End of a year, End of a Decade

What have we been up to this past decade and year? Wanted to do a recap of what we have been doing. I thought that it would be a pretty quick one, but I was wrong. We have been busy and it has flown by.

May 2000 Alan proposed to me and I of course said yes.

May 2001 One month before our wedding I found out I was pregnant...oops! No biggie since we were already getting married, but still we had to go through with permission from our pastor and hoped that he would still marry us.

June 16, 2001 we are hitched. We were married at Randolph AFB in San Antonio Texas at a small chapel. Such a nice time with a small amount of friends and family.

August 2001 We found out that we had lost our baby. I went through delivery and found out that it was a girl. Her name would have been Katelynn. She is our little angel in heaven that one day I will be able to hold.

February 2002 We try for baby number two and are successful!
Alexander James is born October 2002 via csection due to a LARGE head. God bless my babies and their large heads! They cant help it...when you look at my head and Alans they were doomed from the start.

June 2002 I quit my job at the YMCA to become a stay at home mommy. I love this job of mommy and is one that has no pay but the best benefits in the world. I am thankful that Alan allows me this and am thankful for his willingness to work harder so that we can afford for me to be a mommy.

July 2003 I found out I am pregnant with baby number 2. Blake Alan arrives into this world April 14, 2004.

May 2004 Alan graduates from UTSA with his undergrad in Computer Science.

Our life with two children under the age of two was crazy at this point. They were both in diapers and both still "babies". A lot of life at this point is a blur. We all managed to be fed, clean and happy during a lot of this next year and that's all that really matters!!

Sept 2005 both boys are enorlled in a preschool program for two days a week. I go home and wonder what to do with my time when I have no little ones to watch over. I go to the director and tell her I am lost at home. There is only so much cleaning one can do...ha ha...She tells me that she has an opening and I start my way back in slowly into the world of working. The boys and I go to work and school together now 4days a week, Tuesday thru Friday. They get to interact and play and I get to earn a little money, interact with adults and still see my babies throughout the day. Best of both worlds.

May 2005 I finally graduate with my undergrad in Elementary Education. Considering how many years it took me I should have a doctorate...but hey it's done and I am finished with school...now for the repayment of those student loans....YIKES!

During the rest of this year we contemplate a move. The boys are still young and we decide that it may be good for us to be close to my mom. The only problem is that my mom lives in Mississippi. Thats no problem when you are young and your kids are young though. So we pack up the UHAUL May 2006 and move on up to my moms. MISTAKE! We will put it nicely and say that Mississippi is nothing like Texas. We move back September of 2006. And to say that Gods hand was involved in this is putting it mildly. We move back into the same rental house that we left, Alan goes back to his same job at the UTSA and I go back to my same job at the school. It was like one long extended bad vacation.

June 2006 Grandmother passes away....The heart of our family.


Alex starts Kinder August of 2008 and part of my heart leaves my chest as he walks into that classroom by his self. Hardest thing I have ever done is to trust a complete strager with my childs well being throughout a day.

Blake and I continue on that last year, with just he and I going to the school by ourselves. I cherish that last year with Blake knowing that next year will be his turn to walk into that big school and into that classroom by himself.
Alan and I start talking about babies....should we have another one or not? The answer is yes. We don't start trying but aren't preventing anything from happening either.

March 2009 I start clomid to help with getting pregnant.

April 2009 Granddad passes away...a hard time for us all. My hero is gone. My rock and cheerleader.

May 2009 Alan graduates with a Masters in Management of Technology with a 4.0. I am so proud of him and what he does for our family. He then starts another Masters program and plans to get an MBA now.

July 2009 I decide not to take the clomid anymore due to some bad side effects. I leave it up to God and decide not to worry about it. I am thankful for my two healthy boys that we have and am blessed no matter what happens. Alex also gets his first pair of glasses. He looks so handsome and can see now!

August 2009...The other half of my heart leaves and Blake starts Kinder. Alex is in first and struggles with his teacher until November when we move him. He becomes a new child with his new teacher and flourishes once again. Blake is doing great and LOVES school and his teacher.
This is the month too that I find out that I am pregnant. I guess all that not worrying really worked!

November we find out that we are having a girl! Addison Elizabeth will enter our lives in 2010.

What a year and what a decade. We have had family living with us for most of this year and while challenging at times financially I think the boys have gained something from it. We have showed them that family sticks together and that when someone needs help and you have a chance to help them you should. They have had chances to live with their extended family and get to know them more and vice versa. They will be better people for that one day I hope.

Alan and I have had our struggles. Being married and losing a child in your first couple months of marriage isn't always the easiest. I think it brought us closer in some ways. Then having two children so close together and not having time for each other wasn't the best for a marriage, but we showed that we could do it. God only gives you what you can handle and we showed that he was right. We have had our ups and downs, and will continue to, but I hope that we always remember the reasons why we married. We have been blessed with children and a roof over our heads and jobs that provide security to us and our children. We are grateful! What a year...what a decade!

Its a.....

I wanted to post this so that years from now I remember what the date was etc....but November 23, 2009 we found out that we are having a HEALTHY BABY GIRL! Words cannot even express my happiness in this news. I literally would have been so excited to have another boy, but truly do feel a different sense of happiness with a little girl. I will have a partner in crime now!:) The boys are excited and we talk about her everyday. We have decided to name her Addison Elizabeth. Addison because I have always loved the name and Elizabeth is my moms middle name. She is loved more than words can say already and has a wardrobe going already. I might actually have a small addiction to little pink clothing! :)
We cant wait to meet you little Addison and love you more than you will ever know!

Thankful

I am thankful...
Thankful for my two healthy boys who are two of the best things that have ever happened to me.
Thankful for a new healthy baby girl who will make her debut in April and will soften our lives a little more.
Thankful for a wonderful husband who loves me unconditionally.
Thankful for parents and siblings who make our lives fuller.
Thankful for good friends who are there when no one else is.
Thankful for a roof over our heads and for jobs that provide food and necessities.
Thankful for laughter in my house.
Thankful for God and all the Blessings that he has given us this year.
I am thankful!

First Soccer Game

Alex and Blake are playing soccer this season. We wised up and put them on the same team this time though. One practice and only one game on Saturday makes for happy parents. Alex is number 10 and Blake is number 9. They are having a blast playing on the same team and are loving soccer this season.

I'm only how far along?

Well I can officially say that I am pooped. I am so tired lately with this pregnancy that it's unbelieveable. I go to work and sit there while Mandy does everything...I come home and am happy when I manage to throw in a frozen pizza with a side salad. I know I know..mother of the year award with that one! I sleep in on the weekends and then also take a nap. A lot of food grosses me out and smells pretty much make me want to vomit. I make this weird loud gagging sound that Alan makes fun of me..but a preggo has to do what a preggo has to do.

So I would like to give a big shout out to Alan who took over the house this weekend. I am not ashamed, though a little embarassed, to say that the laundry and dishes were beginning to over take us. I woke up and he was doing laundry, had the kitchen cleaned and had picked up all the other living areas! I was so suprised and so shocked. I feel blessed that he is understanding of what I am going through right now. I feel blessed that while I am so tired and nauseous that this means that my body is doing what it is supposed to be doing...making a healthy baby! I will however probably not make it to April with work. It is looking more and more like I will be taking off so that I can rest and be able to be a mommy and wife when the boys and Alan get home.

First Day

Well today I am home alone....both the boys are off at school and I am just here....Not sure what I will do with myself when they are at school but I am sure that I can find something. They did great this morning. Alex was showing Blake how to put on his backpack and was telling him to make sure that he got his lunchbox. He is such a big brother and is so proud to show Blake the ropes of Big Boy school. I am still in shock that they are both old enough to be there!! I am just happy that they were both excited to be there and happy for school to be back in session.

Playground Fun

After running an errand this morning Chris and I decided to take the boys, including Hayden to the park to go play. The only bad part about living in south Texas, other than your yard in always brown during the summer months, is the fact that unless you go to a playground before 9am during ther summer you wont be playing long. Everyone was hot and the metal slides were scorching.

13 days and counting....

It's so hard to believe that in 13 short days the boys will be going back to school and our summer will be ending. What is even harder for me to believe is that in 13 days I will be sending BOTH of my babies to "big boy school" and will be by myself while they are at school and Alan is at work. I have yet to decide if I am ready for this next step in our life. The one where the years run together as Alex and Blake race through elementray school and before I know it they are entering middle school and then high school and then they leave the house. I dread going to work without them in tow...without them racing ahead of me to go hide beside the vending machine in the break room at work and me pretending to not know where they are. I dread not having them there at work where I can see them throughout their day and see what fun they are having or to be there if they get hurt. I will miss seeing them and hearing their little voices yelling "Mommy!" while they run up for a hug...

This year they will both gain new independence that they didnt have already. There will come a point when both of them will tell me that they dont need me to walk them in to the school anymore and I will cry as they walk together into the big school and while I pray that they made it to the right spot. Alex will relish in his new role of being the big brother at his school and show Blake where everyting is. Blake will do great and will love to learn new things, while Alex will do great, but will constantly be wondering when the weekend is or when it's his turn at the computer center.

So my countdown begins...13 days...to relish their laughs, their smiles, their personlaities and even their fights...because in 13 days I will walk them to school and they will forever be my little boys in big boy school.

Swimming at Aunt Sarah's

Today we headed down the road to Sarah's apt pool to go cool off and have some fun. She made hotdogs and we had a picnic poolside and swam. I love to see the boys brave new things in the pool and to practice swimming. They had a lot of belly busters and lots of fun!

Six Flags Fun

The boys and I headed out to Six Flags one day to beat the 104 degree heat we have been having. They enjoyed the slides and I enjoyed watching them from my lounge chair! :) Then two nights ago we met Alan there after work to enjoy some of the rides. You have to go after 5 when the crowds arent as bad and the heat might be a little better!

Bubble Blowing and New Cameras

So I have been wanting to try out my new camera that Alan got me for our anniversary. It has so many neat features and I have been trying them out a litle at a time to try and get the hang of it. Here are some pics from this morning when the boys were in the front yard blowing some bubbles! Just ignore the breakfast that is still on their face...my excuse...its the summer!




And this one is a little blurry, but I loved the look on Blakes face...attack of the killer bubble!

Blakers graduates!

Congrats to Blake. We had his Pre-K graduation today and he was great. I am so proud of him and what he has already accomplished and learned already. He is a great little boy and we couldn't be prouder.

We love you Blakers!

Family Time in Houston

Two weekends ago we headed to Houston for some family time and to take some of Granddads things to Aunt Fran's house. We were so excited to get away and just relax together. It was the first weekend that Blake had his casts off so the boys were so excited to go swimming and to stay in a hotel. We had so much fun. We managed to cram in so many activites and have so much fun in a weekend.

At the Childrens Museum in Houston. He had written I Luv Mom and Dad....too cute!


Playing at the museum



At Hermann Park in front of the lake


Proof that we were there...together...lol..we never have pictures together. One of us is always behind the camera, but now that the boys are older they are asking to take pics too.


Riding the Train


Walking at Rice University


Too sunny...and too expensive....better start saving more money


At the Galleria Mall Ice Skating Rink....we didn't venture onto the ice...remember it was Blake's first weekend not having casts, need I say more...