Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays with their families. The kids and I came to San Antonio for a few days to visit my family. Then Monday, we're off to the Schock's house for Christmas Eve (day). We will all be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning together. My family will come up Christmas day or the following weekend to celebrate with us too. Brian and I will also be working hard on the home projects we've got on the to-do list! Anyway, I was late getting my pics out, and we still haven't made it in for our family portraits, so if you didn't get my photo card through snail mail, here it is... Happy Holidays!

Has it been THAT long since I posted?

Well, it HAS been a busy year, but I will try to do better keeping everyone posted with the blog. I'll probably add feedblitz to it too so you can sign up to get an e-mail anytime we update the blog. I am probably better at updating my scrap blog, but I've even been neglecting that lately. So let's catch up...
November was uneventful really. We had Thanksgiving at the Schock house and enjoyed spending time with the family. Then we blink and its December already. I tried to get most of the kids shopping done early but still find myself picking up "a little something" here and there. The adults in the family are much harder to shop for and it's to the point where I'd much rather skip gifts and just do gifts for the kids. Right now, I don't feel like the stress of holiday shopping is worth it. Ok, so there's my BAM HUMBUG!
That said, I am VERY excited for our kids this year. Jaxon has been reading on his own quite a lot lately and was reading on a website about the North Pole. He was telling me that it's much too cold there... will Santa be ok? Maybe he could move to Round Rock. Ha ha! He's too smart for his own good. Marley is scared to death of Santa (aka "Ho Ho") We have a blow-up Santa in the yard and even when it's deflated, she wants me to carry her to and from the car (you know, in case it pops up and comes after her)... what a cutie! They are sure to be adequately spoiled this year.
We are also working on some home projects for the holidays. We are planning on repainting and switching the kids rooms. Jaxon has much bigger furniture and his bedroom suite would fiot better in the other room, but since it was lilac when we moved in, we just stuck Marley in there automatically. They are excited and we hope to have the project done by the time we go back to school. We let them pick out the colors even (brave I know): Marley's room will be light purple (Behr Disney's One Enchanted Evening) and Jaxon's room will be a slate blue (Behr's Retro Colonial Blue). Fingers crossed they come out ok! We are also planning on replacing the carpet up the stairs, in the upstairs living and all bedroom with laminate. We've talked about it for awhile and think we're finally decided on getting rid of the carpet once and for all.
Anyway, I'll post again soon... no really, I will! S

A weekend without the kids... woo hoo! :)

I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful family. I have 2 wonderful children and they are loved by so many. They have a close relationship with both sets of grandparents and their one and only aunt. So my mom called last weekend to ask if she could have the kids this weekend... um, no, we're busy. ARE YOU KIDDING?!? You can have them anytime you want. And kids, "Do you want to go to Grandma B's house?" They yell "YAY!" before I can even finish my sentence. :)
So last night after I dropped off the kids at the usual half-way point, I met Brian and a couple of his friends for drinks. We ended up hitting 2 spots for drinks and then headed home. It was great when you don't have to worry about when you get home or having little ones ready to get up at the crack of dawn. :)
Plus I was getting bored and don't want to take my hair shorter than the angled bob I've already got, so I went from blonde to auburn. If anyone sees us out without the kids this weekend, they may think Brian has a girlfriend or something! Ha ha ha!
Anyway, hoping to get some cleaning done around the house, some scrapping and maybe some shopping as well as a few more "dates!"

October...

I really can't believe its been a month since my last post. Here's the "nutshell" version of the past month.

Brian had a good 30th birthday- uneventful, but good. He got rid of his truck... you know, the brand new one he's had for 6 months... and got a new Accord loaded out. To say he's spoiled may be an understatement! :) He loves it though, and I feel better driving it if I have to... the gas money will surely add up as well. But, looking back at Brian's pattern of car buying, good gas prices cause Brian to turn his attention to trucks. Then Brian buys a truck and the gas prices go up 2 weeks later. So if gas prices go down (we'll say hallelujah) it's all because Brian sold his truck and you can thank him. :)

The kids have had overnight stays with both sets of grandparents giving us some time alone to relax, get things done around the house, and go on dinner dates without them kids (as much as I love them, its nice to not be mom for a day or two.)

Marley had her second birthday and we had a small family party at the house. She had a princess cake, which looked great, but the food coloring they used on the cupcakes surrounding the small cake tasted bitter (which as you can imagine made for some hilarious pictures!) Marley was having a blast, but when we put on her tiara and started to sing happy birthday, she started to cry! And I thought she'd be used to being the center of attention! Ha ha!

She made out like a bandit (as usual) with tons of new clothes, 2 new baby dolls with accessories, a baby doll stroller, light-up princess shoes (they have a heel on them and she wears them like a pro!) Her "big gift" was a pink and purple trike and she likes it, but is still a little short when it comes to pedaling. She has been taking care of her "babies" since the moment she opened them. I think it's so interesting the way little girls just take to that.

Anyway, getting sleepy and so I'll turn off my computer (even though I really wanted to scrap tonight) but I'll try harder to keep the blog updated and current so you don't get these quick little entries. S

September...

Well I can't believe how fast time seems to fly! Here's what's been happening since my last post... not much! :) Ha ha!

School is off to a good start. My PPCD lead e-mailed today and said the local newspaper is coming by to do a story on PPCD/TWC and she wants them to come and highlight our PPCD/TWC program. So fingers crossed I have a good hair day when they come! LOL! I'm actually very excited to spread the word about our program and hope that this will be a good way to do that.

I just returned today from the 3 day state conference on Autism that was being held in Corpus Christi. I'm part of the Region XIII PPCD Leadership Council, so they paid for our registration, the rooms, mileage and meals. I probably would have gone anyway, but going for free is better! :) I ended up rooming with a friend who taught PPCD and is now in a district support role. We had fun (except for a big headache episode on Friday afternoon - thank goodness for Excedrin!)

It was a great conference and I was so excited to see so many families there in addition to the professionals. It was really moving. Anyway, I also started thinking about ways to raise money for Autism research and thought I could make items with the "puzzle piece" to sell at our Greater Austin Walk for Autism and then donate the proceeds to Autism Speaks. Trying to think of what I could make that folks may want (like glass bead magents, car decals, etc.) That would be a good way to "use my talents for good" (you know rather than evil like usual, ha ha).

Brian flew with his friend Jason to Norman, OK to see OU (Boo Sooners!) play Miami. Jason's apparently a huge Miami fan and Brian just loves football regardless of who is playing, and since his birthday is coming up, it was his little present to himself. He's having a good time and will be back tomorrow.

So, my mother-in-law's birthday was today, Brian's is the 12th, and Marley's is the 28th... guess I've got some shopping to do!

Busy August update!

Sorry its been awhile since my last post... here's what been going on since my last entry.

Jaxon had his 4 year old well check and is STILL off the growth charts for height. He's 44.5" tall and weighs 40 lbs. and 8 oz.(which is in the 75-90th%) He's just one tall kid! He did well with his shots and everything else is right on target.

We went to Port Aransas with my parents and sister from July 27th-30th and had a blast. A tropical storm has supposed to hit before we got there, but we had great weather the whole trip. Click my digiscrap blog on the left corner to see some pictures.

Just after our return from the coast, I got all 4 of my wisdon teeth out. Only one on the bottom was encased in bone, so it hurt and is still a bit sore now, but the rest are fine. Apparently it takes longer to heal as an "older patient"... yes, at 29, I'm considered an "older patient" for wisdom teeth removal.

Susan, my friend and speech pathologist for our school, worked with me on a "buddy group" for some of our students and Jaxon to participate in to continue working on social skills, playing and to just have fun together this summer. It was great and came to an end the first week if August. The moms in the group told me about this cool sprinkler park nearby, so we took Jaxon and Marley and the others out there and they had fun (Jaxon and Marley had to warm-up, and then Jaxon had to remember not to wander, but it was fun).

Last weekend (which coincidentally was the last weekend before I had to go back to work), we dropped off the kids at my parents house. They stayed one night and then I came down to spend one more night there with them. They just love hanging out with their grandparents!

This week, I went back to work which was both happy and sad for me. I was ready to be back for sure, but I'll miss seeing Marley during the day. Since Jaxon is in my class, I don't get the chance to miss him! Ha ha!

I've also been working on my digiscrap stuff, particularly making LOs for the DigiTreats Creative Team. Check us out on my digiscrap blog where there are links to the DigiTreats blog and store. I have been posting in a few galleries too, but I post all my LOs here too, so you don't really need to go there unless you want to see what other folks are doing too. Enjoy!

Jaxon is 4!!!

Well, it's Jaxon's fourth birthday today and I can hardly believe it. Part of me almost feels sad as he gets older... its such a great age... but since we can't freeze time, we move on.

It was a GREAT day. We went to pick up the cake at the local bakery - it was Spiderman this year. Then we headed to the party at one of these big places full of bounce houses, slides and inflatable obstacle courses. It had just started to rain when the party was scheduled to start at 10:30, but it didn't keep any of the expected guests away. All of the kids had a great time running around, getting lost in the mazes of inflatables, red faced and sweaty. Then we all went to the "yellow party room" for pizza, cake and the opening of presents. Soon after, we left for home and opened presents from the family (we had planned on opening at home until someone voiced their concern about not seeing the presents opened).
Jaxon got TONS of fantastic toys as well - honestly too many to mention - and was beyond thrilled. It was a fantastic day for him.

July update...

In addition to Jaxon's wonderful fourth birthday, we had a wonderful fourth of July (actually the celebration we attended was on the third). Brian and Jaxon went to meet up with Rick who was playing golf. Jax got to ride in the cart and watch them play while Brian taught him about the "rules" and golf etiquette. Jaxon was so well behaved on the course, that another player came up to compliment him and gave him a golf ball. He was SO thrilled with the experience that the rest of the night all he wanted to do was play golf. Marley, Carol and I joined up with them at the golf club where there were live bands playing, vendor booths and fireworks displays. It was raining on and off, so the course was a mess, and we got soaked, but it was still fun and the kids were great. Jaxon was worried about the fireworks being too loud (as they were the year before) so we bought earplugs like they use at gun ranges. It wasn't enough, as he was still a bit put off by the noise, so I had him sit in my lap and I covered his ears and then he could enjoy watching them. Marley seemed as thought she'd seen them a million times before with no worries... they are so different sometimes.
I also began a new hobby... or I guess I should say I have a new obsession. I decided with all the time I'd have on my hands that I wanted to teach myself something new. I read about Photoshop Elements and decided to try it out. Its only been about a month since I started using PSE to make digital scrapbook pages. I've yet to print any out, but that is my plan and I am also going back to do my kids' baby books. I'm learning new things each day and really enjoy it, but I still have much to learn. Even so, I'm adding a link to the blog where I'll post my digiscrap layouts so you can see me slowly progress to being "competent!" I hope you'll enjoy the pages like I do.

Jaxon's Swim Lessons

Jaxon's swim lessons started this week and they are going great! He did such a good job holding his breath out of the water that he was in the first group sent into the water.

The other two boys he was with have siblings in the swim league and they were way ahead of him... but the thing like best about Nitro Swim is that they work in stations independent of the class, so everyone works at their own pace... and they were able to go ahead while he continued working on skill station 1.

When you finish a station, you get to go hit the gong, which makes it even more fun! He was trying to negotiate with the girl coach and wasn't quite ready to move on, so Coach Mike (the owner)took his group. He's a bit more firm and has a commanding presence, and Jax responded to him immediately. He only cried once and that was when it was time to leave! :)

Here is a pic of him at his first lesson with Megan.

Our new baby...

Ok, so its furry and has 4 legs, but its the closest thing to a baby that we'll be having anymore! It's "2 and through" for us! :) Brian and I started talking about getting a friend for Bevo a long time ago. We kept going back and forth with the idea for a few reasons.

We wanted to have a friend for Bevo (since she's always taking "under-the-fence adventures" to play with the golden retriever next door.) BUT we felt that Bevo was a very good and balanced dog with some training under her belt. We didn't want to have to start over again if we brought a new dog into the house. We also wanted to be sure we could trust a new dog around the kids as Bevo has full access to them. We wanted a dog that would enjoy playing with Bevo, but also know that her "people" were in charge. Most importantly, we wanted another dog that would be a companion like Bevo...

And we think we've found one! After many e-mails to a fantastic rescue group called Austin Dog Alliance, we found Jett. I had seen a dog on their website that looked a lot like Bevo and wanted to adopt him, but someone else had already been approved and was about to take him home. So then I saw two other dogs that Brian and I thought were cute, but the great folks there said that they'd be too high energy and may not work well with our family. The fact that they worked so hard to find the RIGHT homes for the dogs made me trust them completely. So I wrote and asked which dogs may be a good match for us and they suggested an 8 month old purebred black labrador named Jett (formerly with 1 t but Brian thinks 2 t's are cooler!)

We went out to meet her and when we first arrived, she was very nervous, barked a little and tried to hide. The great lady who was fostering her at her training facility visited with her to get her to calm down. Then I got to meet her, Brian, Jaxon and Marley...once she figured out I was ok, the rest of "my pack" got easier and easier to introduce. We spent almost 2 hours out there letting the dogs get to know each other. We were happy to see that Jett had training (and actually has better training than Bevo). The folks at Southern Star Ranch are serious trainers who not only took lots of time to be sure the introduction went well, but REALLY know their stuff and we may be back to visit them very soon. By the time we left, Jaxon was walking Jett around by the leash!

Once we got home, we spent some time in the yard. Jett even got to meet our next-door neighbors. When we went inside, Bevo showed a little bit of the "little dog syndrome" and seems to be trying to establish her dominance, but that's to be expected as she's always been an only dog. Today, they're both happily chewing kongs and laying at my feet. They're both on leash just in case, but we haven't needed to correct them, so we're optimistic that this is a good match for us.

We're so glad to have found a friend for Bevo and a new GREAT dog for our family too!

April 2007...

Well long time no post, but for good reason... first our laptop went completely black. Its only a little over a year old, just out of warranty, and the part that it needs, can't be sold separately so our laptop would basically be a $1200 paper weight! Then, while Jaxon was playing on the computer (his new favorite thing to do) it froze, got stuck on task manager and then went off. Now on start-up it says "Cannot locate hard drive" Eeek! Thank goodness I had backed up all of my digital pictures to the my book I got for Christmas or ALL of my photos may have been wiped out. We're still working on getting that fixed and meanwhile have a new laptop.

The kids are doing great - Jaxon is doing a fantastic job at school. He gets along with the other kids and is more advanced than some of the other peers in academics as far as letters, numbers, counting objects, etc. But he is behind a bit in writing (at least behind the girl peers - we all know they talk and write sooner though so no worries.) Marley is amazing! She is SUCH a talker already and went from only sating "dad" a few months ago to saying just about anything you say (she says "zja-zja" for Jaxon but most everything else sounds like the "real words.")

Bevo completed her training and has done very well. I want to be sure to continue her "training career" as she seems to enjoy and parctice makes perfect! She is still being Houdini - crawling under the fence as soon as we leave for work to play with the next-door neighbor's golden retriever Amber. We're hoping to work on that as it can get pretty muddy... but I can't blame her for being lonely.

My sister's divorce is hopefully going to be final at the end of the month as well. Its going to be a big relief for her and our family so fingers crossed that it ends as peacefully as possible. My birthday is this month too and probably will be uneventful, but we hope to get out and celebrate somehow! :) S

December update...

Well its December already and I can't believe it. The weather was 80 degrees around Thanksgiving, which doesn't exactly put you in the holiday spirit, but it has finally started to cool down in Texas. We've even had a few light freezes in the evenings. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Schocks house with Grandma Schock and Aunt Pam was in from Arizona as well. Later that weekend, I took the kids down to San Antonio just for an overnight visit, but we had a good time.

I got one of my Christmas presents early...a Toyota Sienna XLE minivan. I know, I know... you're thinking "My God Stephanie! You WANTED a minivan?!?" But after fighting the idea for so long, we've determined that its a total lifesaver with 2 young kids. It has all the bells and whistles -power doors and liftgate, power sunroof, DVD, leather- so if the "family van" idea still makes you sick, you can appreciate that, at least, we have the "pimped out" version! Ha ha!

Marley has been walking around like she owns the place after determining that she can get her hands on way more "stuff" if she walks. :) Jaxon and Marley have both been playing very well together and keeping each other entertained as well. Its pretty fun to watch them. He'll even act like a teacher and give her choices "Marley, do you want you cup? Yes or no?" and then after watching her reaction, either say "yes" and give her the cup, or "no" and put it on the table. It's too funny. Before long, she'll be keeping him in check as she appears to have a little Diva personality (who did she get that from? You decide!)

I've reconnected with my sister as well over the past few months. I really enjoy getting to talk to her on the phone again as we now talk almost daily. It's amazing how easy it is to become so busy in your own life that you seem to lose contact. Anyway, she can't wait for Christmas and is joining the grandparents in the complete and total spoiling of my children (who she calls her "angels.")

We'll be spending Christmas with Aunt Lindsay and my family and either Christmas Eve or Christmas afternoon with the Schocks. Somewhere in between we'll have time for presents at our house as well as Santa and all of the relatives will be loading the kids up again this year. It should be a great holiday! Now... got to start thinking about the stuff we can get rid of to make room for all of the new toys... Humbug...
SS

October/November...

I have been so busy that I haven't really kept up with the blog...sorry! Ok... let's pick up where we left off.

Bevo has a little notch in her ear but nothing too noticeable after her surgery. She has recently taken to crawling under the fence after we leave for work to play with the golden retriever next door! Thankful, my neighbor is wonderful and doesn't mind the dogs playing together in her backyard, but I think we may have a mud problem if it rains! :)

Marley's doing great. She finally took to one particular sippy cup, and since she's gotten the hang of it, she'll drink out of any sippy we give her. She has taken up to 6 steps at a time, but usually stops and slowly lowers herself to the ground so she can crawl instead! She can walk, she just chooses to crawl because she can do it faster I think. Her first birthday was great. We just had family over for cake and socializing. She got way too much in the way of gifts and clothing (as usual) but at least now she's got her winter wardrobe completely covered. Of course, it's now November and still 85, so hopefully she'll have a chance to wear those cute cool weather clothes soon!

Jaxon is still enjoying school, but testing a bit more. My assistants have been great about stepping in when they see him taking advantage of the situation. He is more whiny when I am trying to deal with a problem he may be having and I'm sure its because I'm mom. Its kind of a hard balance for me too... sometimes I see myself letting him get away with the whining when I shouldn't... so for now, I have to keep relying on Kendal and Christy for discipline when it comes to Jaxon. Its probably better that way too because then everyone will know the rules apply to him just like everyone else, know what I mean?

Halloween- Jaxon and I went trick-or-treating with our neighbor Shari and her daughter Megan. Marley was along for the ride in her stroller while the husbands visited in the driveway with some cold brew and candy to hand out. Jaxon went as a dinosaur with flashing shoes and necklace and Megan wore a brightly colored "nice witch" costume with a cat on the front (she insisted she was a cat, but that doesn't do her adorable costume justice.) They had an absolute blast. Jaxon as low at first, but was soon racing with Megan up to each door and knocking. They'd sometimes start to knock and then tell the other one, "That's enough..." :) At one point, Jaxon looked at Megan and asked "Did you get a haircut?" It totally cracked me up! Once they knocked on a door that hadn't been totally closed and proceeded to walk in! At every door, Megan said she was a cat and demonstrated how her cat basket meowed and then Jaxon would chime in "I'm a dinosaur...Roooaaaar!" It was great fun. The next day when we got home from school Jaxon said "I get me costume on and then we'll go trick-or-treat with Megan!" If only it came more than once a year...

Marley's daycare provider called me last night to let me know she was ill and wouldn't be able to watch her so I tried to call in to get a sub. As luck would have it, I woke up sick as a dog today, so the timing couldn't have been better. I would not have made it today. That said, my head is throbbing...I'm hoping Marley will nap for me so I can get some rest too... I'll try my best to stay on top of the posts... :) S

September update...

This month absolutely FLEW by! Let's see... what happened this month...

Brian had a pretty uneventful 29th birthday. The concert we were going to see that evening was postponed and has yet to be rescheduled, so we just kind of hung out at home that night. Brian did get the Weber grill he has been wanting though, so at least he fared well in the gift department!

Bevo had to have surgery to remove a growth from her ear. She has had her head bandaged up for over a week and has to wear an e-collar and the new bandage for another day or two. The poor dog! She's dying to get that silly e-collar off. First, she'd look at us sadly, like "Take this off of me!" Then she was just plain MAD about it and trying to tear it off. Now she's not too bothered by it,but looks a little downtrodden. I'm hoping when we take the bandages off tomorrow that her ear won't have a big notch in it were he had to remove the spot.

Jaxon and I are both enjoying school. He has done a great job distinguishing between when I'm "teacher" and when I'm "mama." He always calls me mama of course, but he has been great about letting me do my job without interference. I was worried he may have a hard time "sharing" me with the other kids, but he hasn't. It has worked out even better than I could have imagined. :) He has several friends in class and really enjoys school. Its very cool for me to hear from a parent's perspective some of the things he talks about when we get home, the things hes learning, and the songs he loves to sing!

Marley turns 1 at the end of the month and I can hardly believe it. She stands no without holding on, but still no walking yet. She likes to eat "real" food, but will have nothing to do with drinking out of a sippy cup. I'm not sure what we're doing for her birthday yet, but I put together a slideshow for her first year to share at her party. You can click below to see it (but its about 9 minutes or so)... it has lots of cute pics, and several funny ones that I couldn't bear to leave out! :)

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Jaxon's First Week in My Classroom

I haven't had a chance to post lately because we're back to work, but wanted to share Jaxon's first week in my classroom. He started as one of the 6 staff children/"typical peers" in my special ed preschool class. I have 2 assistants as well, so there are other "teachers" in the room, but I was kind of worried how he'd do and if he'd be able to really distinguish between whats ok at home and whats ok at school.

I'm so proud of him! He's done great! He's only done that whiny "Mama!" thing once this week and my asst. was there to step in. He has figured out that everyone else has to call me Ms.Schock and when I wouldn't call on him to answer today, he calls out "Ms. SCHOCK!?!" Ha ha! He even called me "Mama Schock" when he was talking to a friend about me!

Every morning he asks "Mama... can we go to big school today?" I am absolutely loving it! My assistants say I work too hard to be sure I'm not favoring him, so today I snuck a few kisses since everyone gets hugs... he doesn't seem to mind either way! I absolutely love having him with me all day (of course I still have to pay $400 a month to pay for my 2nd assistant like everybody else, but its worth it!)

July...

I can hardly believe our little boy is 3 years old now! Jaxon always used to say "I 2. I be 3 in July." It took all day to get him to realize it WAS July and he is 3 now. :) We had just a small birthday party at the house for him. Everything was Superman - cake, balloons, decorations - he LOVES Superman and never tires of it! Both sets of grandparents came as well as Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Brent, Great Grandma Schock and the neighbors: Bryan, Shari and Megan. He had a BLAST opening presents (he got too many of course, but what's new?) He played on the playscape and ran outside in the sprinklers with Megan at the end of the party. Needless to say, he slept GREAT that night!

Marley had her 9 month well check (even though its more like 9.5 months because of their "scheduling conflict.") She is back on her growth curve and so they are not worried about anything at this point. She's 17 lbs.15 oz. (in the 25th %,) 27 3/4 inches tall (50%) and her head is 45 cm (75%.) So basically she's average height but pretty skinny with a pretty big head! Ha ha! Anyway, she's doing great and keeps getting better. Her reflux seems to have subsided, she started taking an interest in food, she's "talking" more, getting teeth and scooting around by any means necessary! She's dying to catch up with her big brother, so maybe she'll be walking soon? We'll see...

Summer's here and quickly winding down...

We've really had our ups and downs this summer. The summer started out great- just hanging out at the house with the kids mostly. I was really enjoying being home but it was a BIG adjustment too. We had Jaxon in gymnastics through June and then stopped due to scheduling conflicts. We also have Bevo doing puppy training and look forward to doing basic obedience as well when she gets a little older. That was the fun stuff...

The summer started to take a turn for the worse in June. My grandmother passed away in mid-June at the age of 95. We knew it was coming, and thankfully she went peacefully, but it was still very difficult.

Brian and I were really hoping to get away for a vacation the last week in June, but because my grandma was ill, we didn't think my mom would be available to watch the kids and decided to just stay home during vacation. As it turned out, my mom was able to watch the kids during our vacation week, but we only had a few days to plan one. We didn't have passports and wouldn't be able to get them in time, so after an all-day search online, we ended up booking a trip to Las Vegas. We hadn't been in about 4 years, so it was neat to see all of the changes they've made since our last trip. The kids and Bevo stayed with my parents for a few days and Brian's parents that weekend until we returned. ALL were spoiled! :)

Soon after our return, our AC went out! As you know, Texas in July without AC is miserable! We lasted one night and by the following evening, I took the kids back to grandma's and Brian crashed on a friend's couch so he could still be close to work. It took the home warranty's AC repair shop 6 days to fix it!!! Argh! Meanwhile, I had a week long workshop in Austin and Brian had to work as well, so we ended up having to leave the kids and spend 2 nights in a hotel. We Are so glad to be back home! :)

Our new addition!

Well, we said we were done having kids, but maybe not. Now that I have your attention... our new addition is an adorable puppy! (And we ARE done having kids by the way!)

After talking about it for a few weeks, we decided we wanted another dog. We have been checking out the shelters for a few weeks and couldn't find any adult dogs that would work (we found a great mix that was good with the kids and we really loved, but she couldn't handle other animals.) So, this past weekend, at one adoption site I saw a puppy I liked after Brian had walked in to get the kids into the cart. I pet her and then went into the store to shop. Brian saw her as we drove off and mentioned that he didn't see her outside.

We went to 3 shelters that afternoon and met a few dogs, but none that would fit in our family. So late that afternoon, we went back to the Petco adoption site and the 3 puppies were still there. I found the one I liked, got her out to meet us and we decided that since I'd be home this summer, I probably have time for a puppy after all. :) So we brought her home and she's just a doll! She is very low-key for a puppy and has many "Brina-like" qualities. She has been riding around in the car with us, playing in the yard and doesn't bother our other pets. We're working on crate training and potty training as she's only 10 weeks, but so far so good.

After going through many names, we decided to let Jaxon pick... so we have a lovely little GIRL dog named BEVO! Jaxon loves to yell "Hook 'em Horns!" so it fits I guess!
:) Just one more addition to be sure our "crazy lives" stay crazy! S

Oh my, its May!

I feel like the past few months have just flown by! Let's see... what's new around here... a huge storm with golf ball sized hail damaged both of our cars and totaled our roof. Thank goodness for insurance, but we still have to get the deductible together and schedule the cars and reroof. Sounds like fun I know!

Marley is really getting around lately. Still no "real" crawl, but she "commando crawls" and rolls all over the place and is fast too! She has an appointment at Children's Hospital next week where we hope to get to the bottom of this reflux problem. Fingers crossed it goes well...

Jaxon's time at daycare is coming to an end and while I'm looking forward to having the summer home with the kids, I know he'll miss it. He'll miss all of his friends and the activities they do at school. We're continuing gymnastics this summer, but have to get a schedule going to keep him busy. I was planning on soccer too, but since for his age its a parent participation class, I can't enroll him (soccer with a baby strapped to my chest sounds like fun, but I should probably pass!)

We lost our "sweet mama dog" Brina at the end of April to lymphoma. After 7 years with us, she was still trying to put a smile on our faces up until the end. We had just found out about possible treatments, when she suddenly had trouble walking and collapsed in the yard. It happened so fast. Brian had to carry her back into the house and called the vet. He stayed home with her all day and had to take her in that evening to be put down. We all cried for days about it, but know it was best as she was suffering.

Brina and hail damage aside, we have been doing well. Jaxon continues to amaze me as he is the best big brother we could have asked for. Marley adores him as well and I think she'll be scrambling to keep up with him before we know it. Looking forward to a nice summer with the kids and a nice vacation for just me and Brian too! We'll keep you posted (at least I'll try to post more often!) S

March Madness!!!

Well...not really! In fact, things are finally calming down around here.

Marley has really started to let her "princess side" rest and is much more laid back lately. Her reflux is better (still a spitter, but no prescription meds anymore.) She delights in sitting up and looking around, visiting family and friends and rolling all the way across the room. She has been cooing for quite awhile, but on Monday I noticed she finally started to really babble "dada." She made the move into her own bed and into her own room over Spring Break and is doing great with the move. She has been sleeping every night from 8:00 until about 3:00 am, but after a night nurse, she quickly goes back to sleep.

Jaxon has been growing leaps and bounds again too. We enjoyed spending a good part of Spring Break at grandma's house in San Antonio while Brian was on a fishing trip. We went to a drive-through Wildlife Ranch and every antelope, elk, etc. was "a Rudolph!!!" (Yes, I know its March, but Jaxon is obsessed with the old claymation Burl Ives Rudolph movie! Ha ha!) He also thought it was quite funny when the ostrich bypassed the food I'd thrown down and instead decided to bop his head around in my car. He loved getting to sit on our laps (actually crawl back and forth to mom and grandma's laps) in the front seat too.

Spring time fun is on its way too. Jaxon begs to go to the park in our neighborhood. We have only gone to the little one and I'm sure once he sees the big one, it'll be even harder to get him to leave! Knowing how much he loves the park, Grandma and grandpa ordered a big playscape for our backyard. It's going to be installed as soon I hear back from our HOA and I know we'll be spending even more time in the backyard once its here. Jaxon went for a trial gymnastics class this week and I think we'll get him started with that now and maybe do another sport in the summer. His low muscle tone and coordination need work and gymnastics would be a fun way to "work!" He really enjoyed it since its a mom and tot class, I'm getting an hour's worth of exercise too.

I'll try to keep you posted with our crazy lives! :) S