Read: Cole Reid

Papi's 70th Birthday!

2012-01-27T06:28:00.005-06:00

Although vaguely, I remember my Dad's 40th birthday. I was a couple of days short of turning 5. I just remember lots of laughing and everyone wearing black hats. I can't believe that this year, we celebrated his 70th birthday. My mom threw him a party. She ordered Paella, made tons of sangria, hired help to assist with serving cocktails and appetizers. She also hired a Tuna group. The group showed up around 10pm and surprised everyone, including my dad. We celebrated like Spaniards and we all had a BLAST! Click on the link to see a small sample of how the night went. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaRQIkrIfYM

XOXOXOX :)

Not sure how my babies lasted this long. It was around midnight in this picture...

Feliz Dia Papi! Te quiero mucho!
PS/. Yes, my teeth are purple from the vino.

Turtle Thursday

2012-01-26T18:01:00.000-06:00

My baby!

Treasure Hunt at Tara's moms house!

Don't kill Paul!

2012-01-11T21:56:00.001-06:00

A couple of months ago, we visited our friends Tony and Amy in Dallas. We took the boys and had a great time! One of the days while we bbq'd outside, a fly snuck into the house. Later, as we sat watching a football game on TV, a fly landed right in front of Tony and Cole. Tony instantly looked at Cole and said "Oh have you met Paul, our pet fly?" I still laugh at how nonchalant he was about it... As you can imagine, the kids went along with it. Or at least we thought they were just going along with it. We didn't really think that they would truly believe it. On the drive back to Houston, a fly snuck into our car while getting gas. As soon as the boys saw it, they became ecstatic. "Paul wants to go to Houston with us!!!!!!" Eventually, we got rid of the fly and told them that "Paul wants to go back to Dallas with his family" and thought that was the end of it. It's been months and the kids cry (yes, real tears) and beg "Please don't kill Paul!" when we bring out the fly swatter.
I have a feeling that Paul will come up at some point. Hopefully, we are around so that we can explain. I can hear one of their friends telling their mom "But Cole has a pet fly. Why can't I have one?".

I'm so grossed out by *ANY* Paul!!!

2012-01-04T13:41:00.000-06:00

I came across this quote and think it's incredibly true. Love it!

"While we try to teach our children about life, our children teach us what life is all about." - Angela Schmidt

Christmas 2011!

2011-12-28T22:30:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I wonder why I have a camera. I have a small digital one in my purse and a big one that I usually take everywhere. I also have a video camera and the only one I seem to "remember" to use, is the one in my phone. One of my New Years resolutions will be to take more pictures, more videos (from something other than my iPhone) and to blog more. Even when I do take pictures, I get caught up in the moment and forget to take pictures with the most important people, our family! Maybe I'm more aware of this now that I'm thinking about just how much we will miss our families once we leave for Dallas...

Speaking of Dallas. The upcoming move to Dallas has the 4 of us a little off-kilter. As if we each need a V8 drink or something? :) It's amazing how much we rely on routine. Weekends are a free for all but Monday- Thursday, life is pretty predictable. Not lately. Joe is living in Dallas during the week, our house is on the market and I'm pretty much a single, stay-at-home mom and working a couple of days a month (6 days in December and 7 in January to be exact). I think the one that's been affected the most so far, is Reid. Yesterday, he told me "Mommy, I want my Daddy to be sitting right here" and he walked over to the couch and pointed at it. He cries for him several times a day. Cole isn't as vocal but I can tell he misses him. He told me "I wish Daddy was here so that I can wrestle with him." I miss Joe like crazy. As independent as I am, without him I still feel like a parasite that has lost it's host. ;-) Fortunately, he was home for 5 days over the holidays so Christmas felt EXTRA sweeter this year.

Christmas Eve, we spent it at my parents house. As always, we had fun and didn't make it home until 1:30am! Christmas morning, we waited and waited (and waited) for Cole to wake up before we could all go see what Santa left behind. Not sure how we managed to keep Reid snuggled up in our bed until Cole woke up. Christmas Day, we went to Tara's parents house in Montgomery and had a great time! The 4 cousins had a blast running in their enormous yard! The boys ended up with so many cool toys from Santa, grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles! Thank you!!!!!! This year, we started a little tradition. We asked the boys to get 4 toys that they could put under the tree for Santa. Santa would then pick up the gifts and take them to 2 other little boys that aren't as fortunate. That way, these 2 little boys would have extra presents besides the ones that Santa brought them. My babies looked so cute as they wrapped their 4 toys. Although...they could take some wrapping lessons. :) Even though we always donate toys a couple of weeks before Christmas, I think we will continue to put a couple under the tree.

I love Christmas, the time with family, the great food and yummy cocktails. ;-)

I hope everyone had just as perfect of a Christmas!!!!

Our itsy-bitsy-trunk-top-because-we-are-moving tree.

Santa came to visit Reid's class at school. He was in awe the entire time but would not go sit on his lap. Took him to the mall later that week and managed to get a picture only because I sat with Santa too.

At Mama and Papi's house on Christmas eve. Cole is always ready for the camera. Reid on the other hand, hides.

With Mama and Percy.

Meliiiissa.

My crazy sister and her insane gifts. That was just one of them. Yes, Reid is wearing Power Ranger boxers that my Mama and Papi got him.

Love my shoes Mamina! Te quiero mucho!

Opening gifts with Nana.

I love my Daddy.

Opening more gifts.

Tara's mom made the 4 boys black super hero capes. Each had their first name initial on the back. They loved them!

Matt and Will opening gifts.

With Uncle Bobs.

With Aunt Tara.

Cute picture of Granny and Papa John!

Elf Cole.

We wish everyone 2012 to be a year of health, happiness and love!

Big D!

2011-12-12T14:14:00.000-06:00

I keep forgetting to post our news. By now, most of you know. We are moving to Dallas! We won't move until the end of January when my contract at work ends. Joe got promoted a couple of months ago and they decided to transfer us. Talk about perfect timing with the end of my job! We are so very sad to be leaving the proximity to our family and friends but excited about the new adventure. The boys are already asking for jerseys and hats for all of the Dallas sports teams! Because of the move (almost everything is packed!), we are only doing a little bitty tree for the boys. I chose the colorful lights that they always ask for to make up for the size. :-) I'll post soon when we have more information on the house we are looking to buy. I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Only 13 days until Christmas!

Shadow

2011-12-05T13:33:00.000-06:00

This is how the boys found Shadow this morning. With a lollipop and a Pixie Stick. The boys thought it was pretty funny. Thanks for the idea Amy! ;-)

Gobble. Gobble.

2011-11-27T22:09:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I was off all week so it was great to spend the time with my babies. On Thanksgiving Day, we had a nice dinner at Mama and Papi's house. The boys begged us to let them wear "what Daddy wears to work". We let them, but then they asked my dad and my brother to do the same. Cole was SO excited to see them in their ties. On Friday, we went to Pointe West in Galveston for 2 nights. Nana and Pops had rented a beach house for the week. It has become a fun tradition to do that every Thanksgiving. It's nice to get away and have a change of scenery, especially a beach. The boys had a ton of fun! I love watching how much fun the 4 cousins have when they are together. Cole and Reid also went fishing with Joe and Pops for about 4 hours. Joe said they were awesome and they actually caught fish. The boys were so excited to tell me that they saw tons of dolphins swimming by the boat. Cole told me "they were so close that I could even see their eye!!!".

Up until a couple of years ago, I used to get a little stressed over the holidays. I think I got overwhelmed at all the going and doing, the shopping and craziness of the holidays. The past 2-3 years I haven't felt the least bit of stress. It's only been relaxing and fun and I hope it stays that way. It may have to do with the fact that the boys are getting so much easier and their schedules are actually flexible now.

So, the countdown has begun; 27 days until Christmas Eve (when we begin our Christmas celebration). Shadow (our Elf on the Shelf) arrives from the North Pole tomorrow. His flight was a little delayed due to holiday travel... ;-) The boys are excited to see him for the 3rd year.

Have a great week!

I posted this one on Facebook, but I had to post it on here for Mamina and anyone else that doesn't have a Facebook account!! :)

Too much food for Papi on Thanksgiving Day? His tie only lasted through dinner. :)

Daddy and Reid caught Flounder.

Joe caught a 21 inch Flounder and Reid caught one that was 16 inches. He reeled it in all by himself, too! I wish we had a video of it!

Proud. :)

The 4 cousins. I love this picture.

Turtle Thursday

2011-11-17T06:26:00.003-06:00

On my sister's boyfriends Harley.

I'm Sorry.

2011-11-02T21:33:00.014-05:00

Will you please accept these as an apology for not writing or posting pictures????

My baby always brings me flowers.

I’m back! I’ve had some issues with my laptop and honestly, been so busy that even if my laptop had been working I would not have been able to post an entry. Cole has been doing really well in Kindergarten. We recieved his first Report Card and his course grades are all E's and E+. We are very proud of his grades. His conduct grade, on the other hand is an S.............He talks too much in class. I hope we can fix that very soon! A couple of months ago, he began reading very short, level 1 sentences. He is now reading *almost* everything. It's incredible. Joe and I are simply amazed at how well he is doing in that department! Reid is loving his new school, friends and his teacher. I think it’s so cute that he calls her Miss “BeFany”, not Miss Bethany. :) He came home the other day and said “Listen. Listen. Elllleephhannt”. He was showing us that he could say “elephant” instead of “ephelant”. Funny that with Cole we worked to teach him how to say a word properly because we were “worried” about his speech (first time parents sort of thing). With Reid, we just think it’s adorable and know that they will learn how to say words properly in their time. For now, I just LOVE hearing him say his funny little words.

Reid started and ended his first season of soccer after 2 games and 3 practices. He loves the sport and is exceptionally good at it, but the minute the team arrived at the field, he would just shut down. We encouraged him to play and Joe spent 2 games out on the field with him, but he refuses to play. We’ll try again next year. Cole’s soccer season has been great. He has scored several awesome goals, including one to tie the game with 1 minute remaining. It’s so fun to watch his games!

Reid and I flew to Peru with my mom to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for a week. Joe stayed with Cole in order to keep him in school. We were sad that they didn’t get to go, but Reid and I had a WONDERFUL time! My grandpa isn’t doing well, so I felt I needed to see him and wanted to be there for my mom. It’s so hard to watch those you love, age. :( I hate it. Reid fell in love with Peru. The fact that he was spoiled ROTTEN by everyone *may* have something to do with it. The kid was getting candy, cakes, donuts and toys every 2 hours (I’m not kidding either). The earliest he went to bed was 11pm (normal bed time is 7:30pm!!). He had a blast. On several occasions, he told me “I like Peru. Can we come back?”. One night, when laying in bed with him, he told me “mommy, you are my best friend”. My heart melted and then I realized that he just thought I was cool for allowing him to stay up late and get spoiled. :) Oh and let me mention one thing about flying with a child. I felt like I received red carpet treatment. I would compare it to when one is pregnant; everyone opens your door, gives up chairs, allows you to cut in line etc… I got wine in the plane for free, in customs we got to cut in line and Reid got extra food in the plane. One of the flight attendants kept checking in on him and talking to him. Reid thought he was the pilot. :)

The holidays are coming up (can’t wait!), which means our lives won’t be getting less busy any time soon. This won’t help me keep my promise to update more often, but I will try. If anything, I will at least post pictures.

We have some news to share and will do so very soon! No, I'm not pregnant. :-)

Taking Papapa for a walk. Spring time in Peru was perfect.

My mom and Mamama at the Regata's Club for lunch by the beach.

With my Mamina.

Marice and Reid looking for crabs.

With my baby. We ate the BEST seafood everyday. I gained 4lbs....

Reid's first dinosaur exhibit.

GRRRRRRR

Salud! Dinner at my grandparent's house, the night Reid and I flew back.

2 Ninja's and 2 Percy's.

My cute little nephews and the Ninja's (Will, Reid, Cole and Matt).

Felicity and Cole. They are in the same soccer team.

Reid, his girlfriend Charleze, her sister Felicity and Cole.

New Beginings

2011-08-22T21:12:00.001-05:00

We took one more little trip to the beach (Matagorda Bay) two weekends before school started. Our friends the Hastings' invited us and the Knott's for a weekend getaway. It was hot, even for the beach, but we had a great time! The boys reeeeaaaallly do love the sand and ocean like their mommy and daddy. I love to watch them have so much fun.

My babies.

Cooper and Reid. They are such good buds, that they almost treat each other like siblings!

Helping Cole fly a kite.

The 2 Cole's. Cole Hastings and Cole Rentfro.

Today, Cole started Kindergarten and Reid started a new Pre-K school. Last Friday, we had Cole's "Meet the Teacher". As we walked into the school, I could feel Cole become increasingly anxious and very clingy (something he has never been!). His Teacher's name is Mrs. Shea. She seems like the sweetest person. As she knelt down to greet Cole, I thought Cole was going to cry. His voice was cracking and he kept rubbing his eye, but he didn't cry. He responded to all of her questions like a big boy but seemed very nervous. Later, Cole asked me "where is my cubbie? Oh wait- I don't have to take a nap now, right?" I said, "No, you don't. You are a big boy now". He had a look of shock in his eyes and said "I don't have to nap even when I get to high school???" :) Within seconds, he became friends with a little boy in his class. Before we left, he walked up to his teacher, tapped her on the back and said "Bye Mrs Shae. See you on Monday". As we were walking out of the class he told me "I make friends very easy". I thought it was cute that he used "easy" instead of "easily", but regardless, the confidence in this boy amazes me. Today, Cole was not the least bit nervous. When we left him in the classroom, he didn't even look back at us. I lingered and watched from the door, took pictures and even got teary eyed- but he never looked for us. I felt such mixed feelings. 99% of me was SO happy to see him grow, gain his independence and watch him feel proud of his accomplishments. Buttttttttttt, there was this itsy itsy itsy bitsy selfish part of me, that wants him to still need me. :-) School ends at 3:15pm, so I arrived at the school at 2:45pm in order to get in front of the car pool line (so much for the "front of the line). Reid and I sat in this line for an 1 hour and 3 minutes from the moment we arrived until I buckled him in and drove away. I will never forget the little look in his face as he walked up to the car. He looked proud and sheepish all at the same time. SO CUTE! We hugged and kissed like we hadn't seen each other in days.

Reid started his new Pre-K today as well. My little boy has been so happy and ready to start "big boy school". He woke up in a great mood and was ready to leave from the moment he woke up. He was cheesing for all of the pictures I took this morning. Joe, Cole and I took Reid to drop him off first. As we walked into the school, Reid walked around like he owned the place. The minute we walked into his class, things changed. He went from happy and confident to concerned and very reserved. He cried a lot when we left. :( As soon as we got in the car, Joe called the school and luckily he was done crying- but still! I really hope it's not as hard tomorrow. It made us so sad. I picked him up at 2:30pm and he was happy as can be. Miss Bethany said he was wonderful. She seems very nice and Reid really likes her already. She said that the first hour, he stayed close to her but then ventured on his own. He told me about his friends Parker and Mathew. There are only 7 kids in his class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Miss Bethany has an assistant so I'm certain he will get plenty of one on one time. This school even has a Hand/Finger scanner (used for identification purposes) that you have to use in order to enter the school. So far, we are very pleased with his new school.

After their first day, I asked Tara, Matt and Will to meet us at Tutti Frutti for yogurt (and a million toppings). It was a perfect ending to a great day!

Reid's first day of Pre-K

Walking to Reid's class (when he still owned the place....) :)

Daddy walking me into my elementary school.

Cole on his first day of Kindergarten.

Hugs. :)

Before entering the Kindergarten section of the school.

The 4 couisins at Tutti Frutti.

I hope all of our baby friends that have started school, have a great school year! May all of the memories you make this year, make you happy and I hope they last a lifetime!
xoxo~

Happy Birthday Mami!

2011-08-07T20:57:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and we celebrated it at Surfside Beach. The day was beautiful, the water was clear, clean and the breeze kept it from feeling hot. The water was surprisingly better than Galveston. We left at 8:30am with coolers filled with sandwiches, fruit, drinks and a cake. We all had a REALLY fun and relaxing time. For dinner, we went downtown to my sister and her boyfriends house. They grilled steaks, chicken (I don't eat cow, but the chicken was SO GOOD), potatoes and salad. It was a perfect end to a perfect day for my perfect mom! :-) Mami, I hope you enjoyed your day, as much as we did.

Joe will be single dad this week while I am in Michigan for work. I don't get back until Thursday evening. I am going to miss these 3 turtles SO MUCH! Reid had Croup last week and although you can barely tell by the way he is acting and has not had fever since Friday, today was bad. He spent the day coughing every minute or two (for almost 10 hours straight). He couldn't even nap because of the cough. He just laid in his bed trying to rest. Heart wrenching. I wish so bad I could trade places with them when they are sick. Suddenly, around 4:30pm today the coughing slowed down a ton. He is now sleeping soundly.

Making Mamma "a pink cake because she is a girl"

Big helpers. :)

Looking for little crabs.

Thanks Reid! :) This pic would have NEVER been posted had it not been for your leg covering my stomach. :)

Something is wrong with this picture, but I wanted to show how this pelican just chilled on the shore.

After a full day at the beach and a GREAT dinner!

Turtle Tuesday

2011-07-26T20:59:00.000-05:00

First off... I want to know how my laptop just survived a 4 foot fall onto tile???
In less than a month, our first born will be starting Kindergarten. He CAN. NOT. WAIT. He is ready in more ways than one and we can't wait to see him with his backpack and little lunch box ready for big boy school. I get teary eyed just thinking about it. :-)

I feel like he has accomplished so much this summer. He is biking without training wheels like a pro. He is getting better and better with his swimming. He's still not 100% comfortable, but he is capable. He can get from point A to point B without problems. He is showing an incredible interest in reading lately. He tries to read everything he sees when we are running the streets (hehe!). Tonight, he read an entire level 1 book. The words are simple (most are sight words) but he completed the book. So proud.
Cole is such an old soul. He has the energy of a group of children balled up into his little body, but he is old in many ways. He prefers to converse with older children and adults. He is facinated with countries and their language. If we left it up to him, he would ONLY watch ESPN. He doesn't just love sports. At times I wonder if he is a little obssessed... :)
So, Joe and I have this thing where we call each other names. Not in a bad way. Just names. I am Donna. Joe is Donnie. Reid's Spanish name is Juanacleto (I don't think it's a real name). His English name is Phil Nelson (as in the wrestling hold, "full nelson". We arent' wrestling fans but just think it's funny). Cole's Spanish name is Miguel. His English name is Rick O'Shay (Joe's friend that lives in the woods. Some of you golfing fans may get that one). We've been doing this for almost a year. The other day, I walked into class and Cole's teacher asked me "Does Cole go by another name at home?". All of a sudden- I knew what she was talking about and started laughing. Turns out, they spent 20 minutes trying to figure out who in the class had signed an assignment as "Rick". I tried so hard to explain, but all I could do was laugh. We finally had a talk with the boys and explained that at school, they can only be: Cole Joseph and Reid Clarke. This is the age where we have to *really* be careful with what we say and do. :)

The assignment, signed as "rick".

Cole, Reid and Cole Hastings. Playing on the golf course in our neighborhood.

In the soon to be bunker....

Finally. The front flip. Mommy made me wear my floaties for the flips.

Cole's new Tony Hawk bike. He loves it!!

Our Reid has become a pro with puzzles and memory games. We love to sit and watch him do puzzles. He focuses so hard. As soon as he finishes- and he does so, quickly, he wants to do another one. We love to play memory games with him in the evenings. He gets so excited and nervous when he realizes that he remembers where the pair is. He can barely contain himself. So much that he shakes a little. :) It makes us crack up. Although Reid is constanly running and jumping, he can often times be seen coloring or doing a sit-down activity. The boys are signed up and ready for the Fall soccer season. It will be Reid's first season. When we told him, he asked 3 or 4 times: "I get to play soccer? With my cleats and my long socks? Will Cole go to my games?" The little look on his face was beautiful. It was the perfect example of the HUGE rewards our babies give us as parents.

I love to hear and watch Cole and Reid be the little people that they are. Their personalities are polar opposites and I love each and every difference.

Reid has been eating a ton lately.................... :-)

I just think that this is the cutest thing. I love it.

Ps/. For those of you wondering about Reid and Shelby's love affair: it's still going strong. I still remember my little boyfriend in pre-k when I lived in Peru, so I think its funny that Reid could potentially remember Shelby when he is in his 30's. :)

Have a wonderful week! One week closer to the cool football season days. Spring and Summer are my favorites seasons but I'm really looking forward to Fall this year for some reason!

Father's Day

2011-07-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

I know Father’s Day was 3 weeks ago, but these days it seems that’s how far behind I am when it comes to blogging. Father’s Day was great! Like always, we split our time between Joe’s parents and mine. My parents came over to have lunch on Sunday. We spent the day drinking mimosas and building and playing with the air hockey table that my sister bought Cole for his birthday. That thing is pretty entertaining, even for adults! :) Later, we went over to Mike and Tara’s for a Rentfro BBQ. We all played outside and surprisingly, we didn’t melt! :) It’s so hot here lately!
We are so blessed to have such amazing Dad’s in our family!
I can’t say enough good things about my Large Turtle (Joe, aka Donnie). I am seriously thankful each and every day for the man that I married. I am so proud that Cole and Reid have him as a Dad. <3

While Joe was opening presents, the boys were sitting next to him under each arm in order to help unwrap them. All of a sudden, we heard Cole say “You are the best Daddy in the world. And your armpits smell good!”. LOL!! Really? Cole says he loves the way the deodorant smells. That’s so funny to me!

Melissa, Lionel and Cole. Playing air hockey.

My 2 little Turtles.

My dad. Greatest Papi in the world. Being funny (as always) and pretending to drink out of a mini keg. He doesn't even drink beer...

Cole beat Mama... :)

After lunch. Full and happy!

Bruce, Matt, Joe, Reid, Mike, Will, Papa John and Cole. Four generations in one cute picture!

Have a great week. I promise to try to post more often!

Mostly Big Turtle Stuff

2011-06-15T21:15:00.004-05:00

(WARNING: Not as many pictures as I intended to get and LOTS of reading.)

Today, Cole took a field trip to the Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin, Texas. This means that my 5 year old baby was in a bus with his baby friends and his teachers for at least an hour and a half. Not a single part of me wanted him to go. Not because I don’t trust his teachers, but because I don’t trust drivers on the road. We let him go because he was SO EXCITED about going and we didn’t want him to stay behind while all of his friends got to go and have fun. The vision of my Turtle Head in a bus for that long made me want to drive up to the school this morning, and hand them his car seat and a helmet…..haha! I know we can’t keep them in bubbles forever, but “Cole the Bubble Boy” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

On a different note, Cole had a blast at his birthday party. This year, he picked to have his party at Shankz in the Woodlands (Black Light Miniature Golf). It was perfect place to have a KID party because the kids loved that everything was glow in the dark, they got to play golf and eat pizza and cake. Oh and it was indoors. We decided after last year’s party, that it was too hot to be outside for a long period of time in June. Cole has already asked to have a pool party one year, so that will be an exception since we can cool off with water. I love that he loves his birthday parties and that he knows exactly what he wants and where he wants to celebrate! I wasn’t able to get many pictures because of the lighting (dark/black lights). Thank you to all that helped him celebrate his birthday for almost a week. Two Saturdays ago, he got to go to Patti and Travis’ lake house to fish (see previous entry for pictures). On his actual Birthday, I took him to the pool with Tara and my nephews, Matt and Will. They ate lunch at the pool and swam. Later, we went to get frozen yogurt (with a million toppings) at this place called Orange Leaf. Thursday, we had his birthday party at school with a Harley Davidson Motorcycle cake. This past Saturday was the party at Shankz, where he also got to pick out the cake (Iron Man). He got to do every single thing he asked to do. We got him “red New Balance running shoes” (per his request), a helmet for skating/biking, goggles for the water and several water toys. My in laws got him a bunch of Ben10 stuff, which he is really into lately. My parents got him a 2 wheel Razor scooter (he’s wanted one since Christmas but we didn’t think he was old enough), a spy watch and a harmonica. He *LOVES* the Razor. He is already a pro on it. Some of the other stuff he got: clothes, a wooden baseball bat that he’s been begging for, a remote control truck, Sketcher light up shoes, money, a Nerf gun, 2 Super Water Soakers, a Hot Wheel ramp, Green Lantern stuff and some super hero dress up stuff (cant’ remember the hero’s name right now), a personalized lunchbox for school, and a couple of other toys. Oh and my sister and her boyfriend, got him a 6 ft air hockey table! It hasn’t been delivered yet, but it should be by next week. He will more than likely freak out when he sees it. Can’t wait to see the look on his face!
Thank you SO MUCH to all who showed my baby love on his day! He is one happy boy with all the gifts and Little Turtle is reaping the benefits! :)

At Shankz. Cole insisted on wearing the shirt that they gave him. :)

Perfect place for a little boy's party.

Picture taken with the flash.

Cutest little glow worm (Brooklyn). All light colors lit up like her shirt!

Matt with his glow in the dark mustache. All my pictures were blurry like this. :(

Cole’s 5 year well visit went very well. Thankfully, Dr. Pope found him in “excellent shape developmentally, physically and intellectually”. Sight and hearing are good and he didn’t need any vaccinations. As a matter of fact, he won’t until his 11th birthday. Cole was very happy about that… He is in the 80 percentile in weight and 75th percentile in height. They no longer make measuring tape long enough to measure his head. ;-)

Cole has his last t-ball game this Saturday. Last night, the league had a “trophy party” at a restaurants so that we could eat dinner, cupcakes and distribute trophy’s and medals. The coach was sweet to call up each kid, say something nice about them and hand them the trophy and medal. Cole was the last one to be called. The coach said “and this award is for my little slugger”. Without hesitation, Cole got up to accept his award. He is good and he knows it! J The coach went on to say other sweet things and told Joe that it was obvious he worked very hard with him. Funny, how something so simple made me SO proud. We thought we would take a sports break over the summer, but when we asked Cole, he said “NO WAY. I want to play basketball now”. I hope we can find a league close by.

My Reid has had a girlfriend for a couple of months now. Her name is Shelby and he LOVVVVVES Shelby. Thankfully for him, Shelby loves him too. He tells her he loves her and they are stuck at the hip at school. Every single day when I get to his classroom to pick him up, he runs up to me, gives me a hug and a kiss and then (with biggest enthusiasm) tells me ALL about Shelby as if it’s the first time he’s ever told me about her. Very loving relationship but it can get volatile from time to time. Last week, Reid bit Shelby’s leg. Fortunately, he didn’t leave a mark, but still. The week before that, Shelby slapped Reid. He still won’t tell me what he did to deserve a slap… Yesterday, Reid mentioned his “girlfriend Abby”. I wonder if that had something to do with it???

Iron Man cake for his party at Shankz.

Harley Davidson cake for his party at school.

Where we've been.

2011-06-05T15:05:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since my last post. We've been doing a couple of things since then. On May 20th, Cole graduated from Pre-K. My mom, dad, Joe, Reid and I were in all in attendance. I must have cried 2 or 3 times. He played one of the main roles in one of their end of year songs/shows. He led the class singing in Spanish and we were so proud. We are working on getting a video of the show from the school, because the batteries on my video camera were dead. I thought I had charged it- but I guess not! I didn't get very many good pictures either because someone either had their eyes closed or was looking away, during the family pictures. Later, the 4 of us went and played putt putt golf and rode go carts. Reid didn't get to ride on the carts because he's still not tall enough, so he and I played at the arcade.

I think he was a little nervous when he saw the crowd. :)

Just a *little* happy.

Singing and dancing.

Singing away.

His head is still huge. The cap fell off half way through the ceremony. ;-)

Joe and I went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico with our friends Adam and Tiffany. A couple hours after being at the resort, we were surprised by our friends Kevin and Lisa! We were SO HAPPY that they decided to lie to us for the months leading up to the trip and tell us that they couldn't go. It was the best surprise, ever! The 6 days with some of our best friends, were beautiful and so much fun!
Thank you Mami, Papi, Bruce and Carrie for keeping our babies while we were gone. We are so lucky to have such awesome parents! The boys had so much fun slumber partying with the grandparents!

Can this be my front yard, PLEASE!????

We just got back from Patti and Travis' lake house in Lake Livingston. It was so relaxing and fun! Cole asked them in December, if he could go fishing at their lake house for his birthday. Yes, he invited himself and the rest of his family to spend the night at their house. :) Patti and Travis were so sweet and bought Cole a "big boy" fishing pole. Patti called me to find out what his favorite foods are and they made him hamburgers, cookies and ice cream. They also got them those cute fishing hats! Cole's birthday isn't until Wednesday but the celebrations started this past weekend. He is waking up every morning and singing "Happy Birthday to me!". He can't wait. I took the day off Wednesday so that I could take them swimming and to eat ice cream. He specifically asked for Matt and Will to go with us, so that is what we are doing. I know the 4 cousins will have fun on Wednesday. Thursday, we'll have his party at school and Saturday we will have the party at Shankz (black light miniature golf). I can't believe he will be 5 years old in 3 days.

Have a wonderful week. I'll be posting pictures after Cole's party.

Recent Happenings

2011-05-14T21:13:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday, Adam, Tiffany and I ran our first 10K! This was something on my "Life To-Do's" and I finally marked it off. I ran it in 59:47. It wasn't fast, but I ran the entire time and I finished- which was my goal. It felt so great!

Mother's Day was perfect. Joe and the kids bought me a gold watch that I've been wanting for months. The cards that Joe gets always bring tears to my eyes. He writes the sweetest stuff and I keep them forever. I love to go back and re-read them. Kind a cool to see the progression of our relationship and events that were going on in our lives at the time. :) We had a yummy early lunch with my in-laws and the kids played with their cousins until they were sweating. Then, we headed to my parents for an early dinner. My mom makes the AWESOMEST desserts! Yes, I know that's not a real world, but in my mom's kitchen it is. :) I love spending holidays with family!

We said farewell to Reid's paci the Monday after his 3rd birthday. He decided he wanted to give his paci to the nursery babies in Miss Rene's class. Miss Rene was Cole and Reid's 1st teacher and my angel at school. That woman is the one that made me feel at ease leaving my babies while I worked. Although a little hesitant, Reid handed his paci to Miss Rene and told her it was for the babies because "I'm a big boy now". The next day, Miss Rene had 2 gifts for Reid. One from herself and one from the babies. The card from the babies read "thank you for your yummy paci Reid. We love it". :) She gave him a Nerf football and a huge Toy Story sticker book. Since then, the bedtime routine has gotten a little longer with Reid. Before, we would read Bible stories and they would both pass out. Now, we read Bible stories and Reid wants me to lay with him for 10-15 minutes or he whines. Luckily, Cole doesn't seem too bothered. He asked for the paci once the first 2 nights but hasn't brought it up since. I have to admit, I'm sad to know that we no longer need pacifiers or diapers in the house. Those things are symbolic of having babies and now we won't need them. :(

Cole started t-ball a couple of weeks ago and he is loving it. He is such a little athlete. The boy LOVES sports. He was a little bothered at first because they didn't offer baseball for his age group (instead of t-ball "because that's for babies" according to Cole) but he's over it now. :)

Here are some pictures from today. The weather was PERFECT.

the. cutest. baseball player. ever.
I'm a bit biased, but my opinion still counts. ;-)

My loves.

a little windy. :)

Cole's pony had a BAD bleach job.

They were pretending to be cowboys.

Have an awesome week!

Reid's Birthday Weekend

2011-05-02T20:54:00.001-05:00

Reid had a fun filled birthday weekend. He is SOOOO excited to be 3. Friday, we had a party at school. He got balloons, a "construction site" cake and he got to party with his buddies from his class. On Saturday, she woke up close to 8am. Joe, Cole and I sang happy birthday and gave him a new bike, a Wii remote and a Spiderman fishing pole. Joe had the idea to buy something for Reid to give to Cole, so he wouldn't feel left out. So, Reid gave Cole a Megamind DVD (he loves that movie). Later that day, we had Reid's party at Monkey Bizness. Reid was such a happy boy. He did what he loves most; run, jump and play.

On Sunday, we had the March of Dimes for Team Coop. Aside from a couple of meltdowns that Reid had during the walk, it was fun. It's so cool to see so many supporters out there, walking 5 miles for one VERY special little boy. It is our 3rd year to do the walk and tradition to then head to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and a couple of margaritas. On the way back, we ended up swimming with the Knott's and the Simmons' for a couple of hours and had a great time! We even ended up taking Baylee Knott home, so that we could dog-sit for a couple of days. I stayed home today, so that I could take Reid to his 3 year well visit with the Pediatrician.The nurse told us, "well Reid is up-to-date with his vaccines, but since he's 3, we'll need to prick his finger for blood work and we'll need a urine sample". All of a sudden, Reid looked at me and said "Nooo Mommy! I'M 2 YEARS OLD!!!!!!". :) Reid is in the 90% with weight and 75% with height. Dr Pope said that he has met all of his milestones and is doing great. I'm so thankful that we've been blessed with healthy boys so far. When Joe came home from work, he took Baylee on a 3 mile run while I started dinner. As soon as he got back, we took Baylee on a family walk. Cole is convinced that he is the Dog Whisperer. He has told us repeatedly today, that he wants to be a Dog Trainer when he grows up. haha! Reid has always been a bit more reluctant towards dogs. OK....its a little more like FEARFUL....... :) but I think having Baylee here is helping. He is now petting her and says that he likes Baylee.

Thank you to everyone that helped make Reid's birthday weekend a memorable one! Thank you for being there, showing him love and for the wonderful gifts. He is one happy boy!

My brother came to my class to sing and eat my construction site cake.

My class getting ready to sing me Happy Birthday.

My party at Monkey Bizness.

Cooperman.

Parker and Rylee.

Cole attempting to rock climb.

Cuz Matt.

Jordan, Cole, Cooper, Papi and Addi playing air hockey.

Ethan and Reid.

The party favors (kites).

Signing Happy Birthday to MY monkey at Monkey Biz.

I blew out my 3 candles. That's how fast my Mommy feels time has passed.

My BFF's. Grayson, Reid, Owen and Ethan. They call themselves "The Bad Boys". :S

Rylee, Reid, Jordan and sweaty Cole.

I think they are a bit smitten....

Team Coop. March of Dimes walk.

I was trying to take a picture of Cooper and Reid and caught Cole jumping off a rock. :)

Hi. My name is Baylee Knott.

Bouncy ball race. They jumped and jumped before bed. We loved the 30 minutes we spent listening to them laugh.
I hope we made you so happy Little Turtle. We love you more than words could ever tell.

Have a great week!
xoxo

Happy Birthday Little Turtle

2011-04-28T08:49:00.000-05:00

My baby is turning 3 on Saturday. : ( I can't believe it. My littlest one is getting big.
We are having a party for him at school tomorrow and one at Monkey Bizness on Saturday. He is talking about his birthday parties non-stop!! He specifically asked for a Batman/Spiderman cake for his party on Saturday so I hope that the bakery is able to create what I requested. I have been bad about taking pictures with my camera lately but promise to take some this weekend and post them soon.

This kid is talking so much. Too much. We thought we had a personal comentator with Cole, but now we have 2...
Cole and Reid's favorite thing lately is reading Bible stories before bed. They don't want me to read any other book and they have a million. Reid's favorite story is "The Good Samaritan". I love that he loves that story.

We have Reid's 3 year well visit this coming Monday morning. I took the day off and we will go do something fun together so that we can continue celebrating his birthday. I am so thankful for this Little Turtle, that all I want to do is celebrate his birth!

Easter this year was a blast. The day was beautiful. The kids got 4 Easter baskets each with all kinds of fun stuff! We enjoyed lunch with the Rentfro side and dinner with the Clarke side. It's a little hectic to have both sides of the family in the same town during holiday's (planning how we'll split our time), but it's also great that we get to spend time with both. Growing up, I didn't have the opportuntiy to spend all of the holidays with our grandparents/extended family because we didn't live in the same country. It makes me happy to know that the boys get to spend time with both sets of grandparents! They LOVVVVEEEEE spending time with the them!

Tuesday, I took Cole and Reid to their Dentist appointment. I asked my parents to join me and I think we all enjoyed the visit at the Dentist. Thank you Mami and Papi for always being so happy to help! I don't know what I would do without you guys. :) Cole acted like a pro during his check up and cleaning...... He acts so mature in these situations. Reid was GREAT during his xrays and check up. No cavities so far on either of the boys, which makes us very happy! Reid's teeth looked so clean that Dr Pittman said he didn't need to have his teeth cleaned until the next visit in 6 months. He asked us to keep doing what we are doing (for us to be the ones to brush their teeth) until they are 8 years old. I had no idea we had to do it for that long! Sort of contradictory because our Pediatrician encourages us to let the boys brush their own teeth. Glad I didn't listen... :)

Have a great rest of the week! I will post pictures soon.

Getting his xrays at the dentist. He looks SO little to me in this picture (and hes on a booster chair).

He did such an AMAZING job! Shame on Mommy for being concerned that he would hate the dentist.

Dr. Pittman checking things out. I think its cool that he doesn't wear typical doctor gear. This makes the kids more comfortable.

Cousins. Will and Reid during Easter.

A Couple of Random iPhone Pictures from April

2011-04-18T20:58:00.001-05:00

I don't think we have stopped, even for a second this month. It's been a fun one!!

Wearing Mama's glasses

Arrived at Minute Maid Park during the National Anthem.

Simmons crawfish boil!

Riverwalking it- San Antonio

Best buds!

Walking the dog after the soccer game with my buddy Jackson.

Lazy river....

Just a swingin'

About to walk to the Astros vs. Cubs game.

Sea World April 2011

2011-04-05T08:41:00.005-05:00

We went to Sea World with the Knott's and the Simmons' on Friday April 1st. Sea World was a success and the 6 kids were PERFECT! No meltdowns or incidents. The weather couldn't have been better, either. Cole and Addi went on a huge water rollecoaster with the Daddy's. They loved it so much they asked to go a second time. :)
We (Knott's and us) stayed 2 nights at the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch and had the best time! The hotel is truly a great place to stay if you have kids.
Have a wonderful week!

Cole, Reid, Cooper, Addi and Rylee.

Not sure if you can see the fear in Cole's face? :) Addi is having a blast!

Click here to view the rest of the pictures! I must warn, there are a bunch!

And off he went....without training wheels!

2011-03-28T20:10:00.002-05:00

Cole did it! He took off and we are SO proud of him.

The begining: Daddy's stern but encouraging words when Cole wanted to give up.

Reid had to pedal like a mad man to keep up and we had to run. Thankfully, Reid decided to ride his big wheel because he can pedal a lot faster on it than the bike.

Look Mommy! No training wheels!
Now, we just have to teach him to stop. ha! I say "we", but Joe did all of the work. Something I've learned about Joe recently, is that he is an incredible teacher. It makes me love him a bit more. ;-)

Cole is number 6.

During the game on Saturday, Cole bumped his nose on another players head. His nose gushed blood and for a moment we thought it may have been broken. The most that Cole has ever bled. As soon as the blood stopped, he got right back in the game. He loves all sports, but soccer and basketball are his favorite.

Papi has not missed a single game. He spends every second playing with Reid and watching Cole play. My Reid wants to play soccer so bad. So, even though he's only on the sidelines, he asks us to put on his soccer gear.

Happy boy!

Night time potty training:::::: Reid had woken up with a dry pull-up for about 2 weeks, so we decided last Monday to try pull-up free nights. Just underwear. So, after 3 overnight accidents last week, we decided that we are allowing him to sleep in pull-ups until he is 14. As long as he doesn't spend the night at friends houses, no one will ever know. Of course, he has woken up with dry pull-ups since........

Have a great week!

Fix it. Please?

2011-03-27T21:25:00.002-05:00

I tried posting something this evening, but it will have to wait. For some reason the images are not showing up.

Blogger, what's going on?????????? Fix it please.

Gringo Turtle Speaking a Little Spanish

2011-03-22T21:21:00.002-05:00

April is a busy month for us. We are taking the kids to Sea World and a 2 night stay in San Antonio. We are going with the Knott’s and Simmons, so it will be fun. The kids are SOO excited that they get to go to Sea World with Addison, Cooper, Rylee and Parker. We’ve got a crawfish boil, several birthday parties (including Reid’s 3^rd birthday party!), Easter and I’ll be in San Antonio on business for 3 days. The 4 of us have dentist appointments, we have soccer every Saturday and I need to step up my training for a 10K that I’m running the first week of May. Oh and the one thing that we have to do this month that makes me want to cry………………………….. Is “Kindergarten Roundup” for Cole on April 20^th. This is where we take Cole to the elementary school that he’ll attend in August. He will receive an orientation geared towards Kindergartners and then we all get a tour of the school.
I'll post pictures soon. For now, here is a video of Cole telling us the months of the year in Spanish. Yes, that is marker on their body and face. They decided that body art was more fun than arts and craft time. Oh and I'm not sure what Reid is doing in the video....

Turtle Tuesday. A Day at the Park.

2011-03-15T06:17:00.080-05:00

We love this weather. Soccer games, grilling and eating outside, riding bikes and going to the park to climb, run and fish. Cole is learning to ride his bike without training wheels, but we still have some work. It cracks me up to see him lose control. Kinda sick, I know. :-) Fortunately, Joe is there to catch him almost every time. The time change means more sunlight, which means we'll get to spend more time outside. The downfall? My body will hate feeling like it's waking up at 4am....

Reid is a rabbit. Constantly hopping. I love this picture of him in the air.

Looking for bait with Daddy.

Admiring the view and looking for fish.

After school at the park. What Reid decided to do, instead of playing on the slides.

Paci's and Clovers.

2011-03-09T20:40:00.004-06:00

We took Reid's pacifier away during the day on his 2nd birthday. He still has a pacifier at night when he sleeps and during naps on weekends (he hasn't had a paci in over a year during naps at school).
We are completely vetoing his pacifier on his 3rd birthday, but today on the radio I heard that Suri Cruise (Tom Cruise's daughter) still uses a paci at age 5. Does that make it ok for us??????????? ha! We are embarrased at the fact that Reid STILL has a pacifier to sleep and he's not even 3, but 5????????????????????????????????????? I have to admit, it makes me feel a little better. ; -)

One leaf is for FAITH... The second for HOPE...The third for LOVE... And the fourth for LUCK!

This is a picture of what we believe to be a four leaf clover that Cole found. On the way to the soccer field, Joe actually saw him walk by a clover patch, heard him say "Oh! I'm going to find a four leaf clover", bend down and pick up the first thing he saw (which turned out to be this). When I saw it, I couldn't believe it. Not only is St. Patrick's day next week, but I have looked for these things - EVERYWHERE! When I say "everywhere", I mean it. I have looked in Trinidad, Damascus, Florida, Peru...I still look now at 34! I've always wanted to find one and never, ever had any luck. Then, my 4 year old finds one in seconds.

This lucky boy told me he wished for a pot of gold. : )

Happy St. Patty's week!

Turtle Tuesday

2011-02-22T05:47:00.008-06:00

Climbing high.

At the basketball court.

Reid at Cole's soccer game. He played so hard that his shirt ended up soaked from sweat and grass. He ended up with Mommy's hoodie.

Will at the park.

Parker eating a Cua Cua. :)

A Year Flies.

2011-02-16T10:55:00.002-06:00

Happy Heart Day, a little late! It has been 1 year since I started this blog. I haven't updated as much as I would like but I'll blame our crazy little life. :-) Two full time jobs and 2 little boys in our house hold, keeps us busy but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy Valentine's Day sweet Turtles.
Large Turtle, I hope you always know how thankful I am that you are all ours. When I married the love of my life, I didn't know that you would end up being a perfect father, too. I am so lucky to have you as my Valentine!
Medium Turtle, as my first born, thank you for showing me the overwhelming love that my heart is capable of feeling.
Little Turtle, my baby, thank you for completing our little family circle. Thank you for allowing me to milk the baby phase out of you. I love it.

Here is a list of some of the little happening's in Cole and Reid's lives.

Cole..........
'Knows every NFL team name by their logo and loves to "read" Sports Illustrated- Kids.

Is obsessed with numbers (adding, subtracting).

Is so excited that soccer season has started! His 4th season!!

Asked me "when can I leave the house?" and I said when you get married.....(I thought for a second unselfishly and added) "or when you go to college." Cole started crying because "I don't want to leave your house mommy". Ahhhh. If only that would stay true forever. He made me cry too.

has a sense of humor and he cracks me up constantly!

When he told us he had a girlfriend, but she broke up with him, we wanted to yell at that little girl. ;).

Is awesome at bowling on Wii.

Is so outgoing and loves to play with "big" kids.

Thinks that the Noggin and Sprout channels are for babies but likes the Disney channel.

Has become so easy going. He just goes with the flow *most* of the time.

Is an old soul.

Has almost outgrown his naps. He naps about 50% of the time. Even if he doesn't nap, he lays in his bed for atleast an hour 1/2 or two for quiet time.

The "Sticker Ceremony" method works on both! They both have charts in their room and we reward them with stickers. The trick is the "ceremony" that goes along with the sticker and chart. They love it.

Reid..........

Loves his turtle Pillow Pet, his baby (that he's had since birth), his puppy (that he's had since he was 11 months old when we went to Peru).

Very proud to be wearing underwear now!

Is very sad that his bday didn't make the cut off for playing soccer this spring.

Would rather die than have his pinky toe nail cut.

He tells us " I told you" even when it doesn't make sense to say it.

Loves to play and watch babies.

He's bossy and when he gets mad he sounds like Neil Diamond (gets this raspy/mean voice).

Loves Toy Story and the Super Hero Squad.

Says " wooooody" (from Toy Story), "ephelant" and "underwaaaare" in the cutest way possible.

Is affectionate and complimentary. He constantly tells me I'm pretty. He hugs me and kisses me (without me asking). He kissed me 30 times the other day while we watched a movie. When I do nice things for him, he tells me "you are my friend Mommy" or "you nice Mommy". :)

The 4 of us call each other names. Daddy will say "good night Juan and Steve". The boys will stay "good night John" and we all try to come up with different names every night.

Is awesome at WII sword fighting.

Is very particular about the clothes he wears and wants us to roll up his pants all the way up to his thighs so that they are like shorts.

Loves his naps and bed time. He'll tell us "it's time for nigh nigh", hold our hand and takes us to his room. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day! Hopefully, we are done with the cold and Spring weather is here. WE LOVE THE SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cole wrote his name on 30 valentines day cards.

Before his first soccer game. It was a beautiful day!

Tunnel celebration after winning the game!

Partying at Will's 3rd Birthday party!

Everytime we go to Matt and Will's, Cole finds these glasses to wear. :)

Large Turtle's Birthday

2011-01-31T20:50:00.003-06:00

So, the large one turned 33. I still can’t believe I married someone a year and 11 days younger than me. He rubs it in every year and up until the day before his birthday he asks “what’s it like to be married to someone 2 years younger than you?”. I hope you had a great day golfing on Saturday and celebrating that evening! I am so thankful for you, your love and everything you are to Cole, Reid and me. Happy Birthday love!

Golfing with the guys.

Blurry but I thought it was a cute picture.

Great picture Daddy! You can actually see the ball flying off the club.

The cake Reid and I made for Daddy while the others golfed. Afterwards, Reid licked all of the spatula's and bowls clean!

Before I forget... we can now say that Reid is almost 100% potty trained. He has been in underwear at school for over a month (even during nap). Two Saturdays ago, we decided to commit to the potty training on the weekends. Yes, we were being lazy. :-) He has had a couple of #2 accidents but he is working on it and we are SO PROUD OF OUR BABY! His overnight pull up has been consitently dry for a long while now, but we will probably wait a couple of weeks before we do just underwear at night.

Last week, when I went to pick Reid up at school, he ran up to me, I picked him up we hugged and I kissed him to pieces. While we were hugging, he played with my hair and he said "you pretty Mommy". I could smile forever just thinking of that!

The boys' room. We still have to do a couple of things to it, but we are almost done and they LOVE it!

Have a great week!!

xoxo~

Turtle Tuesday

2011-01-25T16:16:00.001-06:00

The weather has been aweful (cold and rainy). So, the minute the sun peeked in on Sunday we took the boys to the park to play. They hadn't been ALL YEAR! ;-)

January

2011-01-17T10:16:00.001-06:00

Our decision to buy the boys the bunk bed for Christmas was great! They are both so happy. They love sleeping in the same room and (surprisingly) they are doing awesome. Joe and I were concerned that bed time would all of a sudden become a hassle. We made 2 big changes with something that we thought would affect their sleeping: First, the fact that it is a bunk bed and they would be sharing a room (more playing and talking at night and no sleeping). Secondly, we moved Reid out of a crib and into a “big boy” bed (no longer confined to the 4 crib gates and freedom to roam the house, when he pleases). Thankfully, they are falling asleep just as quickly as before and Reid has gotten up out of us his bed to roam only once - and it was at 8:00am! The first night in their new room, we found Reid on the top bunk with Cole hiding and laughing about 30 minutes after we laid them down… That was cute. Reid looks so tiny in his big bed. I love the fact that I can now lay and snuggle next to him while he sleeps peacefully. The crib ALWAYS got in the way. ;-) I really like having my 2 babies in one room! I will take some pictures very soon and post them. I have been lazy with my paparrazi job. I think it has to do with all the overtime I put in over the holidays. :)
The Wii that Santa brought has also been a success. Cole is awesome at bowling (has bowled a 215) and Reid has beat Cole and I at golf twice! He even got a bogey in one of the holes.

Reid has been growing horns (the mean kind) on his head lately. Dinner is nearly impossible. We have to persuade him to eat things he has always loved (unless it's pasta). He is throwing about 4 temper tandrums every evening and they all revolve around dinner. His teachers say he is great at school. Not so much at home... Hoping it's a stage, but he's already been possessed since the end of December. So glad that Cole has been really good and balancing things out. He is such a good big brother. He is so protective of him. If we go somewhere like the mall and Reid runs ahead of us a little, Cole gets a nervous and yells "Reid, come back!".

My dad's birthday was on Saturday. Joe and Cole took my dad golfing to the course in our neighborhood. They had fun and they said that Cole was VERY good. This time, Cole took his clubs and he hit the ball about 50-60 yards a couple of times. :-) On Sunday, we celebrated my dad's birthday with an awesome dinner at my parents house. Happy Birthday Papi! I love you so much!

So cute.

Cole tried to hit the ball so hard that he fell. :-)

Farewell 2010

2011-01-02T21:54:00.001-06:00

My favorite holiday before I had kids was New Years Eve. Now, it's Christmas because there is nothing better than seeing their sweet faces light up at the magic of Christmas. Still, I LOVE New Years. It may be the champagne, the fireworks', the tiara's and Joe's kiss at midnight that I love? ; ) We spent 2 days at the Simmons' house in Lake Conroe. We had planned on going to Kemah on Thursday but the weather was cold and rainy. Instead, we met at PF Changs for lunch and then took the kids to Incredible Pizza for 2 hours. Friday, the Knott's met us at the Simmons' and we had a dinner celebration to ring in the New Year. The kids had a blast slumber partying, playing, watching fireworks and playing with sparklers. We had a wonderful dinner, yummy cocktails and lots of conversation. It was low key, but we didn't have to worry about driving and we got to celebrate it with some of our best friends!

Last year, we had a scare with my Dad and my Papapa, but thankfully things got better. My Reid got his tubes and now can't get him to stop talking. Joe continues to be incredibly succesful with work, being a Daddy and an awesome husband. I have been calling him Superman lately... Both of my boys continue to develop into smart, beautiful little people and I'm so proud to be called their Mommy. I continue to be able to balance being a Mom and and a full time job (although I may not always feel "succesful") :-) We are very thankful for 2010 and all of the things that it brought to our family. Now, 2011 is here and I'm ready to take it all in. Happy New Year to you and all that you love! May everyone be healthy, safe and happy!

Today, at the Texans/ Jaguars game. Yelling at the Texans.

Reid, celebrating after a touch down!

Our seats were on the 7th row, so this helped the boys (especially Reid) pay close attention!

Christmas 2010!

2010-12-27T13:45:00.001-06:00

We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house and Christmas Day with my in- laws. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of the awesome gifts, great food and family time!
We didn't get home until midnight on both nights. To give you an idea of how exhausted we were...Cole slept in until 10:00am on Sunday morning. For those that know my boys, they know that is INSANE! They are very early risers (between 6:45am and 7:30am) so it was shocking to us! December was probably the fastest month of the year. I remember the 1st of December and now it's the 27th in what seemed like a weeks period of time. Besides the usual holiday parties, shopping and preparations we decided to replace our carpet and buy the boys bunk beds for Christmas. Logistically, we had to wait until we had the carpet installed (it was finished on Dec 23rd). Then, the bunk beds were delivered on the 24th, barely making it for Christmas. Our house looked like it had been hit by a tornado and then Toys R Us walked up and threw up all over it. We are taking this opportunity and doing a 'winter cleaning' and it feels great! The boys will be giving some of their older toys to less priviledged kids. We really want them to understand just how lucky they are! Speaking of lucky...Santa brought them a Wii, games, movies, big rubber dinosaurs, cars, clothes and personalized containers for their stuffed animals. Mommy and Daddy got them bunk beds (twin over full). Cole has wanted them since the summer when we stayed at a beach house that had bunk beds. Since Reid was STILL in a crib, we thought it was perfect timing. They are now sharing a room. Cole sleeps in the top bunk and Reid in the bottom bunk. It made me so sad to realize that we no longer have a crib in our house. :-( So far, he's doing a great job staying in his bed and sleeping like a big boy. They both love the bed!
I stayed home with them today. Tara and I are taking the 4 boys (Cole, Reid, Matt and Will) to see Tangled at the movies. Should be fun!
Here are some pictures...

Christmas eve at Mama and Papi's.

Happy! :) Not sure why it's different colors though?

Cole requested that we make gingerbread cookies. We weren't very succesful but Santa loved them. ;)

Mommy was too busy videotaping to capture more pictures of the opening of Santa's presents.

Christmas Day with Granny.

They boys' waiting for their Christmas dinner.

Beautiful tonsils Cole. :-) Is that a blue tongue from the candy cane???

Thanks for sharing your cool hat Will! :)

I just came across this pic and thought it was cute, even though it's a couple of weeks old.

Yes, Reid LOVES the donkey at Lupe Tortillas! We have several of these pics. :)

Eat, Drink & Be Merry!

2010-12-06T20:15:00.001-06:00

We had a busy weekend. Too much to tell and too many pictures to post, so I'll keep it brief. I took some days off last week. Wednesday, I went shopping for remaining Santa presents. That evening, my God Mother "Mamina" (the woman that continues to spoil me like I'm 3 years old), my Aunt Rosi (both live in Peru) and my Uncle "Papino", Aunt Marissa and Cousin Martin (live in Miami) flew in. We welcomed them with a big family dinner at my parents house. Thursday, we spent it at the Galleria shopping. Mamina took the boys into the Disney store and not only let them pick out WHATEVER THEY WANTED, but encouraged that they buy more. I had to leave the store..... :) Friday, we shopped some more in the morning and left for Kemah in the afternoon. The restaurant selection was ok, but the view of the ocean, the rides, the Christmas lights and the time spent with family was AWESOME! We played like kids. The boys loved the rides and rode on the Ferris Wheel twice. Saturday, my family returned to their respective state/country. I was sad to see them leave. It's seldom that I get to see them and when I do, I love every minute of it. At times, I wonder if it's harder to see them temporarily and then have to turn around and leave them so soon? WE MISS YOU!!!

I love this picture of Cole, Mamina and Reid.

View from our first family of 4, Ferris Wheel ride.

I had to take a pic of my favorite trees.

Saturday morning, Cole and I went to brunch at Farrago's with Tiffany, Rylee, Lisa (Adam's step mom) and her mom with a bunch of Lisa's friends. Lisa was so generous to invite Cole and I to Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at the Theater Under The Stars . Cole was amazed the entire time and I loved being there to see him experience his first real play. Lisa, if you happen to be reading this.... Thank you! Cole and I appreciated every second of it! Oh and he is still talking about the snow that fell on him during the play!
Sunday, I ran a 5K and froze my butt off. Meanwhile, Nana and Pops picked up Cole, Reid, Matt and Will and took them to a park near the Woodlands for pictures. I can't wait to see how cute the pictures turned out. After naps, we went over to Nana and Pops' for dinner and had a great time! In summary, we ate, drank, shopped (does that one count?) and were VERY MERRY!

One of Rylee and Cole's many dates. First one to the theater though.

Cole showing his "poker face".

Our seat were close to the stage. I know I'm not supposed to take pictures in the theater, but some rules are meant to be broken.

Turtle Tuesday

2010-11-30T05:55:00.011-06:00

Will, Matt, Cole and Reid taking a walk on the beach Thanksgiving weekend.

Reid, flying at the beach.

Mike, Pops and Daddy caught 8 Flounder fish!

Will and Reid at their little dinner table at the beach house.

Ready for Christmas!

Cole's 5th Christmas tree. Reid's 3rd... The most perfect Christmas' since God sent us our boys.

Turtle Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T08:40:00.015-06:00

Turkey day is here! We are spending Thanksgiving night at my mom and dad's. Since we're not Pilgrims, I asked that we make something that is non-traditional for dinner. :) Instead of having turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes (same stuff every year), we are having pork tenderloin, homemade mashed potatoes, salad and dessert. Friday, we'll head to Galveston around noon to spend the Thanksgiving weekend at a beach house with my in-laws, Mike, Tara and their boys. The kids are going to have a blast hanging out with their 2 cousins. They'll get 3 days of running around on the beach and slumber parties. I'm looking forward to relaxing and getting to see/hear the ocean (even if it's just Galveston). :)
My Reid has become a back seat driver. He demands that we stop if he sees a stop sign (way before we actually are suppossed to stop). If the light turns green, he says “go mommy/daddy”. If we are going somewhere that he is familiar with the drive (lately it seems like he knows how to get everywhere), he’ll demand when we should turn. If we take a different route, he yells “Mommy, you missed it! Go that way”. He tells us when he sees different places (hospital, Home Depot, Chuckee Cheese, Target, ITZ… you name it- he calls it out). He is constantly telling us what to do or narrating what we do in the back seat. So funny but there are times that Joe wants to put a muzzle on his face! Haha! It hasn't even been 2 months since he got his tubes and his vocabulary has tripled. Still, my sweet boy continues to be timid and quiet when he's in public. When he feels 100% comfortable (usually when it's the 4 of us at home), he is so different. He is talkative, assertive, stubborn, out spoken and tries to bully Cole around. :) It concerns me at times because I want him to be confident and I don't see that when we're in public. His teachers think I'm crazy when I bring up my concerns, so I'll let it go. For now... haha! :)

Being very silly, early in the morning!

Cole knows 35 site words as soon as he sees them on the flashcards. He is so proud of this accomplishment and so are we! He knows his home address, and continues to learn the states. Lately, his Spanish vocabulary is expanding but not because of me or my mom and dad. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he has 1 hour of Spanish at school and he is learning so much! His interest in the language has sparked because he is constantly asking me how to say something in Spanish. I think he is secretly preparing for Mamina's visit! We are so excited because my God Mother and my aunt will be visiting us from Peru next week. My uncle, aunt and cousin will be visiting at the same time from Miami. It will be nice to play with them for a couple of days!

A little less silly.

I got a call from the school Director yesterday. Ms Marlene told me that Cole was sitting in her office because he had a headache. She was laughing because before she could say anything, Cole told her “the right thing to do would be to call my Mommy”. When I talked to him he sounded happy as can be and said “can you call Papi and tell him that I have a headache? Maybe he can pick me up early today?”.

Our Elf hiding on one of our shelves.

Shadow (our friendly Elf on the Shelf) has arrived. He arrived a little early this year and the kids are LOVING searching for him every morning. Joe and I are enjoying finding new hiding spots for Shadow, but I'm sure in a couple of weeks we'll be nice and tired of it. :)
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have MANY things to be thankful for!

2 Weeks

2010-11-22T21:38:00.004-06:00

Has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted something? All of a sudden, we are busier than ever. I'm working crazy hours but it shouldn't last long since I just hired 2 employees. We've had tons going on and we are preparing for the festivities of the season. I love Christmas and we are ready. Sort of. :) The holiday spirit is definitely amoung us, but still have tons of shopping to do. I will update longer soon, but wanted to update on some great news!
My dad had his nuclear stress test last Wednesday. The next day, I went with my mom and dad to see the doctor for the results. The doctor told us that he passed his stress test and although the blood flow to a part of his heart is "not good enough", it doesn't warrant bypass surgery right now. YEY!!!!!!!!!! He adjusted his medications, asked him to eat healthy and exercise lightly (continue golfing, start walking or biking). He did tell my dad that if it were up to him, he would prefer that he didn't play soccer or only play as a goalie. Most of you know that my dad is an avid soccer player. He loves the sport and has played a game every Sunday for as long as I can remember. So, this past Sunday my dad played soccer................................ :s He said he's being extremely careful and he even played goalie during the 2nd half (he partly listened to his doctor). :) We just have to trust that my dad is being careful and that he won't over exert himself. We are SO happy and relieved with the news!

Court House Wedding Anniversary

2010-11-08T20:46:00.004-06:00

This is what met my windshield when I pulled into the garage today. Joe hung this on the tennis ball that helps me park my car. Joe and I got married at the court house in Austin days before we flew to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for our ceremony on the beach. We consider November 15th (day of the beach ceremony) our Anniversary- not the court house ceremony. I'm not sure how he remembered this date (I definitely didn't), but it made my heart smile. We are celebrating 7 years of marriage and I continue to feel like a lucky girl. The first time I saw him, I just wanted "one date with the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen in person". I got the date (and a couple more), I realized he was 'the one', I married him on a beach the way I'd always dreamed of and he gave me 2 beautiful sons. We've been together for almost 10 years and he still makes efforts to show me his love the way he did when we first met. His homemade ones are my favorite! He's still my best friend and he still makes me so happy...98% of the time. :-)
We are celebrating low key by going to Austin for 2 nights this weekend. Friday, Joe and I will go to dinner and stay in a hotel. Saturday, we'll head to my alma mater to tailgate and watch the UT / OSU game with friends.
Let's hope the Longhorns step it up a little this weekend!

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeeen.

2010-11-01T20:12:00.002-05:00

Cole went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch last Wednesday. How did we get to where my big baby boy is now able to go on field trips and ride in a bus with his entire pre-k class? Funny because he told me ALL about it (every bit of detail) and an hour or so later, he said “the pumpkin patch was verrrrryy far Mommy. I fell asleep on the way back”. I thought to myself “I can’t imagine that 10-15 minutes would feel far to a 4 year old, but ok?” I was assuming he went to the pumpkin patch by our house (10 minutes from school). The next day, I found out the field trip was to “7 Acre Wood” in Conroe. NO WONDER!? It was easily a 40 minute bus ride! Last week I had to sign a report because a girl kissed Cole. Miss Lynn said she had been chasing him during recess but wasn’t able to land one until right before naps. She also said that he wiped his face and may be entering the “cootie” stage. Already?
Cole’s last soccer game was Saturday. Oh and he had a goal last weekend. I was pretty much “that mom” cheerumping up and down and yelling!

We had Reid’s post surgery appointment and hearing test today at 8:30am. So, I took the day off, took the boys with my dad to the appointment and then we headed to the Houston Zoo. We also stopped for lunch at my new favorite restaurant, Latin Bites. It was supposed to rain, but we saw nothing but sunshine! The Audiologist told me that his hearing has improved drastically. He said, "when we tested a month ago, his hearing was well below the normal range. Today, it is on the high end of the normal range". He also had a talk with Reid and told him that now Mommy has evidence that he can hear everything mommy says and told him that ignoring won't work. :)
The animals were out and about at the zoo. The kids had a blast seeing the elephants and so did I. There was a baby elephant about the size of Cole and Reid put together. Super cute! They were blowing their trumpets, moving logs and banging on a steel door.

Silly boys. Reid is trying to show me his tonsils.

Baby elephant. It doesn't look small but it was tiny.

Halloween was a blast. Cole was Iron Man and Reid was Spiderman. Kind of boring, but that's what they wanted to be more than anything else. We had a Halloween party last Sautrday and the kids had fun! Sunday, my Mom and Dad met us at our house (brought them Halloween toys) and we Trick or Treated on the way to Mike and Tara's. Once we got there, the 4 cousins had fun Trick or Treating together. For the older ones, it's been a 4 year tradition. For the little ones, a 2 year tradition and I think they love it! We trick or treated for about an hour. Tara and I were wondering how much longer the short trick or treat trips would last. I'm sure when they are 7-8, they'll want to do it for hours!

Spiderman and Iron Man.

Super Hero Granparents. Where are your costumes? :)

The prettiest girls in the world! :)

I love this picutre of Coop's sweet face!

The "Super Hero Squad". The cousins Trick or Treating on Halloween!

The one that looks like Adolf Hitler is a product of Cole's artistic interpretation of pumpkins.

By far, the cutest picture we've ever taken of the kids. They have all been friends since birth and will continue to be friends forever. :)

First Camping Trip!

2010-10-25T20:11:00.007-05:00

The boys had their first camping experience this past weekend. We went with the Knott’s to Nails Creek in Lake Somerville (about 40 miles from Austin). We all had a BLAST!
The kids got to fish, go on several hikes during the day and one night time hike in the woods with flashlights. They saw horses, an armadillo and tons of creepy crawly creatures. Cole held about 10 “Daddy Long Leg” spiders. We sat by the fire, cooked hotdogs and ate the best S’mores. For whatever reason, campfire S’mores taste so much better than home cooked ones. : ) The weather was perfect and the little ones (Reid and Cooper) did great. I was concerned about this being an easy thing for us (mom and dad) since Reid is only 2 ½ and still in diapers, but honestly it was great and now know that they were "ready" for a real camping trip! Joe and Kevin were such helpful, manly-men and set up the entire campsite for us (tents, fire, food and kept us feeling safe the entire time. Well… except for when they tried to scare Lisa and I at night after the kids went to bed.). :) Oh and everyone but me, heard packs of wolves howling the entire night while we slept. We are ready to go camping again!

Addi, Coop, Cole and Reid.

Where the Rentfro's slept.

Hiking the woods in the morning.

Our crazy kiddos. :-)

Our bonfire.

Itsy Bitsy Spider in our tent. We found 3 Daddy Long Legs in our tent in the morning.

Our tent at night. Can you see the little flashlights?

Halloween will be here next week and we can't wait!

2010-10-18T19:16:00.002-05:00

Friday, I left work at 1pm and took the boys to get their flu shots. They both cried but thankfully got over it pretty quickly. I always feel so guilty taking them to get something that is painful. I am making it a tradition to get them ice cream after their yearly flu shot. So, afterwards I took them to get ice cream and we went to the park to eat it. The weather has been TOO nice to be indoors lately. We have been spending a lot of time outdoors, especially riding bikes. We stopped by Mama and Papi's house to say hello. Then, we met Joe and went to a Mongolian restaurant. The boys thought it was cool to get to pick your ingredients in a bowl, but they weren't too impressed with eating the food. We then went to the Fall Festival at their school. The school had all kinds of games set up in each of the classrooms, a firetruck trolly that took the kids for a ride in the street, fire trucks and police cars for the kids to sit in and blow their sirens. Cole loved it but Reid started crying when he heard the fire siren. He was too scared to sit in either. : -( I still get amazed at how different their personalities are. When we got to the festival, Cole took off and was walking up to his friends parents to say hello. Reid on the other hand, was attached to our knee cap. :)

Hopefully, this will be the ONLY time he rides in one of these. :-)

We couldn't find Reid's bike helmet so he put on a baseball helmet. This is what he wants to wear everytime he rides bikes now. :)

President and CFO.

According to Reid, this is a sheep.

Cooper, Reid, Addi, Juan Perez and Cole.

Mommy and Daddy at the Texans game with Kevin and Lisa. Thanks Bruce and Carrie for watching our boys!

Have a great week. We are really looking forward to this weekend. We (and the Knott's) are taking the kids on their first camping trip!

Poop Breath

2010-10-10T20:16:00.003-05:00

Reid’s breath smells like poop. So much, that I actually check his pull-up diaper to make sure he doesn’t actually have poop in his pants. Most of you know that, to me, one of the best things in the world is the smell of my babies' breath. The other is their little feet. Reid’s little breath smells like sweetness, normally. He's never had bad breath (even in the morning) even though he still sleeps with a pacifier. I love it when I get him in the mornings and I kiss/hug/snuggle him to pieces. After his surgery, I started to notice a poop aroma. So, I researched and found that one of the side effects of adenoid removal is a bad breath for 10-14 days. Thank God it’s temporary!!! :) So far, his tubes have been a blessing and we are SO glad we did it. He can hear and is talking SO MUCH more. Amazing that we have noticed a difference in 1 week. For example, I knew that he could say his ABC's, count to 10 in Spanish and English, but it's actually clear now. He's constantly saying something and being loud now. There have even been times where Joe and I have looked at each other and said "what have we done???" :) Not sure how he managed to be such a chill baby even though he's had ear aches for most of his life. We have an appointment on Nov. 1st for Dr. Albright to check his ears/tubes and for a hearing test.
Lately, Reid is asking that I cut every single tag out of his clothes. Good luck to the people that get his hand- me downs guessing the size of something! He is becoming a clothes maniac just like Cole. = \
Speaking of Cole...He came home last week so excited because he could name 11 of the states. I did not know that they taught the names of the states in pre-k. My friends that are teachers have always preached the importance of pre-k and I finally understand!

I am off tomorrow (Columbus Day. Love those bank holiday's...) and have no plans but to play with the boys. I will attempt to take them shopping for fall clothes. Cole' pants from last fall/winter look like capri's on him!

Happy 10.10.10! :)

Turtle Thursday

2010-10-07T06:20:00.003-05:00

Cheeeeeeeeeese!

Cole's latest pose: the thumbs up.

Three hand picked little bitty flowers from my 3 turtles.

Happy Birthday Pops!

2010-10-03T21:28:00.000-05:00

Four little monkey's singing Happy Birthday to Pops!

I forgot to post this picutre. This is Reid before his surgery showing me how tough he was going to be. He's so tough with an iPhone in one hand and a huge muscle in the other arm.

Wow

2010-10-01T20:11:00.002-05:00

How do parents cope with children that are truly sick or that have to go through serious surgeries? When I became a mom, I gained an immense respect for single moms because I would not be able to do this without Joe. This morning Reid was put under anesthesia for something EXTREMELY minor and I felt so uneasy inside (to put it mildly). Actually, I was mortified. You feel like you don't have control over the situation and it hurts to see your baby hurt or be put in a situation where there are risks. Before Reid's surgery, I never wanted to think about how parents coped with something like that. Now that I have experienced a tiny taste of it, I don't understand how parents are able to make it each day with a child that is seriously sick. I am in awe of the ability for humans to deal with those hardships. I find myself learning so much each day as a parent. Children have a way of teaching parents things that can't be taught anywhere else and I love it.

Reid now has tubes in his ears and no adenoids. The surgery took 15 minutes. When the doctor came in to tell us he was done, I thought he was going to tell us one of 2 things. Either, that they weren't able to do the surgery for whatever reason, or that he was just put under and that they are ready to start the surgery. When he told me that he was done and everything went well, I asked if he was joking! When Joe and I went back to see him in the recovery room, he was freaking out. Crying and so angry! He was pissed at the IV in his arm and we couldn't reason with him. It took him about 20 minutes to finally relax. After that, he slept all the way home, threw up once when we got home and slept another 3 1/2 hours. After nap, he has been almost 99% back to normal. He is a little bitter when he wants something because he wants it NOW (not too different from a regular day)! :) Other than that, he is being my sweet snuggly little turtle.
Thank you Mami and Papi for being there for us. Kev and Lisa, your surprise visit was awesome! Thank you. It's nice to have family and friends support you even during silly little surgeries that are typically harder on parents. :-)

Ninja moves right before surgery in his gown.

At home resting with his new buddies. This is how he slept the whole time.

Have a great weekend and keep your fingers crossed that UT beats OU!!! :)

Round 2 of The Medical Center

2010-09-30T21:34:00.002-05:00

We were just in the Medical Center for my dad yesterday. Tomorrow, we go back to Texas Children's for Reid's tubes and removal of his adenoids. We have to be there at 8:00am but the surgery won't be until 10:15am. This baby of mine is going to starve and be so thirsty. He can have clear liquids between 12:00am-6:00am, so we are waking him at 5:45, just to let him drink as much as he wants. I will update tomorrow if I can. I will be in 100% "mommy bear protecting her baby cub" mode. :-)

We spoke to Dr. Massumi yesterday afternoon and he wants my dad to go back for a nuclear stress test. He will decide if a bypass is necessary after the test. Right now, he has him on Aspirin, Plavix (blood thinner), 2 blood pressure medications, one for cholesterol, and nitroglycerine (to be used if necessary). They also had him buy a blood pressure machine so that he can take his pressure a couple of times a day. Since this ordeal began, my dad has noticed how much of a worry wort I have become (asking the doctors/nurses a thousand questions until I feel comfortable with their explanations). So, to make fun of me, he either calls or emails me his vitals (including his weight) twice a day. He doesn't even say hello- JUST gives me the date, the time and his vitals. LOL!!

My dad. Post Angiogram.

2010-09-29T10:14:00.002-05:00

Doctors were not successful in placing the other stent. However, since he hasn't had chest pain they don't feel he'll need a bypass for now. Dr Massumi said that this is blockage that has been there for years and his body has created a natural bypass with arteries called collaterals. If he ever has chest pain, he will need a bypass. So, good news but still worried about the uncertainty. Then again, none of us are ever guaranteed anything. I gotta have faith. Gotta have faith. Yes, the George Michael song... :)

My dad, Reid's 2nd Opionion and Randomness

2010-09-27T13:44:00.009-05:00

My dad's aniogram is scheduled for this Wednesday. Please pray that the doctors will be able to do the stent. They'll let us know tomorrow the time, but either way he'll stay the night at St. Luke's that night.
I'm confident that they will be able to do the stent and then my dad will be better. However, regardless of my confidence level, I need to ask for prayers that everything will turn out ok and they won't have to do a bypass.

Reid got another ear infection, so after he finished his antibiotics I took him to an ENT at Texas Children’s in the medical center for a 2nd opinion. Dr. Albright was recommended to me by 3 different friends, so it was a no-brainer... First, they did a hearing test and the audiologist said that Reid has a lot of fluid in his ears and because of it, he has a very hard time hearing. This would explain why some of his words sound funny. For example, he says “tank you” instead of “thank you” and used to say “Dole” instead of “Cole”. I kept telling myself not to compare him to Cole because each kid is different. Reid is more reserved/shy so he speaks up only when necessary. If it’s just the 4 of us, he’ll speak but throw another person into the mix and he clams up. When Dr. Albright saw him, he found ANOTHER ear infection, although Reid had finished antibiotics a couple of days before! That pretty much convinced me right away to move forward with tubes. I hate giving him so many antibiotics. If he ever gets a serious infection, what would he be treated with? He’s already building resistance to antibiotics. The lack of hearing is affecting his speech and the pain that my baby is feeling is not something I want to treat with antibiotics anymore. We are scheduled to go in for tubes and have his adenoids removed this Friday. I will need a Xanax that day. Never been a pill popper but I will have to do *something* to ease the anxiety of having my baby go under anesthesia. The thought of it is keeping me up at night. I know that once the procedure is done, I’ll be so relieved that we went ahead and had it done. A couple of days later, I’ll probably find myself praying that he doesn’t start talking like Cole (100 miles an hour, every second of the day?). haha!

Making sandwiches and quesadillas.

Addi is showing Cole (and Reid sort of) how to do the Texas Tech sign.

Bad influence? :)

This little guy (Reid) is making us NUTS with his sudden change in taste. Change in clothing taste. OH MY GOD. He freaks out every morning because he wants to wear this or that. We give him options (usually 2) but he wants to mismatch the 2 outfits. I’m ready to give up fighting him on it and just letting him dress himself completely. So, if you happen to see a little clown hanging around us a lot, don’t be alarmed. It just means that we have given up on dressing Reid. Why are we the only ones with 2 kids that are so freaking picky about their clothes? All I hear from my mom is that they both turned out just as picky as me when it comes to clothes.
I can’t wait until Christmas! Speaking of…The other night, Cole asked me “Mommy, do you think Shadow visit us this Christmas?”. Shadow is the “Elf on the Shelf” that visits in December. I can’t believe he remembered him and I can’t wait to hide him all over the house.

Go Tigers!

I took the day off today to play with my babies and and I'm enjoying it so much. They are being awesome and it's making me feel like a good Mommy. : ) Also, I feel like rolling around the grass because it's so nice outside. Have a great week!

End of Summer. Start of Fall.

2010-09-15T21:53:00.001-05:00

I can't believe the summer came and went in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Cole is doing amazing in pre-k and for some reason "show and tell" is so much fun now. I'm enjoying coming up with ideas with Cole to bring something to "show and tell". The first week, the theme was "back to school". So, Cole and I went to Target and bought Transformer and Toy Story pencils for the whole class. Tomorrow's theme is "the senses" and Cole will take cookies for his class and teachers. Cole went through his senses and told me "I can see the cookie, I can smell it, I can touch it, I can taste it and I can hear it when I bite it". It's SO fun for me! :-) His teachers have not stopped telling us how great Cole is at puzzles. They tell us that he'll complete 50 piece puzzles in no time and he loves to do them. Puzzles always bored me to pieces (no pun intended. hehe) so I'm not sure where he gets it...

Cole has started his 3rd soccer season. During practice, he had 2 goals and he is so ready for his first game. Poor Reid wants to play SOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. He still has to wait until next year to play. :(

My Reid has abandoned me for his Daddy. This boy is *in love* with his Daddy! Daddy this. Daddy that. Every second of the day. I want my Reid to want his Mommy back all of the time again. He is growing more independent and he looks so big to me lately. When I tell him "No more growing ok? You are my baby", he tells me, "I stay little Mommy". I wish he would. :)

Here are some random end of summer pictures....

Cute. cute. cute. kids!

These turtle smiles make me smile. :)

HOOK'EM HORNS!

2010-09-04T10:40:00.001-05:00

Preparing to watch the 1st Longhorn game of the season!! God, I hope these boys go to UT. :-P
This is Reid's attempt to make a Longhorn. Still working on it. :)

The serious Longhorn faces.

Turtle Tuesday

2010-08-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

Cole started Pre-School on Monday 8/23. It’s was so bittersweet. I was so happy because HE was SO EXCITED to start the big boy class but I was also sad because he is preparing for Kindergarten! :-) Time is going by too fast, in my opinion. He gets more homework in this class and they are treated the way Kindergartners are treated. In a way, it’s training for the parents as well! Tonight, we had 9 pages of homework!
I took Cole to the dentist last week for his first check up. He did such an amazing job. He went with the nurse by himself and got x-rays. He thought it was pretty cool to be able to see his ‘big boy teeth’ in the x-ray pictures. The dentist checked his teeth and he said that his teeth look perfect and he has no cavities. Later, I watched the Hygienist clean his teeth and I couldn’t believe how little and big he seemed. Little, because his little body looked so small in the chair. Big because he acted like an adult as he followed all of the directions and he laid there so calmly. Almost as if he had done it before. :)

The boys were both in an extracurricular class at school called “Stretch and Grow”. It’s basically a gymnastics class that they went to during school hours. Recently, we have switched them to a class called “Playball”. This is a program that teaches the fundamentals of sports (soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, filed hockey, golf and volleyball). The boys love sports, so this is the perfect class.

We took Cole to an Astro’s game last night. We got there early in hopes of getting an autograph but for some reason none of the players were on the field until right before the game. Our seats were on the first row, so we ended up on the big screen at Minute Maid and on TV! That’s the 2nd time that we’ve been to an Astro’s game this year and both times, we ended up on TV! :-)

My Reid's vocabulary continues to increase. Although I love hearing him make sentences, it makes me sad. Is it bad that I wish he stayed a baby forever? My sweet boy loves to listen to rap (and all other types of music)! So funny because he dances and tries to rap. When he sees me dancing or singing, he says "NOOOOO Mommy!!!!". Is he embarrassed of me already? So cute.

I can't believe that September starts tomorrow. Where did the summer go?
I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend!

August. Already??????

2010-08-17T16:15:00.002-05:00

Another prayer request. Please pray for one of our best friends, Kevin. Although he is doing ok right now, he is in a hospital because doctors believe he may have had stroke last night. They are not certain of the diagnosis yet and they will continue to run test on him throughout the day. Also, please pray for Lisa, the kids and the rest of their family. I've always had a "Life is Good" outlook but lately (between my dad's thing and now this)- I'm begining to have doubts. Don't get me wrong. I am still VERY thankful that everyone is ok, but geez...I'm tired of bad news. I want EVERYONE to be healthy, happy and safe!
My dad's new cardiologist wants to wait about 3 weeks for his artery to heal before attempting to place the 2nd stent. Please keep praying that a bypass is not necessary and that he continues to feel ok. So, we wait. Waiting is not fun.
Funny how during the Angiogram I prayed that my dad would not need a stent. Now, I'm praying that he will JUST need a stent. I'm still amazed at how your world can be rocked in a matter of minutes. Thank you again, for constantly asking about my dad and keeping him in your prayers. Everyone has been so sweet!

My Reid got another ear infection mid July. Although he hasn’t had one since May, he’s had a lot in his lifetime. Joe and I were considering tubes. It makes us so sad for him... We talked to our Pediatrician and he basically said that ear infections are minimal compared to the risks of putting him under anesthesia at such a young age. He believes that by 2 ½ - 3 years of age, 2 year old molars have made their way in (that causes ear infections as well) and the anatomy of a baby’s ear changes with growth; This allows drainage to occur properly while minimizing ear infections. I did a lot of research and we’ve decided to wait 5 months and then reassess the situation. Yes, I’m research CRAZY. It’s not that I don’t trust my doctor, I just have to be able to see studies backing up what the doctor’s tell me. It’s a sickness. : S We will still go to an ENT for a 2nd opinion when he gets another ear infection.

The potty training is just going. He continues to stay dry all day (except for nap and bed time) but he has no desire to poop in the potty! He started peeing in the potty at 18 months so I would have thought that by now he’d be 100% potty trained. I thought wrong. I have to remember that he turned 2 only 3 months ago. Cole wasn’t potty trained until he was 2 years and 8 months. Although Cole was a little out of the ordinary because he only had 2 accidents over night and that’s it! He got the hang of it VERY QUICKLY!

Ever since our trip to Galveston, Cole has been asking for bunk beds. I think we’re going to get them bunk beds, but we need to get Reid out of the crib first. We’ve been meaning to do it for a couple of weeks now and we keep putting it off. It's definetely time, considering we moved Cole to a full size bed at 16-17 months.... Things have been a little hectic with my dad's stent surprise :) so it's been hard to stay focused on the mundane.

Swim lessons finished about 2 weeks ago. We signed up for group lessons (as opposed to private lessons) since it’s a little cheaper and Cole is such a social being. He has to have kids around him and knew it would be more fun for him. It turns out, no other kids enrolled in the session and Cole’s swim lesson were treated as private lessons. He really liked his instructor, so that helped the fact that there weren’t other kids in his class. He did AWESOME! A little too chatty with the instructor, but overall great! His new favorite thing is to go underwater, open eyes and fish for rings. He was so excited when he realized that he could see underwater! It’s amazing to me, how different he is around water this year. Last summer, he was incredibly cautious in the water. This summer, he is a FISH. Both Cole and Reid spend their time at the pool, jumping off of rocks and the edge of the pool over and over and over again!

Before swim lessons.

Reid. He looks like a little spec.

With my cousins at the pool.

The 4 of us went to the movie theater to see Despicable Me and it was cool! That was our first time to venture to a movie with Reid b/c of his short attention span, but it was great. As long as we kept a life line of popcorn, he watched the movie intently. Cole laughed at every funny thing that happened in the movie. My mom and dad took Cole to see Cats and Dogs last weekend and he also loved it. The heat is so bad that either you have to be indoors or soaking in a pool!

At iTZ having a blast!

My mom's birthday dinner party. Happy Birthday to our beautiful "Mother Teresa"!

We are missing a lot of people in this picutre (sis, boyfriend, brother, girlfriend, boys and other friends), but this was taken towards the end of the night.

This is what Cole begged to wear to her party. The tie no longer fits him. Nice combination of shoes and slacks... :)

Some of my favorite things lately:

When I get to the school and Reid runs up to me full speed, yelling and smiling: "Mommy here!!" “Mommy here!!”. He hugs me, rests his head on my shoulder for almost 5 minutes and says “I lob you Mommy” (I love you Mommy). AWWWWWW. Melts my heart.
I love to watch Cole do things lately. He is turning into such a big boy and although it makes me so sad to see him so grown up, it’s awesome to see how much progress babies make in 4 little years. How can they go from being 100 % dependent to being able to do just about anything with little or no help!?
The games we play. My favorite: during bath time, they close the shower curtain and “prepare” to become some sort of vendor or service provider (Ferris Wheel attendant, ice cream guys, restaurant cooks, Taxi cab drivers etc…). When they open the curtain, I shake their hands and request a service or purchase whatever it is they are selling. Cole acts like he’s the owner in all instances and he treats Reid like his minion; Although he does refer to him as his 19 year old brother. Their imagination makes me laugh every time!
Waking my babies up in the morning. They are both so snuggly and I just want to bite their little feet, their legs and their cheeks.
When Cole comes in our room on weekends and "pets Mommy's hair" while I sleep. Then, when Reid joins us and the 4 of us watch cartoons in bed. I LOVE IT!

So excited about football season starting!!!!

Fat guy on a little bike...

2010-08-16T11:41:00.000-05:00

Update!

2010-08-13T16:47:00.002-05:00

Great news!!! The team of surgeons met and they feel confident that they can go back in and place another stent, possibly avoiding the bypass!!!! The 1st doc did damage the artery so they have to wait 3 weeks for it to heal. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for praying!!!!

Results of my Dad's Angiogram

2010-08-12T15:23:00.005-05:00

My dad's angiogram went ok. We were a wreck while we waited. Gut wrenching to have someone you love so much be under such a fragile state. The doctor came out and told us that one artery was blocked 100% and another, blocked 99%. A stent was added to the latter, but the doctor recommended Bypass surgery for the first. Hearing that made me sick. Of course, my dad continued to have his sense of humor. While in recovery, he wasn't allowed to get up and had to pee in a bottle without hands. So, the nurses had to do everything...he joked that the nurse kept asking him to pee. :)
We have decided to get a 2nd, 3rd and possibly a 4th opinion from surgeons at St. Luke's downtown. We have an appt tomorrow at 1:15pm. The current doctor has to keep my dad overnight to monitor him (possible stent rejection and blood clots). Today, I'll email the video of the angiogram to doctors at St. Luke, in hopes of getting some sort of an idea. Either way, we'll head downtown tomorrow.
I'm typing this on my phone with little sleep, so pardon the errors. Please keep my dad (and my mom) in your prayers!!! This is one of the hardest things I've had to deal with in my life emotionally. Thank you for everyone's sweet words!
XOXO

Favor

2010-08-11T20:59:00.002-05:00

Please pray for my dad. He is having an angiogram tomorrow (click on "angiogram" to learn about it) at 9:30am. I'm picking up my dad and mom at 5:00am so he can be checked in by 6:00am. At this point, I'm just thankful that my dad is following through with doctor's orders. He can be stubborn at times... :) Please pray that everything goes extremely well during and after the procedure. Thank you!

Turtles and Friends Tuesday

2010-08-03T16:03:00.003-05:00

Look at Reid's toy hat. :)

Handsome little guy! Parker is almost 1! I can't believe it!!

About to jump.

Picasso

2010-07-28T20:39:00.006-05:00

Reid's beautiful art work- on our wall. I left the room for about 2 minutes while I prepared their bath and filled it with bubbles. During this time, I heard Reid say "Mommy, come hea" a couple of times. When I walked back into the room, Reid showed me his art work by saying "LOOK. LOOK!". He was SO proud. I couldn't help but smile. Sometimes it sucks to be a parent. You can't just enjoy and laugh at the silly things openly because we have to discipline. Soooo, like a "good" parent....I put Picasso in time-out to teach him that he should only draw on paper. Blah. :) I think it's BEAUTIFUL!!

Austin

2010-07-19T21:51:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, we took the boys to the city where it all began. The city where I went to college, where we fell in love, where we worked and where we lived before we moved to Houston to start a family. It was their first visit to Austin, the city we love! We stayed with our friends Tony and Amanda and had a really fun time. Early Saturday morning, Joe and I heard the boys talking via the monitor (they were in the room next to us). We heard Cole coaching Reid on how to get out of the pack and play. Cole would say "Ok, Reid. Good. Now, put your foot here. (Reid grunts). Ok, boost yourself up and then put your foot here. (Reid grunts again). Let me help you. (heard a noise and then silence...).When we walked in to their room, they were both sitting on the bed with huge smiles. :)
The boys were very good the entire trip, except for a couple of hours Saturday morning.
On Saturday, Amanda, Lindsie, myself and my 2 turtles hit the pool all day while the guys played golf. Saturday evening, we BBQ'd and celebrated Stevie's birthday. Everywhere we went, Cole said "those mountains are so big. I want to climb that mountain!". Although Austin, only has hills it's crazy to me that a 4 year old noticed the difference in terrain. On Sunday, we took the boys to our favorite breakfast taco place (Maudie's Milagro). It was cool to sit on the patio that Joe and I used to sit at every Sunday morning alone, but this time with our 2 kids.
I'm ready to go back to Austin!

Lately, Reid has been singing around the house and in the car, in this REALLY high pitched voice. It's ear piercing and very Broadwayish, but so cute at the same time. Not sure if we should be concerned just yet. ;) He is trying to talk more these days and is becoming more adventurous with his words. He is also VERY VERY hyper lately. He thinks that everything is a joke. If something he percieves as negatives happens to him (falls or we take something away), he starts to cry. Seconds later, he starts laughing. He's such a fraud and he thinks he is SO FUNNY! :)

Cole has been a little rebel lately. Talking back, questioning our decisions and providing rebuttals to EVERYTHING. Funny at times and not so funny at others. He continues to be a sweet, protective brother. He continues to amaze me with his intelligence. He says things like, "Daddy, I think Reid is nervous about the dog". What 4 year old uses the word nervous? The other day, he named of the months of the year and the holiday that goes along with it. He has known the months for a long time, but I had no clue that he knew that a lot rain happend in April; fireworks in July; Thanks in November etc.... Miss Sharon continues to tell me that he is doing a wonderful job with his school work.

They both love when I give them Eskimo kisses (we do Eskimo kisses)...butterfly kisses (I bat my eyelashes on their cheeks)... then Mommy kisses (I kiss and tickle them like crazy during the Mommy kisses!). They laugh and ask for more "Mommy kisses".

I am so thankful for the fun summer that we are having!

Turtle Tuesday

2010-07-13T20:12:00.001-05:00

The 4 of us went to the beach on Sunday and had such a FUN time! We met our friends Tony, Amanda, Jason and Lindsay. We got to Galveston at 10am and didn't get home until almost 9:00pm! It was Reid's first time (ever) without a nap and he did amazing! He needs (and loves) his naps, so we were expecting to have to leave the beach around 1pm at the latest. I feel like it's been a while since they were both SO in sync in terms of incredibly happy and easy going moods. Joe and I *REALLY* enjoyed our time watching them have SO MUCH fun! They ate ice cream and flew 2 kites (Reid let one go and it was pretty funny!) with Uncle Jason, collected sea shells, found baby crabs and swam with Aunt Lindsay. Cole even buggy boarded with Uncle Tony.

Turtle Thursday

2010-07-01T06:03:00.003-05:00

Our 2 Woody's from the Toy Story movie. Mommy and Daddy love you "TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!!"

We went to Chuck.E.Cheese on Friday afternoon and stayed for 2 hours. The kids loved it!

Cole’s Birthday, Galveston and Father’s Day!

2010-06-22T10:24:00.001-05:00

Cole had so much fun at his birthday party! We rented out the Rec Center in our neighborhood and rented a Spiderman bouncy house. The Rec Center is also next to a park with slides, swings and lots of things for the kids to climb. That night, Cole talked in his sleep and said “Mommy, when is my next birthday party?”. :) When I went to check on him, he was sound asleep, so he must have been dreaming. He got a bunch of Spiderman and Batman toys, clothes, shoes, swimsuits, a Portugal soccer uniform, a digital camera, a cool back pack that he’ll be able to use when he starts school (he feels really cool about it), a big water gun, a trunk FULL of dress up clothes, a pillow pet, and his favorite: baseball gloves! He sleeps in them! Thank you for everything! I promise to get the thank you cards out within the next 2 weeks. I'm usually really good about getting thank you cards out right away, but NOT THIS TIME. Cole asked me yesterday if I could have a Batman party for him on his 66th birthday and an Iron Man party on his 75th. LOL! He is obsessed with numbers lately!

Mama and Papi made me a cake on the actual day of my birthday. It made me feel special. 3 cakes for my 4th birthday!

Pops and Papa John.

While at lunch the other day, I ordered a mojito. Cole looked at it and said “Mommy, why do you have salad in your lemonade?”

Our trip to Galveston was SO FUN! We went with the Knott’s and the Simmons’ and stayed for 5 days. The kids swam and played non-stop! The weather was perfect but the beach itself had a TON of seaweed- regardless: it’s a beach! I’ll take any beach in any way, shape or form! The dad's and kids caught 4 stingrays and tons of little fish, crabs and a shrimp. The kids loved seeing all that! We went swimming at the Galveston Country Club pool, they decorated cupcakes, the played with water balloons almost everyday, they jumped on 2 bouncy houses, went on mini boat rides, and rode on the golf cart. Reid was sick most of the time either throwing up or having BM’s. He was EXTREMELY clingy and oh so whiney. Miraculously, he was a happy boy while at the beach, the pool and in the golf cart. It felt like as long as he was having fun, he was fine. Which meant, our time at the beach house with him was hard. I felt bad for the Knott’s and the Simmons’ having to hear him wine so much- but whadya do?

We celebrated Father’s Day the first week of June this year. This past Sunday (Father’s Day) was the day we got back from Galveston. Three days later, I am headed to San Antonio for work for 2 days. I return Friday and then Joe and I leave for Dallas to visit our friends Amy and Tony. That’s 3 cities in less than 1 week! June has been nuts this year! So, we celebrated my Papi on Saturday the 5th and with Pops on Sunday the 6th. Joe took Papi and Cole on a round of golf at the golf course in our neighborhood. Then, we went to Lupe Tortillas for a late lunch. Joe and Pops went fishing in Galveston with Bobby and Mike on Sunday. When they got back, we barbecued for lunch. We had fun both days celebrating the best dads in the world! I’m so thankful to have the best examples of Dad’s in our family. I know the boys will one day be amazing Father’s because of Joe, my Papi and Pops! We can’t thank you enough for all of the things that you are to us!

Happy Father’s Day Babe! I hope you fully comprehend how much Cole, Reid and I, love you. I don’t thank you as often as I should- but I always appreciate how much you do for our family. You are constantly helping with everything! You are the perfect husband, you are a crazy fun, loving dad and you work so hard at work for us! Even after all that, you still split the laundry and the dishes with me, you do most of the cooking, you pick up toys all of the time and you do the yard in 200 degree heat. You do it all and I don’t know how I got so lucky. Thank you Love. I couldn’t ask for a better dad and husband!

Happy Day Sweet Boy!

2010-06-08T07:00:00.023-05:00

Happy 4th birthday my medium Turtle! I hope today brings you as much happiness as you brought into our lives 4 years ago this day. I am making it a tradition to go on a date to the movies and lunch with each of my boys every year on their birthday. Cole is staying home with me today (just the 2 of us). We’ll go to breakfast and then Cole and I are going on a double date with Tiffany and Rylee. We are going to see Shrek 3 and then to Lupe Tortilla’s for lunch. Thank God for that beloved sand box. All restaurants should have one! When I asked him where he wanted to go for breakfast, I gave him the following options: ChickFilA, McDonalds, Ihop, the donut shop and Los Cucos. I reminded him of the ones that have the playgrounds but he responded: "Mommy, I want to go to Kolache Factory. I want the one with sausage, egg and cheese". He knows what he wants.... I think he got the decisiveness from me!

A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I worked on a birthday card for Cole. We added glitter, pasted some pictures of Cole and sent it to Sprout (children’s TV channel). I’m hoping we get to see/hear the birthday wish for Cole on TV at some point today. They did post it on their website!

We had Cole's birthday party at school on Monday and we'll have the party for family and friends this Saturday. I'll post the party pictures soon. Next Wednesday, we leave to go to Galveston for 5 days with the Knott's and Simmons'. So far, it's been a fun and very busy summer! Cole got to play an entire round of golf (18 holes) with Papi and Daddy. From the way Cole described it, it was one of the top 10 coolest things he's ever done! I can't express the joy that I get from hearing or seeing my babies experience something that they believe is amazing. I live for it. :)
I haven't been able to capture as many pictures of my Reid lately. As you can tell from the pictures, he's not as much of a HAM as Cole. Reid is always running. Everywhere he goes- he runs. I have a hard time getting him to stop, for trivial things like pictures. :)

Turtle Tuesday

2010-06-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

We had such a fun weekend! We went up to Lake Conroe for Memorial weekend. We had a slumber party at the Simmons' with the Knotts. John and Lisa (Adam's parents) were kind enough to let us swim in their amazing pool. We all had a blast! They swam (floated) and jumped from rocks over and over and over and over again. Joe has to be sore today from all the jumping and throwing that he did! Needless to say, they were WORN OUT last night. They both went to bed at 7:00pm and still struggled to wake up this morning for school. Cole decided this past weekend to live a little and just use his arm floaties all over the pool. Reid is doing awesome and will sometimes ask me to let him float on his own with his floatie. By the way, the yellow floatie is the BEST floatie I have ever used. This is Rylee and Cole 'swimming' all around the pool. I wish we had a pool, because these water babies would definetely enjoy it!

Here, Reid would say "Daddy, ready?"

The minute Reid's head came out of the water after the jump, he was saying "AGAIN!!!"

Cole and Daddy climbing the rocks to jump.

Jumping.

Toddler II Class and Birthday Coming up!

2010-05-24T22:02:00.009-05:00

Reid is now in the 2 year old (Toddler II) class. I am sad that he left Miss Nadine (“Nanie” according to Reid) because she is his 2nd mommy. Miss Nanie spoils him and always says that Reid is HER baby. Potty training starts in the Toddler II class. I feel like he is SO ready to be potty trained. Last Friday was his first day in that class and he went potty 4 times! I don’t know when it will happen but I can see it happening in the next 6 months. Cole wasn’t potty trained until he was 2 years and 8 months so it would still be sooner than him. We’ll see what happens. We know babies like to throw curve balls and keep parents on their toes. So, because I just typed that, Reid could be 14 before he’s potty trained.

Cole, James and Reid fishing for lobsters....

These are the "lobster's" (aka crawfish). :)

Cole has been having so much fun hanging out with his friend James on the weekends. It’s so cute to watch them play. They have had such a strong connection since they were in the nursery class. It turns out, we have a lot in common with his parents too. Joe went to Texas State University with Ryan and Jennifer (James’ parents) and he also went to high school with Ryan. Small world.

My medium Turtle turns 4 in about 15 days! Crazy to think that this time 4 years ago, I was packing my bags for the hospital, finishing final touches in the nursery and feeling scared to death. Scared about the birth and petrified about being a good enough mom to the baby boy that God was sending me. I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility and I was so worried about being able to fulfill my role. My life changed in amazing ways, the day Cole came into our lives and I’m really eager to celebrate him. The contrast between Cole's baby picutres and now is unbelievable to me. Reid to me, is still a baby- a big one, but a baby none the less.

Cole and Addi, one of his BFF's.

This is Cole (3 days) and Rylee (6 weeks), his other BFF. :)

3 days old.

My little rocker. 8 weeks.

TURTLE TUESDAY!

2010-05-13T06:30:00.010-05:00

I'm not sure where this horse learned his manners... Check out it's tongue! hehe!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T14:01:00.002-05:00

My friend Amy, sent me a chain email several years ago before I was blessed with my boys. At the time, I I understood the email, or so I thought. Still, I saved it so that I could read it after having babies. I wanted to compare my feelings. I read the email after the births of Cole and Reid and realized that I FINALLY understood. I saw it fitting that I post it on Mother's Day.

"Being A Mom"

We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually
mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family."
"We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think
I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone
neutral.
"I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more
spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter,
trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she
will never learn in childbirth classes.
I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing
will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional
wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a
newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That
every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.
That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will
wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and
think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother
will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear
protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause
her to drop a soufflé or her best crystal without a moment’s
hesitation. ( Side Note: No, I can't relate to the part about dropping a souffle...... ) :-)

I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years
she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed
by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day
she will be going into an important business meeting and she will
think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every
ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to hold her baby tight.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no
longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the
men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's
will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst
of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence
and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a
child molester may be lurking in that restroom.

However decisive she may be at the office, she will
second-guess herself constantly as a mother. (THIS IS SO TRUE FOR ME!)
Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that
eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will
never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so
important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That
she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but
will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own
dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.

I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges
of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but
not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man
who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play
with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love
with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with
women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and
drunk driving.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing
your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the
belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur
a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the
joy that is so real it actually hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have
formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I
reached across the table, squeezed my
daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for
me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble their way into
this most wonderful of callings.
~~~~~~

To my boys: Thank you for showing me that all of the love in the universe CAN fit into my small human heart.
I love you in ways I'll never be able to tell you or show you! ~ Mommy

Happy Mother's Day to all of the VERY special mom's I know, but especially to MY beautiful Mom!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY BABY!

2010-05-06T11:20:00.017-05:00

I want him to stay this age. :)
He is increasingly mischievous and I love the look on his face when he is doing something he KNOWS he shouldn’t be doing. We really struggle with having to hide our smiles/laughs so that he doesn’t think we find it funny, but we can’t help it sometimes. He’s just TOO cute.

Reid has surprised us lately with how much he knows. Maybe it’s because he isn’t very vocal and is A LOT shy... :) We put a bunch of plastic alphabet letters scrambled all over the floor and ask him to pick out a certain letter and he picks the right one, every time! Like any 2 year old, he has to be in the mood for it…He doesn’t know the names for all the letters (only a couple) but can identify them. He knows the names of some shapes, like circles, ovals and squares. He only knows how to name 3 colors (blue, yellow and pink. Not sure why pink?? J) and just doesn’t find colors very interesting. He *LOVES* books and will sit for 20-30 minutes at a time ‘reading’ them. We read to him a lot but his thing is to sit and look through them himself. I can always hear him mumble little things almost as if he’s reading to himself. Sweet. :)

Reid had 2 birthday parties. One for school and one for family and friends. We took a Cars cake and Cars party favors for the school party. The school doesn’t allow homemade things IF the intent it to share with the rest of the class. Basically, everything we take for the entire class has to be store bought, which I think is a great rule. We also had a small party at the house for friends and family. We did a Thomas the Train theme for this party (his other favorite character). For his birthday, Joe , Cole and I bought him a bouncy house that supports up to 400 lbs. The kids are having a lot of fun playing in it. During the party, we did water balloons (which they LOVED!!!), bubbles, sidewalk chalk and everything else 2, 3 and 4 year olds do! They "partied" from 3pm until a little past their bedtime!

His 2 year well visit was on Monday the 3rd. He had 2 vaccines and won’t need another until he’s 4! He has hit and/or exceeded all of the developmental, behavioral and physical milestones. They asked the questions on the MCHAT checklist (it is an autism detection checklist) and he “passed with flying colors”. I wasn’t expecting anything other than that, but still! He weighs 30 lbs (even) and is 35 inches tall. He is the 75 percentile for both. Yes...........His head is STILL out of the charts. :-)

Walking the ducklings to the park. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REID!

2010-04-30T07:59:00.001-05:00

Happy 2nd Birthday little one! Thank you for being ALL mine!

This is the little card we made together for Sprout online (children's chanel on TV). They posted it on their website and now we're waiting for it to be mentioned on TV. Luckily, the weather is kind of crappy, so we're not too busy today. :)

A little bit of this... A little bit of that...

2010-04-28T18:53:00.001-05:00

We had a fun weekend. The weather was perfect so we spent most of the weekend outside. Rylee had her 4th birthday party (I can't believe she is 4) on Saturday and everything turned out SO fun. Sunday, we walked the March for Babies with Team Coop. Very neat to see just how many people attended to support our little Cooper. He really is Super Cooper!

Addison and Cole at Rylee's party. You can see the birthday girl bouncing in the background! :)
+

Cole and Addi watching Rylee open her gifts.

Reid at the March for Babies.

Afterwards, about 20 of us (friends, as well as Team Coop walkers) went to a restaurant and sat outside enjoying the day. We did the same thing last year and it has almost become tradition to do the walk and then go back to the restaurant. When we got there, the waiter actually remembered us from the previous year. It was definitely, a Sunday Funday!

Cole has learned how to 'hack' into my iPhone. I gave him the password once a while ago… Now, he just grabs it, types in the password and proceeds to play the games we have downloaded for him.

Yes, that is a scratch next to Reid's right eye. His little face slid across concrete at the playground. :(

Reid had a couple of rough days last week. He didn’t poo for 5 days, wasn’t eating (1-2 bites per meal), barely drinking (1/4 of what he normally drinks) and was gagging when he did put those 1-2 bites in his mouth. I knew the lack of food wouldn’t kill him but I was worried about the fact that he wouldn’t drink. My biggest concern was the cause. What could be causing him to feel this way? It would have all made sense if one of his symptoms were diarrhea or vomiting… but he wasn’t pooping! As a parent, you always imagine the worst. I do, at least. I’m not a worrier normally except for when it comes to my baby boys. How come no one warned me about that?

My baby boy is turning 2 this Friday! I am staying home with both the boys on Friday to hang out with them. We’ll have NOTHING on the agenda except for playing. I hope the weather is nice and we can play outside! We will prepare for his party Saturday morning and have his party after naps. I can’t believe my sweet baby boy has been in my world for 2 years!!!
This is the picture I used for his invitations. My little boy. :)

Turtle Tuesday

2010-04-13T21:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Easter and Longest Blog Entry - EVER!

2010-04-04T20:35:00.007-05:00

Easter was wonderful. We woke up Friday morning and took the boys to the Houston Zoo. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The animals were eager to see all of the humans, so they got to see us up close. :-)

Saturday, we celebrated Easter with Nana, Pops, Tara (Mike was working) and Matt and Will (Cole and Reid's cousins). I love that the boys get to grow up together. I know I loved (and still do) to play with my cousins. Unfortunetly, growing up I only saw them on our visits to Peru. It's cool to me, that they've known each other since birth. Cole and Matt even play soccer together.

Easter Sunday, Cole woke up telling us that he heard the Easter bunny on our roof. We had our 2nd Easter egg hunt and played with the baskets that the bunny delivered. What kind of Easter bunny gives shoes with skulls on Easter Sunday???? After naps, we headed to my parents. We spent the afternoon hunting eggs for the 3rd time, grilling and drinking vino. Needless to say, it was a fun weekend.

See below: Cutest picture of my sis and Cole. BUT- do you see my dad's feet on the fence??? He was looking for a remote control plane that my sis bought the boys.... or was he just being nosey!? LOL!

The boys' school, has a webcam in each room and we can view them whenever we want as long as we have an internet connection. My friend Heather at work, enrolled her little boy Owen at the same school. Owen and Reid are in the same class. So, the other day I got an email from her telling me that she had been looking for Owen on the webcam but instead saw Reid sitting between two little girls (his friend Grace and another baby girl that she didn't recognize). The girls were laying down and Reid was rubbing their backs like his teacher’s do at nap time! By the time I logged in to see, Reid was done with his playa’ playa' moves… Two days later, I got to witness him patting his friends on the back while they "slept".

Cole is a pro on the iPhone and iPod Touch and LOVES to play games on them. He also loves his Leapster2. He knows when things are downloading and will actually say “Hold on Daddy. The game is downloading” or “let me pause my game so that I can show you”. He sounds so old! On Thursday night, we went out to eat. On the way out, Cole and a little girl ran up to each other with excitement and started hugging! Joe was like. WTF?? It was his friend Gabby from school. The funny thing is, they all hug before leaving school for the day!

The boys school had a clown visit them during the week of Spring Break. This clown brought a little monkey (a real one) and Cole fell in love with it! Reid on the other hand, FREAKED OUT and wanted nothing to do with the furry animal. Therefore, I don't have a cute picture of my little one and the monkey. :)