The Sweetest Thing

Christmas Vacation

2012-01-22T07:39:00.012-06:00

We had a super-fun Christmas break. We took a road trip to Florida for a week of animal adventure!

We left the Thursday before Christmas. Ben got the car all packed, I got food ready, we loaded up the kids, and both kids were crying by the time we reached the mail boxes. I think one wanted a movie and one wanted fruit snacks or something. That day was a long day, but we survived and stayed in a lovely little hotel in Daphne, Alabama. We got in at 11:00, thinking the kids would drift of to sleep peacefully. Instead they both got hyper, jumped on the beds, had a raucous bath time and then Lucas went to sleep. Evan on the other hand, wanted to stay awake until 1:00.

We headed out the next morning by 9:30 for Tampa. We drove and drove, got an oil change and lunch in Tallahassee, had a few fits, and made it to Tampa at 7:00. We met up with my parents, Carrie and Maddie at the Embassy Suites, where we would be spending the next three nights. It was lovely. We had connecting rooms, which was fun.

On Saturday we headed to my favorite amusement park ever, Busch Gardens! Why is Busch Gardens so awesome, you ask? Because not only does it have awesome roller coasters, but awesome animals, too! After getting in, getting the kids tagged (after I wrote Evan's contact info on his back), and finding our bearings, the boys watched the cheetahs and the girls went and rode roller coasters. We finally hooked up around 2:00 for lunch... then I took the kids so Ben could ride coasters with Carrie and Maddie. It was a lot of fun. Also, somewhere in there Lucas asked what the date was and I told him it was Dec 21st...

That night we headed back to the hotel and ate junk at the hotel happy hour. Evan sported a plate on his head the whole time and we nibbled on food before putting our exhausted kids to bed and some of us in the hot tub.

The next day we were up and at it again at Busch Gardens. It was great, once again. Carrie, Maddie, and I got stuck on the sky ride at one point for a few minutes, but had a good plan to jump to a passing safari truck if we didn't start moving. Luckily we didn't have use our backup plan..

The boys spent a long portion of the day in the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. It was AMAZING there. You should go.

My dad left early to go rest his sore hip, and by the end of the day we were exhausted. Ben and I rode the River Rapids and got soaked. Thank goodness Lucas refused to ride or he would have froze. We took our last sky ride across the park and found our shuttle to the airport, where Evan dined with a plate on his head while we enjoyed happy hour goodies and ordered a pizza. It was a good day.

Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and Mom and Dad headed to the farm, while the rest of us took a detour to Clearwater Beach. Lucas and Evan had a great time running and playing on the beach. The water was chilly, but they didn't mind. Then they played at a cool playscape, too.

We ate a yummy lunch and then headed to the farm, a two-hour drive.

When I was little we spent a lot of time at my grandparents' farm each summer. To this day its still one of our favorites places to be. We have such happy memories there. My grandma passed away in November, but we decided to go anyways. It was still nice to be there and make more memories.

At the farm we got to pet lots of cute cows (we were lucky enough to have three new calves born), we ate yummy food, and had a great Christmas, celebrated Carrie's birthday, had a silly string fight, played games, and went on lots of walks. My aunt, Carolyn, even came! It was lots of fun.

One morning Ben and Lucas went on a walk in the pastures and found a brand new calf all alone in the grass. The closest cows were 200 yards away, so they actually went up and got to pet him for about 10 minutes. Then Ben wanted to make sure he was ok, so he helped him stand up. Then the little guy called his mom and she came over. The boys moved out of the way and they got back together. I guess the cows leave their babies alone sometimes thinking they will draw less attention if they're not with the herd. I'm just glad they didn't get trampled by an angry mom. But, seriously, little calves are so stinking cute.

Lucas and Evan were seriously spoiled for Christmas. The Harmans and my mom both went home with new Kindle Fires, which we've enjoyed, and there was lots of other fun stuff too.

We started our drive back to Austin on New Year's Eve. We stopped in Pensacola, FL, to play at another beach. We did this two years ago and Lucas had a blast. He still had a blast this time, but it was colder, foggy, and we were at a different beach in a residential area. Some really nice people let us use their outdoor shower to rinse Lucas off, which was really nice. We had dinner at a fun restaurant on the beach, complete with a playground in the sand.

That night we stopped in Gulfport, Mississippi and stayed at Quality Inn. QUALITY OUT, more like it. It was so disgusting. Our room smelled like smoke, The shower was too short for Ben and he hit his head so many times on the ceiling over the sink, that he was bloody. (Needless to say this wasn't our first hotel choice, but a lot of places were sold out). We survived the night, leaving with sore throats, a smokers cough and maybe a disease or two. We drove pasts the beach on our way out.

We made it into Austin by about 7:30. The kids were great on the way home. I think they had finally accepted the fact that they weren't getting out of the car. The DVD player was the best thing ever, as were yummy car snacks. Ben bought some of that disgusting cheese in a can and we played cheese Pictionary. It was fun.

We had such a great trip and had so much fun with the fam. Thanks Mom, Dad, Carrie and Maddie for the fun time!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan!

2012-01-21T10:04:00.000-06:00

From this...

to this...

The past two years have just flown by. I'm so thankful for sweet little Evan.
Happy Birthday, buddy.

50 - Day 2

2011-12-09T09:09:00.002-06:00

I still don't have pictures for Day 2, but thought I should get this up anyways. I'll add pictures once Christmas is over and Carrie gets back in town to upload them for me...

On with the story...

Saturday afternoon we planned a barbecue at a park that all the grandkids could attend. I pulled up and looked at the pavilion to see someone who looked an awful lot like me. It was LISA! You know, Lisa, who lives in Hawaii now?! She flew in to surprise all of us! We had her go hide in the park with Oscar (the dog) and my nephew until Mom and Dad got there. It was great. We had Mom and Dad standing in between Evan and Elly, who were swinging. We were taking their pictures and had Lisa sneak up behind them. They were so surprised! Mom and I had actually called her earlier that day and she said she was at Costco, which she was, but in Albuquerque!

We had a great time at the park. We ate, we played Three Deep, which is a fun running/tag game. After dinner we headed home and Tina came over for a while. It was fun to stay up late with Lisa and Tina to hear stories from their childhood.

Sunday morning Lisa had to get back on a plane for Hawaii. Poor Lisa. She was in town for less than 24 hours, and had two horrendous travel days, but we were so glad she came! She knew she would have been too sad if she missed out.

Oh, and Sunday my Mom decided to wear the new necklace my dad gave her. She was running out the door to church and remembered she wanted to wear it, so Lisa grabbed it for her and she got in the car and put it in around her neck and my dad was going to fasten it when they got to church. But they were in such a hurry for the primary program, that they forgot. They searched and searched for that necklace but it never got found or turned in. So sad. SOOOO sad. However, watching my parents during the discovery that this necklace had been lost taught me something. Neither one got mad or yelled. Neither blamed the other. They just tried to work together to find it. It was sweet. And so sad.

It was a really great weekend. If it just wouldn't have been for that dang house robbery... and the necklace getting lost in the church parking lot, it would have been perrrrfect.

Congratulations, Mom and Dad, on 50 years together. You guys have made an awesome family and we think you're the best. Thanks for teaching us how to love by your examples.

50 - Day 1

2011-11-30T21:07:00.008-06:00

9-9-61 was a special day. It's the day my parents were married. On 9-9-11, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. For at least a year or two we've been trying to decide what to do for their 50th anniversary. Do we have a party, go on a cruise, go to a cabin, rent Puff Daddy's yacht, dinner at home, charter an airplane? Finally it just got too annoying and expensive sounding and we gave it up. We (the kids) decided that they would love a book full of pictures. (I knew because my mom said she wanted one). We decided to make it awesome by scanning all their old slides and including those pictures in the book instead of just recent family pictures. Ben suggested we write letters to all their old friends and have them write notes for the book, too. It was a lot of work. Carrie stole Mom and Dad's Christmas Card list so I could send out letters to their friends, then Carrie and Maddie scanned 20 reels of slides, and 26 boxes of slides, plus numerous photographs, and put the pics online so we could all go through and choose our favorite shots. Ben designed the book, I collected letters from friends, organized, edited pictures and did whatever Ben told me to do. Ben worked really hard. Including putting in one all-nighter at work the night before the book was due. The book came out awesome!

Wait, wait, wait, I've gotten ahead of myself. Unbeknown to my parents, Evan and I flew in Friday, 9/9, and Carrie came to pick us up at the airport. We ran a few errands and planned to surprise them at lunch, with my brother, Rob. On the way to lunch we ran by Carrie's house to grab something. On the way in the house she grabbed the book so I could see it. As I was opening the cover, she came back into the garage and said, "Suzy, I've been robbed!" I asked if she was sure. Like, could the dog have done this? She assured me that whomever did this had hands. Fair enough. I grabbed a huge wrench from the work bench so I could beat up the robber, and Carrie called 911. We walked in the house just long enough to see the mess of jewelry on her bed before we got the heebie jeebies. Carrie called Robert and told him what happened, he called our parents and told them to go to Carrie's house, too. So, instead of surprising them at the restaurant, I surprised them by jumping out from behind the bushes of the house that had just been robbed. They were very surprised. At first they thought it was a joke and that the house hadn't been robbed. But... it had.

We eventually left poor Carrie there alone to wait for the cops, so we could get Evan home for a nap. The cops finally got there two hours later and dusted for prints (found 1 poor quality print). She discovered that they mostly took her gold things and thank goodness were too dumb to realize the value of pearls. They also hadn't made it through ALL her drawers to find more valuable stuff (they did, however, take her portable hard-drive with all the images she had just scanned for two months), so we think we might have surprised them when we opened the garage door. They could have run out the back door or front door. Oh, the front door was kicked in, by the way. It was a beautiful brand new door, but now it's repaired and kick-proof. Apparently these dorks like to go on foot and grab small things. And you should always answer your door because they will knock pretending to be salesmen and then break in if you don't answer. AND the cop told Carrie that she's lucky she wasn't home, because sometimes they are so desperate they will come in even if you are home. Scum bags. Anyhow, I digress from the details of such a lovely day.

So, no lunch, but there were dinner plans at the Sandia Resort & Casino. By the time Carrie got her door fixed, and ready we were only a little late for our 5:30 reservation. It was nice because the restaurant wasn't busy. We had a great view of the mountain and had yummy food. Although, we all agreed the BEST thing was the Crème brûlée that the waitress gave Mom and Dad for free.

After dinner we went back to Mom and Dad's house. Maddie was on duty there taking care of Evan and awaiting the delivery of a wedding cake. Poor Maddie had to deal with a screaming Evan, who was crying because of the barking dogs, who were barking because of the door bell, which was rung by the cake baker. It was very frustrating for the poor girl, but she managed to give cake set-up instructions, put Evan to bed, and have the house look good by the time we got there. Zach, Aaron, and Brian were there, too, when we got home.

We took some photos, ate some wedding cake (which looked similar to the original wedding cake), and my Dad gave my Mom a beautiful necklace symbolizing their marriage. Then our part of the program started. Remember how Carrie worked a bazillion hours scanning slides? Robert made a slide show out of some of the pictures, so we watched that. Mom and Dad were excited that their pictures were now digital!

(I just told them a potty joke to get them to smile... you can see their surprise:)

Then, we gave them the present: The book. Ben was hoping for some tears, and some tears Ben got. (I'm sad he had to miss being there, since he did so much work). The book turned out beautifully. The hours and hours of work payed off. It was a beautiful tribute to two people who made a wonderful life for a wonderful family. I, for one, really enjoyed working on it because so many of the pictures were from before I was born. I was born when my oldest sister, Tina, was 19, so there was a lot of life I missed out on! I felt like I got to learn a lot about their life back then. I could see their struggles, their fun, their sacrifices, and how their life began. AND I got to see how hot my parents were when they had 3 kids and they were 24 year-old kids, themselves.

I realized that through 50 years of marriage there are a lot of ups and downs. A lot of people give up these days, but I'm so grateful my parents didn't give up. There were times when it was hard, but they stuck it out, and are so grateful that they did. And you know what? If they would have given up, guess who wouldn't be here? ME! Thank you, thank you, thank you Mom and Dad, for not giving up. I like being here. And I am so grateful that I was born into our family.

Day 2 coming up... as soon as Carrie uploads the pictures :)

Bootastic!

2011-11-30T20:35:00.010-06:00

Remember a month ago when it was Halloween? Well, it was so good, I wanted to make you wait for it. Friday night we went to a party at Ben's work. Lucas dressed as a pirate and Evan was Cupid. And they were both very cute. Ben's coworker got the only pics from that night. After the party we went to the church trunk or treat and Evan fell flat on his face immediately and got a fat lip. He and Ben went home shortly after. Lucas enjoyed sword fighting with some sort of monster and really enjoyed the candy. He and I stayed until the very end.

Saturday was Fall Fest at Lucas's school. Once again he wore his pirate outfit and played fun games for the afternoon. All the moms were so happy to have Fall Fest over with! It's a lot of work for the parents and is the biggest fund raiser of the year.

Monday, Lucas decided to wear his Storm Trooper costume. Drew was also some sort of Storm Trooper. Neither one is an actual Storm Trooper, but there are so many kinds that I just have to call them Storm Troopers. Oh, and Ben was Mr. T.

Surprisingly, Evan had a great time on Halloween. He rode in the wagon with Miles, but wanted to get out and go inside every house. He made it into one, but luckily they were our neighbors across the street. Evan threw a fit at the end of the night and finally Ben figured out that the poor kid only wanted a sucker. Just a sucker.

We have about 4 pieces of candy left. I threw a couple away yesterday. I think the rest will be gone by the weekend.

nine

2011-11-23T09:48:00.004-06:00

Nine years ago this happened. Look how soft and smooth our skin was.

But look how much cooler we are now!

And no, I can't find a single picture of us together from this year. Lame, right?
I think a family photo shoot is in order in a major way. MAJOR!

Happy Anniversary, Baby! I love you

Pears

2011-11-22T00:10:00.001-06:00

Hi, Please vote. Pleeeaaaase.
And then tell your cool friends to vote. Don't tell your uncool friends.

CLICK HERE.

Thanks.

Love Sac Jumping!

2011-11-02T09:28:00.002-05:00

I taught Evan a fun new hobbie yesterday. It kept him busy for a long time!

Hawaii

2011-11-01T13:08:00.008-05:00

Lucas goes to year round school, which means we get a two week Fall Break = Awesome! Not only is it awesome to be off school for two weeks, but it's super-awesome that it's during a great time of year for travel!
My sister, Lisa, is living in Hawaii for a year, so we took advantage of our break by heading to The Big Island to visit. Lisa got the week off of work, and my mom was able to fly standby on USAir so we had just enough people for an awesome adventure.
Our main goals on the trip were to a)survive the flight, b) build sandcastles, c) see sea turtles, d) see volcanos.
Lucas was a perfect gentleman on the plane and Evan wasn't as bad as he could have been. Fire didn't expel from his mouth, his head never spun in circles, and he didn't poop!
We got into Kona at 2:00pm (7pm Austin time). The airport was all outside. It was so weird, but the benefit was that we got to feel the warm Hawaiian breeze and look at beautiful flowers while we waited for our luggage.
That night we were pretty chill. We headed to Lisa's for nap time, since it was the kid's real bed time, and then we had a very special dinner of Costco pizza (in the tour books it says Costco is the place to eat because it's so much cheaper than anywhere else... silly? yes. Delicious? yes.) and then we played at a beach for a few minutes. We were in normal clothes and of course both boys were soaked by the time we left.

DAY 1, Monday: Lucas woke up at 3:45am. I was also having a hard time sleeping so I got up with him and made him a bean burrito for breakfast (totally normal). I didn't know where Lisa had the cereal and he loves burritos, so it was a win. Evan woke up at 5:00. The boys cuddled on the couch and watched Word World on my phone. Eventually we took them to a park.
For breakfast we headed to a great little restaurant with the best view ever. The food was really good, too. Then we went to Place of Refuge. This is a sacred place to Hawaiians, so you're not allowed to swim there. Both boys were devastated that they could only look at the water, especially Evan. He would swim in stagnant, mosquito-infested water if you would let him. We walked around for 30 minutes or so, found a bazillion noni trees (and took a couple samples), and Lucas obtained his first Hawaiian souvenir coloring book, thanks to Lisa.
After lunch and a nap we headed to Kahalu'u Beach, which is one of the best snorkeling beaches on the island. Right off the bat we saw a couple few sea turtles in the water. Lucas was a little freaked out at first, but eventually got close to them. We also swam around with goggles and saw some pretty fish by the rocks. Lucas and Lisa also built a sand castle. The sand was really course salt and pepper sand. Oh, and then my swimsuit coverup got stolen and we saw an amazing sunset.
After that we headed to dinner. Kona kind of shuts down at about 8:00, so we were the only ones in a Mexican restaurant. Mexican food in Hawaii? Yes. And it was pretty good. And there was a parrot who talked to us. And I had to wear a towel since my coverup got stolen.

DAY 2, Tuesday: Ben and I took the kids out exploring. We went to a little park first and then walked to the waterfront from there. We found a row of bazillion dollar houses next to the rocky coast. It was beautiful. There were little tide pools where Lucas could find cool shells, crabs, and sea urchins. Lucas was a little nervous walking around there with the waves pounding against the rocks (he gets that from me... and common sense), and he would have breaks where he would go build a sand castle. At one point Lucas yelled, "Help me!" and he was crying. We looked over and he was holding his spoon (our "shovel") out and he had a sea urchin on it that he couldn't get off. With his vast animal knowledge he knows what's good to touch and what's bad to touch. Ben went to rescue him and we continued on our adventure.
That afternoon we headed 20 miles up the coast to a really pretty beach. Evan threw rocks in the water and Lucas built sand castles. I sat holding Evan for a long time and my bum was killing that night from the rough sand. Good times, though :). For dinner we went to a strip mall by the resorts and had a pretty disgusting meal. My mom got nachos and and put what we assumed was pico de gallo on them. Instead it was the lomi lomi salmon that came with Ben's traditional Hawaiian meal (which was pretty not good). We learned a valuable lesson that you should eat in a well lit area, and you should also ask questions when they give you 5 different toppings for 3 different meals. And also that you shouldn't order the "lunch plate," which is designed to give surfers enough carbs and meat to last the day surfing. Ugh.

Wednesday, Day 3: ROAD TRIP!!! We took the Saddleback road over the island to Hilo to see the waterfalls. Hilo is on the wet side of the island, Kona is the "dry" side. We saw Rainbow Falls first. It was beautiful and we got to hike around the jungle a little. There were great Banyan trees... and Evan and I got eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Next we went to Boiling Pots and Pe'e Pe'e Falls. Ben, Lucas and I took a little hike to get a good view of the waterfall. And the Pots were not boiling that day, but it was still pretty.
We took a little drive through town and stopped at a pretty park, then headed to Volcano National Park.
It was cold up there! Lucas was very interested in the park rangers presentation and listened intently. We got to see some steam vents, a the huge crater, a lava tube in the rain forest and then once it got dark we went to the museum where you have the best view of the crater and you can actually see it glowing red! So cool. What was not cool was that Evan got sick and threw up twice while we were there. Poor baby.
For our drive home we went around the island back to Kona. It took three hours and we were exhausted. Ben drove 90% of the way. And Evan threw up again. Fun times!

DAY 4, Thursday: We were exhausted! By now Evan had developed a croupy cough, but his tummy was better. I think he may have had an allergic reaction to all the bug bites at the waterfalls, but who knows. So, now we just had to deal with coughing and screaming. Lisa and I headed out at about 5:30 to see if we could get into her office so she could look at his ears to see if he had an ear infection. It wasn't unlocked yet, so we went to a drug store and bought some medicine and then to the Farmers Market for a couple papayas.
Later we all went back to the Farmers Market for lots of papaya, mangoes, lychee (which weren't good ones at all), bananas, and dragon fruit. YUM. We could get 8 papayas for $2. Mangoes were 2/$1. Apparently the papaya season is year-round, so the price is low. We went back every day to replenish our papaya account.

DAY 5, Friday: We saved the best beach for last. Hapuna Beach is consistently rated one of the best beaches in the world! We got there in the morning before it got too hot. I was immediately taken by the amazing view. The water was a beautiful crystal-clear blue and the white sand was powder soft. Lucas had a blast playing in the sand. We threw on our goggles again and headed to some rocks to see the fish. It was so cool! We saw so many different kinds of fish and didn't even get attacked by a shark.

DAY 6, Saturday: Lisa really wanted us to do something fun with Lucas on Saturday. Something he would remember. We considered going in a submarine, a party boat/snorkeling adventure, but decided we could kayak Kealakekua Bay to Captain Cook's monument. We managed to fit Lucas between us in a two person kayak. He was a little nervous at first, but once we got out on the water he wanted to jump in! He and Ben went swimming for a few minutes. The water was really deep there, so you couldn't see any fish, BUT there were 7 dolphins swimming around, so that was very cool. Once we got to the other side of the bay there was a huge coral reef. We saw a lot of pretty fish there. Ben got scratched by some coral, but lived through it.
When we got back to the dock, Lucas wanted to jump off into the clear water, just like the local kids. He did it a few times and loved it.

DAY 7, Sunday: We went by the temple in the morning. It was really pretty. We kind of kept it low key that day. Our flight left at 10:45 pm. Our kids were exhausted and security was a nightmare, but we made it to the plane and both kids slept most of the way back to Arizona. My mom continued on to ABQ and we stayed with Ben's parents for a night. Evan slept practically all day until 4:00 (still sick), I went to the dentist, and then we had a fun night with the cool AZ cousins and Ben's parents.

On Tuesday I headed to ABQ and Ben headed to Austin. Lucas and I were sick in ABQ most of the time. My ear is STILL a little clogged from that sickness. We had fun, though. We went to the last day of the Balloon Fiesta due to bad weather and our illnesses, but at least we got to go.

All in all we had a pretty freakin fantastic Fall Break! Thanks Lisa for hosting. It was awesome. And thanks to Ben's parents for all the rides to/from the airport, and I'd like to give a shout out to my Dad who had to stay home with the dog, and to my mom for making the trek with us. Until our next adventure....
You can see the rest of the pictures here.

The Party

2011-09-07T22:54:00.006-05:00

We had Lucas's birthday party on Labor Day at a super-cool splash park. After all, you can't have a Summer birthday party outside in Austin, unless there's water involved. Well, at least that would have been the case the day before. Labor Day just so happened to be the first day in 80 days, that the temperature was below 100 degrees. The poor children had to play in the water in 90 degree weather. Their blue lips quivered as they sat tightly wrapped in their damp towels eating their cake. Poor kids. There was a slight breeze to make it even worse. Really, the weather would have been perfect for a day at the park, but oh well.

Despite the frigid temps, the kids had lots of fun, and Lucas had a wonderful time. The added bonus was that he got to eat chips and drink soda. For food I decided to bring pulled pork in the crock pot and make sandwiches. I made cookies and cream cupcakes - vanilla or chocolate cupcakes with smashed Oreos in them, with the best frosting I've ever made. It was just a cream cheese frosting with smashed Oreos mixed in. YUM. I could eat it plain. Lucas, however, ran away after we sang to him and left his cupcake for me. Apparently playing in the water was even better than the best frosting on Earth.

(click )

Thanks to all our friends who made the trek all the way up North for the festivities. Lucas had a great time and was so happy his friends could join him running around like a wild beast.

Happy 5th Birthday, Lucas!

2011-08-29T23:52:00.002-05:00

Today Lucas turned FIVE years old. F-i-v-e! We knew Ben was going to be at work late tonight, so we decided to have an early morning birthday party. Ben and I walked downstairs with Lucas and he was so surprised when he saw the decorations. Then we sang Happy Birthday to him and he loved it. He was so excited to get to open a couple presents first thing in the morning, too! We got him an awesome Batman set with a Batmobile, 2 Batmans, Robin and 3 bad guys. Then he got a safari animal set we found online. He agreed not to open the boxes until we got home from school.

After I dropped Lucas off I made cupcakes to take to his class, ran errands, and took a folder to Ben at work. At 3:00 Evan and I surprised Lucas in his classroom with cupcakes with dinosaurs on them. The kids were really excited.
After school Lucas had a great time playing with his new toys. Sadly, the head fell off the hippo and the arm came off the Safari man within 10 minutes. Tears ensued. We'll be returning that toy set for sure!

For dinner Lucas requested Taco Bell and I was just fine with that! We ran and picked up some tacos and then a few friends came to help me sing Happy Birthday for a third time today. Then the Hollands stopped by and Lucas made them sing to him, too, in order for them to receive some cake.
The cake was chocolate with white chocolate whipped cream filling w/ strawberries and raspberries. Batman was made out of chocolate frosting. I tried making black frosting and it looked too disgusting. Lucas was pleased with his cake regardless.

While I was busy decorating the cake, the boys did a great job taking care of themselves. Here is Lucas with his Batmobile, and Evan after feeding himself his yogurt so I could clean up.

I'm so thankful that 5 years ago my life changed forever when a teeny little man appeared in my arms. I love you, Lucas. Happy Birthday!

Week in Review

2011-08-15T23:14:00.005-05:00

Last week was quite the week! Tuesday I got to go on a field trip with Lucas's class to the Pflugerville Fire Department. Lucas thought it was great. He answered all the questions about why a firefighter needs an ax, oxygen, and a hat. He would also clarify what the firefighters were saying a lot. If the firefighter was talking about the hoses on the truck and how big they were, Lucas would say, "So, it's just like the hose in my backyard, but bigger?" His teacher said he does this all the time and she loves it because maybe he's helping other kids understand by putting it in a kid's perspective.

After the Fire Station we went to the park and ate/played for a while. A long while. It was hot and Evan and I were sticky and ready to leave when the time came. Lucas had a lot of fun and was exhausted after school that day!

Tuesday night I was heading out for my run when I realized the house was getting hotter and hotter. Our AC was broken! We managed to survive the night with the house reaching 86 degrees. The next day was pretty disgusting. I tried to go on a couple adventures with Evan. I got pulled over by a cop for speeding on a street I drive ALL the time, in a speed trap I see ALL the time. Luckily he was impressed that I hadn't gotten a ticket since 1998 and set me free with a warning. As I drove away I started to cry. I hate getting in trouble.
The AC was finally fixed at 6:30 that night. I think the max temp the house reached was 91. It was gross. I am thankful for air conditioning. Evan was fortunate enough to get to play in the hose that day to cool off.

Thursday... well, Thursday I did some laundry since I didn't get to do any Tue or Wed. When I did the laundry I found a yellow crayon in the bottom of the washer. I thought I was so fortunate to find it before I put the clothes in the dryer. When I got the clothes out of the dryer everything was RED. It was horrible. The dryer was red, too. Through the miracle of 1+ bottles of WD-40 and 4 rounds in the washer I got the clothes pretty much clean. I threw away Ben's basketball shirt/socks immediately and my tan shorts perished in the accident as well, but everything else is wearable!

And that is how my week went last week. Here's to a better week this week... if only these ants would get out of my house!

Evan Boy

2011-08-03T10:34:00.004-05:00

I might get a couple complaints here and there from people saying I don't post enough pictures of Evan. (You know how the second kid never has as many pictures and videos as the first kid? )Well, here you go! See, I do take a lot of pictures, I just never post them. And I'll work on the videos.

In the last picture has a story. Last week Lucas and I were upstairs getting ready to go to the pool. When we got downstairs we found Evan like this - COVERED in white powder. At first I thought it was powdered sugar because he was playing with the powdered sugar tupperware. But after a little photo session and making my way over to the pantry, I found out that he was actually covered in a most delicious homemade pancake mix. It was all over the floor. And then there were little trails leading off all over the kitchen to the different places he had visited. It was such a mess. SUCH a mess. But we managed to get it cleaned up and made our way to the pool anyways.

The whole thing reminded us of Lucas's egg incident and the unforgettable watermelon slip. You need to check those videos out if you haven't seen them.

First Day of Kindergarten!

2011-07-26T09:26:00.003-05:00

We dropped Lucas off at school at 8:00 this morning. He went right to his seat. Ben put his name tag on him and he started to work on his first assignment - drawing a picture of himself on the first day of school. I went over to try to get a picture of him and he said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot about you." Then I gave him a kiss and got on my way. Evan is still asleep (thanks to Jamie R. for coming over this morning!) and I've already started organizing the office.

I'm sure he's having a great day at school. Love that kid!

Advice for New Moms

2011-07-23T13:53:00.009-05:00

I went to a baby shower for my friend today. We were supposed to bring our best advice. I wrote mine on a scroll. Since I have about 101 pregnant friends, I thought I would post my thoughts...
Here it is as best as I can remember (plus some).

* The day you have your baby will be one of the coolest days ever!
* Take your makeup to hospital. You'll want to feel pretty while you're there.
* Lots of people will see your business. You won't care. Use the mirror - it's cool.
* Don't be a wimpy pusher. They'll tell you "push like you're pooping!" Gross, I know.
* Right when he comes out, that's cue for hubby to start snapping pics and taking videos. You'll want to see them and remember all those special moments.
* While Dad is following the baby around while he's being weighed and checked, the doc will be delivering your placenta and maybe stitching you up. You'll be so proud.
* The baby is gonna look a little funny. Don't worry. His head will go back to normal and the nurse will wipe all the goo off.
* When you take pictures in the hospital bed, sit as strait up as possible and stick your chin out to avoid the double chin.
* His first poop will be black and sticky.
* Your first poop will probably be scary (especially if you tore).
* Around Day 2 you might start to feel a little sad. You might cry and cry. It's ok. It's normal, and it only lasts a couple weeks.
* Nurses are awesome. They'll give hugs if you need one and hubby isn't there.
* Steal as many of the fake hospital panties as you can. (Just ask, and the nurses will give you lots). They're sexy ~ fish net!
* Take all the meds for your area, too. Make an epi-foam/tucks sandwich in your fancy fish net underoos.
* Also take the bulb syringe (booger sucker-outer), and little baby brush - they're better than what you buy. And all the diapers, too. You'll need them.
* You might cry when you leave the hospital. It's ok. I did, too.
* After a couple days your boobs are going to be huge. You'll look like a porn star. Take pictures. (Wear a swim suit or something so you don't really become a porn star).
-----A note to the husband: No, you may not touch the boobs. I know they look awesome, but they're not for you anymore. They hurt. And no, you may not touch that either. Try back in 6, no, 8 weeks. Have a nice sabbatical.-----
* Baby penises are cute, unlike their older counterparts (no offense, dudes). Take care of it - Vaseline in a tube is great. Wash with water (no soap) too.
* Doctor's Orders: take two months off. Keep the baby away from creepers. Make people wash their hands if you want them to hold him.
* Let people help you! Whether it be watching the baby so you can sleep, or bringing you dinner. People love to help a new mom.
* Being a mom is the hardest job in the world. BUT, it is the most important job in the world. And the most rewarding job in the world. You can do it!
* You are going to be exhausted. You will think you are never going to get a full night's sleep again, but you will. And you don't even have to wait 18 years. (They just have to be both 2 months and 10 pounds to make it through the night). It will take work, though.
* Don't use baby powder - it goes in their lungs. BUT, you can put it on after sunscreen to avoid sand sticking at the beach.
* You also don't need to buy those fancy bags for dirty diapers. Just use produce bags from the store.
* Diaper cream that comes with an applicator is awesome. BUT, it was my idea 5 years ago and someone stole it, so give me some credit.
* Even if your baby is dressed in blue or green, he will be called a girl. He's just pretty. It's ok.
* If you ever think your baby has been possessed by the devil, he is most likely teething. Try some Tylenol and Baby Orajel. (If it's not teeth, it could be an ear infection or maybe acid reflux).
* Boys are noisy. It's ok - that's why they're so cool. Girls are actually really noisy too, but their squeals are often so high-pitched only dogs can hear them.
* Always have a snack with you. Always.
* Cargo pants may make you look like a granola hippy, but you can put all your stuff in them: phone, keys, 4 packs of fruit snacks, a binky, and a granola bar.
* Practice running in all sorts of shoes on all sorts of terrain. A good place to start is stilettos on grass.
* Remember, you can do it! You're little baby is a gift from Heavenly Father and you will be so blessed from all your hard work. Being a mom is awesome. Welcome to the club.

Time passes so fast. Take every day in and enjoy every moment, even in the middle of the night when you wish you were asleep. There will be a time when you wish your Kindergartner would let you just hold him and rock him. They grow up so fast!

I think I owe you some pictures:

2011-07-05T12:31:00.009-05:00

Ben put up an awesome backsplash while I was out of town.
We had a little fine tuning to do when I got back.
You can see my piping skills came in handy.

These boys got to go shoot each other with paintballs the day before Father's Day. Ben came home the most abused. Apparently he ran out of ammo and made a run for it. He looked like he had 5 nipples and he had some awesomely colorful bruises on his legs, too. Then there was a nice gash on his knee... my fault - I put him in holy jeans for his "surprise."

Summertime is awesome. Lucas is working on mastering the cannon ball.

Evan loves the water, too.

I made this shirt for Lucas to wear to school today for their 4th of July party.
Also, Lucas likes chocolate ice cream.

Evan was pleasantly surprised by some bubbles the other day.
He also thinks it's perfectly acceptable to sit on the table.

Our summer break is almost over. Lucas starts Kindergarten in three weeks. I can't believe it. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. We're going to have to start waking up earlier, going to bed earlier, and being organized. Ugh. Plus, I'll miss that kid like crazy!

Snipits

2011-06-24T13:16:00.000-05:00

Lucas: Well, if you couldn't tell, Lucas is obsessed - OBSESSED - with animals. Partially due to an Animal Atlas movie I bought him a while back, and partially because of his favorite show ever, Wild Kratts on PBS. He is officially smarter than me at 4 years and 10 months of age. He can name practically every animal at the zoo. When Lisa took him to the zoo in ABQ, he would follow the map and make sure to hit every single animal. One day when I went with them I was impressed when he taught me all about the klipspringer and about 20 other animals, too. He can tell you the name of the animals, from which continent they reside, as well as if they are an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.
Ever since we got back from ABQ we've been playing animal games where he acts out all the different animals at the zoo and I am visiting the zoo. It can go on for hours.... really. We made some cool charts of animals using a sticker book Lisa bought him.
He's reading like a champ. And he comprehends what he is reading, too. He impresses me daily. He is currently enjoying Amelia Bedelia and some other fun books. I currently enjoy hearing him yell things like, "Mom, what does S-H-U-T-T-E-R-S spell?"
The other day Ben took Lucas to the library, when they got there they realized Lucas didn't have any shoes. Yep, my kid was wandering around shoeless in the library. Nice.
The next day we forgot his shoes when we went to church, so Ben had to head home. Then last week I went to an audition and forgot his shoes. Ben met me there to watch the kids and took him to HEB and bought him $1 flip flops. They now stay in the car. I think I'll put his crocs in the car because he can actually walk in those.
Lucas has a genuine thirst for knowledge. If we would let him, he would sit on the computer all day looking different things up on Google. He loves it - he's so curious. Which may be a bit annoying at times, but it's also the reason he learns so much.
Funny stuff he says:
"I hope the seeds are having a good time!" re: the recently planted seeds in the garden.
"Mom, if I had four stomachs I would have one fore pizza, one for hot dogs, one for hamburgers and one for ice cream." The poor Proboscis monkey has 4 stomachs, you know.
Ben tried to get Lucas to check out a Pinnocchio DVD from the library, "No, I want this mammal movie instead."

Evan: Holy cuteness! Evan is walking like a champ now days. He's got curves in all the right places and makes some other babies his age feel like light weights. Evan is also very curious and loves to get into things to investigate. He loves playing outside... especially in my plants, where he can make a most glorious mess. Evan talks more than Lucas did at this age. He mimics a lot of things we say. The day we left for ABQ, he said "Bye, Dada" as Ben was leaving. It was awesome.
Evan is so happy and sweet most of the time. He loves to chase a ball around the tile floor or open and close doors... and open and close and open and close.
Occasionally he will say thank you or I love you. But he says uh-oh, and no, no, no, no a lot - like every time he's doing something naughty.

Ben: This guy has been so incredibly busy lately. He's been working his bum off at work, and doing freelance at home. He's also working on his bike rack sculpture. Working with the city is a pain. Its been three years almost... Hopefully he will finish soon. He's got to work with engineers, sculptors, and more city people. He also needs to ask for more $$. At this rate he won't take any of it home, but at least there will be a piece of Ben artwork downtown forever.
Last weekend we sent Ben, Chris, and Clay on a trip to the "man spa" for Fathers Day. They pelted each other with paintballs for 5 hours. Ben came home the most colorful of the boys - outside his clothes and inside. He has the most amazing bruises. And a huge gash on his knee because I sent him in holy jeans. Oops.

Me: Let's see... I started running again in February. I try to go about three times a week now. It helps that I bought this incredibly cute pair of running shoes. I got them at Marshall's for only $30! And cute shoes make you run faster, you know.
I've had a few fun jobs this year. You might see my hands in something for Dell, you might see my whole self in a brochure for kid's insulin. I'll let you know if I ever see either of them. I just found out today I booked another job for Dell - it was the audition last week, where I forgot Lucas's shoes. I had totally forgotten about it because the audition was so annoying - lots of waiting and it was hot. But, I'm glad the effort was worth it.
Usually you'll find me around the house pretending I'm at the zoo, changing diapers, or cooking something awesome... or mediocre. Love my boys.

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T06:00:00.004-05:00

Happy Father's Day to....

This dad:

who could obviously kick your butt in a dance off.

And to this dad:

who raised this cool dad:

I hope you all have the best Father's Day ever... which, I know, is a ridiculous thing to say, being that you are all at home, as opposed to traveling the world, doing the daily grind and working really really hard. But, hey, it's about the little things in life, right? Maybe you'll receive something hand-made by a kid today. Or maybe you'll get a yummy breakfast or dinner. Or maybe you'll have some cool battle scars from your Father's Day present... But, for sure, you will be told by your kids how appreciated and loved you are. Thanks for all you do, Dads, for the sacrifices you make for your kids, and for doing it with a smile. Even though, they're/we're complete pains in the bums. You're the best!

"We love you, Dad" - Lucas and Evan, despite what was said at bedtime last night by one tired boy who stayed up until 10:30 playing Angry Birds with his father :)

Good Luck, Maddie!!

2011-06-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today our sweet MDR (MadDogRiffic) is going under so she can have a pesky cyst removed.
Good luck, Maddie! We love you!!!

If you're drowsy after, I bet Grandma will loan you the dino-tent. Tell Garrett hi for us!

Albuquerque Turkeys

2011-06-14T12:19:00.013-05:00

The boys and I recently spent two weeks in Albuquerque. Lucas had the time of his life! See, he's kind of spoiled when he visits... He's got these aunts, you see, that love him and spoil him to no end. Lisa takes him on adventures all over the land (and this time was extra-special b/c she didn't have to go to work since she's getting ready to move to Hawaii). They went to the zoo four times and the aquarium once. (That equals one animal adventure every 2.8 days).
Carrie and Maddie have him over for sleepovers and play and read with him for hours on end. We lucked out that Maddie got out of school while we were there so she got to come on some fun adventures with us. Carrie and Maddie even brought over a Zumba DVD one night and Lucas thought that was pretty rad. I'm pretty amazing, too, you know.
Rob and Andi have these cool kids who come up to play or let us come down to play with them. Lucas had a lot of fun playing with the kids and with all their cool animal toys!
Tina was getting ready to head to Africa while we were in town. Lucas was uber-excited to talk to her about all the animals she might see. He is happily awaiting photographic evidence of her trip. She's there now and having a great time.
Then there's Grandma and Grandpa who bend over backwards to make us happy. It's fun to see my dad playing farm with Lucas or holding Evan while he watches the news. Grandma put Lucas in great swim lessons while we were in town. Lucas learned a lot from Mr. Gerald during his short 20 minute lessons, and we are trying to practice more now that we're back to our pool. My poor mom works so hard while we're in town. I hope she's taking lots of naps now that we're gone.
I took Lucas and Maddie to paint at Art Attack and to the tram/ski lift, got to see some good friends from UNM, and had an allergic reaction to a facial. Then all my skin fell off because it's so dry there. Thanks, Albuquerque. Your sunsets are pretty great, though.

Without further ado, I present the Albuquerque Turkeys:

A few extras:
We almost missed our flight out of Austin. I must have read the monitor wrong and headed to the wrong gate. I discovered my mistake and decided to take the kids to the bathroom before going to the right gate. Luckily the bathroom was right across from the gate. I looked over and saw that the gate was empty. We ditched the bathroom idea and instead were the last to board the flight to Dallas, where we sat for two hours while they worked on our plane.

While we were in town we got to experience the disgusting smoke from the AZ fires that ominously rolls into town before sunset each night. Thanks, Arizona. Really, it's been horribly devastating. As of today it's 18% contained.

Evan learned to walk while we were gone. He's totally walking all over the place now like a champ.

We planted the garden in the back. Lucas kept saying, "I hope the seeds are having a good time!" Even after a week he was still thinking about those little seeds. And apparently they did have a good time, because by the time we left there were plants sprouting up.

Ben stayed busy while were were gone. He was working late hours at work, then even later hours at home because he hearts me. I'll post a pic of his project soon.

Kiddie Triathlon

2011-06-11T14:22:00.008-05:00

Today was the annual Kiddie Triathlon that our friends put together. It was in our neighborhood, where the kids first ran around a retention pond, then biked around the block, then swam in the pool (and not the pond thankfully).

Lucas was pretty excited - he wanted to run fast like a cheetah and swim like a shark (thanks to his swim lessons he had in ABQ-post coming soon). As far as the biking, Lucas hasn't learned to ride a bike. He has been more interested in picking grass to put in the back of his trike, then pedaling the trike. And the bike we have is a little big, but we got it out last night to practice and he tried really hard. He put forth a good effort and was pleased with himself, but we knew today would be hard.

Lucas did a great job on the run. He ran the whole way with me and was a total trooper. His little pale face was bright pink when he hopped on his bike and headed off with Ben. He was so cute. I got ready to get in the pool with him while he rode his bike. And he took a while... finally Lucas and Ben came around the corner, I gave him some water and he ran to the pool with me. He did a great job in the water practicing his pulls and kicking to the wall and back. He was a happy boy when he finished.

He was even happier when he dug through the cool loot in his goodie bag. Thanks, Jamie and Sandra for all your hard work!

Update: Ben just told me what happened while they were on the bike ride. First of all, Ben took him on the long route, which I wasn't planning on doing. So, he started out leading the pack, then Ocean zoomed by and Lucas said, "Good job, Ocean!" Kids kept passing Lukie, and Ben was worried that Lucas was going to be upset. All the sudden, Lucas said, "I hope Jamie is taking good care of Evan." (Evan was still asleep when we left and Jamie R. was really nice and stayed home with him). How sweet that he was thinking of Evan while he was working so hard on his bike. And finally, Lucas said, "I wonder how many kids are behind me still... I might be the last one." Ben said, he might be, but Lucas was ok with that.... he must have known he would still have the chance to swim like a shark. Love that kid.
Also, they just got back from the library. Lucas came home with five educational videos. Ben suggested "Pinocchio", but Lucas said, "No, I want the one about mammals instead." He's so funny. And obsessed with animals right now, fyi.

When we got home Evan had some fun of his own in the water. He's so cute.

Tee Ball and Chocolate

2011-05-16T22:26:00.007-05:00

The weather here has been fantastic lately. We had a beautiful weekend and tried to take advantage of the picture-perfect evenings outdoors. Ben bought Lucas a little tee ball stand, so we played a bit of that and then some badminton, of course.

After day two of enjoying the wonderful outdoors, I decided we should also enjoy something wonderful indoors - chocolate fondue with strawberries. See, we had these pesky strawberries aging in the fridge, as well as an annoying bar of dark chocolate taking up space in the pantry, then there was some whipping cream and some marshmallow cream that was bugging me. So, really, I was doing some Spring cleaning.
It.Was.Good. Evan loved it! In the first picture below you can see his frustration because I am holding his fork full of chocolaty goodness instead of him. In the second picture you can see how happy he was once I gave it to him. Lucas was also a fan. He thought it was plate-licking good!

You know another great thing about this weather? Evan gets to visit the hose a couple times day. A few weeks ago E-man had a couple blowouts. You know - the kind where you don't know how you're going to clean it up because the kid is such a mess you wish you could just dip him in the annoying neighbor's jacuzzi? And you know when you attempt to change the diaper you'll have to pin his arms down because he'll try to imitate a steamroller, ruining your entire house?
Well, I decided to try washing the kid off outside. Guess what? Worked like a charm. The water in the hose was nice and warm from the sun. Evan gets to play in the water dripping from the faucet, and I don't use wipes, thus saving the environment. Oh, did you catch how that suddenly changed to present tense, instead of the past tense? Yeah, well I kind of got addicted to the baby bidet and now when we have a stinky diaper, I head straight outside. Don't judge.

GROW A PEAR!

2011-05-12T10:31:00.000-05:00

I know you can do it! Vote, vote, vote!!!! (Check the "Notify Me" button, too).

Tidbits

2011-05-10T16:10:00.003-05:00

Just a few tidbits of information since last time...
First off, I made cute Mother's Day gifts. Do you love them? Check out my peeps at OBB.
Saturday we went to the Austin Zoo. Lucas loved it. It's not a big zoo, but they have lions, tigers, and a bear. Oh my!
It was hot by the time we got there in the afternoon, so most of the big cats were resting in the shade. The shade far away from us. My favorite part was the warning sign at the Lion's cage.
After the zoo we hit up a yummy Indian restaurant. Our kids were crazy. Ben was done. His breaking point was when he was repromanding Lucas for spilling rice everywhere and acting like an animal when Evan pulled a glass of water down all over himself. I thought it was kind of funny. From dinner we went to Central Market, the place with the best shopping bags ever, where the boys bought some fixins for Mother's Day breakfast.

Lucas had been excited for Mother's Day for a week or two, so he was happy when he got to wake me up Sunday morning and help me down the stairs, where I discovered a perfectly clean toy room (thanks to Lukie), kitchen, and living room (thanks to Ben), as well as a yummy breakfast all for me: waffles, strawberries, and fancy muffins. Lucas was so excited. He's so cute. We had a lovely breakfast. While we were eating Lucas said, "Mommeeeeeeey, I think you're ready for another babeeeeeyyyyyy!" I thought that was a really funny thing to say. Ben didn't.

We had a lovely morning. The boys had a huge wrestling/jump on daddy match, while I got ready for church. I didn't manage to get good pics, but you get the general idea. Lucas got up with the Primary kids at church and sang a lovely song. He did great and it made me cry a little bit. It might have made a certain 6 1/2 foot-tall man tear up, too, but you'll have to ask him if you see him.

And lastly, what's sadder than little baby feet covered in fire ant bites? Lots of things, but isn't it disgusting and sad looking? Poor baby. They were all nasty and I wanted to pop them so bad. I thought everyone had such bad reactions to ant bites, but apparently it's just me and Evan... gross. Thanks, Texas.

2011-05-02T11:20:00.004-05:00

I liken Lucas to a Black Lab - he needs to run. Last night we decided to go out and enjoy nature's finest ducks... well, the finest ducks that Wells Branch had to offer. Most of them are pretty scary looking.
We managed to get some great shots of Lucas. Sometimes you have to go places you wouldn't normally go if you're going to get the shot. For Lucas, it's potty humor. But at last, we might have something new to add to our wall. Thank you, potty humor!

Loosey Goosey

2011-04-15T23:03:00.006-05:00

A couple weeks ago I was brushing Lucas's teeth and discovered the strangest thing - a tooth coming up behind his baby tooth! It was weird. It was weird because he's only 4. And it was weird because he looked like he had shark teeth! Luckily it started scooching closer to the baby tooth and made it loose. We had occasional tears at dinner due to the increased difficulty of eating, but he mostly handled it like a champ.
On Tuesday he went to school. Apparently during art time his tooth just fell out. So, you know what the kid did with it? No, he didn't tell his teacher. He stuck it under his chair. UNDER HIS CHAIR! Luckily, he was able to find it and he saved it for me. I don't know how he managed to save it, but he did. We got an envelope from the office so we could take it home. That night the Tooth Fairy, Elsa, came to our house. Elsa used to come to my house, you know. She's great. She left Lucas with two quarters and a nice note. His tooth seems to be moving into position nicely.
In other news, Lucas's name was drawn to get in to one of the charter schools I was looking at. He will start Kindergarten at the end of July! Lucas, Ben and I all liked this school when we went on our tour, and I am really happy he got accepted.

Making A Splash

2011-04-09T07:57:00.004-05:00

Summer

is

here!

Tub Fun

2011-04-04T13:05:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry, but these are two of the cutest little dorks in the world.

First Talk

2011-04-03T10:56:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday Lucas gave his first talk at in Primary. We wrote his talk for family night on Monday. He came up with the ideas and we helped it all flow and make sense. Within a couple days he had the talk memorized perfectly - better than me or Ben! On Sunday he was really excited.

Before he went up he looked at me with a grin and a thumbs up. When he got up there, he looked at me and looked at me and looked at me. I gestured for him to start, but he froze. I went up and helped him out and stayed by him the whole time, giving him cues.

We were very proud of him and told us "I'm proud of me, too!"

You can watch a video of him practicing here. Here are the words:
Today I'm going to talk about prophets and why it's important to follow to the prophet. Following to the prophet keeps us safe.
Noah was a prophet a long time ago. He told the people that a big flood was coming and that they needed to repent. The people did not listen to Noah. They only laughed. Noah's family listened to Noah and helped him build the ark.
When the floods came, Noah's family was safe, but the people who didn't listen to Noah drowned.
Even though there won't be another flood, there are still lots of dangerous things in the world. But if we listen to the prophet, President Monson, we will be safe and happy.

Naked by Sunset

2011-03-27T21:14:00.008-05:00

Once there was a family who liked to go on Saturday adventures. They picked up some dinner and headed to Pflugerville Lake. After they ate, the Dad and the boy had a great time skipping rocks while the baby watched.

The baby decided that he needed to get closer to the action. He crawled with all his might. Despite his mother's concern, she let him crawl through the rubbish all the way to the water.

The mom decided to help him stand up and walk in the water a bit. Then she let him sit by the shore to feel the sand in his baby toes.

The baby thought the water was great. He was thrilled to dig through the goopy mud with his little fingers. He did not, however, seem to like the taste nor texture of the goop when he placed it in his mouth. After some convincing, the big brother came and sat next to the baby by the water.

After a few minutes, the baby was finished and decided to leave.

The big boy (who has a fondness for getting wet at inopportune times) was not finished, and scooted closer and closer to the water.

The baby continued to hightail it out of there while the big brother had the time of his life.

While the big boy played, the baby made it clear that he was heading back up the hill to the bench where he ate his dinner. He wasn't stopping for anything.

Once he made it to the bench (all by himself) the baby decided to see if the rocks there tasted any better than the rocks at the water's edge. They did not.

With a promise of getting to walk out on the pier, the big boy agreed to leave the water. His wet shirt was removed and rung out and his wet pants sagged immensely. The baby's wet clothes were also removed and he rode atop his father's shoulders in comfort.

After finding one more place to climb and a short walk back to the car, the happy family drove home.... with some nearly naked boys.

On the way home they stopped for delicious vanilla ice cream cones. Everyone was happy and thankful that they had headed out on such an adventure. How great it is to be in Austin in the Spring.

Lucas Helps, Evan Eats Dirt

2011-03-20T21:37:00.007-05:00

I really appreciate Lucas for how much he helps me sometimes. When we were driving home from the store the other day he told me he was going to put all the groceries away and I had to sit and watch him. And sure enough, I really did have to sit and watch him. He's such a stud. It's honestly annoying for me when I go to the store at night when he's asleep or when he's not around. Love that kid!

Friday night Lucas and Ben played outside, so Evan wanted to go out too. This is always a little nerve-wracking because we never know if a new ant hill is going to pop up or if he's going to receive a horrible laceration from our crappy Texas grass, or maybe if there's a rabid armadillo on the loose, or even a little coyote. But, Evan loves it. He loves to climb up the slide, slip back down on his tummy... over and over again. Or at least he did until he found the planters full of dirt. Tasty tasty dirt.

Weekend Fun

2011-03-20T21:32:00.016-05:00

Last weekend we had a few grand adventures. Friday night Ben and I went on a date downtown to people watch during SXSW. We made fun of the people in line at the Apple Store waiting for their new iPads, we counted the wack jobs and then ended up eating some chocolate at the Melting Pot to escape the madness.
Saturday night we headed to the Austin Rodeo, where they have a little fair. Lucas got to go into the petting zoo, see a pig race, eat a BBQ sandwich, a funnel cake topped with strawberries and ice cream, followed by some rides. I rode the Spider with Lucas and Ben rode the Ferris Wheel with him. Lucas declared it one of "his best days ever!"

That Longhorn is lucky I don't sell this picture to the media. How embarrassing.

Sunday all three boys stayed home from church. Lucas had a bad-sounding cough, Evan was sick, and Ben offered to stay home so I could be spiritually enlightened... and maybe so he could play with Lucas.

By that night all three boys had cabin fever. We headed out to a lake for some nature exploration. There were people fishing and Lucas had a blast running around. We were lucky he never fell in the water. We took bread to feed the ducks, but there weren't any ducks. Just these other duck-like birds that were too lame to come eat bread from us.

This week was spring break here, so Lucas didn't have gymnastics (Mom's day out). Sadly, the boys were pathetic and sick most of the week, so we didn't even do anything too exciting (aside from a rooftop SXSW party at Ben's work). Next week, though, next week will be awesome for sure.

Reading Man

2011-03-13T23:08:00.003-05:00

Lucas has been working really hard on his reading and we are so proud of him. We love hearing him sounding out words from the other room. Today Ben shot some video of him while they stayed home from church because Lucas was sick. So, please don't be grossed out by the hacking, snot, slobber, and lack of a shirt. By the way, this is a cool book designed for a parent to read one page, then the kid reads the next. This was the first time they read it.

It's been a while....

2011-03-07T20:19:00.010-06:00

It's been a while since we last visited on this here blog. Things have happened - amazingly glorious things. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but things have happened.
Like, Ben had a birthday. While Lucas was at school that day, I made one pan of lemon cake and one pan of Mississippi Mud Cake - aka brownies with marshmallows and chocolate frosting on top. Awesome. After I picked Lucas up from school we headed downtown and surprised Ben at work. His coworkers were very excited.
Ben's birthday dinner was quite lame in comparison. We had a salad and roasted broccoli. Lame. But a week later we had our official celebration when I busted out the cake and the friends. Ben wanted a "cookie cake" for his birthday. But he didn't want a cookie cake in the traditional sense - a big huge cookie. Ben's cookie cake had to actually include cake. So, I made a giant chocolate chip, coconut, pecan cookie for the bottom layer. In the middle, vanilla ice cream. On top a dense chocolate cake. The cake was covered in luscious chocolate ganache frosting. Mmm. I think next time I would forgo the ice cream in the middle and just serve it on the side, as it was totally necessary with such a chocolaty cake.

We've been spending a lot of time at the park lately because the weather has been so awesome. Evan loves to play in the tunnels and just this past weekend discovered the glory that is climbing up the slide. He's a stud. If it's just us at the park, Lucas and I spend a lot of time playing "Monster" in which I chase him in circles around the playground until we both get tired. It's a great way to tire a kid out and run off the muddy buddies the mom shouldn't have eaten.

Last week I booked a job as a hand model for Dell. While I was out Jamie was kind enough to babysit for me. I owed her, so I decided to host a pizza party/movie night Friday so she and Chris could go out. The kids were good at ate a ton of pizza and carrot sticks. I didn't know quite how to deal with feeding two babies, but Evan found a good solution all by himself. I just put the food in two piles on the highchair and he stood there the whole time eating right next to Miles.

It's great having these guys right across the street from us. Jamie and I take turns running three times a week, so Anna and Lucas get three play dates a week. They play really well together now, which is awesome.
Some funny stuff:
When we first started our running dates, I overheard Lucas talking about, "Mom and Jamie running errands."
Lucas thinks a lot about his future for such a young lad. Several times a week he makes reference to when he grows up and becomes a daddy. Sometimes he worries about whom he is going to marry. He doesn't quite understand that there is more to the world and that he will meet more people. I had to break it to him that he can't marry me or his cousin, Madison. I think he understands now. A few weeks ago he was upset because he asked Eden to marry him while he was at gymnastics and apparently she turned him down. But a few days later Eden and her family were at our house for dinner and as they left he chased her out and said, "Some day I'm gonna marry you, Eden!"
But, the boy has a heart like a 15-year-old because the other day it was all about Anna. Apparently her goodbye after our run Friday morning wasn't sufficient. Probably because he was throwing a fit or running away. He started crying about not getting to say goodbye, etc. I told him Anna would be back in a few hours for our movie night. We talked about how fun it was to have a friend across the street, how they could grow up together.... eventually we got sidetracked talking about all the great milestones as we grow up... we had gotten to college graduation and then Lucas brought it right back to Anna: "I want Anna to be my woman."
Lucas is a stud - a reading stud. The other day we congratulated him for reading something, and he said, "Congratulations, I!"
Lucas is also a memorization stud. He is great at memorizing the Articles of Faith. He is on #3 right now and said it in Primary the other day loud and clear. He's so awesome.

Evan is awesome too. He's so happy. He wants to walk, but he's not quite there yet. Soon. I'm not really worried about it because he already gets into everything. EVERYTHING. He loves to play in the pantry and likes to break into the bathrooms. Today while I was doing my hair I actually heard the unfortunate sound of splashing. I guess unrolling all the TP had gotten old, so he moved onto swimming.
Last week Jamie P. came to borrow something. When she came in she had a handful of old PB&Js. The sandwiches she thought Haven had been eating for weeks were actually stashed under the car seat. She deposited them in my trash can. After she left Evan was standing next to me and the trash can. Before I knew it I heard a crunch, crunch, crunch. Guess what he found? A delicious peanut butter crouton.
And just today he got into the humidifier I was cleaning in the bathroom. I made it a split second before he put the toothbrush I was cleaning it with into his mouth. Gross.

Anyhow, we're busy. We're crazy. I love my rad boys.

V-day Gluttony

2011-02-15T21:53:00.015-06:00

Today was Lucas's Valentine's party at school. He was expecting the cards, but not all the glorious morsels of heart-shaped sugar. Needless to say, he was pleased. So pleased that he declared today, the day after Valentine's Day, to be "the best Valentine's Day EVER." I let him pig out a bit when he got home from school. I kind of wanted to get it out of the way today and move on. While we were at it, I let Evan have one of the leftover cupcakes I made for the party. He also was pleased and devoured every last drop of chocolaty goodness, frosting first.
After our gluttonous feast of candy, cupcakes, and chocolate, we headed to the living room to make a fort. I mostly made the fort and the boys mostly destroyed the fort, but still, for a few minutes there was a fort. And while there was a fort, I was able to vacuum the kitchen floor.
For dinner, to make up for our sugary afternoon, I made roasted balsamic brussel sprouts and roasted beets, served along side a piece of homemade toasted whole wheat bread, some chicken for the boys, and some super-awesome leftover v-day jello.
Our sugary afternoon finally caught up with us as we had two screaming boys at bedtime. It was a disaster -- the kind of disaster you see on Supernanny. But eventually, after baths and a cuddle, they both went to sleep with smiles on their little faces as they dreamed of chocolate unicorns trotting through cotton candy forests of heart-shaped trees.

On another note, my mom is awesome. She spent over $5 to send these free airplane crackers she got on her flight home from Florida. I guess she could better rationalize the expense if she threw in a birthday card for Ben and $25 worth of toothbrush heads. Thanks, Mom!

Who is that awesome mom?

2011-02-13T21:03:00.002-06:00

Side note: This was up on the computer this morning. We were in bed still and Lucas came in the office. "Mom! Mooooom?" Ben finally came in. Lucas wanted to know what I was doing taking care of that little girl. Later I asked Lucas if he saw me on the computer and he said he did - I was taking care of a little girl until her dad got home. He's so cute.

G-O-L-D!

2011-02-13T08:30:00.003-06:00

Last night were the Austin ADDYs, held at the new Austin City Limits Venue at the W hotel. Ben entered Evan's birth announcement. And... He got a GOLD ADDY!

I am so proud of him. He worked so hard on these announcements. They were life size. Grey paper, beautiful soft white paper for the image, and the blue stuff was all thermography. On the front of the announcement, it reads "A Still Small Voice." And inside lists his stats. To bind the pages together he sewed them with blue thread.

Now it will go off to Regionals, and then maybe Nationals. Ben is an awesome baby announcement designer. Remember Lucas's? It was quite a big deal. :)

Ben's shirt for sale

2011-02-04T16:15:00.003-06:00

Ben's Trianglion shirt is for sale today and today ONLY. Weird, I know. I don't know why they chose that for their business model, but they did. Go buy it for $12!!!
CLICK HERE

Snow What Fun!

2011-02-04T11:13:00.008-06:00

It doesn't snow often in Austin. And it's been 15 years since it's been this cold in Austin. We've been below freezing with highs around 24. I've made Evan wear a little snow suit when we leave the house and it works great!
Today we had the second snow we've seen in Austin since we moved here. Last February we had a slight dusting one day. But today we got dumped on! I'm talking a whole inch or two. School was canceled and parents got to stay home from work. Yippee!

Our Snow Day began with some Huevos Rancheros, then we went outside for some snow fun with the Rothes. Evan wasn't a fan, but Lucas had a blast!

Mr. Adventure

2011-01-28T20:50:00.008-06:00

Lucas had many adventures today. While Evan was asleep we built his fireman legos he got for Christmas. It was my first time and took us at least an hour. Then he kept everything together for while and then couldn't resist taking it all apart again. It's back in the ziplock now.

At 4:00 we headed to the park. Lucas and I played pirate while Evan watched, then thankfully our friends showed up. So, he got to play hide and seek with lots of kids. Eventually Lucas threw our friend's ball over the fence into the pool area, so the kids went to get it. Unfortunately, being so close to the pool was all too tempting for Mr. Adventure and he jumped in the baby pool - shoes, jeans, and shirt. In January. He had a great time splashing around for 5 minutes or so. Then we had a cold walk home (it was beautiful today - he lucked out) and headed to the warm bath.

After dinner Ben brought a huge box full of packing popcorn down. We let the kids play in it. Lucas loved it, Evan hated it. Lucas eventually dumped it all out and had to clean it up. It was a disaster!

And now it's time for bed. Let's hope everyone sleeps well. Gooood night.

Finders Keepers

2011-01-27T21:44:00.002-06:00

Evan found an Oreo in the pantry today. I had to let him keep it.

Birthday Teaser...

2011-01-21T20:50:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Boy!

2011-01-21T10:04:00.002-06:00

Lucas's Mural

2011-01-18T16:48:00.008-06:00

The other day I was in search of something to do with Lucas, so I decided we would make a mural. Lucas just recently started drawing people and I love it! We decided to draw our Christmas Vacation. It started with a giant Christmas tree and included everyone we saw at Christmas. I drew a few and Lucas drew the rest. Everyone is wearing a black hat for good measure.

In the front row: Ben (green), Lucas, Evan (in Lucas's arms), Christmas tree, Me, my mom, Oscar (dog), and my Dad.
Top row: Maddie, Brian, Lisa, Carrie, Rob, Hunter, Stoney, Andi, Sadie, Ellie, and Tina.
I have it hanging up in the kitchen and Lucas loves to look at it on the wall. Today he sat down and said, "Mom, I love looking up and seeing my picture!" Perhaps it will be there for a while...

Evan will be one on Friday. ONE. I can't believe it. For Lucas's first birthday I made a fancy schmancy cake. I worked on it all week. For Evan's first birthday I can't even decided on a flavor. And I'm also kind of hoping to be working a hair show on his birthday. Poor baby. We WILL have an awesome party and there will be a delicious cake, just not a fancy tiered cake with fondant icing.

Speaking of the precious man we refer to as Evan, he is doing great. He loves doors. LOVES them. He recently learned to open doors, so he spends a lot of time closing himself in the pantry, opening the door, then sitting down, closing the door again, standing up to open it, etc. He thinks it's great. Other things he thinks are great: food (he can eat more than Lucas), baths, books, cupboards, drawers, and more doors.
Here is a picture I took of Evan today and one of Lucas right before he turned one. I love them.

And a pic of Lucas from today. He's playing Indiana Jones with Ben, who got to come home from work at 3:30 to make up for working a 12 hour day yesterday... on a holiday... when he was supposed to be off. Anyhow, no one is bitter or anything. I think we'll go celebrate our togetherness right now. Happy Tuesday night.

Christmas Was...

2011-01-11T22:16:00.026-06:00

Beautiful

Delicious. We Ate. We Drank. We made Merry.

We saw Sisters.

And Brother. (And Cousins)

We explored.

We discovered.

And we had a good time.

We had several firsts. And we were exhausted.

But all in all, Christmas was pretty fantastic. We apologize for bringing the stomach bug with us from the airplane. But, you would have all gotten it eventually :). Thank you for playing with our kids, showing them that they are loved, and being patient. Sorry about all the diaper changes requiring baths... didn't quite expect that, nor the late-night screaming fits. Thank you, Lisa, for being the live-in doctor. I don't know what we would have done without your handy otoscope and prescription pad to heal our ear infections. Dad, thanks for handing over your trusty rocking chair. We miss it. Mom, thanks for all your hard work and love. Carrie thanks for providing Lucas with a great first sleep over. Maddie, thanks for being Lucas's "best friend" and for the personalized cookies. I think we should go into business!
Rob and Andi, thanks for letting us come play with the cousins! We love us some cousin time.
Pat and Nancy, we missed you this year and can't wait to see you again!
Congrats to all my newly impregnated friends. There are too many of you to count. Don't worry, I'm sure your babies will never have diaper changes that require baths afterward.
We enjoyed this time of year to reflect on our love for our family, our Savior, and to think about the year to come. Happy 2011, everyone.

Who Made You?

2010-12-19T14:22:00.005-06:00

Today Lucas's Sunbeams teacher at church mentioned that he is the "know it all" of the class and always answers all the questions. He makes my heart happy - I'm glad that he's not afraid to speak up in class, and I'm also glad we've managed to teach him a few things.
Then I remembered something he said before his surgery:
But, Mom, Heavenly Father made my tonsils. He wants me to keep them.
I thought it was really sweet that he would even think about that at such a time. Most of us don't often think about what amazing gifts our bodies are and how we should treat them. It also meant that (hopefully) he values gifts he is given. I'm glad that at a time in our lives when we're so focused on teaching Lucas, he turns around and teaches us every now and then.

'Tis the Season

2010-12-17T11:26:00.011-06:00

Just so you know, we are enjoying this wonderful time of year, thinking of our many blessings, and loving our family, despite the whole tonsil thing.
We put up our Christmas tree, saw the big tree at Macy's, looked at Christmas lights, saw Santa, and have made treats... with hopefully more to come.

Lucas and The Great Tonsil Escape

2010-12-17T10:09:00.017-06:00

First off: Hershey's Syrup, I love you. More about that later, but here is the story of our great tonsil adventure.
Tuesday morning I was getting ready to leave, putting on my pink J Crew comfy pants and jacket. Lucas came in and said, "Wow, Mom, you look great!" He has a great sense of style, you know. I nervously packed my baby into the car and we got to the hospital at 8:15. At about 8:45 they called us back to the Pre Op room to get dressed and answer all the questions about fasting, allergies, and medical conditions for 4 different people. Lucas had a lot of fun playing with his teddy bear, Teddy, whom we brought, but he was definitely starting to lose it because he was hungry and bored. I tried to occupy him with my excellent dancing skills for a while, which was fun. I think they took him away at about 9:30. He didn't want to sit on the gurney, so he walked and the nurse let him push the button to open the fancy doors. They said he was talking a lot, cracking them up and that he was the sweetest thing ever. He did great "blowing up the balloon" at the end of the mask, which eventually put him to sleep. After he was asleep they put in the IV and did the surgery. I went immediately to our recovery room where we stayed the night.

The doctor was reporting to me by 10:00. She said Lucas did great and that his tonsils were huge and his adenoids were enlarged, but not as big. They came out too, though.

He was in with me by 10:45 or 10:30. And he was happy and sweet. He ate popcicles like it was his job - 7 in an hour or so. Ben and Evan came while we were playing in the toy room. Lucas had blue/green/orange stained lips/shirt and was quite the pitiful site for Ben to see when he walked in, especially since he had to pull his IV stand with him everywhere he went. We played a couple games. Lucas was a little out of it, but managed.

He ate a decent dinner and then when I thought he was ready for bed, chowed down on 3 more popsicles, a jello and half of a pudding. He fell asleep finally around 10:00, woke up in pain in the night right before his pain meds. He wouldn't take his meds, started crying, coughing, had some pink saliva, but luckily not bad bleeding. Finally the nurses wrapped him in a blanket, hugging his bear, and had to force the medicine down. The next time he woke up and started coughing and wheezing. He was having trouble breathing, which was a little freaky and had the nurses in a slight tizzy, but eventually he calmed down and took his meds. We also got up two times during the night to go potty, which was really fun - especially with the IV stand (which we finally figured out was just easier to ride than pull). I'm guessing I got a couple hours of sleep. Lucas got more, but was being woken up a lot. He was up at 5:30 ready to watch Veggie Tales. We were set free by 6:30 and left at about 7:00.

I was really worried about surviving Wednesday on hardly any sleep, but we did. Lucas resisted his medicine, but I managed to get it down him twice. Once plain, once mixed with chocolate syrup and a bit of ice cream. That night Ben went to basketball and I went to sleep in Lucas's room on the floor at 9:30. It was rad. I woke up at 10:30 for medicine time, which I gave to him mixed with chocolate syrup and a little water... with a spoon. It took forever once I finally convinced him.The second time at 2:30 he was so tired and out of it. We didn't get it in his mouth until 3:10 and we had to hold him down.

From the top: Lucas in Pre Op, our dance party, riding the IV stand, 2:45 am, family dinner, nappy nap.

Yesterday, Thursday, went better. He took his chocolaty meds in the morning by himself after several minutes of coaxing. He watched movies and played games with me most of the day. His lunch time dose of medicine was a tough one, finally I got the delicious batch of chocolate hydrocodone ice cream down his throat. Afterward I was exhausted and we both took a much needed nap later. The medicine battle really takes it out of me and makes me want to cry. The exhaustion I have felt the past few days has been almost as bad as having a brand new baby.

BUT, finally, FINALLY, last night Lucas turned a corner. He took his chocolaty medicine all by himself in the bath tub. We celebrated, hooted, hollered and danced for several minutes making him feel like the champ of chocolate. He managed to take his meds both times in the night w/o much resistance. It was great. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

Lucas seems to be doing great today. He's not eating a ton, but he's pretty happy. Tomorrow is day 5. Days 5-7 are supposed to be the most painful because the scabs start coming off and earaches are also expected. This is also when bleeding is most risky, so we have to watch for that. Hopefully we'll be ok and manage a little weekend fun.

Evan has been surviving all the chaos like a champ. He plays in the toy room while I cuddle Lucas and doesn't complain. He's sleeping better at night, thanks to Ben's intervention, and he's still cute as ever. Evan can crawl like a big man, but still scoots if he's in a big hurry. He has also started to cruise around a little, which means I could have a running maniac before too long. Evan also loves to clap.

I love my boys.

So long tonsils...

2010-12-13T10:50:00.005-06:00

Tonight is (hopefully) the last night I will go in Lukie's room and hear his snoring to know he's fast asleep. I'll miss it a little, but I know he'll be a happier and healthier boy.
Wish us luck tomorrow and say a prayer for my little man. Surgery starts at 9:15.

check those things out! (Sorry about the grossness... and the chocolate in his teeth).

BTW, Lucas is kind of excited for this big adventure, mostly because of the unlimited movies, ice cream, and popsicles during recovery. We went on a tour on Friday and he was so cute. He asked so many questions, many regarding the toys and popsicles. He's planning on a strawberry scent in his mask to put him to sleep...(or blow up a balloon as they call it).

Sweet Things - Lucas

2010-11-30T11:23:00.005-06:00

Some funny Lucasisms:

I made a real Thankgiving dinner last Sunday since we didn't get the traditional dinner on Thanksgiving. Lucas was really excited about Thankgiving dinner; although, he only ate cranberry sauce and turkey.
At dinner I asked Lucas what he was thankful for and he listed every family member he could think of. Then he asked Ben what he was thankful for. Ben started to talk and Lucas said in a little whisper, "pick me, pick me!" Ben pretended he was thinking really hard and listed off things/people, all the while Lucas is kept hinting (pointing to himself) to Ben. Finally Ben got a clue and said he was thankful for Lucas. It was pretty adorable.

While we were driving home from church on Sunday Lucas got mad that we were playing a song too loud, so we turned it down. Then this Avett Brothers song came on and he requested we turn it up. Louder. And Louder. When it was over he simply stated, "That was a great song."

The other day we were headed out the door. I was still barefoot and he looked down at my red painted toes: "Mom, where did you get those beautiful toes?"

Lately when we ask Lucas a question like, "Do you want a sandwich for lunch?" Instead of a simple yes, it's always "I do." But he says it in a really cute way.

Lucas lives with me, so of course he is going to be a fan of dessert. He thinks there ought to be dessert after every meal, so he often asks if he can have something for his breakfast dessert, lunch dessert, dinner dessert, and today he jokingly mentioned something about dessert dessert.

Today at breakfast and again in the car, Lucas said, "Let's try to have a good day today." I'm all for that idea!

When Ben gets home from work and comes to give me a smooch Lucas comes running to jump in the middle for Family Hug Time. He loves it. Poor Evan never gets to participate in FHT, but when he's big enough to withstand the pressure, he can.

I make a dang good edamame dip. Sometimes when it's just me and the kids we have it for dinner with yummy pita flat bread. Lucas loves the stuff and has declared himself Edamame King. I love the fact that he takes edamame roll ups (dip rolled into a tortilla) to school and thinks it's rad.

In other news, we are going to an ENT on Thursday to see if Lucas should have his tonsils out. The sleep specialist thought he should, but we'll see what the surgeon thinks. Here's a little picture of the day after his sleep study when he was taking off all the weird stickers. He's so cute.

Cake for Breakfast

2010-11-26T23:42:00.010-06:00

My sweet boys let me sleep in this morning. I awoke to a delicious aroma downstairs. Lucas had me close my eyes all the way down the stairs and when I got to the kitchen there was a beautiful birthday cake waiting for me. Lucas made it all by himself, with Ben's assistance for egg cracking, oven using, and beating, I'm sure. But he iced, wrote, sprinkled and candled all by himself. It was strawberry - because girls like pink. The boys picked up all the fixins last night when they snuck off at Wal-mart. Such sweet boys!

Tonight the biggest sweet boy (Ben) fixed the Playstation that the middle sweet boy (Lucas) broke a few weeks ago when he stuck a piece of pool noodle foam into the Bluray drive. Ben took it apart like a champ and removed the offending piece of green foam. If Lucas ever sticks another piece of foam or a string cheese wrapper in a movie viewing or gaming device again... so help me.

After an eventful morning at Costco and Sam Moon, the littlest sweet boy went to bed tonight with a fever. Hopefully he'll feel better soon. He's so sweet.

Love those boys.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

2010-11-25T21:16:00.014-06:00

We wanted to do something different this year on Thanksgiving. I didn't really feel like cooking... we thought it might be fun to go out with friends. But in the end, Ben declared in a last minute attempt at originality that we would go to Enchanted Rock for Thanksgiving. We would just eat at some random place and have a grand time, by golly.

And so we did... kind of (I mean about the grand time). We woke up and got ready to leave. Ben may or may not have been hounding me to hurry, and I may or may not have been fed up with his hounding. After all, I had already cooked breakfast, vacuumed up broken glass downstairs, and turned 32. What else did he want from me? Around 10:00 we were loading up to go. I told Ben we needed coats because a cold front was moving in and he rolled his eyes or something. This made an upset Suzy more upseterer. So, I grabbed the coats for everyone. Everyone except Ben. I didn't really think much of it, but figured manly man Ben would be fine if it was a bit chilly.

As we were driving away some rain started falling and clouds rolled in. Ben asked me if I got his coat. "Nope." So we went back and got it. Later I confessed that I was trying to teach him a lesson. Both of us were a little amazed at my hoochiness, but I still thought it was kind of funny. I am, however, really glad that we got his coat. It was FREEZING at Enchanted Rock. Freezing. We hiked up to the tippity top, looked around, played a quick game of "rattle snake" that Lucas invented. (I was the rattle snake attacking Lucas). And as quickly as possible we headed down the giant rock to the warmth of our car.

We decided to head to Fredricksburg for dinner. Lucas was hungry and insane by the time we got there so he was ultra-annoying. It was also ultra-annoying that we couldn't find any restaurants that were open except for one--and it was fancy. So, you know what we did? We went to Wal-mart. Yes, Wal-mart. I stayed in the car and fed Evan some baby food while Lucas and Ben went in to look for some food. They came back with quite a Thanksgiving spread consisting of a corn dog, macaroni and cheese, General Tso's chicken, a Coke, and some cookies. The grand total for our feast was less than $11. Lucas and Ben sat in the front while I sat in the back and let Evan play in the very back of the car for a bit.

After our feast we stopped in Johnson City, where Lucas and Ben got out to look at some Christmas lights. They also stumbled upon a little maze. Ben suggested I do the maze with Lucas, so I did. When Lucas and I finished, there was a guy walking up to Ben in the car. He explained that the maze wasn't quite finished, there were nails everywhere, and that they charge for that maze. Everyone had a good laugh and hoped that we didn't get a flat tire from parking by the maze and the piles of nails. We'll see...

When we pulled into Austin we hit up the Wal-mart again for some shopping and finally came home. Both kids are in bed in their new Christmas jammies from Grandma. And Mom and Dad are gonna watch a movie. Mom has been forgiven for trying to freeze Dad and Dad has been forgiven for thinking this was all a good idea in the first place. (really, it wasn't that bad... it was kind of fun, and better than sitting around all day).
Happy Thanksgiving!

eight

2010-11-23T12:06:00.004-06:00

This is what happened eight years ago today.

And this is what happened one year ago today:

TODAY - although I'm sad I didn't buy cooler shoes for my wedding, and I'm more sad we're not at the beach, I'm ecstatic to be married to this dude and have two awesome kids. And also to not be so fat.
Happy Anniversary, Baby. I heart you.

20 days in the 505

2010-11-16T11:49:00.015-06:00

WAY back on September 30th, I headed to Albuquerque for a nice 12-day visit. We got to see hot air balloons, ride wiggle cars, visit with BOTH sets of grandparents, and even buy freshly roasted green chile. Before we knew it, our 12 days had turned into 20 days. We had a great time!

I hadn't been to the Balloon Fiesta since 2005, so it was great to be able to go again. Ben's parents even came for the weekend, and so did Ben. Lucas loved the balloons. We didn't make it to a balloon glow because of weather, but every morning the balloons went up, which is a treat. Lucas got to go two days. Each balloon has a collector card, so Lucas worked really hard to collect the cards. He got about 20 the first day, and only a few the second day. The first day we went not too many balloons went up because of wind, but they all blew up and stayed on the ground. That gave us a lot of time to get cards. The second day was on the weekend - it was a complete madhouse. We decided it's best to go in the beginning of the week before too many balloonists go home. Lucas's favorite balloon was the space shuttle. I can't wait to take him back again some year.
Aside from balloons we had a great time visiting with family. Both boys were, of course, spoiled rotten by having access to 4 grandparents and their aunts, cousins and uncle. Lucas got to go up the tram again, to the zoo, and the aquarium. That awesome hat he's wearing is what he chose at the aquarium with Lisa. She wanted to get him a baseball hat for the sun, but he thought the crab hat was more appropriate. It has actually come in quite handy. I put it on him for the Balloon Fiesta so I could find him - AND it happened to be crazy hat day, so he got lots of attention. I also wore it for Halloween this year. And he'll get to wear it in a couple weeks for crazy hat day at school. He was right - it was a great find.
I ended up staying so long because Ben had a lot of work to do at home. So, Ben suggested I stay in ABQ where I would have help with kids (and he could work like a mad man guilt free).
Thanks for a great trip, everyone!

Sympathy Points - sleep study

2010-11-15T09:40:00.011-06:00

Guess who will have Mom and Dad eating out of his hands this week? Or at least for a couple days...

Lucas had his sleep study last night. Ben got him there at 8:00. Lucas was a total trooper. He was excited and brave. Then they sat him down to get him hooked up to all the junk and he freaked out. It almost didn't happen. Ben started attaching himself to the wires to show that it wasn't scary, and they turned on their friend Mr. TV and were able to get him all hooked up. He watched a cartoon and then Iron Chef, which Lucas likes. I guess he fell asleep during Iron Chef because he was so exhausted. He woke up after 10:00 freaking out because he couldn't move. The wires are so short that you can't roll over. He ripped them off his face and called for Mommy, but I wasn't there. Finally they got him to settle down and got everything back on except for the thing in his nose. He woke up a little during the night, but eventually 5:00 came and they woke him up to go home. Ben said he was so happy when he woke up. The guy came in and said, "Ok, I'm going to take all the cords off of you now." And Lucas happily said, "Don't forget this one!" pointing to one on his chest.
I heard the garage door open while it was still the middle of the night to me. Lucas was wide awake and ready for action. We let him watch some movies while Ben went to sleep and I cuddled Lucas on the LoveSac.
I asked him if it was scary and he said it was fun. Silly kid... We're very proud of him.
I'll get the results on the 23rd. Then we'll know the fate of his tonsils and adenoids.

We headed to the children's museum for his reward, but they were closed, so instead we went to Zilker Park. He fell asleep on the way, so I let him sleep for 45 minutes while Evan played with the steering wheel, etc. At the park he had a wonderful time playing with an older kid and his brother. They played firefighters, lifeguards and superheroes. (FYI, according to Lucas, Firefighters are superheroes on the ground, Lifeguards are superheroes in the water, and Superheroes are in the sky). After the park, we headed to the sleep doctor to pick up the pillow the boys forgot. A guy told me Lucas was the first pediatric patient there. His doctor is new to that practice, but specializes in kids. So, they are planning on buying smaller beds, longer wires, etc. They will also bring all the wires to a point at the top of the head instead of the nape of the neck. That way the kid can roll over easier. Too bad they didn't tell the people working on Lucas to do that.
On the way home Evan answered my prayers by falling asleep so I could take Lucas to Sonic for a strawberry shake. He was a happy boy. Love that kid.

Shiver Me Timbers

2010-11-01T10:56:00.011-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! My little pirate had a great time. My littlest pirate didn't know why the heck we put that thing on his head, but he lasted a few minutes. (The guest starring baby girl is Katelyn - a neighborhood celebrity)

Go, Dad, Go!

2010-10-23T20:57:00.001-05:00

Ben ran a marathon today. He is awesome. More to come...

Oh My Gosh!

2010-10-16T23:08:00.002-05:00

Feeding your brother is fun to do....

2010-09-26T23:52:00.002-05:00

Body Paint

2010-09-20T22:41:00.008-05:00

None of you have received a Thank You note yet from Lucas's birthday. This is why:

I left Lucas downstairs the other day painting pictures to send as Thank You notes. I had to put Evan down for a nap, so I left Lucas unsupervised. Minutes later, I heard him trudging up the stairs and around the corner came this mess. He declared, "I need to take a bath!" Indeed he did.
Sorry about the thank you notes. We are truly very thankful.

Flashback Friday

2010-09-17T23:59:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Flashback Friday. Here's a little dance party from Nov. 23, 2002.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2010-09-14T22:27:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday, Mom! In honor of your special day, I present to you a few snipits of how we spent the day. This video is also to serve as a warning of things to come :).

Are you sure you're ready for our visit?
Oh, how things have changed since last year!

Corn for Dinner

2010-09-08T23:10:00.005-05:00

"Mom, this is the best dinner you ever made!" The sad thing is that I made him shuck the corn.

Bowling for Pizza

2010-09-08T22:53:00.006-05:00

On Saturday we went bowling with some friends. The bowling alley was very fancy schmancy - not the type of place that should require prior immunizations. Lucas and Ben got a deal where they got unlimited bowling for 2 hours, plus unlimited pizza. (I opted to watch since my back still hurt). Lucas was in heaven. He ate about three pieces of pizza - more than he's ever eaten in his life. He got to drink a Coke... and spilled it on the stairs. And he had fun bowling as well. Ben did pretty awesome, I might add. I managed to get one of his awesome tricks on video:

First Day!

2010-09-02T16:27:00.004-05:00

Today was Lucas's first day at a Mom's Day Out program at Capitol Gymnastics. He had a great time, ate almost all his lunch, and was reportedly a good boy. I didn't quite know what to do with myself, so I made baby food for Evan, played with Evan, and tried to get Evan to nap.
Here are the before and after pics:

Birthday Weekend

2010-08-29T21:48:00.023-05:00

Four years ago my heart and life were forever changed. For the first time, I was solely responsible for the health and well being of more than a plant. He was much cuter than the cactus we let die the year before. And I think we've done a better job taking care of him, too. He is Lucas.

On Saturday Lucas got to go to the library with Ben, followed by lunch at Chick-fil-A. They go to the library every few weeks and Lucas loves it. While they were gone I worked hard icing cakes and cupcakes. Here is the recipe for Lucas's s'more birthday cake. It was awesome. I filled it with a chocolate/marshmallow ganache, which made it even awesomer. I tinted the frosting blue, so it would be perfect water for our sea animals. It ended up being one of the least attractive cakes I've made, but it was delish! Lucas thought it looked cool, and that's what counts. As for the cupcakes, Lucas wanted strawberry. I only had frozen raspberries at the time, so I opted for that. I Just threw some raspberry puree into a white cake mix, and made uber-yummy raspberry frosting. Done and done.

We met our friends at the pool at 4:00. There was swimming, there was cake, and then there was more swimming. It was perfect. After the party, we went to Freebirds for dinner with the Hollands. As we were munching on our burritos, I remembered that we ate there with my mom the night before Lucas was born - exactly 4 years earlier!

Today Lucas opened some new church clothes my mom sent. He was psyched to look so manly for church today. He was so cute. And he was a good boy, too. He liked it when everyone sang to him for his birthday. He was so cute at the front of the room in his red tie. After church we headed to the biggest potluck I've ever witnessed at the Baldwins. Lucas played the entire time and finally ate some chips and chicken salad when it was over.

(Fancy boys. "Lucas, stand up big and tall!")

When we got home Lucas had the last raspberry cupcake. We sang to him and he blew out the candle. He said he wished for the happiest family. He's so sweet. And no, it's not because right now he has the unhappiest family, he just always wants to be happy.

Then we let him open the rest of his presents. He scored some sweet Vans, a pirate costume, two cool puzzles, a floor puzzle, a homeschool Kindergarten activity book, and a Dr. Seuss book. Thanks awesome family!

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent in pirate/play/puzzle mode. I made pizza for dinner, we Skyped Ben's parents, and it was off to showerland.

I'm so thankful for our sweet boy. He's such an silly, smart and spunky little goof.

Happy 4th Birthday, Lucas!

2010-08-29T00:33:00.002-05:00

2010-08-25T14:46:00.000-05:00

Post-Circus Depression

2010-08-23T21:12:00.010-05:00

We decided to take Lucas to the circus for his birthday present. See, he watches all these shows about trains and they always talk about the circus trains in the show and he gets so excited. We thought it would be a fun surprise to take him to the circus.
Our tickets were for the 11:30 show on Saturday. Unfortunately we kept him up until 10:00 Friday night and he didn't sleep in at all Saturday morning, so he was already grouchy as we drove downtown. We thought it was going to be a complete nightmare, but he was ok once we got there.
As we were walking in, some people handed us a flier with "circus information." It was PETA talking about animal abuse at the circus. Then it hit me: I'm not a circus person. We never went to the circus when I was little. I always thought the circus was mean and I started to feel guilty. Hoping that things had changed, I put their flier in my back pocket.
We got there early for the little pre-show where you could go down on the floor and meet the clowns, watch magic and performers. We missed the animal open house by about 5 minutes when we got there, but I was really curious to see the animals.
About 15 minutes before the show we took our seats. As I sat down the PETA flier painfully poked me in the bum, reminding me of my decision to fund animal cruelty. Lucas happily munched on a granola bar and I realized I should have packed a lunch (instead we ended up sharing a hot dog, a little pizza, some popcorn, and about a month's worth of sodium).
The show started with lots of music and excitement: a parade of animals, dancers and crazy clowns. Lucas fell asleep after probably 15 minutes. We thought it best that he take a little nap anyways. He didn't miss much, except for the dogs, which happened to be the only animals I didn't feel sorry for.
They had zebras and horses basically come out and run in circles. They all looked irritated. The elephants all looked sad. The tigers looked really ticked off. Not only was their trainer in their cage with a whip, but there were people outside the cage poking them if they didn't move when they were supposed to. It was obvious that the tigers didn't want to perform their tricks. And quite frankly, the animal stuff was pretty boring. The circus doesn't need animals - the circus folk are all the entertainment you need. Of course without the animals, we wouldn't have had the fun of watching people scurry to clean up animal poo and dodging the spotlight during performances.
Oh and another thing, circus people. Your music is annoying. You don't need constant music. Sometimes we want to be able to hear ourselves think.
Anyhow, we had a lovely day. We probably should have saved $60 and taken him to the park to ride the train, but it was an adventure.
Ben and I enjoyed the people who got shot out of cannons. They were awesome. Evan, we learned, hates the sound of a canon. As for Lucas, I think he enjoyed his first and last circus.

From now on I'm boycotting circuses with animals. We'll just go on a safari instead.

Left: The elephants practicing their natural herd formation. Right: Asia, the elephant, after painting a picture during the preshow. Probably giving us all the bird in elephant language :)

Zing Zang Snooze

2010-08-21T21:04:00.003-05:00

We took our kids to the circus today.

Details to come...

Chicken Makes Me Sad

2010-08-15T23:11:00.001-05:00

You may remember the video when peas brought Lucas to tears.

Here's Evan's version.

Recent Harmanisms

2010-08-15T22:04:00.016-05:00

Ahoy Matey! - Monday night Lucas and Ben started playing Pirates after dinner. They used pieces of train track as their swords and tried their best to use their pirate lingo. There was some serious "swording" going on. The next morning Lucas asked me to play pirates with him after breakfast. He had me tie a rubber exercise band around his head so he would look the part and off he went. I was Pirate Mommy and Lucas was Pirate Lucas, appropriately. He even tried to make me walk the plank. Then he pretended to walk the plank, and once he "landed in the water" he would go off pretending he was Jonah being swallowed by a whale. (We watched a Jonah cartoon a couple weeks ago, so it's on his mind). He would land in the water and say, "I'm ok. I have a floatie." or "Ooh, I just felt something touch my leg. I think it's a whale!"

Tuesday Lucas and I went to meet Ben downtown for lunch, which is one of my favorite midweek activities because it's fun and takes up practically half the day. This time I made little s'more brownie bites for him to share with his coworkers and we brought sandwiches, too. We had a little picnic by the town lake dog park so we could watch the dogs swim after their tennis balls.

Wednesday was full of adventure. We met some friends at a big bounce house up in Cedar Park. It was half price that day so it was packed. We had to put ourselves on the list to get in - like we were going to some club in LA or something. But, it was very nice and new with great toys. The kids had a blast. Afterward I took Lucas for his first trip to a doughnut shop - Krispy Kreme. He wasn't excited by the thought of having a doughnut for a treat, but I think he was pleased once he viewed the merchandise. Thankfully Lucas managed a nap on the way home so that we could go to the Round Rock Express game that night. Ben got free tickets from work and it was fun to go for a bit. Lucas loved playing on the toys there... and the 10 minutes of baseball he watched, too.

Thursday we took a trip to Costco and got the best potato chips ever - Kettles BAKED salt and pepper chips. I swear they're better than regular potato chips. That night after dinner I went upstairs to bathe Evan while Lucas and Ben played soccer in the back yard. After a few minutes I looked outside to see their plans had changed. I saw a naked Lucas running around playing in the hose. He was having the time of his life.

Friday we stayed in the house ALL day. That night I went shopping for Lucas's birthday with Evan. It was totally exciting. Saturday we made pancakes - don't let your kid put on his own syrup when you're not looking.

In other news, Evan loves his jumperoo. He also loves food. He eats sweet potatoes like a champ, and enjoys my homemade peas, carrots, and bananas. He was NOT a fan of chicken baby food. You can't blame him, though. His favorite thing ever is fancy baby yogurt. Probably because he can tell it's so expensive. Evan also got his second tooth this weekend. He's a big man! Oh, and he kind of says, "mama," but mostly in a whiney way... like when he wants me to feed him or something. Mamamamamamama. He's so cute.

Sniffing

2010-08-13T12:15:00.003-05:00

I'm a world renowned kid sniffer. I love to sniff on my kids. Today I was sniffing on Lucas's neck while we were playing.
"Mom, stop smelling me. I'm not a strawberry!"

Be Prepared

2010-08-11T23:37:00.003-05:00

If I put the real phone on the charger it will be replaced.

Flying High

2010-08-08T21:19:00.011-05:00

First off, I put my kid in this outfit today. Ben thinks he looks like a clown... or a gangsta. I think it's cute, though, and I'm the boss.

Second, I'm perfectly fine with spending an afternoon on a blanket in a parking lot as long as my kids are having fun.

I bought a kite a few weeks ago and we finally took Lucas out to use it today. It wasn't very windy, so we thought we might have to do the old, "drive with the kite out the sunroof" routine that we did in college. We found a nice big parking lot, but it turned out to be a great location with a perfect kite-flying breeze.

I plopped our blanket down on the only shade available, which happened to be in a parking space, but it was remarkably clean. Ben got the kite up in the air and we stayed for about an hour. Lucas was done flying the kite after a few minutes... Ben and I had more fun, but Lucas still enjoyed all the free space to roam around. The boys were tired when we got home. Hopefully they'll sleep well tonight.
Watch out... He'll come and get you. He did actually scare some of the birds. I'm pretty sure I saw some coming after him (the same kind of yellow-bellied birds that attack my family in Albuquerque).

To have a buddy...

2010-08-07T13:00:00.013-05:00

This Summer Lucas made a great friend. Bently and Lucas both love trains, cars, firefighters, planes, and all things manly. This was the first little man friend Lucas has had who is actually his age and lived close by! It was amazing to see the difference in the way they would play together versus when Lucas played with girls... These two usually managed to work out their own problems, maybe fight a little, but then move on, with no hard feelings. It was great. Sadly, Bently and his family were just here for an internship and are driving back to Utah this weekend. I don't think Lucas quite understands that Bently isn't just going on vacation.

Hopefully Lucas has learned a little bit about friendship - how fun it is to have a good friend, about making friends, and being a good friend.
Lucas thought it would be fun to give Bently a firefighter helmet just like his, so yesterday when Bently came to say goodbye (and drop off some food - thanks, Nat!) Lucas gave him his hat. They had lots of fun playing firefighters with pool noodles as their hoses. Then there was a sad hug goodbye and some chasing, and they were off... Today Lucas said, "I forgot to tell Bently Thank You for being my best friend!" I told him he could tell him on the computer. Until then...
Bye, Natalie, Shane, Bently and Beckham! We'll miss you. Move back next year!

The Commercial....

2010-08-05T15:49:00.002-05:00

...I worked on in May is finally done!

Delish...

2010-08-02T10:38:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I want to nibble on him. Yummy little baby.

Better to bite you with...

2010-08-01T22:38:00.003-05:00

After a week of eating solid foods, Evan said, "Enough of this!" and got his first tooth!

Now he's ready for bbq brisket, green chile chicken enchiladas, and caramel popcorn balls. Chew on, my little man. Chew on.
(He also thinks it's fun to clap his hands, by the way).

One Night Stand

2010-07-31T07:09:00.012-05:00

Last weekend we used our voucher for a free night at Barton Creek Resort & Spa. We originally wanted to go kid-less, but that was impossible so we took them for a fun family adventure.

We arrived in the afternoon and decided to hit the mini golf and the pool, only to have it rain when we stepped outside. Instead we played in the "summer game room" equipped with arcade games, a wii, and a ping pong table. Ben and Lucas enjoyed racing eachother (but Ben had to press the gas pedal for both machines), Lucas and I enjoyed some Miss Pac-Man and pin ball, and Evan and I enjoyed beating Ben in ping pong... or I'm sure we would have if we took score.

We finally did make it out to the mini golf and played about 5 or 6 holes. Lucas just kind of pushed the ball with his club and didn't care to receive instruction. The pool was very pretty with lots of nice plants around it... and some little bugs in the water. And the jacuzzi was awesome. Finally we headed in, showered, and went out for Thai food. There was no way we could afford the lovely price of the restaurant there.

That night Lucas wanted to sleep in the closet like he did in San Antonio. I was up almost every hour that night trying to keep one kid from waking up the other. Binky in Evan, cover up Lucas, binky for Evan, put Lucas back in closet, binky for Evan, put Lucas in a real bed, feed Evan, put Lucas back in closet, etc.

For breakfast we had some junk, then went on a nature walk. After checkout we headed to IHOP for lunch and our adventure was over.

Funny Stuff - Dentist & Church

2010-07-27T13:53:00.003-05:00

On Sunday at church during the sacrament Ben was whispering to Lucas, explaining again that the bread represents Jesus' body and the water represents Jesus' blood. To sum it all up, he asked Lucas, "What does the bread represent?"
Lucas: "Jesus' body."
Ben: "Yes. And what does the water represent?"
Lucas: "Jesus' butt."
We could hardly contain ourselves... the boy doesn't whisper so well, but we didn't get too many strange looks. I guess that's what we get for explaining so quietly.

Today was Lucas's very first dentist appointment. They had him go back all by himself, which he did after a little hesitation. I'm sure he was much better without me, though. One of the assistants came out to ask me something at one point and told me Lucas was so funny and that they wanted to keep him! She said the hygienist told Lucas he had 20 teeth. "Wow! That's a lot!" he responded. "Where did you get all your teeth?" she asked. "From our Heavenly Father" Lucas said. At that point, he won everyone's heart. Each person made sure to tell me what he said as I checked out. What a sweet boy...

Vote for Ben!

2010-07-23T10:12:00.001-05:00

Good Night, Good Knight.

2010-07-22T21:44:00.006-05:00

Happy 6 months, Evan!

2010-07-21T21:41:00.014-05:00

Six months ago today my littlest angel was born. He made his debut faster than I had ever dreamed, and was bigger than I'd ever imagined. I got the epidural that I thought had ruined my life, and my little Lucas became a big brother. I also spent my very first night away from Lucas. EVER.

To celebrate I took Evan to the doctor. His stats are:
Weight: 18 lbs. 10 oz (73%)
Height: 28 in. (92%)
Head: 45 cm. (75%)
Lucas was 18 lbs. 9 oz, 29 in. and 46 cm. Pretty close!

Tonight at dinner Evan got to have solid food for the first time. I whipped up a batch of the finest rice cereal with the most delectable breast milk money can buy. He didn't quite know what to think. He made some really funny faces, and convulsed a bit if he got a thicker bite of cereal. Evan did love to play with the spoon, though. That was his favorite part. It was a mess. My life just got a little bit harder...

Evan is rolling over like a champ. He loves to get into things and he's a big fan of cell phones and remote controls. He cries if you take the remote away from him, just like a man. He is so laid back and relaxed. Evan's quite the dream baby. He laughs at all the silly things Lucas does and thinks I'm pretty hilarious, too. I just love this kid so so so so much. I'm so thankful for him!

Morning Helper

2010-07-19T10:02:00.004-05:00

Today Lucas woke up before 7:00, as he has the last three or four days (and he went to bed after 10:00). Ben told him it wasn't time to get up yet, but that he could play toys in his room. So, he did. Loudly. He came in once asking for help with his shirt, then he came back for help buttoning his shorts, which were on backwards. BUT, the outfit matched. He was also wearing his fireman helmet - his favorite accessory. You can get him to do just about anything if you say, "Firefighter Lucas, would you please..." because firefighters are heroes and they help people.
Anyhow, a few minutes later we heard screeching noises from the laundry room. He was loading the clean clothes into the dryer. It's hard work for a little kid. He has to climb up, hence the screeching noises, then reach far down into the washing machine to get the clothes. He successfully transferred all the clothes, started the dryer and came back to our room. He's so cute... even way too early in the morning.

Pantry Makeover

2010-07-17T15:23:00.004-05:00

Last night I emptied the whole pantry. My goal: to find the source of the tiny ants, destroy them, simultaneously clean the pantry. Goal completed by 2:45 today.

Last night:Now: hooray.

Dress Up for Men

2010-07-15T23:12:00.006-05:00

Today Bently came to play. It's so nice having a boy for Lucas to play with! They had lots of fun playing trains, cars, and bugs. Most of their playing involved someone getting rescued at one point or another by a firefighter, airplane, helicopter, or crane. Before Bently headed home, they discovered the costumes and took turns in those. Remember when that Elmo costume dwarfed Lukie two years ago. Crazy how time flies - and how big he's getting! Lucas plans on being a firefighter again this year. Easiest costume ever!

Cute things he says

2010-07-15T21:58:00.005-05:00

I'm at that post pregnancy stage where not only am I still a chunk, but my hair is falling out by the truckload. It's annoying for the whole family, as they frequently find themselves entangled in a mass of hair.
Tonight Lucas was in the bathtub and I had just explained to him why my hair was falling out. He said, "But Mom, we don't want you to look like Daddy!" It's true, Lucas, I definitely don't want to look like Daddy. No offense, Daddy.

The other night we had some boys whose wives were out of town over for dinner. Scott was kind enough to bring a bowl of jiggly red jello - every kid's dream. Lucas said, "This jello tickles my body!" I think that's a good thing. Good work, Scott!

McKinney Falls

2010-07-10T23:22:00.009-05:00

Last Monday we headed to McKinney Falls State Park with the Baldwins and the Sandalls. It's only about 25 minutes away, so it's a great place to go for a little adventure! We knew going out that the water was probably dirty due to all the rain we have had recently, so we didn't go prepped to swim. We had a picnic, then walked to the upper falls where people were swimming in this rank water that, to me, looked similar what one would find at a waste treatment plant. Well, maybe not that bad, but I wouldn't want my dog to swim there. We walked around for a bit and then headed to the lower falls, which were much better. We let the kids walk around in the flowing water above the waterfall, where we knew the water would be cleaner. Before long they were totally soaked, using the rocks as water slides, and having the best time ever. Luckily none of them got sick, despite catching Simon drinking water from a rock. I think we all regretted not wearing our swimsuits...

Notice how the Sandall's picture came out perfect with both kids looking at the camera. Lucky ducks.

Giggle Pants

2010-07-10T00:42:00.002-05:00

My favorite sounds:

And click HERE to see a video of Evan after his nap.

And here's a funny video of Lucas helping me with dinner last week.

Same Sweet Boy

2010-07-07T23:24:00.005-05:00

same pillow. same couch. three years later, same sweet boy.

Clothing Swap

2010-07-04T23:02:00.003-05:00

I bought the boys new clothes at The Children's Place. I got them both blue polos among other things. Today Ben was getting them ready for church and I told him to put Lucas in the blue shirt I bought. He brought it in and asked it it was the right one and I confirmed.
We were rushed today and I didn't really get a chance to look at the kid, but after church I was disappointed that a 4T was already so short on him. I bought him two 4Ts and now I'd just have to save them for Evan!
I was relieved when I got home and took his shirt off to discover that it was really Evan's 6-9 month shirt. It was pretty funny and I can't believe it actually kind of fit him!

Recent Lucasisms & Evanisms

2010-07-03T11:05:00.007-05:00

Lucas is just growing up so much! It seems like all at once he's becoming a boy and not my baby anymore.
It all started with the potty. Once he got that down he just blossomed... into a potty mouth. I always thought it was great how he never repeated any of the bad things that we said, and just within the past month he's started to follow our ways. Now, he's not saying anything bad, because would I ever say anything that bad?
Just funny things like, "Are you kidding me?" He says it all the time... after simple statements like, "Lucas, let's go for a walk."
Then he'll throw in a "you know" in sentences. I think he gets that from me. Like, "It's good to drink your milk, you know, because it's good for your bones."
Then there's "Holy crap!" and that's as bad as it gets. I think that's Ben's fault (and I think it's his fault that I say it, too) and Ben sees nothing wrong with it, but I think it sounds different coming from a three year-old.
The other night at dinner I told Lucas he needed to eat because he was hungry and he said, "No I amn't!" It was awesome.
Lucas can finally put his shoes on all by himself and he's getting better at dressing himself. Today he picked out a matching outfit (even the undies matched well) and got dressed all by himself.
Lucas is still working on writing and spelling and pronouncing. We're trying to work on his L's, V's, F's. Hopefully someday Evan won't be Ezan, we'll stop watching moozies, but we'll keep having so much sun! He has mastered his name, and pool (sounds more like pool-a), which used to be poo.
Lucas went to his very first acting audition last week. I had an audition for a photo shoot for a resort here. They wanted families, so I got to bring the whole crew. I told Lucas he might be video taped or have to play pretend. He was game. The casting director just had us all slate, which is when you say your name and show your profiles to the camera. Lucas said, "Lucas Austin Harman" and proceeded to turn to the side as directed. Then he asked us questions about our favorite vacation. Lucas was so excited to talk about going to Key West and the boat ride where he saw dolphins and went snorkeling. We were so proud of Lucas for not getting nervous. He was a total trooper and the Casting Director was very impressed.
Lucas finally has a little man friend! Bently and his family moved here for a summer internship and he and Lucas get along great. We've never had this happen before! All our close friends have girls, and it's so neat to see Lucas have a buddy. We hardly have to intervene with the two of them. Sometimes they fight it out for a bit, but they usually just work out their own problems. They are a little touchy and often depart with kisses on the cheek or head. I asked Lucas why he kisses Bently and he said, "Because I love (pronounced luz) Bently." I haven't had the heart to tell him Bently will be moving back to Utah in August...
Evan is still growing big and strong. He's got a huge noggin, a huge body, beautiful curves, and big blue eyes. He's very vocal. Right now he's in his bed "calling" me with his lovely squeals. Evan is very hands on and loves to play with his toys. He loves his toes and thinks they're great to suck on.
Evan is a good sleeper. He goes to sleep all by himself, as long as he has his binky and something soft to hug on.
Evan is quite the swimmer. He loves being in the pool and will often fall asleep and then finish his nap in the stroller.
He thinks his big brother is hilarious and doesn't know that it should be annoying for Lucas to be practically on top of him while he entertains.
I love my two boys so much. We have so much fun together and I'm so thankful for them!

I love these little stinkers.

2010-06-23T22:41:00.003-05:00

Evan turned 5 months old on Monday. He's such a stud. Lucas is a good big brother. He loves to make Evan laugh and smile. Sometimes I catch him being really sweet to Evan and it makes my heart overflow with joy. Sometimes I catch him sitting or jumping on Evan and it makes my heart explode in a wrath of anger. I love them.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T15:06:00.003-05:00

To this dad:
Thanks, Baby, for being such an awesome daddy. Our kids are lucky to have such a cool dad who can balance them on his feet, hold them in the air with ease, and be the funniest dad they know. Thanks for being mine, too.

And to these dads:

Thanks for having two incredibly attractive kids who could grow up, fall in love, and make more incredibly attractive people to populate the earth. We love you with all our hearts. (And thanks for being such good dads, too, and for marrying our moms).

Bump in the Night

2010-06-15T22:54:00.003-05:00

The other night around 2am:
Lucas: "Daddy!"
Ben went in to check on him: "What's up buddy?"
Lucas: "May I please have some fruit snacks?"
Ben: "Lucas, it's 2 in the morning. Go to bed."

Last night around 3am:
Lucas: "Daddy. Daaaaaaddy!"
Ben goes in to check on him. I see the light switch on.
A few minutes later Ben comes back to bed.
Apparently Lucas thought a bird pooped on his bed. I don't know if he had a dream or if he woke up and thought there was a bird in his room. He's such a silly boy.

All Things in Moderation

2010-06-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

Sober in Margaritaville

2010-06-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

Warning - this is long, but this is my journal.... so sorry.
Click HERE for all pictures.
I should probably preface by saying that the whole reason this trip came to pass is because my sister, Lisa, was attending a conference there - Dermatology for the non-Dermatologist. So, she got to learn all about weird skin issues, biopsies, etc, while I got burned to a crisp. (Hopefully I won't have to use her skills someday). So, after she worked hard all day, we provided her entertainment in the evening. I hope she had half as much fun as we did!

As we pulled into Key West we had a cranky kid and hungry, crying baby. We picked up our keys to the condo from the management company and headed in search of our new pad. We were pleased to find a lovely condo with lots of space, clean floors, two nice bedrooms, beautifully manicured grounds (notice the orchids in the tree), and a wonderful pool.

We headed out to see the beach and swim a bit. The beaches in Key West aren't the best for swimming because they are naturally rocky - they actually bring sand in from the Bahamas. We enjoyed our little walk, though, then came to the conclusion that the pool really was the place to be! After all, you get to swim in nice clean water, sit on a chair in the shade, and you have a beautiful view of the ocean. We swam until almost 8:00 then showered and headed to dinner at 9:00! We had the yummiest pizza at Upper Crust and just as we were heading home, my mom and Lisa pulled into town.
We met them at the condo with a very excited boy and stayed up too late for our morning plans!
We had reservations for a Glass Bottom boat tour at 9:00 Wednesday morning. Lucas was so excited to go on a boat, as were Ben and I. We hopped on our boat with our captain, Jenn, and headed waaaay out in the water in search for dolphins. (Evan fell asleep within a few minutes, life jacket and all). As we headed out, it was really neat to see the difference the water depth and plant life have on the appearance of the water. The really pretty turquoise water is the result of the sandy bottom, no plants. The dolphins were in one of these areas with a depth of about 10 feet. They like it there because the fish have nowhere to hide and there aren't any predators. We managed to see several different groups of dolphins. Some came right up close to the boat and we saw one jump out of the water several times just like he was in a show at Sea World. Captain Jenn said he was most likely angry or trying to get something off of his body.

After we watched the dolphins for about 30 minutes we headed to the reef to do some snorkeling. Evan was still sound asleep and Lucas decided to get in the water, too. He held onto me or Ben while we looked around. We saw lots of rays, pretty fish, and huge tarpons. When we were just about done, Evan woke up so I headed back to the boat. Lucas enjoyed jumping off the back of the boat to Lisa for a while and we eventually headed back to Key West. When we got back to the dock, Lucas was near tears because he had to go potty so bad. He wasn't a fan of trying to go off the boat in the ocean, so Ben carried him and ran to the bathroom.

Lisa had to start her conference that afternoon, so she, Mom, and Lucas headed home while Ben and I ran to the grocery store with Evan. We all hung around the condo most of the afternoon and evening. Ben and Lisa did go on a key lime pie run to Kermit's before bed.
Thursday morning Lisa went to her conference at 8:00 leaving the rest of us to explore Key West in the heat while she learned all about weird skin issues. We went to lunch and then the Butterfly Museum. We saw a lot of pretty butterflies and they landed on some people, but not on us. Just as beautiful as the butterflies were the beautiful plants they had. It was enough to make you want to move there!

After the museum we were all exhausted. We headed home and managed some naps. We met up with Lisa at her conference hotel and looked around the beautiful grounds before heading to dinner at B.O.'s Fishwagon. This place was crazy.... Kind of like the ocean threw up on a fish stand, but in an artistic way, not a gross dead fish way.

We ate our fishy food whilst trying not to sweat (vowing to wear much less clothing the next day), then headed on a walk around the docks then over to Mallory Square, where they have nightly shows at sunset - magicians, fire dancers, etc. We were late, but managed to see a guy chain himself up in a straitjacket and get out - he also managed to teach Lucas a few new swear words. Lucas laughed at all his naughty jokes even though he didn't understand them at all. After him we saw a fire dancer. He was precious and didn't teach Lucas any bad words. Evan cried most of the time because he was hot and exhausted and hated all the applause. I tried to keep him away from the crowd and he eventually fell asleep.
We were all ready for bed time when it rolled around, especially poor little sweaty Evan. I mentioned it was hot, right?
Friday Lisa got to practice sewing on pig feet while we spent the morning at the pool and just wasted time. In the afternoon we decided to head to Ft. Zachary State Park, but as we were pulling up Lisa called and told us she got out early, so we went to get her. Meanwhile we decided not to pay to go to the state park after we found out it was mostly for swimming. Apparently Ft. Zachary is where the best beaches are on the island. I wish we would have planned better and gone Friday morning... Oh well. We weren't ready for such an adventure, so we headed downtown instead.
That night we ate dinner at Hogs Breath, picked up a pie at Blonde Giraffe, and headed home to swim some more before bed. We decided that the Blonde Giraffe pie beat out the Kermit's pie.

Saturday morning Ben and I had to pack up to leave. Mom and Lisa didn't leave until Sunday. We pulled out at about 11:20 and made it to Ft. Lauderdale to return our car and be some of the last passengers to board the plane. Ben sat with Lucas and I took a crying, hungry, poopy-diapered baby to the back row. Our vacation ended when we landed in Austin at 7:00. Clay was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and we headed home...

We had a great time in Key West. It was so nice to get away and be with my boys, as well as my mom and sister. Thanks Lisa for inviting us to come stay with you. It was really awesome! I have been thinking fondly about our trip every day this week as I battle the monotony of real life, a bored little boy, and the usual post-vacation blues when you realize that you are the lone adult during the day and that your family is once again far away.

During our time away, I couldn't help but think about what was happening a year ago... Last May we had our car accident. A week later Lij and Logan came out for Memorial Day. We headed to Hamilton Pool with them. On the drive I started to feel sick. Really sick. When we got there I didn't know if I would be able to survive because of what I thought was the sulfur smell... it turned out to be a gassy boy. That drive was when I realized I had Evan in my belly. A couple days later I was in a parking lot after buying a pregnancy test with Jeana. I got a phone call from Ben informing me that Lij took a tumble off a 50 foot cliff when he was hiking with the Young Men. Our sweet Lij suffered broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken wrists, and a long hospital stay in front of him. Along with the broken bones, he knocked something in place helping him figure out that Hilaree was the one. In February they were married.