My Husband Rocks

It is official, my husband is now a real estate BROKER!

Signed, One proud wife. :)

Cute Andrew Stories

I always forget so many cute stories when I sit down to blog and by the time I remember I am far away from my computer and they never make it into the blog, so this morning I started writing them down on a sticky note so that I would not forget to blog about them tonight.

First, an update: we have received our replacement stroller! Yeah! Andrew is very excited about his new "buggy ride" as he calls it. He was very upset that the other buggy ride was broken. He told us last night before bed that the other buggy was going to the doctor. He also recapped the events of the day by describing that bad car that hit us and that made him bump his head. We tried to reassure him that everything was ok, that we have a brand new buggy and that he is safe -- and that seemed to do the trick. It is so amazing to me the memory that he has these days! He even made reference to the buggy we used to have that was blue (we had borrowed it from our friend Mr. McG) before we got the red double that we have now. He hasn't ridden in that stroller for a year now and he has only seen it once at the McG's house, but he still remembers it. He also told Tyler's teacher at school today about the car that hit his buggy and made him bump his head - he has clearly not forgotten about the accident!

Cute story #1: The Toys R Us Catalog

Andrew noticed a big green catalog that had toys on it and he asked to read his "magazine", so I gave him the catalog to read in the car and he proceeded to flip through the catalog and describe all of the toys that he liked to me. He even told me (without being prompted) which ones he wanted for his birthday, even though his birthday is months and months away. The whole thing just reminded me what a big boy Andrew has become! It was really too cute to watch.

Cute Story #2: Days of the Week and Months of the Year

Andrew is learning his days of the week and months of the year at school. He even sings a cute song about the days of the week, except he always leaves out Saturday ... but he says "Sunday Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday Friday, of the week!" Now imagine the previous words being sung by a 3 year old with a little lisp. I need to video it because I have not done his performance justice! He has also started reciting the months of the year and he asks us when our birthdays are and when Tyler's birthday is, but after we tall him he insists that my birthday is in February.

Andrew has also started to receive homework at school (much to Doug's chagrin). He gets one assignment each week due on Friday and I am happy to report that he has received check pluses on both of the assignments he has turned in thus far ... clearly his mommy's little boy!

Meet Jack

Jack-o-lantern that is!

We had fun this afternoon helping Andrew carve his pumpkin. We made a pentagon on the pumpkin's head to take out all of the seeds and "mess" as Andrew called it. Then we made triangles for the eyes and nose and a jagged smile. Andrew watched and helped Daddy carve the pumpkin and I drew the face and took out the seeds.

We have one more large pumpkin that Andrew wants to carve, so we may do that before Halloween. I am looking forward to taking tripod photos tonight of the glowing pumpkin! After Andrew's nap we are going to make ghosts out of footprints - what fun! Andrew is so looking forward to making ghosts that he didn't even complain about taking his nap because he was so excited about what we were going to do AFTER his nap!

Here are the photos from our carving session:

So much for a quiet Sunday ...

Sunday started out like any other Sunday. Tyler woke up to nurse around 6:00 a.m. and we slept in until about 8:00 a.m. after that. My mom came over right before 9:00 a.m. and fed Tyler a banana while Andrew and I got ready to go for our walk. By 9:30 a.m. or so we were out the door with both dogs ready for our walk. About 1.5 miles into our walk we were about to turn left when an older woman in a van ran a stop sign and hit me and the stroller. Thank God the boys, Indy and I are all ok. My mom and Major were not hit and are also ok. The stroller has seen better days - both of the back wheels were bent. I am just so thankful we were in our heavy duty stroller because the stroller itself took the brunt of the hit. The constable was called by one of the neighbors and the woman was written a ticket for failure to control speed and to yield to a pedestrian. The woman was coming into the neighborhood to see her son and his family, so the son came out while the police were writing the accident report and he volunteered to replace our stroller today, so I am hopeful that he will take care of it today, since I love, love, love that stroller. Otherwise, I will have to call her insurance company.

With the craziness of the morning behind us, we are planning to relax for the rest of the day and perhaps run a few errands. I also want to carve a pumpkin with Andrew today and I will post photos of that later. Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day around the house. The whole family took an afternoon nap, watched the UT game (with frustration even though they pulled it out) cleaned house a bit, played outside and then watched the penguin movie Surf's Up for our evening entertainment. After a very busy weekend last weekend it has been nice to hang out around the house. The boys are doing great. Tyler is getting bigger every day and is trying to pull up on things now. He also really wants to stand up, but just end up with his butt in the air. It is a cute sight to see!

Doug and I went to see Maroon 5 on Friday night so we had a date night on Friday. We both struggled to remember the last time we went to a concert -- it was definitely before Andrew was born! We had a great time and Adam Levine and crew put on a good show, although I thought that the last song was anti-climatic (they didn't end with a big hit).

Ok, so that was the weekend rewind (get it - Sunday to Friday :) ...)

Here are some photos of the pups and one cute one of Andrew from last weekend. The pups went to the vet this week for shots and we were really disheartened to find out that Major has lost even more weight. He was down to 65 pounds - which means that he has lost 30 pounds. Poor pup - he is such a great dog and it makes me so sad that he is going through this. The vet actually gave him a free steroid shot to see if it would help him to eat more. It seems to have helped (or it did at first) but he ate too fast and then threw it all up --arrrghh. Needless to say, we are just trying to love him and spoil him and we are always in search of new dog food and treats that will trip his trigger. If anyone knows of a power bar for dogs, let me know. I figure he can keep a little bit of food down, so I need a treat that has all of the nutrients he needs that is also very high in calories. Allie - any ideas? (Allie makes dog treats for her pup Homer)






Where is Indy???

Weekend Fun

The week days are so busy just doing the normal daily things like dinners and bath time that the we really enjoy our downtime on the weekends to spend quality time as a family, whether it is hanging around the house or doing something special.

Last weekend we went to the Italian Festival with my parents (or as we refer to them - the Nonni) where we had good food, great company and lots of fun chasing after Andrew as he rode the little train, rode a pony, went to the petting zoo, watched a puppet show and went on the pint sized ferris wheel. Andrew always has so much fun with his Nonni!

This weekend we went to a picnic that was hosted by my company's leadership network. There was a DJ, catered BBQ, golf, paddle boats, bubbles, a moonwalk, super slide, clowns, a hay ride, hokey pokey, etc. Needless to say, Andrew had a great time! In fact, he was having so much fun that he didn't want to stop to take a break. Every time we tried to get him to take a break and drink some water, we would turn around and he was running off to another activity. We kept having to lecture him about telling mommy and daddy where he was going (there were several play structures right next to our pavilion where we could easily see him, but we wanted him to tell us when he moved from one to another) and if the activity he wanted to do was far away he had to ask one of us to take him. He would be good for a while and then he would forget our rules ... he is just getting so big and so independent!

Tyler was such a good boy at the picnic - he let lots of people hold him and he took a good nap in the Ergo on my chest. He didn't fuss at all, even though his schedule was way off. Needless to say, everyone thought he was adorable ... and they thought Andrew was darn handsome too!

I relish the days that we get to spend having fun the whole day together and it just makes me realize even more that I am one lucky mama!

My Super Heroes

Another month has come and gone and Tyler is 8 months old! As you can see from the recently posted photos, Tyler is now sitting up quite well on his own. He is a super crawler at this point and he is on the verge of figuring out how to get to a sitting position all on his own. Tyler has even started trying to pull to a standing position on occasion. He is still a super eater and we just started giving him Gerber puffs (they sort of melt in your mouth) and he loves them. He has figured out how to grab them but he is not sure where they go quite yet!

Andrew still loves his baby brother and proudly introduces him wherever we go -- it is really quite sweet! He tells me all of the time that he loves his baby Tyler and replies "yes" when I ask if Tyler is his best friend. Nothing would make me happier than for them to end up as the best of friends! Andrew seems to be adjusting well to Tyler's new found mobility and the new foods that he is eating. I say this because we spent a lot of time trying to prepare Andrew for Tyler's birth telling him all of things that baby's can and cannot do and now that Tyler is doing some of those things, I was a little worried that Andrew might react negatively, but there has been no reason to worry (and who's surprised since Andrew always rolls with the punches). As usual, Andrew is a total champ! He never ceases to amaze me with his funny personality, his wit and his charm.

The boys are going to be super heroes for Halloween. Andrew is going to be Spiderman (by request) and Tyler (because I wanted them to coordinate) is going to be and Superman. They look too cute together:

Photos of the Boys

One Poopy Day (literally)!

Be forewarned, this post is all about poop ... it's not pretty, but it is pretty funny!

Tyler woke up as usual around 5:45 a.m. for his morning meal. He fussed a bit but he was not particularly upset. Doug went upstairs to get him and mumbled something over the monitor that I did not hear, so I just waited in a the dark in a a half-asleep stooper for Doug to bring Tyler downstairs. When Doug got downstairs, he said something to the effect of, "didn't you hear me? we have a 'situation'!" I rubbed my eyes and saw through my non-contact wearing sleep filled-eyes, Doug carrying Tyler (wrapped in a blanket, holding him by the top of the blanket like a stork would carry a baby) in one hand and a mess of sheets and blankets in his other hand. Doug laid Tyler on the bed on top of a clean blanket and I saw exactly what the situation was ...

Tyler was covered in poop! His diaper was filled front to back and then some. He had poop on his feet, his clothes and even his head - although amazingly enough - there was no poop on his hands. I have no idea how he got poop on his head but not on his hands - these are life's big questions!

Fast forward an hour - we are about to pull out of the driveway to head to work and school when Andrew says, "I have to poopy!". You're kidding me, right? Well, there was no way that I could ask him to hold it, so we got him out of his car seat and sent him back inside to use the potty. I am glad that I didn't make him wait because we encountered a bunch of unexpected traffic on the way to school - I can only imagine what sort of poopy situation we would have had on our hands if Andrew had not gone potty before we left the house.

We made it to school. albeit, behind schedule and I thought the poop was behind us ... but I got a call from Andrew's school at 10:45 saying that we needed to pick him up because he had multiple loose BMs. I have had enough poop today to last a lifetime!

Football anyone?

It is nearly 9:00 p.m. on Sunday evening and I am exhausted! The boys are in bed and the house is (relatively) clean. The boys bags are ready for school and the grocery list has been nearly finished for Douglas. Doug is folding laundry and we are watching Thursday's CSI because I fell asleep watching it Thursday night after we put the boys to bed. It has been a very busy weekend which was preceeded by a very busy week - it is no wonder that I am so tired! Don't our lives sound very exciting???

Now for the update ...

The boys are doing great! Tyler is quite the explorer these days. Tonight we were all playing in the office and for some reason, Douglas, Andrew and I all ended up in the living room. We were not in the living room for more than a minute and who had come to join us? That's right ... Tyler must have thought that we had forgotten about him, so he crawled his way to us.

Tyler spends most of his evenings these days crawling around on the floor looking for toys that we don't want him to play with - and invariably when he find one, we just take it away and he starts his hunt for another. Andrew seems to be enjoying being able to play with Tyler now that he is a bit more mobile and more fun.

Andrew has fully transitioned to the preschool class at school and I immediately saw a huge difference in how the class is managed. The learning and disciple concepts are much more structured and the expectations for the children appear to be highter. I was reminiscing with Douglas that this is really the biggest transition he has had since he moved in to the 1 year old room and he started sleeping on a cot instead of a crib and he started eating at a table (feeding himself) instead of in a high chair with assistance from the teachers. It seems like yesterday that he made that transition. Now he is saying things like (literally) "blah blah blah" and "shame on you". I am not sure where the "blah blah blah" came from, but I know that he got "shame on you" from Mom Mom. She said something to the effect of "shame on me" to Andrew because she forgot to do something and he latched on to the phrase. What is our lesson from this? If you don't want Andrew to say it and repeat it over and over and over for the entire world to hear (regardless of how innocent the statement was in the first place), then don't say it in front of him!

Indy is doing really well and I think that she has fully adjusted to life as a Moore dog. Douglas is continuing to take her to her weekly obedience classes and she seems to be making great progress. She can sit, stay, lay down, roll, and shake. She is also pretty good on a leash. She and Major are getting along really well, with the occassional argument (like any brother / sister relationship, I'm sure!). Major is eating a bit more these days, but he is still super skinny. He has not gotten sick in a while, so that is good news.

Other updates ...

It was a big football weekend for us. We watched Texas play OU at the Cottonbowl (on TV) ... and lose ... and we went to the Texans game and watched them beat the Dolphins with a 57 yard field goal with 1 second remaining in the game. It was an awesome way to win the game. I love close games like that where it seems like anyone can walk away with the prize. The only bad part is watching the dejected team sulk off the field!

I know I am behind on pictures, but with halloween around the corner there will be some great pumpking patch photos and of course, photos of the boys in their costumes.

I am taking yet another photogrpahy class this week -- this one is all about flash, so I am excited about that. It is going to be another busy week!

Back in the Saddle Again

After taking 4 years off to have children, Douglas and I have decided to get back in the saddle and tackle the MS-150 bicycle ride from Houston to Austin again. Honestly, after Andrew was born in 2004, we had every intention of riding again in 2005, but the registration filled up much faster than we expected and when we finally got around to registering, the ride was full. I was planning on dilly-dallying again this year, but the event registration was nearly 60% full after only 5 days, so I bit the bullet and registered both of us today.

So, here is my shameless plug -- we would like to raise $1000 for the MS Society, and every little bit helps! We need your help!

Donating is easier than ever -- you can donate online by following the link at the top right of the blog or you can email me directly and I will send you our mailing address if you do not have it already.

Thanks for your support!