Brad Paisley at The Rodeo

We had two fun days at the Houston Rodeo this year.  The first was the carnival.....the second was the actual rodeo!  My mom was in town that weekend for the procedure I had that Friday and we had our Gender Reveal party the day after.  It was a busy weekend, filled with lots of fun!  Luckily, we had a good parking pass so the rain wasn't too bothersome.  William was super pumped to see the animals and wear his new cowboy hat and boots.  

Staying dry with daddy  |  Crazy guys  |  There's nothing better than ice cream in a cowboy hat  

Listening to some good music  |  The best family pic we could get  |  Telling Nana all about the rodeo

Having fun!  |  My little cowboy

I'm always shocked at how well William does at these type of events.  He will just sit and watch everything.  He loved the bull riding (not a good sign) and he couldn't stop talking about how fast the horses could run.  During mutton bustin he told us he wanted to ride....he's been practicing on daddy every night since.  LOL.  Brad Paisley did a great job performing.  William loved watching him play the guitar.  Basically, this night is William's dream come true.  Animals, music, guitars, ice cream, pizza, and popcorn.  It doesn't get much better than that!  The only thing we were missing was Papa.  He was out of town hunting.  As you can see, we took lots of pictures to send him!

Houston Rodeo Carnival

This year, we decided to fight the crowd and take William to the Houston Rodeo's Carnival.  William's been to the actual rodeo but never to the carnival.  He was in heaven!  As soon as he saw all the rides he started saying on repeat, "I ride that!"  Unfortunately, most of the rides require you to be 36'' and our little buddy was just a hair under that.  He was able to ride some of the simpler car rides.

Our first stop in Houston that morning was Barnaby's.  This was our favorite breakfast place when we lived in town.  Our waitress even remembered us!  After filling our bellies we headed to the carnival.  We did beat some of the crowd since we got to the carnival around 10:00.  First up was a camel ride!!!  William kept saying, "We're up high!"  After the camel ride we headed to the pony rides.  We were a little nervous that he wouldn't want to get on the pony alone....but he did great!  As soon as I put him on the pony he asked if he could touch his fur.  He loved how soft the pony was.  Although, the little guy was disappointed he couldn't ride many things he still had a blast on the trucks and motorcycle (which went surprisingly fast).  Before heading home we had my favorite, dip 'n dots, and cheese popcorn!  YUM.  

We had such a fun family day!  Our 12 week check up was the next morning and I'd been super anxious about the appointment.  This was just the day I needed.  FUN, FUN, FUN!    

Week 11

We had a nice week around the house during "week 11".  On my day off work William and I made it to the YMCA and to Little Gym.  William has really grown leaps and bounds since starting Little Gym a year ago.  He loves to run around, hang on the high bar, catch and pop bubbles and instead of mastering a front roll, our little guy does fabulous log rolls. :)  We sure do love our days off together!

{Baby Bump} {Bubble Chaser} {Getting Crafty} 

{Donut Date} {My Little Buddy} {Dinner at Dekker's}

While Daddy got some extra sleep on Saturday morning William and I had a donut date.  Afterwards, while at the YMCA, I calculated how many calories I'd ingested.  Donut holes alone = 1,000 calories.  OMG!  I texted Gordon that we'd be at the gym for the next 3 hours.  LOL.  I'm glad we had our donut splurge then...it's looking like my gym days are over until baby #2 gets here!  The rest of our weekend was filled with super fun family stuff.  We had a yummy dinner at Dekker's on Saturday evening.  The weather was beautiful and the live entertainment kept William quiet.  We spent Sunday at the Rodeo Carnival....more on that soon!

Week 10

Week 10 of 2015 was super fun and super productive.  William and I spent our day off together running errands in town.  I got a few 3rd birthday preparation things done and we got to meet daddy for lunch!  We had some yummy food, that I'd been craving, at Texadelphia.  After nap time we ran down the street to get my oil changed.  William had a blast....and yes, I'm being serious.  He got to eat Cheetos and they had a kids play area.  Perfect!  Oil change made easy.  

As you can see William had a good time at Little Gym over the weekend and the park got a couple of visits from us too.  William has quite the imagination these days.  He told Gordon to be a dinosaur while we were at the park.  He would run away screaming when Gordon would get close to him.  :)  We are so blessed to have such a happy little guy.  He sure makes life fun!!!

Coming This Fall.....

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting Baby Gooding #2 this fall!  I can't tell you what a good feeling it was to see that little baby squirm around on the big screen Monday morning.  I can hardly wait to love on another little blessing and to see William build a relationship with his new brother or sister! 

In hopes of keeping this little one in-utero a little longer than William.....I'll be having a cerclage placed tomorrow morning.  This will require me to be NPO (nothing to eat or drink) after midnight (not fun for a preggo lady), be sedated and feel a little uncomfortable over the next couple of days.  But, the end product is more than worth the worry this small procedure is bringing us!  For now, all we can do is stay positive and pray that everything goes well.  We have a lot to look forward to.....we find out the gender of baby #2 this weekend!!!!!!

Happy thoughts for a easy, breezy day tomorrow.  :)

My Reading List

Although my reading has slowed down a bit since the fall.....I've still managed to read a book every 1-2 months.  I think I've made this comment before, I guess I'll make it again, I think reading makes me a better, more well rounded person.  Doing something I enjoy makes me a better mom and wife.  Reading books makes me think outside of my "little box" of suburbia life, taking care of kids with cancer, all while being a full time mommy and wife who cooks a home cooked meal 5 nights a week, does 95% of the laundry, hits the gym 3 times a week (and doesn't have a maid!).  It's a good way to open my mind and it gives me some much needed down time.    

Here are a few books I recommend reading!  When I did my last book post here I had just started reading The Secret Keeper.  I finished it around Christmas time.  I can't say enough how great this book was.    

The Secret Keeper-  This book had the sweetest ending!  The last 200 pages were so easy to read because I could hardly wait to see what was going to happen.  A unique love story with an important reminder to always be honest and kind to others.  You just never know what's going on behind closed doors.

The Glass Castle-  I read this one for a book club.  I doubt it would have ever been on my reading list otherwise.  Although some of it was hard for me to read (it's a memoir), I'm glad I did.  It amazes me how people can think so differently.  The best part of this book is the determination and dedication the siblings have.  The unconditional love in the family despite their many flaws is remarkable.  This book proves that just because you have nothing, are given nothing, are rarely supported, and are dirt poor....you can still succeed!!  If you think you have it rough just pick up this book.  I'm 90% sure you'll change your mind.

Looking For Alaska-  This one was a tear jerk-er.  Reading this book made me see through the eyes of a teenager again.  Makes me a little nervous to one day raise one!  I do love that one of the main characters of the book finally "found his place" when he moved off to boarding school.  Everyone deserves to feel loved and like their friendship is valuable.

Unbroken-  I just recently started this book and have really enjoyed it so far.  As you probably know, it is now a movie (released on Christmas).  I love that it's based on a true story.  I love that Louis Zamperini started off as a troubled young boy and ended up finding his passion, running.  It made him productive, happy and an Olympic athlete.  I love that he trained in Midland, Texas for the Army Air Corps flight school.  I love being excited about a new book. :)  I'll be really excited to finish reading it so we can watch it on the big screen.

Cheers to nap time.....when reading gets done!

Week 9

Well, there's not much to say about "week 9".  It was another uneventful week/weekend.  William had an upset tummy some of the week so we tried to lay low.  I'm still shocked I never got a phone call from daycare!  On our day off together we had a fun lunch date at Whole Foods.  This kid loves going to the store.  :)  Whole Foods is one of his favorites because they have a fun car/cart to ride in, he loves their mac n cheese and they have a wide variety of cupcakes.  It's the important things in life, folks!

That weekend we made blueberry and banana pancakes before church.  William liked the banana pancakes the best.  This little boy could end up being a chef one day....he loves to help cook!    

February may have started off busy but it sure did end nice and quiet!