Where Do I Begin?

Well, we have had a VERY crazy couple of weeks around here, and I have had a lot to write about, but very little time and energy to blog. On top of a hurricane evacuation and 30th birthday celebrations, the pregnancy fatigue has kicked in FULL FORCE, and I am miserable. Even blogging seems like a daunting task these days. I don't remember it being this bad when I was pregnant with Emmalyn. But, I guess I will start in the beginning....hurricane evacuation plans!!! Yep, we had to evacuate again for a hurricane. You might remember that 3 years ago this month, we headed to Temple (usually a 5 hour drive) with our 3 mutts in the Trail Blazer...and 23 HOURS later, arrived at my dad's house to live with him for 2½ weeks! With Kris not working, and 3 dogs causing problems, this was not fun, financially or physically! BUT, we live in the armpit of Texas, otherwise also known as Hurricane Ally...so this is apparently not UNcommon! (Read...I want to move back to central Texas!!) So, as Hurricane Gustav threatened to hit our little town, we got the heck out of Dodge! We left at 4am (No, you read that right...4 AM!) on Sunday morning (Aug.31st) with a 19 month old who apparently thought this was hysterical. We thought she would stay asleep as we transferred her from her bed to car seat...but no, she thought it was funny that the dog was in the car with her and giggled for 30 minutes! Cute, but not so great for the rest of the day. She was a very tired, grumpy baby for the rest of the day.

We ended up in a hotel in Temple, about a 3 minute drive from my brother's apartment and 15 minutes from my dad, so that was a blessing. We got to spend quite a bit of time with them while we were there. All in all, we were there 3 days, leaving early Wednesday morning to come home. Emmalyn was not in a very good mood most of the time there because she had been taken out of her element and out of her routine, so we were ready to get home and have our happy-go-lucky baby back! :) But, we did sort of get a mini-vacation, and got to spend time with my family....not to mention, Gustav didn't even hit!!! :) :) :) So, we came home to NO damage! WooHoo!!!!! Not the homecoming we received after Rita in 2005. So we are praising God for his protection over the family and home, and for the blessing of family time!
OH, AND DID I MENTION I AM 30?!?!?!?! How did THAT happen? When did I "grow up?" Well apparently, it happened, and I received a very sweet celebration of my birth with my family and friends. My awesome hubby, Kris, surprised me last Saturday night (the night before evacuation) with a surprise birthday party at his parents house with most of my closest friends! :) I was so happy that people actually came when they probably should have been at home packing and boarding up their homes! Thank you to the LeBlancs, Starks, Paines, Mike, Cheryl, and Kelli for being there!!! It was an honor to spend my birthday with all of you! And thank you to my precious husband, mother in law, father in law, and sister in law for all the time, preparation, and love that you put into that party! (And we missed those that couldn't be there terribly!) It was really fun, but we headed home at 10 pm and got up at 2:30am to finish packing, and left at 4am. Sunday was a very looooooong day!

The second part of my birthday celebration was equally special! We went to a quaint little Stagecoach Inn and had dinner with my WHOLE family! Kris, me, Emmalyn, Kris's parents, sister, grandparents, my dad, brother, sister, and 5 nieces and nephews, and my best friend from Austin. It was really fun to have everyone together, and get to celebrate with all of them! I don't think we had everyone together since the wedding! :)

Here is a picture of the whole family! :

A couple other favorite photos of that evening....my sister and I, followed by Emmalyn looking pretty cute as she proudly gets up in a rocker by herself! :)

Oh, and did I mention I got an iPod from my hubby!? :):):):) As well as a number of other lovely gifts from other friends and family! And Daddy gave me the serenity prayer charm in August when we were last in Temple...how timely! :) Thank you to everyone!!!

I think my 30's are going to be the best decade yet!!!!!!!

What would we do without the internet?

Well, I recently read my friend Jennifer's blog about the time we spend on the computer, and thought...this is so true!!! Then, I found this button (actually a piece of flair on Facebook), and just had to share it with all of you! :) I now have a blog, MySpace, and Facebook! And actually waste spend time almost every day checking each one of them! But honestly, what would we do without them? Especially being a stay at home mom...my computer is frequently my only connection to the outside world on certain days. And my time on TitusTwo.net actually provides more encouragement, teaching, and fellowship than I could get in person. I didn't think I would ever get into the forums like my sister did, but they are wonderful...and addicting!

But, lest we think we are alone, this is an addiction activity sweeping the nation! They even have blogs like this one telling us moms how to "fancify" our blogs, discussion groups, and "blogrolls" for women to join to find other moms who have jumped on this bandwagon! You can even make money doing it! But honestly, you really can learn a lot from some of these blogs. Many of them are written by more experienced moms than myself, and give more information to help you, then just sharing pics of their (although adorable) kiddos! :) There are even directories to help you find these! And if you start blogging, and wonder what a carnival, meme, or widget is...just go to Blogging 101, and they will gladly help you along!

Come on...join us....everyone's doing it!!!

And just in case you forgot...you have to get a MySpace and Facebook too...just in case you would like to know what that girl who sat behind you in Algebra in high school is up to these days! Or your best friend's sister's husband's uncle's electrician... I'm telling you...you can find anyone you want! :) :) :)

Big News!!!

Emmalyn has something she would like to share with all of you!!!


It's official! A blood test on Monday confirmed that Kris and I are expecting another bundle of joy in April of 2009!!! We are SOOOO excited around here!!!

Coffey Anderson

Have you heard this guy?!?! Kris and I are lovin' him! You may have actually seen him on "Nashville Star," but I'm kinda glad he didn't win...so he can keep doing worship music exclusively! :) He is actually the cousin of one of Kris's co-workers...small world, huh?

I have seen a bunch of his videos on GodTube, and like them all, but I think this is my favorite song. It's called "All Ye," and I have had it in my head all day! I especially like the hip hop beat that he starts after about 2 minutes, 10 seconds. :) Check it out! And look at some of his other stuff at his MySpace page and GodTube.

Part Three: Saturday Night

The biggest reason for going to see my family this particular weekend was because this year my sister just turned 40(Aug. 8th), my brother 35(Aug. 7th), and I will be 30 in 2 short weeks! :] ! So, we decided we needed to party! (As much as conservative 30-40 year olds do!) My sister's boyfriend has been wanting to take her out country dancing for a while...and this is the perfect opportunity, right? Well, she got herself some boots, Wranglers, and even a fancy belt and belt buckle, and he got them starched up right! She looked so cute! This is Kim and Eddie all dressed up and ready to go. Aren't they just TOO adorable?!?! And the roses...he brought for her...aren't they beautiful? And before we left for the evening, we had to take a shot of the whole group:
Me, Kris, Cal (my awesome brother), Kim, and Eddie:
Pretty cute, aren't we? :) So, we put the baby to bed, tell the nieces and nephews NOT to call unless the house is on fire or someone is bleeding :), and head out at about 8:30 p.m. (For those of you who know me, this is dangerously close to my "pumpkin" time, as hubby calls it.) I got a fix of Taco Cabana, a yummy restaurant that isn't in my area, that I hadn't had in 4 years, and head off to Dallas Night Club to do some two steppin! Well, we pull into the parking lot and wonder "Are we so early that NO ONE is here yet?!" Nope. Dallas is no longer a dance hall. CLOSED. DOWN. Windows boarded up and everything! So sad....now where do we go?

Well, Eddie used to spend a lot of time in places such as these, so he had one more in mind. We drive another 20 minutes to a place called Ropers. The empty parking lot gave us an eerie feeling, and then we read the note on the very closed doors. CLOSED. DOWN. Seriously? Are we seriously all dressed up with nowhere to go?! This is Texas, people! Why are the dance halls closing down?!

So, we proceed to pull in to a gas station to find a phonebook and find somewhere to get my sister dancin'!!! My brother thinks of this place called the Broken Spoke...an iconic Texas dance hall where everyone from Bob Wills to George Strait have performed. But, it is another 30 to 40 minute drive! But, we had to go, right? So, we went.

We danced and enjoyed the band until after 12:30am! Ten years ago this would not have phased me, but now, at almost 30...I was exhausted! And 10 years ago, I would have been able to sleep in the next morning...now I have a toddler that doesn't care what time I went to bed, she is waking up at 7:30 or 8:00 regardless! Not to mention, as a Christian, I no longer drink the night away...so time is now very real!

But that was not the end...then we went to an awesome 24 hour restaurant to have migas and pancakes, and did not return home until 2:00 A!M!

Saturday night was an adventure for sure, but we certainly all had a great time! :) (And yes, we were all up early the next morning, all very droopy-eyed!)

And Sunday, I got to see one of my dearest friends (and the one I have definitely known the longest) for lunch! Then we dropped my niece off at camp (it was on our way home...how convenient), and headed home. We were exhausted from a long weekend, but it sure was sweet spending such great time with friends and family!

I didn't get a new picture with Jenn on Sunday, but here is a good one from the last time we saw each other, in April of this year.

Part Two

So, the next "leg" of our vacation was Friday night, when Kris and I got to join Kim (my sister) and Eddie (the great guy she is dating) for a Round Rock Express game. (They are the Triple A Team for the Houston Astros, if you were not aware.) We had a wonderful time...it was a LOT of fun! I hate to admit, though...that I forgot my camera! :(

The seats were amazing! Eddie works for Blue Bell, and these are reserved seats right on the first row behind the batting practice spot for the visiting team. The players were close enough to reach out and touch! (Don't worry, I kept my hands to myself. lol!) If you wanted to say something negative about that team, you had to watch your volume...he certainly would have heard you! One of my favorite parts was watching that team's ball boy. He was a grown man, but had Down's Syndrome, and was clearly loved by his teammates. He high-fived each them as they came out of the dug out, and danced to every country song the stadium played. It was sweet and funny to watch. :)

The Dell Diamond also puts on a really fun fireworks display every Friday night, so we got to watch that at the end of the game...very cool!

Thanks again, Eddie, for sharing your seats with us! We had a blast!

Part 2.A

Saturday night will definitely require it's own post, so I will tell you here about Saturday morning. Living so far away, I rarely get to attend any of my nieces or nephews sporting or special events. We were lucky enough to be there this time for my nephew's ("W") basketball game down at the YMCA. :) Watching a bunch of 7 and 8 year olds play basketball was fun! W's team had more players than the other team, so my sweet nephew offered to play for the other team. I don't think he liked it very much though...I believe he felt disloyal once he was "in the other color." But, here he is on the court:

And this is how the busy toddler kept busy during the last quarter.
While the women-folk were at the basketball game and park, the men-folk played a round of golf. When they got home, we got some sweet family photos.

Dad with all of his grandchildren:
Dad with his original 3 children, Kris was taking the photo. :)

Sweet Time with Family and Friends...Part One

I'm sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been one busy lady! Last Thursday through Monday we spent time with friends and family about a 5 hour drive away. It was so much fun! We did a LOT, and I will tell you about it a little at a time. :)

Part One:
Thursday, we arrived at Pennie's house, where I finally got to meet her precious daughter, who is now almost 4 months old! If you will remember, I told you about her birth here. She was a doll, and I sure enjoyed holding this precious newborn! Emmalyn even reacted well, loving on her and returning her pacifier every time she dropped it. It was so sweet!!! This gives me hope that she will be a great big sister some day. :) Pennie and I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend some quality time together. (Kris, btw...went to play golf Friday morning with my brother so he wouldn't have to listen to all the "girl talk." lol)

Precious Baby:
Emmalyn leaning in to hug her: (Don't worry...we were right there, and she didn't hurt her. :)
A picture of the 4 of us. (It was a lot harder to get a picture with all of us smiling and looking at the camera than we anticipated!) Emmalyn is leaning over to hug the baby...
Pennie and I have been friends since college, about 8 years. She is so much fun, and entering this journey into motherhood together has been great! I really hate that we live so far from each other, but we talk on the phone a lot. The time in person was great, and it made me really miss her! We stayed the night, and left after lunch on Friday to head up to my sister's house...

Much Ado About Nothing

I got a call from my friend Kristin yesterday asking "Are you leaving or staying?" To which I replied..."What are you talking about?"

Apparently, while I was oblivious in my house, not watching television or listening to the radio, the rest of my area was planning for a possible hurricane! So, I turn on the Weather Channel, and sure enough...Tropical Storm Edouard is planning a track right for us! And they say it is very possible that it will turn into a hurricane before it makes landfall! Good grief! I sometimes hate living in Southeast Texas! I never worried about this mess when I lived in the beautiful Hill Country of Austin!

So, I spent the rest of my evening worried about what to do. Our plan was to stay, unless we lost power. If that were to happen, we would just pack up and head to the Hill Country, where we are already planning on going on Thursday morning. Kris was hoping NOT to have to go into work...who wants to get out to go to the doctor when there is a "hurricane" headed right for us, anyway? So, I prayed that this would not cause the trouble Rita caused almost 3 years ago, and went to bed. It was supposed to hit around 10 or 11 a.m. today, so I had time to expect the worst, right?

Well, when we got up at 8:45 this morning...it had already hit! I thought I heard some hard rain about 5:00 this morning, but assumed that was just a foreshadowing of that to come. Nope. That was it. So, now, I sit and look out the window at a little rain and wind. Talk about anticlimactic!!!

So, it looks like our day will continue as usual. Oh, and Kris did get called into work about 9:00. There were 2 patients waiting for him. What is the urgency, people?

Happy Half-Birthday to Emmalyn!

I cannot believe how fast time flies when you have a child! Yesterday was Emmalyn's 18 month birthday! How did this happen? How did my precious little newborn turn into an active, growing toddler? As of today, she is closer to her 2nd birthday than her first! Okay, I can't think like that...too much to handle for this emotional momma!

Some favorite photos from last summer:

Some favorites from this summer:

We are enjoying her so much these days, though! Even though she throws more fits than we ever could have imagined, and the lack of communication abilities really frustrates her and us, we love watching her grow and learn new things! She amazes me daily at what she understands and can do! She has been following simple directions like "turn out the light" and "hand that to Mommy" for a while, but as we increase our expectations, she impresses us as she accomplishes more. She is not talking yet, but I know she will when she is ready. I am going to mention it to her pediatrician at her 18 month check this month, but I am not overly worried yet. I know many of my readers have older kids and toddlers and will think "duh," to many of these...but they are all fairly new to us and still impress US. :)

Some things she does that impress me:

*She gives lots of kisses and hugs, with and without being asked to do so. When I picked her up from the church nursery last Sunday, she was busy walking around giving kisses to all the other babies...too cute!

*When I ask her if she is hungry, she runs to her high chair. When I ask her if she wants to take a bath, she runs to her bathroom. When I ask her if she needs a diaper change, she RUNS AWAY from me! lol!!!

*She can identify and point to many body parts...head, hair, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, arms, shoulder, knees, feet, toes, hand, belly button...etc. The really funny part is when you ask her about her belly button, she lifts her shirt to point to it, then wants to lift YOUR shirt to find yours. :)

*She can tell you that a dog says "woof woof", a tiger says "roar!", and that a cow says "moo!"

*When asked "where is _____" she can point to people in the room. Last week was the first time we asked her "Where is Mommy, Where is Daddy," and continued with Grandma, Grandpa, and Nanny...and she successfully pointed to the right person every time. She also does that with her toy photo album that has my family members. (I hope when we go see all of them next week she will recognize them easily!)

*When we say "Let's pray" she gets excited and closes her eyes, but they only remain closed momentarily. We are trying to get her to say Amen...no luck just yet. When I say Amen at the end of her nighttime prayer, she knows to turn around for me to rock her to sleep. :) (She LOVES her Bible, by the way...points to Jesus on the cover and kisses His face. SO SWEET!)

*She walks around with my keys trying to put them in every door handle. Yesterday, she tried to open the car door herself...funny.

*She successfully used sign language yesterday! I was SOOO excited!!! I haven't been very consistent with teaching her, so she hasn't really tried it. But yesterday, we were sharing a bowl of ice cream, and she was yelling at me for each bite. I told her "No screaming, you need to say more or Mama if you want another bite." Well, she shocked me when she immediately quit screaming and did the sign for "more." She did it again for Daddy last night, and he was equally impressed. :)

*She gives high five.

*She can finally climb up on the couch, get into her rocking chair, and ride her riding toys by herself.

*She will grab the remote and point it at the t.v. and press buttons. It impresses us that she understands that the remote has a connection to working the t.v. She will even turn it around the right way if you hand it to her backwards!

*The other day she was standing up and trying to walk around the tub during her bath. I told her that if she kept getting up, that we would have to get out of the tub. At one point she stood up and I asked her "Do you want to get out?" I was amazed when she shook her head NO and sat down! I guess I just don't expect her to understand reasoning like that.

*She knows how to use "pretend" toys appropriately. She puts the cabbage patch doll's bottle up to it's mouth, puts the phone to her ear, and rubs the plastic lipstick tube around her mouth like she is applying lipstick.

There are probably others...but this just gives you a peek into our daily activities that bring this first time momma such joy! Here is a video I took yesterday. It is a little long...2½ minutes, but cute. :)

I am praising God today and every day for allowing me the honor to be this precious little girl's mommy!!!

43...seriously?!

I knew my child was a bow-head, but oh my goodness!!! I didn't realize it was this, well, out of control until I put them all on separate ribbons yesterday! And this doesn't even take into account the 10 or 12 tiny bows she had when she was a newborn! (The ribbon on the right is her new paired bows for her precious new pigtails these days.) To be fair, I get these bows VERY cheap or free because most of them are made by a family member. :)

And I just had to share this picture, too. Emmalyn is very proud of her new ability to open her closet door, and I just happened to catch a kodak moment when she turned around to show me her proud smile. :)

My Little Fairy

We take Emmalyn to Sears pretty often to Sears to get her pictures taken, and she usually does a wonderful job smiling and looking beautiful for the camera. Well, this is what happened at the last sitting: This was the ONLY pose with a half smile, so we bought a few of it:

Well, Sears had a special event, called the "Enchanted Forest" today, so we took Emmalyn to see if she could redeem herself from earlier this month. She still didn't smile very well, but there were quite a few precious moments captured. (I sincerely think the Sears employee working with her today and last time is crazy, and she simply scares the smiles out of my child!) But without further ado, here are the results from today! :)






To see the all of the proofs from today, go HERE.

Yummy Recipe

The same wonderful woman over at Titus Two that gave me the prayer list gave me a recipe for a cilantro sauce that was delicious! I poured it over tilapia Tuesday night, and it was AWESOME!!! We had James and Kristin over, and everyone loved it! Kris even said "that is the best thing you have ever cooked!" He went on to mention 4 times before bed..."I just can't get over how awesome dinner was! Make sure you give props to the wonderful woman that gave you the recipe...and make it again soon!" I really loved it too! It was yummy mixed with the rice as well!

I would like to share it with all of you!:
1 garlic head, peeled, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
2 bunches cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Pour over fish, refrigerate leftovers. :)

I've Been Tagged

MrsSaf over at "Deaf Chicks Shouldn't Sing" tagged me with the "six quirky things" meme! I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with six odd facts about myself!

Here are the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other blogger´s by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.

So 6 uninteresting quirky facts about myself are......

1. I collect turtles, sort of. I used to collect a LOT of them, then realized they had to be dusted...now, not so much. I still really like them though!

2. I met my husband on the world wide web (eHarmony)...crazy, huh? And we couldn't be more perfect for each other. I am still SO IN LOVE with him!!!

3. I am a pretty picky eater and have HUGE texture issues that my husband is still trying to predict and understand. Give up, honey, it will never make sense! :)

4. I am the bionic woman...I have 8 very large screws and 2 long titanium rods in my back.

5. I will NOT leave the house without makeup. I know, it's weird...but my complexion is awful, and I feel unclean without a fresh "appearance" on my face.

6. One of my best friend's (Pennie) shares a lot of quirky little things about names...middle name, spelled the same odd way; our father's have the same name; her mother's maiden name is my maiden name; and we have wanted the same name for our first child since we were both 12!

Geez, I feel boring...it was hard to think of things about myself. Maybe my readers can think of other things they know about me that are "quirky."(?)

OK, so now who do I guilt into filling out the same meme? :)
Let's see...how about
Jana at Faithfully Following
Michael at Our Story
Jessica at Surrender
Kristy at The Home of the Lindsay Family
Jennifer at LIFE
Kristin at The Stark Naked Truth

My Second Sewing Project

So, I have finally taken time to get back to sewing. I finished my quilt, my first sewing project back in November...so it was time to dust off the (new) sewing machine and get back to work! About 2 weeks ago, my friend Michael and I went to Hobby Lobby to take advantage of McCall's patterns being on sale. She helped my pick out some easy beginner patterns, and taught me to buy the right amount of fabric and the little "notions" you have to buy along with the pattern. We had a lot of fun, thanks Michael! (She is a new friend around here, and I think this is going to be "the beginning of a beautiful friendship." :)

So, the first thing I decided to try was an apron...that seemed like an easy beginner's project. Well, I wanted to have her come over and kind of explain the vocabulary and tricks of the trade with patterns, but she was a busy bee, so I decided to try to teach myself. After a couple of phone calls to her and to my awesome sister, I did it! "All by myself" lol :) I had a LOT of fun sewing! This is a really fun hobby! I like creating a project and being able to look back at it and have a sense of accomplishment.

So, here it is:


And of course Emmalyn wanted to get in the picture. She thought "why would you have the camera out if not to take a picture of ME?"!

Mostly About Emmalyn

I have noticed that many of my friends write about great spiritual awakenings, funny events in their lives, or simply have more thought provoking blog entries than my own. But, mine is similar to a blog I saw recently..."mostly about my baby." Is that normal? Will that change when I no longer just have one? Who knows. I will, for the moment, consider finding more interesting topics to muse and discuss...until then, I will stick with the current theme! :) Here is another video to make you laugh! :)

I think she got my love of animals :)

Every time there are animals on t.v., wether a commercial or show...Emmalyn pays close attention, often laughing or talking and pointing. I managed to get a little on video recently.

Gator Country

So, when my brother and niece were here (ahem, about a month ago) we went out to a place called Gator Country. (I'm sorry it has taken so long to post this, Cal. :) I completely forgot...but better late than never, right?) We didn't think was the BEST place for a one-year old, so she spent the afternoon with Kris's parents, and we went out there for lunch and a tour of the park. The restaurant was very good, we ate fried alligator that tasted, like, well...you guessed it...chicken! It was a little "fishy" and chewier than chicken, but still very good. :)

It isn't quite as impressive in pictures, but it was pretty cool to see all of these alligators in person! I also wanted to share some of the fun info and statistics we learned, but I waited a month to share this outing with you all, and I forgot all of them. Oh, I do remember one...an alligator chomps that huge mouth down with 3,000 pounds per square inch!!! Ouch! OH...and they eat each other!!! They can only keep them in ponds with other gators about the same size, b/c they have a 2 foot rule. An alligator will eat any other gator that is about 2 feet smaller than himself! Crazy!

We also fed alligators and watched some crazy guys wrestle and mess with them. Here are some fun photos and video from the day.

Feeding the gators hotdogs from a string:


This is the largest alligtor in captivity in the US, longer than 13 feet!...and these crazy cats are standing in there aggravating him!
Seriously, how crazy must you be to get in the water and swim with a 9 foot alligator! Remember, these are not "tame!!"
Cal holding a baby gator named "Chubbs"
Cal holding a white python...pay no attention to the classy guy with the tattoo (the other side said "pride"...nice, huh?)
Cal wanted to hold a bigger gator!:
We all had to pet this little lizard, but check out that cat that worked at the place...certainly fits in, doesn't he?!
Funny Uncle Cal!

And Cal wanted to hold a bigger gator...funny watching the alligator wrestler catch him.

Daddy got a Benz! :)

So, we finally sold the truck to get out from under those monthly payments, and with the profits, we were able to afford this! We will not only be saving over $600 in payments and gas, we have a Mercedes Benz C230 Kompressor. Very cool! It is a 2000, but fully loaded with leather, sunroof, and 6 disc CD changer, and pretty low miles. We are very excited! :) :) :)
Inside:
Sunroof: :)
And this is what happens when Southeast Texas humidity fogs up your camera lens! :)