The Biggest Little...

Do y'all ever have days, weeks, months, years or even moments that just feel like they were gone with the blink of an eye?  Every time I look at Lucas lately that is how I feel.  I can remember, like it was yesterday, being in Columbus, Ohio without any family other than Jon, and being told that we were having his sweet little self immediately.  Talk about being scared!  I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or how to be a mom but here we are 8 years later and I think he's turned out pretty darn great!

 



{Last week playing in the tub with Littlest Little!}

{After he "styled" his own hair!}

{He busted his lip fielding a grounder at a tournament in 2011}

{At a cousins birthday party in 2009}

{After the cubs game in 2010}

{Bandaged up from our trip to the emergency room in 2005 or 2006}

 

{Driving his daddy's boat for the first time - probably 2007}



 {His very first Christmas!!}

{Valentine's Day 2006}

{See, even he thinks all his toys are RIDICULOUS!!}

{The END...aren't I cute??!!}

Viva Las Vegas



Number 1 thing that I learned while I was in Las Vegas this time...I'm OLD!!  We went with a group of our "work family" over the Labor Day weekend and this time we stayed at the Wynn hotel and casino.  Jon & I typically stay at the Bellagio when we go but we had a Fairy Godmother that was able to get all of our rooms comped this time around.  Two of our very close friends are getting married in the next month and we decided that some of us would go celebrate there.

 

Number 2 thing that I learned while I was in Las Vegas this time...I can't keep up with 25 year olds - heck I can't even keep up with people my own age!  I can't drink as much.  I can't dress as hip & cute.  I can't sport as high or heels.  I don't smoke cigarettes.  I can't sleep as late.  I'm sure that there is more "I can'ts" but those are the ones forefront in my mind!

 

We did have such a good time though!  We got in late on Friday night and all went to eat at Benihana's and then headed back to the Wynn to hang out.  Well what we ladies really did was people watch.  Y'all wouldn't believe the outfits that some of those girls walk around in so that they can get admitted into the clubs.  We say girls who had dresses on so short you could see their vajayjays or tops so low cut you got a peek of tatas.  Nicole asked me while we were watching, "Don't these girls have friends?"...too true!  Y'all slap me around if ever you see that kind of junk outta me!

 

Saturday we lazed around, had brunch, went to eat at Tao and then went to Tao Nightclub.  This is how I realized my age.  They had reserved a VIP table with bottle service so that we didn't have to fight the crowds.  Jon stayed a maximum of 30 minutes because let's be honest, it's not really his scene (or mine too much).  I had a drink or two but mostly spend my time laughing at the girl dancing.  I wound up catching a cab back to our hotel and they stayed on enjoying the night!

 

Sunday the guys went golfing and us girls lounged in the pool and under the shade of a cabana.  It was so relaxing.  Never did I imagine wanting to go to Vegas to sit by the pool but it was wonderful!  We went that evening to eat at a restaurant beside the water called Lakeside and the food was AMAZING!

 

All in all, it was a pretty great trip with some pretty fun people!  We missed Ryan & Ashley (she's 6.5 months pregnant and didn't go) so we made a Flat Ashley so she could still feel like she was with us!!

 

{I labeled this picture "Too Much Me"!!  Who knows what I was doing.}

 

 {Jon & I before we went to eat at Tao.  See, he's already super impressed! Ha!}

 

 {Again before dinner at Lakeside...see a theme...food!}

 

{Cheri & I at the nightclub...must have been early bc I still see Jon's arm here!}

{Me, Nicole & Julie in front of the Bellagio...that's another story all together.}

{The future Mr. & Mrs. Jeff (El Heffe) Hughes!  LOVE them!}

{Jon, Jeff & Corey enjoying their escape from the ladies and golfing!}

{Mary, Nicole, Julie, Lindsy, Me & Cheri}

{One of our nights where Flat Ashley got to join!}

{The Sanchez's - Corey & Julie}

Summer Vacation #1

Each year we go on vacation with part or all of Jon's family. It's always to the exact same place, as this has been a tradition in his family before he was born - I believe. Surfside Beach, TX - south of Houston on the coast about 30 minutes from Galveston. It takes us about 4.5 hours to drive down depending on traffic and number of stops.

Jon loves every moment he spends here. We even have our boat marina'd here, so he deep sea fishes everyday that he possibly can (usually all 7) while we are here - and multiple other weekends of the summer. Lucas is beginning to be a little fisherman just like his Daddy!

Braxton did better this year - no eating the sand! Yea! He did how ever get really freaked out when he touched any seaweed - dry or still in the ocean! It was pretty hilarious.

I worked quite a bit through it. I wish I could have just turned all the work business off but summer is not the time of year that you get relaxing vacations in our business world. I did get to spend a day fishing with Jon & Lucas, a day enjoying Pleasure Pier in Galveston and read 4 books start to finish. So what if I didn't go to sleep until sometimes 3am so I could finish a book! This is what I enjoy doing.

Tonight is our last night and then it's back to reality - I'm afraid of just how chaotic this reality is going to be - work of course.

I may just sweet talk my husband into a night, just he & I, at the casino in OK before we go back to work!!

A little of this and a lot of that!

Nope, adding the blogger app to my phone certainly didn't make me blog more often! It could be because I literally have not even had time to think the past few weeks - much less blog.

Jon and I passed each other in the air yesterday so it's just the boys and me today! I can hardly believe how big they are getting. Lights of my life y'all!

Lucas finishes second grade tomorrow - is that even possible?! He got an award for Most Responsible Student in the 2nd grade. I was even more proud of that than his A's & B's. I am trying to learn to not ride my 7 year old about his grades but...I come by it honestly! This sweet boy turns 8 in 2 months, crazy!

Braxton turns two in a few months, this is equally crazy to me! He is home sick again today. With what you ask, who knows. I feel like someone has put me on "repeat" with this one. Do y'all know about that? "Stop! No! Don't! Argh!!". He is a fearless little thing that likes to test my limits. But could he be any cuter?

Not sure what order this upload in but here are a few from the past week or so:

Blog by phone

What is the one thing that the one or two people who read my blog know about me??? That I'm a terrible blogger! If I'm not at work or working from home then I never log into sites for fun. However I am constantly looking at things like Facebook and Pinterest from my cell phone. I remembered a friend of mine mentioning one time that she posts blogs from her cell --- HELLO ---where have I been? I have a feeling because of how easy this seems that maybe I can get back to blogging - after all most of my photo ops are by way of phone these says!!

We got the boys haircuts yesterday. I didn't take pics of the little bitty but I did of the bigger bitty! He decided that for summer a burr would do for him. Is he getting big or what??

We are off to spend our Sunday visiting Jon's momma (still in a nursing home), my dad and then we normally have more family over for Sunday dinners. I love the weekends, they are what makes the weeks so worth it!

San Antonio Bound

First I want to show you all the sweet new additions to my family! This first sweet girl is my chosen family. Her name is Landry and she belongs to April, one of my very best friends in the world. She was born on 2/1/12. Isn't she a doll baby? Maybe I'm just a tiny bit jealous that she got a pink baby and I have all these blue ones...not that I would trade them for the world! I am anxious to go love on this sweet bundle very soon.

This handsome little devil is my darling new nephew Carson! He belongs to my sister-in-love, Tobey...Jon's sister...one of his many! He was born on 1/18/12. He was itty bitty. I believe he weighed in at exactly 6lbs and he was about a month early. Isn't that the cutest head of hair ever? I'm so sad that I have hardly gotten to see him yet because I have been basically working non-stop then coming home tending boys and going to bed. I can't wait to get some real bonding time with him.

However, loving on these two sweet babies is going to have to wait at least 5 days because first thing in the morning we are headed out to San Antonio for a company party/trip. I can not wait. I feel like a get-a-way is much needed to help relieve some of my stress. I can feel it in my shoulders and neck y'all! We are going for 5 days and staying at the beautiful JW Marriott Resort.

I found these pictures online so I will try my very best to take my own pictures and actually get them posted on here soon. Did I mention that I am excited? I love most all of my work family and I can't wait to spend 5 relaxing days with them. It could be that most of them are from around my home town or they are friends of friends or friends of family. It makes hanging out with them super easy!

I am a little anxious about leaving the boys. I think that this is the longest that we've gone anywhere since Braxton was born. Lucas is excited because his Gimme & PaPaw are coming to stay with him (my mom & stepdad). Braxton though is feeling puny today and has been running a fever. I think it's pink eye because he woke up with his eye matted together and the daycare sent him home because he showed signs of having it. I pray that my little ones will be good and not have any issues while we are away.

More pictures to come...I would try to post while we are on vacation but I don't know how to do all of that from my cell phone so we will have to wait until I am back at this computer!!

Reflections

It's New Years Eve again and I find myself at home reflecting on the past year...or even years past. This year has certainly been a full one!

Braxton has kept us on our toes all year it seems. He hit so many milestones. We prayed he would walk on "time" and now we wish he would slow down. We wished he would start talking and now we sometimes pray for a little quiet! He celebrated his 1st birthday in style with his cousin Brooklynn. You may as well jump on the bandwagon with everyone else who thinks that they are twins (not because they look alike but because they are so close in age, always together and their names apparently sound like something you would call twins). He enjoyed his first "real" Christmas and was certainly taught by his big brother how you properly open all of your presents...like a tornado! He has most definitely been a little blessing after a long road on our attempts to have a larger family.

Lucas has become so much like Jon & I both that it's hard to tell where Jon starts and I stop. Not totally true. He starts with Jon because well he looks just like him - I mean to a T. They share the same love of baseball, video games, sweets, hunting (this is new) and torturing mommy! He would do absolutely anything if he saw his father doing it. I can already tell you that my 7 year old will wind up a Red Raider one day because well...that's what Daddy did. He will want a Ford Mustang one day because that's what Daddy had. The parts of me that he inherited was for certain my stubborn side...boy he hates to be wrong. Like his Mommy, he has rarely met a stranger that he is unwilling to become the best of friends with. Like me he could also live in the best of both worlds, the outside or the inside. He loves to be around people and laugh/play but he is totally fine with sitting alone in a room with a book (or maybe a video game rather). Lucas FOR SURE suffers from Mommy's OCD...like me he kinda freaks if you move something around! The thing I know for certain is that he is the greatest little role model for his little brother already.

This time of year also makes me a little reflective, a little sad and puts all of the important things in perspective for me. I can hardly believe that we buried our sweet little angel, Logan, 3 years ago today. The two most painful days of my life have been the day that we realized we had lost him (Dec 27th) and the day we laid his tiny body to rest (Dec 31st). I can honestly say that if I had known then what I know now, I would have handled those two days differently. I had never known anyone who had gone through something like that. I didn't know I could hold that sweet angel for as long as I wanted (I was told only a few minutes - incorrectly), I didn't know that I could have photos taken (HUGE regret), I didn't know that I could dress him myself for the service, I didn't know that I could rock him (not that I could have after my c-section), I didn't know that the wrong thing for me to do was to shut myself off from the outside world and I certainly didn't realize that he would leave this tiny angel sized hole in me that time and more children will never completely fill. It has gotten easier as time moves on but there is never a day that I don't think of him and wonder.

Would he be a blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned, mild mannered child like my other two? Would he love his Momma the same way that my other two do? I know that he was taken for necessary purposes or else he would still be with us. I am a firm believer in the fact that our God doesn't take innocent, precious, tiny souls unless he needs them! Still, that doesn't stop me from wondering...and missing him! I believe he would have been all of those things and so much more.

My very talented, soon-t0-be, sister-in-law sketched me this wonderful drawing for my Christmas present. I can't even tell you what it meant to me and what a temporary basket case I wanted to be when I opened it. She took his real footprints from the hospital (one of the only things we have of him) and the quote that we placed on the service program and the back of his headstone and this is what she came up with. Isn't it amazing?!! I can't tell you the kind of inner peace just looking at this brings to me.

I am a blessed mother of three little boys and I bet the middle one looks down on us daily and laughs at the jokes his big brother tells, smiles at the milestones his little brother hits, gets excited when he hears his Daddy talk about him and knows he is still so very, very loved when his Mommy thinks of him daily. I can also just about guarantee that he is in the best of company!

Lucas tells people about his "brother who died in his moms tummy" or his "brother who had a kink in his cord" all the time. I mean ALL THE TIME yall. In the most bizarre and uncomfortable places! If someone in the checkout line of the store asks him a question about his brother "Braxton" then he will proceed to also tell him about his brother "Logan". My sweet hearted big boy loves to write messages to Logan on balloons with a sharpee and release them regularly. I can't tell you how this makes my heart smile!

I am a blessed Mommy alright and I will go to bed tonight with a full heart!