Getting Organized

One of my goals for this year was to do a small project every week.  That hasn't quite happened due to our vacation, trip to Midland and now I'm trying to get everything together for William's 3rd birthday party.  I am happy to say that all our photos are uploaded to Snapfish and I have most everything on a flash drive!  I'm super paranoid about losing videos and pictures so this is a huge relief.

One of the things on my to do list was cleaning out one of our closest.  I wish I'd taken a before picture.  The top of the closet was just a huge mess of gift bags, ribbon and tissue paper that continued onto the floor of the closet.  I finally worked up the courage, during William's nap time, to clean the big mess up.  I took everything out of the closet and got organized!  

This wrapping station organizer from Pottery Barn is wonderful (it's no longer available but maybe they'll offer one again around the holidays).  It was super easy to hang on the wall and I love that you can see everything.  I have all our Christmas wrapping paper in a big tub and gift labels are in the pull out drawers.

The used the big gift bags to put all the smaller gift bags into.  The big blue bag has baby bags and the train bag has kids birthday party bags.  I left the more neutral bags out.  My favorite thing to do is use a solid colored gift bag and place a big label, from Erin Condren, on the front.  The big box has gift boxes inside of it.  The next time I have to wrap a present I. Will. Be. Ready.

Starting a project like this is never fun (seriously, you should've seen the before picture).  BUT, the results you get at the end are well worth the time it takes!!!

Cheers to a clean closet.  :)

A Weekend At Home

Home Sweet Home!  It was so nice to finally be back home after a couple weekends of traveling.  I can't say we've done anything too exciting....but that's just what I wanted!  I did get away one night for dinner with some girlfriends.  I'm so sad we didn't get a picture. :(  It was great catching up with the "old M.D. Anderson girls".  Now that we don't all work together we actually talk about things other than work!  {Which is probably a good thing.}  It's so funny to think about how much has changed in the ten years since we've known each other.  At the beginning only one of us was married, we had no kids and now, between the 5 of us, we have 10.5 kiddos (plus a few frozen embryos....lol).  Hopefully we'll get back together soon and I'll remember to snap a picture!  Until then, here are a couple of throw back pictures!

William and I had a fun day off, during the week, together.  After our morning visit to the YMCA we hit up Hobby Lobby for some birthday supplies.  You can never start party planning too soon!

As you can see in the picture above, William's been trying to dress himself.  He sure knows how to make his mama laugh.  :)  We also bought some new furniture for our extra bedroom!  Eventually we will paint it....for now it's hanging out in the garage.

Love Week - Week 7

After our relaxing weekend away to Lake Tahoe......we were thrown back into the real world the day after returning!  I had a doctor appointment that morning followed by a yummy lunch at Chicken Kitchen with my boys.  Then things got good, we picked up my parent's new puppy, Massey,  To say William is in love with her is an understatement.  This child was, and is, obsessed with little Massey.  He was so gentle and careful with her.  He really showed us what a great big brother he'll make one day.  When William tries to say Massey it comes out as "Fifi".  :)  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.
That Friday, after work, William and I headed to the airport to fly little Massey to West Texas.  I was a little nervous about traveling so late with a toddler and tiny puppy!  But, they did awesome.  They were both passed out by the time the plane was off the ground.  Our weekend didn't slow down.  The next morning my mom and I got up and headed to the Lubbock area for my sister in laws baby shower.  All the traveling really started to catch up to me at that point.  Luckily, I got my yearly fix of Orlando's to pep me up!  William and I were passed out at the hotel that night by 7;30 pm.    

{My little heart breaker was in love with "his" puppy} {William insisted on holding "Fifi" during the car ride}  {He'll play in the sand all day long if you'll let him}  {Helping Aunt Skye open presents}  {Valentines for his friends at school}  {Professional traveler....he does an awesome job!}

When we got back to Midland on Sunday we took a long nap, had lunch at the country club, got to visit with my grandparents over dinner, and watched Cars on the BIG movie screen at my parents house.  We had a great weekend in Midland but were glad to see Daddy when we made it home.   

The next time we're back in West Texas William will have a baby cousin to play with!  

Trip to Lake Tahoe

For my birthday this year, Gordon and I decided to make a trip back to Lake Tahoe.  We thought about going back to Breckenridge but in the end decided on Tahoe.  We would really like to take William skiing next year and figured taking him somewhere in Colorado would be much easier than California/Nevada.  The flight to Tahoe is 4 hours longer than it is to Denver and there is a 2 hour time difference (not a good thing for toddlers/babies).  So, that is how we ended up back in Tahoe....8 years later!

As you can see in the pictures below, we were much younger during our first trip to Tahoe!  When we visited Lake Tahoe in 2007 we were 25 years old, had been dating about 6 months, it was during Christmas time, we went with all of Gordon's family and it was not only our first real vacation together but our first time to ski together.  

Gordon and I have laughed looking at these two pictures.  We look so tan in 2007 and so pale now?!?  haha.  It was super windy when we took the picture this year (thus the squinty eyes).  As a matter of fact, it was so windy they ended up shutting the mountain down at noon that day.  :(  Talk about a waste of money!  Our flight into Reno was also really bumpy due to high winds.  If you get "plane sick" (nauseous easily) this is not the destination for you.  Apparently, they have high winds in Reno most of the time.  The only thing that kept me from vomiting on the plan into Reno was knowing that Gordon would then vomit as well.....he has a sensitive stomach!    

 We had a great long weekend away!  Traveling can be a bit tiring but it was so nice to wake up in the morning and have nothing we had to do...and we had the option to sleep as long as we wanted.  There was plenty to keep us busy during our 3 day stay.  Heavenly Village (walking distance from our hotel) has a movie theater, ice skating ring and there's even a casino to gamble at.  There wasn't much playing at the theater but we did rent a couple of movies in our room (The Interview was pretty hilarious).  I'm not much of a gambler but Gordon did walk out with some extra dollars in his pocket!  Our second day of skiing was a bust since they shut down the mountain but day 1 was a lot of fun.  Gordon and I got stuck on a newly opened trail with feet of powder.  It was nearly impossible to ski on.  Gordon took a couple of tumbles....I'll just say that I've never laughed so hard in my life.  #goodtimes #greatmemories.  And, when we weren't skiing....we were eating!  We ate at a few places that we'd been to before and tried some new places too.

Azul- Mexican food with the most refreshing margaritas.
Driftwood Cafe- Yummy breakfast with delicious pancakes!
Kalani's-  Huge selection of sushi and fish.  Great place for date night.
Fire and Ice- All you can eat....you build your meal and they prepare on skillet.  So fun!
Stateline Brewery- We stopped here for a quick drink and appetizer after a long day of skiing.  Their edamame is fabulous.

Since we Texans rarely get to dress "wintery" I had fun getting all bundled up!

J Crew vest |  Skinny jeans from Zara  |  Tassle necklace by Sweet Annie Design on Facebook  |  Splendid ankle boots (similar)  |  Anthropologie sweater (sold out)  |  Tom's wedge boots  

I'm so glad we had a grown up getaway.  It's just what we needed.  Every couple deserves to get some time away to enjoy each other!  It was kinda fun to be back at our first vacation spot.  It's amazing how much has changed since 2007.  I will say that Lake Tahoe isn't a place I'd take my young children to ski.  Getting up/down the mountain via the Gondola takes time and patience.  Breckenridge will be where we take William.  You just can't beat the fact  that it's ski in ski out, you can buy your lift tickets and rent equipment at your hotel!

Here's to hoping next years ski trip is even more fabulous!    

Week 5 of 2015

I'm back!  We have had a busy month.  Although vacationing can be much needed....it's rejuvenating but exhausting all at the same time.  The weekend before Gordon and I went to Tahoe we spent some time getting the house extra clean and doing yard work after our morning visit to Little Gym.  When William saw daddy outside mowing he just had to get out there to help!  It was the cutest thing ever.  :)  I'm guessing the chances of him wanting to help with the yard in his teens will be slim to none.  Just one more reason to keep a record of these sweet moments!

Sunday evening Emily and Grant came over to watch the Superbowl with us.  William played in his playroom most of the time but ended up watching some of the second half.  He's a pretty big football fan (who loves to make comments about all the boo boos the players are getting).  I was a little disappointed that the Patriots won.  I'm not a big fan of Tom Brady....he's a bit pouty for my liking.  Here's to hoping the Texans or Cowboys make it to the Superbowl next year!

Weeks 1-4 in 2015

2015 is already flying by!  As always, we've stayed busy with our everyday life with a little bit of fun added in each week.  Having 1-2 days off with William during the week if fabulous.  We have so much fun together....and I get so much done during nap time, which makes the weekends even better.  I've even gotten better about going to the YMCA everyday that I'm off work during the week.  William seems to be enjoying the child care they have, I love getting a little exercise in and I figure it's a good lesson to teach William.  Exercise and health are important!  #beagoodrolemodel  

Here's what we've been up to!

WEEK 1:  We spent New Years Day relaxing and playing outside on William's new big truck.  That weekend we had a fun dinner out with friends (and family) at Decker's.  I'm still not sure why William has this crazy face in the last picture. :)

WEEK 2:  William got an A+ at the dentist so we celebrated with a cupcake date later in the day (I locked us out of the car so daddy had to come to the rescue!).  The little guy went on his first movie date with sweet Addi.  They loved Big Hero 6 and kept asking if they could go back after nap time.

WEEK 3: Nana and Papa came to visit for a few days.  There was cupcake making, date night for this mama and daddy, football watching, church going and lots more fun.

WEEK 4:  A day at the zoo.....and of course a CHOO CHOO ride.  William says, "All aboard!" when he sees a train now.  I think this last picture is actually week 5 but oh well.  We had lunch with daddy at our favorite restaurant, Barnaby's.

February is going to be filled with even more fun.  Not only is it my birthday month, which makes it more fun than most months, we also have two trips planned!  One to Lake Tahoe and one to Midland.

Cheers to fun times!  Happy love month everyone.  xoxo  

Elaboration On The Unexpected

I post a few months ago about our miscarriage in September.  I've had quite a few people private message me, talk to me in person and send text message with thanks and sweet words about the post.  So many couples have fertility issues.....and the majority of the time we have no idea what they are going through.  I know that talking to others, that have gone through similar situations, has made me feel a ton better.  That's why I'm doing another post.
Let me start off by saying that Gordon and I are blessed beyond measure.  Getting to carry William for 7 months and now watch him grow into a healthy little boy is indescribable.  He is so precious to us.  If he's all we get we are happy and thankful.

With that being said, I was really sad for 2-3 months after the miscarriage....here are a few of the things that made my heart hurt and things that crossed my mind.

•  I would love to give William a sibling.  To think he would be an only child was probably the hardest part.  (I did find a positive to it....we'd obviously have lots more money and time for just him)  
• I always thought I'd be more logical and see the science behind the miscarriage.  That wasn't the case.  I wanted that baby.  I'd started planning and we were excited.  
• Some of the people I'm closest to found out they were pregnant right after my miscarriage.  I watched person after person post about their pregnancy on Facebook.  Was I happy for my friends?  Of course!  Was I sad about my loss still?  Yes.  To hear people announce a pregnancy when you should be doing the same thing hurts.  Watching those cute baby bumps grow has just been a constant reminder of how my body should have looked, of where we should have been.  
• Scared.  Scared that I'll never get pregnant again.  Scared that I shouldn't have had the surgery on my uterus back in 2013.  Scared that another miscarriage is in our future (if I'm lucky enough to get pregnant).  My SIL is an OB/GYN and has told me from day 1 that these are all normal feelings.  She said all women feel this after having a miscarriage (my SIL has been a tremendous help through all of this!).  
• Blaming myself.  Wondering if I somehow did something wrong.  Again, I know this isn't the case but it crossed my mind.  My messed up uterus doesn't help things.  :/
• With each passing month things have gotten easier.  But, with the start of each new cycle I can't help but feel sad for a day or two.  
• For more than 10 years I have watched parents loss their children to cancer.  In my opinion, it's the worst thing that can happen to a parent.  As much as I tried, before I had William I couldn't fully appreciate a parents love for their child.  Having this miscarriage gave me a tiny peek (and when I say tiny, I mean teeny tiny) at the sadness that comes with loss of something you created/loved.  I think, in the long run, it will help me be a better, more compassionate, nurse. 

Carrie Underwood's latest song, Something In The Water, has really made me feel happy lately.

Just a little faith, it'll all get better

Gonna look ahead, no turning back

Live everyday, give it all that I have

Trust in someone bigger than me.

God is the only one that knows what our future has in store for us.  When I pray, I pray that I can continue to trust that God has the perfect plan for my family.  My plans aren't always his plans.  So for now, I'm just living everyday to the fullest.  Giving it all that I have.  Never taking our health for granted.  Trying to not sweat the small stuff.  Never comparing to others, just loving our life. Appreciating everything we have....especially my family.     

God is Good.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."  - Proverbs 3:5