First movie

At just a few weeks short of turning 2 Preston saw his first Theater movie!  If you can't read the sign it was Cars.  One of the theaters near us shows matinee specials and that week they were playing, Cars.  I knew he would be a little young for a 2 hour movie, but Preston LOVES anything that has wheels and moves so I was counting on his attention holding out a little longer than normal.  

And HE DID GREAT!  He stood up right in front of my chair for the first half of the movie, and then sat down to eat his little popcorn and drink.  And then he fells asleep near the end!! ha! ;)

But better that than running all over the place!

Here's Preston about to go in and watch with his friend, Lily!

Easter 2009

This Easter took me by surprise in the sense that I had no idea how much I would delight in watching Preston.  Last year he was not walking yet so an Easter Egg hunt was not in the plans.  But this year I set up a little one in our backyard and he LOVED it!  He would pick up each egg and say, "all done!" thinking each time that he had found the last egg!  

THEN, he quickly realized there was candy {skittles} in each one! :)  Only problem is he believes every egg has candy in it...even the REAL ones!

He had a blast...just pure joy, and I loved watching him.  But what makes me really excited is thinking about the years to come and how great it will be when he starts to understand why we celebrate Easter!!!!

Hunting for eggs!

Full basket!

Searching high and low!

Making smores over Easter weekend and using little bunny marshmallows!

Preston's little Easter basket

Opening his basket on Easter morning!

Dallas Blooms 2009

Over Spring Break our family, including my mom all went to the arboretum for Dallas Blooms!

It was a beautiful day.  Here's some pics:

trying to get a picture to match his pirate shirt.  P was not really into the picture taking!

Candyland!

Probably my favorite shot of the day...total boy.  He's watching the fish and picking up rocks to throw.

Just a Japanese Maple that's potted, but I like the look....makes me want to do the same!

This bush is a Texas Mountain Laurel and I'm so glad we found out what it is because I've wanted one for our yard, but never knew what it was called.  The picture doesn't show it in full bloom, but it produces these beautiful purple flowers that smell AMAZING!  Just like candy sweet-tarts.  anyways, we bought one last week for the front yard! :)

Sweet boy!

love those toes! ;)

walking through the azalea's

No way to fit all the flowers in a picture!  If you've never been to Dallas Bloom's I highly suggest it!

Children

The following is an article that I came across on a friends blog. It's titled, "Why don't Friends with Kids have Time?" and was published in The Washington Post. Since then, it's been "published" again and again all over the place..blogs, FB, etc.

So why would I want to post it on my blog? Because I think it speaks volumes and resonates with where I'm at. daily.

I will be the FIRST to admit that I didn't have a clear view of motherhood. When I was working full time I would look at stay-at-home moms with envy and wonder what exactly took up ALL their time. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think they were sitting around eating bon bons all day, but at least they could get laundry done and dinner on the table, right? Both of which I was struggling to do with going to work each day.

Obviously my thoughts have changed. And I still wouldn't change staying at home with Preston. I'm SO thankful for the opportunity to do so. Time is fast, but with young ones at home it seems to be in fast-forward with no pause button. And my favorite line from the article..."It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15!" This is so true for me.

So if you read it...I'd love to hear your thoughts! :)

TELL ME ABOUT IT ®
By Carolyn HaxWednesday, May 23, 2007; Page C10
Dear Carolyn:
Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .
Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.
- Tacoma, Wash.

Dear Tacoma,
Relax and enjoy. You're funny.
Or you're lying about having friends with kids.
Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.
Internet searches?
I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.
So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.
It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.
It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.
It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.
It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.
It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.
Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, ortellme@washpost.com.

J's birthday pics

Thank you for all the birthday wishes to Jason!  Thought I would share some pictures of the celebrations.  Please excuse the quality...they were taken from my phone...

Monday night we went to Maggiano's with our dear friends, The Carruth's.  Baby Charlotte looks excited to eat a lemon cookie!  Thought I'd also share that it seems to be a tradition that Caleb and J buy each other white russians on their birthday as well.  ;)

On Wednesday, some of the office staff surprised him with a little celebration before his next meeting.  Cookies-N-Cream ice cream cake from Culvers...yum!  Thanks Ang, Jill, and Mack!

And last but not least we celebrated Thursday night on the patio of Blue Goose with The Bleecker's, Chandler's,  and Patterson's.  Then we moved our stuffed full bodies across the street to the theater to see Slumdog Millionaire.  Fun night!  

Thanks for celebrating with us!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Wanted to give a shout-out to J since today is his birthday!!  I've included some generational pics that were taken this past November.  Been meaning to post some, but kinda glad I didn't because I think they're perfect for a birthday blog! :)

Jason actually gave me these as a Christmas gift and had them taken while I was at a 'Girls Weekend' with some of my college roomies!  He did good...and it was an awesome surprise!  Thank you Brian Braun for taking the pics and thank you Collin for being a good sport and helping out all weekend!

We will be celebrating all week so I'll post some pics of our outings later! In the meantime, Happiest Birthday Wishes babe!  So thankful for your life and another year with you!

Here's a few of my favorites:

25 random things...

So I was tagged on Face Book to write 25 random things...and since I have terribly neglected my blog I thought I would post them on here as well.  My husband even asked me the other day if we still had our blog! ;(  wow.  

And in all honesty I still can't decide what I think about FB.  It's a great connection place, and so fun to reunite with old friends!  But, oh my, you can waste time on there!

 

1. I am right handed but can also write fairly well with my left.
2. Sometimes I get carsick. Unfortunately, I think I may have passed this trait onto our son.
3. I think I could live on eating carbs alone. ;)
4. I don't like wearing a lot of make-up.
5. I really like to wear flip-flops. Much better than being barefoot.
6. I enjoy organizing and decorating.
7. I drink a latte almost every morning...made by my husbband!
8. I'm funny about the temperature of food. Ex: I don't like eating food that's supposed to be hot but has turned cold.
9. I think most everything can be "fixed" with a can of paint.
10. I have a love/hate relationshiop with running.
11. I'm not a morning person.
12. I love when my car is clean, but that seems impossible these days with a toddler in the back throwing food! :)
14. I'm good at remembering dates and directions...this is very helpful to my husband.
15. I think chocolate should be added to the food pyramid.
16. I prefer fountain cokes over canned.
17. In college I lived in the house my dad grew up in. In fact, I had the same bedroom he did.
18. I love public libraries.
19. I usually don't watch movies twice...once is good for me.
20. The Gospel is the best story that will ever be told.
21. Spring is my favorite season (love all the new life and growth), followed by summer.
22. When I yawn, I twist my tongue...not on purpose.
23. I love to swim, but water at night is scary.
24. It's a rare thing when people remember how to spell my name.
25. When I first met Jason I thought he would never "settle down". We've been married for almost 5 years!!