited about her walk on Saturday. Hailey Grace and I are debating on heading to Texarkana for a while and coming back for it on Saturday. I promise to take my camera if we do!

2010-09-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

I had to delete the previous post, thank you to those who sent me texts in support of allowing Hailey Grace to watch/like Dora. Like I previously said, the best way to avoid the problem is not to be around it at all. That is what I have chosen for Hailey Grace and I.

Why most people only have two children

2010-09-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Hey friend Leigh posted this on Facebook and I fell in love with this girl's blog. She writes beautiful.

Here is what she said on people only having two children.

This could end up being a controversial post, but not intended to be. The average American household size is 2.5 persons with the average household having .90 children. Wow! When I looked up this statistic tonight, I was shocked by the number. The number of children per household has drastically fallen since I last checked about 10 years ago. Not until I had children did I ever understand why people only had two children. In my dreamy world, I grew up wanting hundreds of children. Truly. I dreamed of a home full of children and babies. I didn't understand the realities of motherhood at all. I didn't know what it felt like to have morning sickness. I didn't understand how pregnancy is hard for most people and very scary at times. I didn't know what it felt like to be up all night for several weeks at a time with a new baby only to be woken in the morning by a very rested 2 and 3-year old. I never thought about those things. I didn't know what the pain felt like to hover over a sick child worried to death. I didn't know what it felt like to continually ponder a child's future and formation. You see, I was confident and ignorant. Then, I had children.I had my first child and fell desperately in love. Like most mothers with their first, I was meticulous about everything. I made sure I read to him 40 hours a day, taught him baby sign language, made all his baby food, took him outside everyday, and read every parenting book to make sure that I wasn't messing him up for life. Looking back though, I was very overwhelmed. You see, when a woman gets married and has children, the life you once knew has now completely changed. Your life is not your own anymore...forever. You are now responsible for entire human being. I remember thinking when he was sick for the first time, "If I don't take him to the doctor, nobody will." You have to make serious decisions about things like vaccinations, schooling options, medicated or unmedicated birth, allergies, parenting techniques (i.e. to spank or not to spank), sleeping troubles, temper tantrums, eating issues, etc., etc. There is no barometer in motherhood. You do not get a medal at the end of the day that says, "Well done, you handled that fit well" or "Well done, you chose wisely on the vaccination decision" or "Great diaper change!" So, for the first time in lives of most women you are faced with a scenario that makes most feel like they started preschool again only this time the textbooks are on the level of your post-doctorate.It seems around the 2-year mark, most people venture out and have another child. BAM! ENTER... why most people never go beyond this point of having more than two children. Yes, I know, some say it is for other reasons i.e. financial, challenging pregnancies and even scary pregnancies. Although, when you get into deep conversation with a woman, you see the longing and the loneliness on her heart for more children. She may not even know it. For me, I had my first child whom I gave ALL MY ATTENTION. I then had another child WHOM I FELT AS THOUGH I HAD TO GIVE ALL MY ATTENTION. This truly was an impossible task. Who can do that? I remember when I would go anywhere I would make sure I had army of people to help. Truly. I admired mothers of large families and felt so inadequate next to them. I would be at the zoo with my two children and six of my sisters to hold each of their arms and legs and possibly breathe for them...if they needed that. Then, I would see mothers of ten children...GET THIS...BY THEMSELF AT THE ZOO...and actually smiling. When we lived in Oklahoma, I would pack enough toys for the eight hour drive so that they would have something new to look at every 2.3 minutes. It was ridiculous. At mass, we would bring a buffet so that not a moment would go by that HOUR that he wasn't eating or looking at something. I would NEVER drive anywhere more than an hour by myself because HE MIGHT CRY OR SOMETHING and that just isn't right. It is the first time in motherhood you are experiencing a toddler and then also having a new baby. My mom always says that most babies become normal at their one year birthday. Meaning, I have seen it time and time again. You have this sweet, beautiful, innocent baby who does everything he is supposed to for his first year of life and then...something happens. They start developing opinions. How dare they start thinking for themselves? Suddenly, they throw fits in public, arch their back, lay on the floor, climb on everything, go fishing in the toilet, become a picky eater. They are a mess and you are mess. I remember one of my dear friends crying at her sons baby pictures because he had morphed into some sort of something his second year of life. Never before are you faced with constant decisions on how to handle the octopus that now lives in your home. On top of that, you have a new baby who decides that the middle of the night is his favorite hot spot. Side note, the toddler whom has been sleeping in the other room for 13 hours didn't get the memo and still wakes up for party time at 6:00 AM. How come he didn't know that you just fell asleep around 5:30 AM? Really, who would do this again and again? You are so tired and overwhelmed that you know that God doesn't want someone to exist in such a way. You will say, "I'm not being a good mom to the two I have, why would I have more?" "I can't imagine feeling this way the rest of my life." "I can use my talents in much more productive ways besides having more children." "I was much more patient before I had children." "I am of no use to anyone in such a state." This little voice in your head is not from God. It is the devil trying to discourage you from THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK you will ever do. You see, like every new job something begins to change after two children (some say three children, but most say two). You begin to settle into your new job. All your little fears and questions really aren't present anymore. You start seeing trends with your children and know that usually "this too shall pass." You begin to have a peaceful acceptance of your promotion and begin to look at it as such. How come I felt more overwhelmed with one than I do with six children? How come I wouldn't think much about driving 8 hours by myself with all of my children, but a few short years ago, I wouldn't have driven 30 minutes with one? How come I will drive to see my mom three hours away and each child will only bring one book to look at and be content the whole drive when in the past they had a toy for every 5 minutes and most trips were very hairy and stressful?YOU BEGIN TO CHANGE. You begin to see each child very differently. You begin to look at your oldest as not being five-years-old, but as only having 13 years left at home and that takes on a whole new perspective. You start cherishing their baby hood and know that most things are phases. You start realizing how fast it really is going and you start to slow down. You know that they will eventually sleep and even if they don't, it suddenly and weirdly becomes "okay." Why does that happen? When I just had Dominic and was getting up with him in the middle of the night, I truly was the most tired person in America. Really. I would take two naps a day because I thought I was so tired. You adjust. I don't feel anymore tired now than I did with just one. You just keep going and God keeps you going. A very wise mother of nine told me, "The days are long and the years are short." I want to change it to "Some days are long, but to me the years are way too short." You begin to see things changing from one season to the next, and you start to change. You will say, "Just last summer, he loved to ride his bike outside, now he is more quiet and wants to stay inside while we go out." You see, these are the lessons in the school of motherhood. With each new child, you are promoted. God chips away at us and refines us and makes us beautiful. Why are mothers of large families edifying? Why do we want to be near them? Do not misunderstand my words that mothers of two children have nothing to teach us. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying that with any job, usually the person whom has been there the longest and has the most experience is pretty wise. There are those who want children and can't conceive. Are people not wise unless they have children and especially "lots" of them? No, not at all. Everybody has something to teach us. I am not here to pat myself on the back (I am still a work in much progress). I am here to encourage and simply say keep going. The world tells you to stop. My whole point is simply that if you are blessed with the gift of fertility, please let us see it as such. If for some reason, God decides not to give us anymore children, I pray that we use our lives to glorify Him in whatever avenue he chooses to take us down. I have many friends and family members whom have not been given children yet, but glorify God beautifully through their lives with their openness to adoption and other great works. I write to encourage young and older mothers to keep going. One more life. One more soul. A whole new person. The possibilities in one person are breathtaking. I meet so many women who wished they would have had more children, but I've never met a woman who wished they didn't have so many. God gave women the gift of fertility really for a few short years in the perspective of a lifetime. I pray that I treasure this gift and use it wisely. My brother Dominic was born seventh in our family. Little did my parents know that a few 18 years later, he would be caring for my father during his last days on this earth. The scenes I saw with Dominic and my dad still make me cry. To see a young, strapping 18-year-old lift his crippled father into his wheel chair all the while giving him such beautiful dignity. I would see Dominic turn and cry so often. It was so moving. What a gift and privilege Dominic had to take care of him. John's uncle Fran is the third youngest of twelve children. He is a physician and has spent many years doing mission work in Australia for the poorest of poor. He has repaired peoples lives with his gift of medicine. He has restored vision and hearing to hundreds. One life, his life, has changed many lives. I believe all work is important, but nothing is more important than bringing souls to this earth with the possibility of eternal existence with God forever. I beg you to realize how privileged you are as a woman to even have children. Let us give God our whole beings without reserve and let Him write the story of our lives and the lives he chooses to bring. For some reason, God does not let us know the end of the story of our lives. So we must trust. As Mother Teresa said, "I want to be a pencil in his hand."

Happy Hunting

2010-08-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

Our patio tablet that we found on sale. We are using it as a kitchen table until we find something we LOVE.

omeone hit C's truck while he was at work. Lovely

We bought a grill and patio table on sale. I love both!

Her poor car seat without the cushion while at storage.

Splish splash

Our day started off early. I refused to pick up the house last night before falling asleep because I had cleaned all day. The two wild animals (Hubby and HG) manage to turn the place in disaster mode in a matter a minutes. I walked around last night looking, grabbed an ice cream sandwich and went to bed. I stressed during the night that the house was a wreck. Pathetic. I tossed and turned from stress, snores and debating to get up and clean. Finally, I fell into a deep sleep. 7:30 BOOM, the alarm sounds. Bummer.

Hailey Grace had meet the teacher this morning from 10-11:30 at her amazing little school. I can tell you how Blessed we are to have her in this program. Of course today was a little tiring as many two year olds will cry when away from momma. HG did well for about 30 minutes and then the tears followed. Once i returned, she was okay. I think it was when the other kids continued to cry it confused her.

After school, CEC time then Cozymel's. Yum is all I can say. YUM. Chris had a million errands to do for hunting in the morning so HG and I just rode along. She slept most of the time and I played on my phone and read.

Motion sickness....We're trying to figure out if HG has it. Sunday, she threw up a lot (a whole lot for a grown adult) but ran fever. She is teething. I play it off at teething or something she ate. There was a lot of cheese and she ate a lot of cheese the night before. Monday she was fine and fever was 99.7. Teething right? Tuesday all day she was fine but didn't want milk or didn't want to really eat. She managed a cookie, a few chips and cheetos. Healthy right? She got sick AGAIN. I just put her seat back together. She wasn't watching her movie but rather looking out the window. Poor girl!! Poor Girl!!!

Chris headed out with his dad to Weatherford tonight for an early morning of dove hunting. They will hunt in the morning, cook out and then head back to town to pack for the weekend. It's hunting season in the south y'all!

Fall already?

2010-08-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Such a little Diva Walking to the car
Look BEHIND the messy hair.
Prepared for rain (dang a hanging belly)

Hailey Grace in her Fancy Nancy outfit. Skirt much too big, top much too small! ha!She loves these shorts..a little snug!

Her new favorite bed.

Watching tv after getting ready for bed

cup cakes we made for daddy. Yep, she helped

Can you believe that September 1st is only a few days away? That dove season is about to be the "IT THING" here in the South. That trees (well maybe not in Texas) are about to start turning? Halloween is a mere 9 weeks away and Christmas is like 18weeks. Craziness! Time is seriously flying by so fast I can hardly believe it.

While the temperatures are still quite warm here in the south, in the early mornings I can feel the crisp fall air trying to come in. I can't wait. College football, heavy dishes, family gatherings, new adventures and wonderful fall colors and smells are upon us. I love going to NW Arkansas and Colorado towards the end of September/early October and driving around. The colors look like they are on fire and people are geared up for Saturday games.

We are slowing down a little this week. A few highlights:

Hailey Grace as meet the teacher Tuesday from 10-11:30
Lunch at CEC if Hailey Grace does well tomorrow
Chris is going to West Texas and then to Kansas to hunt
My dad is coming over on Thursday to see us
Dinner with Ryan and Dad on Thursday
Thinking about a trip to Texarkana (fri-mon) unless JD and Kendall come here
Manicotti for dinner tonight
Fantasy Football draft on Wednesday night
Hailey G's 1st real day of school is Thursday

Kristen & the girls

2010-08-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Little girls are SO MUCH fun What kid doesn't love to play in clothes?

Peeking out

Momma's beauty

Last Friday, we met Kristen and her precious girls in Hillsboro for some shopping and girl time. Also, the day before was Miss Kensley's birthday so Hailey had some DVD's to give her. We had a lot of fun and will miss them dearly now that they are preparing to head back north.

Auntie "CaCa" Collins came for a visit

2010-08-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Bottoms upHailey Grace at Uncle Ryan's Condo
She doesn't leave his side much

Would you know that I didn't take a single picture?? I really think I did. Maybe they are on the hubby's cell phone. Anyway, Auntie Collins or CaCa as Hailey Grace calls her came for a visit this past week. We were beyond excited and Hailey Grace sure misses her CaCa.
Collins drove over on Tuesday morning and the three of us met Lynn for a little lunch at Aspen Creek. Collins was really impressed with AC which thrilled Chris since he is hoping she'll come to Tulsa. We'll see, we're hoping for a really great team up there. After lunch, we headed to NE Mall but due to traffic it took us forever and a day to get there. No luck at the mall.
That evening, we had planned on dinner around 6 and Lynn said she would keep Hailey Grace. At 8, Chris was still up at work and we were STARVING. We headed out. Great wings, many (too many) laughs, a few storms on the patio drenching us, picked up Hailey Grace far too late and a nice morning sleep in the next morning. Once we were all up and going, we decided to try Mooyah Burgers. Yep, won't be going back. Chipotle style which is a good idea but needs a ton of work. I'll stick to better local burger places please and thank you.
After lunch, we headed to see Uncle Ryan at his apartment. Hailey Grace loves going over to Uncle Ryan's and just watches his every move. He even gave her his last bit of chocolate milk, he scored big points. Once we visited, Collins went to shop a bit and we headed out before traffic.

We really enjoyed seeing both of them and can't wait for Poppy to come on Thursday!!!

New Braunfels

2010-08-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

The VERY ugly river rat that swam for food while feeding the ducks.Girl loves some salsa. Having lunch at Mamacita's on Sunday. Boo to them, they changed our favorite dish.

Crashed out on the way home.

Woke up for a snack. A chocolate donut!

Hailey Grace checking out Winnie the Pooh.

Tyler and Hailey Grace playing.

I love this tree in Landa Park.

Blurry picture thanks to blackberry!

Candy Thief

They only had red flavoring of snow cones. So ice cone it is!

Hailey Grace wanted to sit in Emily's lap!

Joey taking a swing at it!

Hanging up Winnie the Pooh filled with goodies!Everyone run for the goodies! Feeding the ducks in Landa Park.

Get it Cristin!

Cristin showing Tyler how to do it.

Last Saturday, we headed to New Braunfels for a surprise birthday party for a dear friend. Cristin Boatright has been one of our dear friends for many years and I was thrilled that we pulled off the surprise. Maybe it was because we mailed the invitations out from Texarakana? Or that JoAnn made the cake and Joey had to hide everything. Cristin knew something was going on when Joey pulled money out of their join account. It was cute, she was having major issues with it. Sorry Cristin, all for good causes.

While in town, we had a lot of fun seeing friends and their growing families. We even got lunch at Mamacita's. We didn't make Gruene ( I know, can you believe it??) because the heat index was over 100F. That was jsut way too hot with a toddler in tow.

We're already planning our next trip down there!

Our Thursday

2010-08-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

When it is hot, you take a dip! Our day in a nut shell

Breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast with Nana's homemade peach jelly
Hailey decided to help herself to the pantry. Golden Grahams, gold fish, raisins (later she thought they were bugs and attacking them) and oreos.
Went for a swim. We were the only ones in the pool and the apt manager said it would be like that now that school is back in session. Score!
Lunch, Chicken Gumbo soup, turkey dogs, chex mix, pickles
Looooong shower to scrub all the layers of sunscreen off
Shrek, Blues Clues and now she is alseep. It's 3:30.
I will do two loads of laundry and pick up while she is sleeping.
Tonight is date night with friends, can't wait!

Fort worth Children's Museum

2010-08-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Miss Kensley & Miss Hailey Grace to the rescue!Having fun at the museum

Isn't Miss Kallie Grace the cutest little thing!!??

She loved the babies!

Dinner at "Chicken Chicken" or Chick Fil A

My good friend Kristen came to DFW for a few days last week with her two adorable little girls. We were so excited to see them. The weather was extremely warm so we found inside activities to do.....Breakfast, play time at the apartment & hotel, Chick Fil A, Fort Worth Children's Museum, Hobby Lobby, etc. We were really sad to see them go but hope to visit before they head back to DC. We really miss them being our neighbor.

Click here for information on the Children's Museum. We had a GREAT time. The rest of the museum was a little old for the kids and Hailey was sleepy so we opted out from touring it all. We spent $42 so it can be a little pricey and that didn't include the Imax shows. Next time, we will probably bring our lunch and go on a day when the entire town wasn't present. :) But over all, it was really nice.

We're home!!!

2010-08-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hailey Grace meets Ronald McDonald

The past 10 days have been unbelievely busy. Wow. I am sitting in bed reflecting on the whirl wind of nearly two weeks. I am happy to announce that we are moved into our new home and loving every minute of it. I don't think it could get better. Well, yes there is one thing that would make it better.

Hailey Grace has been swimming a lot

Don't you just love her little suit?

The pool at Grandmommy's house

blurry thanks to my Blackberry

Mommy and Hailey Grace. She can't stay still!

After I busted her using the ENTIRE bottle of Daddy's brand new shampoo

I busted her wasting an entire bottle of of BRAND new shampoo.

She loves M & M's. I love giving them to her in Daddy's truck. He panics. It's cute.

Our tiny apartment is just the right size...thank goodness for our gigantic storage unit! We have just about everything unpacked, a pile to go back to storage and pictures are slowly going on the wall. I will take some pictures to post. The one thing I can't find is a simple can opener. A CAN OPENER. Doesn't everyone have like 10? I know it is here, I must keep searching.

Uncle Ryan came to play today and Hailey Grace had a break down after he left. She did not want her Uncle Ryan to go home. After about 10 minutes at the door crying "come back Uncle Ryan", she agreed to a swim in the bath. 30 minutes later, she was dosing off in the tub and is now asleep in her Princess night gown snoring like a champ. Her allergies must be kicking today.

Sunny Sunday

2010-08-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

It's sunny out but oh so dark in our hotel room. Hailey is napping yes, I do realize it is 6:15 and she is napping so I have the curtains pulled. We played hard, looks like a tornado came through the room and she finally gave out while watching The Secret Life of Bees. Oh how I love that movie, it gets me each time.

We're supposed to be at a Welcome Home Party for Mike and Amber but Chris is not off work yet. So we're waiting.... Hopefully he'll walk through that door in a few minutes so we can head on over there. I'm sure it will be a great time and good food! After the celebration, we are hitting the road for Texarkana. Let's pray we can fit it all in the Uhaul. I can hardly believe that this time next week, we'll be HOME. HOME. As a family. Music to my ears.

Saturday was a full day and boy was it nice and toasty out.

By 11, Hailey and I were here:

19 minutes to wash and 20 to dry. Wonderful!

Lunch of Mexican Tacos

Ran by here to see Mike & Amber

Then off to a much needed swim with Kristen W. Hailey played with Gran mommy and Grandaddy last night while Kristen and I dined at Aspen Creek and then headed out to Duke's to meet Mike and Amber. It was a lot of fun, too much fun! I think I am going to stick to my wine from here on out.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. This next week is going to be crazy busy for us but we can't wait.

Texarkana until Tuesday
Unload Uhaul on Tuesday in Grapevine
Boxes, boxes, boxes. YUK!
Visiting with Mike and Amber before they head to Houston
Chris goes back to work on Wednesday
Lunch date and play time with my Aunt Susie on Wednesday and maybe Kristen V!!!
Kristen V and the girls will be in town this week and we can't wait to see them!!!!
Want a play date with Nicolle & Boyd and Toni & the girls
Jim's birthday
Trying to get to Cornith to see Amy's new little one.
Need to go visit Amber and Gibson and take them their cute little gift.
Doctor appointment on Friday

A few might have to wait until the following week.

a light at the end of the tunnel?

2010-08-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Big girl bed

Working on Hailey Grace's BIG GIRL room

She loves the bath fizzes from Brooke

She found Dora

And Pooh & Tinker Bell

She did her own hair

She was so proud!

Dealing with Texas heat

My lil' Diva!

Started moving into apartment. It's so small but so cute and tiny!

Storage. You can fit an 18 Wheeler in here.

Free Whataburger day. Yes, you can only imagine the lovely people present.

Entrance to storage. Hard to believe right?

Not only did she dress herself, she picked out the hat too!

Yes, that is a big fish and a doll paci in her mouth.

Lil' Monkey

Her chair on a couch?

A Pro on the potty...okay, somewhat a pro!

So busy

2010-08-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hi! I know a few of you have email and a few we were supposed to have play dates with this week so I am taking a quick second to update. We are beyond busy. I haven't had a moment to myself until right now and Hailey is asleep.

Here are a few details:

We are living in a hotel in Irving.

Hotel living is really hard.

The maid came and asked if Hailey was okay yesterday because she was pitching such a fit.

She had a chest cold, green snot and a molar is coming in. AND terrible 2's.

She fell and hit the back of her head on concrete today. My heart stopped.

Aspen Creek as opened.

They (Chris and his friends) go out every night for dinner.

We went to Texarkana for a couple of days.

I have been getting 3-4 hours of sleep due to Hailey's coughing and Chris's snoring..we are on day 7 now.

I signed on our apartment today and cleaned it competely.

I brought them fried cheese cake to the signing.

We have done laundry and lots of it.

I hired movers to help with storage tomorrow for 5 hours
so lets pray it knocks a dent into it. Maybe half way?

We rented the storage unit next to our to separate our items.

I am going to sell so much of our unused items. I HATE,HATE HATE packing and moving it around when we don't use it. We have entirely too much junk.

If you are looking for something, let me know, we probably have it. More than likely we do.

You normally can fit an 18 wheeler in our unit and still have room but ours is packed full.

Hailey Grace and Chris have both been sick with sinus infection, chest cold and allergies.

We've been playing at the Bells often in Irving.

Poppy and Uncle Ryan came over last night to eat at Aspen Creek.

Hailey had a melt down in Target, it was bad. Well bad is too nice for it.

I'm worn out. worn out is an understatment.

I need a hair cut, pedi and a massage. Those are highly unlikely in my life, maybe by Xmas. :)

I am going to really miss the full breakfast at the hotel, fresh movie popcorn and cookies each day. They will miss Hailey's smile and helping bag the popcorn.

Hailey loves her big girl room. She was so excited and played in her closet for an hour.

Her closet takes up one entire wall and it is mirrors. I hate it. She loves it. It's perfect for wild toddlers and their dancing and playing.

She got a new boy baby today and wanted to name him Poppy.

We are going to Texarkana on Sunday for the last of our items. It will be bitter sweet. My parents miss Hailey terribly. Hailey misses them.

She brought me the phone today to call yaya and kiki. She loves them too.

Well, that is all I have for now folks!

IKEA

2010-07-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love you Ikea! It was only my second time attempting the store and I am already planning a trip back. I say ATTEMPTING because it will take you many hours to view everything. Today I had Hailey Grace. She was sound asleep when we arrived and some old lady woke her up. I thought to myself "does that old lady want a black eye" but I smiled and walked off before I could open my mouth. I will go back and soon and alone.

Hailey woke with green snot once again and was quite under the weather this morning. Once the Allegra and Tylenol kicked in she began to feel better. She was just irritated all day long for some reason and only an hour nap makes for an early bedtime. Tonight, I had her asleep by 7:30 because she just couldn't handle (or maybe I couldn't) being awake anymore. We were at the Bells house having a yummy dinner thanks to Chris and Hailey kept having meltdowns. Off we went and she did not put up a fuss to sleep.

After lunch, we headed to see our new apartment. While I had seen the complex, I had NOT seen the actual apartment. It's cute and will work just fine but VERY SMALL. The living room, I think I could reach all the way across if I tried. I keep telling myself that we NEED something small and not BIG at the moment. AND, think how easy it will be to clean!!! I like my room, I like my space so it will take some getting used to. That was the reason for the IKEA trip. We had planned on putting a full bed in Hailey's room but there is no way. Our living room it entirely too small for a couch, chair, coffee table and her toys. There is just no way to arrange it to make it fit. I tried. SO, we are going to do a twin bed or a day bed and that will allow her toys to be in her room rather in storage. I'd go nuts if they were in storage. It's a strange lay out in her room but it'll work. As far as us, it assured me NO KING BED. Have you ever sat on our bed? You won't ever want to sleep in another bed again, EVER. There are a few things I love about the apartment though. It has great natural light and a large bay window. The guest bathroom is pretty wide so that is definitely a plus with a linen closet in there. Garden tubs. Fake wood in kitchen and bathrooms. Like I said, it really is cute and once we are in with the right furniture, it will be great.

So back to shopping for a bed for Hailey. We looked a lot of cute beds, everything from wide toddlers to twins to daybeds. I'm pretty sure we'll do a twin or daybed incase we have company over. I tried to encourage her to climb and test them out. She refused...until this bed and climbed right on in!

Well, Hailey has been down for over an hour and Chris is working late so the bath is calling my name. I can't recall the last time I had a bath all to myself. Too bad I didn't stop for that bottle of wine so I could have a glass.

Funday Sunday & laundry day Monday

2010-07-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

I LOVE funday Sundays. They remind us of our years in Colorado. It was a race to get to each Sunday because they were always filled with exciting and fun things to do. This Sunday, Chris was able to take a little time off on Sunday to spend with us girls. We laid in bed watching movies while sipping chocolate milk. It was nice to be in no rush and just enjoy the moment. For some reason, we were still showered and dressed by 11. Funny how that always happens.

We had lunch with the Bells and then Chris and I headed to Lake Lewisville for an Aspen Creek lake party. It was a lot of fun to meet all the people I have heard so much about. The celebration was at a wonderful home on a fantastic cove in Highland Village. It ended up being just a few doors down from Randy and Elizabeth so we were excited when Randy finally showed his face. The CEO of TXRH and his family hosted a great time and they were beyond nice. The entire family was there and everyone was so outgoing and lovely.

While we hung out with the adults, Hailey Grace went to Weatherford with Jim and Lynn to visit Grandpa. I KNOW she had a fantastic time and Grandpa sure loved seeing her. They played, blew bubbles, had dinner, saw the moon and then little worn out Hailey went to sleep. Chris and I were lucky enough to stop by for some crab legs and wings on the way to pick her up. What we thought would be fast and easy turned into a long drawn out stop due to our waitress not speaking English. Sweet Hailey slept during the car ride back to the hotel, the ride in the elevator, a diaper change, the tv, showers, airplanes, etc so that shows how sleepy she was. Thank you Jim & Lynn for watching her.

Today our main goal was to tackle the laundry. Chris needed clean work shirts and well truthfully, the work clothes will smell up a room fast. About 3 1/2-4 hours later, the last load is drying. Next Mother's Day, I am so getting the front loaders that can fit a ton of jeans. I'm already looking forward to it with all the jeans I will be washing in my future. If you didn't know, that is what Chris wears to work. They are heavy, big and hold smells in but lucky are much easier than ironing slacks each day and chef coats. Lynn said we could do laundry at their house so I was very thankful. The hotel only has one washer and one dryer since it isn't really an extended stay. Let's just say that it has been full each time I check.

Hailey woke up to green snot flying out her nose with each sneeze. Didn't I just post about how well she had been? I'm sure it jinxed me! Chris has had a sinus infection for about a week and now an annoying cough but yet isn't taking anything for it. I'm sure he either passed it on to Hailey or there is something in the air that is attacking them. We were on a mission to find a medicine dropper but wouldn't you know that we had to visit THREE places before finding one. The Pharmacist at Target must have felt sorry for me when Hailey blew lovely bright green snot all over my shirt because she gave me two free ones. Yep, in the middle of Target I am covered in green snot. I guess it is better than green poop though. We dosed her with some Allegra, she ate, played and has been asleep for 2 1/2 hours. When my allergies act up, it always makes my eyes heavy. Oh the Neti Pot will be working in over drive this week so I don't catch their craziness.

Tonight will be low key and I'm sure a little late on bedtime since Hailey is still asleep at nearly 5;30. We might get some food from Aspen Creek so that always perks us up. The weather has been a little crazy. One minute it is dark, rainy or cloudy and the next sunny. Hopefully we will be back in the pool tomorrow morning!

Save the best for last

2010-07-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

And yet, MORE!!!

2010-07-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

A few more!

2010-07-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

More birthday pictures

2010-07-26T14:36:00.001-07:00

Many thanks to Jim and Lynn for taking the majority of the pictures from Hailey's Birthday party. Both had their camera going at all times and snapped some really good ones. One day, I will get around to a scrapbook.

Poppy's House