Beautiful Days

Can the weather get any better than this?  Just a little less wind so Lola doesn’t blow away and this is perfect weather!  I dread the ridiculous heat coming soon… Lola is already sweating in her car seat and it’s just in the high 70’s.  I am glad she will soon be forward facing, so she can get some air on her. 

She’s getting so big.  We met up with Laura, Aubrey, and Collin for some fun at the park this afternoon and she just ran and chased them both and the ducks.  Bad idea… the duck part.  One almost took off her finger no exaggeration.  Those ducks aren’t scared of anything, especially toddlers.  I’ll now know for future park dates. 

I worked this morning and was glad to get off by lunch.  When I picked up Lola she was ready for a nap so we headed home to nap, then back out running errands.  I decided to let her go to the park before her afternoon nap, which apparently woke her up too much and we skipped the afternoon nap.  Oh well.  Hopefully she’ll go to bed early tonight.  I have noticed JUICE seems to keep her up!  Whenever she has had juice she is  much harder to get to go to sleep.  It may be a coincidence but I am keeping an eye on it now.   Days with no juice, naps and bedtime goes much smoother.  Hmmmm???

Well while we were out we ran by Old Navy and you won’t believe it!!  They had a toddler Girl Scout shirt!  So of course we got it and sent Clay a picture of her in it!  He loved it!

Here are some pictures of Lola over the past few days playing with Aubrey.  Thank goodness I finally charged my camera… pictures have been few and far between…

BFFs

She’s got her cell phone and baby… hmmm?  Wonder if she has seen this done before?  :)

The wind blew Lola down a couple of times!  Haha- looks like she is busting a dance move!

Sharing treats as always… such good friends!  Laura in the background!  She’ll probably kill me…

Good thing Laura is a girl or she would look like a chester in the background of all these pictures! Haha!

     Silly wind…

 

Have a good rest of the week everyone!

Happy 11 Months Lou-Lou!

One month shy of a year and it’s astonishing how much she has grown and developed in 11 months time.  I loved her so much the minute she was born and really felt an instant unconditional love and connection with her, never believing I could feel more love for her then I did then.  But it just isn’t so.  I love her so much more with each passing day.  The scripture I put up the other day says a heart at peace brings life to the body and I feel she has put my heart at peace and gives me life, along with her daddy.  What a great family I have!

So at 11 months there’s so many things to share:

• Lola is wearing 12-18 months clothes.  Her growth has slowed down incredibly, but her appetite is always increasing! 
• She loves snacking on all sorts of foods like baby zesty tomato puffs, mum-mums, cereal, loves fruit loops, pop tarts, M&Ms, pasta, and her favorite might just be MAC AND CHEESE!  That’s my girl!  She is drinking V8 light strawberry banana something another…
• As far as bottles, she has about 5 a day, 5 ouces each.  I am hoping we can make an easy transition over to milk and sippy cups, but I am a little worried.  What’s it matter if they use bottles after 1??
• She weighs almost 23 lbs.
• She has had a terrible ear ache for almost a month and a visit to an ENT is taking place next week.
• She is obsessed with children, including her best friend, Aubrey.  (She loves Laura a lot too!)
• She says Jesus pretty clearly! Mama, Dada, Nick, Duck, Ba, (lots of “Bs”) I think she said Brown Bear… she seems to try to say a lot, but some things just aren’t clear enough to count…
• She loves her toothbrush, her bedroom, her books, her bath time and her talking Elmo, which leads into her new love of Sesame Street.
• She never crawls now and can stand up without needing anything to assist her.
• She has seven teeth now and one just about to poke through.
• Her hair is still out of control and growing pretty fast… no curls… yet?
• Sleeping is still a major problem, which the upside to that is it keeps the baby fever away for a little while longer.  She sleeps with me and with the ear aches, Dr. Bala said no more crying in the crib… :(  She naps in her crib and on the rocking chair…

Well she is so full of energy even at 9 p.m. I need to go play with her and get her ready for bed!

Happy 11 months Lola!  You are so loved by EVERYONE!

Lake Pics

From a couple weeks ago, but I just got the chance to post them!  Too busy!  This is from celebrating my mom’s 50th birthday! Notice the difference in the two days versus Lola’s outfits.  Crazy Texas weather!

Little bitty Kebby and chubby Lola!  If it makes anyone feel any better Lola is drinking water from that gigantic Sonic cup!

Swing breaks throughout the day thanks to Ba!  Lola loved it- we gotta get one for our house!

 

 

Lola had her own card for Nonna, but she wanted to keep it! Haha!  She really liked the cards over the gifts!

So here is proof it isn’t all the boys fault… see picture below.  But the guys did get the bright idea to have a fire down on the dock, but managed to carry the heavy chimenea (sp?) down from the deck, but not the stand… oops.   And by the way, it was my strong hubby who carried it! :)

So the next morning Clay noticed the chimenea was leaning on its side which seemed odd due to the weight of it, then we saw the smoke coming from the dock!  Nonna and Clay took off in a dead sprint and Lola and I lagged behind in our pjs!  Dad was working out at the club house, so thankfully missed the drama!

 

How lucky are we?  Dad had a great reaction, bc really he took part in the fire the night before and we were ALL just grateful it was only this!  I can’t believe it didn’t catch fire! 

Pictures from the night:

And I am aware of the pasty white skin- I must get a tan soon!

 

Lola loves the hammock!

I didn’t try for this picture, but I sure thought it was cool!

 

Makes me realize just how small she really is still!

Searching for magazines!  Cute little legs!  

Lola can’t forget her Bible reading!  Seriously, isn’t she funny?  And no, this Bible has no pictures!

 

Lola loves these fake ducks!

Clay carried the pack-n-play down to the dock! Haha!

And our boat ride sure was enjoyable, after it almost exploded.  I told my dad I smelled smoke when we took off… but no one listened.  After several minutes, the smoke alarm went off and we opened the back up and TONS of smoke!  I kind of freaked out! Haha!  I just didn’t want to jump in that cold water! And my mother cursed at me!  Haha! I just thank God I was smart enough to not allow Lola on the boat!   My dad says over and over that he can’t imagine what my reaction would have been like then! Haha!

Well I hope Nonna had a great time celebrating her and her birthday at the lake, because we sure did!

BIG CHANGES….

I know it’s been awhile and this post will be short and mainly a tease of what’s been going on in my life, but here are some of the details of my life lately…

1. Lola is still struggling to overcome ear infections and in fact they may be getting worse.  “Very infected…”  We are on our 4th antibiotic.

2. I have been drinking expired milk.  Not at all like me, but I have decided it stays good at least 4 days past it’s stamped date.

3. I got a new job! I am a Newborn Hearing Screener at 3 smaller local hospitals.  I will be working only 2 days a week.  I think this will be really good.

3.  Clay is working part-time at HPB again.  No worries- he still is a Publication Specialist by day… just filling in for someone on maternity leave part-time.

4. And I cleaned all of our glass doors and I am here to say not a lot beats clean glass… now I am trying to get our landlord to have our windows professionally clean.  Lola needs more sunlight shining through, into our house!

I’ll have to write more later and catch up.  Life has been so crazy busy right now… I’m already looking forward to the weekend and hopefully a little slower of a week next week. 

Oh and my baby turns one next month… Seriously?  I think I might be a little sad.  1?  I just can’t believe it… SLOW DOWN LIFE!

 

“A heart  of peace gives life to the body…” Proverbs 14:30

Happy Birthday to Mom!

This weekend was such a wonderful weekend!  We celebrated Mom turning 50, which she is proud of and should be!  She acts like a 20 year old, but has the wisdom of a 50 year old.  What a great combo!  Such a great friend and mom to me, so on her special 50th birthday- I just gotta’ list 50 reasons why I love her:

1. She’s selfless. 

2. We both like having 10 different conversations at once.

3.  She fixes me cupcakes every year for my birthday (or gets Lakeview cupcakes!)

4. She doesn’t get offended easily, like when I get upset that I might have her nose :)

5. She only cries and talks real sweetly on a church stage.

6. She’s a fabulous grandmother, Nonna, “Nah-Nah”, or “Nay-Nay”

7. She celebrates even the little holidays and doesn’t quit buying us surprises even when we are adults and Dad thinks it is ridiculous

8. She keeps a clean home.

9. She keeps a well-decorated home.

10. She knows the importance of the two above and has taught me that!

11. She’s a good listener, but then again isn’t.  Haha.

12. She still shops at bargain stores, depsite not having to.

13. She is good at the tough love thing.  Lord knows I needed some.

14. She’s a great wife, which has been great to see and learn from.

15. She always fixed me a side dish so I didn’t go hungry.

16. I love that she feels she can yell, “Shit Natalie” on a boat that is burning up in front of  Dad because I wacked her in the face with the life jacket I was waving while panicking.

17. I love that two minutes after cursing at me she can laugh about it. (And me for that matter)

18. I appreciate that she always wrote on napkins in our lunchboxes- IN HIGH SCHOOL!

19.  I love that she stayed home with us through the years… and still does… :)

20.  I love that she sings songs she doesn’t know the words to.

21. I love her ability to arrange flowers so well.

22.  And to make bows in 3 seconds flat.

23. I LOVE that she works on our stockings all year and they probably ended up costing bookoos. 

24. I love that she still does us stockings despite dad saying we are too old for them.

25. I like when she slips me extra cash for a dinner date or formula.

26. I love that her and Lola have bonded and team up on me…

27. Two words. Sugar. Cookies.  Can I get an Amen?

28. I like the fact she does 12 small loads of laundry a day.

29. I am grateful she often picks me up and doesn’t make me drive.

30. I liked how during my last month of pregnancy I could get a hold of her without question.

31. And I liked how during labor she rubbed my feet for 12 hours and did the funniest breathing faces behind Clay trying not to take over.  It was hilarious.  I think I even told them I couldn’t concentrate because Mom was making me crack up in the background.  Her eyelashes looked so big and fluffy. 

32. I love the childhood memories she left us all with, like helping make crispas in the kitchen with Nick by rolling them in the sugar.

33. I love every homemade shirt she made for each one of my birthdays. Tacky or not.

34. I LOVE, love she gave me a great birthday present at the age of 7, a little sister.

35. And I loved she gave me a great birthday party one night later.  HOW DID YOU DO THAT?

36. I love that you know when to respond with the answer “No worries.”

37. I love that the “Do you have something to tell me?” trick didn’t work with all of your kids and that I now know that trick for Lola one day.

38. I love that it took 5 Vickies to equal you.  

39. I love that you fell in love with Dad in Junior High. 

40. I love that you decorate and make sugar cookies for silly holidays.  Your table settings are always so cute.

41. I love that on her birthday she gives up a day of sun bathing to help Dad pick out furniture for the 1600th time… drag.

42. I love that she has an itty bitty waste and a big ol’ booty.

43. On the same note, I love that her boobs are smaller than mine. (Sorry had to throw that one in there…)

44. I love that she has taken so much pride in Chick-fil-A and constantly helps Dad putting his interest above hers.

45.  I like how she mows and fixes things around the house. And I like how she likes doing those things.

46. I love that she let me take such a big part in Kebby’s life at such a young age.

47. I love she named me “Natalie Jo”

48. I love that she never puts pressure or stress on us.  She only uplifts.

49. I love that she continually gives even if never given back to.

50. I love that she loves me.

Happy Birthday Mom…

I love you.

 

Little bit later this week I will try and post about the weekend and some more things.  Lola has been pretty sick and we made it to the doctor Friday.  Two bad ear aches and may still be from the last time.  She finally fell apart today.  Poor thing.  Having to switch meds because the second, stronger one she had an allergic reaction to.  Please pray for a well baby soon and that the new meds  kick in fast!

Pictures soon…