his own style

That's one way to watch TV.

Thanks Eric

Thanks for getting up early with the boys every morning and letting my lazy butt sleep in.

Thanks for encouraging me to go out with friends, so I don't lose my mind watching 4 toddlers all day.

Thanks for putting the kids to bed most nights.

Thanks for getting me water when I ask for it, letting me have the recliner and sharing the remote.

Thanks for taking the kids outside to swim in the hot tub so I can have an hour to myself when I need it.

Thanks for never complaining the last three months that the laundry wasn't done and the house wasn't clean because I was just too exhausted to do anything.

Thanks for everything you do for our family. I appreciate how supportive you have been during this pregnancy. It doesn't go unnoticed and I love you more every day for it!

mr. compassion

My little Austin is the sweetest thing. If someone is hurt, he runs over to them to kiss the ouchie and make sure they are ok. He always has a genuine look of concern on his cute little face.

I love when I come home and he runs to me with open arms. When I tell him I love him, he says "I really love you too momma" in his cute toddler voice. He just makes my heart melt.

Austin starts school for the first time next week with Ethan. Last year he would cry every day when he left because he wanted to go too. Now he will feel so big going to school like his big brother. I can't wait to see how he likes it.

My baby boy is really growing up and I'm so proud of him. He still is addicted to his pacifier and asks for a popsicle at least 50 times a day, but hopefully he will grow out of that soon. Good thing I have another baby on the way, because my little Austin is not a baby anymore.

cats and dogs

Yesterday we took advantage of the rain and let the boys play in it. We enjoyed all the rain this week since we hadn't seen it in so long. The look on the boys' faces when we told them to go play in it was priceless. They had a great time splashing around and Eric and I had fun watching them!

1/3 down, 2/3 to go!

I am now officially in my second trimester! Thankfully, I am starting to get a tiny bit more energy. Unfortunately, I am beginning to get the same shooting pain down my leg when standing I had when I was pregnant with Austin. I'm praying the heartburn doesn't begin soon too. I am very grateful that I haven't been too nauseous this time around. As much as it sounds like I am complaining, I'm trying to really enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can since it will be my last. I can't wait to feel the baby moving soon! Feeling the baby will remind me that it's all worth it!

the ark

Yesterday I saw Ethan and Austin moving all their stuffed animals into Austin's bed and I heard them discussing how the animals were getting wet and had to be put in the ark. Ethan was messing with the animals while Austin used his screwdriver to put the finishing touches to the ark. It was so cute!

Jacob's visit

Sammy and Jacob came over to see us today. The boys were so excited to see baby Jacob. It was so cute to watch them make him laugh! They both wanted to hold him and actually wanted to get their pictures taken with him too! I don't think they left his side for more than a minute the entire time he was here.

Ethan got a book to read a story to Jacob. He was pointing at the pictures and telling him what things were. It made me so happy to see how sweet the boys were with him. I think they are going to be such good big brothers to their new baby brother or sister!

jungle java

The boys and I met some friends at Jungle Java to play this morning. It's a really cool place with slides and all kinds of fun things to climb on. It's perfect because the moms can relax and chat while the kids play. The boys loved it and so did I!

it's raining, it's pouring

My parents came over today to see us after visiting my sister in Louisiana for 10 days. We picked up some lunch and headed over to the neighborhood park to play. We had a great time until it started raining and we had to run for shelter. We didn't complain though, because we need the rain and we thought it was a fun adventure.

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring.

My dad loves our recliner so much, he always takes a nap when he comes over. I couldn't help but include a picture of him in his favorite spot, doing his favorite thing after the boys wore him out.

fondue and friends

Erica, Sammy, Sarah and I met for dinner last night at the Melting Pot. We had yummy spinach artichoke fondue and Wisconsin three cheese fondue to start with, blue cheese and raspberry vinaigrette salad as our entree, and we finished off with some turtle chocolate fondue. It was so good it hurt.

We had fun filling our bellies with fondue and chatting! Hmm, where should we go next week?

mr. ladybug

Austin loves ladybugs. He catches at least one every day. We have manly looking ladybugs in our trees. They are black with red dots instead of girly red with black dots. It's so cute to watch Austin be so gentle with them. Now we are off to hunt some more ladybugs!

expired

Today I got a ticket for the first time in 14 years.

As the boys and I were cruising home from Chick-fil-a today, I spotted a police car in our neighborhood. I immediately was nervous because I knew my inspection sticker was expired. The police officer was very nice even though I acted like a pathetic frazzled mom who couldn't even keep her inspection sticker in date. What makes it worse, was that my registration sticker was expired too. She issued me a warning for the registration and wrote up the ticket for the inspection while I searched frantically for my insurance card. Guess what? It was expired. When she came back to my window, she told me my driver's license was expired too. How pathetic am I? I had an expired inspection sticker, registration, driver's license and insurance card! I should have been arrested on the spot.

Eric has a history of speeding tickets and other traffic offenses that I would certainly be ashamed of. He quickly told me it was no big deal and we could take care of it easily. I guess my Daddy raised me to be a law abiding citizen because I feel like a big loser! From now on I will take the responsibility of making sure I am not expired!

8-8-08

This weekend we loaded up the camper and headed to Fredericksburg for the weekend. Our friends Jared and Felisha got married Friday night. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were glad to share their special day with them.

I was really nervous about taking the boys to the ceremony. Ethan was very good and Austin was squirmy. I kept shoving food, milk and pacifiers at him so he wouldn't make a peep. Thank goodness it was a short ceremony.

Saturday we finally left our cozy camper and went into town. It had been such a lazy weekend, but we couldn't go to Fredericksburg without hitting the shopping or a brewery. We stopped by to see my sister's husband's parents and brother's family. I have known them since I was 7, so they are just like family. It was great to see them!

Laverne and Nikki showing the boys the fish pond

We had fun hanging out in the kid friendly brewery with our friends David and Sharon. Ethan and Austin love spending time with their three girls. We love going camping with their family and always have a laid back, fun time!

growl!

Since it's been so ridiculously hot here, I've been trying to come up with fun things for the boys to do inside. We have races around the circle of our house, jumping contests off the coffee table and lots of singing silly songs. Today we made a bear cave out of their bunk beds. They had fun growling and being bears for a while. I just can't wait until the weather cools off and we can spend a lot of time outdoors again!

date night

The other day I won a $50 gift card to a fancy restaurant on my favorite radio station. My parents offered to watch the kids so we could enjoy a night out. They were very excited about spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

After the kids were dropped off, Eric and I drove to Starlite downtown for dinner. We were excited because as Top Chef fans, we were going to get to try some dishes we had only heard of. The first thing we were brought was a piece of brie topped with a peach slice and balsamic vinegar. I didn't eat it because I wasn't sure if I could eat soft cheese. Bummer because it looked good. We both thought the black angus beef carpaccio sounded good with it's crispy capers, shaved pecorino romano cheese, arugula pesto and smoked sea salt. Next time we will google carpaccio because apparently that means thinly sliced raw meat. Not good for a pregnant lady or a picky man. Starlite did redeem itself with dinner though. I had the pork belly simply because my favorite Top Chef contestant Richard Blais cooked with it on the show. The crispy pork with edaname and carrots was scrumptious. Eric enjoyed his pork tenderloin too. We both decided it was a nice treat, but we prefer to know what we are eating before we order it.

We had a nice night and were excited about sleeping in the next morning without the kids waking us up at 7. Why is it the morning you can sleep in, is the morning you can't sleep past 8? Oh, and guess who woke me up in the middle of the kid-free night? That damn cat.

nice to meet you

Hi, my name is Lisa. The new Lisa. The new and not so improved Lisa.

My personality has changed with this pregnancy for some reason. I'm grumpier and more sarcastic. I am exhausted all the time. Sleepy tired sometimes and physically tired the rest of the time. My brain no longer works either. I've done some really not too bright things recently. On a positive note, I haven't been sick very much at all. See, I still have a little bit of positive old Lisa left.

So please bare with me if I am not my old self. Hopefully she will be back soon.

old friends

My sweet husband put the boys to bed the last two nights so I could go hang out with friends. He knew I needed to get out the house. We had a hard time adjusting back to reality after our fun vacation.

Wednesday I met up with my old work friends for happy hour at Z Tejas. We had a great time catching up. We used to all work in the same building together for years. I'm so glad we all stay in touch even though we don't all work together anymore. I can't believe it's been 3 and a half years since I had a real job that utilized my brain! It's a good thing though, because not much is left after two kids and a pregnancy.

Last night I met up with my old best friends Becky and Becca at Chuys. I met Becca in 5th grade and Becky in 7th grade. We were all in each other's weddings and I sang at both of their weddings. I love having old friends! We know each other's families, old stories and I love the history we have together. I know we will continue to be friends until we are old and gray. The gray has begun, but we aren't old yet!