No time for rest!

I'm sitting here at school, waiting for school buses to show up and take us on our field trip. We're going on 3 field trips this week! Talk about hectic....while field trips ARE fun, I think most teacher would agree that there is a high level of stress that goes along with them. This week is an important one for the upper grades....TAKS testing. Yuck...so glad I don't have to deal with that. In an attempt to keep the younger kiddos quiet for the testers, we're headed out on trips for 3 days. Today it's Webberville Park, tomorrow the LBJ Museum and Zilker Park, and Thursday we're headed to Elgin to visit the Fire Dept and Police Dept.

School isn't the only place that's got me busy. Home life is just as hectic! We've been to 3 weddings over the past 3 weekends, and there isn't a break ahead. Baby showers, weddings, and long planned family visits have our weekends booked up through the middle of June! Crazy! Tonight we're going to College Station to have dinner for Amanda's 21st birthday. It'll be fun, but man, I'll be tired tomorrow!! :)

On top of all that, Ruston's got another ear infection. So sleep at night has been scarce. I'm just counting down the days till summer when I can take naps with him during the day!

On a fun note, we went to Target after Ruston's Dr appt yesterday to pick up some things. We've gotten our tax return back, so we bought a swimming pool! It's one of those blue blow up things that's like waist deep. Can't wait for lazy pool days!!

Flashback Friday!

One of our random fun nights at the old apartment in Mesquite. Don't have many goofy nights like this anymore. :)

Thoughts for Thursday...Part 3

Coming to you from Dawson's Creek. Oh, how I miss those high schoolers and their ridiculously mature conversations.....(really, though, I did LOVE that show!)

"Because life, much like a french movie, rarely makes any sense. But when it's right, it's right...and you don't question it, you don't think, you don't ponder, you just exist."

Wordless Wednesday - Part 5

7 Months!

This little toot is 7 months old! I think he looks so "skinny" in these pictures! He's able to sit up on his own now and has actually "caught" himself a few times. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Eating: We tried yogurt for the first time this week! So far he likes it. Right now he eats 3 packs of the Gerber 1st foods and 1/3 pack of yogurt each day. He also has either a bottle or eats with me 5 times. It seems like he eats a lot, but he's just not a chunky baby! After he gets used to the yogurt we're going to try some of the 2nd foods. They are a little bigger than the 1st and have some different flavors...most of them are a mix of different veggies or fruits.
Sleeping: What is that?? haha. Ruston is still not the best sleeper. I will be honest, we aren't helping the matter at all. He sleeps with us every night. I really was planning on trying the cry it out technique. But it wears me out! I'm already sooo tired...if I throw him in bed with us, I get to go to sleep! I know, I know, I'm starting a bad habit...I keep saying, OK, tomorrow night I'll do it. Yeah, right. I'm still just as tired. I'll get to it someday...don't judge me! haha. Anyway, when he sleeps with us, he actually sleeps about 7 hours. He wakes up a few times, but I can usually get him to go back to sleep. I feed him at 5:30 and then he sleeps for about an hour and a half longer. He normally takes 2 naps a day...anywhere from 30 mins to the occasional 2 hours. He's the king of power naps...he can take a short 20 min nap and be a happy little dude.
Playing: This guy is into EVERYTHING. He doesn't miss a thing. He will stretch, twist, reach, sprawl out, whatever he has to do to see what's going on. He rolls over every once in a while...it seems like he just doesn't have any desire to do so! He loves to stand. He pulls himself up and will bounce and stamp his legs. Anything that plays music is his best friend. He will stare at and suck on anything that makes noise. His new toy is an empty 2 liter of Cherry Coke he likes to beat on. Speaking of beating on, he hits everything! I don't know how he doesn't hurt his little knuckles because he definitely doesn't lightly tap anything! :) He knocks on the wall when you change his diaper, knocks on the bathroom door when dad won't come out, and knocks on the window while people walk away from the house. He makes all kinds of noises. He hums, grunts, babbles, razzes, squeals, laughs, and even growls!! He's been hanging out with Diesel too much! We joke that his first word is actually going to be a bark! :) He just loves "his puppy." He watches him and just dies laughing at how goofy his fur brother looks. He has such a sweet smile and he is by no means stingy with them. He hands them out freely! He's starting to give kisses now...he'll open his mouth really wide and just fall forward into your face. Super cute and super messy!
Give me that camera!

Selvera Wedding!

This Saturday was wedding 2 in this month's string of events. Adrian and Alaina got married and it was a super fun affair!

Mr. and Mrs. Crim!

The bride and groom...

First dance

This guy was still going strong after midnight. Kali's necklace was extremely amusing to him. :) His Uncle Justin was not so awake...stay tuned for Wednesday's post... ;)

POKENO!

When I was living in Mesquite, some of my friends from McKenzie got together every month for POKENO night. It was something I looked forward to each month, so I was really excited about getting it started here. We did the first one in March at my house, but I didn't take pictures. (Surprise! haha) But Bekah did...I need to get those from you!

This month, game night was at Kathie's house and the theme was "Bath Time." Such fun and I got some great smelling lotion and body wash!

Ruston with his grandmas!

Annie, Rhonda and Saoirse

Kristen, Melanie, and Ally

me and Amy

Can't wait for next month at Annie's house! If you think you'd like to join us, send me your email address!! :)

Lauri's Wedding Weekend

We had a great weekend down at the Frio! Unfortunately, Austin traffic didn't allow me to get there in time for rehearsal, but we did make it to the dinner. We had some yummy chicken fried steak, then headed to the cabins.

The Pecan Farm was beautiful. Everything was starting to turn green and the cabins were really neat.

This is our cabin.....#11, Wichita.

This little boy woke up in a great mood on Saturday morning. Lauri picked me up bright and early and we headed to Concan to get our hair done. Luckily, we got back in time for me to hang out with him for a while. :)

We took him over to the playground for a while. He wasn't too sure about the baby swing. He held on with both hands and eventually tried to eat the rope.

So we climbed up the playscape...

...and went down the slide!

Then he did some swinging with Dad.

After playing a while, we walked down to the river.

The water was beautiful! Ruston just stared at it.

He sat with Mo out on the rocks for a while.

Then it was back to wedding business!! I got dressed and headed to Lauri's cabin.

Lauri looked amazing! Her dress was so pretty.

The ceremony was a perfect length, in perfect weather.

Congrats, Mr. & Mrs. Kelley!!

Ruston would not stop sucking on pickles at the reception. He'd make a squishy face, but keep going back for more!

First dance!

Family pic at the table. Ruston refused to look at the camera. :)

Such a happy boy.

Woo hoo!!!

Congrats, Lauri and Rayne! The wedding was beautiful, the reception was a blast, and we all had such a great time!

Wedding Season is Upon Us!

It's that time of year...weddings! weddings! weddings! Danny and I have four weddings to attend in the next 5 weeks. Is that not crazy?! We're headed down to Leakey today for the first. Lauri is getting married on the Frio River. Our bridesmaids' dresses are such a pretty color. Pics soon! Everyone have a fantastic weekend!!

Easter!

Well, Ruston's first Easter didn't turn out quite as nice as we'd have liked. We were all 3 sick. :( So we didn't even leave the house. Late that afternoon, though, we threw several eggs in the front yard for Ruston to "hunt." He walked around with Danny and grabbed the eggs and put them in his basket....I sat on the porch and video'ed. These are the only actual pictures I got. He really liked his shiny eggs!

I.Hate.Being.Sick.

I mean, really. Being sick really sucks. Not only do I feel like I could cough up a lung at any moment, my eyes are so puffy I can barely see. My nose is raw from blowing and wiping it constantly. My head feels like it's going to explode and I break out into a nasty sweat every 1-2 hours. As Danny said last night, "You feel like you just got finished working out." Ugh. I went into a minor emergency clinic today and they did a flu test, but it came back negative. I really thought it was just allergies, but they said that wouldn't have given me the fever. So they said it must be some sort of respiratory infection. Got started on a z-pack. The sooner it starts working the better! I think the worst part of being sick is not being able to hang out with my little Pooper. I just can't take care of him. It breaks my heart to see him just staring at me like, "Mommy, why aren't you holding me?" Sheesh. He's been out at Nana's all day today. Danny left a couple hours ago to pick him up, so hopefully they'll be back soon. I guess I'll just talk to him from across the room again tonight. Hey, it's better than not seeing him at all.

Flashback Friday! Part 7

Hanging out at Aussies, many moons ago!! We were out for Meghan's birthday...not too long before she left for London! It was also one of the first times Danny and I hung out after we met. :)

Thoughts for Thursday...Part 3

To all you Mommies out there!....I got this earlier this week from Mimi. The pictures in the email were of random cute babies. But of course, I had to replace it with my cute baby. :)

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys or forgot the words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment, or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

Before I was a Mom.