Every day is a photo shoot....

With Nathan in Africa, every day is a photo shoot around here. I'm constantly snapping shots of the kids to send to him. I try to do it mostly in the evening so when Nathan gets up the next morning, he has lots of pictures of the kiddos and me to greet him. I think that's a pretty great way to start your day when you're 7,645 miles away from home.

 

Yes, Riley is actually hanging on to the oven door.
No, the oven and the stove were NOT on.
Lesson: Move my food prep station elsewhere...

Super fun Halloween crazy eyes!
Riley had to make sure she was doing what Owen was doing. =)

The Pink Stool

Riley has been fighting Owen for the stool at the bathroom counter for a while, so I finally got one for her. She was so excited! She carried it all over the house. (Letting her take it out of the bathroom was the only way I could get her OUT of the bathroom without a dramatic tantrum.) She would set it down, sit on it for a few seconds, then pick it up with a little grunt and head to the new location. It was hilarious! And lots of fun!

 

 

One busy weekend!

October 22 was quite a busy day! Nathan's grandfather PawPaw turned 80 this year. He and Cody share a birthday (October 21st). We were able to go to Austin the weekend before to celebrate with Cody at his new apartment since the following weekend was going to be hectic! The kids went to Austin for PawPaw's Birthday Halloween Bash! They had so much fun!!

 

I stayed in Houston for Brittany and Lance's wedding. All the Southwestern Volleyball girls were in town! All 9 of us plus Genoa Moxley who was our assistant coach for 2 years. We had a marvelous time catching up and celebrating. The little guy in our group picture is Cat's sweet baby Davis.

29!

October 9, 2011

A plague upon our house...

Well not really a plague, but it felt like it! Owen, Riley and I were hit by a bad case of food poisoning. I can take it (sorta...), but seeing my sweet babies sick breaks my heart. It's one thing to have a cold but a different story when your 3-year is scared and doesn't understand why he is throwing up. It hit the 3 of us in waves - Riley, me, then Owen.

To make matters worse, Nathan left the house just before it hit me leaving me very sick with the kids feeling yucky too. He was headed to the emergency room where he received an IV and blood tests. He left several hours later with the diagnosis of epididymitis and orchitis (2 bacterial infections)... and 5 prescriptions. He felt horrible and came home to Owen throwing up and me running to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Not ideal.

 My sweet baby girl feeling sick on my lap and then asleep on the couch.

This is what we are doing today....

The kids I can tell are feeling much better. Lots of running around and their attitudes are much happier! Me, well, better - not great. Nathan still feels pretty bad fighting the hardest to get well. 

Just another day in paradise. I wouldn't trade it for anything, even on the worst day. 

Go Tigers! 10 years later

A few weekends ago was my 10 year high school reunion. Initially there was no way I wanted to go. I thought about all the awkwardness of those years, cliques, ex-boyfriends... who wants to go revisit it all? But as the date got closer and the assurance that Nathan would not be traveling for work, I got excited to see old friends and reconnect. The evening was so fun and a great trip down memory lane. It's funny remembering how we all were in high school and then finding out those same people are parents, doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. Really wonderful and I'm so thankful I attended with my sweet, amazing hubby by my side.

Some oldies but goodies....

Potty Like A Rock Star

Owen is a becoming the KING OF THE POTTY! I say this with so much excitement I can't stand it! Labor Day Weekend we put big boy undies on him and called it good. We were going big or well... nothing, just going big. After a few days of lots of accidents, he did it! A whole day with NO accidents. We headed to the store to buy more big boy underwear that looked just like Daddy's. Owen was so excited! Then to top off the awesome progress he was making, we headed to Double Dave's for a pizza party and fun games. I'm sure later in life he'll be thrilled that his potty training progress was documented... but really he should be thrilled he was successfully potty trained!

Daddy and Owen driving race cars.

We continue to learn and get better every day. Of course we have some accidents here and there, but hey, without mistakes how do you learn? So proud of my Owen!