Moonlight Gala

Paul and I returned early this evening after spending last night in Houston. We had gone to Houston to attend an awards banquet for one of my co-workers. Keysla (my partner in crime at work) was nominated for a Nurse Excellence Award. We went to support and cheer for her.

The reception was held at the JW Marriott (fancy, smancy) and the theme was Moolight Gala.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening:

Keysla getting ready for the big event:

She had her cousin do her make-up and a friend do her hair.

Abundant Pride:

Keysla and her parents on their way to the coctail hour.

Keysla and I are the two night shift assistant nurse managers for our unit at the hospital. Several of our bosses attended the gala:

Keysla and myself with Jaimie(our boss) and Janet (Jaimie's boss). Needless to say with all these bosses there I had to be on my best behavior!!

Keysla was the winner in her category!!!!

YOU GO GIRL!!!!

After our fancy dinner, the celebration continued in the hotel bar. I think Paul and I finally got to bed around 12:30 and just as I was going to sleep the hotel fire alarm sounded. We had to evacuate!!! How funny is life that one moment we can be all dressed up, eating fancy food, livin' the high life and the next we are outside the hotel in our pj's trying to avoid all the firemen running inside!! It wound up being a false alarm (the hot water heater overheated) but is does make for a funny story.

We got back in town today just in time to attend Kolin's football game, then it was home to unpack and hopefully rest up for the upcoming week.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Thanks for checking in!!

Weekend in Review.....

I know I am a few days late with this post, after all this week is half over, but you know from reading this blog that Thurs-Sun are the hoppin' days in our house. Let me take you back:

Friday - A Balloon Festival with no balloons

The city in which I work holds a huge hot air balloon festival every September. My hospital sponsors a baby business tent and I was somehow roped in to volunteering this year. The purpose of our tent is to provide mom's a place to feed and change their babies. The volunteers job was to welcome the moms and keep everything stocked. So Friday afternoon I headed off to the festival for my 3 hour shift. I thought that I had planned it just right so that my shift would be over when the balloons were launched. Well, lo and behold, we were experiencing 30mph winds that day. Evidently, hot air balloons cannot launch in winds over 6mph so there we were at the balloon festival with no balloons. It was a fun time anyway. There were craft booths set up and lots of good (but bad for you) fried food. So the afternoon was not wasted.

Saturday - The football game that wasn't, that was, that wasn't, that....was

We actually had two places to be Saturday morning. We were invited to celebrate Parker's 3rd Birthday (his mom is Jamie from MWL) and Kolin had a football game at the exact same time. Because I missed last weeks football game for Mommies, Movies, and Munchies I felt that my status as favorite aunt may be jeopardized if I missed two games in a row. That morning when Paul got home from work my alarm was going off, he immediately told me "It's raining so the game will probably be cancelled". I thought okay we can make the party. I called my sister-in-law to confirm the cancellation and she told that it was not raining at the game location so it was still on. Okay we will go to the game. I got up, got dressed and then the phone rang. My sister-in-law told me the rain had just hit and they were waiting to see if the game was cancelled. By now we were in holding pattern, game or party, game or party. Then came the next phone call, the game was going to be cancelled. By now we were too late to make the party so instead we just went out for breakfast. I later found out that they did go ahead and play the game a couple of hours late after the rain passed but it was so last minute that there was not enough time to call everyone to drive 30 minutes to the game location. So the moral of the story: we missed the party, we missed the game, but we did have a nice relaxing breakfast. I spent the rest of the day on household chores and scrapbooking.

Sunday - Six Flags

We went to Six Flags with my cousin and her family. The weather was perfect, it only reached 80 and there was a cool breeze blowing throughout the day. The crowds were minimal and we practically walked on every ride (some even twice). Paul and I are both roller-coaster fanatics. We love them. There was a time when we would ride over and over and never want to stop. Well, we rode the tallest ride in the park and immediately went back for a second ride. We must be getting old because after ride #2 we both looked at each other and said, "Okay that was fun but that was enough". We rode everything else in the park and had a great day. Man, we were pooped when we got home.

So there you have it, our weekend in review. Monday it was back to work...

Hope everyone is having a great week.

CONGRATS!!!

I wanted to give a shout of congratulations to Matt, Jamie, and Parker. They received their I171-H today. Now you are well on your way to having that dossier to China!!! Let the shopping begin!

Confessions of a TV addict........

You knew the day would come.....that day when two of your favorite TV shows would be put up against each other. Well, that day was today.

CSI and Grey's Anatomy Season Premieres on at the exact same time. WHY????

I was out running errands this evening and suddenly looked at my watch, I had to get home for the Thursday night line up. Now, normally Kelby has football games on Thursday night but this week they had a bi. Thank goodness. I needed to find a plan. We have a DVR in the living room but you cannot record one show and watch another. So I set the DVR for Survivor and CSI. Then while Paul was sleeping, I crept into the bedroom to see if I could remember how the VCR works. Let me tell you, it has been a long time since I have hunted for a tape, set the timer, made sure the sattelite was on and all that jazz. There I am trying to set the VCR by flashlight so I don't wake Paul when all the sudden I here "What the heck are you doing?" Obviously I failed at my mission to do all this without waking him. Oh well, priorities. :)

So tonight the plan worked......I watched my CSI then went into the bedroom to watch Grey's, now next week when there is a football game it might be a different story.

Now I am off to check on ordering one of those DVR's that can record 2 shows at once....oh the drama of my life.

9 months down!!

No labor pains, no leaking boobs, no having to go to the bathroom every hour when the baby is sitting on your bladder. Today marks 9 months since we have been logged in at the CCAA. If this was a "normal" pregnancy we would be on the tail end of things right now. Leave it to us to never do things the normal way.....

So here's to 9 months of paper pregnancy and may we be on the downhill slide!!

One step closer.....

WE ARE OUT OF REVIEW !!!!


For all my non-adoption savy people, what this means is that when we sent our dossier (official paperwork) to China it had to be translated and then reviewed before we were officially accepted to adopt from China. Even though our Agency assured us that we met all the requirements, the China Center for Adoption Affairs has the final approval.

Since we passed the review room that means the Adoption Officials have reviewed our file and decided that this crazy couple is worthy to adopt. Next step: Matching Room. Don't get to excited because there is backlog in matching right now but at least we know we have passed the review hurdle!!

So let me say it again:

WE ARE OUT OF REVIEW!!!!!!!!!

Mommies, Movies, and Munchies

Let me preface this post by saying: I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!! Tonight we got together for what I hope is the first of many Mommies, Movies, and Munchies. Valerie was our hostess this evening. We started the night by eating. We had a variety of fruits and veggies for dipping, little quiches, chips/dips, wings, a coke cake, thumbprint cookies, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and a couple of wonderful drinks whipped up in the blender. We all sat around the table stuffing our faces, and laughing our heads off. I cannot tell you the last time I laughed so much. The topics went from one end of the spectrum to the other and everyone added in their two cents at some point.

We had Valerie's island completely covered with our food for the evening.
Erin and Christie getting ready to fill their plates.
Valerie and Jamie were not far behind.

After spending about 2 hrs around the table chatting, eating, and laughing we headed upstairs to the media room. Let me tell you, I may never go to the movies theater again, I will just go to Valerie's.

Kelley, having just had foot surgery, was able to join us for awhile and when we went upstairs we popped her in the recliner and gathered around for a photo.
Valerie, me, Christie, Kelley, and Jamie. Erin was the photographer for this pic.

Here's our pose in front of the screen.

And just in case you can not figure out what Jamie is doing in the above picture I cropped and zoomed it just for your viewing pleasure!

Go ahead Jamie, send this picture to the CCAA in your dossier. I'm sure they would love it.

And last but certainly not least: as if we did not have enough to eat already Valerie has the wonderful assortment of candy available in the theater along with popcorn.

Full-size candy bars at the movies and we did not even have to pay $2.50 each for them.

We headed home about 11:30. Late night for some of the girls. It was a great night with great friends.

I know I have said it before but I will say it again. I am so lucky to have met this bunch and to steal a quote from Valerie "We are all so different but for some reason it works!" I will tell you it definitely works and for the short time we have know each other I already have a ton of fond memories. Can't wait to make a ton more!!!

A bunch of this and that.......

Yesterday I went to Divine Consign with Christie and Erin. It is a consignment sale that is held twice a year in our area with over 700 different vendors. We were surprisingly joined by Erin's mom. While Erin and her mom went to find a new wardrobe for Miss Mollianne, Christie and I explored the smaller clothes and all the essentials for babies. It was quite a hoot for Christie and I (the two childless girls) to be looking at all this stuff and analyzing the need for everything. Needless, to say as prepared as I thought I was I still have a ways to go. After our little group waited 45 minutes to check out we were off to lunch. We has a leisurely lunch and spent the time visiting and talking with Erin's mom. I had only met her one time previously at Mollianne's Birthday party and thought she was great then and after getting to talk with her yesterday in a more intimate setting could see that my first impression was right on!! Erin and I have joked that we are ALOT alike and after spending the morning with her mom yesterday I can see that our mother's are alot alike too.

Today I a had an easy-going morning and spent quite a long time organizing my scrapbook stuff. After all the scrapbook stores I have been visiting lately I have gathered quite a collection of goodies. I figured I could be alot more productive if my stuff was super-organized and I am very pleased with the results. I am making a pledge and I need my friends out there to hold me to it!! No more shopping in the scrapbook stores until I complete at least 2 more books.

Tonight is our big Mommies, Movies, and Munchies. My lunch group is having a rare Saturday Night gathering. Valerie is our wonderful hostess and we are all going to her house to watch movies, eat junk food, and visit with each other. It is mommies only (no kids and spouses) and we are all supposed to go ultra-casual. Knowing these girls it should be a ton of fun.

One thing I have been meaning to mention. My all-time favorite reality show is the Amazing Race. I have seen every episode and have been anxious for the new series to start. Well tomorrow night is the night. Of all the places in the world that they can travel do you know what the first stop is????? BEIJING!!!!! My favorite show in the country I can't wait to visit. Coincidence?????

I am off now to prepare for tonight, hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

A calm week around the house (so far)....

I am happy to report that I successfully worked my hours this week without getting into any fights. Yea Me!!! My wrist is still sore but I have quit wearing the brace because that makes it stiff and even more sore. So I am just suffering through with drugs and using it as little as possible.

I have to give big, huge kudos to my husband. He is awesome!!!! I have not been in the best spirits this week with nursing a sore wrist and my allergies acting up. He was off Monday night while I worked. I came home Tuesday morning and when I opened the door I had a wonderful surprise. The entire house was clean!!! I am talking EVERYTHING, down to mopping and vacuuming the floors, cleaning the bathroom counters (and mirrors), not one dirty dish in the whole house and even all the laundry done!! Since Paul and I both work full-time outside the home we usually divide up the weekly household chores. He does laundry, I do dishes, he vacuums, I mop, he does not do bathrooms and I do not take care of the yard, so we have a pretty even split. I am very lucky on a regular basis that he does so much in the house but I am extremely lucky this week. NO CHORES FOR ME!!!! I Love you babe and thanks for brightening my world when I am not feeling so good!!

We have an action-packed weekend planned: tomorrow brings Kelby's football game, Friday I am shopping and lunching with Erin, Saturday I have a girl's night out, and then Sunday it is back to work.

No pictures today, because you know the excitement around this house always takes place Thurs-Sat, so stay tuned..........

Hope everyone is having a great week!

My new blog..

I have created a second blog so that I can showcase some of the things we accumulate on our journey to Avery. Welcome to my World is the story of us, our daily life and in the future our life with our daughter. We have acquired some great things for Avery recently and I wanted a place to share them without making my original blog all about material things, so I created "Avery's World". Since I am not really sure how to link in the middle of a post I have added the link to the side under links, just click on the link there and you should be redirected.

Have fun looking.....

Mommies Who Lunch

We had an impromptu Mommies Who Lunch yesterday. Because it was such short notice only several of us were able to make it. It was still a wonderful time. The only negative for the lunch was our extremely bad waiter, but the good company overshadowed that. I know Erin is patiently waiting for me to post a couple of pictures from the lunch so she can steal them for her blog so here goes:


Valerie, Shelli, me, Kiera (Christies was babysitting today), Christie, Erin, and the ever beautiful Miss Mollianne.

I had the pleasure of sitting right across from Mollianne and took a couple of extra shots of her. I know they will wind up Erin's blog too,

Who wouldn't love this face?

After I took the first picture Mollianne wanted to put on her sunglasses and pose so here's the next one.

I think she is used to having her picture taken because she is quite the little poser.

I usually bring little gifts to our lunches and today I brought Mollianne a book. When I presented it to her she immediately said, "Thank you Miss Robyn!" Let me tell you it melted my heart.

Thanks for a great lunch girls!!!

After lunch Erin, Mollianne, and I went to a scrapbook store. Erin and I in a scrapbook store appears to be a lethal combination. I was pushing a basket and we were throwing things in left and right!! I had a great time with you Erin!!

Luckily, we are having another MWL gathering next weekend and I can't wait!!

Now I am off to Kolin's football game. Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday!!

How did this happen???

I know I have been absent for the last few days, but truthfully it has been hard for me to type. I am very slow if I have to type with my left hand only. Why am I typing with my left hand you might ask? Well, it is a very interesting story:

Most of you know I am a nurse working in a post partum unit. This means the only patients on our floor are those that have very recently had babies. Normally an awesome place to work with minimal drama. Lo and behold this week we had a patient that became combative. Somewhere in the scuffle of attempting to calm the patient and diffuse the situation I was injured. My right hand was twisted and my wrist became swollen and very painful. After a trip to the ER it was determined that I either had a very severe sprain or a hairline fracture on my wrist. After mutilple xrays without being able to get a good view of the painful area the physicians decided that with either diagnosis the treatment would be the same: splint, ice, anti-inflammatory drugs, and no use of that arm.

That is why it was been difficult to type. I am right-handed and not using my right arm causes so pretty interesting situations. The swelling is down alot now and the soreness is starting to be tolerable, so I am well on the way to recovery.

It's been a long time since I have been in a fight, maybe I need to sharpen my skills!

In happy news, Kelby had his first football game of the season last night. As I have previously posted he has played for the youth association since he was 5 years old but this is the first year that he has played for the school. For those of you reading that are not from Texas, football is BIG here. When you are finally old enough to play on the school team (7th grade)you have passed a milestone.

Here's Kelby in his middle school debut (he's the one in white carrying the ball):

Kelby plays wide-reciever. He is smaller than most of his teammates but he is the one of the fastest and most aggressive.

The boys played awesome and even though they lost 6-0 they did a great job.

Kelby after the game!!! Good Job Boogie!!

Needless to say while cheering at the game it was very hard for me to remember that I am not supposed to use my right hand. We are a very vocal family at ballgames and cheering is a full body sport.

I am off now to have lunch with my MWL group. I will post again either tonight or tomorrow with pictures of that.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.