Snake Fun

Kev and I went to Dallas this weekend for Holland's sppointment at the clinic. I forgot to ever make our flight, so rather than fork over 300 bucks for a ticket, we opted to take a road trip instead. Of course, I didn't take any pics, but we had fun and turned it into a date.

Bronwyn had a blast without us. She stayed with my sister and her BFF cousin India. My sis and her husband own a small ranch about 20 minutes north of where we live. They go out there all the time to hike and ride four wheelers. Rattlesnakes are a pretty frequent find, but not ones quite as impressive as the one they found IN THEIR BARN on Monday. The barn that MY DAUGHTER HAD BEEN IN AND OUT OF THE WHOLE DAY BEFORE!!!! It was five feet long and as big around as my thigh! And my awesome sister, the consumate educator, let the kids and their friends dissect it. Not only that, they deep fried it and had it for dinner as well!!! B said it tastes like squid. I'll take your word for it honey.

The dissection.

The skinning.

The meat.

The trophy.

Holland Hazel

These are from our latest shoot with the fabulous Lezlie Andrew. Love her stuff!!! She also did some of me nursing her. They are gorgeous!

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend. First buzz, first big bath, first pony ride, and first campfire of the summer. Bronwyn's not in many of these because it was also her first weekend away with a friend. Here are the pics!

Daddy's turn first...

Goodbye curls!

He looks like such a big boy now :(

Lady bug infestation! If you look closely there are HUNDREDS of them on this tree. They are ALL over the back yard.

Sword fight?

Splish splash we were takin a bath!

Big girl!

Riding the pony at cousin Caylee's birthday party

Hangin out with cousin George (who is getting baby practice for his new little one due in 2 weeks!)

wow, he's sitting so still!

Rawr!

One of the best things about living where we do is the storms.

Nothin like tending a fire in your jammies!

Smores in the driveway :)

A little trashy, but still really fun!

My 30 Year Old Heart is Full

Another week, another milestone....I am officially a thirty-something. To be honest, I was a little depressed on my birthday last Thursday. Not because I'm no longer in my twenties, though. I've been saying lately that it seems like I should have been thirty a long time ago! The last decade has been incredibly eventful. Marriage, college completion, a "career" of sorts, and of course becoming a mother to the 3 most amazing kids ever made.
No, I definitely wasn't depressed about turning 30. I was depressed because my birthday was spent in airports, airplanes, and the clinic in Dallas among strangers who didn't even know it was a big day for me...despite the fact that I had to show my driver's license to at least six of them (except my dad of course, who was awesome to be our chauffeur yet again and give me even more awesome birthday $$). And as I have explained in detail in a previous post, our bi-monthly trips are far less than enjoyable. When I got home I crawled into bed and attempted a nap. I didn't even see the rest of my family until late that afternoon. Rachael called and asked if we wanted to go eat, and we did. Despite a tornado warning and a sick Boaz. I needed a beer!
Then off to work on Friday and a lazy, order pizza kind of Friday evening. We made plans earlier in the week to go eat at my favorite restaurant Saturday night with my mom, Rachael and Michael. After lining up babysitters, we were all set. Rachael called Saturday afternoon to see if we could just swing by and pick them up so that we'd all be in one car. When Kev and I pulled up to the house, I wondered why the blinds in the kitchen window were closed. I opened the door and saw Michael on the chair in the front room texting. He got up and said, you guys ready? In the next second I noticed a bunch of food on the dining room table behind him and then..

SURPRISE!!!

And all my favorite people (minus 2 babies) jumped out and just about gave me a heart attack!! Even Bronwyn was there! It was absolutely fantastic! The BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! I don't know how they all pulled it off, but I was beyond shocked. I took me like 10 minutes just to stop shaking. What's truly AMAZING is that Kev did not spill the beans. He is terrible at any kind of secrets. And he had told B like 2 days before, but neither one of them gave anything away. Of course, he could not have done any of it without my AWESOME sisters, mom, and brother in law. Rachael, Michael, and mom worked like dogs to get the house ready for people. The last time I had been over there, which was like a week and a half ago, it looked like a bomb had gone off from the Neagles moving in. But last night, the inside was perfect and the backyard looked like something out of a movie! Such a wonderful evening with people I dearly love! Thank you SO much everyone for giving me a warm welcome into the next decade. Rachael and Michael, mom, Samantha and Whitt, Natalie and Nick, Tara and Jason, Shelly and Kevin, Wendy and Daryl, Eden and Todd, Becky and Lyndal, Amber and Matt, Line and Lambert, Luke, Tony, and of course my amazing husband...I love all of you SO much! Oh yeah, and happy birthday Kev too! Thank you for letting me have my own birthday for once :)

My awesome sis and Nat

The Gonzalezes

Matt, Amber, and Line

Mom, Todd, and Eden

Michael and Matt

Samantha, Rachael, and Whitt

the amazing overnight bag that Amber MADE me...this pic doesn't do it justice!

I LOVE this man!

The Graduate

Wow, last week was a busy one! Bronwyn is officially a kindergarten graduate. We attended commencement on Wednesday. The theme was Charlotte's Web and they played the little graduation music as all the soon to be first graders filed in. How cute is that!


And then another big event...


They sure do grow up fast!

Didn't see this one coming

Well, I took Holland to Dallas this morning for what I thought would be one of our last 3 or 4 visits. I'm SO looking forward to getting these trips over with. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is mentally and physically wearing me and Holland out. I usually wake up around 4am and make some coffee, take a quick shower, and have a little breakfast before I wake Holland up 45 minutes later. I nurse her, then get us both dressed and out the door by 5:30 and try really hard not to forget anything...like diapers...or the helmet because that would be VERY bad! We check in at the airport ticket counter where they have to print out a boarding pass for her. She's known as the "Thursday Baby" and no matter how much she's yawning or rubbing her eyes, she generously doles out huge smiles for everyone.
If you've never travelled with a baby by yourself let me just tell you it is NOT glamorous. I need about 6 extra arms to hold my boarding passes while taking off my shoes, getting her out of her carseat to go through security (even if she's asleep mind you), and fold up the stroller to put through the little x-ray thingy. Then we have to do the whole process in reverse on the other side of the metal detector. And that's only phase one! We then proceed to the gate to get her stroller tagged and all the while I'm praying that it's not a full flight so I can take the car seat on. Because you see, the downside to having a "babywise" baby is that she very rarely will go to sleep in my arms. Unless I'm nursing her of course, in which case it never fails that some creepy old man sits next to me and wants to chat it up. So, I like to have the car seat in the seat next to me. She fusses (or screams) about it until we start down the runway, and once the jets get to going it's usually lights out. Until the loud ass flight attendant or pilot comes on jabbering about tray tables and altitude and she pretty much bolts awake. I mean, does anyone even listen to them?! Thankfully the flight is only 55 minutes and she does relatively well with the 20 minute cat nap. As we make our decent into Love Field, which usually feels like it takes 30 minutes, I go ahead and nurse her again so she stays happy. We land, I put her back in the carseat, she cries until it's finally my turn to disembark, we wait another 10 minutes for them to bring the stroller up, and we make our way to my Dad or his wife who are picking us up. At this point I begin to sweat. Literally. Because in Amarillo the humidity is normally around 10%. And in Dallas it's around 100%. As soon as we get Holland buckled in and the stroller loaded, I crank up the AC and freeze my driver out. My stepmother told me today that she wears warm clothes when she's going to be picking me up.
And off to the clinic. It's not very far from the airport, but then we have to wait anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to be seen. We go back to the room, our therapist takes some measurements, they shave a little off the inside of the helmet, and we are on our way again.
Well, today was a bit different. For one thing, our PT Sue went with us. What a blessing! Not only did I have an extra pair of hands, but she stayed with Holland while I went to the bathroom! And I actually had some company. But on a sad note, our therapist in Dallas is leaving. She's moving to California. And on an even sadder note (and now I finally come to the point), she told me today that she thinks Holland may need a second helmet. What??? Not only would that mean shelling out another 3600 bucks, but as I just described, this traveling thing has been no picnic! But she thinks the most we could get out of the current helmet is 4 weeks. And she doesn't think that is going to give her head enough time to fully correct. So, we've got some praying and thinking to do.
On the one hand, her head is SOOO much better. I really don't think that it will be very noticeable when her hair grows out. Her face is almost totally symmetrical, and as I mentioned before her ears are much more aligned. But this wasn't all about cosmetics from the beginning. Kids with plagio can turn into adults with TMJ, migraines, and ear problems because of the jaw and ear misalignment. So, while it is a million times better, that may not be enough. And though the thought of stretching this journey out even further makes my stomach turn, I ultimately want to do the absolute right thing for my baby girl. So, pray for us if you think about it that we would have wisdom and provision. I'll keep you posted.

The Usual

Well I don't really have anything interesting to post. I just wanted my "Swine Flu" blog to drop off everyone's page :) We've just been up to the usual. That's all about to change of course in 3, no wait 2 and a half, weeks when school is out. I must admit, I'm slightly frightened. I've never had 3 kids at home ALL day long before for more than a week! But hooray for the pool, snow cone stands, and VBS!

Holland is doing super fantastic in her helmet. The difference it has made not only in her head shape, but also her facial features and ear alignment is amazing. And she has just been such a little champ through all of this. Last week was our first week off from going to Dallas in 2 months. It was a MUCH needed break! Back on for this Thursday though. And good news from our physical therapist, who after the last 4 months has practically become a part of our family. She said today that if Holland's neck keeps improving at the rate it is then she will "graduate" soon! Yea!!! Our good friend Lezlie is taking some pics of her next week, so maybe she will be sweet and let me post some.

Boaz is ornery as ever. I picked him up from "school" today and the director said, "I think he was actually pretty sweet today. I didn't even see him in time out at all." So, that's him in a nut shell. Except any bad report is usually followed by something along the lines of, "But he's soooo cute!" Bronwyn is just awesome. I'm nervous that she's going to be really bored this summer. She absolutely loves school and is definitley going to miss her friends. And I cannot believe that I will have a first grader next year!

Anyway here are some pics of our "usual".