"My Life" Monday

I've seen this on multiple blogs over the past few months, but I've never really gotten around to doing it.

This week's topic: How you met your husband

I actually met Danny at a house party. I know, I know, sounds bad. :) The semester I did my student teaching, I lived with 3 good guy friends in Manor. One of them kept telling me that I needed to meet this guy, Danny, that he went to high school with. There never really was an opportunity to meet him until July 2006. We met at 2 in the morning at Brian's grandma's house. hahaha. Danny had been drinking for a while (I hadn't...I'd just driven 3 1/2 hours back from Mesquite!), so his "pick up line" wasn't very classy. I really didn't think I'd ever talk to him again! But I did. :) I was moving up to Mesquite at the end of the month, so we really only had a few weeks to spend getting to know each other. We got along really well from the start and had so much in common. We couldn't get over how many of the same people we knew and that we'd never met before. We spent so much time in the same places and with the exact same people. My mom's house and the house his parents lived in are actually only about 5 minutes from each other. We would spend hours on the phone at night talking about everything and anything.

This was Danny's first visit to see me up in Mesquite. We were in the parking lot at the movie theatre.

Danny was still living in College Station the first year we dated. We would make trips back and forth to see each other. I liked getting to be both a "grown up" in Mesquite, but then become a college kid again when I drove into College Station. I went to a Halloween party with him one of the first times I visited.

We look so young in this picture! This was one of the many weekends in College Station. These pictures remind me of how carefree and worry free we were just a few short years ago!

The second year we dated, we were both in Mesquite. Danny was doing his flight school in Arlington, but he lived in Mesquite. We got engaged in September 2007.

I absolutely love the beach and Danny's family has a condo there. We took our engagement pictures there in January 2008.

It was freezing! I think we did pretty good keeping straight faces when we were really ready to jump in front of a heater!!

At our rehearsal in August 2008!

Danny and I got married on the Port Aransas beach on August 8, 2008. Most of our closest friends and family were able to make it and it was one of the best weekends of my life.

In September 2009, our family became a party of 3! (4 if you count the furry son we already had!)

ME - A to Z!

Well, I'm sitting here again tonight, with nothing to do but play on the internet! Ruston has been sleeping for about 2 hours now...I'm expecting him to be awake any minute. :/ Danny is on another Ride Out...this time with a Trooper. No telling what time he's going to get home...probably about the time I'm waking up to feed Ruston! So here is some entertainment for you! :)

a. area code: 78621

b. bed size: queen

c. chore(s) you hate: vaccuuming! I hate that it's so loud and I can't hear what's coming up behind me. I'm such a scaredy cat!! haha

d. dog's name: Diesel

e. essential "start of the day" item: chapstick, something to drink, and time. Do not talk to me until I've had time to wake up! :)

f. favorite color: green

g. gold or silver: silver

h. height: 5'4"

i. instruments you play: Rock Band drums :)

j. job: 1st grade teacher

k. kids: My pooper, Ruston is 8 months old

l. living arrangements: beautiful house in Elgin, TX!

m. movie: I like girly movies and funny movies...right now my favorite is Sex and the City...so excited to see the 2nd one on Monday!

n. nickname: Ally

o. overnight hospital stay: yep...3 nights when I had Ruston, and when I broke my elbow in 3rd grade

p. pet peeve: liars

q. quote from movie: Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus. ahahaha

r. righty or lefty: right

s. siblings: Adam - 25, Andrew - 14, Audrey - 13; in laws Amanda - 21, Dallas - 18, Dillon - 14

t. time you wake up: 5:30a.m. to feed the baby

u. underwear: yes

v. vegetables you dislike: cabbage

w. ways or reasons you are late: I'm late every morning simply because I don't want to leave :)

x. x-rays: not in a while....probably just jinxed myself :(

y. yummy food you make: manicotti is still my favorite!

z. zoo animals you like: hmmm...I like all of them! I'm going to go with Tigers!

Finally Relaxing

Baby sleeping. Hubby on a Ride Out until 11. Playing on the internet. Watching my DVR'ed Days of Our Lives. Beer in hand. Feet propped up. I've been waiting all week for this! :)

8 month pics by Ken

Weekend at Grandpa's!

This past weekend was a nice, relaxing one in Huntsville. We went to visit Danny's Grandpa for a couple of days. Ruston and I started out picking up Danny in Rockdale and then we hit the road. We got to their house about 9:30 that night. Ruston was pretty fussy at about 8:30...his new bedtime is 8 and we were already messing it up! But as soon as we got there and he saw all the people (and his new walker!), he got his second wind. He still wasn't ready to go to sleep when we crawled in bed at midnight. Terry and Brenda were there when we got in, so we got to visit with them before they headed off on their cruise. Lanell had yummy lasagna ready for us to chow down. That's one thing about going to Grandpa's....you're going to eat well! Lanell is an awesome cook and they always take us to great restaurants at least once. :)

We spent Saturday morning at the house, then headed out for lunch at a little Mexican place. They had some delish green sauce. When we got back to the house, Danny headed out to meet Nana for Colt's graduation, while Ruston and I took a great nap!

Dustin came back with Danny and got to see Ruston and feed him some crackers. :)

Then it was pool time! It was still too cold to get into the actual pool, but the hot tub was nice. We got in before it got too hot, so it was a good temperature for Ruston too. He really likes the water. He kicks and splashes around. But no smiles...this is serious business, here.

After a long day, we were ready for some good food and good rest. Lanell grilled up some fantastic steaks and baked potatoes. After dinner we just hung out in the living room and let Ruston bounce from person to person, toy to toy. :)

Where has the time gone?!?

I don't know about everyone else, but I can not believe that it is already the middle of May! Time has just flown this year and I'm not really sure where it's gone. This kid is 8 months old today!! How is that even possible? He's getting to be such a big boy and it makes me sad! Although he is definitely getting more fun and personable, I miss my little innocent guy that would be in the exact same position I left him in, if I needed to step away for a second.

Eating: This kid doesn't miss any meals! He's still not chunky at all, though. He's eating a lot more of the solid foods and not as much milk now. We've started giving him little snacks here and there of people food. He's had mashed and baked potatos, some fries, Gold fish, graham crackers, his little rice cakes, cake (and frosting!), and cheetos. He loooooves Cheetos!

Still no teeth, though, so we can't give him too much, yet. :) He is really into holding his own things. He "doesn't need" help with his bottle, or with shoving crackers in his mouth. He wants to do it all on his own.

Sleeping: Wow! This is definitely one of our growth points this month. After all our sleep troubles, we are pleased with what's going on now. Thanks to Christen, and the Baby Whisperer, he is sleeping in his own bed, all night, every night. He doesn't sleep straight through, and I do have to go in there once or twice (on good nights), but I don't pick him up, and he usually goes back to sleep within 10 minutes. I know this sounds crazy to a lot of you, but the things we were trying before just weren't working for us.

I'm willing to get up a few times a night and help him go back to sleep....because I'm still getting waaaaaayyyy more sleep than I was before. :)

Playing: Two words....wiggle worm. This kid CAN NOT stay still. He is go go going constantly. He can twist, turn, squirm and stretch in all directions until he gets what he wants. I'm sure you can tell from this month's pictures. I couldn't even get him to sit long enough to snap a one. :) He can pull up holding on to your fingers, no problem. He's working on pulling up with other things like the side of the crib or arm rests on the couch. He likes to stand...no time for sitting. He will straighten his legs, stiff as boards, when you try to sit him down. Ruston loves the water. Bath time is a huge play time and the whole room ends up wet. :) This past weekend we visited Danny's Grandpa and got some pictures of him playing in the hot tub. I'll try to post those this week. He's still really observant. Sometimes he actually does sit still and will just really concentrate on something. He was fascinated with the buttons on Grandpa's shirt. He used his pointer finger to touch them and flick them. They had his undivided attention for a good 5 minutes!

He absolutely looooooves Diesel. Diesel gets the best smiles and giggles, hands down.

Talking: Ruston's coos and babbles are starting to sound more and more like real words. He gets really into his conversations and is very serious when he's telling you about something. It sounds like he's using real words, just in his own little language. I joke that he sounds like the Asian people that talk about you as they're giving you pedicures. :)

Moving: Not crawling, but getting better at scooting! When we were taking pictures on the bed

today, he'd start out up at the top and end up down at the footboard. He's actually kind of using his face to move....he smashes it down into the bed and pulls with his chin. haha. Goofy child.

Such a happy boy. Don't know how we lived without him. :)

Thoughts for Thursday

From Maya Angelou....

"If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded."

Wordless Wednesday - Part 7

Mommie's Day 2010!

Sunday was my First Mother's Day! This little man gave me an awesome present....he slept until 7:25!! haha

He also got me a little heart charm that says "Very Special Mom" and had a surprise photo shoot. This is one of the pictures he gave me. :)

We decided, last minute, to have everyone over at our house for Mother's Day.

Ruston missed his Nana! She had knee surgery, so she hasn't been able to keep him lately. He sat on her lap and ate Cheetos for a good 30 minutes.

Me and my hubby!

My mommy!

My brothers and sister.

Dad and Benda helped so much. They basically did it all. haha. We decided we wanted to make hamburgers for lunch, but we don't have a grill. So they had to bring theirs! Dad is super anal about how his hamburgers are made, so he brought all the meat, made the patties, and Benda cooked them. They sure were yummy!! Thank you guys for all the help!

Kathie and Dillon

Uncle Fiebo

Dallas showed up, fashionably late, in his Viper he got for prom. First thing Danny did was tell him to scoot over and jump in the driver's seat.

Everyone watching Danny drive out of the neighborhood like a crazy person. :)

The day turned out great and we're so glad we got to spend Mother's Day with everyone. We might have to make it a tradition...all right, everyone, pencil us in for Mother's Day next year!! :) By the way, we missed you Mimi!