Summer '09 - August

Ranger Game (August 2):
We joined Erin, Darrin and the rest of the Snider clan at the Ballpark for a Ranger game. Erin and I chatted most of the time so I didn't really pay attention to the game that much. I think they won but really have no clue. I'm so bad at live events like that. I get so distracted by the goings on around me that it's hard for me to focus. Had a blast though!

Hawaiian Falls (August 4):
We once again joined the Snider clan for a fun day...this time at Hawaiian Falls, a water park in Garland. The kiddos loved it, the water was a perfect cool temperature, and besides getting a sunburn on my head, it was a great time!

Reagan's ONE year Birthday Bash (August 8):
The day that Erin had been planning and waiting for since before Reagan was born had arrived! A much anticipated event that was so fun! The decorations were so cute and perfect! I think Reagan had 3 wardrobe changes, all of which were so stinkin' adorable, per uszhe! And Reagan topped it all off (literally) with the smash cake! Yummy!

3rd Anniversary Celebration (August 10-11):

We were fortunate enough to have Josh's cousin, Melissa, watch CeCe while we got to celebrate our 3rd Anniversary! We were so grateful....couldn't have happened without her help! It was busy but so much fun. Josh had a dentist appt that morning so it was an early start. We dropped C off then headed to check in at our hotel, Belmont Hotel in Dallas. We took about a 45 min nap then were on our way to a couple's massage. It was very nice and relaxing. We left there, headed back to the hotel for a quick shower before we were off to dinner. We decided to go to the Butcher Shop downtown. It was delicious and with it being a Monday night, it was not crowded at all. They had all you can eat sirloin for less than the price of one steak so we chose that. We still only ate one steak each but it was yummy! After that, we went to Mockingbird station for some coffee and a movie, 500 Days of Summer (really good!). We were so exhausted (I actually briefly fell asleep during the movie) so we called it a night and went back to the hotel. The next morning, we had a big breakfast at the Cliff Cafe (at the Belmont) that was amazing! Then we left to go get our baby girl. It was the first night we had been away from her. We missed her but thankfully we were so busy that it kept our minds off of thinking about it much. Love my husband so much and it was nice spending time together! Can't believe 3 years has already gone by!

Waiting for our massages

At dinner

Josh started back to school (August 17)

Surgery for my father-in-law, Clint (August 28):
We woke up early to meet Josh's dad and the rest of the family at Baylor for the surgery. He ended up having 4 stents installed to repair 2 aneurysms. Overall the surgery went well and he was home the following day! While we were waiting, one of the volunteer therapy dogs came around with his handler and CeCe got to play with him. He was so sweet and gentle. The picture I have isn't very good because my battery was running low.

5th Birthday Party for my niece, Miranda (August 30):
My sister found this really cool place for kids AND adults! It's called Going Bonkers in Lewisville. There is a toddler area for up to age 3...which is where we stayed. And the rest of the play area is from ages 4-104! Why they chose 104, I have no clue. There is an arcade where I kicked my sweet husband's bootie in basketball over and over again! He'll tell you his side was rigged but clearly he is just a sore loser! There is a restaurant with lots of seating. And lastly, they have an 'adult' area on the second floor that overlooks the play area and is wired for internet. It was fun and the kiddos had a blast! I can't believe she's already 5. Time goes by way too fast. The next day she started school which was another milestone. So far she is loving it and doing great!

Summer '09 - July

So our 'relaxing' summer didn't turn out to be so relaxing. It was far from it. Since I'm so far behind on the blogging, I'm gonna do a run down of the rest of the summer to catch up. Here is July!

Josh's Taos Trip #1 (July 5-11):
Overall, I'd say that I handle difficult situations pretty well. As long as I am mentally prepared for whatever is to come, I can manage my stress farely well. And even if something is thrown at me, I'm still pretty good at going with the flow.

This trip was going to be the first time Josh and I would be away from each other for more than a day or two. I wasn't worried about that. And it would be the first time I'd have to take care of CeCe completely on my own from morning until night. Wasn't really worried about that either. We had a pretty good schedule going and I already did this with the exception of an hour or two when Josh would get home from work before putting her to bed. But what completely messed me up and took almost the entire week to adapt to was how Josh being gone would affect CeCe. She didn't sleep as well at night, she didn't nap well during the day, and there is only so much that can be done to entertain a then 7 month old being stuck indoors to avoid the summer heat.

I never thought it was going to be as difficult as it was. Before adapting to the change, I don't think I had ever been as physically exhausted as I was. I slowly figured out that although C wouldn't nap in her bed like usual, she would jump herself to sleep in her jumper and swing herself to sleep in her swing!

And a couple of times, we napped together with her lying on my chest (which is something she would never do even as a newborn). And I just prepared myself for an early rise knowing that bed time would come sooner or later and I would eventually get a break. Just when things were going well, the week was over and Josh was home.

Birthing Class Reunion (July 18):
Everyone (minus Josh because he had to work) from our birthing class reunited so that we could meet all of the babies! It was a lot of fun sharing parenting stories and watching all of the kiddos play together! We hope to keep up with each other and get together twice a year or so. It would be neat if all of the babies became friends and kept in touch as they got older!

Josh's Taos Trip #2 (July 19-25):
We did MUCH better this week! GREAT news was that Erin and Reagan were in town so we stayed busy and had so much fun! The girls loved playing together and it was so nice spending time with Erin and sharing mommy moments! We also did lots of shopping and spent time with our other mommy friends and their babies. I have a couple of pics but Erin has a lot more here and here!

Also, CeCe turned 8 months! Check out more pics and Josh's monthly writeup here!

Rain Storm (July 27):
A rain storm came through so I let CeCe play in it on the balcony. She LOVES water and had a blast! She was so cute, I couldn't help but capture the moment!

Girls Night (July 31):
A few of my girlfriends and I left the babies home with our hubbies and went out for a fun night in Dallas! We had a great dinner, drinks and we danced the night away! I surprised myself with how late I was able to stay out (midnight........lame to some of you I know but REALLY good for me these days)! Love my girls :)

It's just me and you kid............and Tony!

Well I'm a single mom this week. Josh left today for Summer Cross Country Camp in Taos, NM. They have four week long camps (JV Girls, JV Boys, Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys). He's going for both of the boys weeks so that means he'll come back late Saturday night, stays home for a week then goes back the following week.

Summer time is great because Josh is home and I LOVE having my husband around all the time. It's been a fun summer so far spending time together, going to the pool, and just being lazy. And one of my favorite parts is sharing time with CeCe! So when mom wants to take a nap at a random time during the day......I CAN :)

Not sure what we're gonna do yet but I know we're gonna miss him. And I'll have to keep the camera close. With CeCe changing so much and so fast I gotta fill daddy in on everything when he gets back :)

We love and miss you already! Time to come home :)

4th of July

We spent the day at the Snider's house for some fellowship, swimming, and delicious food! Later that evening, they had planned on watching fireworks but we weren't able to stay because CeCe goes to bed at 8pm. Keeping her up past then is not good for her and not fun for us so we made sure to just avoid it all together and stick to the routine. So unfortunately we missed fireworks this year but still had a great day!

See more pictures here!

Lots of Firsts for CeCe!

June brought a lot of milestones for CeCe! She's 7 months now and is getting sooooo big :) Check out pictures and all of the details here!

June 2009 (cont'd) - Welcome Baby Girl Batson

The month ended on a wonderful note. Carrie and Lee welcomed their gift from God.......Bradie Grace Batson! She was born on June 30 at 3:52pm, weighing 7lbs, 13oz, 20 1/2 inches long, and such a beauty! I had the privilege of seeing the happy family in the hospital and Bradie is such a sweet, cuddly, gorgeous little girl. So proud of Carrie and Lee! Can't wait to see Bradie and CeCe together!

Congratulations Carrie and Lee :)

June 2009 (cont'd) - Father's Day

I had been thinking about and planning Father's Day for what seemed like forever! I was so excited to celebrate how wonderful my sweet husband is. I can't fully express how grateful I am to have such a loving, extremely hard working, and the best, most helpful, hands on daddy as my best friend and partner in life. I am in love with our relationship and am truly the luckiest girl EVER :) I love seeing him and CeCe together and look forward to seeing their bond grow over the years!

I like to be creative and thoughtful with gifts (when I can) and I think I did pretty good! Josh is a coffee drinker and has had the same coffee maker for several years. It's been a great one but it was definitely time to upgrade. So I got him a fancy one that grinds the coffee beans before brewing. The smell of coffee fills the apartment and it tastes awesome! I actually gave it to him a couple of weeks early because he ran out of coffee and I didn't want him to spend money on more since I already had everything. I waited until he went to bed and set everything up so that it would be ready for his cup the next morning.

(He's a bit animated in most of the pictures but I think he truly was happy with his goodies)

So the day before Father's Day came and I couldn't wait to give him the rest of his gifts because although most of them weren't technically for him....I worked really hard and was proud.

I got him a couple of small things.....some wine stoppers, a hat rack that hangs on the closet door (to keep them from being all over the apartment!), and a 13.1 (half marathon) sticker to go on the car.

And then I made CeCe's entire wardrobe for her first Cross Country season with Daddy! They turned out so great and I can't wait to see her in everything :)

(Thankfully I had Erin's creative mind to help me come up with the sayings!)

So then the actual day came! I made him pancakes for breakfast. Then we got ready and met Josh's dad at the cemetery to see say hi to Gaga (Josh's grandfather).

Afterward, we ate lunch with Josh's extended family then spent the rest of the day at his dad's hanging out and eating some more!

It was a great day! We love our special man :)

June 2009 - Brother's Wedding

Whew......I'm tired! The month of June was BBBBUUUUUSSSSYYYY! It was a lot of fun but I'm glad it's over! To keep this blog from being too long I'm gonna break up the posts by events.

First things first.....my brother's and now sister-in-law's (Nathan and Amy) Wedding! They have been together about 7 years, have a beautiful 19 month old daughter, and have been engaged for over 2 years now....so needless to say this was a long time coming! A couple months back, I volunteered to help them with whatever they needed to finish planning their special day. It was extremely time consuming (as wedding planning can be!) but so rewarding. I was able to spend so much time with them and I can't be more proud of where they are as a couple but even more so for how they were able to work together to plan their wedding basically on their own and on their own dime. I can't imagine accomplishing what they have, raising a child, working, and planning a wedding at 21 yrs. old! But they did it!

I helped with some of the small details but my main contribution came when helping plan their wedding shower, putting together their wedding slideshow, and helping coordinate their rehearsal and wedding day!

Everything turned out great, they were happy, had a wonderful time on their honeymoon to Cancun and now look forward to catching up on sleep!

I don't have many pictures of these events because I was working most of them but I do have a couple of their engagement pictures and Amy's bridal pictures below.

Catching Up....

I missed commenting about last week's episode of the Bachelorette so I'm going to combine the last two shows. I still really like Jillian and for the most part I like the choices she's made. But I'm ready for the season to speed up to get to the last few remaining guys because there are too many that annoy the heck out of me. Here is the breakdown of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

The Good (My favorites)

Jake

Ed

Kiptyn



The Bad (Well not really bad...but my Likes)

Robby

Reid

Mike

Michael

And the UGLY (Annoying and ready for them to GO!)

Juan
(He has this weird, creepy way of talking to her that freaks me out)

Tanner P.
(He's too country for me and he's a tad bit too crazy with his foot fetish)

Wes
(Another one that's too country for me and his song is TERRIBLE. I think the producers think so too...since they can only make it passed the first line!)

David
(Obviously has some anger issues and maybe a drinking problem. And if I hear "Man Code" one more time, I think I'm gonna have to throw something at the tv)

Brad
(Nerd alert! Glad he got sent home. On last week's episode, I heard "I'm the brains of this operation" way too much. And this week's...the kiss was too awkward between them. No chemistry.)

I think Sasha was a victim of the 'I haven't let anyone go on the one-on-one date yet so I have to do it to someone' scenario. I think Jillian focused too much on the fact that he hasn't been heartbroken just to have a reason to let him go. He is WAY better than the other 'uglies' I mentioned above. The only thing I'm not sure of yet about Jillian is why she's so hung up on the guys needing to have had their heartbroken. I mean I get it but I think there are other things she should be focusing on more.

Anywho...Can't wait for Monday to find out which bachelor has the girlfriend! It's gettin' good!

p.s. Here is the official recap of last week's episode.
p.s.s. Here is the official recap of this week's.