Summer lovin'

Did anyone else just have a mini heart attack because we are already in the middle of JUNE 2015?!? Seriously, the days keep running together and passing so quickly. We are about to have a 9 month old princess and a 6 year old! I cannot believe the kindergarten school year has come and gone and we are already almost 1/2 through summer.

E is 8 1/2 months and will be 9months on the 24th. She is eating solids and only prefers fruits!! We've tried the green beans, veggies, and carrots and she's NOT having it. What a weirdo. She also has a thing with texture. If it's thick it takes her longer to swallow and she makes a face...great. She's finally sleeping through the night again. With her ear infection and popping out 2 more teeth, those last couple of months were rough on her. She now has 5 teeth, 3 on top and 2 on bottom. She is army crawling like a mad woman, occasionally getting up on her hands and knees. She likes rocking back and forth and squeals 90% of the day. She is truly the PERFECT addition to our family. It's like God knew what he was doing ;)
It's amazing to see the relationship between her and Hudson. He is so sweet with her (sometimes) he can be a little rough other times. But he lights up the room and makes her giggle like no one else. I hope they continue this sweet relationship. He's at day camp at the YMCA (it's wonderful having them at the same place for summer!!!!) He's been getting in to trouble a little more often than he should. He's got an attitude the size of TEXAS and he is strong willed as ever. His listening ears must be clogged lately because I find myself repeating almost everything at least 3 times. GRRRR. We'll go a few days and he is wonderful, then BAM one day he doesn't listen for shit. So we've started taking things and privileges away, so far that's been helping. Thank you baby Jesus!

E turned 8 months at lake LBJ. We celebrated Memorial Day with Ciji and her family and brought the camper! Had a wonderful weekend despite it raining almost the whole time. E had a great first time at the lake. Hudson was also 8 months when we took him to the lake for the first time!

                                                   He was pissed, hated the life jacket


We'll be taking a family trip to JellyStone (wine country, SCORE) in Fredericksburg for his 6th birthday. I'm already over the big birthday bashes and want to just celebrate with close friends and family! Well...maybe except for E's first birthday...which I guess I should start planning now!
We'll actually be out of the country for hers celebrating my beautiful cousin getting married in CANADA. Which reminds me, I need to get everyone passports, joy.

I just returned from a much needed girls trip and I had the best time. We seem to flock to the river for our girls trips. We were there 3 years ago so we decided to go again. We have girls coming from west Texas, Austin, Houston and DFW. This group of girls and I have been friends for 8+ years some of then for 15 years. I met them when I moved to College Station and we've been friends ever since. They are truly amazing. We had the most relaxing fun filled time!

                                                Love you ladies!! Until next year, xoxo

7 months!

Big girl is 7 months! (or is almost 8 months!) Slacking again. She turned 7 months on April 24th and I almost forgot to take her little 7 month sticker picture until Hudson reminded me to do it. Bad mommy. She was weighing 18.2lbs at her last doctors visit. It seems like we were at the dr from December to the end of February with some sort of sickness. Daycare is mean and so are the germs! She is much better now and hope she stays that way. Her top right tooth popped through the other day (May 5th) and her left one is son to follow. She is scooting all over the place and it won't be long until she starts crawling. She said "mama" the day before Mother's Day TWICE and it was the sweetest sound in the whole world. Cody actually heard her but she hasn't said it since.
Her brother is still her best friend and she lights up when he enters the room. He's the only one that can get her to really belly laugh. It's adorable.
Hudson is 14 days away from being a FIRST GRADER. WHAT?! His kindergarten year has come to an end and he'll be movin' on up. So crazy. We couldn't have asked for a better school year or a better teacher. Mrs. Pawlik is so patient and kind to her kiddos. We thank the Lord daily for her. He has learned so much at Washington Math Science Institute!!

                                                    7 months old, 2 teeth,trying to crawl

Hudson finished his 3rd season of t-ball with the Orioles. We had a wonderful team and a  great coach. We'll request him next season. They ended their last game with a water balloon fight, water guns, pizza and trophies! Not to brag, but my little guy is an AWESOME t-ball player, I hope he sticks with it.
We traveled to California for Easter to visit my dad and Jill. It was so relaxing. We spent two days at the beach and just hung out at their house. E's first plane ride (Hudson flew at 5 months, her at 6 months) She did wonderful! And her fist time at the beach.

                                                          Easter at Topanga Beach, CA

We are gearing up to take the camper to LBJ for Memorial weekend. We're all excited to get out of town, enjoy the lake and relax! The camper has truly been the best investment we've made. It's been so much fun. I hope Hudson remembers all these little trips and cherishes them when he's a little older.
That's a little look into our life right now, what's going on in yours?!?

Heavy heart

MFD lost another brother last night. This one was pretty close to my heart. CANCER SUCKS!!! Just yesterday 100's gathered for a hamburger luncheon for him and all proceeds were going to help this young man with expenses as he traveled back and forth to MD Anderson in Houston for treatments. Fly high with Christ Aaron!!!

Let me tell you about the first time I met Aaron. Cody was going through rookie school at MFD in 2006. I was out of town the first few days he started and when I came back all I heard was, "there's some really great people in my group and there's this guy named Aaron and his (then) fiance Jennifer. They are really cool and they remind me of us!" He was so excited to introduce me to them. So we made plans one Friday night to go over to their house. Jennifer and I hit it off immediately, she's one of those people that pretty much gets along with anyone and is the life of the party (love you Jen) and of course I loved Aaron too. Jen and Aaron had recently got engaged (Cody and I had too) so we had so much in common. From then on, the 4 of us were pretty much inseperable. House parties, to dinner dates, to late random nights at each others houses. We've got some great stories to tell for sure. Aaron is one of the few people who has never had a problem calling me Hippo. For some reason some people can't come to terms with my nickname, but from the beginning he was always calling me Hippo. Every time after that, it was always "Hey hippo!" The boys completed rookie school, Aaron and Jen went their separate ways (no hard feelings, they both moved on and have beautiful families!) Aaron got a job in Big Spring, TX.  Cody followed shortly after and was employed with BSFD for 2 years. I'm not sure how long Aaron was in Big Spring but you can ask anyone over there and they'll tell you he made a lasting impression and that he was a great firefighter. He came over to MFD and again Cody was right behind him. They were on different shifts but when Cody would work overtime, every now and then he'd get put at station 8 with Aaron. It was always great to visit and see Aaron. He'd play with Hudson and we'd catch up on life. It's not fair that someone so young can be put through so much hardship and be plucked from this earth just like that. But with the hardship comes peace and knowing that he is no longer suffering. My heart breaks for his wife, his two precious little girls and his whole family. I can't even imagine what they are going through. So many prayers are being lifted up, I hope they find some sort of peace and comfort.
You will be missed!

This is how I'll remember you!
Silly, funny, always making people laugh!

RIP

Travel adventures

How is it possible I have a 6 month old and an almost 6 year old?!? E turned 6 months on March 24th. Hudson is 5 going on 15. If Emerson is 1/2 as strong willed as he is, we are in TROUBLE. I'm all about the independence (he's been that way since he was born) but the attitude and "I know everything" crap needs to stop. At times I snicker when he says things (by the way, kids are WAY more exposed these days then we were) He was off in his own world the other day and all I heard was "What's the big idea here?" HA! Then there are the times I get pissed off, "Well I know this and you don't so I'm smarter than you." Oh yea, your whole 5 years on this earth has made you a genius, let me tell ya.
He really tests my patience at times and there are nights I go to bed almost in tears saying my prayers and asking the Lord for forgiveness because I feel like such a horrible mother! Then there are the times where I get to watch him turn into a tiny little man right before my eyes. When he reads a new book with new words, when he learns to ride his bike for the first time with no training wheels, when out of the blue he says "mom, I'm so glad Jesus picked you to be my mom!" yea, go ahead and take that one in because it caught me by complete surprise and I almost broke down in tears right in front of him. Don't ever show weakness! ;) Just kidding.

I was lucky enough to attend a training in Alexandria, VA/Washington DC that the American Diabetes Association sent me on. I've been with them for almost 6 years. I started as a specialist and it was really just another job for me. As the years went by, I realized what an impact this disease had on people and I built some great relationships. I had the opportunity to move up to the manager position and didn't hesitate. It's been a great ride, a little crazy, but great. DC is a wonderful city, so much history. I only had a few hours to explore and I did it in style. My sweet dad set up a driver to pick me up from the airport to take me around the city for a few hours.

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We took the camper to Junction, North Llano river over Spring Break and we went with two other couples. It was so relaxing and nice to get away. Oh, yea, we bought a camper for Christmas! (I'm slacking on the blog again)
Here she is:

The greatest investment EVER!! Cody and I both had pop-up campers growing up and those are some of the best memories we both have. He had been looking for almost 3 months and finally found this beauty. We've been camping twice and we are hooked. Hudson absolutely loves it.

Lotsa fishing and playing in the river for Hud. Lotsa napping for the princess.

                                                                          S'mores
We are planning a trip to Fredericksburg in August for his birthday to Jellystone. I think Cody and I are just as excited as he is.

Little miss is 6 months and is as sweet as sugar. She is seriously the happiest baby. Totally different from my post 4 months ago, eh?!?
She wakes up happy, and lights up when she sees us. We can't compete with her brother though. If he's in the room, her eyes are locked on him. He can calm her and make her laugh like no other. It's the sweetest.

We're off to California for Easter! E's first plane ride and traveling as a family of 4, wish us luck!!

Big girl

We finally tried oatmeal. We got the go ahead from the pedi at her 4 month well check, I've just been putting off because that just means my baby is growing up too fast. She didn't know what to do with it and spit a lot of it out but at the very end finally swallowed some. Don't think she was a fan. Hudson hated oatmeal! I don't even think he liked rice. He loved fruits and veggies though.

                                                                             2/7/15

                                                                             2/7/15

She's been teething and not sleeping very well the last few nights and it's been pretty rough. Her nose gets snotty and she can't breath plus the pain of teething = E not a happy camper. Teething was rough on Hud man too and he started at 2 months! Last night we finally got some relief and she slept awesome. Only woke at 3:30 for a bottle and back to sleep until 7. Hope this continues. I really cannot believe she is going on 5 months old. I went through some of her clothes yesterday and she is wearing 6m. So anything smaller, I had to bag up :( She's our last baby and I am taking FULL advantage and enjoying every moment. Even if it is 2am cuddles.

Hudson has been getting in trouble at school lately. TALKING. Imagine that. They have a take home folder that lets us know how he did that day and the majority of the time he comes home with smiley faces. Two days in a row and a day a week before that he had sad faces with "talking" beside them. I wrote his teacher a note asking what was going on and if we needed tp have a conference. She wrote back saying there are 6 kids who already know the things they are going over, calling them "advanced" and they get bored and start talking when she teaches. So she will be giving them work based on a 1st grade level while the other kids are learning the things they need to. Although I am very excited and proud that he is "advanced" I hate that he is disrupting and causing the other kids not to pay attention. Hopefully the 1st grade stuff will keep him busy. Who knows, we may just have a Doogie Howser on our hands ;) ha

We've had such beautiful weather the past few days and we have taken full advantage of it!! Little miss loves to be outside and she finally fits in the exersaucer!

The boys went out to Cody's dad's to fix a part on our camper because we are taking it on a trip to the Llano in March!! They got on Candel's motorcycle and sent me this:

Have a great week!

4 months

Oh hey 4 month mark! Crazy crazy crazy. Seems like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital and she was teeny tiny. A bottom tooth FINALLY appeared. She has been drooling for several weeks now and I could never feel or see anything but yesterday Cody noticed it and it's the cutest little toof ever ;)
She's eating 5oz every 4 hours and 6oz at night. Still waking around 2 to eat and again at 5 but then goes back to sleep until 7 when brother wakes up. She is such a happy baby! Complete change from just 2 months ago! Her thumb has played a major part in that. It soothes her and I LOVE IT! So cute. She is rolling over from front to back, back to front like crazy. She sleeps just like her brother...all over the place.

I found her onsie on Zulily when I was about 6 months pregnant and HAD to have it. Since she is a Vegas baby and all! (It's a 6m and she wears it just fine) I love her face in the second shot, it's like she read it and is like HUH?! I am so thankful for her and God's timing!! A mother daughter relationship is truly one of a kind. I have such a bond with Hudson but with her it's just different. Those babies are my world.
I love you to the moon princess!

Thyroid Awareness

January is thyroid awareness month and I feel like I push having a thyroid disease to the back burner. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed by it, I just don't feel like advertising it to the world. After connecting with people who also have Graves', I feel like I am very lucky. I see some people struggling more than me, some taking higher dosages of medication than me, some who struggle getting out of bed in the morning because they just feel so blah, some who have had thyroid cancer scares, some who have goiters, and some with thyroid eye disease that is just unmanageable :( I am and always have been on a very low dose of medicine to regulate my thyroid, I exercise as much as possible (I'd like to say my diet is on point but let's face it, I am not a clean eater. I enjoy caffeine, sweets and tons of carbs!) but for the most part I eat decent. While I was pregnant I was completely off any medication for my thyroid. My levels were normal and I really felt great. My Dr. said pregnancy can be a great thing for your thyroid or it can wreak havoc. Thankfully, mine was a great thing. Even two months after delivering E, my levels were normal. Then, BAM. I started feeling the anxiety, the heart palpitations, and started getting really hot for no reason. When it came time to check in with my endo, sure enough my levels we high again so it was back on meds for me. Right before finding out we were pregnant, I had scheduled surgery to completely remove my thyroid. There is also another route, a radioactive iodine that basically kills the thyroid. 1. Radioactive, NO THANKS! I wouldn't be able to be around my babies for like 3 days. 2. The iodine is more than likely going to make my thyroid eye disease worse, again NO THANKS! So surgery it was. Of course, once we found out we were expecting, that surgery got canceled and we'd cross that bridge when we came to it. I've been struggling with scheduling the surgery again. I've been feeling great, still on a low dosage of medicine....but the medicine is not recommended to take long term. I was diagnosed in September 2012. So, do I stay on the medicine a while longer and hope and pray and pray some more that I go into remission.. (I've actually read several stories of people going into remission from Graves' Disease) but more than likely that will NOT happen for me. Or, do I schedule surgery and remove a vital organ only to be put on a permanent medicine to replace what my thyroid did for my body...??? Oh decisions. I'm almost positive I'm going to have surgery but I do keep putting it off. Since being diagnosed, I've realized that thyroid issues are way more common than I thought. A group of friends and I got together last Saturday night to celebrate a friends birthday. There were 5 of us and out of those 5, two friends were on medication for a hypo thyroid (doesn't produce enough THC, T3 and T4, and the other had Graves' and did the iodine treatment..and myself with Graves. Crazy right? Check your neck! Some symptoms of Hyper Thyroid are heat intolerance, anxiety, hand shakiness, heart palpitations, and sweating. Talk to your doctor if you have any of these!

In other news, we have adjusted to being a family of 4!!! it's amazing to see little E grow and learn every day. She truly has completed our family and Hudson is just over the moon for her. She will be 4 months on the 24th.

She started rolling over at 2 1/2 months
She is grabbing toys and has found her hands
She started sucking her thumb and self soothes (she started that around 2 1/2 months) BTW it's the freaking cutest thing EVER
She's eating 4 oz during the day and about 5 or 6 at night
She's finally on a decent schedule and will wake at midnight to eat and wake around 6:30 or 7!
She started sleeping in her crib at 3 months and the transition was super easy (thank you Lord)
She coos and gurgles and talks all the time
I got her to really laugh and giggle a few weeks ago. She is very ticklish :)
She's our little princess!
We love her daycare and her wonderful teachers!

Hudson is doing wonderful in school. He is reading and learning new words everyday! He went hunting with Cody and his grandpa the other weekend and Cody shot a deer! Hudson was so excited. We start T-ball again soon and he's so ready! He's a little crazy when he isn't involved in anything.