Dinnertime

Dinnertime has been a little hectic and random since Brad has been gone. This was us tonight. Notice the pizza face!! I tried to get pics of Beck but he wasn't cooperating there is way too much crawling to do and stuff to get into like catfood & magazines.

I was telling my mom earlier, I am pretty sure that Beck is going to grow up thinking that is name is BeckNo! I seem to be saying that a lot lately especially since all the crawling & pulling up started.

1st Ballet Class

Aubrey went to her First Ballet class today at Dance Unlimited. It was bring your friend to ballet class so we went with our friend Grace (in the black) and our friend Kate (in the blue) was there too. It was good for her to try the class out because I was wanting to enroll her in the summer session for 8 weeks. It is a 3 hour class every Monday from 9am-12n and they do ballet, tap & gymnastics. Plus I get to drop her off so I will be able to go to the grocery store on Monday mornings with just one kid, how easy can that be. She loved the class and was doing somersaults all over the place from what I heard. She even made a craft, a pair of pink ballet slippers. Too cute!!

Notice Beck in the background still in his pj's. I was running a little late this morning, I know big shocker, and I didn't want to be late so Beck went in his pj's. Don't worry he isn't being mistreated he got dressed as soon as we dropped Aubrey off.

Nissen Fundoplication

So I went to the surgeon today and he recommended that I have the surgery to fix my esophagus that doesn't close at the top of my stomach. The surgery is called Nissen Fundoplication, and they pretty much wrap the top part of my stomach around the esophagus to create a valve and prevent reflux. The doc wants me to lose some weight before the surgery, because it will make the surgery go smoother and my recovery faster. So we are looking at around August, I will probably schedule it after the kid's birthday party. Yeah!! No more stomach meds!! I have decided that I am going to hire a maid to clean the house once a month with the money that I will be saving on Aciphex & Zegrid.

Ft. Sam Houston

Today the kids and I went to San Antonio to see The Great as Brad is still out of town and now not coming back until Friday instead of Wednesday, Ugh. The Great took us to Ft. Sam Houston, an army base, where they were having a festival to kick off Fiesta in SA. The festival was great. Aubrey had some strawberry-banana smooties and she jumped in a jupiter jump. They had great music, there was the Airborne Group that sang and Aubrey liked the Mariachis and the Spanish dancing girls. We also went to the PX and she bought us some bathing suits. Sorry I forgot my camera, so no pics.

I remember going to Ft. Sam every time we went to SA when I was little. I have great memories of going to the Quadrangle (the original Square fort of Ft. Sam) to pet and feed the live animals. The had the sweetest tamest deer and bunnies. Also the most beautiful peacocks. Once a goat kicked one of us kids, I can't remember it was either me or my brother John. We would go to the Officer's Club on Sunday mornings for brunch and I remember thinking that my sister Chrissy and I felt so grown up going to Brunch and all. My Grandmother always took us shopping at the PX. Once we were walking into the PX and my brother John was like 7 or so and he saw a soldier dressed in his camos. John screamed "Look Mom, it's G.I. Joe!"

Well today I saw G.I. Joe again but he wasn't in his camos. After all the festivites we went over to the Commissary so The Great could grab some milk & juice (for tea parties with Bree of course). Beck & I stayed in the car and I fed him. There was a brand new Expedition parked in front of us and I saw a young man get out of the front seat to get something out of the backseat. He was really tall and dressed in basketball short and a tank top but underneath he had on spandex pants and a long sleeved shirt and his arm was all bandaged and in a sling. He was severely burned, you could tell that he had had several skin graphs, he had very little hair on his head, no eyebrows or eyelashes and barely had eye lids. I saw him sitting in the car waiting for someone that was shopping inside and then I noticed that his mom was returning also with her groceries. His mom was hispanic and it occured to me that he was so badly burned you could not even tell what ethinicity that he was. When The Great & Aubrey got back I got out the the car and I buckled Aubrey into her carseat. The young man and his mom were just about to back out of the parking spot and I felt compelled to go over to them. I gently knocked on his window and he rolled it down. I said "Sorry to bother you but I just had to tell you Thank you for your SERVICE." He and his mom just shook their heads as to say thanks and I walked away.

It doesn't matter your politics or if you agree with the war or not but these soliders give us so many freedoms that we take for granted everyday. I can't imagine the bravery that it takes to be an American Solider. I really admire them.

this week

We are on day 5 of Brad being out of town on a 11 day work trip, and I think that I might just lose my mind. Luckily I was able to get about 2 hours of me time today. We went to the gym & I went to a pilates class. I told Aubrey that we were going to the gym this morning and she started fussing "NO, I don't want to go to the gym!" The last time she was there it was pretty crazy with kids running all over the place. I dropped her off, well I had to hand her off to an employee with her crying & screaming. But when I picked her up 2 hours later she was playing by the computers with some bigger kids. And when we were leaving she said "Mom, that was fun!!" She is such a drama queen, she gets that from her daddy.

Speaking of her daddy when talked to him one day earlier this week he said that he was sad. I asked what was wrong and he said that they were getting some guns ready to be destroyed. Typical Brad.

Last night we were watching American Idol (btw I want David Cook to win, He rocks!!) and Aubrey came up to me and said "Jesus loves Me". It was sooooo cute!! I said "Yes, he does love you". And we sang Jesus Loves Me a few times. Then we read her little childrens board book Bible.

And Beck started cruising this afternoon, it won't be too long now before he is walking. I was lying on the loveseat and he had pulled himself up and he was reaching for the remote (such a boy) so I moved it farther away from him and he started cruising along the couch after the remote, he made it all the way to the other end. I am in sooo much trouble after he starts walking, I can barely keep up with him crawling.

And tonight Beck also ate some catfood, Nummy!! Iams!!

The Beckster

When I got Beck up from his afternoon nap today he had pulled himself to stand up in his crib. So I had to drop the crib mattress, this is him just before bedtime. I hate changing crib mattresses and taking the bumper apart, Ugh!! But he does look pretty cute!! Looks like I am going to need to get one of those guards for the crib railing. Those teeth will be here any day...

Also pics of Aubrey and Beck of them standing next to each other as requested. I bet that he will be bigger than her by the time he is 1 1/2 years old.

Fritzi

We dog sat Dee Dee's dog over the weekend, who has been staying at The Great's house in San Antonio until he can be moved to Canada. Fritzi is very protective of the kids, when they cry especially as babies he runs around the house trying to find an adult to make sure that we are taking care of the kids. Yesterday I was on the couch feeding Beck and Aubrey was sitting by my feet and she laid down and fell asleep on the floor. I am a firm believer in never wake a sleeping baby/child so I let her take her nap there. She slept for over an hour and Fritzi climbed onto the couch and took a nap near her, as he is way too smart to sleep on the floor. She was pretty tired we had to get up at 6 AM to take Brad to the airport and she wouldn't lie down after we got home with Beck & I.

And Beck is pretty cute too!! He is a really fast crawler now, he is all over the place and into everything. Yesterday he sampled some of Friti's dog food. Nummy!! His two bottom teeth are going to break through the skin any day now so everything goes in the mouth except he would prefer if I didn't put green veggies in his mouth.

She has a name

B-Daddy & Riya named their new beautiful baby girl...Callie Elizabeth. I love that name!!

They are coming home from the hospital today. Congrats!!

Baby Girl ?

She cute & adorable and she still doesn't have a name but here are some pics of her and our visit at the hospital this afternoon. They are leaning toward Callie Elizabeth....some of the other options are Joss Ryan, Shelby Ryan, and Jennados. That's Jennados...jenna and spanish for the number 2...dos...J2E. I like Callie.

Diapers for Chai Tea

Okay so most of you moms out there know that you can collect the points off of pampers diapers & wipes and enter them onto the pampers website and you can get free toys for your kids you just have to pay for shipping & handling. Well I was entering some points this morning and I checked out the catalog of things that you can buy with your points and they have a new item. For 135 pampers points you can get a $10 Starbucks card. Most everyone nows about my almost but not quite daily Starbucks addiction, thanks to my SIL Jacolyn who turned me onto Chai Tea the first time. She was like "Come on you'll like it. Here try one." The first one is always free that is how they get you hooked.

I question if I should even post this info on my blog b/c once Jacolyn finds out that she can get coffee for her diaper points she will quit giving me her points. ;)

So my dilemma is should I get toys for my kids (which they have plenty of) or get Chai Tea for me. BTW I think that the Chai Tea helps make me a much better Mommy. I need that little dose of caffeine.

Plus I saw on Fox News the other day that Chai Tea is good for you, it helps your digestive system. Do I really need more reasons to drink Chai Tea?

First Teeth

Beck is cutting his 2 bottom teeth, most likely while he had been biting and chewing on everything lately. The are just about to break through the skin but I can see and feel them. He has had a low grade fever the last two days and hasn't been going down for his naps very well. He is becoming such a BIG boy: sitting up, crawling, pulling up and now 2 teeth. I guess that he is just trying to keep up with that big sister Aubrey. I am so proud of him and all the milestones that he is reaching but sad at the same time.

Baby Girl Surprise

B-Daddy & Momma (Brian & Soriya) welcomed another GIRL into the world this afternoon. She was 9 pounds 11 ounces and 21.3 inches long. She does not have a name yet, but if you know B-daddy & Momma this is no surprise to you. Jenna was 3 days old before she got a name . They liked to be surprised by the sex of their babies and Soriya just knew that Jenna was going to be a boy. So they never picked out a girl name, you would have thought that they would have learned their lesson the first time. But I guess that they want to meet her and get to know her personality before they name her. I talked to Brian and he said "She's precious!!", he sounded like a pretty Proud Papa. We are going to meet her tonight so I will post pics later.

Congrats B-Daddy, Momma & BIG Sister Jenna!!!!

What am I going to do with Beck...

Tonight I gave the kids their baths and I was in Beck's room putting some winter clothes away afterwards because it has been in the high 80's lately. And Beck crawled over to me and pulled himself up on my legs to a standing position. Then he let go of me for a few seconds and just stood there. I realized that he wasn't holding on to anything and I grabbed him. I can't believe that he stood up even if only for a few seconds. He hasn't really started cruising yet but it won't be long now since he is pulling himself up onto everything now. I bet he will be walking by 10 months. I am going to lose my mind.
Where did my baby go?

Aubrey's Boo Boo

On the previous post you might have noticed that Aubrey had a tie-dye band aid on her face. Just to let you know that she did not have an boo boo but if you asked her she would tell you how much it hurt and how that band aid made it so much better. Before we left Tulsa on Wednedsay Brad's sister Shelly gave Aubrey a purse and filled it with goodies like candy & band aids. And she told her that she could only use the band aid if she had a real boo boo. So we aren't in the car 30 minutes on our way to Dallas and she had put the band aid on her face. Funny thing was that she wouldn't let me take if off for like 2 days so when we arrived in Austin on Thursday afternoon Brad asked me what happened to her face. I told him that it was Shelly.

Starbucks via the Choo Choo Wagon

On our trip back to Austin the kiddos and I stopped in Dallas to spend the night with Brad's sister Jacolyn and visit with her triplets. The trips are 10 days older than Aubrey and share Beck's birthday. Plus my Mom's bday, Shelly's bday and Brad & my anniversary are all in August too. (We do everything in August.)

Anyway Thursday morning Jacolyn & Grace went to hippotheraphy and so I had Sophie & Mack. We walked down to Starbucks with the Choo Choo Wagon. Well I walked with Beck in my sling and the trio rode. The kiddos had some apple juice and I had my usual Grande Nonfat No Water Chai Tea Latte. Nummy!! We hit some sprinkles on the way back but other than that it was a complete success. Plus I got a workout carrying a 17-18 pounder in my sling and pulled around 80 pounds of 2 1/2 year olds a few blocks. We had a great lunch and Aubrey really enjoyed playing and chasing her cousins.

Easter Sunday

Checking out her loot on Easter Sunday and then helping Little Brother go through his basket.

It's always more fun to play with the wrapping than the actual present.

Aubrey & Beck with their cousins Macey & Darcey.

Our attempt to get a pic with all the cousins, not sure where Sophie ran off to. But needless to say the kids were not wanting to cooperate for a picture.

Easter Egg Decorating Party

The Saturday before my sister Chrissy hosted an Easter Egg Decorating Party at her house. The kids had a blast, she had tons of eggs to decorate.

Here are Sophia, Aubrey & Grace decorating their eggs, they look so much alike they could be triplets. It is amazing!

Aubrey getting her yellow egg just right.

Darcey

Macey

Lexi

Sophie

Mack

Grace, she really got into the painting. Oops! Grace you missed your egg.