The Monkey and The Ladybug

TRICK or TREAT! Our first time trick or treating was a great success! Jacob had so much fun. He had no clue what was going on but he sure enjoyed it. Jenna did great too. I think the both got hot after 10min or so. Halloween is usually cold and nasty, but not this year. Go figure, both of their costumes were for 50 degree Halloweens, not 70 degree!

This is Jacob's gorilla aka "monkey" costume. The face doesn't show up well but it's really funny. It's very gorilla-ish. He LOVED it. When I showed it to him yesterday morning, he exclaimed "LOVE" and huged it, then took it to the rocking chair to snuggle!

This was a cool pumpkin at our neighbor's house. Jacob was fascinated by it.

And of course our little darling Jenna sporting the cute bib her Aunt Heather bought her.

Last Week

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while-life gets so busy sometimes! I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on.

First of all, I'm going to be an aunt! I can't tell you how excited I am. I have been waiting and waiting for this. Brian's brother's wife is pregnant, due in late June. They live in Arizona now but Chris will graduate in May and they will be moving back to Dallas. It's so awesome that Jacob and Jenna will have cousins! I know Chris and Val will be AWESOME parents!

Now an update on us. I'll start with the bottom and work my way up. Jenna is doing great. She has become a pro at sucking her thumb. I have mixed emotions about this. It's nice that she can soothe herself but it's not like a paci that can be taken away at the appropriate time and age. She is also smiling and cooing tons, loves to sit in her bumbo chair, loves taking baths with her brother, and has gone 7hrs at night several times recently. She gets more and more beautiful every day!

Jacob is doing much better. He was sick for about 9 days. I was talking to one of our docs at work yesterday, telling him about Jacob and he said as long as he is symptom free after 10 days, it's most likely a virus and I did the right thing (according to the American Academy of Pediatrics) by waiting and not starting antibiotics. That's right folks, they recommend waiting 10 days before antibiotics. We barely made it but he really was better on day 10! I hate giving my kids drugs and wait as long as I can before medicating with Rx drugs. I know, I'm so old fashioned!

I am doing well. My allergies are driving me CRAZY but other than that I'm good. I broke down and took a Children's Claritin yesterday at work. That probably explains why I only pumped 8 ounces of milk; I usually get closer to 12oz. So I am now drug free, and seem better today.

Brian's birthday was Sunday. We had a Cowboy's game party. It was fun, mostly because they won. Several people couldn't make it 'cause they were sick, but I appreciate them not contaminating my house! Brian is now 1 away from 5 away from 40. He came up with that, not me! I got him a Romo jersey, and his mom gave him lots of money which he is going to use to buy a new off-duty gun that's a lot smaller than his duty gun.

We did make it to the Fort Worth zoo last Friday. I LOVE the Fort Worth zoo. I could go every week if we lived closer. Jacob had a great time. We took Brian's mom too because she had NEVER been before. I'm not sure how you can raise 3 kids here and never go to that zoo! Jacob's favorites were the parakeet pavilion, the penguins, and the monkeys. My favorite were the lion cubs (I think there were 3 or 4) that were wrestling and playing under mom's watchful eye.

Then, Saturday night we had a real date night! Brian and I went to dinner at SilverFox Steakhouse...yum! I always feel weird about spending that much money on food but it was SO GOOD. We had a good time and the kids had an even better time at MiMi and PaPa's. I think Jacob would rather be there than anywhere else. Brian is the same way. When we were done, he just wanted to go hang out at my parents for a while with the kids. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Brian is in class all week so he will actually be home for dinner this week! That's all the excitement for now.

Jenna is now 2 months, 12lb and I can't remember how many inches!
Jacob playing with his new Elmo LIVE Nana bought him.


Let's see, my last post was about how mad I was that Jacob was sick...guess what? He's STILL sick. That's the crappy part about having a kid that doesn't go to daycare or somewhere that there are lots of germs. When he does get sick it lasts forever! Now he has respiratory and GI issues. It's not fun.

We even had to miss church-not just miss church but miss a BIG important day at church. A new pastor preached in view of a call, then was vote in! He sounds great from what I hear. I'm very excited to meet him and his family.

Jenna is doing great. She was really fussy and gassy this morning but seems better now. I heard a few coughs today which made me nervous but I continue to pray protection (from brother's germs) over her.

Brian's awards banquet was Saturday night. I think it was our first "date" since Jenna was born. It wasn't much of date though. He was the MC and had to be there early and stay late, plus he was up on the stage most of the night so I just sat there. The food was good. I wanted to stay and dance but mother nature called (had to go home and pump!).

Brian has a few extra days off this week...he took off for his birthday so we have a real date night planned and some other fun family stuff. We are so glad my parents are such good sports and keep our kiddos so we can enjoy a night out here and there. They even offered an overnight date but I'd have to get up and pump...think we'll wait a bit on that one!


This is Jacob being a toad...see the toad in front of him. And I thought he was a monkey!Me and my sweet Jenna. She is such a precious girl!

Vent and Tag

Before fulfilling my tag duties, I must vent. I'm really angry...Jacob woke up at 3am last night with a horrible croupy cough. So what you ask. Well, the reason I am angry about it is because I know exactly where he picked up the germies.

After Bible class Sunday morning, I went to ask Brian if he had checked on Jacob. He replied yes, that he was climbing the mats in his classroom as always. He also commented that a particular family had come in and their kids had lots of green snot oozing from their noses. I knew that two of their kids were in Jacob's class but I was too busy trying to get Jenna to go to sleep so I could go in to church to worry about it.

Obviously I should have worried about it. I really don't worry as much as I used to about Jacob picking up cooties since his teacher is a PEDIATRIC NURSE! You would think that she would be good about kicking out the kids with cooties. I am sooooo mad. I mean, if Brian mentioned their snotty noses it must have been really bad. I don't understand why our church is so lax about this stuff.

When Jacob was a baby, I was "that mom" that wouldn't take her kid to the nursery. I know everyone thought I was a crazy first time mom that couldn't let anyone else take care of my baby but that wasn't the case. Every time I popped my head in I would see snotty noses and I wasn't about to leave my kid in there! Jacob stayed with us until he was around 6 months old and flu/RSV season was over! Even then he got sick regularly after being in church. I guess I'm going to have to do the same with Jenna, which is hard because she doesn't sleep through church like Jacob did.

My friend at work volunteers in her church nursery often and she says they are super strict. Any nasal drainage at ALL be it clear, green, orange, or purple and they aren't allowed in the nursery. Same goes for fever and rashes. They don't care if the kid is teething, or whatever other excuses parents come up with. I think that's how it should be - there is no way to tell who is infectious and who isn't. And it's not fair to the kids who get sick and their families.

Ok, I'll stop now. I am literally going to inspect the kids in the nursery from now on when I drop off Jacob before class and again before church. If I don't like what I see, I will kindly confront the teacher. If I don't get results, I guess we'll all head home, cause there is no way Jacob will sit through church.

Ok Marla, this is for you. You see, I've been tagged again but this time I refuse to be the tagger. So if anyone reads this and wants to play along, I tag you!


1. If you could go back in time and relive one particular time in your life, when would it be? growing up in east Tx, running around outside barefoot, just being a kid

2. If you could drive any car out there, what car would you drive? a Jag

3. If you could drive an SUV, what kind would you drive? Volvo

4. What is your greatest pet peeve of all time?

5. What room in your house stays clean most of the time? Most of them

6. What room stays messed up most of the time? Jacob's room

7. Can you get both cars in your garage? Every day

8. Do you make your bed every day? No but Brian does it often

9. When you come home from a long day or you have to change clothes, do you hang things up or do you make a pile that last for days and days? I rarely can re-wear stuff so it goes in the laundry. With an infant and a toddler I'm bound to have spit-up or food or something on my clothes. But pre-kids I would hang it up.

10. How many days of the week do you cook an evening meal? Not often since Brian works evenings, but I cook a lunch for us several days a week.

11. What's your favorite meal? dessert and crab legs

12. If you could go anywhere on vacation and spend a week, where would you go? The Caribbean. Any island/beach would do.

13. What's your favorite television show of all time? Party of Five

14. What was your favorite children's show growing up? The Cosby Show

15. What was your favorite toy as a child? our trampoline

16. What was your favorite book as a child? The Babysitters Club series.

17. What was the first car that you drove? A powder blue Buick Skyhawk

18. What color was your first bike? I think it was white with pink. It was a hand-me-down.

19. Did you ever do anything really bad growing up? Not really, my dad was a cop you know.

20. Did you ever steal anything growing up? No.

6 years

Happy Anniversary Honey! I know that when you get home tonight you will check the blog so this one's for you!

I feel so honored to be your wife. I still don't know how I got you but I am so thankful that you FINALLY fell for me! I remember the "early days"...all the stress and drama. Isn't it crazy how God has changed hearts and paved the way for us?

Thank you for loving me unconditionally, for loving our kids in a way I didn't think anyone (except my dad) could love their children, and for loving the Lord and keeping Him as the foundation of our lives.

Here are some of the things that drive me crazy, but they are also the things that make YOU you so I have come to love them...

running the dishwasher with 5 or 6 dishes

sleeping diagonally across the bed

opening every last bottle of Gatorade in the fridge before finishing one

putting empty bottles of water or jugs of milk back in the fridge

I took a picture of Brian's infamous empty bottles in the fridge the other night. When he got home he saw the camera on the table and looked through the pictures to see what cute pics I got that day....when he saw this picture he decided to leave me a little note....

He has SUCH a sense of humor!!!

starting a load of wash but then forgetting to put it in the dryer

not turning your socks right side in before putting them in the hamper (that is IF you put them in the hamper

forgetting to closing the baby gate at the top of the stairs

putting things away in the most random places to "get rid of the clutter"

I guess I'll stop for now. Just know that I love you more than anything and I can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

Back To Work

Yesterday was my first day back to work and it was so boring! We only had one doctor and he did rounds in the hospital all morning. He only had a few patients in the afternoon so we were fighting over them! It was nice to be back though. I never thought I'd want to go back; I didn't with Jacob! But now that's he's 2 I was ready for that "break" I'd always hear people talk about when referring to mostly stay-at-home moms that work here and there to escape! Brian did great with them by the way. He even ran a few errands...he's much more ambitious than me!

We had our viewing/ordering session with the photographer today. Jennifer, you were right. She did get some awesome shots despite Jacob's not so great behavior! I can't wait til we get them. It'll be a few weeks before they come in. I have to say that I truly believe that I have the most beautiful kids in the world : ) !

Jenna is such a smiley, happy, sweet baby. Jacob takes such good care of her too. He gives her her paci when she cries, tries to share his juice and snacks, loves to hold her, and has even tried to pick her up out of her swing or bouncy chair. Thank goodness I always strap her down!

I found a gray hair this week. It was right smack dab in the middle of my head. I pulled it out, but mainly just to get a good look at it. I don't mind have a gray hair. Two I might mind but one is ok.

I will close with a few pictures of the kids, cause they make me happy and maybe they will make you smile too! Oh ya, and I finally put a link to our dropshots page where there are a million pictures (see dropshots to your left).

Smiling at Daddy

Having a snack outside (check out the baggy jeans!)

Wrestling with the beagles "aka bee-gulls"

Busy Week

In front of Big Tex
Brian, Mimi, sleepy Jacob, and fussy Jenna!

Brian took a couple of extra days off last week (which he really needed because he's been working so much overtime lately) so we stayed busy but tried to let him rest a little too!

Wednesday our friends the Reeds came in for a visit. The kids played for a while, then we went to eat. Jacob was very happy to see his Jolene. He had his first major breakdown (while in public) at the restaurant. It was over a peppermint. Oh my, it was bad. I think it lasted around 20 minutes but it felt like 2 hours.

Thursday we went to the good ole State Fair of Texas. Jacob loved Big Tex (and the trains that encircled him). We saw the dog show, the bird show, the petting zoo, the cars, all the great stuff you can buy, and BOY DID WE EAT! Brian counted up 9 different things he ate. I didn't eat quite that much but close. Him and my mom even tried the fried bacon (the line was REALLY long). I just thought it tasted like really crispy bacon but whatever. It was a long but very fun day.

I think Jacob's favorite parts were riding the "big ducks" (the swan paddle boats that are in the lagoon behind the museums) and the Science Museum. He had a blast at the museum...he LOVED the firetruck and the funny mirrors. We could have stayed there all day. Plus, we were the only ones there! That's right, we had the entire little kid's area to ourselves. You see, Thursdays are senior citizen's day at the fair so there weren't very many kids. It was a great day to go if you ask me!

Jacob the firefighter

Let me see, what else? Jenna moved up to her 3-6 month clothes this week. She is doing great; I still can't believe how cute she is. : ) Our friends Marla and Robert had their little girl on Friday. I hope to go visit tomorrow. I go back to work on Thursday so please be in prayer for Brian. I know he'll do fine with both kids but he will be tired since he works Wednesday and won't get home 'til 11 ish, then has to get up and be daddy all day.