The Perez Family

Rodeo day at preschool

2009-02-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

This is the face I get most of the time I pull out the camera. This was the "cowboy" lunch at school, definitely a special occasion. When given this plate of food, both of the boys ate the oreos and cheetos as fast as they could and wouldn't touch the rest. There was an extra plate and Isaac was so excited about being a part of the class lunch. He loves E's school and is so excited that in the fall he gets to go, we just registered him for next year. On our ride around the Flying L Ranch in Bandera. Our own Uncle Mike was giving the tour and the boys loved getting to see all the dear running around. On another note...can you believe in 6 short months...Elijah is starting kindergarten! I am so excited for him because he is so excited, he has loved preschool and keeps saying all the time, "I get to go to school every day and no more rest time, yeah!!"

Holidays in a nutshell...

2009-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

So no updates in the last few months has led to this quick summary of the holidays... Jimmy's little niece Mariana, she is precious! The boy's Star Wars phase continues, but it made Christmas easy. As long as they got something star wars, everything else could have been trash and they wouldn't have cared. We got the boys out of bed one night to go look at Christmas lights. They thought it was cool for the first 30-45 minutes. Rosey's sisters and cousins. Together for Christmas fun and the Springers! Jimmy, Isaac and Elijah, with Rosey's brother, cousins, and Chance!

Halloween

2008-11-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Family Zoo Trip

2008-11-09T17:48:00.000-08:00

Isaac hanging like a monkey

Morgan & Isaac brushing a goat

Jimmy & Justin being silly

Cousins!

Elijah playing soccer

2008-11-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Birthday party @ Chuck E Cheese

2008-09-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

The birthday party went great, not one person couldn't make it, everyone we invited came! Elijah was so excited! We had 18 kids! You can probably tell that Star Wars is our obsession. It all started a couple months ago when we bought Lego Star Wars for him & Dad to play on the Xbox. He loves it and was so excited to get all the SW stuff he has been wanting.

Elijah's 5th birthday

2008-09-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little guy is 5! Where has the time gone? I love him so much, he is such a great kid. We have had a few days of celebrating now, today is his actual birthday. We had a birthday party with family & friends on Sunday at Chuck E Cheese, Aunt Laura & Uncle John came in yesterday for his bday and celebrated last night (got to have cupcakes at school too with all of his school friends) & today we celebrated him all day long. Needless to say, he's loving it! I have to go through my pics, it will probably span a few posts.

The Locator

2008-09-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

While flipping channels last night between watching the Hurricane Ike coverage I came across this show. It is a show that reunites people that have been missing for years. Two shows were on back to back and I was fascinated. One of the stories was about a girl born in 1979 in Garland, TX (just like myself) to a 16 yr. old mother (not this part). Her grandmother forced her mother to give her up for adoption but she actually went to a nurse at the hospital that was a friend of her grandmother's. At 3 days old this woman fled with her to Minnesota under a private adoption. She is now my age and has no information on her birth mother. They find her mother and come to find out she has two full blood sisters and a father. (The mom & dad are now divorced) To watch the reuniting is amazing, I can't even imagine finding out your mom & dad had children a few years later that they kept and you have missed out on everything all these years. Wow! Anyways pretty interesting reality television, check it out here.

2008-09-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Ike--please don't ruin my son's birthday party on Sunday. He will be so sad if we have to cancel it.

Elijah is back in school....

2008-09-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

So mature.

Elijah & one of his buddies, Caleb

Elijah & his teacher, Mrs. Cuthbert I can't believe that next year he will be in Kindergarten! WOW! His birthday being Sept. 16th, in TX you don't have a choice whether or not to start Kinder this year, Sept. 1st is the cut off. He will always be the oldest in the class and from everything I have heard, this is a good thing for a boy. He attends 3 days a week and loves it. He is beginning to read and it is so funny as I spell things to Jimmy trying to disguise what I am referring to and he catches on! This is a great school and I plan to send Isaac next year.

Fiesta Farm

2008-09-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Whitney & I joined my neighborhood playgroup at this farm and had a great time. Isaac was a little unsure of the pony until he saw Micah & Emmie ride. Doesn't she look cute!

What happens when Isaac uses markers with Elijah.....

2008-09-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

Vegas

2008-09-07T13:10:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Jimmy & I got away for a week without the kids last month. We had a great time in Vegas! He won a trip through Toyota for a couple days and we tacked on a few extra days to extend it. We relaxed a lot, laid by the pool, saw 2 shows, Danny Gaines and Phantom of the Opera. It was wonderful!

Mariana Elise

2008-09-05T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our first niece has arrived, she is absolutely precious! Congrats Stephen & Karin! I can't believe I don't have any pics of the two of you with your own child, sorry! Thanks for letting us visit and love on her. I couldn't have been more surprised with the boys reaction to their new cousin. I thought they would stay back and be shy but within 5 min. Elijah asked to hold her and didn't want to let go. It was absolutely precious. I love my boys!

Catching up with great friends.

2008-09-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

Kate & I's signature shot We had a wedding to attend the first day of our vacation in Dallas and that evening we had a couple hours to spare before we flew out to Vegas and some great friends that we hadn't seen in far too long came & met up with us. Thanks Skip & Kate, we love you guys!

July all wrapped up.

2008-09-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures to wrap up July. Dinner with Pawpaw at Floore's Country Store and a couple backyard shots that I took while the boys were playing.

Going way way back....

2008-09-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

As you can see I have been gone from the blogging world for awhile. I remember thinking when school ended in May..whatever will I do all summer? The summer is already over and I can't believe how fast it flew by. Grammy from Dallas visited us for a week in June and Grandpa Mark (who is now being renamed to Pawpaw, per Isaac) visited in July. Grammy came back in August & watched the boys for a week while Jimmy & I went on vacation to Vegas. Jimmy won a 3 day trip to Vegas through Toyota and we tacked on an extra 4 days and had a great time. Our first niece made her arrival in August, sweet Mariana Elise! My sister, Aunt Michelle came and visited us last week so put together all the fun family visits we had along with a lot of Sea World action and that's our summer in a nutshell. :) Stay tuned for lots of pictures!

Fun with Grandpa Mark

2008-07-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

We have had a good week with my Dad being in town. The boys love playing with him. We went downtown to the Riverwalk one day and realized it isn't stroller friendly, oops! Then it came a downpour. :( We had to walk 5 blocks, holding the kids hands and dragging the stroller to get back to our car, we decided it was our adventure of the day and laughed about it. We took him to Sea World too and had a blast feeding the dolphins, and watching the Shamu show.

Torticollis....

2008-07-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

is the reason you never heard back from me after last weekend. I had a normal day for myself on Tuesday, my back was a little sore on our way to Sea World but not too bad. Come evening my neck & back were sore, took some Aspirin and went to bed. Woke up at 2:30am Wed. & couldn't move my neck or back at all, just laying there was excruciating. I immediately started crying, I had never felt pain like that and been unable to move. Jimmy woke up, helped pull me out of bed, gave me aspirin and ice packs and started googling trying to figure out could be wrong. Called a nurse hotline, they said call an ambulance, it's the first sign of meningitis. It scared Jimmy & I horribly. I kept saying, "I have to get to the ER." The paramedics came and said I would have seen many other symptoms so don't worry about the meningitis. Grandma came over to stay with the kids while they were sleeping and off we went. The Dr. at the ER knew exactly, he touched my neck and it was horrible pain. He diagnosed me with the term above, gave me a shot, Vicodin and muscle relaxers. On the way home, I finally started loosening up. I stayed on the meds (which make you sleep!) non-stop. As soon as they were about to wear off, I would get stiff again. So from Wed. morning thru Fri. night I was out of it! The dr. said it would last a couple days but unfortunately I'm still not back to normal. I'm a lot better but still very sore and tight, I feel like my head weighs a ton and I can barely hold it up. Hopefully I will feel better quick, my Dad is coming in town tomorrow for the week. Spending his vacation time with us, yeah! I have to mention that my hubby won "dad & husband of the year" award that day (from me)! Got up at 2:30am with me, got home from the hospital at 7:45, out the door for work at 8:15, back home at 6:25 (with Sonic in hand) fed the boys & put them in the car for the circus & got home at 10:45 that night. We had circus tickets that had been planned for almost a month with the Morton family & the boys were so excited, he didn't want to disappoint them. Thanks honey!

Summer pics

2008-06-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pictures to hold everyone over until I can blog some more this weekend. This last picture is the story of my life....Isaac is always watching Elijah & does exactly what he does, says what he says. It can be really cute and frustrating at times when Elijah isn't being a good example. He looks up to his big brother so much, he adores him and as you can tell Elijah does too. I'm so glad they share a room, even though we have the room, it is just so cute to hear their conversations over the monitor before they go to sleep.

I know, I know, it's about time!!!

2008-06-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I am so behind in blogging. I didn't even look at the last date I posted. WOW exactly 2 months!

Fiesta San Antonio

2008-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

It's Fiesta time! Fiesta is a 10 day event that started back in 1891 with a parade to honor the heroes of the Alamo & the Battle of the San Jacinto. It is a huge tradition here and everyone gets really into it. Elijah's preschool was having a Fiesta day where they had a parade with their shoebox floats, made tortillas, created cascarones (confetti) eggs, hit a pinata, face painting, mexican lunch and much much more. I had no idea what really went into this shoebox float so luckily Grandma, Aunt Laura & Aunt T jumped right in. Here are a couple pics of his float...

Pic of the day

2008-04-17T11:31:00.001-07:00

Brothers having lunch

Isaac's first emergency

2008-04-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

I had just left the house on Monday for Girls Night Out with my MOPS group, picked up Jennifer & we were on our way. Jimmy calls, he sounds frantic, says to turn around that Isaac busted his head open. I can hear him screaming in the background. He then says call 911. What a horrible feeling! Jennifer prayed, God gave me peace and we rushed home. Apparently Isaac was getting off the couch had both hands on the coffee table, jumped down and his hands went out & he went face first into the coffee table. Just FYI--head wounds bleed A LOT! It would have been nice to know that before hand. Jimmy said he cleaned up a lot of it before I got home because he knew I would freak out if I walked in & saw it. The bleeding slowed down a lot by the time I got home. The paramedics showed up and put us at ease and just said he needed a couple stitches. Jimmy & I drove him over and it ended up to wide for glue which I was hoping for. They gave us two options just let it heal on it's own with some tape over it or hold him down let them give him a shot to numb it a little bit & stitch it up. After everything we decided it would just be cruel to put him through that (they wouldn't be able to deaden it all the way, yikes!) so off we went with a really happy kid with a busted head. He'll probably have a little scar but we already can see him coming up with a much better sorry to tell people later.

Our little T-ball player

2008-03-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to be embarking on a whole new world of sports and activities for the boys. This is such a blast! I told my Aunt Denise how excited we were & she said this was her fam's first year not doing baseball....they had 16 straight years with their 4 boys! Jimmy & I spent many evenings in Denton at her boys' games while we were dating....day dreaming about our own children. :) Elijah is playing at the same field that Jimmy & his siblings played many years of baseball...how cute is that!

A few March pictures

2008-03-29T14:03:00.001-07:00

Elijah dancing...just another happy morning in the Perez house :) Both boys dancing Boys ready for their Easter egg hunt

Elijah's first school report

2008-03-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

We had our first parent/teacher meeting yesterday at Elijah's preschool. His teacher is pretty shy so during drop off/pick up time there really isn't time to chat & they only do one meeting a year so I was really anxious to hear what she had to say. He got excellent on every part of his assessment!! He can write his name, knows all letters, sounds, numbers, shapes, colors, days of the week, knows the class prayer & class missionaries. He is ready to begin reading so we are going to start working on that. So she reaffirmed what we already thought...he's smart! :) Yea! We are really proud of the behavior part of the assessment too being that he is a boy & 4, they can get a little wild. She said that he loves to tell his ideas/stories (oh yeah he told my burned turkey Thanksgiving story including the fire dept coming to our house & everything!) Here are a few of her comments: "Does well listening without interrupting" "Leads others in great playtime activities & comes up with creative play ideas" "Very well at demonstrating self control, respectful, & courteous" "He is very much a class leader, the others look to his lead, he is kind to others and doesn't exclude them from play (apparently some of the other kids will tell each other they don't want to play with a specific kid) :( He does so well with all aspects of class, has fun things to offer and loves to create projects." She couldn't believe his drawings, she pulled out pictures that she had saved from the beginning of the year & compared them with his latest and it is incredible. He draws our minivan, dad's scions from work, our house & everything is full of details. These pictures are easily identifiable, let's just say much better than I can do! We have this report in writing so we'll definitely have to save this! Not one negative mark. We took him to Magic Time Machine last night for his report & had a great time. Our waiter was Denis the Menace, which he had no idea who that was, just thought the way he acted was weird. Luckily a pirate kept walking by and a clown lady that made him a dinosaur out of balloons so he ended up thinking the place was cool.

Issac is 2!

2008-03-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Just a few shots from his party on Saturday! I can't believe how time flies, he's not our baby anymore. He is just so cute & lovable, still cuddles in our laps and gives great hugs and kisses. After prayers at bedtime, he says "night night, love you" as we walk out. He does have his little stinker moments but that is to be expected...aren't the 2's supposed to be terrible? He & Elijah really have a great time together, they still share a room and it is the best thing. They love it! They talk & frequently laugh, it's just them being brothers and my wish is that they will grow up very close.

Pictures from the last couple weeks.....

2008-03-03T21:03:00.000-08:00

My brown eyed boy! The boys went to a birthday party at the bowling alley last weekend, it was their first time and they had a lot of fun.

Thanking God for my Valentine!

2008-02-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed to have a sweet & caring husband. He brought home a dozen roses, Olive Garden to go & a bottle of wine. The best gift of all came in my card when he said that he loves that our marriage keeps getting better. That would have been enough for me. I feel the same way too, we are going on 6 yrs and it gets better every day. Love you honey! :)

Future Couple

2008-02-15T20:19:00.000-08:00

Emma & Isaac My dear friend Jennifer & I both have our older boys in the same preschool so we have started switching out with the younger ones so that each of us get a break for a few hours a week. It is the cutest thing to have these kids together, they get along so well and really love each other. You can actually get more done at home the day you have the both of them because they play so well together.

Rodeo Week at Elijah's school

2008-02-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Goodbye January....Hello February!!

2008-02-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

This past month has been really rough. With the funeral, the whole family being ill, a health scare with my Dad, January seemed to go on and on. I am so excited about a new month and I love February! The 14th is Valentine's and I know it is a played up holiday but I really do love it, I love red & pink, the sweet cards, candy, the whole bit. Although I do have a husband that is sweet the whole year through so I am pretty lucky. :) The 26th is my birthday and I still love birthdays! I have a few friends that don't like them anymore because of their age but it doesn't bother me. I will be 29 this year, just one more year before I hit the big 30, WOW! PS...keep it on the down low but Jimmy turns 30 this year, October 1st is going to be awesome! Here are a couple pics I got of the boys last night at bedtime in their Spiderman pj's. Isaac doesn't like to be told what to do...it wasn't that hard...."Look at Mommy and smile!"

Finally on the mend!

2008-01-29T07:52:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone for the prayers, phone calls and emails wishing us to get better, we finally are! Surprisingly everyone survived Mommy not getting off the couch for a few days, I ended up with strep too!

Update...the Perez house is quarantined.

2008-01-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

After I wrote my last blog on Monday night I was feeling hopeful that we were almost through the woods but I soon realized not yet! Both of the boys were up almost that whole night, once an hour. Tuesday morning, Elijah had another symptom that I won't go into detail, just gross, you get the drift. Then he says his ear hurts so off to the doctor we go. Isaac was checked for flu, it came back negative. Elijah had an ear infection so off to the pharmacy for our one antibiotic. I dropped it off, we had lunch and then went back to do our grocery shopping. The pharmacy was backed up....imagine that! While we are making our way through the store, I am hit with the worst case of chills and body aches I have ever had. We were out of groceries at home so I had to persevere! Get home, put the boys down for a nap, unload groceries & then hop in bed. 30 minutes later Jimmy walks in (early from work) with fever, aches, sore throat...the whole bit. If you know Jimmy at all then you know he had to feel terrible. He never takes a sick day. We had just talked at lunch and we were both fine. Crazy! We both laid around all night and then called the dr. this morning. They could see us both at 10:15. Thanks to my sister-in-law Karin for advising me that it sounded like the flu so go get swabbed quick so you can get on Tamiflu. So basically....Jimmy has strep throat, Elijah has an ear infection, & Isaac & I have the flu! I tested negative for the flu but the Dr. said I was classic case and that the test doesn't catch all strings so she said Isaac had the same string of the flu that I had. Off we went to drop off 5 prescriptions!!! We are in bad shape!

Please no more fever!

2008-01-21T21:12:00.000-08:00

Things around the Perez house had been pretty chaotic. We spent the majority of last week taking it slow, resting and letting everything that we had just been through sink in. Then out of no where, Elijah wakes up from his nap on Friday afternoon running fever. When he runs fever, you know it, he won't get off the couch. We have been stuck at home ever since...it just won't go away! He doesn't have any other symptoms and I have heard way too many times "It's just a virus, it just has to run its course" for me to rush to the Dr. Poor kid, he didn't want to sleep in his bed last night, he said we were too far away. We convinced him we would hear him over the monitor if he needed us but then I woke up in the middle of the night & he was asleep next to our bed with his pillow & blanket. Guess he had the last word. It made its way over to Isaac today, he woke up from his nap with fever! We watched cousin Brandon today while Mommy had to work so if Brandon can escape our house without running fever then he has a pretty good immune system. Just a couple pics of the kids coloring & painting (while the fever was broken)! I'm not sure of Elijah's new facial expression & hand gesture for photos...???

We miss you Dima.

2008-01-13T07:48:00.000-08:00

Our hearts are broken as we have lost our 16 yr. old cousin Dima, who was like a little brother to us. He passed away Wednesday morning due to a brain aneurysm. But we have hope and know that he is with Christ and we will see him again. Visitation is at 5pm today at Simplicity Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held at Eagles Nest Christian Fellowship tomorrow at 1:00 P.M. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery. Click here for the obituary and click here for the scholarship fund that Jimmy is working on. Please keep our family in your prayers.

Morgan Faith

2007-12-31T07:04:00.000-08:00

Our dear cousin's, Justin & Sara are in town from Tennessee and came by last night to visit. Their little girl, Morgan is too cute for words. I adore her! She is the happiest little girl I have ever met, it doesn't matter what time it is, she is content and smiling all the time. For instance these pictures were taken around 11pm! *Note....Isaac isn't in the pictures....he is 4 months older than Morgan and there is no way he could have been up, he would be a nightmare. In the last pic, she is watching Elijah box on the WII.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, we sure did!

2007-12-30T17:26:00.001-08:00

Christmas was great this year, it really is the best when we can see both sides of the family during the holidays. My adorable cousin, Lindsay got married on the 22nd in Dallas so we stayed over and spent Christmas Eve with my family in Garland and came back home to SA late that night. Jimmy had told me that he hadn't had a chance to shop so not to expect any Christmas gifts from him. Just as we are pulling up to our house late Christmas Eve night he said I didn't get a chance to wrap your present so I guess I'll give it to you now. :0 The garage door opens and there is a mini-van backed in staring at me! He is so sneaky and wonderful! Oh so generous and the best husband ever! So I am officially a minivan MOM, guess it's time to get Elijah signed up for soccer! Santa dropped off a WII for our family and it is so much fun!! I beat Jimmy the other night at bowling and he wasn't too happy about it, I told him it was the first and probably only time I will ever beat him at any game so he shouldn't be too disappointed.

My thanksgiving story...

2007-12-11T08:17:00.001-08:00

is pretty funny, I haven't been able to blog about it yet so stay tuned....it's coming soon!

Kids & Bath time

2007-12-11T08:11:00.001-08:00

Thank you to the pediatrician that was on the Today show this morning....she said 3 baths a week for Toddlers & Older children is plenty! WOOHOO! If you are a mom, you know what bath time is like, I have never been a parent that bathes every night and now I have back up for it, instead of feeling guilty or lazy for it! Even more so she said water dries out their skin. Here's a link: http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&vid=2e541162-0289-4cf0-8bfe-730889cd4ac7

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-20T07:09:00.000-08:00

Well I must be growing up....we are hosting Thanksgiving this year! You have no idea how excited I am about this, I love to cook and have everyone over! I will be making my very first turkey, using Kidd Kraddick's recipe....my favorite radio dj & trying my hand at chocolate pies for the first time. It's a Burt family tradition that I am carrying on. Wish me luck! :)

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T08:49:00.000-07:00

Elijah aka "football player" & Isaac aka "race car driver"

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from our family's first visit to a pumpkin patch. It was a lot of fun.

Eliljah's 4th Birthday

2007-09-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

Elijah shocked his birthday morning, looking at his present.The new playset!

We threw a big party last Sunday to break in the new house for Elijah's 4th birthday. We had lots of family & friends come celebrate with us, thank you to everyone who came & for all of the thoughtful gifts! Especially Len E & Michelle from Denton, college friends of ours that we haven't seen in awhile.

Addison helping Elijah open his presents.

Elijah & Caleb sitting at the new picnic table that John, Laura & their boys made us, thank you!!

Uncle Stephen & IsaacMommy helping Elijah blow out the candles.

They repeat everything!

2007-09-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well today we are all ready to go swimming with our friends, the Smith's. Our lunches are packed, beach bag ready, I put our stuff in the front seat of the car. Elijah's following as I get Isaac up from his nap, walk to the car, open the door and there are NO CAR SEATS! I gasped as I remember we put them in Jimmy's car over the weekend. I turned to Elijah and he asks "What's wrong Mom?" I try to explain that Daddy accidentally took the car seats to work; he's devastated that he can't go swimming. I try to quickly recover (hoping to hold a temper tantrum at bay) and say let's have a picnic in the backyard & turn on the sprinkler! :) It worked, the boys had fun! Fast forward to tonight....Elijah is riding in the car with Jimmy and he says, "Dad, why did you take our car seats to work?" Jimmy goes on to tell him that it was an accident and he's sorry that he didn't make it swimming with his friends. Elijah in his pouring on the guilt voice tells him "It makes me sad when you do that Daddy." Do you think he's heard those words from me a few times, quite possibly!

10 year reunion!

2007-09-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well it's officially been 10 yrs. since Jimmy & I graduated high school. We are headed to his reunion tonight and mine is Oct.26-28. I guess I am getting the better end of the deal...only having to hang out with strangers for one night, my reunion is a full weekend! If there are any funny stories...I'll post them later.

House pics finally!

2007-09-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Ignore the color on some of these pictures, my camera is really old!

New house pics coming soon....

2007-09-06T16:29:00.001-07:00

stay tuned.

Elijah's 1st day of preschool

2007-09-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

Elijah only has 2 years left until he starts Kindergarten. To be sure that he is ready for it we found an excellent preschool at Oak Hills Church. It is Wednesday and Friday mornings and yesterday was the 1st day, we got up early, packed his lunch and off he went. As most of you know Elijah is very independent. He walked right in, waved bye to Isaac & I and didn't look back. I think he loved it because when I returned he was devastated, he didn't want to leave. He is such a good kid, I would actually prefer to take him with me to run errands over Isaac which is why it makes me sad when he acts this way because it just isn't him. :( He just really hates leaving places when he's having fun. Don't misunderstand me, I love Isaac! Just to me personally at this stage Elijah is easier, he's potty trained, no stroller is needed and he can jump in & out of the car by himself except for buckling the seat belt. He can also carry bags! :) I'll post a pic of him at school here soon since another Mom had to take the picture since I left my camera at home!

Feeling like royalty

2007-08-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

We went for our walk-through on Thursday and it was a wonderful feeling to pull up to our soon to be home and see a huge "welcome home" sign across our garage door, the sign in the yard read "celebration in progress" with balloons tied to it and a red carpet, yes I said a red carpet! had been rolled out from the sidewalk to the door. I was in shock....could this really be for me? Wow! Once I walked inside I was even more blown away, the house was complete, everything in tip top shape, spic-n-span clean and a goodie basket was sitting on the bar. Mind you everything we had heard up to this point were horror stories (the house being a mess, blue tape mark ups still not completed and taking forever.) Everything we had noticed just a couple weeks ago was complete! It was such a good feeling to know that our builder wasn't trying to get items passed us without us noticing. We ended up with just a couple of cosmetic things for them to fix but nothing major, we are set to close this Thursday at 8am, can't wait! We love Lennar!

See the resemblance?

2007-08-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

While in Dallas we visited the AAC to see the circus with my mom (Grammy) & Aunt Michelle. Elijah wasn't too excited yet...this was before the fun began!

We love our Great Grandmother's!

2007-08-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

After a wedding in Texarkana last weekend, the boys & I spent the week in Dallas. We had a great time visiting with family and friends. The boys got to spend some quality time with their two great-grandmother's (on my side of the family). We love you Jojo & Nanell.

I love MOPS!

2007-08-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

I am entering my 3rd year of being involved with MOPS, this year I have joined the leadership team doing Registration/PR. I feel so blessed to have found this wonderful group. I started when I was a stay at home mom and didn't know many people in San Antonio. My group this last year was amazing, I am so blessed by each of them. If your a Mommy and aren't involved with MOPS, I highly encourage you to! You can click on the above link to find a group in your area.

Our new house

2007-08-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Jimmy & I went by yesterday to check on the progress. I took some pics to share and to go in a lovely scrapbook, that I probably won't ever create... :) This slideshow is the closest it will ever come to a scrapbook. My favorite part of this house is my master bath. My old bathroom was just your simple small tub/shower combo with a single sink and counter, pretty small. My new bath is huge!! Pretty much the size of a bedroom with a garden tub/separate shower, the toilet is enclosed!, double sinks, & our huge closet and linen closet are all within my bathroom. I even have my attic pull down in my closet so I can throw anything up there all by myself.

1st family trip to the beach

2007-07-30T13:47:00.001-07:00

We took our first trip to the beach this weekend. We have been talking about driving down since we moved here 3 1/2 yrs ago but we always bring it up on Sunday afternoons after the weekends over. This time we did it! We drove down Sat. afternoon, spent the night at a great hotel in Corpus overlooking the bay. Got up Sunday morning, headed to the local Cracker Barrel for breakfast and spent the rest of the day at the beach. We had such a great time, the boys had never been to the beach. They loved playing in the sand with Dad, especially burying each other and then laying on the shore and letting the waves hit them. I can't believe this is only 3 hours away!

31 days to go!

2007-07-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. Life has been pretty busy! We had been in the process of building a home with Ryland over the last few months and were due to move in early August. We put our house on the market...I mean Jimmy did. Yes, he's a realtor now! Sells cars by day and houses by night. Our house unexpectedly sold in 6 days! We had to be out by July 15th. In the midst of this we were having second thoughts on our choice to build with Ryland, the house, the neighborhood, etc. I was out driving around one day with the boys just taking a look to see what else was out there and I came across a lovely neighborhood. About 5 miles outside of town, Lennar was building, Kallison Ranch. I loved it instantly, bigger house, lots more features and they are a great builder. Thanks Zac & Whit for the recommendation! Also to Skip & Kate who by chance were in town the weekend we were up in the air about what to do so they helped us decide! So this house wasn't due to be ready until the end of August. What do you do when your about to be homeless for 6 weeks? Put all your belongings in storage & move in with your in-laws, of course! They let us stay here 3 1/2 yrs ago when we first moved to SA for 6 weeks but Elijah was a baby, a little easier then. Now we have 2 kids that create a circus everywhere they are, so sweet! :) I think Grandma & Grandpa are enjoying it though! We're excited about our new house, we're closing on the 30th!

Relaxing

2007-07-12T08:40:00.001-07:00

Isaac can be so rowdy one minute and then the next he can be so laid back. He's 16 months now and gets up in the rocking chair by himself and just kicks back and relaxes every once in awhile. I think Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on, so can we blame him?

Bored?

2007-07-12T08:23:00.001-07:00

We are in the process of moving so the boys have been a little bored. We are out of this house on Sunday, closing Monday. Our house sold in 5 days! Moving in with Jimmy's parents for about 6 weeks until our new house in Kallison Ranch is ready! I'll try to keep everyone up to date. Just a pic of the boys playing on the stroller, being silly. For some reason whenever the car seats & stroller are pulled in the house, it seems like so much more fun than being in them normally.

Bueno kids

2007-07-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

I love Bueno & my kids love Bueno too! Don't worry I try to have a healthy balance, just once a week, is that so bad? Isaac, aka Mr. Independent has to hold his own party burrito and take bites all by himself. It's so funny to watch because he still has a baby face and eats like an adult.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

2007-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky, I have the best husband in the whole world! He is also the best daddy to Elijah & Isaac! Over the last 5 years we have encountered happy, sad, hard and joyful times and I look forward to many more memories. I love you honey!

Friends for 18 Years and Counting!

2007-06-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

We have been so lucky these past couple months that John has had to come to San Antonio for work. Rachel & Reed came and visited for almost a week back at the end of April and then got to come for another day this week! Here are a couple pics from this last visit. It is so much fun to get together because Elijah & Reed are great buddies, they play together so well. I was even "shushed" once because as Elijah said "Mom, We're talking." You wouldn't think many 3 yr olds actually have conversations but they do, it's really funny. Oh, Isaac especially loves Aunt Rach's visits because she just adores him and he does her just as much. They have a special bond, he gets spoiled with her around.

Sea World Summer is just beginning...

2007-05-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

We bought our passes this last weekend and enjoyed the nice day we had. The boys got totoplay in the sand pit and see Shamu! Isaac thought it was pretty funny when Shamu came over and splashed us, Elijah didn't until he realized it was Shamu that had gotten him all wet.

Fiesta Parade

2007-05-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been forever, life has been so busy lately! Here are a few photos of Elijah at the San Antonio Fiesta Parade. If you know Elijah, you know how much he loves Clifford so he thought it was so cool to see a huge Clifford in the parade!

More Easter pics...

2007-04-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Finally Isaac's 1st birthday pictures....

2007-04-02T18:29:00.000-07:00

As you can tell he loves chocolate! He proceeded to lick the tray after he made a huge mess!

Incredible Pizza

2007-03-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

Our new favorite place for the whole family....great food and lots of fun! Check their website for the location closest to you http://www.incrediblepizza.com/ I should get paid for this kind of marketing :)

Firefighter

2007-03-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Elijah got to take a tour of a firetruck, could he look any more excited wearing the helmet?

What happens when Elijah is taking pictures...

2007-03-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the happy couple!

2007-03-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

My dearest cousin/sister, Lindsay is engaged!! I am so thrilled and honored that she asked me to serve as her Matron of Honor . They are getting married at the same place where Jimmy & I did almost 5 years ago, so very special. Congratulations Chance & Lindsay!!

Almost walking!!

2007-03-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

He has been taking steps since before his birthday but he gets so excited and worked up about his new trick that he does a gradual nose dive after a couple steps and then cracks up laughing. He brings such joy & humor to this family every day, I guess that's why his name means, He laughs. Oh yeah do you like his one sock...he pulls off his socks constantly and chews on them. We can leave the house for a quick trip and by the time we get there, I'll have to search for his shoes, he throws them around in the car. With a smirk on his face, he'll have two wet socks hanging out of his mouth.

Silly boys....

2007-03-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Isaac dumped the contents of the basket out like he does every day then decided it looked like a cool place to sit. Once Elijah saw him, he thought the same thing.

Isaac's 1st birthday pics.....

2007-03-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

coming soon! I had a camera failure so I am waiting to get the pics from Grandma.

Isaac is ......

2007-02-28T20:46:00.000-08:00

turning 1! I can't believe my baby is having his 1st birthday tomorrow. I look back at this picture like it was only yesterday. Thank you Lord for ISAAC!

My 28th birthday

2007-02-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed my birthday so much this year! I planned a girls weekend and we had such a great time together just hanging out. Thanks to the 8 of you for spending it with me, I am so blessed by each of you! As well to my husband for filling in my absence and then taking me on a date last night, he's so good to me!! I love you honey!

Cousins hanging out in their diapers

2007-02-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

Do they look alike?

2007-02-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Isaac wears all of Elijah's hand me downs so when Isaac was wearing this outfit yesterday I remembered this picture of Elijah.

San Antonio Rodeo

2007-02-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

Jimmy & I went to the rodeo this week. I had to take a picture of this girl barrel racing...I'm not sure I'll ever understand this sport nor a few of the other events at the rodeo. A big highlight was the Brooks & Dunn concert that followed, I didn't realize that most of the country songs I know are theirs.

Who cares about the Superbowl?

2007-02-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

Isaac doesn't even care that Grandpa & Grandma just got a great big tv and we're watching the Superbowl!

Isaac's first haircut

2007-02-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

He is only 11 months old but he had wings and everyone always referred to him as a "she." Not anymore! I left out the actual pictures of us cutting his hair, he was screaming so much it looked like we were torturing him.

Arctic Freeze

2007-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

I would post adorable pics of our kids in the snow had we gotten any like the weather man predicted. Everyone was so excited because the last snow San Antonio had was 1985! Instead we got ice. The city shut down literally for almost 2 days, we were stuck inside and the news preempted all shows to keep us up to date on the "Artic Freeze." Woohoo!

Bueno!

2007-01-13T20:08:00.000-08:00

Good stuff! There are a couple dining places that I had to learn to live without once we moved to San Antonio, this being the biggest one, but it's all good now! Bueno opened their first SA location two weeks ago, less than 10 min. from our house. Oh yeah the family was there for opening day! I know everyone's laughing, go right on ahead. :-)

Isaac, my sleeper

2007-01-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

I didn't think I would ever say this but Isaac is quite the sleeper. On one hand the last 10 months have flown by but I remember at the beginning thinking is he ever going to sleep? This is Isaac this morning after 13 hrs. of sleep! I know I am so lucky! :-) I will probably be putting a post of him walking here soon...he is standing alone but hasn't gotten brave enough to take steps.

Future girlfriend?

2007-01-10T20:49:00.000-08:00

Elijah & Addison hanging out, playing foosball. Aren't they cute!

Elijah, the speech teacher

2007-01-10T20:42:00.000-08:00

We're driving in the car the other day and Elijah tells Isaac "say dada." He tells him to about 5 times, Isaac meanwhile is babbling but wouldn't say it. Feeling frustrated, Elijah says "ok, in spanish!" Needless to say, Jimmy & I were cracking up. We know this is just the beginning of many hilarious conversations between the two of them.

Spurs game

2007-01-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

We got to go to the Spurs game on Sunday afternoon and sit in the suite, which is the best way to take a 3 yr. old! Elijah pointed Tony Parker out immediately, we're so proud! :-) The sleepy boy crashed in the car afterwards.

Elijah's 1st pair of cowboys boots

2006-12-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

Elijah & Christmas

2006-12-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well I got sidetracked a couple days ago and I'm just getting back to this and realized I didn't post any pics of Elijah at Christmas....he loves his CARS stuff!

A few pics....

2006-12-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

Daddy & Isaac being silly...All the girl cousins...then Nanell & Isaac.

Isaac loves diapers and so does Mom!

2006-12-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS!!

2006-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas in Dallas and we have a few pictures to share.

Worn out!

2006-12-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

I got a late start on Christmas shopping this year and trying to get it accomplished with two kids is even more difficult. We hit the mall at 11 today trying to get a couple more presents knocked out.... needless to say I left with two tired and cranky boys, and a couple shopping bags. YEAH for nap time!!!

What's up with Santa?

2006-12-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

This picture doesn't tell the story behind it so let me go on.....We went to the mall today to get the boys picture made with Santa. We waited through the line once and Elijah kept saying "no, i don't want to" over and over again then when it was our turn, he held onto the gate and threw a fit. I decided no big deal, let's go. But of course once we walked off and I told him we didn't have to, he changed his mind. The bribe was Teddy Grahams and he would only agree to stand next to the chair. What is so scary about Santa? Oh and then we had another melt down afterwards because he told Santa that he wanted CARS stuff and he didn't get anything right then! Luckily Isaac complied and smiled!

The boys just being plain cute!

2006-12-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

The Wedding

2006-12-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

It's been wonderful being a part of and watching God bring these two together. It is so sweet knowing that God is the center of their relationship. Their reception was a big party, we had so much fun!!

The babies of the family

2006-12-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Isaac, Morgan & Brandon in their matching pj's

Rehearsal Dinner

2006-12-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

Perfect opportunity for a photo....Kevin, Theresa and Brandon with Justin, Sara & Morgan (cousins from Tennessee). Come back soon!

Busy weekend!

2006-12-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy, it's time to catch up on a few blogs....

Gotta love GIRLS!

2006-11-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

I have two almost nieces, Reese & Morgan. Reese is the daughter of our best friend's, Skip and Kate. Morgan is Justin & Sara's (Jimmy's cousin) little girl. Aren't they precious! I love these little girls!