Summer Project Disaster 1

As I have previously mentioned Jason is doing some work in our disaster area of a backyard.  We had some flagstone that he made into a patio a summer or two ago.  Well, this summer he got the itch to expand it.  I do not love summer projects.  I do not love any kind of project for that matter.  They always turn out to be more expensive, more work, and more trouble than it's really worth.  Jason, however, loves loves loves projects.  I'm much more like my dad, who would prefer to hire and pay someone to do it so he doesn't have to deal with the agony of it all.  Unfortunately, we don't have the funds to hire someone, so Jason watches as much stuff as he can on HGTV and DIY Network.  Then he jumps online and gets busy on his research.  Then he calls around to a bunch of places and inquires about prices and how-to's.  This just becomes too much for me, so I try to stay as far away from all that as possible.

Today he (and Elise and I) went to the rock place to pick-up sand and then another trip up there to get more flagstone.  Everything was going relatively smoothly with the exception of Elise, who was on the fussy side.  So, I went and sat in the truck with her and held her up to the air conditioner... problem solved.  Then the fellow that works at the rock place drove his little fork lift over and placed 2,500 lbs. of rock into the bed of my pick-up.  As I was sitting in it, I felt it sink lower, and lower, and lower.  I got out of the truck and said

"how much does that weigh????"

"Twenty five hundred pounds"

"well, that's about 500 too much"

I know this because I used to work at a place that sold sod by the pallet.  One pallet weighs one ton, which is 2,000 lbs.  A 4x4 pick-up like mine can safely haul 1 pallet of grass.  So, I wasn't just pulling 500 lbs out of my rear end.

So Jason asked me if I wanted to leave some there and come back for it later.  The worker dude suggested putting some extra air in the tires so it wouldn't ride so low.  I am pretty particular when it comes to my vehicle (as you would know from the moron that rammed his door into it) and like to take care of the nice things I have... especially expensive ones.  So, I wasn't thrilled about hauling all that rock to the house, but luckily we didn't have too far to go.  I agreed to putting some air in the tires before we left.  The worker walked off to talk to someone and I jumped in the passenger seat and told Jason he could drive.

He put the truck in reverse and was watching carefully out his side mirror... we were backing, backing, then

"THUUUNNNK"

Yep, I knew it.  He backed into something.  We both got out and looked.  Oh yeah! the fork lift was still behind the pick-up.  Here comes the worker dude...

"you just got the tail gate"

JUST the tail gate?!

I pressed my lips together and kept repeating to myself "don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out"

The tail gate was still down and the plastic part was bent.  Worker dude and Jason were like "it's ok, it's just the plastic" Jason said "I can fix that"  (oh goody, another project).

I was biting my lower lip and trying to refrain from lashing out with obscenities and accusations of "NOT PAYING ATTENTION!"  I stayed calm and said "it's fine, let's go."

So, Jason goes to shut the tail gate and the freaking plastic cover that goes around the handle FELL OFF!

"don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out"

I know by this point Jason is scared out of his mind that I'm going to blow a head gasket right there in the middle of the road.  He even said "you're about to blow a gasket aren't you???"  Another "it's fine" was all I managed to say.  We got in the truck and started on our way home.

"Please don't hate me, I love you."

"it's fine"

"I can fix it, I think those brackets broke, but it's an easy fix"

"it's fine"

"You're about to cry aren't you?"

Indeed I was, but I had my sunglasses on and said "no" and managed to fight back the tears

"I didn't see that forklift back there because the rock was blocking the rear view mirror.... why are you tapping your foot???"

"I'm not mad, it's ok"

Most people that know me well, would say this is quite an accomplishment for me.  I have a tendency to over react (it runs in the family) and have total freak outs on the spot (more DNA) and I'm sure Jason was expecting that exact scenario.  He's pretty calm and level headed all the time, so I tried to put myself in his shoes and not flip my shit like I really really really wanted to.  Guess I'm starting to be a grown-up. 

We made it home with the rock safely without blowing out any tires.  Good thing.  Could you imagine the total freak out I would have if something like that happened?  God help the poor fools in my path of fury then.


As a side note, we sold Jason's truck today.  So, that leaves us with my truck and his work truck.  Promptly after selling his truck, he goes crashes our only other personal vehicle into a parked forklift.  He will never live it down.  Poor guy.

Boob Damage

You know how you can report hail damage on your vehicle insurance?  I'm wondering if I can report nipple damage on my health insurance?  A combination of things have happened over the last few days that have left me asking myself "ouch?!  What the crap?!"

For instance, after all of Elise's constipation problems and my frantic searching of the internet, I thought to myself "oh no!  What if my milk supply is starting to tank and she's not getting enough fluid and that's making her constipated?"  So, I called the lactation nurses at the hospital, and they gave me some tips to help increase my supply.  One of those was to incorporate pumping again.  Since Elise spent the day on Saturday with her Nana & Grandpa (for the 1st time without me!) I would have to pump anyway.

So, I set up the pumping station again and got to work.  I don't know if I was so desperate for milk to come out in mass quantities that I let it pump for longer than I should or if I had to power cranked up too high.  About the 3rd round I was studying very intently and noticed very tiny speckles of BLOOD!  Holy crap!  That would be the first incident of nipple damage.

Today while I was nursing my child, I was giving her look like "you better be careful where to apply pressure with those new teeth, missy."  Either the teeth were digging in or she's trying to out-preform a Hoover vacuum cleaner.  Either way, I was thankful I still had the giant tube of Lanolin!  Anymore damage and I'll be calling the insurance company to file a claim!

8 Months

Dear Elise,

You have grown and developed so much in the last month.  It's exciting to watch you explore everything around you.  You want any and everything you can get your hands on.  Those things in turn go in your mouth!  You snatched a pencil off the notepad under the coffee table this morning and went to town gnawing on the eraser.

This is just the beginning of not being able to take my eyes off of you for a second!  You are easily entertained and will play on the floor with your toys.  You roll from your back to your side to your belly.  You desperately want to crawl, but will settle for scooting for now.  You can get up on all fours, but you just haven't quite mastered moving your hands and knees accordingly and face plant into the floor.  I know it won't be long, though!

We took you on your first road trip, and you did awesome!  While we were gone, Daddy discovered your first tooth poking through on the bottom.  He found out the other day that the one next to it is also making its slow debut.  It took seven months, but you started sleeping all night.  I guess sleeping on your back is for the birds, because recently you've been rolling onto your tummy when you sleep.  The first night I noticed you on your tummy, I went into your room 4 times in the middle of the night to check on you and roll you back over.  It was hopeless because it didn't take you long to get back to where you wanted to be.  It won't be long and we'll be lowering your crib mattress.  You have found the fun in using the bumpers to pull up on so you can peek out and over the crib to see what's going on!

Your schedule these days goes a little something like this...  Daddy gets up to get ready for work around 7:30am.  You wake up and come get in bed with me.  You nurse and then we snuggle up and go back to sleep.  You sleep until about 10am and most days I sleep with you.  Other days I'll branch out and get up around 9:45am.  This is almost embarrassing to admit.  But, I figure I might as well enjoy it while I can because I'm going to be looking for a job before too long.  Anyway, we get up and get you changed and ready for the day.  You play in your walker for a bit while I get some breakfast, do some picking up, or finish some laundry from the night before.  Then you nurse again.  About noonish I make you something to eat.  Maybe sweet potatoes or squash.  Daddy plays with you for a bit while he's home for lunch.  About the time he goes back to work, you go down for a nap in your crib.  Usually without protest.  You will nap for an hour and a half to two hours.  Then we play some more, or go to the park, or for a walk.  You love to be outside, so even just sitting on the front porch or going to get the mail is fun for you.  You nurse again before I make you dinner.  After you have something to eat, you get a bath, lotion, diaper, jammies, and we snuggle with you for a bit before we put you down around 9:30pm.  You are a really good snuggler.  You love to be held and loved on, and we love curling up on the couch and laying with you.

You and the dogs have really taken a lot of interest in each other.  When they come up to give you kisses you laugh and breathe really fast and loud.  It's so funny to see you so excited to play with them.  You are a paci snatcher, and must have your paci if it's in eyesight.  Every night after your bath while I'm putting lotion on you, you grab all the paci's out of the caddy.  One goes in your mouth and you hold onto the rest.  You have tried to put two in your mouth at once unsuccessfully.  I don't know how (or when) we will wean you from your paci!  I'm sure it won't be pleasant for anyone in the house!


Please pardon the grunting and red face....

Every night before Daddy and I go to bed, we quietly go into your room and cover you up and kiss you goodnight.  On our way to bed, we always tell each other how much we love you and what a sweet baby you are.  Some nights we let you sleep in between us just because we want you to.  You are so easy going, so happy and sweet... I don't know how we got so lucky!

Love,
Momma

Wheel Of Fortune

It's safe to say that Wheel Of Fortune pretty much needs me.  Really, they do.  I'm pretty awesome at solving the puzzles and call the contestants names for not knowing the answers.  Jason has been trying to persuade me to get on the show, but I keep telling him that I'm too smart for them and they won't have me.  Anyway, since I'm watching WOF every night, demonstrating my high level of intelligence, Elise has decided to partake in the festivities.

So, tonight when I was trying to teach and show her what crawling is all about, she was all "dude, don't bother me, I'm watching Wheel Of Fortune."

So, she had assumed the crawling position.  I started to show her how to move her hand and knees accordingly.  Then I'm pretty positive she gave me the hand and said

"pssshhh, I'm trying to solve the puzzle, momma!"

So, I'm all like "Elise, this is an important milestone in your development.  Let's work on crawling."

"This broad doesn't know the puzzle, WOF totally needs me too, Momma!"

She then resumed the sitting position.  Guess that's her subtle way of saying "I ain't crawling, you can't make me, and leave me alone while I'm watching Vanna!!"

Jason, who finds the good in everything, informs me that Wheel Of Fortune will help her learn her letters.

The Princess & The Frog

I put Elise down for a nap this afternoon.  When I went in to check on her she was faced the complete opposite way and had her arm wrapped around her frog with her head by his butt.  It's a good thing I turned the frog off because it talks really loud and bounces.  It would have scared the crap out of her, but then again that might be a good thing.. the poor thing has been battling constipation.

And yes I know!  Shame on me!  I have stuffed animals and blankets in my child's crib *gasp!*  But, like I said, I laid her down with her head away from all that crap and she managed to find her way down there.

If I Had A Quarter

for all the idiotic things that come out of my mouth, I wouldn't be rich (cause I'm not that big of a dope), but I'd still have a lot of money!

I was browsing the calendar and telling Jason the other day...

"You know our anniversary is coming up in a little over a month."

"uh huh" because he's super excited, can't you tell?

"so, I want you to do something really romantic for me, like take me on a hot air balloon ride and read me hand written love poems and whisper sweet nothings into my ear."

"why?"  More enthusiasm... Man! I LOVE HIM!

"because, we will have been married 3 years and this like the longest relationship I've ever had." 

*crickets*

"uhh, obviously this is the longest relationship I've ever had since I married you and all" I said while I was laughing at the whole conversation. 

You know what they say?  You can't fix stupid.

A couple weeks ago we were laying in bed about to go to sleep when I said "Hey, I gotta tell you something" in my most serious voice.

I know Jason's thinking to himself "oh crap, we're overdrawn in the checking account, she ruined some more of my clothes in the laundry, she dropped the baby, she has a venereal disease"  but he said "uh oh, what?"

"umm, in the middle of the night when I get up several times to go pee, I don't flush the toilet because I don't want it to wake up Elise, so in the mornings when you get up, can you not look in the toilet and just use the other one?"

He's just chuckled and said "ok" when he was secretly thinking "Thank God, she didn't spend all our money!"

Do NOT Mess With Me

Jason is doing some work in our backyard so he NEEDED to go to LOWES.  Going to Lowes with him is almost as bad as going to Best Buy (think TV shopping).  He drags me all over the bloomin store to show me "stuff" after declaring he needs to get one thing.  Every department always has something to inspire another home project.  So I usually end up hearing "I was thinking about getting some of these 2x4's and...."  that's about all I ever make out of his project descriptions for 2 reasons.  One, because when he starts giving me dimensions of wood and stuff I usually get confused and two, because he has so many projects going on in his mind that I'd rather not hear about anymore until the ones he started last summer are completed.

Today's visit was dedicated to getting a sprinkler to water all 5,000 square feet of our yard.  Before we left the house, he made sure to visit Lowes.com and browse the online sprinkler selection so he could be on his "A" game at the store.  So, here we go... "I could get this one, but..." or "I could get these two instead."  He is wanting my opinion.  But when we go shopping for me (clothes) and I ask him what he likes better he says "they both look good."  He is really no help.  So then he wants me to tell him which sprinkler I think will work better when really all I care about is that it will be QUIET when the timer kicks on at 6:30am.  I cannot stand listening to chh chh chh chh chh chhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh for 30 minutes outside the bedroom window.  Anyway, I digress.

This trip to Lowes wasn't so bad (with the exception of the parking lot ordeal), and I actually needed something there myself.  Since our kitchen and living room seem to be invaded by Rollie Pollies I was set out to get this bug spray that I saw a commercial for on TV.  We got the bug spray and headed to sprinkler isle.  Oh Goody.  The decision making process did not last as long as I was anticipating, so I agreed to some browsing of the plants and flowers.  We made our selections, paid, and were on our way.

Now let me tell you what happened in the parking lot.  I was waiting on this BMW to pull out of a parking spot and get out of my way so I could swing out wide enough to get in the spot they were in.  There was an empty spot next to where I parked, and naturally the car behind me would insist on parking right next to me.  So, I was in the driver seat and to my left were those white diagonal lines and Jason had the car parked next to him on the right.  Since we have to get Elise out and open the back doors Jason decided to wait on the driver of the car to get out and on his way.  I'm watching the guy get out, he opens his door and keep pushing it open and "THUNK" he freaking bangs his door into my truck.  He got out and just started walking into Lowes.  Uhhh I don't think so, pal!  I roll down Jason's window and yell "HEY!"  He backs up to the window and I said "You just hit my truck with your door!!"  He shrugged his shoulders and mumbled "sorry."  So, now Jason is getting out of the truck to see if there's a mark and he's telling the guy "You need to be more careful!!!" The guy repeats himself.  Then I'm yelling through the window "Well, you had PLENTY of room!!!"  So he says sorry again and goes on his way.  I put the truck in reverse and park half-way in the diagonal white lines while telling Jason "I hope he comes out here to see this, that I had to move over because of him.  Like we weren't going to realize he banged his door into my truck while we were sitting in it! Humph!"  Jason said "looks like he does that a lot by the looks of his door."  We get everything out of the truck and start walking into Lowes.  Well, here he comes on his way out.  He sees me and says "I'm sorry again, mam.  Did you look to see if there was a mark?"  I said "it's fine" and kept on walking.  I mean really?!  I don't know what some people are thinking!  I guess I should be glad he wasn't a member of The Bloods and whip out a machete or AK-47 or something.  But, then again he should be glad I didn't either since I'm PMSing.

Father's Day 2010

For the past 25 years I have celebrated Father's Day for my Daddy.  After all, I am a daddy's girl.  When my parents got divorced when I was 6 years old, I lived with my Dad.  He's pretty much been my whole world.  There isn't anything I didn't have, need, or want when I was growing up.  He instilled important values in me even though I was spoiled rotten. 

This year I'll be celebrating Father's Day for him and for my husband.  Like me, Elise is a daddy's girl too.  To see them together always puts a smile on my face.  You can see how each one of their faces light up when they see each other.  Jason works hard everyday to take care of her and me.  He will go without before either one of us will.  The other day while driving, I saw this on the billboard of a local church:

"Fathers, remember your sons will follow your example, not your advice."

I'm pretty sure that applies to daughters too, and Jason is the perfect example for our daughter.  He gives selflessly to help everyone, and always puts everyone before himself.  He's a hard worker, and shows his love for her and me everyday.  I wouldn't complain if Elise grew up to be just like him.

In honor of Jason's first Father's Day I made him this video:

Southern Engineering At Its Finest

I saw that Toys R Us had these swings on sale a few weeks ago.  So, I turned into to that crazed parent after a bargain and dashed to the store to get one.  They were out, of course.  So, I hunted down an associate to see if they had any in the back.  She said she didn't think so, but they would be getting a truck in the following morning and that I should call to see if they had received anymore.  Being the crazed parent after a bargain, I did just that.  I had to repeat myself three times after being transferred all over the store...

"Yes mam, I was in there yesterday looking at the Little Tikes swings you have on sale.  I was told you would be getting a truck in this morning and I wanted to see if you got anymore in."  Twice I was told to hold so they could find someone to help me.  Anyway, they had them and put one on hold for me.  I went back up there and got it.  Well, Jason finally put it up today.  After he looked at the box and instructions (or lack there of) he said he'd need some more equipment to hang it from one of our trees.  So, three weeks, two ropes, and two hooks later the swing is hung.  I might add, that I wasn't quite sure what he had in mind for hanging it, but it gets the job done.

Please overlook the disaster area also known as our backyard!  Jason's going to be working on that this upcoming week!

A Poop Update

As I mentioned Elise is working on getting her first tooth through.  The teething hasn't been a huge problem for us as others have had.  However, this is just the first one.  I also mentioned that the poor girl hadn't pooped in 10 days.  She doesn't eat solids every day, but that is still an awful long time to go without a poop.  I knew she was uncomfortable and constipated.  She would grunt, push, and turn bright red.

Wednesday night I put her down in her crib for the night and she woke up a couple times and was a little harder to soothe than normal.  When Jason and I were almost asleep she woke up screaming like she was in pain.  I picked her up and brought her to our bed.  I held her, nursed her, rubbed her back, gave her a teether, and then some Tylenol.  I didn't know if it was the tooth bothering her or her poor tummy.  We let her sleep in between us that night since she didn't feel good.  She finally fell asleep at 1am.

I called her pediatrician's office yesterday and they told me a few at home tricks to try.  One of those being a couple tablespoons of dark karo syrup.  I gave her some last night with her dinner.  After no luck all day today, we went back to the store and I had a discussion with the pharmacist.  I picked up some glycerin suppositories.  Elise fell asleep on the way home, so I told Jason when she wakes up she's getting one.  Well, she woke up a little later and after I had finished making stuff and cleaning the kitchen, she pooped.  Not a lot, but more than I'd seen in the last week or so.  So, I didn't give her a suppository.  Then Jason was holding her and she did it some more.

I guess all I need to do is threaten her with some suppositories and it will scare the poop right out of her!

Road Trip Part III

The last day of our stay in Houston, we went back to the city I grew up in.  I took Jason by my old house and old school.  Then we stayed the night with some family friends.  We had a great dinner and I took Elise swimming.

As you know, Elise LOVES the water (just like Momma).  I had thought about very quickly putting her face under water (that sounds a lot worse when you type it out) but never did for fear of being frowned upon at the public pool.  Since our friends had their own pool in their back yard, I decided to try it.  It would be my only opportunity.  So, I bounced her one, two, three, whoosh under water for a split second.  The girl is a champ!  She didn't act scared, didn't cry, it didn't even phase her.  About ten minutes later, I tried it one more time.  Same reaction, or lack there of.  She didn't cough or choke on water, either.  Elise is going to be a strong swimmer like me (considering I just taught Jason how to float a couple years ago on our honeymoon).

We headed out Monday morning (Jason discovered Elise's first tooth at breakfast!!!) towards Gatesville.  It's about 30 something miles from Waco with a population of 15,000 ish.  I'm not sure if that includes the people in the prisons there since there are 8 "correctional facilities" there.  Anyway, last year (April 2009) Jason's grandpa passed away and is buried there.  We hadn't been back since then, so we took the opportunity to stop by since we didn't know when we would be down that way again.  I snapped a few pictures for family...

The last time Elise was there, she was in my belly.  From Gatesville we drove to Aubrey, north of Dallas.  We stayed the night with some friends.  They have an 8 week old baby.  There wasn't much time to visit since we had been on the road all day and then had to leave the next morning.  From their house to our house, we had a 5 hour drive.  We stopped off at my parent's offices so they could see Elise and then made the rest of the hour home.

I was glad to get home and see my dogs.  Unfortunately though one of them had an accident on our floor while the sitter was taking care of them.  As you can see we pretty much traveled the entire state of Texas.  I can't say enough how good Elise was throughout everything.  I hope she keeps being an easy traveler!  I'm supposed to be making another trip down to east Texas next month.  Jason is only going to be able to go half way with me and then he's going another direction with the fire department for a fire school at Texas A&M.

A Tragedy Happened Yesterday...

I was sitting in our bed watching E! News and feeding Elise.  I had just gotten out of the shower and was trying to get ready to meet Jason for lunch and run some errands.  I was patiently waiting on Elise to finish her lunch, when I heard a loud CRACK! POP! and then all of the sudden the TV turned off and the screen went black.  Hmm...  I reached for the remote and pushed power and the same thing happened.  I decided at that point I'd better not jack with it and just leave it to my fireman husband.

I called him and described the situation...

"Hey, I was sitting in our bed feeding Elise and watching TV and it cracked and popped and shut off.  I tried turning it back on and it did the same thing."

"It's probably broke."  He said.  Wow, genius doubt I could have figured that out on my own.

I guess I was hoping for something more dramatic like, "OH! Don't touch it, evacuate the house, it could start a fire, I'll be over immediately to check on it!"

Instead he said "Guess we'll have to buy a new one."  Well, Jason loves TV shopping more than the average human male.  When we got our flat screen TV for our living room it was a huge production that involved lots and lots of research on each brand, plasma vs. LCD, measuring every single one of them.  I mean, he is not right.  Then he would want my opinion on them.  All I cared about was if it was going to show my trashy shows.  I don't care if I watch The Real Housewives of Orange County on a plasma or LCD TV.  He even wanted to add a flat screen TV to our baby registry.  So, I knew this would be music to his ears that the TV was broke.

My response to him was a bit on the sarcastic note,

"Oh Boy!  I can't wait to go TV shopping!  Especially since we don't have any money, and there's a huge dog stain on the carpet we'll probably have to pay to have cleaned (from when we were out of town), and Elise has been screaming all morning because her tooth is coming in and she hasn't pooped in 10 days!  I swear! Could something else please go wrong today?!?!"

I think as soon as I made that request it thundered outside and the devil snickered and said "your wish is my command."  Because my day got a little worse.

Anyway, about 10:00 last night we were getting around for bed when Jason said "I need your help."  It was time to rearrange some furniture.  It is very important that we have a TV in our bedroom.  Without one, we might actually be forced to engage in marital acts or have deep conversations in the dark.  The old *broke* TV was removed from the entertainment center, a little bit of dusting was completed, and the little TV in our spare bedroom was hooked up.  Then Jason informed ME that I would need to program the universal remote that controls the cable box.  Well, that TV is old too, so after I spent 20 minutes "searching for the code" on the TV, I spent another 20 minutes googling "4 digit remote code for Phillips TV" and "Remote code for Phillips TV/DVD" with no luck.  At 10:45pm, I was sitting on the edge of the bed with the laptop on my lap and the remote in my hand.  I looked over and Jason was laying on his stomach with his head on a pillow at the foot of the bed sleeping.  I called it quits on the code searching and he went to take a shower.

Road Trip Part II

Friday morning (not too early) we got up and got around.  Went and had lunch, then drove out to the Kemah Boardwalk.  It's right on the ocean.  There's an aquarium and a small amusement park.  It was incredibly humid and hot, but Elise was a trooper.  We were outside all afternoon, but she didn't seem bothered by it.  The only time she fussed was when she was hungry.  I fed her and she laid down in her stroller and went right to sleep.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Stingrays.  There was a huge tank of them, and we were able to pet them.  Some people were feeding them, and they would actually come out of the water and up the side to get the food.

I am seriously getting old, because the kiddie rides were more my speed.  After the first "adult" ride I rode that spun around and around, I was thinking those kinds of rides were a lot more fun about 10 years ago.

Saturday I wanted to go to Old Navy because they were having their tank tops on sale for $2.  I never go shopping anywhere early just to get a deal, but I decided to make an exception for the $2 tank tops.  My mom and I got up and headed to Old Navy shortly after 9am, because they opened at 9am... except when they have sales they open at 7am.  So, the rest of the town got the memo and made sure to get there 2 hours before us to get all the good ones.  I still got a few, and I doubt I would have gotten up early enough to get there at 7am anyway.

Then we all got ready and went to Galveston for some good seafood and to walk by the beach.  The water in Galveston is pretty nasty, and there was still some damage from the hurricane but we had some good dinner and got a few pictures before heading back in.

Road Trip Part I

We managed to make it all over the state of Texas and back alive and well.  The "alive" part is an accomplishment in itself because Jason and I usually have a few conflicts when it comes to driving and navigating and would like to kill each other around DFW.  Anyway, we only had one disagreement, and that was while pulling out of the driveway.  We didn't speak for a few hours... all the way to Witchita Falls.  That's right, we were off to a SUPER start at 5:45am on Thursday morning, but that's another story for another day.

This trip totally solidified the fact that we either need an SUV or a trailer to pull behind the pick-up.  We had our suitcase, Elise's bag, diaper bag, cooler, walker, stroller, Pack & Play, beach bag, bathroom bag, toy bag, and my pillow & blanket (never leave home without it).  Jason was gone Wednesday night, so I was left to do all the packing on my own.  I must say that with everything I had to pack, the only thing I forgot was the baggie of Elise's frozen food I had prepared.  Unfortunately though, while I was attempting to pack everything, Elise was incredibly fussy.  She didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm and we were supposed to be leaving at 5:30am.

We actually managed to get out of town by 6:10am.  We had to stop at a Wal-Mart a few hours down the road to buy a tarp to cover the stuff in the bed of the pick-up because it was raining in Dallas.  That town had some crazies!  I think the pictures of "the people of Wal-Mart" were all taken there.  Anyway, luckily we had a Garmin because it really keeps the disagreements about navigating to a minimum.  The only problem is, the Garmin desperately needs to be updated because one time it told us to take a right, but to the right was a big yellow sign that said "DEAD END."  We made to Houston about 6:30pm after a few stops and some traffic.  Elise was a perfect little traveler.  I cannot say enough how good she was and how easy it was to travel with her.  She slept most of the way, got out of her carseat to stretch and eat when we stopped, and played with her toys.

We met up with some friends for dinner at my favorite Mexican food place and then headed to my mom's side of town.  That was 5 tolls and an hour later.  Needless to say we were all exhausted after being in the car all day and unloading the vehicle.  After getting up at 4:30am and not getting to bed until midnight, we needed some serious rest!

To All My Adoring Fans!

My blogging has fallen by the wayside due to the warm weather.  You see, summer is my favorite season.  Therefore, I like to spend as much time as possible outside (preferably by the pool).  Between tanning, swimming, sleeping, and my wifely/motherly duties I have failed to update my blog daily.  Do not fret, this is only temporary!  Lucky for ya'll, we are leaving tomorrow, bright and early to take our first road trip with Elise.  So, I can assure there will be ample material to blog about upon my return home.  Before I bid you adieu, let me share with you a few pics of Elise enjoying the same sport as her Momma!  Swimmin and Tannin!

Family Photos

Yesterday evening Jason, Elise and I met my good friend Meghan at a local park for a little family photo session.  I picked out all of our outfits around Elise's little dress.  I must say the wardrobe choices were pretty good!  Let me start out with this picture...

 

Elise is looking at these little high school kids that were making out.  They didn't come up for air for about 10 minutes.  Jason is mumbling under his breath "Steph-anie!" and I am laughing because I am rubbing his butt like a magic lamp.  I was just trying to make sure all our pictures weren't gonna have fake smiles!

This is the look Jason gives Elise to get her to cry on demand... you can see why.

This is the serious face.

This cracks me up every time I look at it.

I'm really happy with them!  Thanks Meghan!

Not So Little Anymore...

These pictures I took yesterday made me really realize that Elise is getting SO BIG SO FAST.  As my husband annoyingly pointed out the other day "she's almost a year old."  I informed him that if he liked being on my good side he would refrain from saying those words to me again.  Look at my little big girl with her big bow!

 

As you can see, I can't just take A picture.  I have to pretend I'm a photographer and capture every move she makes.  I blow on her hair for the wind effect and tell her repeatedly "that's gorgeous, the camera loves you, work it... work it" and as you can see she is the perfect little model!