Bye, Bye Piggy

Rosemary moved back to Delaware on Sunday after being in Texas since July.  We really enjoyed getting to spend time with her and I know Olivia will truly miss her prima being here to play with her.  At first it was a little bit tough on both of them.  Rosie was away from home and Livi wasn't used to sharing her toys, home or parents with another little girl.  But, after a few weeks they really learned to play and get along (mostly) and pretty much behave like normal siblings.
I'm not sure how or why Rosie started calling Livi "Piggy" but she did.  Even at the airport when we were saying our goodbyes..."bye Piggy!"  We will miss Rosie so very much and I know Livi will be asking for her soon.  I know she's just in Delaware, but it seems a world away.  Besos y abrasos Rosita!!!!

EXCITED!

I was wasting some time while Olivia was napping and decided to read some of my older posts from before Olivia was born and it got me so FIRED UP to have this baby.  Sure, it was hard adjusting in the beginning and I was nervous about labor, but wow, my own descriptions of my emotions and thoughts really took me back. 
I should complain/whine less and smile more...it will be over before I realize it.  Thank you Jesus for allowing my body the ability to carry babies!

The Cutest Little Girl I Know.

These are the Fall pictures from Sonshine School!

This one makes me laugh.  She had the exact same look on her face for her pictures last year.

UpDaTeS

I am now 31 weeks along but yet feel like I'm due any day.  However, I was looking through some pics of when I was pregnant with Olivia and realized that I've still got a ways to GROW.  I get rediculously huge when I'm pregnant.  Oh well, it's all worth it!

I haven't updated about my mom's cancer in quite a while...
She finished her first round of chemo a couple of weeks ago.  The first round was supposed to take about 2 months...it took more like 3 1/2.  Her cell counts had a lot of trouble rebounding and that caused the treatments to be delayed.  For those that don't know or forgot, mom is a 1st grade teacher so she has had to stay home and has not been able to work. 
That all changed last week.  She began her second round of chemo last week.  This time she is going in once a week (on Thursdays) for 12 weeks.  Since her shots are on Thursdays she is going back to work on Mon-Thurs and then "recovering" Friday, Sat. and Sunday.  It's a grueling schedule and I'm worried about her being exposed to germy kids all day especially since her immune system is so compromised and even more so because of the terrible flu season approaching.  Her doctor and her principal have strongly advised her to wear her mask.  After she completes this cycle then they will evaluate if radiation is needed.  Please keep praying!
We will travel home for Thanksgiving and let mom rub my baby belly one last time since she won't be able to make it to College Station for the birth and we will not be going back to Abilene for Christmas.  Super bummed about that...

If you're still with me here's a sweet picture...

Where is the spell check button?  Has anybody that posted lately noticed thiers go missing?  Am I losing it?

Some Halloween pictures...finally.

I'm just now getting around to updating and I wanted to share some Halloween picutres.  We went to two trunk or treat events, one at A&M Church of Christ and then the other at the church down the street in our neighborhood (which for some reason I can't remember what its called).  Either way, the girls had a blast at both and I'm really glad that somebody thought to start the trend that is "trunk or treat"...it makes things much safer and I think the kids can enjoy themselves better.
Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The BIG 3-0!!

Last week I said my farewells to my 20's and somewhat reluctantly welcomed in my 30's.  My birthday was last Thursday and I had an awesome day.  It started out with some mall time in the morning followed by lunch with a good friend that I don't get to see very often.  Then while Livi was napping I actually layed around on the couch and watched a movie and then it was time to get ready for a GNO in my honor.  A few of my super-sweet friends took me out to eat a yummy dinner and treated me to some coffee-talk afterward.  I didn't make it home until 11pm (yes, that is WAY late for me) and I walked in to find that Koby and Livi had baked me some strawberry cupcakes with strawberries and creme frosting!  YUM.

Thanks girls!! 

News Flash...News Flash...

Well, at least to us!

Both yesterday and today Olivia woke up from her nap and wore her "big girl panties" all evening until bath time...without any accidents! Yesterday we stayed home all evening but tonight we went to eat at the Cotton Patch and then made a quick trip to Walgreens. My plan is to slowly extend the amount of time she's in her panties...especially when we're at home. She gets so proud of herself when she goes in the potty that our praise seems to be doing the trick. We haven't had to deal with the dreaded #2 yet so I'm fully aware that we haven't conquered the hard part! :)

In addition to this I have to brag that she also ate quite a bit of broccoli at dinner tonight with very little encouragement!

This is a picture from the fair and livestock auction in Caldwell last Friday. Good times!

Rite of Passage

Last Thursday we went to have Olivia's ears pierced. Now, if you've ever been blessed with the opportunity to listen to Koby and I debate about this you'd know that I have been wanting to have this done for quite a while...Koby not so much.

I'm not sure if there was anything specific that changed Koby's mind or if it was as simple as me saying, "Hey, we're going to the mall on Thursday after you get home from work to get Livi's ears pierced." Either way, she did great and was only upset for just a little bit. She loves to look in the mirror and talk about how pretty her earrings are! Too cute!

Before...

right after... about a minute later.

Wordless Wednesday

Giddy Up!

Yesterday was "Western Day" at Sonshine School and being that we are city folk I didn't really have anything other than these cute hand-me-down boots (thanks Jenny and/or Angela) for Olivia to wear. I didn't want to go buy her something specific just for this day so this is what she ended up wearing. I think she ended up looking pretty stinking cute!

Happy Birthday Olivia Kate!!!

Two years ago we were blessed to become the parents of this precious baby girl!

As I was told it would, time has flown by and now she has turned into this beautiful and smart little girl.

Last weekend we drove to Abilene to celebrate with Meema and Grandaddy (Koby's parents) and Wito and Wita (my parents). We had a low-key weekend, partially by choice but mainly because it was raining all weekend and just spent some quality time visiting and catching up with each other. On Sunday evening, Koby's mom cooked up a yummy dinner (roast, potatoes, gravy, veggies, rolls...) and we had a birthday dinner complete with red velvet cake for Koby (his b-day is next week) and a Dora cake for Olivia. She was so shy when we sang Happy Birthday she wouldn't even look up!

Koby's mom works at ACU in the music department so we went up there and took some pictures in the recital hall and anywhere else we could get Livi to cooperate!

Happy Birthday Livi Kate! We love you more than you will ever know!

Two days in a row...WHAT?

Okay, so I felt the love! Thanks for sticking with me!

Today was the first day of Sonshine School up at the church so we were up and ready to go a little earlier than usual today. Really, it's not that early...school starts a 9am! Anyway, Olivia had a great time and only fussed for a couple of seconds when I dropped her off. She even gave her teacher a big hug when we were leaving to come home. She is becoming such a big girl. This is the best picture I could get of her this morning...

Tomorrow we are heading off to Abilene to visit our parents and to celebrate Olivia's 2nd b-day (and Koby's 33rd). It'll be pretty low key, but I know that Bueno, LaPopular, homemade red velvet cake and some R&R will be included!

Wordless Wednesday...kind of

If you still check in on this blog, please leave a comment. I'm just curious if there's anybody still "with me" on here.

Update on mom...kind of.

I drove into Abilene late last night and was able to help mom out through the night. She's doing much better today, not in a lot of pain, just tired and a little uncomfortable.
The doctor called this morning and confirmed that the tumors were cancerous, however, he could not be any more specific. He told my dad yesterday that they would send the tumors for testing and the results would be back in 2-3 days. So, when he called this morning I was really anxious to hear the results and a little impressed that the tests had come back so quickly. Instead, he said they needed to conduct further testing at their "other" lab in Dallas and that we wouldn't know those results until Monday or Tuesday of next week.
I'm trying to patient but it's really hard. I am not by nature a patient person. I'm trying to stay positive, but that's really hard too. Mom, on the other hand seems to be very peaceful and calm about everything. I know that is a huge blessing. Thanks for the prayers and words of encouragement and I'll update when I know more.

Prayers Please

Over a month ago, my mom noticed a mass under her arm that was bothering her. She ignored it at first but then realized she should make an appointment with the doctor. She was finally fit in about a week and a half ago and her regular doctor referred her to a specialist. She saw that specialist last Thursday and he scheduled her for surgery today. She will go in at about 3pm today and have the mass removed and then tested. The results should be in within the next couple of days.
Please pray for her strength and for her spirits to stay positive. I know this is a fairly routine procedure but I am still anxious...mainly for the results.

Some new pics

I'm starting to feel really guilty for not blogging more often. I know people catch up with us on here and so I should do a better job at keeping up with it...
We have been up to lots of things over the past several weeks since I've blogged.

We've been playing in the bed of the truck.

On February 26th we made a "card" and had a photo shoot for Tia's b-day.
We've been helping daddy with his projects in the yard.

We've been practicing our leprechaun pose.

We've been snuggling.

And we've been GROWING like a weed!!!

Olivia is now 18 months old and is making us proud on a daily basis. We might be just a bit biased but we think she's stinking cute and smart too. She recognizes mostly all of the letters of the alphabet and several numbers. Sometimes she'll even read me the letters and numbers of our license plates. She is talking up a storm and has starting using the potty almost every night before bed. It's really funny, actually. We sit her on the seat and immediately she starts yelling, "PUSH! PUSH!" and then as soon as she's finished she says, "wipes, wipes."

She knows tons of words and I won't list them all but she has also started to string more words together. We just love watching her grow and are amazed at how quickly she learns things and how independent she has become. She most definitely has her moments but she really is such a good girl!

Party time

Olivia's been doing great in Sonshine school. She now goes twice a week for 4.5 hours a day. I think its been good for her to interact with other kids and authority figures. She seems to like it and except for this morning, doesn't even fuss when I drop her off. It's been a great time for me to take care of things with work and around the house. I always feel like I need to be so quiet in the afternoons when she's asleep.

Today she had a little Valentine's day party at school. Basically, the kids got to indulge in LOTS of sugary treats. Even though she's not smiling, she really had a good time! Thanks to Ms. Stephanie and all the moms that actually brought the sweet treats!

I've been putting her hair in a little pony tail...I think its CuTe!!
Hope everybody has a happy Valentine's Day!!

First Day of School

We have enrolled Olivia in Sonshine School at our church this semester and today was her first day of school! The program is normally 2 days a week from 9am-1:30pm but for some reason they only had 1 day a week available. So, Livi will be going to "school" every Tuesday this spring. My job at the duplexes really picks up in the spring and I know that this time will soon be taken over with phone calls, rental verifications and showings but today was really a good day, relaxing, productive morning (sans strollers, snacks and sippy cups).


For those of you that don't know, I didn't always plan on being a stay at home mom so when I got pregnant I told my boss that I would be back 6-8 weeks after giving birth. As you can imagine my world was rocked when I met my baby girl and I started having some major second thoughts. We went ahead and found a day-care center for Olivia and I went back to work (2 1/2 months later) and sobbed every time I dropped her off until I finally quit my job and decided to be broke and stay at home.


Now fast-forward a little over a year later...I did not cry when I dropped Olivia off at school. In fact, it was Livi that brought on the water works and the, "How dare you leave me????" look as I walked away. She ended up doing just fine, of course, and I'm sure she will have fun again next week.


I tried, I really tried to get a cute first day of school picture but she wasn't having it so this is the best I could do.

And this one I just thought was too funny. Her cousin James makes almost the exact same face!

Home ALONE!

Tonight I am going to Bunko so Koby just took Olivia to eat dinner and go to Home Depot. I am home alone and it feels weird. I am very rarely home by myself these days. There is no Dora the Explorer or Baby Einstein playing in the background or no need to tiptoe around the house. I can yell or scream if I want to, play loud music at the computer if I want to or eat dinner on the couch while watching a tv show (uninterrupted I might add) if that is what my heart desires. Hmmm...that last one sounds tempting. Gotta go, the couch is calling! :)

( This is the picture I was trying to add for Wordless Wednesday)

Wordless Wednesday

For the record, I've tried twice today to upload a picture. Obviously, it hasn't worked so maybe tomorrow I'll try again!