Week 6

I found this rather entertaining and very true.

http://3dpregnancy.parentsconnect.com/calendar/6-weeks-pregnant.html

While you won't be able to find out the gender of your baby for several more weeks, the version you'll give birth to is being determined right now. Of course, your mother-in-law already knows it'll be a boy. And your sister is sure that it's a girl. And the medical expert that is your 5-year-old nephew says it's absolutely a boy (and if it's a girl, he doesn't want anything to do with it). Isn't it wonderful how clairvoyant people are?

Wondering what's up with your body, your baby and your life this week?

What You're Thinking: "If I put my head in my hands and stare down at my desk, it'll look like I'm working really hard and nobody will know I'm actually sleeping."

*(This has definitely gone through my head several times! Too bad that the 19 kids in my class watch my every move!)

Your Body
You may be feeling super-tired or nauseous (or super-tired and nauseous-lucky you!) and your boobs are most likely killing you. *(Definitely killing me!) This is due to the myriad of hormones raging through your body at levels rivaling a teenage boy's.

If you can't stay awake for the second half of Grey's Anatomy, blame it on the baby. Extreme exhaustion is often one of the first signs of pregnancy, and while your body will probably regain some of its strength by the time you enter your second trimester, you might find yourself nodding off during Dr. McDreamy's love scenes ... or worse, yours!

Your Baby
This week starts a period of rapid cellular development for your baby-to-be, who looks like a mini tadpole, with a tiny head and tail. His or her eyes, ears and mouth have begun to form (though they're a little more Discovery Channel "creatures of the sea" documentary than Gerber Baby at this point).

Other exciting milestones include:

Your baby's heart is now beating to a regular beat, although it's still too faint to hear.

His or her arm buds are just beginning to, well, bud. They look like teensy swollen bumps at this point. In a few days, they'll resemble itsy-bitsy flippers.

Your baby has grown to ⅛ inch long-about the size of one of the chocolate sprinkles on your last cupcake (and your last ice cream cone, and your last sundae and your last giant cookie ... maybe there is something to those rumors about pregnancy cravings!).

*(No lie about the sweets. The "Double Doozie" I had on Monday probably wasn't a good idea, but the baby wanted it! J)

On another note, I had my belly touched for the first time by a co-worker today. How annoying! She's a good friend of mine, so it really didn't bother me. I just told her that it's just the fat that was there before! For all of the women out there...if I have ever touched your belly before you started to show, I'm so sorry!

Ode to My Little Sister on Her Birthday (tomorrow)!

Where do I even begin? We've loved and hated each other our entire lives, but that's what being a sibling is all about. Here are just a few things that I recall that make me laugh so hard I could cry and other memories that just stick out in my mind:

~You had a few nicknames that crack me up to this day….Dingy Spice and Tina Turner ring a bell?

~Playing Uno Attack at Mamo's and saying you were “sitting on threads and needles!” Ouch! Bet those threads really hurt!

~Walking into the Bocktoberfest and hearing a “Frank” Williams song being played.

~When Jaace was a baby, I threw a plastic strainer at you and hit him. He got a bloody nose all over the carpet, but you agreed to lie to Mom with me and said he did it himself.

~Our bicycle crash. I can't remember who was the cause of it. I was passing you or vice versa. One front tire and one back tire interlocked and down we went. You ended up with a fractured arm and blood everywhere. I was fine. Luckily, Dad's fatherly instincts kicked in and he rescued us. I have no idea what I would have done with you!

~You were always the runner of the family. Me, I only ran when I ABSOLUTELY had to. On our way from Mamo's to CCD one night, a large black dog started chasing us. I was behind you, yelling at you to run. Something came over me and I started running REALLY fast and blew past you as the dog was at your heels. Sorry for not being a very good big sister and staying behind you.

~At my bachelorette party, you took care of me and kept me from getting kicked out of Scooter's when I spilled my EXTREMELY large “jug” of trash can punch on the wood floors. You also kept putting my crown and veil back on my head when I would dance and it would fall off. You also let me pass out on you when we were coming back home.

~You and Jamie helped me up the stairs when I had a “spiker” stuck in my foot.

~I crack up at our wedding video every time we watch it. You caught the bouquet and we had a hilarious celebration afterwards. Instead of paying attention to Nick and I, you watched Thomas throughout the entire ceremony! I forgive you for that since he's now you're man and hopeful husband.

~Pottery Barn. Need I say more? One thing I miss the most about living with you in San Marcos was our DAILY trip to Pottery Barn. After all of our shopping, we'd convince ourselves that Dad would probably want us to go out to eat….his treat, as usual. This went on for quite some time. I'm sure he's glad that we are not living in the same town anymore.

Well, Jilly, this is all I can write due to the lack of time. Thank you for being an awesome little sister. You will always be “our little ray of sunshine!” Have a wonderful 24th birthday (tomorrow)! Love ya!

The belly

Last night I was reading Nick a book in bed that I bought the baby on Monday. It's called "The Night That You Were Born." I fell in love with it and can't wait to read it everyday to our baby. As we lay in bed we noticed how my lower abdomen is pooching (more than normal) but a rounded pooch. The time is already flying by to quickly.
One of my friends called me on and said she had a dream that we were having twins. She woke up and then had a nightmare. We had a set of one year old twins and were pregnant with another set of twins. Ahhh!

Ode to My Husband on His Birthday!

I can hardly remember the days that you weren't in my life. It's as if we've known each other forever. You do so many things that make me happy every single day. Here are a few things that make me smile:

~Your good night and good morning snuggles and kisses make me warm inside.

~You tell me you love me over and over and over again.

~You tell me how beautiful I am every chance you get.

~You tell “Our Munchkin” that you love “him.” ;)

~When I had morning sickness, you held my hair!

~I drag you around shopping, and you hold the bags.

~Whenever my tummy hurts, you always know ice cream makes it better!

~You tell me “No” when I want something, but you always end up letting me have it!

~When we planned our wedding, you were wonderful, helpful, and supportive. You continue to tell me what a great job I did.

~You plan surprise weekends to San Marcos, plays, shopping, etc.

~You switched jobs because it wasn't fitting our lifestyle and I wasn't getting enough of you.

~You love my family and want to be around them as much as I do.

~You MAKE me drive your tractors and nothing good ever comes out of it. Either I nearly run you over, get them “stuck,” or do the gears wrong. You know not to yell at me or I will get off. It's always a mistake to ask me, but I think you do it just to get a good laugh.

~Same goes with cows…I run them into an open cotton field and you continue to ask for my help.

~You saved my life when we went scuba-diving in St. Lucia. I was so scared because we were with the “pros.” Thank God you knew to turn on the oxygen tank before I jumped in!

~Even though you'd rather eat somewhere else, you are ok with my weekly (or more) trips to Los Cucos.

~When we found out we were going to have a baby you laughed with me and hugged me.

~After we told your parents they were going to be grandparents, you told me that you were ready for this baby to come out immediately.

~You call my parents “Mom and Pop.”

The list goes on and on, but I only had a few minutes. Thank you for making my life beautiful. You are a wonderful, wonderful person and best of all, you're all mine. I hope you have a wonderful birthday, my love!

Love,

Jen and baby

One Down...

Our first appointment was a little nerve-racking. It all started on the way to Houston. We were early until we got to Sugar Land and the traffic was stopped due to a wreck. We sat there for about 30 minutes….and I was stressing! How terrible it will look to be late to our 1st appointment? Traffic finally starts moving (slowly) at about 1:00. Our appointment was at 1:30 in the Medical Center. We were next to Memorial Hermann at 1:30. I called the hospital to let them know we would be running late and they were very nice about it. We finally got to Texas Women's at about 1:40. We checked in and wait in Dr. Cone's office to meet with him. He walked in and I was a little nervous because he was kind of short with us. He immediately redeemed himself and was very friendly. After a short little meeting we went back to wait for the ultrasound. All of the nurses were very friendly every time they walked by. They called us in for the ultrasound and my hands start sweating like crazy. Lying on that table is soooo uncomfortable, but I'd imagine I'll be getting over that rather quickly. Dr. Cone walked in and starts “the procedure.” I was looking at Nick and doing everything I can not to laugh at him. I think he looked more uncomfortable than me. Dr. Cone said that we are definitely pregnant and then says, “Hummm.” Not what you want to hear! He continues to look around and not say anything. At this point I'm wondering if it's in the right place. He finishes up his business and tells me to sit up. He says that the baby is in the right place. Thank God! But according to my calculations (guesses) on dates we should be 6 ½ weeks pregnant, but the sack is measuring only 5 ½ weeks. He explained to us that it could possibly be an abnormal pregnancy and miscarriage would happen if our dates were correct. If our dates were off, the pregnancy is great and progressing well. He told us to come back on the 22nd for another ultrasound. When we were walking out of the hospital we started really thinking about my last menstrual cycle. We came to the conclusion that it was at the beginning of November which put us at exactly 5 ½ weeks pregnant. A ton of weight was lifted off of our shoulders. At the next appointment we should be 7 weeks and a heartbeat should be detected.

Here's a little background on our doctor:

Dr. Cone has been with OGA for 11 years. Dr. Cone's patient-friendly practice encourages you to be an active partner in your health care. He and his staff strive to develop and nurture relationships with their patients while offering state-of-the-art technologies and scientifically-proven medical therapies.

Dr. Cone practices obstetrics, gynecology and infertility with a special interest in laparoscopic surgery. In addition to his practice, Dr. Cone is also a clinical instructor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Dr. Cone has a special interest in minimally invasive surgery. He has been a leader at the Woman's Hospital of Texas in developing techniques to perform laparoscopic hysterectomies and laparoscopic repair of pelvic prolapse. He is involved in several clinical trials in conjunction with Baylor College of Medicine in looking at the long term outcomes of these relatively new procedures.

He and his wife reside in Houston with their three children.

1st Appointment

So, today's the day! I'm very excited and nervous. We all HATE “these” appointments. I'm much more at ease with it than normal since Nick will be by my side. However, I'm sure he'll be a little stressed when he sees everything that takes place. He feels better about this appointment since he watched “Knocked Up” at Jake's last weekend while I slept. We cannot wait to see our little pinto bean and hear the heartbeat. I'm sure this appointment will make our pregnancy more “real.” I cannot imagine what it's really going to be like….I'm sooo pumped!

I must evidently have that “glow.” Several people have told me this morning that I've definitely got the glow going on, or really good makeup! ;) I feel like I'm glowing because I've never been happier in my entire life! Nick and I were discussing the baby last night (as usual) and it was just amazing to us that I'm carrying a little person that's a mixture of the both of us. And, boy, is it going to be one awesome person! :)

Tomorrow Nick and I are having a little get together for his birthday. His family and my parents are coming along with Toni and Cody, Garet and Steph, and who knows whom else. Jamie and Jill are busy with other things since it is December. Abby and Tracy…I know it's Emery's birthday party as well, but ya'll can continue the party at our house afterwards.

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope to report back with great news soon!

More Baby Shopping!

After school Wanda and I are going to look at a few baby things. The plan is to run to Sugar Land and go to Baby's 1st Furniture, Babies R Us, and Right Start. I have a few cribs picked out online that I want to see in person. Nick will be weather-proofing the house this evening so he got out of shopping this time. He knows that Friday, after the doctor's appointment I will drag him to several stores. He's such a trooper and really does enjoy the shopping, but he won't admit that to anyone!

Yesterday I did another Chinese Pregnancy calendar and it said girl. I used all of the exact same information. Again, as long as he/she is healthy, we don't care what the gender is. We've got both names picked out, but the boy's name is not set in stone yet. I think for that reason, it will be a boy. Several people have mentioned twins. It's kind of scary to think about, but it is definitely a possibility since Mom's a twin. I told Jill that the calendar said girl yesterday and she immediately said, “One of each!” One of my Bunco friends has the name of the right Chinese Pregnancy calendar to use, so she should let me know what I'm having soon. ;)

It is snowing here in Wharton!

Lastest Happenings...

This past weekend Nick and I ventured to San Marcos for our annual “Sights and Sounds of Christmas” outing. Before the festivities we went shopping for Baby Popp. I'm not sure how I'll be able to hold out on finding out the gender of our baby. They just have so much cute stuff out there that I want NOW! I figure that we won't be able to find out until the halfway mark anyways, so what's another 20 weeks? Plus, I just imagine Nick going out into the waiting room and announcing the sex and name of our little bundle of joy. We've already been buying things here and there so I'm sure we'll have plenty by the time August gets here. Thursday I bought two super cute Kate Mack bathing suits from Cherish, a cute children's boutique here in Wharton. They were on sale so I couldn't pass them up. Friday night Jill and Thomas came in for the night. When she saw the bathing suits she had to go get a few for herself Saturday morning. We went to the TX State bookstores in search of a cute baby outfit, to no avail. We did leave with one cute little beanie.

As far as the baby goes, I've been feeling great. My stomach is still a little queasy every once in a while, but that's expected since I'm making a baby! We have our fist doctor's appointment this Friday at 1:30pm. Dr. Mark Cone is at Texas Women's in Houston. He was recommended to us by Abby, whose advice I always trust. I've been taking my prenatal vitamins and started DHA supplements a couple days ago. A healthy, smart baby is what we continue to pray for. I'm very excited and nervous about this first visit. We were going to move it until Christmas break, but I really just want it over with. I continue to stress out about the health of Baby Popp. I should really just stop reading stuff on the internet and put the books away, but I can't!

Nick and I have been looking for baby beds, strollers, car seats, and other necessities. I've found a Bumbleride Flyer stroller that's kind of unisex and converts into 4 different types. Any info on Bumblerides or other great strollers, let me know. The bed we have picked out is also convertible. I've also found some cute material for unisex bedding, just need to get it ordered and find someone that can make the style I want.

Nick and I are just ecstatic about this baby. We haven't gotten off of Cloud 9 since we found out that the blood test was positive. Nothing in this world compares to finding out that you are having a baby. It's the most precious thing a woman can do. I cannot wait to be a Mommy!

TMI

OK...so this will be to much info for most people, and unfortunately there will probably be lots more of that to come. Sorry if it offends anyone. SO....preggers is very stressful, but I'm trying to let it roll off. Numero uno...all I think about and pray about is having a healthy baby. We are trying to do everything possible to have a healthy baby. Dos...everytime I use the restroom I hope it's all fine. And I've never used the potty so much in my lfe. The boobs...man they are starting to hurt. Of course I'll take any pain for this Little Munchkin.
Last night, Nick and I made our first Babies R Us run. We bought a Bebe sound machine and two outfits...I Love Mommy and I Love Daddy that are unisex. y
Keep us in your prayers that we are all healthy throughout this pregnancy.

Oh so fun!

In my search to find some cute neutral baby bedding, I've come across some very cute and neat baby sites. I'll be posting these sites for my fellow pregger friends and for myself so I don't forget about them.

www.petuniapicklebottom.com
www.rufflebutts.com
www.gdiapers.com
www.shopninemoons.com

How should I be feeling?

~Should I already be having weird cravings? I had some relish the other day. It was so good and sour that I wanted to eat the whole jar! I've been drinking lots of orange juice mixed with 7-Up. It's soooo good and makes you think you're having a Mimosa.

~Should I be emotional already? I feel like I could cry at the drop of a hat! This morning I heard "The best mistake I ever made" and had to turn the station.

~Should I be having weird dreams? So far it's only been one. I was going in for a checkup and the waiting room was filled with pregnant women lying in stretchers eating ice. They were about to deliver at any second, but all the rooms were full. Nick and I walked out and started to look for a new hospital.

Since Sunday I have been feeling wonderful! Every once in a while I get a little queasy but it passes rather quickly. Yesterday I did the Chinese calendar and it says boy. It has a 93% accuracy rate so I'm going with that, which means I need boy name suggestions.

A few other reasons why I think it's a boy is because that's what Nick wants and he ALWAYS gets his way! :) Also, on his side I think it calls for boy. (Kourtney, Kylee, Cayla, Emery...Tate, Brooks, Kelly's baby, Our baby?????) Right Abby?

The Most Thankful Thing!

Nick and I have so many things to be thankful for. First of all, we have families that are out of this world, friends that keep our life fun and interesting, and a cozy home that is ours. Of course we have lots of other things we are thankful for that are going unmentioned. This Thanksgiving was like no other. We are absolutely THRILLED and OVERJOYED since we found out that we are pregnant with our first child.

It all started last Monday. I started to feel like I had the flu. Usually when I get sick, its the 24 hour flu. Tuesday came and I was still ill. So ill that we went to Los Cucos and I didn't eat anything but two tortillas and a few chips. We went to the Christmas parade and I was queasy the entire time. We were supposed to go back to Cucos with Stephanie and Garrett for a few beers, but there was no way I could go. Wednesday we didn't have school so I stayed in bed all day while Nick went to his place in Pledger. When he got back home, I told him that we needed to go to the clinic for a blood test since the HPTs were coming back negative. We get to the clinic at 4:15. It took all of about 5 seconds once we got through the signing in. They told us to call them in an hour, but the clinic closed at 5. There was no way that I could go on feeling ill all of Thanksgiving. I needed to know if we were expecting or not so I could take some medicine if it was the latter.

The call:
Nick was just starting to mow and I called him to come to the bench I was sitting on. I called and put it on speaker phone...."just in case." The girl said that she needed to see if the results were back. She gets back on the phone and nonchalantly says, "Oh yeah, they're back.It's positive!" You could have hit us with a brick and we wouldn't have felt it. We started laughing and hugging. It was AMAZING! I've never felt so wonderful in my entire life. I can't imagine what's in store for us.

Telling the parents:
There was no way that we could keep the news in. I wanted to shout it from the rooftop! We are only one month along, but there was no way to wait until Christmas like we thought. That morning we decided that we HAD to tell everyone. We had to have some cute way to tell our parents, but being Thanksgiving all the cute stores in town were closed. I ran to Wal-Mart and bought two shirts and two packages of the iron-on rhinestones. Nick and I ironed "Grandma To Be" on both shirts. We went to his parents house. Nick gave the shirt to his mom and said that I bought her a Thanksgiving shirt. She opened it up, read it, read it again and started screaming! It was hilarious and soooo cool. His dad asked to see it since he didn't know what was going on. His eyes about popped out of his head. Wanda showed it to Grams and she lit up. Being nearly 95 and this being her first great-grandbaby, all she said was, "I will get to play with it for a while and it's going to be so spoiled!" After we talked awhile, we went to Grandma Popp's for Thanksgiving lunch. Wanda wore her shirt in and they were all excited and surprised. According to their data, we should have a girl, but I'm not sure how they figured it. On the way to Shiner we called "Auntie Sarah Beth" to tell her the news. I hated to tell her over the phone, but I had to before Jake could tell her. She squealed with excitement. Then I was talking to Jill on the phone and there was no way I could keep it in. She had already left for Austin so I wasn't going to see her until Friday. She knew that I was sick all week and already thought I was pregnant until I threw her a curveball and texted her a sad face. I asked her what she thought about being an Auntie and she squealed with excitement as well. When we got to my parent's house they were watching the Dallas football game. After a little while we went into the kitchen and I gave Mom her shirt. She was scared to open it because she thought it was a prank and something was going to jump out of it. When she looked at it she didn't believe it. She showed it to Dad and he started laughing. They hugged, kissed, and congratulated us. Jamie came in and saw the shirt and again, more hugs and congrats. We called Jaace in from outside and he read the shirt. He got a big grin on his face and said he wants a boy.

Friday we did the mild version of Black Friday. We left at 6 instead of our usual 3 am and headed to Austin to meet up with Jill. We went to the mall and Jill and I had to check out the baby stuff at Dillards. It took all I had to not buy anything already. I also ran into Janie and Jack and one maternity store to see what I'm doomed to wear in the future. "Uncle Cat" met us at Trudy's for lunch where I had to skip out on the Mexican Martini that he indulged in. We made a quick trip to Lakeline Mall and then hit up a few wedding dress shops where Jamie found a dress. We finally made it home at about 9:30 that night. Several people were at the poolhouse and heard our news. Saturday morning we went to Mamaw and Papa's. Mamaw's jaw dropped and she started laughing when we told them that they were great-grandparents again. On our way out of Shiner we made our way to Mamo's in Sweet Home. She started showing us quilts that she's working on and I told her she's going to have to start making a baby quilt. She looked at me and said, "Well, Jenny, you're pregernt?!?!" We laughed and she hugged us.

On our way home from Sweet Home I called all of my girlfriends and sent out bunches of text messages. Thank you all for all of your love and support. We are still on cloud 9 and are so blessed. If anyone has a good doctor in the Houston/Sugar Land area, pass on the info. Any other suggestions are appreciated as well.

Even though we have a long time, we already can't wait to meet our Little Munchkin.

Who knew?

Who knew that buying a teeny-tiny piece of property would take 4 months? Caddy-corner to our house is about a half-acre piece of property for sale. We called the lady about the land in August. It may have been earlier than that, but I don't quite remember. She was asking a pretty penny for the small lot, but we thought it would be a good idea to get it. Firstly, Nick wants to build a big barn and it would be the perfect, central location to all of his pastures. It would also be right by the house so he and I could go back and forth as we pleased. Secondly, it would keep anyone else from buying it and doing who knows what with it. We have haggled with this lady to the point where we were about to hang it up and let her not have money to "fix her damaged roof caused by Ike." The story goes on and on, but I'll keep it short.

1) Broke down car so she couldn't come meet with us to show the property lines.
2) Ike came and made a whole in her roof.
3) Had patches on both of her eyes so she couldn't see the contract Nick mailed her. (It's ok to laugh because I got big kick out of that one too!)
4) Took the contract to a bank and the people told her it was "suspicious" because there were lots of blanks in it. (That was because it was a cash deal. We didn't need bank info or a lawyer.)
5) She didn't want to pay the seller cost! Helllooooo?!??! You ARE the seller!
6) She has some man call Nick and he tells the whole deal. Finally, a little bit of progress after that until the guy says she needs more money or we will have to pay the taxes. Sorry....the taxes are YOUR deal!
7) After that, Nick was supposed to take a half-day off to meet her at the title company. He decides to hold out until he gets a call from her. He calls her that night and she said she was having car issues.
8) A few days, maybe weeks later, the title company calls and says she brought the papers!
9) Nick gets a call yesterday saying that she will be here today to sign the papers!

I never knew that buying anything was so much trouble and stress. Nick is very excited about getting his barn up and I'm excited about him getting his tools out of my garage! I'm also kinda pumped about putting a girly touch to it. Hanging up some rustic signs and such. I'm currently working on talking him into making a cute porch on it so we can have a little party barn. I'm also excited about this land purchase because he won't be adding on to the current shed in my yard, which will leave the perfect spot for a pool. I'll have to talk til I'm blue in the face with that one, and still not win!

Christmas Traditions

I'm not an Aggie, but I'm all about traditions. Several years ago I bought a pickle ornament that you are supposed to hide in the Christmas tree. Whoever finds it first gets a special gift. Last year was the first year I came across the pickle BEFORE Christmas. I bought a Jim Shore Santa and hid the pickle. Whoever found the pickle had to buy the gift for the following year. I think we agreed that each year we would give another Jim Shore statue. Jamie ended up finding the pickle last year and I think she already has the pickle gift bought for this year. I can't wait since this will be my first year to play. I LOVE Jim Shore and I'm sure whatever statue she bought will look great on the shelf with the 4 others I already have.
Last years "Hide the Pickle" search.

A few days ago Nick and I were talking about other traditions we would like to start. Of course, there are lots that we want to do when we have our own family, but we wanted something for this year. We decided that we are going to do a 12 Days of Christmas gift exchange. Starting on December 13th, we are going to exchange a small gift everyday. The tricky part~each gift must symbolize a memory from the past 3 years we have spent together. I'm so excited to see what he comes up with. We've already talked about a few ideas just so that we were on the same page. Both of us had brought up memories that were almost forgotten! Hopefully I'll be good and blog about each gift.

Christmas is in the air!

We are starting to celebrate Christmas early this year. Mainly because it's our "first married" Christmas together and our "first" Christmas in our "first" house. We are so excited about all these firsts that we already have one decorated tree up along with two trees that aren't made for decorating. We plan on getting our "main" tree after Thanksgiving so that it's not dead by the time Christmas actually gets here. I took a few crappy pictures last night with the point and shoot camera. I'll post some better pictures when the house is completely done. Tomorrow we plan on putting the lights up, which, I'm afraid will be a huge chore.
I'm in love with this Nativity Scene! It was a gift from Mom, Mom-In-Law, Sisters, and Grandmas at our Christmas Shower that took place almost a year ago.

It's an artificial tree that I put up once in one of my apartments. It was too good to part with so it's making its appearance in the kitchen.

Here's a view of the living room. The main tree will be in front of the window.

One thing I can assure you of....

Is that my family knows how to have a good time! This weekend was Papa Ed's 85th Birthday celebration at Vlastenec Hall. We all had a BLAST, to say the least. I'll let the pictures show the evening.
~Papa and me~
I have a VERY good, clear memory of my childhood. Most of the stuff is irrelevant, but it sticks. To explain this a little better, I can remember the name of the lady that sold us our first weiner dog from Victoria YEARS ago. Therefore, I remember LOADS of things about my grandparents. A few things that I think of when I think of Papa is how he would pick on me when I didn't get my way. I was VERYYYY spoiled so if I didn't get my way, I stuck out my lip and stomped my feet. He would mimic me and I couldn't help but stop crying and start laughing.
Another memory is his Levi Garrett chewing tobacco. Unfortunately, we promoted his bad habit and would give him a case for Christmas. He always carried his spit can with him. When I was about 2 or 3 we had to take Mamaw to a doctor's appointment in Houston. While we were sitting in the waiting room, I told him not to forget his "piss bucket."
Also, when I was little, Dad and I would wake up and go to Mamaw and Papa's for breakfast on Saturday's. This is definitely a thing of the past these days. Back then, I'd be up by 6am to go get my "coffffaaay!"
Mamaw and Papa's two favorites! (That's according to the boys!)
~Dad and Papa~two of a kind! Both are always full of jokes.

~The family clowning around~

~Busted~ Nick and Uncle Wayne-He's not our uncle, but we pretend that he is!


~Mamaw and Me~


~Mamo and Me~


I'm not sure!



Dancing with Mamo!


Singing sisters!

Nokie and his favorite cousin! ;)

Aren't they cute?

Mom and Dad-Aren't they cute, too?

New Prez in the House

Last night, Barack Obama was voted in as the 44th President of the United States of America. Politics really aren't my thing, but I did do my job and voted. Even though my choice wasn't the winner, my choice won Texas and that makes me proud!

Fun Times

Good times! Good times!

I'll never be able to resist another Halloween Party! We had so much fun this weekend even though it was a whirlwind. Friday night we went to the Halloween Party in Shiner. Saturday we went to San Marcos for the football game. We tailgated first and went to Herbert's after the game. Sunday we gave River Pub another chance and thankfully, they redeemed themselves. We did a little bit of shopping and headed back to Wharton. Last night, we were old folks. We were in bed by about 7:45and crashed by 8:30pm.

The Mickey D's-Jill and Thomas as McCain/Palin

Being silly!

Jamie and Robert as Sumo Wrestler and China-woman

Mom and Aunt Karen as the "Crazy Old Couple"

Dawn and Scotty-Devils


Ryan and Hailey as Johnny and June

Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne AKA Pat and Shirley Chumchal




The Popp's-our first tailgate party since we've been married.


Jill and I at the tailgate. Looking a little terrible from the night before.


SBG and me

Happy Halloween!

First of all, happy birthday wishes go to Wanda, my mother-in-law, and Abby, my cousin-in-law. Just like every other weekend, this one will be crazy-busy. We are contemplating going to Shiner to the Halloween Party hosted by Dawn and Scotty Machacek. I'd really love to, it just depends on what's going on this evening here for Wanda's birthday. Saturday morning we are heading to San Marcos again for the last football game that we can attend. The last one is on November 15th, but we are going to Wyatt Wagner's wedding instead. We plan on finding a hotel and leaving Sunday after I get some shopping in.

So, everytime I think about Halloween, I recall several things from my childhood that scared the bejesus out of me...special thanks go to my parents for this. I had to have been about 5 years old at the time. We were riding in our white Buick. Dad driving, Mom in the passenger seat, Jamie, Shawna and I in the back. Come to think of it, I was probably 4 since I don't recall Jill being a part of this horrific event. We did our trick-or-treating and then went to the awesome haunted house in Shiner. I remember at the very end they had someone come up out of a casket and then you slid out the door. That part was kinda scary, but I was fine. We get in the car and start to leave when Freddie Crougar(sp?) starts walking to the car and scratching on the windows. We had the window down and immediately start rolling it up, but Dad was rolling it down since he had controls for all windows. It was HORRIBLE! We were all screaming and on top of each other trying to get to one side of the car. That probably wasn't his all-time high of parenting, but it's really funny looking back on it. It made for a funny memory!

Here's to another very fun and memorable Halloween!

Gotta Love Halloween

I haven't dressed up in a costume for Halloween for several years. The last time I remember dressing up was when we went with Ross & Ryan to the St. Paul carnival. It was very last minute and I dressed in hunting attire. When I worked at Fuentes, we always dressed up as 100 year old ladies on the 100th day of school. It was one of the most fun days of the year. I've always wanted to have a Halloween party, but it always sneaks up on me and I never have time to plan one. This year we have had several opportunities to dress up. A party in Wharton on October 25th, but we already had play tickets. Halloween Bunco last night and a party in Shiner on Friday. Well, it happens to be Wanda's birthday on Halloween so we still are up in the air about if we will get to go to the Shiner party. So, last night was Bunco Halloween Style hosted by Jill Boenisch and Krystal Cox. I was very leary about dressing up. I figured I'd dress up and end up being the only one in costume. Finally, at 5:45 I decided to go for it. Who cares if I was the only one in costume?! I put on Mom's nun costume that she wore several years ago. I spiced it up a bit by putting a pillow underneath it and being preggo nun! I felt like a complete idiot driving around town in the costume. I wonder if people thought I was really a nun?!? I finally find the house and nervously walk in. They have it decked out with Halloween decor and several people that arrived there before me were dressed up as well. It ended up being a BLAST! By far it was the best Bunco party yet...complete with jell-o shots, green eye-ball spiked punch, and other goodies. There was another girl there that subbed for us that was dressed up as her husband, who is a preacher. She and I ended up starting out at the head table as partners and won every game! We had God on our side! I ended up winning the roll off as well as the BEST COSTUME award so I shared one prize with the preacher! It was so much fun and I'm so glad I didn't wuss out. If we get to go to the party on Friday, I'll be sporting the preggo nun costume again and I'm trying to talk Nick into Larry the Cable Guy. I'll post pictures soon.

My honey...

Never ceases to amaze me. This weekend he took me to Of Mice and Men at the Plaza and Pat-A-Cake. He had arranged for Jamie and Robert to come also without me knowing. They showed up Saturday around 6:00pm as I was waiting for Nick to get ready. The doorbell rang and I quickly had to pull the pillow out of my shirt...I was showing Nick how cute it would be to be pregnant! LOL! Robert proposed to Jamie Friday night so it was good to see them since we weren't going to until November 8th. She has everything booked for October 17th, 2008. That means I really need to start dieting now. If we got pregnant right now, the baby would be born in July so I wouldn't be a huge, prego bridesmaid. If we get pregnant on our initial planned time, I would be a house! I told Nick that we should just wait until after October, but neither one of us wants to wait a year to start trying.

Showing off our bling!

Baby on the way!

I was so excited and stunned yesterday when Gina called and said they are expecting Baby Beach # 2 in July. Yes, Gina was the pregnant one in our wedding which took place 7 months ago! Avery is almost 6 months old and going to be a big sister! Of course it wasn't a planned pregnancy, but they are so ecstatic. We've decided that instead of having babies we'll let Gina do it and we can just pick one of her's since she'll have one of every age! I told her that I was bummed because we really haven't had a chance to drink with each other since she was pregnant with Avery. She's trying to convince Nick that we should have a baby so her and I can be sober together. I doubt Nick will fall for that.

Self-Inflicted Spending Hiatus

Thanks to being a total moron, I am on a self-inflicted spending hiatus. Two evenings ago I went to the ATM machine and left my card in it! I realized this after 1.5 hours of grocery shopping in Wal-Mart. The guy was checking me out and I began to flip out. I left the groceries there and was going to come back for them later. The card wasn't in my car so I sped through town to the ATM and immediately called my bank in Shiner at 6:14pm. Luckily, someone answered and said there was no activity and cancelled the card. I had no idea that after a few minutes the maching sucks in the card. If I would have known this, I wouldn't have paniced so quickly. I'm sure you are wondering why I didn't write a check out. #1-I'm out! #2-I've also managed to lose my driver's license. Why didn't you use a credit card? My husband doesn't believe in debt! Need I say more? So, the card is, of course, not in the machine. I end up going to Nick, which is making hay at the time. Get him off the tractor, tell him my dilemma, run to get a check out of his truck, and then back to Wal-Mart to get the groceries.

I'm so mad at myself! I guess it was a good thing that it happened because now I will stop being lazy and combine my account with Nick's. I am a bit nervous that I won't get to vote since I don't have my license.

Our oh, so crazy weekend

Friday we jet out of Wharton at 5:00pm. We were making good time until I had to use the restroom in Flatonia. That was about a 2 minute stop. We get back on I-10 and a few minutes down the road, I ask Nick if he grabbed the apartment key out of his truck. Of course not! Now what? Do we go on or head to Shiner? A trooper is behind us with his lights on....looks like we are Shiner bound since we'll be getting a ticket. Instead, the trooper zooms past us and the cars ahead of us are putting on their brakes. We ended up coming to a complete stop for 1.5 hours. We walk around, call Jake's apartment to see if they will let us in and they won't. We are starving at this point. It ended up being a major accident with 2 life flights. We decide to head to San Marcos and just find a hotel if we can't break into his apartment. We get to Luling and Nick looks at me and says he just thought of something crappy. What now? Well, we decided to leave our season tickets at Jake's apartment so that we would have them no matter what. We figured that we would probably end up leaving them in Wharton if we didn't keep them in SM. We never thought about what we would do if we forgot the key to the apartment. We finally make it to San Marcos. Food was the only thing on our minds. We had been talking about River Pub the whole trip so that's where we headed. We get there at 9 and there's a 30 minute wait, which is ALWAYS the case. 9:30 we are seated. Since we both get the same thing every time, it didn't take us long to order. We're sitting there about to gnaw our arms off until 10:15 when some lady comes and says they are "plating our food up right now." No prob! Our food comes out and it is COLD! I was soooooooooooooooooooooo mad. I look at the waitress and ask if she can explain why we waited 45 minutes for cold food. Nick and I ordered the same exact meal. It wasn't like one took longer than the other. I HATE cold food...I'm definitely my father's daughter. I didn't get the nickname "Chip" (off the old block) from his old buddies for nothing. She says that the computers are down in the back and they had to handwrite all of the orders. And......???? That wasn't a good enough excuse for me. She said that she would take it back. Ha...so they could spit in it, no thanks! So, I eat it cold and Nick is ticked at me because I was complaining. Needless to say, it wasn't our best, most fun dining experience with each other. As we are eating, he says that all the hotels are probably full. That would be our luck, which is also like my father's! We stop at several places and most of them only had a room or two open that were smoking and some I'd rather not stay at. We finally found one decent place for a decent price and called it a night. Saturday was a much better day. We spent several hours shopping at the Outlet Mall and then we had Herbert's, which was a much better dining experience. The food is always smoking hot and delish. We contemplated buying tickets to the game, but I opted for spending the money on house stuff. I don't mind going to the games, but I'd much rather shop. The season tickets were just an excuse to get to go to San Marcos anyways. That evening we head to Shiner. Sunday we hung out with the parents and Jill and Tom for a while. We went back to Wharton pretty early. We took the backroads to Nada, which is normal for us. I see a deer looking right at us in the ditch and start pointing and trying to tell Nick, but it wouldn't come out! There was also a motorcycle in the other lane coming, which he thought I was pointing at. The deer runs out right in front of us and Nick slams on the brakes. We barely, and I mean barely miss it. I'm pretty sure that the deer might be missing some hair off the side of it, but that's all. That's all we would have needed to end the crazy weekend, but we lucked out.

Ready for the weekend!

When am I not ready for the weekend from August until June? Nick and I are headed for San Marcos this evening to relax and reminisce. We do this quite often, but this is the first time in forever that it will just be the two of us there. The plan is to go shopping in Austin tomorrow after we hit up a few places in San Marcos. I'm thinking Kirby Lane for breakfast and River Pub for dinner. Sunday will be Herbert's for lunch. We've got to stuff ourselves this weekend because the diet starts back up on Monday. I've decided that I've got lots of weight to lose before we get pregnant and that could take years! However, yearsssss is not in our plan. That means I've got to get on the ball and hit it hard.

Wednesday we went to TGIFriday's and did lots of shopping. We bought more blinds for the house and pulls for the cabinets. Nick decided that the cabinets are going to be our rainy day project....I'm just praying for the rain to happen soon! He's even excited about the handles so I think it helped to get him geared up for the job he's going to do. As we were hanging out, we laughed about how it was when we were dating and celebrated our 6 month anniversary, 9 month, 1 year and so on. October 15th is still a special day, and it always will be. The gifts have ceased and the elaborate evening to the River Walk on that day has been put to rest. We have a more important day to celebrate in a few months and I'm ready to plan something! We're thinking a cruise somewhere, but nothing set in stone yet. He did surprise me with tickets to Of Mice and Men, which will be at The Plaza Theatre next weekend. Oh, he also promised Pat-A-Cake. That's a major deal for him! He's not a big fan of the $10 sandwich. Hence the reason, I can only eat at Jason's Deli when he's not around! :( So, we did celebrate our 3rd year anniversary of meeting/dating and it was great. The weekend will be just as great.

3 years ago

3 years ago today, my life was forever changed. I was gearing up for the Bocktoberfest at Pat Caka's farm. (Pat, a great friend of our family, died 2 weeks ago.) Ross and Ryan somehow talked Nick into tagging along with them to the fest. He caught my eye when he first walked up, but I didn't talk to him. However, a little while later I did ask him if he wanted a drink, but he declined. For reasons I won't mention. Just think...Party Jenny! We went our seperate ways to the concert, but ended up meeting back up that night after the fireworks. From that moment on, we were and still are inseperable. I'm so lucky that God led me to my soul-mate. It's really scary sometimes how "right" everything is in our relationship. We were definitely made for each other. There is no place in this world I would rather be than next to my babe. He's my partner and the love my life. I cannot believe how fast 3 years have gone by.

As engraved in your ring....ALL MY LOVE!

The Nightmares Can Stop!

Why on Earth am I still having nightmares about my wedding? Here's last nights dream... For those of you who haven't been in our house, we have 3 sinks in the upstairs restroom. It works out quite well for a family dominated by girls. I'm in the shower and ask what time it is. Jamie or Jill tells me it's 2:20pm. I was thinking I had plenty of time until I realized that I put 2:00 on the invitations. It's been 6 months! I was on time and it's a done deal! Hopefully that was the last one.

On a funnier note...Early Monday morning Nick was talking up a storm about hand tools and how to use them correctly. I think one was a rubber mallet because he said, "You have to hit it softly on like, say, um a bookcase. Ok? We good?" I woke up and started asking him questions back. I've never seen him teach a class, but I'd imagine it's exactly what he sounded like that night. Poor thing was so exhausted Monday evening from all the teaching he did at school and through his entire night's sleep.

6 things I've learned:

This was supposed to go on the last post, but I ran out of time.

6 things I've learned in the last 6 months:

6) Once you're married, the past is finally the past. All we worry about is the present and the future.

5) Paying bills is much nicer when there are two incomes.

4) Just like a child, a man needs consistency and constant reminders. Constant reminders to put the lid down, to pick out your clothes to be ironed for the next day, to rinse your dirty dishes before you put them in the sink, and to put the milk back in the fridge are daily issues. (Well, almost daily!)

3) It's really hard when we disagree because we are both stubborn-headed, middle children. We have both learned to walk away and chill out for a little while. When we come back to each other we laugh at our stupidity.

2) I have a partner in anything and everything I do.

1) I live for him and know there are great things ahead of us. I can hardly remember they days when he was not in my life.

I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband to spend the rest of my waking days with. I always wonder why I have been so blessed with the best man on Earth. I'm just one lucky girl. If the rest of my life turns out half as great as it has been, I should have no complaints. I'm looking forward to the "heck of a lot more."

6 months down...a heck of a lot more to go!

Yesterday was our 6th month of wedded bliss. This picture was taken Saturday at Dawn Raab's wedding. I'd love to say that I have lots of wonderful things to share about the event, but I don't! I was the lecture and I HATE public speaking, so that was terrible. She was IN my wedding and still listed me as Jenny Chumchal on the program. Hellllloooo...it's been 6 months. It was an outdoor wedding so it was hot and I was getting bit up by mosquitos. I wasn't planning on going to the reception, but my sister's talked me into it. I drank a few too many glasses of champagne!(This is stolen from Bonnie) "Party Jenny" decided to pay a visit and she's going into retirement for a looooonnnngggg time! We left after we ate and it went downhill from there...so I'm told.

Sunday was Dad's 58th birthday and we all celebrated in Sweet Home. It was great to see everyone and catch up on the latest happenings. I'm so thankful to have such a great family and extended family.

This weekend we are going to Port Royal to rekindle our old family vacation. I'm super excited. I've got so many pictures to add, but so little time.

Hint #1-It starts with a "C."

Oh! Notice my new hairdo-I got 6 inches cut off!

No Sharing...

As stated in the book by Mary K. Moore...I'm a name hoarder. One who has a name picked out and isn't even pregnant, but tells the one who is pregnant "that's MY name, you can't use it!" So, we just decided not to tell! It's perfect, trust me. BUT if you're REALLY smart, you can figure it out in this post! ;) Happy guessing!

We Survived...

We survived Ike and ended up having a wonderful weekend despite the damage he caused elsewhere. We came home to a yard full of limbs and leaves. After several days of cleaning up and two trailer-loads of crap, we are almost finished. Yesterday we didn't work in the yard because I had a girl's night and Nick cut hay. Tonight we will finish it up and have a freshly mowed lawn. While we were in Shiner we played lots of Scrabble and a round of Monopoly. I've got lots of pics to put on if I ever download them.

On our way home Nick and I started "family planning." I wanna have all my ducks in a row before we actually try. That means I need to start with finding a "woman" doctor. That should have been a priority a while ago, but somehow I managed to let that slip by. I've been searching for doctors that are provided through our insurance and have had a few people refer a doctor in Sugar Land. I'm kinda sold on Methodist Hospital in SL, but that's not certain until I see a room. I'll have to have something large so that Nick, Mom, Jamie, and Jill can all be with me while in labor. Yeah, I'm making ya'll be with me...Nick will probably pass out! Maybe it's far out there to be planning that sort of thing now, but you all saw how anal I was about wedding plans and it was pulled off perfectly. Naturally, I would want the birth of our child to be even more perfect! So, we're starting there. I'll make an appointment soon and ask for prescription prenatal vitamins with DHA because we need a healthy brain!

Oh, and the most fun part....we picked out names! We have a girl name that is 100% for sure! And I just LOVE IT! That means that when the time comes, it'll be a boy! :( Call me crazy, but I'd love to have twins. If anyone has suggestions on what I need to do pre-conception...let me know! We're pretty clueless!

Mary K. Moore

Jill, my sister, used to nanny for Mary K. Moore's daughter when she was at Texas State. Mary released her book "The Unexpected When You're Expecting" on Labor Day. I just ordered it from Amazon. The website is super-cute and the excerpts are hilarious. Check it out at www.marykmoorebooks.com. I can't wait to read it!

Who Are My Readers???

Why's everyone afraid to comment? I didn't know I had so many readers. I just got a site meter and want to know who you people are!?!

Bay City? Van Vleck? Indianapolis? Woodsboro? Nacogdoches? Seguin? Even if you are from other places, comment! I think I know who it is, but just wanna double check.

Thanks!

Hurricane Ike

He didn't scare me until a few minutes ago when our principal handed us a phone tree and he said he would let us know tomorrow if it was a "voluntary" or "mandatory" evacuation!!! Holy CRAP! I'm that person that says, "Why didn't those idiots leave when Rita hit?" Now, I'm the idiot saying, "Ahh...Ike won't come, we'll stay here this weekend." Besides, my girlfriends are coming to visit and I wanna drink Mexican Martinis with them!

When Nick told me that his dad already had plywood bought for Gustav, I laughed. Yesterday Wayne told me that they are planning to go to San Marcos this weekend due to Ike. Again, my friends are coming to my "new" house, we're staying here! I'm so excited about this weekend, how can Ike come now???? Then I read Abby's blog and she says how everyone in El Campo has their houses boarded up. What's a girl to do? We're not prepared at all! I have 22 miles worth of gas left in my car, which means I will have to sit at a long line at Wal-Mart. We have no plywood for our windows and we haven't put anything away. I guess we have our work cut-out for us this evening....better make that tomorrow because Ike will probably decide to chose the other path so my friends can come visit and we can drink our much needed Mexican Martinis.

If he decides against my fun weekend, I guess we will get out of this town and head to Shiner. When Rita came we ended up having a VERY FUN Hurricane Party at the Spann's house. All of the Port O'Connor people came there to escape it's wrath. So, I guess either way it will be a fun weekend. If it's a "mandatory" evacuation and if any of you readers need a place to stay, call me, we always have room at my parents.

Lots going on...

But that's no excuse to be a bad blogger. We'll start with the most exciting news so far....drum role, please....WE SOLD OUR HOUSE ON WHEELS! We advertised it a week ago and the first couple that came to look at it, bought it. Better yet, we made a profit on it! We've decided to use the money from the trailer to purchase a small 1/2 acre piece of land caddy-cornered to our house. Nick wants to build him a 30X80 shop for all his boy toys. I'm all for it because it would get them out of my yard.

Saturday Nick and I planted our first garden. I've fot some really cute pictures of him making the rows and whatnot. Hopefully, we'll have lots of organic veggies to share with all of you.

We've had our first sleepover at our house! Jamie came to visit a couple of weeks ago to stay for the evening. She treated us to our favorite seafood place in town. The following day we did some antiquing in Wharton and then we treated her to Pat-A-Cake, a great little sandwich place. The atmosphere is amazing and will probably take all of my visitors there when they come stay with us!

Last Saturday we went to San Marcos. We stayed with Jake and Sarah Beth and went to the TX State football game. We're so excited because we've got season tickets this year. Not that we are great team or anything, but we are supporting THE DRIVE to Division 1. Yeah, that would put us with the big boys! I'm so for it, even if we get slaughtered. Sunday we attended Robin's "church" wedding. It was an amazing wedding. She married Greg, from Scotland. The guys wore kilts and they had did lots of traditional things from both lands. It was really fun to witness.

Wednesday I had bunco and it was a success! We never really play bunco, just sit and gab, which is always fun. I've got a few pics to post later.

In other news, school has begun and I'm a second grade teacher. It's been a bit stressful, but we'll see. It's always sad when summer is over.

I'm really excited for this coming weekend because Alicea and Deb are supposed to be coming to town for a wedding. Hopefully they will make it Friday so we can hangout. The house is finally pretty complete. We are taking visitors at anytime!

Thanks Mom!

I just love the wonderful traits I got from parents. The mole on the side of my nose just like Dad's. Except he just got his removed because it was cancerous. That means I need to visit a dermatologist soon. The varicous veins from Mom. The list goes on, but I can't think of the others right now. Yesterday Nick and I went to Victoria to the Vascular Surgeon. He decided that injections should do the job on my varicous veins. Next Wednesday I go for the first treatment on my left leg. A week later I will have to do the right leg. Supposedly I can drive right after and they insist on lots of walking. It will consist of lots and lots of shots into all of the veins. This is how I understand it to work. A foam (NOT saline) is injected into the veins. The blood will clot in the veins which will cause the blood to stop flowing through the varicous veins. The varicous veins will basically rot and wither away. I remember noticing the varicous vein when I was a freshman during track. Over the years it has gotten a lot worse. They say when you get pregnant they get even worse. We want to nip it in the bud right now. I'll be really bruised up so no dress at Robin's wedding. That means I need to go shopping! I told Nick that everyone's going to think that he beats me on my one leg! :)

Coushatta

Nick and I rode with Mom, Dad, and Jaace to Coushatta on Monday-Wednesday. It was Nick's first time to gamble. I figured I'd never get his tight-wad self to go, but he loved every minute of it. Even though we came back as big losers, he's already planning on going back in December. Both of us love to play blackjack, but I was horrible at it this trip. Since I lost all of my money rather quickly I sat and watched people play roulette for hours. I finally figured out the numbers that I would play if I had money. I gave Nick a puppy dog face and he gave me a whoping $5 which I turned into $35. Needless to say, that $35 went down the drain rather quickly. Back I went to just watching. Meanwhile, I shared with other players what numbers to go with and one guy from Needville won several hundred dollars. No one was playing for a while when another guy came up and I told him which numbers to put his chips on. He did rather well and bought me $20 worth of chips. I knew that the second I'd put my chips on a few numbers it would go south. One number was 29. I had accidentally put two chips on it instead of one and amazingly it landed on 29! I did the same thing the next time and it landed on 29 again! Very rare! I was up $140 in about 1 minute. You can bet your booty I'm going to be reading up on roulette so I can play it in December. We had a GREAT time and ended up donating lots of money to the tribes, but it was well worth it.

Go Ricebirds!

Self-portraits are no fun! This is our first picture together in our house. I'm sporting my Ricebird Red because Nick and I were on our way to the school board meeting for his official introduction. We were there all of 7 minutes. It was great and everyone there is super friendly. We LOVE ECISD! I love WISD also, but ECISD has allowed me to have a HUSBAND! Jaace came to visit the week that we had the school board meeting. He only came because I promised to take him to visit J.D. Hudgins Cattle Company. He has really gotten into raising Brahman cattle and now has 8 of his own. The visit was very informative and I enjoyed it as much as he did. I'm sure I'm ranked #1 sister because of it! :)
One of the high dollar bulls.

Jaace and Mr. Hudgins

Miss Priss

Remember the pregnant bridesmaid....

This is the little angel that arrived on May 2nd. Avery is one of the sweetest babies I've ever been around. She ranks up there with our god-daughter, Abby's kids, and Tracy's kids. Being around these babies will make you want one of your own. Everyone we are surrounded by have wonderful kids...thank goodness for the cranky kids in Wal-Mart that make us practice "natural family planning!"

4 months ago...

We were busy doing this....
Decorating! Actually we were finishing up and getting ready for rehearsal. I cannot believe that tomorrow will be 4 months since we were married. It has gone by so fast. I miss all the planning and excitement being engaged brought. Married life is wonderful, thank goodness we have a wedding video to relive the day. I'd be depressed if I didn't.

Oh how I wish I was doing this....

Scuba-diving in St. Lucia. The underworld is AMAZING. I highly recommend scuba-diving. It's a complete different world undersea. Nick really loved it more than I did. Mainly because I freaked out a little and my ears killed me until I figured out how to equalize. Man, I need to blog about our honeymoon! How behind I am!

Using our wedding goodies!

One of the first things I did was unload all of our wedding goodies. It has been so much fun ditching all the college utensils and starting fresh.
We love our everyday china!

Gotta love Cuisinart!

Here's a picture

So here is an "after" picture. I haven't loaded the before pictures yet do to our crappy internet here. You can picture the before in your head...imagine baby blue EVERYWHERE! I've already changed this room since this picture. I now have a hutch against the wall and the table is turned. Nick's mom gave us the table and hutch. Supposedly it's rather old and the chairs are no longer apart of the set. I'm going to look for chairs at estate sales, etc. I think a bunch of old mismatched chairs would look pretty cute. It's all coming together rather nicely. We put the floors in the living room and it looks amazing. I only have one room left to paint and then it will be complete!

We haven't killed each other...YET!

Nick and I have spent almost every minute together since school has released and we haven't killed each other! We are both so glad that he is not working in Boling anymore so that we can see each other and enjoy being married. We have been working on the house every chance we get. So far the kitchen, dining room, and our bedroom are complete. Completely painted that is. Lindsey Voulgaris, Nick's old high school classmate, has become a great friend of mine since I moved here and started playing Bunco with her. She has been a sweetheart and helped me paint whenever I call. She loves painting the trim, which I despise. I'd much rather do the rolling. Since we moved into the house in June we've completely changed it. I pulled up all the carpet this past week. This coming week we plan on scrapping off the carpet padding that wouldn't come unglued and laying down the new flooring. I'm also hoping that Nick will put trim on all of the cabinets so I can start painting them. Our deadline for the house to be "near completion" is the end of August because I'm hosting bunco out our house. Today we went to Dillards to pick up our new bed and mattresses. That means that I'll be shampooing carpets this week also so we can set it up. It's so exciting. I really can't wait to have everything done so that the house will be clean and homey. Right now there is crap everywhere and I feel like it'll never be clean.

Last Sunday we had our first gathering. Mom, Dad, Jaace, Jamie, Robert, Rob Jr, Matt, Wanda, Wayne, Grams, Jake, and Toni and Cody Pohler came over for fried chicken (catered by Dad!). It was a spur of the moment deal and it turned out rather well. I learned of lots of things to put on my grocery list including better tongs and Reynolds wrap (to name a few). I can't wait to have the guest rooms complete so that people can actually come and stay over.

We'll be busy this next week as usual. Vacation Bible School is Sunday-Wednesday evenings. Saturday we have Jennifer's 1st birthday party to attend and Sunday we have a wedding shower for Greg and Robin. I'd much rather be busy than sitting around with nothing to do, but I hate how fast the time is flying. School bells will be ringing soon! :(

I'm going to try to be a better blogger and even add some pics.

THANK YOU, JESUS!

I am happy to report that the calf I chased through the barbed-wire fence is alive and well. THANK YOU JESUS! I am even happier to report that the house-on-wheels is officially retired by us and up for sale! THANK YOU JESUS EVEN MORE! You have no idea what a luxury it is to use the restroom on a porcelain toilet until you have sat on a plastic one daily for 3 months. We stayed in OUR HOUSE for the first time, by ourselves on Sunday. I must also add that our marriage is wonderful now that we are living like normal human beings. It was a bit stressul living in a 32 foot travel trailer for 3 months, but we prevailed and now have lots of funny stories to tell down the road about our first living arrangements.

Now that we are in our house, I've been cleaning and painting. I've only finished our bathroom because we still have the Popp's stuff in a few of the rooms. I thought it would be easy to pick out colors to paint the rooms, but I've had a hard time. Our room, the living room, dining room, and kitchen are all going to be Stone Lion which is a tan color. Our bathroom is blue and chocolate brown. I'm thinking one of the bedrooms will be Edamame(greenish) and one Kitten's Nose(light pink). Once again, I'm not pregnant, but when I am I don't want find out the sex of the baby so both rooms will already be painted. I'd like to do the pink room shabby chic/antiquish. The main bathroom has a dark green countertop and white tile. I still can't decide on a color to paint it...any suggestions are appreciated. Anyways, it's been lots of fun. Nick's been huge help. He's replaced several light fixtures, bought our wood blinds, and even cooked while I clean and paint. Later he's going to hang more lights and mow the lawn! Score on having a great hubby! It's a surprise that we've been working so well on these home improvements considering the last blog entry.

Things Husbands & Wives Should Not Do With Each Other

#1-Working cows!
Maybe I should write a book about top 10 things that married people should not do with each other. I searched for suggestions online and couldn't find anything. Well, today Nick needed help "working" his cows. FYI, "working" cows means worming them. I thought it was like excersing or something. I probably should have known this since I'm from the country, but I didn't. I told him that it was a bad idea for me to help with this job, and boy, was I right! Our first job was to pen several cows in Wharton to haul to Pledger. We had to pen ALL of the cows in order to do this. We got them all in the pen except for 3 calves. One calf we couldn't get in was the one Nick needed the most. My job was to shoo them at one point and to watch the gate. I was in the process of shooing him and he ran through the barbed wire fence into an open cotton field. Nick was SOOOOO MAD!!!! He took off running through the field after the calf. He was trying to yell at me to do something, but I couldn't make out what he was saying so I hid behind the trailer tire. I thought I was scaring the calf when he saw me. Well, Nick wanted me to scare him back towards him. Instead the calf went right passed me, heading for the road. Nick yelled at me to get in the truck and go to the main gate to see if I could get him in there. I told him that I wasn't driving the truck because it had his gooseneck trailer hooked up behind it. I can drive it straight, but I would have had to back it up and stuff which probably would have dented his truck. Nick hops the fence and gets in the truck. He high-tailed it down the pasture and to the gate. Somehow it worked out perfectly and the calf ended up coming back into the pasture when he opened the gate. It was TERRIBLE! We give up trying to bring this calf to the other pasture since the calf was exhausted. (Nick was too!) We go to Pledger to "work" all the cows there. I try to be a better helper, but I failed again. We got most of them penned up except for one that he wanted to take to the auction barn. I talked Nick into keep trying and a couple fled out as we were trying to get one in. Not nearly as horrible as the earlier experience. So, we start to load the one of the two calves that are going to the sale. One was already easily loaded. The problem was that we had two calves in the chute rather than just the one that needed to go. I told Nick that they'd probably both hop in the trailer, but he still had faith in me. Needless to say, both of them ran into the trailer! We had a hard time getting the smaller one out, but after some poking and prodding with a stick and cane, we got him out. If I wouldn't have ran away when the cows started running at me, we probably wouldn't have had any problems, but I don't trust those animals.

I'm happy to report that we are still married! The best news out of this entire day is that I don't ever have to "work" cows again. He'll probably just send me shopping! Nick was aggravated with me quite a bit today, but he always came back and kissed me and apologized. I'm a bit worried that the calf that got out might be dead. We'll find out in a little while when we go check on him. I'm sure I'll be in BIG TROUBLE if he dies.

Gotta Love Mexico!

We had a blast shopping in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo. So much so that we are planning on returning very soon with a trailer or UHAUL. I ended up getting several very good deals on my yard ornaments. When Nick picked me up from East Bernard, the back of his truck was full with only about $150 spent. What a bargain! The beer was super as well. Since Tiff's bachelorette party, my new favorite beer is Sol. It was the first beer I spotted in Mexico. I about flipped out when they told me it cost I was thrilled when I was buying it for a dollar. I drank a few and then found a spot selling them for "half dollar." Mom and Jamie became interested in this beer so that they could stop buying the $4 margaritas. At the "half dollar" grocery store place, we saw Sol in a 40 oz bottle for $1.50. All three of us shared one of these which would fill one of the margarita cups. We had it all figured out! We'll definitely be hitting that place up in the future.

We HAD to stop at one convenience store for Waldo. He insisted on getting a Banana Fo Fana Icee. It's the only place that he's ever been to that sells them. Here's Mom eating her's. It was pretty good. Not banana-tasting at all.

The three of us shopping in Mexico.


The first pottery place in Texas. Funny turtles!

Our bodyguards!
They enjoyed watching us shop more than doing the shopping.
This was the first place we shopped and already had both vehicles full of stuff.
Our hotel. A very nice place to stay. You never would think you are a few steps away from poverty. The chicken fried oysters here are to die for.
Rio Grande

Jamie and I enjoying a drinky drink.