Monday, May 31, 2010

Quick Hello

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Okay, so I am going to make this a short little hello from Austin. We made it safely. AND I AM TIRED. Okay, so tired may not cover it, it is like the upgrade to tired (whatever that may be). But we are here and safe and embracing new adventures. Gigi is here too and took some GREAT pictures of the kids playing in their new home which I can't wait to see (and share :).

Looks like our two neighbors next door have kids the exact same ages as ours so hooray for neighborhood friends. If we can just get Cousins, Avery and Ben here for a visit than we can have a PARTY with the neighborhood.

Anyways, more pictures and updates when the cleaning finally subsides... if it ever does.

Positive interlude: It will cease

Sleep sweet! And send good thoughts for Kelly as he starts his new job tomorrow morning which will be AMAZING. Any job that takes you to Kerby Lane for breakfast your first morning is a winner in my book. And if you don't know what Kerby Lane is than this is all the more reason to come visit, spend the night and let me take you to breakfast... or midnight queso... after we clean my house all day.

Seriously... no more rambling.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Grandiose.

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And yes, I can spell sometimes. Unfortunately, google has no tutorial
on typos. Eek!!!

Sent from my iPhone

On the brink

Well, I had all these grandeous plans to send a nice last email from
our current home... But it appears we have become huge packrats and
the packing/cleaning battle might have upgraded to war. Lucky for
us... We are winning. But because this process has taken so long. Here
I sit. Without cable/Internet blogging from my phone.

Two thoughts for the moment. First, I love google because I now know I
can blog from my phone. Second, it is really difficult to type
grandeous and chase a gabe at the same time.

Big day, folks.

Tomorrow morning the movers arrive. Today is finishing up all the
little things on the master list... Least favorite, saying goodbye.
Hooray for no make-up... That was a wise choice.

So today is bittersweet. And we are really dirty from cleaning. But
tomorrow, well that is something totally new. And we are on the brink...

Think good thoughts for us, we need them.

Sent from my iPhone

Monday, May 24, 2010

The Change-Up

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I have to tell you that I really don't feel that panicked about this packing process... perhaps because I am in denial that it is now moving week- who knows. I'll take it. It seems that we have a pretty good plan for this week and have even made to-do lists for each day before we move... and yes, the lists are for my sanity alone.

The plan we had created seemed quite doable...until tonight.. You see, one member of the family decided to veto the plan and throw in his own little change-up this evening. Tonight when I laid Gabriel down to sleep he really wanted to sleep with this tow mater truck that dances. I informed him that he would have to wait and play with it in the morning. Apparently, this was the wrong answer. About 6 minutes after I walked out of his room, Kelly and I hear this horrifically loud, all-to-telling THUD.

It seems that Gabriel REALLY wanted that truck and took this moment as an opportunity to climb out of his crib for the first time. Now. Please know that we know he is plenty old to be in a big boy bed. It's just that we are moving in 7 days and Molly is sleeping in his new bed. She won't move to her full size bed until we move... so we were trying to hold off one week. Apparently, one week too long for Gabriel.

Kelly and I instantly sprinted to his room and found him doing that horrible... "I am so hurt and about to cry so hard but for right now I am just going to not breathe cry." Those parents out there know what I am talking about. And it is horrible. I pick Gabriel off the hardwoods and his mouth is pouring blood... so much that I don't even notice the HUGE goose egg forming on the top of his head. One purple Popsicle later we see that he has not bitten through his tongue... just taken a little chunk out of it. At this point we see the bump. Apparently, he fell directly on the top of his head from his crib and bit his tongue when he hit the floor. So.... I need you to remember that I work with patients recovering from traumatic brain injury. This is my trigger. The reason for my crazy helmet wearing rules. No WAY was he going to sleep in his crib a second longer.

So yes, tonight was NOT spent packing. It was spent coverting Gabriel's crib to a toddler bed instead... for 6 nights. I made Gabriel stay up an hour an half later to make sure he didn't have a concussion and then woke him up again an hour after sleeping... all I have to say is that he is a HARD sleeper... and luckily, has a very hard skull too. Whew.


He doesn't seem unhappy one bit. I am sure at this point he is just thinking about how awesome it will be to play with his Thomas trains at 3 in the morning.

Oh Gabey, you keep us hoppin'.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ballet Recital

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Today was the day of the big recital! Molly was so excited to have so many people she love come and watch her dance. Well, that and her chance to wear make-up and fancy apparel again. She loved it all! The performance was really cute! They tried this new space for the recital this year and it was not stadium seating which made it near impossible to see unless you darted to the side of the room... which luckily, one VERY smart daddy did to videotape it. Molly was a little in front of the teacher in the wings so she improvised a little on her dancing. She had a blast!

*Don't forget to pause my music on the side...

We were a proud Mommy and Daddy.

Today was a big day for cousins all around. Makenzie also crossed over to a Brownie today which means she had her own ceremony just before. I guess you could say it was a big day for the grandparents too.
Molly was eager to show Granny her first trophy!

These two have a lot to discuss about life on the stage.

Gabriel did miss the recital to play with his cousins and Uncle John! He had so much fun. Had he stayed for the performance he probably would have rushed the stage...seeing how much he cries every time we drop her off at practice. He did rejoin the group for Babes and it seemed that the deep south deliciousness made up for all missed performances. Food heaven.

I see many more dance recitals in our future!

Taste of Addison!

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Well this weekend we have been stuck between two choices: Dive full on into packing or play with friends. In true May form we went with the latter. We like to push things to the limit anyways and packing this far in advance is just silly--- we do still have 8 days. (In reality, we have done a BUNCH of packing...)

Taste of Addison this year was... well, quite frankly it was YUMMY! I mean what's not to love about a festival completely devoted to eating the yummiest of food. I settled for some May Dragon, Melting Pot and this awesome Sangria that Aunt Maxey found... no clue where it came from but I drank it and was yummy.

We just love the city of Addison so much... they sure do have one incredible City Manager. If you didn't get a chance to check it out don't fret! You still have one full day... and I believe that tomorrow is the wine tasting day--- yum.

We had some fun in the sun...




and then cooled off in the fountain.

This year, we were ready for wet and had a change of clothes. See... you learn as you go. Maybe we should learn to pack a little more.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Painting!

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Tonight we have been painting Molly's new bedroom furniture and it is looking soooo cute! I can't wait to share pictures when we are finished! Something about antiquing furniture that just makes me so happy... maybe it is all the rocking out to Bob Schneider while we paint? Or maybe it is just all the paint fumes.

Next, we will move on to Gabe's new furniture. We are doing his room in classic fire trucks and I can't wait for his big boy bedding to get here! Exciting things to come...

Stay tuned!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Rehearsal

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Wow, how far we have come in just 6 months! Molly would have NEVER stood on a stage in a small room full of people if her life depended on it a mere 6 months ago... but today--- she couldn't get enough of the spotlight!

This afternoon, Molly had her rehearsal for her ballet recital this weekend. Nonnie watched Gabey which meant that Molly and I had a date. She was excited to have a Mommy date but WAY more excited to wear make-up. To each their own.

I am so sad that Kelly had to work during the rehearsal--- he has no idea the level of cuteness that is going to take place on Saturday afternoon. I am smiling just thinking about it,

Just take this (which is already way stinkin' cute!)



and multiply it by 14 other little cuties. And yes, there will be video footage... and don't you worry... it will most definitely be making the blog! Perhaps it could make up for my lack of posting?
.
And an even cuter post might be me writing about how Gabriel BEGGED me to put make-up on him too all the way to Nonnie's... sweet Gabe, he wants to be just like his big sister... and secretly I would LOVE to get mascara on those lashes. It would be beautiful. but alas, Molly and I are stuck with the stubby lashes.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Strategy

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I am coming to realize that in this world of parenting and well, even just living in general, so much of your success really depends quite a bit on strategy. Now, I have to say that this kills me a little to say this because I do believe wholeheartedly in spontaneity and fully embrace misguided adventures... but... in the end, my successes are most evident through strategic planning. Sad but true.

Case in point. If you were anywhere within hearing distance to the Medallion Target or Gtarget as we lovingly refer to it... you definitely heard the results of non-planning. Poor Kelly. Probably never a good idea to hear your child screaming through the van door and it still hurt your ears?

Strategy. I still have so much to learn. How lucky am I that I have some true miracle planners for friends?! I love having friends that are smarter than me in ways of life because then I can steal their ideas without having to think too hard. Yes. I am that lazy.

For instance, hair-wash night. Molly LOATHES hair-wash night. DREADS hair-wash night. Starts asking about hair-wash night at breakfast. It is rather sad town and it only escalates throughout the day. Always a battle. Can I please tell you how lucky I am that my husband bathes our children EVERY night? But it is still loud throughout the house and perhaps down the street. No escaping hair-wash night.

Until... wait, what is this Molly? A smile?


My brilliant friend, Tiffany, introduced me to the world of Popsicle bath time. For our house, this only happens on hair-wash nights. Now, molly (and Gabriel) can eat their Popsicles during scrub time. I mean it's not like they're going to get that dirty... GENIUS. And it all goes back to strategy.

So, as of tomorrow morning we will be two weeks away from moving. Wow. That happened fast. I am really making a point right now to focus only on the things that I can control. For those of you that don't know this about me, this is a big struggle for me. When I am tired or stressed I often focus on the details that I can't alter... it consumes me. So instead, I am going to create strategy. Moving strategy. Starting today...

See this...

I packed up one WHOLE closet tonight. I know this might seem trivial but oh no, this is HUGE. This week we will be focusing on minor home improvements, sorting and packing all the closets and drawers. The following week we will be able to focus on packing the bigger things. Not having to live around boxes for the next two weeks? I'll take it... I can just stack them in my packed closets!

And since we technically could still have house showings, etc... everyone wins.

Keep you posted!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Springy Days

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Spring season at the Dallas Arboretum this year did not disappoint. It was marvelous! I have a feeling that we are now bordering the cusp of unbearably hot so it is nice to have springy pictures to look back on...

and sigh...

and remember how cool the shade was...

and how nice it was to eat a picnic lunch with a butterfly

and spiderman...
Oh, the shade...

Life at the arboretum is no one trick pony... there is ALWAYS something new to explore.
The "Mollys" had some quality talk time...
While Gabe brushed the goats' faces. Over and over again. Poor goats.

At least Molly made up for some abuse with feeding them.

Summer, not quite ready for you...

Pictures

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I promise there will be pictures coming today.... don't you worry gparents. I just had to take this moment to let you in on the miracle that is taking place on Solta Drive this morning. It is 8:34 and BOTH my children are still asleep. It seems that maybe they have been running a little too hard as well. While I do feel totally responsible for their exhaustion, for selfish reasons... this morning I am a little thankful for it too. Best and quietest cup of coffee ever.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Have a laugh...

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Okay, it is midnight and we just got back home from Austin about 45 minutes ago and yes, while our bodies are EXHAUSTED, we can finally relax a little more because... we just might have found the best house ever!! Well, best house for us that is! Technically the application is still in the works and because I really don't want to jinx it , there will be more details on that to come VERY soon...once it is finalized officially and my brain is a little more awake.

But for now, I am going to leave you with a GREAT laugh. Okay, well I think this just might be the funniest thing EVER. My brother's girlfriend sent this to me and this is exactly how we feel about our sweet wheels. On each road trip, my love for Olive only grows. This trip most definitely didn't disappoint.

Click the link!: (You won't be sorry!)

Swagger Wagon

Sleep sweet!