Sunday 3 word....

Clean and Clear

Well, we just returned home from the hospital and I am happy to report that the colonoscopy and the EGD went well. They did not find any abnormalities or any GI bleeds, so that is great news!!

Bowel prep yesterday......not so fun, but hey, the doctor told me I could wait 5 years before I do it again. Surely by then they will have a more pleasant way to prep.

Now we are off for a little belated birthday meal because this girl needs some food!!!

Thanks for thinking of us!!

Catchin' up........

Things have been pretty mellow around here and we sure aren't complaining about that! It has been about 5 weeks since I have gone back to work full-time and we seem to have a pretty good system going. Avery is loving spending time with the grandparents (and sometimes others) when we are working. I have no doubt that there is alot of spoiling going on. She continues to amaze us everyday. It seems she is growing and changing at such a rapid pace. Tomorrow marks 4 months since Gotcha Day and I swear sometimes we have a different child than the one handed to us that day. She has such a huge personality. She will give us the biggest smiles and giggles but will also let us know real quick when she is unhappy. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago she is now a full fledged "walker". She has been taking 4-5 steps at a time for a couple of weeks now but just in the last few days she has decided that she is now totally mobile. I have some video of it that I will try to get uploaded.

We are still getting used to the whole "parent thing". I am not sure that we will ever feel totally adequate. We just do the best job we can day by day. I ordered this totally cute shirt off the internet and just had to share it with you all. I hope no one is offended by it but it just made me laugh. We have received a ton of advice and opinions since we became parents, some solicited, some not, but we just take it all with a smile.

You have to admit, it IS a cute shirt!!

Grandma trying to copy Avery's pouty face.

Last Saturday we went to the zoo with Erin and Christie and their families. It was very hot (we do live in Texas after all)but we managed to have a great time in spite of the heat. Mollianne was fascinated by all the animals while Quint and Avery probably could have cared less. Avery even ditched the stroller and walked around part of the zoo holding my hand.

Quint served as our designated map reader for the day.

This guy doesn't seem too impressed with all these folks staring at him.

Erin, Mollianne, and Bob in front of the zebras.

Avery walked circles around this elephant just giggling away.

Trying to get these 3 kids to smile and look the same way proved to be impossible.

Avery and Daddy checking out the Asian elephants.

Mollianne is SO ready to be a big sister. She and Avery were hand holding buddies for quite a while. Mollianne even walked beside the stroller just so she could hold Avery's hand.


Quint and Avery enjoying a refreshing icee on this hot day! They both seemed to love it!


This guy blended right into his environment.

Sunbathing !?!

Anton, Quint, and Christie riding the train back to the park entrance.

After the zoo we all headed out to lunch and munched on some great hamburgers at a little hole in the wall restaurant.

We had a great day with you guys. Thank you so much for sharing Avery's first zoo experience with us!!

So that's about wraps up the happenings around here......you already know what tomorrow holds for us.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks for checking in!!!!

Halfway to 70 !?!?!?!?!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Wanna know how I will be spending my 35th birthday? Well, here you go:

That's right my "big day" will be spent doing a bowel prep. Because of my mystery illness last month my doctor wanted me to see a couple of specialist related to the unexplained blood loss. The GI doctor of course wanted to do what he does best.....a colonoscopy and an EGD. In other words we will be going down one end and going up the other to check everything out. So that's what I have in store for me tomorrow.

I hope to post again this afternoon (with pics that don't include laxative products) to update everyone on the goings on around here.

Hope your next birthday is just as fab as mine!!!!!

Sunday 3 word

I know, I know I am a day late for the Sunday 3 word. I was hoping no one would notice but not only did my mother remind me but also Eloise commented. Thanks ladies for keeping me on my toes.

We had a very busy weekend and I will have a ton of pics up in the next couple of days but here's a little preview:

We and some of our friends went to the zoo on Saturday. A great time was had by all. More pics later!

Also Saturday while my sis in law was out shopping my brother decided to take Kolin for a haircut......this is what they came home with:
I think it will eventually wash out!

Other big news in our house: Avery is walking!!!!!!! She walks half the time and still crawls the other half but she is definitely more mobile. I will load that video too.

Thanks for checking in...sorry about my blog absence.

Guess we won't be winning the "Parent of the Year" award anytime soon !?!

This weekend while Paul and I were doing some chores around the house Miss Avery was creating her own mischief....all on her own she opened one of our kitchen cabinets, pulled out the iron, and proceeded to get herself wrapped up in the cord. When I entered the kitchen she was crawling while dragging my iron across the tile floor!! It didn't seem to bother her that she was dragging an extra appendage around with her!!

When I first saw her I couldn't quite figure out where the cord was....

Now she's standing up so she can show me how easy it is to transport the iron.

"Mommy this thing just won't turn me loose!"

Daddy comes to the rescue...'cause mommy was too busy taking pictures.

As it was she had the cord around her waist and then wrapped around her leg 4 different times!!

On the agenda today: a trip to Wal-Mart to buy cabinet locks!!

Sunday 3 word...

She's adorable even when she's mad!!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Our Holiday Weekend:

So here we go with the 4th of July weekend post:

Friday we met up with several of Paul's family members for an old fashioned tailgating party on a local mall parking lot. We had a ton of food, did a lot of visiting, and had a prime spot to view the fireworks the city puts on. This was Avery's first time seeing fireworks and she was amazed!!! She sat in my lap just clapping and yelling...for the first 5-10 minutes at least. After that she was done, could have cared less.

We did not get too many pics from that night because we were too busy socializing

Our little family ready to celebrate the 4th!!!

I tried out a new hairstyle on Avery tonight and I personally think it is too cute! I love this picture of her with her daddy!

We stopped by my mom and dad's on our way out to show off Avery's holiday outfit and my parents informed us that Avery was in awe while watching "Blues Clues", just to prove their point they turned it on while we were there and this is the immediate look Avery assumed from the very beginning.

While waiting for the firework show Avery decided to take a little stroll with daddy and poppy.

Saturday was our annual "Around the 4th Party". Paul and I have been hosting this gathering for about the last 10 years. We always schedule it around the holiday so it doesn't interfere with family plans. We invite our friends over for swimming, grilling, and fireworks. This year we even got adventurous and also bought a "slip n slide". That was a ton of fun in itself. We had a great turnout and hopefully everyone had a great time. Thanks to my mom and dad for again opening their pool and home so we could have this gathering!!

Some of our guest sitting on the deck around the 2 completely full tables of food!!

Little Miss Aubriana sitting pretty in her hippo float.

Mollianne is a regular fish in the water.

Quint got his first taste of potato salad and I think it was a big hit!

Christie, Anton, and Quint sampling the "country life"!

Paul testing out the slip and slide while Tyler stood by to observe.

Erin and Mollianne hanging in the pool!

Yes, I just had to give the slip and slide a try!! I think it's very brave of me to post this picture in all my bathing suit glory, but hey, you only live once!

Did we have more people or more floaties in the pool at any given time?

Paul and Avery soakin' up the sun!

Our little mini posse (minus a few). Getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time was a major obstacle.

Avery even got her chance on the slip n slide.

Kelby (whose idea it was to get the slip n slide) shows us how it's done!

Bob and Erin, aren't they a cute couple?

After the sun went down the kids were all thrilled to do their own sparklers and then it was the great firework show of 2008! I think we picked out some good ones this year!

So that wraps up this years party. Who knows what next years party will bring!?!

Sunday 3 word.....

Is our little firecracker, not the cutest thing you have ever seen? I know, I know we may be just a little prejudice!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We spent Friday evening with Paul's family and then yesterday we hosted our annual swim party/cook out/firework show. I have a ton of pictures to sort through and then will be posting all about it in a couple of days.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe weekend!!!!

Beautiful Baby Toes

Earlier this week Avery spent the night with Uncle Chris and Aunt Danette while we were working. Danette, the mother of 2 boys, always enjoys her time with little girls. She took the opportunity to be the first person to paint Avery's toenails. No.....she didn't even wait until Avery was asleep!!

Kelby loves his little cousin and is bound and determined to be the person that teaches her how to walk. He called me at work to tell me that she had taken 5-10 steps all on her own!!! We have a feeling she will be totally mobile very soon now!!!

Happy 1st Birthday K-man!!!

One year ago today my friend Valerie became a mother!! What a crazy year it has been as now she is a mother of 2!! If you haven't visited her blog lately go on over and take a look at The Story of Lil Dude it is sure to touch your heart.

Happy Birthday K-man. You are a very special little boy and we are so blessed to be a part of your life!!