Happy Mother's Day!

I have been very fortunate to have some wonderful women in my life. My mom, grandma, sister and mother-in-law are all women who have helped make me the person I am today.

My sister has always been a huge influence in my life. She is nine years older than me and was my role model growing up. She took me on dates with her, played games with me and wrote me letters while she was away at college. She still inspires me today to be the best person I can be.

My grandmother is an amazing lady. She is 87 and she still mows her yard. She says she will mow it until she is 90 and then she will retire. When I was little, she always played games with me and sewed my Barbies clothes. I hope I can as strong and independent as her when I am her age!

The women in Eric's family are inspiring too. I am so lucky to have his mother, grandmother and sister in my life. Eric's mom and I are a lot alike. I think I'm even getting more like her the longer Eric and I are married. We both love to eat, do crafts and keep our kitchens organized. She is so sweet and I feel so lucky to have such a caring mother-in-law!

My mom had me when she was 35. My parents had tried to have me for several years and had just given up when I surprised them. My mom was a school teacher for as long as I can remember. Growing up she enrolled me in everything from ballet to twirling and was my number one fan. She never missed any of my choir concerts and her friends even came to support me. I always felt loved and encouraged by her growing up and I try to give my kids the same love and support.

Now that I am a mom, I feel very blessed to have these wonderful, Christian women in my life!

soccer stud

From the pictures above, it looks like our little boy played soccer. The truth is, the pictures were taken before the game when he was running around the field with Austin & Eric. When the game started, he decided he would rather hang out on the sidelines with us.

We talked him into going on the field at one point in the game and he decided to be the goalie. Hey, at least he was on the field!

His favorite part of the game was being squirted with a water fan by his teammate.

Just one more baby to go!

October

January

May
Last night some friends came over to hang out on the deck and get in the hot tub. We munched on awesome food and played with the four babies. There were two baby girls and two baby boys. In less than two months, there will be one more baby boy. Between the eight ladies there, we had 14 kids!

school boy

Ethan started school a couple weeks ago and he is really enjoying it! He is always excited to go and has fun while he is there. They have a 45 minute nap time and he actually lays on his nap roll quietly! Austin is not as excited about leaving his brother. I have really enjoyed having some alone time with Austin in the mornings. Thursdays are always interesting since I have to take three kids to the school to pick up Ethan. I get lots of comments from other parents that I have my hands full. Boy are they right, but it's worth it for our little man to go to school.

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book worm

I read my first book since Austin was born a couple months ago. I love to read. I read a lot in high school and college, but since I've had kids I haven't read much. The problem is I get so into the book it's hard for me to put it down. Needless to say, I have to put it down a lot with two to four toddlers running around my house at all times! I'm glad I'm reading again and thanks to Sammy and Erica for loaning me these great books! Any suggestions for my next book?

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

by Kim Edwards

Straight Up and Dirty

by Stephanie Klein

The Other Boleyn Girl

by Philippa Gregory

Happy Cindo de Mayo

To celebrate, I am going to take a trip down memory lane to a very special time in my life when I lived in Mexico for a month & a half.

My junior year in college I took a Spanish class in Guanajuato Mexico. My friend Nieva and I lived with a lovely lady in her beautiful home. It was a two story house and Nieva and I shared a room. There was no air conditioner, we were allowed one shower a day, we had to walk a lot and we absolutely loved it! This is a picture of the courtyard which was my favorite place in the house.

Our daily schedule went something like this:
8 am: Wake up and eat breakfast of eggs and ham, bread and fresh squeezed orange juice. Ride bus to school or take taxi if we are running late.
9 am: School from 9 to 1
1 pm: Walked home from school along the winding streets shopping along the way.
2 pm: Ate giant lunches that were soooo yummy.
3 pm: Napped from 3 - 7
7 pm: Took showers and walked to Bar Luna to meet our friends for drinks
10 pm: Danced the night away


We took many day trips to lots of interesting places like Pipila, Queretaro, Los Minos en Guanajuato, Cristo Rey, Puerto Vallarta, Teotihuacan, Las Momias de Guanajuato.

Things we said we never thought we would say:
"I'm tired, I haven't napped in three days!"
"I wasn't passed out, I was just sleeping on my hand!"
"I'm so excited that there are no cockroaches tonight!"

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We were very sad to leave Guanajuato. Our parents were shocked when they picked us up at the airport and we were crying because we didn't want to come home. They didn't have queso in Mexico, so the first meal I ate when I came back to Austin was Tex-Mex. I love Guanajuato and someday I hope to go back and visit!

market days fun

Market Days was Saturday so we loaded up the boys and headed to Wimberley. The boys had a great time playing with the price tags in the booth...

Hanging out with Daddy...

Playing peek-a-boo...

Munching on Uncle Larry's kettle corn...

Campin' in the camper...

and running around having a great time!

Chuy's

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I met some friends for dinner and drinks at Chuy's last night. As always, the food was awesome and the drinks were even better. Who can beat creamy jalapeno sauce, shrimp tacos and Mexican martinis? We had a lot of fun and the conversations were as good as the food.

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Tagged!

My friend Kim tagged me to post three random things about myself. I've never been tagged before! Sammy introduced Kim and I because she thought we were so much alike. We met for lunch one day and then started playing Bug Cafe together. I've really enjoyed getting to know her. We have only seen each other three times: at Sammy's wedding, baby shower and at lunch. We talk almost every day through Bug Cafe and I'm so happy Sammy introduced us!

Here are my three random things about me...

1. I used to hate going to the grocery store and now I LOVE it. I usually go at night when the kids are in bed. It's my time to get out of the house and be alone. I rarely take the kids, but when I do they are pretty good when bribed by a balloon and lollipop. I have probably only taken both kids to the grocery store a handful of times!

2. I collected beanie babies in college. It started because my mom and sister would ask me to buy them for them when they were really popular. I kept a few ones I thought were cute and ended up with probably 30 of them. I remember seeing the horror on Sammy's face the first time she saw them in my room. It was my dirty little secret and they are now in a tub in the attic. Now Ethan LOVES the Teenie Beanies McDonalds gave away during the craze and likes to sleep with them at night. Who knew my secret love of beanie babies would be passed on to my son!

3. I LOVE photography. I am a little embarrassed to say I have taken 3,524 photos in the four and a half months since I got my new camera. That doesn't include the hundreds of pictures I have deleted so I don't run out of space on my computers. I really enjoy playing with lighting, composition and camera angles. I still want to take a class so I can learn the fundamentals of photography.

OK, so now I tag Mindy, Sherry and Jennifer!

austin and maddie

Austin and Madison met on their third and sixth day of life. They are best friends and they share a special bond. Whenever they see each other, they run together and hug. Austin talks about her when she isn't around and always wants to go outside to see her. If one of them gets hurt, the other one kisses the ouchie. It is so cute! It's funny that kids so young already have people they love to be around. These two are quite a pair and it will be fun to see them grow up together!