The Coopers

It's A....

2011-09-27T17:02:00.001-05:00

BOY!

We are very surprised because we just knew it was going to be a girl...... even had a name picked out: Amelia. We're happy with a boy though. He'll probably be named "Jesse William Cooper" to go by William or Will. The ultrasound revealed that he weighs about 14oz (normal is 12-16 oz). I was told that I need to cut back on my sugary drinks (tea) and drink more water. We've created our registries....you can look them up at Babies R Us (Toys R Us), Target, and Amazon.com.

Summer

2011-09-27T16:57:00.000-05:00

We've been to a few birthday parties over the last few months. The heat here has been unbearable for this pregnant lady! It's been over 100 degrees most days. We've finally cooled into the 90s now that it's September (Ha!). In August we visited the children's museum for the first time and ended up getting a membership! Natalie loved it!! In September Luke and I celebrated our 5 year wedding Anniversary! I received an extra couple of bands on my wedding ring--he did a great job! Natalie spent that weekend with her grandparents. This past week we had the anatomy ultrasound (see later post) and I celebrated my 30th birthday!

Mini Cooper 2

2011-07-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

Since we love our mini cooper so much God decided we needed another one! It is in the manufacturing phase set to arrive on January 31, 2012, which coincidentally is the same date that our first mini cooper arrived!

The Fourth and a roadtrip

2011-07-19T09:06:00.000-05:00

Luke's family got together for the fourth of July as they do every year. Unfortunately we were both sick that weekend and decided not to go. It was just a cold, but one that seemed to linger. The next weekend we made a special trip and visited everyone we intended to see the previous weekend. I had made a photo album of Natalie's first year, including factoids. I bought a copy for each grandparent, hand delivering them that weekend. We had a pretty good weekend.....really long and lots of driving but we hadn't seen some of our relatives in a really long time!

Just before the fourth, my friend Jennifer and I went to a 'wine and painting' class. You bring your own wine and they provide the painting supplies and you paint along with the instructor. The painting we did was of Starry Night! It was a lot of fun! Relaxing, no kids, and a keepsake to take home! We are definitely doing that again!

Jennifer and I in front of our finished Starry Night paintings

This past weekend Natalie and I hung out with the girls from our life group. We rode the train at Zube park, then we went to pet and feed some horses. After that we went to a pool and swam. When Natalie started feeling cold we got out and put her in the swing at the playground. She loved the swing! It started to rain so we all headed to Chick-fil-a for lunch. It was good to catch up with everyone from our life group. We headed home after lunch and Natalie slept for a long time.

Once home and while Natalie took her nap, I decided to go to Hobby Lobby to frame my new painting--the Starry Night one. I found one! It looks great and Luke has even hung it up in our dining room!

Oh, back track a little. Friday night our friends Charlene and Kevin graciously watched Natalie so that we could see the last Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it! I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the end scene--I thought they could have done a slightly better job at making them look older.

On Sunday we visited our friend Lindsey. She lives only 5 minutes away and we hadn't seen her new house yet. It was a very nice house! After our visit we went to the Star furniture clearance center to check out their sectionals. We didn't see anything that wowed us. We want to eventually build a unit into the wall on the side of our living room to house our tv and equipment. We want to get a sectional that will face the tv and fireplace. Yesterday we went to Macy's and really like their selection and prices. We even found a set we are seriously considering buying really soon! I think Luke wants to check out a couple more places before we commit.

June

2011-07-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of June we got together with our life group as a local splash pad (area where water shoots up). Natalie had a lot of fun and it was a great way to cool off from the heat. June continued the hot temperatures and lack of rain we had been having for awhile. On the 18th we celebrated the 30th birthday of a close friend. His wife threw him a big surprise party with lots of good food and drinks! We saw quite a few people we knew and had a lot of fun. The cake that was served was made by one of their friends and was one of the tastiest cakes ever! On the 26th we celebrated Luke's birthday by going out to dinner with friends. It was a very yummy dinner. Sometimes it's great to celebrate with just a small group! Luke had a training class the last two weeks of the month that kept him working very long hours. He did very well however and has been moved into another group at work (doing something just slightly different).

May - Family

2011-07-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

We had a couple of family reunions in May. The first Saturday we visited my family. I got to visit with my cousin's kids and they adored Natalie! Near the middle of the month was the Cooper reunion. Natalie had fun playing with her cousins.

For Memorial Day weekend we drove to Whitney and stayed with Luke's sister. The whole family gathered together to celebrate the high school graduation of Luke's youngest cousin. We went to the pool, played some indoor games, and even played softball at a local field! We had a lot of fun that weekend!


Natalie

Luke's cousin Katherine at her graduation party

Natalie and her cousins Karsyn and Leilani

Easter

2011-07-05T11:44:00.000-05:00

Easter morning after breakfast we had a small egg hunt for Natalie in the front yard. She did really well! We would point out the eggs to her, she would pick it up and put it in her basket! After she found all the eggs she decided they needed to come out of the basket! We went to church and afterwards they had an easter egg hunt on their front lawn. Natalie did well and was able to collect a few eggs! We had a ham for lunch and relaxed the rest of the day.

Eggs on lawn of Church

Church egg hunt

In the front yard

The rest of April had another birthday party before Easter. Luke began playing softball with his coworkers toward the end of the month. The last weekend we went to a gem and mineral show in the galleria area with Luke's mom. It was really cool! Really nice specimens, but most over-priced. Natalie had fun running around the hall.

Saturday, April 9 - A Busy Day!

2011-07-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

That was a busy day because Luke, Natalie, and I ran the Bluebell Fun Run, a 5K. They changed the starting point of the race from years past, which confused us so we ended up starting 20 minutes late, though we weren't the last ones to finish! We had some free ice cream afterward.

We then went to the Bluebonnet Festival in Chappell Hill. It was pretty crowded and it seems to be getting bigger and more popular each year! We left around 1pm when it was starting to get hot. We found a patch of bluebonnets on the side of the road to take pictures. The bluebonnets this year are really small, dull, and scarce--probably due to the lack of rain Texas has had.

We went to a birthday party late that afternoon. Natalie saw some of her friends, got to play in a kiddie pool of toys, and bounce in a bounce house! She seemed to have a lot of fun! By the end of the day she was tired from all the excitement and sun!

April 4 - A Great Run!

2011-04-04T22:42:00.001-05:00

Photo 15 (April 4): Our dogs (shelties) Jake & Sam

Today we had someone come over for an estimate on installing some insulation in the attic. I dropped Luke off at work and headed to Kroger for some grocery shopping. I had an issue with the cashier lady--she didn't like the fact that I brought my own bags and was pretty vocal about it. And I had to return to Kroger when I realized I was charged for an item I didn't get (this is actually pretty common for me so always check your receipts!!!). Came home, fed Natalie, put her down for her nap and worked on coupon stuff. I'm still iffy on the extreme couponing just because I don't quite have the time to go through all the coupons and stores for the best deals. I think I may just pick one store (HEB) and get everything there but watch for when things go on sale. This evening Luke convinced me to go for a run while he watched Natalie. It was the best run ever! This may sound corny, but in the podcast I listen to, "I'm too sexy for my shirt" played and I have to admit I really loved running to that song! Also, I ran for 26.5 minutes straight! I only stopped because I was back home! I could have ran much longer! I can't wait for our 5K this weekend!

April 3 - Churchin'

2011-04-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

Natalie in her church dress

Natalie clapping

Sunday morning we got up early and went to early service at our church. We were assigned nursery duty this Sunday. I got some really cute pics of Natalie in her adorable dress! She was joined by Karleigh and a set of twin boys. Once I gave them some animal crackers, I was their best friend! After church we went home, ate lunch, and relaxed some. I gathered our stuff and we headed over to Jennifer & Mikes that early afternoon. We were hosting Life Group that evening at their house. I made a crockpot dinner. While it was cooking we took the girls to feed the ducks. They were very friendly ducks that took the bread right out of your hand. Natalie and Karleigh seemed to really enjoy doing that. When we got back to their house, we put the girls in a wagon and Jennifer pulled them around the yard. They loved it!! You can view a video of that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65_vVkZ71w Karleigh and Natalie have this same walking toy. Karleigh has been doing really well walking with it for a few weeks now. Natalie hasn't quite got the hang of it yet until now. She loved it! She was pushing it all over their living room! She is also getting pretty good at taking a couple steps at a time! We've been trying to teach Natalie sign language lately. She finally signed back a word without me doing it first! It was fish!

Natalie in the church nursery

Karleigh and Natalie

Jennifer pulling Natalie and Karleigh in a wagon

Photo 14 (April 3): Natalie and Karleigh in a wagon

April 2 - A Fun, Busy Saturday!

2011-04-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

Photo 13 (April 2): Mom, Natalie, and Gary hanging out

Saturday morning I got up early, did a little cleaning, changed my bike tire, and went bike riding for the first time in 2 years! I thought it would be fairly easy since I've been running a lot lately. Nope. Bike riding works out different muscles than running does. I only did 6.73 miles and my thighs felt like jello when I got home. My butt hurt the rest of the day as well. I took a shower and headed to the Katy farmer's market. I was a little disappointed there...not many veggie vendors. Not long after I got home, Luke's mom and her husband Gary came to visit. We talked and played with Natalie for a couple of hours. She was really cute and even took about 4 steps toward me! She's getting a little bit better about her 'walking' each day! After they left we went for some frozen yogurt. It was a nice day and we wanted to be out of the house. We decided to go to Star furniture since we had never been before. We really liked their stuff and even considered buying a piece there but we're going to wait. We went home and had dinner. Kevin and Charlene came over to visit. It's been a really long time since we had seen them. Charlene showed me all her coupon stuff and gave me lots of tips to get really good deals on all kinds of products! I think I might start 'extreme' couponing.

April 1 - Squirrels

2011-04-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

Photo 12 (April 1): Startled Squirrel

So, I have fallen behind on my blog and as a result, I can't remember much about last Friday. I know that while I was outside looking at my plants, I discovered this vine on our fence that is fruiting! They are small bright green fruits about the size and shape of a loquat. While admiring the plants, a palm frond fell from our palm (60 ft tall?). The dogs of course went over to inspect it and found a squirrel, chased it, catching it a few times with it screaming. I got the dogs away as it jumped on a fence. Poor thing to fall from such a height and get chased by two dogs! It was a juvenile squirrel. Along with the frond was a mass of straw looking stuff. I went to inspect it and found another juvenile squirrel on the ground! It moved just a tiny bit but not much. I was really worried that it was seriously hurt. I went inside to get my camera and took a picture of each squirrel. The second one finally ran through a hole in the fence. I think the straw mass was their nest. They were very startled from that fall but seemed alright.

14 Months!

2011-03-31T21:14:00.000-05:00

Photo 11 (March 31): Natalie is 14 months old!

Natalie is 14 months old today!

I started working on her bow holders--base coat of paint on. I planted a couple of plants, did some house work, and went jogging this morning. I found out that most of my old coworkers got laid off today. I probably would have been one of them if I had chosen to return to work after Natalie was born. Today was a beautiful day. I had the windows open all day so I really enjoyed the air.

March 30 - Playdate

2011-03-31T16:47:00.001-05:00


Natalie & Caleb playing

Yesterday was errand day! We went grocery shopping (Saved $16.71 thanks to coupons!) and had a playdate with Melissa and Caleb. Natalie and Caleb actually kinda played together. She is still not walking, just every once in a while will take a very small step before falling and crawling.

Photo 10 (March 30): Playdate

March 29

2011-03-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

Photo 9 (March 29): Grinning Natalie

Today Luke rode his bike to and from work. He's been doing that about once a week this month. I took advantage of having a car and went to a nearby plant nursery to get some large pots and a couple of plants. This evening we had our usual Natalie/dog time on the living room rug. Got a cute pic of Natalie bearing all teeth!

Galveston Part Deaux

2011-03-29T18:01:00.000-05:00

Went to bed last night without writing this post! Yesterday we got up and packed, checked out of the hotel, and walked to a local breakfast place. It was alright. It was fairly cheap and Natalie even ate some of our breakfast, but not the pancake we ordered for her. I guess she just likes her mama's (which contains blueberries!). We walked along the strand, visiting the various shops. Natalie slept most of the time that we walked around. We had lunch at a mediterranean restaurant and saw the Jean Lafitte film at Pier 21 Theatre. Natalie did really well during the movie! We headed home, stopping by A&M Galveston for a quick peek. We got home about 5pm, fed Natalie, relaxed a bit, had dinner, and went to bed. It was a really good mini vacation....Relaxing and Fun!

Photo 8 (March 28): Texas A&M Galveston

Galveston!

2011-03-27T22:04:00.001-05:00

Natalie & Luke in Galveston

We are spending a couple days in Galveston for a mini vacation. We walked along the beach, visited a gift shop, and had dinner at a local seafood restaurant. It's warm, but overcast today. Natalie still doesn't like the water. I guess because it's cold. We are staying in the Tremont Hotel. It's really nice--Natalie already broke something within the first 60 seconds of being here! Our room has really tall ceilings and hardwood floors.

Pam & Natalie walking in the water

Serene Beach Scene

Photo 7 (March 27): Natalie at Galveston

Natalie's Third Birthday Party

2011-03-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

Photo 6 (March 26): Natalie blowing out the candles on her cake

Not our Natalie! Our neighbors across the street also have a daughter named Natalie and today was her third birthday party! It was Hello Kitty themed with a pinata even! It was a lot of fun. Our Natalie enjoyed crawling everywhere and really liked chasing after the balloons. The rest of the day was alright. I got up early with the intention of riding my bike for the first time in two years. I had finally replaced the back tire a month ago but found it flat again this morning--turns out it had a hole in the tube (wasn't there a month ago). Bought a new one today so I will try again soon. We leave for Galveston tomorrow for a mini vacation. This means there's a chance that I won't be able to post a blog tomorrow. Depends if we have internet capability. We're excited.

Natalie's first step!

2011-03-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

So I admit, I forgot to take pictures today. I had lots of opportunities too! We went by Luke's office so he could show off Natalie. She was being really cute....waving, clapping, smiling, giggling! One of my old coworkers works in his building now so we went to her office to visit. It was there that Natalie took a step into her daddy's arms, her first step!!!

After that visit I went by my old office and showed off Natalie. She was really excited and showing off. She waved, clapped, giggled, smiled, and crawled EVERYWHERE!!! After that we went to lunch with a couple of my old coworkers....pizza! Natalie had a little pizza but liked the breadsticks better. She people watched while we ate.

I spent the afternoon doing a little shopping. This evening I made some dinner and we watched Natalie play as we ate. She tried to take a couple of steps again!

Photo 5 (March 25): Natalie Asleep

So, because I forgot to take a picture all day, I just sneaked into Natalie's room and took a picture of her sleeping. Enjoy!

4.63 miles!

2011-03-24T23:20:00.002-05:00

Photo 4 (March 24): Buffalo Bayou

I walked to the library today to return some books and get some more. My plan was to run the Terry Hershey trail back home. There are two trails leaving the library. A couple weeks ago when I did this, I took the one I knew went home. I saw a bridge on the way that looked like it connected to the other trail from the library. Today I decided to try the alternative one, thinking it might be shorter. Boy was I wrong! It added another mile to my route! It does connect to that bridge....eventually. Well, now I know for next time! When I got home I realized I had logged in 4.63 miles! I took a picture of the bayou that the trail is on near the library.

Play-date

2011-03-23T23:21:00.003-05:00

at Casa Ole


on the grass at Bear Creek Park

Today we met Melissa and her son Caleb for a play-date. Caleb is 5-6 weeks older than Natalie. First we had lunch at Casa Ole (yummy!) and then we went to Bear Creek park where we played on the swings and crawled around in the grass.

Photo 3 (March 23): Caleb and Natalie enjoying the swings at Bear Creek Park

Oh how my garden grows

2011-03-22T22:40:00.001-05:00

Photo 2 (March 22)

This morning Natalie and I walked to the Hallmark next to Kroger and purchases a sympathy card. This afternoon I tended to our plants. I applied fertilizer, re-potted one plant, pulled a few weeds, rearranged some pots, and watered everything. This is a picture of some sprouts (various plants) that have come up recently that I planted a couple weeks ago.

First Full Day of Spring

2011-03-21T22:49:00.001-05:00


Photo 1 (March 21): Bluebonnets in neighbor's front yard

Today is the first FULL day of Spring! I have a few friends who are doing a 365 photo project on facebook--they take a photo each day as documentation of their year. I'm going to test out a Spring edition but in blog form. I figure if I post a photo every day, then I have to post a blog entry as well! If I stick with it, then maybe there will be a summer edition! So here goes: SPRING 2011

I went jogging today and on my run route is this yard that is normally white landscape rocks but at this time of year is filled with bluebonnets! It's only appropriate for the first photo of spring!

Run Date Grandma Natalie Patrick

2011-03-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

At the end of February, as the weather got nicer, I started running again. Luke and I have signed up for a 5k fun run on April 9 so I have been training for that. I have a jogging stroller that allows Natalie to go with me on my runs. She will also be with me in the 5k!

Luke and I had a date night at the beginning of the month. His mom watched Natalie while we went out. We tried a new place near us. It was pretty good food, though nothing spectacular. We then went and played Bingo. It was a lot of fun but heavy on the cigarette smoke. Afterward, we grabbed some frozen yogurt and headed home. It was a wonderful evening!

My grandma has been really sick, even spending a few days in the hospital the week before last week. She's finally doing better and improves a little each day. Natalie is still crawling but likes to cruise on the furniture and can stand up from the middle of the floor! This past week she got another tooth (2 in the last 2 weeks) so she now has 8 teeth: 4 on top and 4 on bottom.

We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade last Saturday...Natalie seemed to enjoy it! She got some beads and they have been a favorite toy since! For the actual day, I made an Irish dinner: slow cooked corned beef, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Also a side of Irish soda bread and an Irish green spritzer to drink.

My Splenda Rant

2011-02-21T11:34:00.000-06:00

Oh Splenda, you trickster you.
Thou who also goest by 'Sucralose'.
Oh how you like to sneak into everyday foods!
You entice me with your sweet like sugar disguise,
Only to fool me with your foul bitter aftertaste!
First it was the Total Cinnamon Crunch,
which seemed to be a better option to Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
But alas!
There came that aftertaste...could it be?
Sucralose in the ingredients??
But the front of the box doesn't say!
Splenda, you trickster you!
Then it was the FiberOne cereal.
Such good pancake mix, why not cereal?
Gave it a try, oh no!
Here too??
Then Jell-O introduced its decadent dark chocolate mousse!
My mouth waters each time I look at the label.
Dip my spoon in, whaaaaat???
Oh how bitter!!
Splenda!!
And today, not my nuts!
My dark chocolate dusted almonds!
Oh how you disappoint me!
How could you!
Splenda, really??
This is war Splenda!

Natalie is 1 year and Luke passed his training!

2011-02-19T21:34:00.000-06:00

Mom & Dad's gifts to Natalie

First Birthday Cake

Well, Natalie is officially on whole milk and took the transition really well! She turned one year on January 31! She opened her gifts from us and then we went out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes but she didn't eat much. She was pretty tired though.

Unwrapped gifts from Mom & Dad

She had her one year appointment on February 1 and now weighs 17 lbs (5%) and is 28 inches tall (25%). We had a small birthday party for her on February 5th. Pretty much everyone I expected to come came so we had a good turnout!

Eating cupcake at party (first sugar!)

Birthday Gifts at Party

Luke has been working really hard to complete his training program for his job...the culmination of 5 years worth of work. He gave his final presentation in front of some really high upper management this past Thursday. He passed and thus has graduated! He is now an official project leader and will receive a raise! It was really cold the week of her birthday and I fear we lost a lot of our plants, including some that survived last winter's hard freeze. Since then it has warmed into the 70s and we have had some beautiful days! Unfortunately I have been sick this week and unable to get out and enjoy it. The library has decided not to bring back baby time. Another mom who's son is Natalie's age has been meeting with me so our kids can have playtime. It's really great for the two of us.

Blood Oranges and Baby Wipes

2011-01-19T00:09:00.001-06:00

The other day while at Kroger, I was excited to find blood oranges!!!! I discovered this wonderful, sweet, scarlet-fleshed fruit 2 years ago. It's like an orange did the tango with a raspberry! They're only available January through March and I craved them for most of my pregnancy. They were labeled though as pink navels but the sticker on the orange said Moro, which I know to be a type of blood orange. I bought several and made my own infused water out of one of them as an experiment. I sliced up one orange and added it to a pitcher with about 6 cups of water. Refrigerate for several hours and enjoy! I think this is my new favorite infused water. Two other infused waters I make include Citrus Infused Water: slice one orange, one lemon, and one lime. Add 5-6 cups water, refrigerate several hours, and enjoy! Cucumber-Lime-Mint Infused Water: slice half a cucumber, one lime, and add to a pitcher with two sprigs of mint and 5-6 cups of water. Refrigerate several hours and enjoy!

For those who don't know, I basically make my own baby wipes. Natalie has been allergic to just about every wipe out there. I take a roll of paper towels (Bounty is our favorite), cut it in thirds, remove the cardboard tube, and insert one of the thirds into a wipes container along with 10-12 oz water (depending on if you have a double or mega size roll). Let absorb for about an hour and pull wipes out through middle. It's great because it's just water and paper towel so I can use it for things like wiping her face and hands and not worry about those parts breaking out. The wipes are kinda small so I tend to use at least 2 per swab on her butt during changing. For poopy diapers I use store bought wipes. We usually use Whole Foods brand but lately she started developing a minor rash--I think because they tend to be very wet, therefore leaving a slight residue. We've tried several brands and it seems that by the end of the package, she starts to break out. Well, I decided to try and make wipes for poopy diapers as well. Tested them today and they worked great!! I took a roll of paper towels, cut in half this time instead of thirds--makes wider wipes. I added water mixed with baby oil. They won't fit inside a standard wipes container so I'm using a make-shift container. I'm so happy I found an alternative! For the diaper bag I will probably continue to use store-bought wipes since they are prefolded and pop-up conveniently.

Accomplished

2011-01-18T22:29:00.000-06:00

I spent yesterday updated Natalie's baby book, her website-including lots of pictures, and 'made', addressed, and mailed off her birthday party invites!

Luke has been working hard on installing a reverse osmosis water filter under our sink for the last three days. He even has enlisted the help of a friend. He is still working on it as I write this, all the while I've had not water in the kitchen. The dishes are piling up and cooking is next to impossible. At least Bunco was tonight so I didn't have to cook! I had a lot of fun at Bunco and even won a prize!

Today Natalie and I went to the library--forgot my card though (doh!). We went out to lunch with daddy. She even ate some of my sweet potato fries! After dropping Luke off at work, we went to the mall for a few hours until Luke got off work.

I've had a good couple of days!

Baby Shower and Dave & Busters

2011-01-16T23:01:00.001-06:00

So today I helped host a baby shower for one of my church friends. As a gift I made her a baby blanket size of my taggie, the first of its kind. I've been working on finishing that lately and I have to say, I really liked the way it turned out. Might even add it to my inventory of items to sell. The shower turned out great and it was fun to have just the girls from life group there to shower one of our sisters for her pending arrival bundle of joy. She's not finding out the sex until its born so we all can't wait!!

Last night Luke, Natalie, and I went out to Dave & Busters. The last time we went it was a week night so we were a little surprised by the crowd but it was still doable. Natalie was so awestruck by the blinking lights, noise, and shiny coins everywhere....it was quite funny! We had a lot of fun enjoying the games together as a family and will probably go back next month, on a week night! The photos were taken with my cell phone while at Dave & Busters, showing the overwhelm look on Natalie's face!

Cotton Bowl, Birthday, Playgroup

2011-01-13T12:17:00.001-06:00

We had a party last Friday to watch the Aggies play in the Cotton Bowl. They lost unfortunately. We had most of our friends over--it was a blast!
Natalie is quickly approaching her first birthday so I have been planning that lately! Got a guest list made, bought the invitations, decided on dates, cake, decor, etc. She's really become mobile too! I miss the nights when I could pick her up and have her fall asleep on my chest. Now she wriggles and just wants to be put down to explore, even if she's really tired!
The lady that led the baby time at the library (the play group we go to on Tuesdays) quit her job to take a student teaching job required for her Masters degree. Her last day was Jan 4. Unfortunately they weren't able to find a replacement so for now there is no play group. Though I found out yesterday that they may be bringing it back in February! They have toddler time on Wednesdays for 1-3 year olds but it is mainly reading. I don't think Natalie is ready for that yet since she doesn't pay attention now when I read and she can't walk yet (and is very tiny) so she would just get run over by the older kids.
Well, that about sums up the last couple of weeks. I'm going to try and make this more of a habit!

A Good Christmas

2011-01-13T12:08:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe I didn't write much else in December. I know I kept getting sick but have been germ free for about 3 weeks now! Natalie had a good first christmas! She even got to open her gifts herself! We saw all kinds of family and had lots of good food. It was a good but tiring season. Now it's on to a new year! For Christmas most people got hand-made gifts so I spent a lot of my free time working on those. Once Christmas came we were busy celebrating and visiting with family. Natalie got a few of board books, a potsy cook and play toy set, a puppy that sings and plays games that you can personalize, a stuffed monkey, a farmer see and say toy, some clothing accessories, pjs, and some cash. After Christmas I found out some details about someone in my family that has been on my mind a few days. We celebrated New Years at a friend's house. Hope everyone else had a good christmas and new years!

A Good Day!

2010-12-06T21:52:00.000-06:00

Natalie has been really cute and happy today! I love days like this! I started the christmas newsletter as well. Made some crock pot chicken chili for dinner, some amish friendship bread for dessert, and thai tea to drink! Natalie fed herself her own bottle for dinner. Throughout the day she has had lots of cheerios, gerber maple puffs, barley-peach mixture, and acorn squash. A tip for those who have coconut oil and are not sure how to use it.....replace your vegetable oil called for in your baking recipes! I used coconut oil instead of vegetable (or canola) oil in the amish friendship bread and it came out just fine! Didn't really taste it either!

milestones and sickness

2010-12-05T21:58:00.000-06:00

Natalie turned 10 months on November 30! She has also started pulling herself into a standing position this week! Tonight she drank out of her bottle on her own!

On Wednesday Natalie's nose started running like a faucet. We hadn't bathed the dogs yet since taking them to Buffalo and they smelled pretty bad so they were spending a lot of time outside. We had wondered if that was causing her nose to run or the cold front moving in. That night she did not sleep well because she was congested. My throat started hurting really bad which made it really hard to tend to her. The next day I rested as much as I could. It was hard to talk and I really did not feel well. I began to suspect that Natalie's running nose was the result of a cold, though thankfully neither of us had fevers. Luke came home from work Thursday with a really sore throat as well. Yesterday my throat stopped hurting and turned into coughing and a running nose. Today Luke's throat doesn't hurt either and all 3 of us have running, stuffy noses! I can't wait until we all feel better again. For me, this is the 4th time I've been sick since mid-October and I'm sick of it! We didn't go to church of bible study because we didn't want to pass on any germs. I'm at least feeling a little more energetic to do some cooking and clean a little. Natalie has been sleeping more but when she's not sleeping she is very energetic.

We have been doing the Advent Jesse Tree. It's been kinda hard to read when we don't feel well and you sound funny, and cough, and can't breathe! Lol! It's fun though to sit down each night and devote a little time to the Bible.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T21:46:00.000-06:00

My mom was sick so we did not go to my grandmother's on Thanksgiving Day. Instead we put up our tree and christmas decorations! Then I made green beans, cranberry sauce, german chocolate cake, and dinner--raspberry chicken and homemade dressing. Natalie even ate some of my dressing!

On Friday we packed, drove to Buffalo to drop the dogs off at Luke's grandmother's, and then on to Whitney to his sister's house. The whole family was there! Natalie had fun crawling around with her cousins! We had a delicious dinner and chatted afterwards. That evening everyone left except us. After the kids went to bed we played a game of Settlers.

Saturday we got up and drove to Buffalo to celebrate Thanksgiving with Luke's dad and grandmother. We had a delicious dinner and hung out afterward. Natalie's cousins did some crafts with Aunt Rita. Natalie crawled around exploring the place. That evening we drove back to Houston.

Sunday was like any normal day. That evening I met with some church ladies as we exchanged ornaments for an Advent Jesse Tree that starts on December 1.

Pictures of Thanksgiving can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3186783&id=8327236&l=55d1eca1d5

ornaments and recipes

2010-11-24T23:06:00.001-06:00

Been working on ornaments. I'm taking part in a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. 25 women from church are each assigned an ornament to make (25 of them). Then we get together and exchange the ornaments so that each woman has 1 of each ornament (25 different ornaments). Then starting December 1, each night my family will read a family devotional telling the story of the bible while opening one ornament related to that night's story. I was assigned the David & Goliath story so I have been working on making 25 slingshot ornaments.

On a completely different topic, I had some tips related to recipes that I use and thought you might find helpful. Each week before I go grocery shopping, I make a meal plan for each night. We usually eat our leftovers for lunch the next day. I try to plan my meals around what meat is on sale for the week (usually at HEB). I also try to sort my shopping list into categories (produce, frozen, meat, canned goods, etc). When I try a new recipe, we rate it afterwards on a smiley face system. :-D means we loved the recipe, :-) means we liked it, :-l means it was ok, and :-( means we hated it {if it was printed from online, then I just throw it away at that point}. I have a binder I keep recipes I have printed from online in. The binder is also sorted by category (main entrée, side dish, dessert, breakfast, appetizer, crock pot, soup, etc).

Thanksgiving prep

2010-11-24T20:45:00.000-06:00

Tuesday I ran errands all day. Did some grocery shopping, got some crafts, took Natalie to her play group, and picked up photos for my grandmother. My grandma called and told me my mom was sick so it looks like we'll be home Thanksgiving day instead of visiting my my family. Friday is with Luke's mom's side--we're in charge of the green beans, cranberry sauce, and a desert. I'll be making a german chocolate cake with frosting from scratch, home-made cranberry sauce (because I've never had that before!), and garlicky green beans.

Today I walked to Kroger to grab a couple of last minute items for Thanksgiving. It was a nice walk....breezy outside. This afternoon I had a horrible mommy moment. I put Natalie on the bed, turned around to pick up a toy off the floor and she crawled off the end of the bed and fell to the floor. Luckily we had a thick blanket piled at the foot of the bed which broke her fall so she didn't get hurt, just scared. She cried, but not for very long since mommy comforted her. I feel so bad. I know it happens to most moms but I was really hoping it wouldn't happen to me.

Busy Weekends!

2010-11-22T21:03:00.000-06:00

So I realize it's been a little over a week since I posted. Last weekend we hung out with different groups of friends. Last Sunday we hosted Life Group (Bible Study). Natalie popped out a third tooth and decided to crawl that weekend as well!

Tuesday I was out and about running errands. That evening I went to Bunco with some church ladies. Overnight that night I got really really sick so Luke stayed home from work Wednesday and watched Natalie while I rested in bed all day. I had the stomach flu which left me dehydrated, weak, and a 102.6 fever. I started feeling better Thursday but basically watched tv all day and fed/diapered Natalie. Friday evening we went to see the newest Harry Potter movie while a friend watched Natalie. The movie was really good and seems to be very much like the book (from what I can remember). It's pretty dark and depressing, as is the book, but I know it gets better. After all, it is Part 1 of 2.

Saturday seemed like any other normal day. I was finally feeling like myself again so I cleaned up a little around the house. Did some grocery shopping that night. Sunday we spend most of the day in Conroe visiting old college friends. One, who lives in New Hampshire/Massachusetts, had flown down for a visit so we all had a potluck lunch. It was a great day.....really glad to visit with friends whom we hadn't seen in a long time.

Today I tried to feed Natalie some of what I was eating...she did not like it. I'm trying to ween her to chunkier food and more table food. She's not taking to well to it yet. She did surprise me and feed herself oatmeal when I put the bowl in front of her. She won't drink from a sippy though....I've tried different sippies, water, juice, and her milk. I'll just keep trying and eventually she'll take it.

Sam is 6!

2010-11-11T20:04:00.000-06:00

Our oldest dog Sam is 6 years old today! They both got special bones to celebrate! Other than that, nothing too special happened today.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

2010-11-10T22:10:00.000-06:00

So today I went by a resale shop. I found a really cute leopard coat that Natalie can wear someday. I also found an adorable Christmas dress at an excellent price! She also got a couple of toys so it was like Christmas for her! After that I went to Target where they had the entire store decorated for Christmas! I got a few things like a little santa hat and christmas socks, both for Natalie! I also found a cute Baby's First Christmas ornament. I couldn't wait to get home and listen to some Christmas music. It's kinda strange that I'm in the spirit so early....I always wait until Thanksgiving before getting into the spirit and cringe when I hear Christmas music in the store (did a week ago). I think it's that I'm excited to celebrate Natalie's first Christmas and I want to make it special!

Beautiful Day!

2010-11-09T14:36:00.000-06:00

I am so glad I get to be home on days like this! The windows are open, a nice breeze blowing through, the rustling of leaves, the crying of a baby! :)

For lunch I laid out a blanket on our front lawn under the oak tree. Natalie sat beside me while we enjoyed the beautiful day! It was an awesome Mother-Daughter moment!

Launch of Business and TRF

2010-11-09T14:34:00.000-06:00

The first week of November was spent getting as much product made as I could! Saturday some friends and I hosted an Open House showcasing our products (different vendors, different products). We did alright. We are starting to plan the next one which will be at a more public place so we can do some more advertising! My business is "Pammie's Ribbonry". I have a facebook page set up and an Etsy site
www.etsy.com/people/PammiesRibbonry

Nothing is on my site yet since I need to get a few things accomplished before I set it up.

On Sunday we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. We had a lot of fun though bringing a baby along can sure slow things down! We all dressed up too!

Now that this blog is FINALLY updated, I think I might start doing 'daily' entries so that I don't have as much to write! Even if nothing much happened, at least something!

October

2010-11-09T14:27:00.000-06:00

Jennifer, Karleigh, Natalie, and I at the Scarecrow Festival

My mom and Natalie

Boy was October a busy month!! Natalie got her second tooth in and started somewhat crawling.. Jennifer, Me, and our babies went to the Scarecrow Festival in Chappell Hill on the 9th. It was a lot of fun and I got some future business product ideas from there! I decided to start up a business so October was spent organizing, collecting, and making products for my premier on November 6. I make baby taggie blankets, hair bows, headbands, and pacifier clips. I am currently adding travel baby wipes holders to my list. I hope to also eventually add hair bow holders.

We went to New Braunfels for a few days, with the Dykes joining us for a couple. After that we spent a few days in Austin with Luke's dad. We returned home for a day. By then we were both sick and I went to a doctor where I found out I had an intestinal bug. I think Luke just had the flu or something. He flew to Los Angeles to meet up with some friends at a convention. Meanwhile, Natalie and I visited my mom and grandma. We all had a good time but in the end, we were all glad to be back home after a long vacation. I returned home and got sick again....might have caught what Luke had before!

Luke & Natalie in costume

Our Angel and Devil

Jennifer and Karleigh at Fall Festival

Passing out candy on front lawn

Halloween was great! Natalie went as a Chili Pepper, Luke as a mariachi singer/senor and I as a senora. We went to a special playgroup at the library where all the babies came in their Halloween costumes. Afterwards we went to the Fall Festival hosted by our church. We met up with some friends there. On Halloween Stephen & Zamira came over in costume and we all passed out candy on the front lawn. It was a fun weekend!

September

2010-11-09T14:00:00.000-06:00

Natalie got her first tooth in September. She became more and more mobile--rolling, scooting, and reaching. September also was the start of a season at the church....new sermon series, the startup of life groups (bible study), and bible classes. We started taking Natalie to the nursery. I got a really cute picture one day of the babies playing....so cute! Don't want to post since the parents may not approve....sorry! I started taking Natalie for walks as the weather started to get nicer. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on the 13th! We went out to a nice French restaurant while our friends watched Natalie. It was a very nice night! I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 22nd. At the very end of the month the Aggies had their first televised game. We had some aggie friends over with their babies....it was a fun time!

August

2010-11-09T13:53:00.001-06:00

Not anything really big happened in August. I started increasing my exercise minutes and did really well for the month. Even started up my running program again! Natalie went swimming for the first time and enjoyed it, but was pretty sleepy at the time so we didn't go long. She started giggling, sitting up, and eating solids. We bought her a stationary entertainer. I started attending a playgroup that started up at the library. We go every Tuesday morning and it is for 0-12 months. She enjoys it so much! We sing songs and do baby games (like Itsy Bitsy Spider). We read a board book, then have parachute time. Then we have play time where a bunch of toys are dumped in the middle of the rug for the babies to play with. Afterwards I go to the children's book area and pick out a book or two to read to her for the next week.

July

2010-10-02T14:01:00.010-05:00

At the beginning of July we took a week long trip to visit family we don't see often. Starting on Wednesday June 30, we headed up to Buffalo (Tx) to drop the dogs off with Luke's grandmother. On Thursday we headed to Abilene to visit Natalie's great great great aunt Merle. I had never met Aunt Merle and it had been years since Luke saw her. She is so sweet and kind! We also met her son Galen and great grandson Triston, who Natalie just adored! In picture: Triston, Natalie, Luke, and Aunt Merle.

On Saturday we drove to Cleburne and visited my grandmother. Natalie was having a bad day with gas and teething. Picture: Weldon, Grandma Vi, and Natalie.

On Sunday, the 4th of July, we headed to Luke's sister Kelli's. They bought their first home a few months ago so we finally got to see it! It was a very nice area and home. Many family members came to visit for the 4th of July and Kai's birthday(one of Natalie's cousins). Natalie got to see all her cousins, great aunt and uncle, 2nd cousin, great grandfather, and her grandmother. She did fairly well that day. That night we all went to watch the fireworks (Natalie fell asleep just before they began). Below, Left, Aunt Shara and Natalie. Below, Right, cousins Leilani, Natalie, Karsyn, and Kai.

That Monday we headed over to Luke's grandfather's. Luke's sister and her kids came over as well, which allowed for all the kids to play together.

Natalie discovered she really liked to swing! After lunch, Kelli took the kids home so it was just us and Luke's grandparents. It was a nice relaxing day out in the country. We headed back home Tuesday.

Natalie and Grandad.

On Saturday, July 10, we headed to the Zoo. She really enjoyed the fish and the giraffes, but her mood quickly grew bad. I believe she did not enjoy the heat and there wasn't much we could do about it--I did give her some water from my water bottle, which she did really well at!

Natalie and I at the Zoo

On Thursday, July 15, Natalie and I met a friend and her son at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Lois the Corpse Flower was about to bloom, making the 29th time ever a corpse flower has bloomed in the U.S. It was our luck she had not bloomed yet when we came to visit. We also saw the butterfly exhibit which was really neat. Natalie slept during most of this. It was a nice trip out and I got some good pictures out of it!

The rest of the month was just back to routine-taking care of baby during the week and visiting with friends on the weekends.

June-Jobless, reunion, wedding, and beach

2010-07-19T13:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I'm jobless now, by choice! On June 1 I called my manager and put in my 2 weeks notice....I had decided to become a stay-at-home mom! The next day my manager called and said that HR wanted to do an exit interview the next day (June 3). Instead of having 2 more weeks, my last official day was June 3. I went by my office and packed up my cubicle, then headed over to the main location for my exit interview. They asked questions like what did you like/not like about the company/job, etc.

After the interview I had a doctor appointment which my doctor could not make so I had to reschedule. That afternoon Natalie had her 4 month checkup! She's doing well with a length of 23.5 inches (25% on growth chart) and a weight of 11lbs 4oz (10% on growth chart) and a head circumference of 15.75 inches (25% on growth chart).

On June 4 I had my 10 year high school reunion. Our friends Jennifer and Mike watched Natalie while Luke and I attended the reunion. I saw a few people I knew from high school, a few I recognized but could not remember well, and a few who did not remember me well. There was a bar there that was really crowded and they took a class photo. We ended up sitting at a table with about 4 old classmates and talking with them for most of the night. Natalie did really well with the Dykes (Jennifer and Mike), with everyone asleep when we went to pick her up.

On June 5 (Saturday) we drove to Buffalo to attend Mama Jean's wedding. It was an outdoor wedding in the afternoon....and hot too! It was a short and simple wedding. Natalie met her Aunt Kelli and Uncle Don, and all 3 of her cousins.....they adored each other!

Not a lot happened the rest of June. Luke's 30th birthday was the 26th (a Saturday), so I planned a surprise dinner with a couple of his friends at Joe's crabshack. It was a nice dinner and good to see them. Luke really enjoyed it too! That Sunday we went to Galveston Beach with our friends Jon and Laura to celebrate his birthday and to just go to the beach. Natalie still did not like the ocean, despite the water being warm this time. It was pretty hot out, with the sand burning your feet if you tried to walk barefoot. We tried to build a sand castle but never finished. We had lunch on the beach and spent some time in the 'ocean' to cool off. Dark clouds started to approach and it started sprinkling, which cooled off the air a bit. The waves started to become choppy---it looked like fun and I was astonished when I started going into the water to find it warmer than the air! Just then, Jon got stung by a sting ray. We packed up our things and headed to an emergency care center. Apparently sting ray bites are more common now since the oil spill in the gulf....guess they are looking for non-oil areas. But one way to avoid them is to shuffle your feet through the sand in the water....the kicked up sand spooks them away so that you don't accidentally step on one. At the emergency clinic there was a pretty salt water fish tank set up in a corner. Natalie LOVED it! She stared at it in wonder and excitement!

End of May Happenings

2010-07-09T15:18:00.004-05:00

On May 23 we had the Cooper family reunion which provided Natalie a chance to meet her great grandmother, Mama Jean, her fiance Dave, Natalie's great Aunt Rita, and the rest of the Cooper clan.

On Monday May 24 my sister Tracie flew in from Reno along with her boyfriend Nathan. He is a really nice guy! Natalie at this time seemed to be picky about who held and fed her. Tracie adored her and Natalie enjoyed having a back seat buddy! Tracie, Nathan, Natalie and I drove up to spend some time with our mom and grandmother. While visiting, we met up with a few of our grandmother's friends, whom we grew up with. Natalie really seems to like old ladies!

We drove back to Houston Friday and had a party at our house that night so Tracie could see everyone. It was a fun party!

Saturday we got up early and dropped Tracie and Nathan off at the airport. We then went by my friend/coworker Celia's house and had breakfast. Her son Jake, about 1.5 years, and Natalie met. Jake loved Natalie! And Natalie loves every kid she sees! Jake was so cute...he would kiss her, hold her hand, and give her hugs! That night, our friends Charlene and Kevin had a small party at their house to watch a fighting championship game. That was mostly for the guys so the gals hung out in the dining room chatting away.

Sunday we relaxed. That evening we noticed that Natalie's soft spot was a little depressed. She also seemed hungry/thirsty-could not fill her up it seemed. I gave her some pedialyte, worried that she may be dehydrated. We called the pediatrician and waited for their call back to determine if we should take her to the ER as a precaution. After I guess an hour she threw up so we took her anyways to Texas Childrens. Turns out she was completely fine--false alarm. Some baby's soft spots do concave a little, especially if they are in a growth spurt--which also explains why she was so hungry.

That Monday, Memorial Day, we went over to our friends Stephen and Zamira for some grilled hot dogs. The guys played video games while us girls played a board game. It was a nice evening with friends.

Family, Mother's Day, Graduations, and new neighbors

2010-05-19T14:50:00.003-05:00

So far May has been hot! Though we did finally get some much needed rain! My garden is doing alright. Natalie has been more of a handful--she's going through a growth spurt which makes her crankier. She is starting to fit into her 3-6 mo clothes! We've seen a bit of her friend Karleigh lately, who is also growing like a weed!

We visited my family on the 1st. It was good to see everyone and will be going back next week when my sister comes to visit!

My first mother's day was really good! The Alamo Drafthouse movie theatre had a showing of Chocolat as a baby day out special for mother's day. However, Natalie was a little fussy so Luke took her outside so I could enjoy the movie.

I have pretty much kept up with my running, except skipping a few days last week. Luke was in a training class at work for two weeks that he enjoyed.

This past Friday my sister graduated from the University of Nevada in Reno with her Masters degree in Hydrology. She plans on going to the University of Oregon next for her Doctorate. Our friend Jon graduated from the University of Houston this past Saturday with a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering. He had a graduation party afterward which we attended.

On Sunday, both Natalie and Karleigh received their baby bibles at church. Jennifer's family was in town so after the service we all went out to lunch at Shogun, a Japanese hibachi grill restaurant. It was fun and some good food too.

The house across the street sold a few weeks ago and has had contractors over since (it was a foreclosure). We met the new owner! I can't wait for them to officially move in...she seems so nice and we already have a lot in common. She is a stay at home mom (i'm still on maternity leave through June), she also has a daughter named Natalie, she likes to cook and try new things, and belongs to a co-op, which she will introduce me to! They are putting in a pool and said we could come over! She wants to do play dates and is going to bring us over dinner the week after next! She said she also knows some good vietnamese (and chinese) restaurants!

Hope everyone is doing well. If you haven't in awhile, check out Natalie's totsites page...i'm actually doing a good job of keeping that thing updated!

Beach, blankets, and baby

2010-04-26T14:01:00.007-05:00

After my gall bladder surgery I was sore for a few days, having to take pain pills often. It's been a week now pill free! I noticed that when I eat a lot of dairy I have issues--have been told that's a temporary side effect from the surgery and to eat yogurt to correct my digestive system. I can eat foods with fat again!

Luke has been busy at work trying to meet deadlines. He's worked a few weekends and late on work days trying to meet a project deadline, which he met. In fact, his managers pulled him aside and gave him a recognition award for all his hard work! However, because he had to work so much, he could not go on our planned Galveston vacation, so I brought my best friend Charlene instead.

We went to Galveston for a couple of days on the 14th. It was a lot of fun. We walked along the beach, shopped the strand, stayed in Hotel Galvez and took a haunted tour of the hotel. We also introduced Natalie to the beach and Gulf water...she did not like it because the water was cold and it was really windy out.

On April 10, Charlene, her sister, Natalie, and I went to the Bluebonnet Festival in Chappell Hill. There you will find artisans selling their crafts. I bought lots of hair bows for Natalie that she will have to grow into. Charlene has started making purses and totes to sell and she does a really good job!!! They look very professional. She started her own business and brand, and has a website up: Charli Bags www.charlibags.com

Awhile ago I made a small blanket for Natalie (before she was born) and have been told several times I should sell it. It's a tag (taggie, ribbon, sensory, etc) blanket. I've decided to do it! In fact, Charlene and I plan on sharing a booth at the Scarecrow festival in October in Chappell Hill (October 9 & 10). I bought a bunch of material and ribbon last weekend and just need to get started on my projects. I plan on making a security size (12"x12"), a crib size (30"x40"), pacifier clips, and burp cloths. Ribbon is my theme. I thought about coming up with my own name like "NatNat's" or something. Still not set on an idea so suggestions are welcome. FYI, Charlene calls Natalie 'NatNat'.

After the festival we took lots of pictures with the bluebonnets.
More pictures of the bluebonnets can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2947685&id=8327236&l=7668fd762e

Last week I decided since I finally feel better from my surgery and am cleared for exercise, that I would pick up running again....I have missed it so much. I started (again) the Couch to 5K (c25k) program (http://www.c25k.com/). I have completed week 1 and will move on to week 2 tomorrow. I plan on running 3 days a week....2 during the week before Luke goes to work, and 1 on the weekend. I feel better already as a result!

Natalie is doing really good! She is getting very tall and gaining weight slowly. As of last Thursday, she was 23 inches tall and weighed 9 lbs, 5 oz. She smiles a lot, loves to kick her feet, flail her hands, and has started to grasp some objects. When I was at Toys R Us last week, I held up several infant toys to see if she had any interest and she really liked this cloth book that crinkled. So I got that for her and she just loves it! First toy (other than mirrors) that she really likes!!! We also have a lion teether that crinkles so I have introduced her to that....she'll look at it and touch it but she likes the book much better. We have been trying to put her in her crib for naps during the day so she can get used to it. She even spent part of one night in it last week! She really loves her mobile and rainforest soother. She'll kick her feet, wiggle, wave her arms, have the biggest grin, and coo outloud while the mobile rotates! However, if it, or the rainfall soother stop, she cries out!

I have decided to nix Natalie's website at bundleofjoys and instead go with totsites. It offers a lot more storage for photos and I like the layout better. Her new website for stats and updates is:

http://www.totsites.com/tot/nataliemae

You can even sign up for email updates! Hope all is well with everyone else!

Sickies and Surgery

2010-04-05T20:59:00.007-05:00

Since the last post Natalie became sick. We took her to the pediatrician and she had RSV, a virus that caused her to be very congested, cough, and not feel good. She would sleep a lot, cough, couldn't breath, didn't eat much, and when she ate she usually threw it back up. Luckily we never had to put her in the hospital and she is good now. It was a week of worry however. Also during that time I was sick-congestion, coughs, high fever, no energy. Poor Luke had both of us to take care of....he missed a lot of work that week.

Lately I have had severe stomach pains comparable to labor pains. I'd been to the doctor and had blood work and an ultrasound done. On March 22, even though I didn't have the results back, I had another pain attack that lasted a few hours and was getting worse, even a cup of hot tea (which usually helped me feel somewhat better enough to sleep the pain away) didn't work. Worried it could be something really serious, I had one of my best friends drive me to the ER. They determined it was my gallbladder and gave me some morphine to make the pain go away. I saw my doctor the next day and the results were in---an inflamed gallbladder, with the only cure being surgery. I have seen a surgeon since and will have my gallbladder removed tomorrow morning at 10am. Since March 22 I have been on a really low fat diet and have had only one attack (peanut butter).

Natalie had her 2 month check up and vaccinations last week. Her head circumference puts her in the 5% for her age, she is now 21 3/8 inches long (10-25%), and she weighs only 7lb13oz, which drops her off the growth chart. The doctor is concerned about her weight and now I am having to feed formula between each breastfeeding while going in weekly for weigh-ins. If by her 4th month she doesn't catch up, then she will have to have tests run to see why she is not gaining fast enough. Luke and I theorize that I have skim like breast milk, especially since I'm on a low fat diet.

Meanwhile, she has started to smile at us and it is so pretty! She also likes to kick her feet around.

Natalie's first smile! (actually caught it on film!)

On the weekends Luke has been hard at work fixing up our yard....and he has done such a great job! I planted a small vegetable garden and have some sprouts!

On March 27 we headed to College Station. Luke and his mom held a garage/yard sale together. While they worked on that, I drove on to my grandma/mom's and hung out with them for the day. We were back in Houston that evening. It was a good day with family, but rather long since we woke up at 4:30 that morning!

On Easter Sunday we went to Easter service at our church, with Natalie wearing her Easter dress. She did really well!
Today I got out our video camera and decided to learn how to use it! Here is a video I uploaded of Natalie smiling! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR6eM_Rp4Xo

I hope everyone is doing well!
-the Coopers

Natalie's 5th week (one month checkup and more)

2010-03-09T14:41:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday Natalie had her one month checkup and is having a growth spurt! She gained 6 oz and is now 7lbs 2 oz! and grew one inch to 20.25in long! Her weight, height, and head circumference put her in the 10% percentile. After her appointment I went to the mall and walked around for a little bit before heading back home.

Friday we had some friends over. They made us dinner, we chatted and then played a game of clue.

Saturday Luke went to several stores getting gardening/yard supplies and did some yard work. That evening I visited my friends Stephen & Zamira for a little bit to see their new house....it's really beautiful!

Sunday we went to early service at church....Natalie's first service! She did good! Afterward we tried to buy a crib mattress but in the end decided to do it online. When we came home Luke's aunt shara and uncle buddy stopped by to visit. It was really good to see them! I then got ready and went to my friend Jennifer's shower. It was really good and she got some cute stuff for the baby!

Natalie is doing really well and is awake more often. She really loves to look into mirrors and loves it when I sing. We also got her a seahorse version of a glowworm and she seems to like that as well. She really likes to be held, which unfortunately makes it hard sometimes to get anything done (such as eat!). I'm figuring out some tricks that seem to be working.

Hope everyone is doing well!

being home

2010-02-27T17:05:00.002-06:00

Luke was able to stay home with me for quite some time to help take care of Natalie, and me since I was still healing from my c-section. We were released from the hospital on Wednesday, February 3. Luke's mom arrived to help us out and she was a huge help!!! She cleaned up the house and held Natalie so I could get some stuff done, and drove me to Target to get some nursing camis. My mom and grandmother arrived on Sunday February 7, at the same time Luke's mom left. My mom threw out her back that morning so she couldn't move very well. Poor Luke was having to take care of my mom, grandmother, me, and the baby! I was moving around better by then so I helped him out a little. They left that Wednesday which gave Luke and me some time to ourselves with the baby. He went back to work on Monday the 15th.

I've been doing really well this past month. Still healing but I feel almost myself....will start to feel tired and achy if I do too much in one day but I can do almost anything now. Natalie is doing really well. The pediatrician doesn't believe she is gaining weight fast enough so she wants me to add formula to her diet, which I have mixed feelings about. As of Thursday, she weighed 6 lbs 12 oz.

We've had friends from church bringing us dinner every few nights which has been a big help! Never could have predicted what a help it would be! It has also been nice to visit with each family/friend that stops by.

Tomorrow Natalie will be one month! In some ways it has dragged by, but in other ways it has gone by fast! I'm starting to get the itch to go out more...guess I'm getting tired of being at home 24/7. Luke and I share a car so I don't quite have the luxury to drive anywhere at anytime.

I have been posting pictures of Natalie here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2909843&id=8327236&l=d0c082bdcd
and luke has been posting pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408&id=100000714980316&l=350680e62a

She's Here!! (Labor Story)

2010-02-13T10:58:00.005-06:00

LOL, what a way to pick up from that last blog post....guess i was experiencing early labor signs because the day after I posted my water broke! I had just walked into our home office to grab something when it broke about 10:15pm (Saturday). Luckily my bag was already packed and the bathroom was just a few feet away. While I was in the bathroom, Luke packed the car. We headed to the hospital, notifying family on the way. After I was admitted they administered some pitocin (or oxytocin) to speed labor along. The doctor checked me about 6am and I was 3.5 cm dilated. About 10am I was checking my email when the doctor came in again and said I should be feeling a lot more pain, especially since my contractions were about 2 min apart according to the monitor. Apparently I had a fore bag that was keeping me from feeling the contractions and Natalie from descending. After the doc broke it, I really felt the contractions coming on strong. She also noticed that I had a really narrow pelvis which could cause problems during the delivery. A couple of hours later I was really tired and in a lot of pain so I gave in and asked for an epidural so I could get some sleep. Right after the epidural started working the doc came in again to see my progress and I wasn't dilating any further, and the baby had decided to crawl upwards (apparently my pelvis WAS a problem so she was finding another way out!). They rolled me into the operating room to do a c-section.

Natalie Mae Cooper was born at 1:28pm on Sunday, January 31, 2010, weighing 6 lbs, 13 oz, measuring 19 1/8 inches.

January

2010-01-29T17:09:00.002-06:00

It has been one busy month but I have a feeling life is about to stay that way for awhile ;-)

There was a severe freeze for our area at the beginning of the month and our heater broke just before it. We had to have a whole new unit replaced and it was up and running just hours before the arctic blast hit. We have had a really cold and harsh winter. In fact, they said that this winter marks the coldest winter on record (in terms of the average temperature). Kinda funny that Natalie will be born during such a record-breaking time when her father (Luke) was born during the hottest summer on record (1980). Our plants in our yard look just pitiful as a result too, so many dead things. That same week that the arctic blast hit I came down with a cold again, but it took longer to recover this time (@10 days). Since then I have been really careful about what I touch and am constantly washing/sanitizing my hands.

On January 9, 10, and 13 I had baby showers and we received lots of needed stuff! They were all great and I had lots of fun! I am amazed how generous people are when there is a little one on the way but it really helps--baby stuff is so expensive! That next weekend (16th) we used our gift cards and bought stuff we still needed for when the baby arrives (mainly the changing table, diapers, and bassinet supplies like sheets, waterproof pads). We also saw Avatar in the movie theatre and it was really good! That same weekend I started experiencing braxton hicks contractions. My feet also swelled up even more and became more painful for the next couple of weeks. It's only in the last few days my feet are not so bad. I am also starting to not sleep as well....about every other night I can't sleep.

Last weekend I slept a lot, and I mean A LOT. We also hung out with some friends each night, celebrating one of their birthdays on Saturday. That was pretty much my weekend.

I am down to weekly doctor appointments, and as of yesterday am 38 weeks along. At my doctor appointment on Tuesday I was 1 cm dilated, with weight and blood pressure still doing well. For a few days now I have not felt very well, with various aches, pains, and pressure in all sorts of areas. I'm finally at a point where I'm really ready as it gets more uncomfortable each day for me. I am no longer scared of labor but looking forward to it! Unfortunately I could feel like this for as long as another month.....there are no sure signs that labor will be soon.

Hope everyone is doing well!

December

2010-01-02T17:07:00.002-06:00

Howdy everyone! What a busy month it has been! We received about an inch of snow on December 4th--it broke two records! One for the earliest snowfall in Houston ever and one for having measurable snow 2 years in a row!

You can see the pictures of the snowfall I took here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/575794979kUzTcb?vhost=outdoors

Picture slideshow: http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/575794979kUzTcb

It froze hard that night and we've had a few more freezes since then. Some of our plants don't look so well but we shall see the true damage come spring.

On December 19 one of my oldest and really good friends got married! I was one of her bridesmaids and did pretty good energy wise being there for her. One of our other friends who recently moved to Alaska came down and also came over to the house one night where we had a 6 player game of Settlers. That was a really fun night and we really wish she lived closer. Maybe we'll take a trip to Alaska in the summer.

We've gone to a couple of Christmas parties during the month and I've done lots of cooking. We had a four day weekend for Christmas in which we stayed in town. My mom and grandmother came down for a couple of days and enjoyed seeing our new house. It was really good to see them! One of the things Luke gave me for Christmas was a small video camera so that I can take videos of the baby!

For New Years we've had 3 days off. We spent yesterday at a friend's house in Pearland and got to see a college friend we hadn't seen in a long time. It was a good day of food, fun, and catching up.

For a few days our downstairs heater hasn't been coming on. We called an ac/heater guy to take a look (and to look into why our bills are so high). The blower is out on the heater and they build the ac/heater unit wrong so it was only working at half capacity which explains the high bills. The ac is also really old and probably leaking freon so the guy said we would be better of replacing the whole unit rather than just the blower. We're in the process of getting that worked on. It's going to cost several thousand dollars and put us in a bind for a few months, Ugh! I got creative and put some of our textbooks, a couple of video games, and an audio book set on amazon to sell. Already sold one game! We're also going to make a big run to half-price books and sell some reading books and dvd's.

I've been very slowly working on stenciling the baby's room. We are signed up for a newborn care class at the hospital on January 5. My baby showers are finally coming up and I'm getting excited about those! My family and friends one is January 9th, my church one is January 10th, and my work is throwing me one on January 13th.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Pregnancy update

2009-12-02T08:02:00.002-06:00

Monday afternoon/evening I started getting a sore throat. By the time I woke up Tuesday I was feeling really bad so I called in sick at work. I still had a prenatal appointment to attend so I went anyways. Everything is looking good and I passed the glucose tolerance test so I do not have gestational diabetes. My doctor answered a few questions I had and she wants to do another ultrasound within the next couple of weeks so I'll be getting a call soon for that appointment information. I am now down to 2 week appointments (instead of 4). She also prescribed some antibiotics to keep my cold from getting worse since pregnant women are susceptible to complications. I don't think it's the flu since I don't have a fever but I do feel awful. My next appointment is December 15.

I am officially in my third trimester, 29 weeks along. My feet have started to swell by evening, my energy is not 100% anymore, I can't eat as much at meals, and the baby has found my bladder!

I was updating my measurements/weight this morning and thought I would post some fun facts.
Since becoming pregnant (I am 29 weeks right now), I have gained 19.8 lbs, gained 2 inches in my chest, gained 8 inches in my waist, and gained 2.25 inches in my hips.

Hope everyone is doing well and I will have the next update in a couple of weeks.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T07:43:00.002-06:00

We left Thursday mid-morning and headed up to Calvert, where my grandmother and mother live. We had a late lunch and visited for awhile. In my grandmother's attic was a tub full of clothes I wore as a baby! That evening we visited with my aunt and uncle and had some of their food. They had the best turkey I had ever tasted! My aunt got it from a coworker who has an old wood smokehouse and had smoked the turkey for 4 weeks! It tasted like ham but was really good!

Friday mid-morning we headed to Buffalo to drop the dogs off with Luke's grandmother and visited for a little bit. We then headed to Corsicana for Luke's mom's side Thanksgiving celebration. We pretty much saw everyone! Luke's aunts and uncles were there, plus almost all of his cousins. His grandparents, mother, sister and kids were there too! My how our nieces and nephew have grown! We hadn't seen them since July 4th. I had planned on bringing my camera but forgot to pack that, oh well. Luke's mom bought a few clothes for Natalie and his sister brought a lot of her youngest old clothes so we now have a pretty good size wardrobe! Mainly 3mo+, but I hear from other new moms that is good to have since after 3 months you seem to be short on clothes since most people buy the 0-3 mo stuff.

We spent that night at one of Luke's aunt & uncles and had a delicious breakfast the next morning. We visited for a little while before driving to Buffalo to have a Thanksgiving lunch with his dad's side. It was a good lunch and nice to see everyone. We headed back to Houston that night.

Sunday we did stuff around the house. Luke cleaned/organized the downstairs, while I worked on the baby room. I have one wall stenciled now, three more to go. I also started the palm tree mural. I started marking the studs in the walls and discovered that each wall is different and that it would be a really big pain to build the shelves so we switched plans. The room technically has 2 closets so we are going to build bookshelves in one and also install some shelves on one of the walls in the nursery. I started washing all the clothes we received, folded and organized them.

Hope everyone else had a good Thanksgiving. We did do a lot of driving but it was good to see everyone. We've decided to stay home for Christmas since I will be 32 weeks along at that point. I know my mom & grandmother are going to come down (especially since they haven't seen the new house yet). Happy shopping!

November

2009-11-24T17:54:00.002-06:00

We have had one busy month! I am actually looking forward to Thanksgiving so I can relax!

I've had a pregnancy-related health issue that has kept me home a couple of times. I had my one hour glucose tolerance test (to test for gestational diabetes) and failed it so I took the 3 hour version this past friday (of which I had to do a 3 day high carb diet beforehand-blah!). We FINALLY got our dryer repaired...it has been broken for about 2 months now. We went to a gem & mineral show in Humble a couple of weeks ago--that was fun and we haven't done something like that in years! That same day we went out to dinner with a couple who introduced us to another couple that lives in our area and has a baby! Last week we had a dinner party we attended one night, then met some friends at a comedy theatre the next night, had my 3 hour glucose test the next day, then we had a very busy weekend with an 8 hour birthing class Saturday, and Renaissance Festival Sunday. My body gave out on me yesterday and I was unable to go to work....Gonna have to stretch out our social activities more since my body can't take that much at the moment.

The birthing class was informative and we got a tour of the labor & delivery area. I am really going to try and go drug free since I have (mild) reactions to so many pain meds (the worst being Tylenol). I rarely take medication anyways---it's a last resort for me so we'll see how that goes. The renaissance festival was fun but I tire out easily at things like that now.

I am officially 28 weeks along (7 months), the start of my 3rd trimester, and things have really changed in the last week. My ankles swell up by evening, Natalie kicks a lot more often and harder (and has discovered my bladder, so now I pee more often), I think the fatigue from my first trimester is coming back, and I can't eat as much at a meal.

We finally started working on the nursery! Luke removed the wallpaper put there by the old owners, I washed/disinfected the walls, and started a stencil border that is to go around the whole room. Natalie is starting to recieve some gifts, including a package that came yesterday from her Aunt Tracie (my sister) filled with lots of goodies.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and don't let that turkey stuff you too much--after all, it should be the one stuffed!

October Happenings (and Registry Info)

2009-11-04T13:13:00.002-06:00

Geeze it's been awhile since I've posted and honestly it's just because I haven't felt like it lately. We've been cleaning, organizing, and doing our own things around the house lately. We have a lot to clear out and do before the baby comes. Still haven't really worked on the nursery but I should take some before pictures before I start working it. I've been in a crafty mood lately and bought the materials to make a 'tag' blanket. Still need to actually make it. I recently bought a sewing machine and sat down one weekend and taught myself the basics of it. Luke got his truck back from the shop-new paint job! He posted pictures on this forum: http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1510620&forum_id=46

Our health insurance at work is changing for the worse so we have been trying to figure out a budget and what health plan to go with. Our home owners insurance is skyrocketing starting December, so another thing to budget for.

I'm still feeling really really good (except for yesterday). I still sleep through the night and most of the time don't feel pregnant (until I bend over). I am currently 25 weeks along with the next appointment next Tuesday. That is the gestational diabetes test which I am not looking forward to.

Halloween was fun...we had tons of kids come by and almost ran out of candy. We estimated about 200 kids.

The big thing this past weekend was creating our baby registries, which was more of a pain than I thought it would be. I have had people tell us they would give us some stuff which is fine. However, someone gave us advice to still put everything on the registry and as people give you stuff, just delete it from the registry.

If you're interested, we are registered at
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=baby&id=LO89BCEDD32U
Babies R Us (Toys R Us) http://www.toysrus.com/registry/link/index.jsp?overrideStore=TRUS&registryNumber=44620378
Target http://www.target.com/registry/baby/014399700797733

Hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying the weather--it's been great here!

Baby website launced--BIG announcement!

2009-10-05T15:26:00.002-05:00

Howdy everyone!

We had the BIG ultrasound today....everything looks good coming from this end--organs are developed and look ok. Heartbeat around 150 and the baby weighs about 14 oz at this point. I'm officially 21 weeks along (or 5 months). We have created a website just for baby and will continue to update, even after the baby is born. Please visit the website for a BIG announcement! ;-)

website: http://sites.bundleofjoys.com/mini_cooper/

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Luke & Pam

Update (on life in general)

2009-09-30T13:58:00.002-05:00

The concert Friday was good, but I will not be going to another concert while pregnant...having the music vibrate through my belly felt really weird and had me worry about the baby. Googling that I found that it really isn't that bad, especially since I'm not that far along, but still.

Saturday I bought some accessories for my halloween costume (i'm going to be a redneck guy with a beer belly). That night we went to an auction in Magnolia...didn't buy anything.

Sunday I went to a bridal shower for my friend who is getting married in December--i'm one of her bridesmaids.

Monday I went to work to try and get as much done as possible. I also called Continental a few times with different scenarios to see what my options were. If I canceled the flight (have to do so at least 24 hours in advance), then I would get credit for the ticket applied to a future flight within a year, subject to a $150 cancellation fee. Or, I could change my flight time but then I am subject to a $150 change fee + the fare difference ($910 at this time). Or, I could miss my flight or change it with less than 24 hours before the flight and only be subject to a $50 stand by fee....but then I'm taking a chance on not being on a flight and completely losing the money I originally paid for the ticket. The hotel I could cancel at anytime (but we are splitting it with a couple of friends so they would need to book a new room---the current room is in my name). I did find out that if I had bought trip insurance that jury duty is an excuse covered so Luke and I decided that the next time we buy plane tickets, we are going to get insurance as well. After all, the last time we bought plane tickets the airline filed for bankruptcy and canceled their flights....leaving us to pay for a new flight with a different airline and trying to get our money back (which we had to through the credit card company or bankruptcy court).

Yesterday I explained to the bailiff my options about the flight to Boston and asked him to speak to the judge. After lunch we got word that he will let us go early Thursday so that I may catch my flight and we are off Friday since I will still be out of town!!! Hallelujah our prayers were answered!! We go back to court next Tuesday....the day I had my ultrasound rescheduled. So, I have had it rescheduled again for Monday! This is THE ultrasound!

Well, tonight will be packing night and tomorrow we are off to the Boston area! I will post an update sometime next week.

Jury Duty STINKS

2009-09-25T16:34:00.002-05:00

following up the last post, the zoo pictures we took can be found here: http://family.webshots.com/album/574663379BRtajf?vhost=family and the slide show to the album can be found here: http://family.webshots.com/slideshow/574663379BRtajf

So, this week has really SUCKED for me. Tuesday I had to be downtown by 8am for a jury summons--it was also my birthday. Woke up at 5 am to get ready (usually wake at 7:30), drop Luke off at work, and proceed downtown to find a parking spot. Parked, walked in the pouring rain 4 blocks to the jury assembly room--soaked from my chest down (umbrella kept my head dry). My number got called an hour later where me and 47 other prospects took the long journey through metal detectors to a courtroom in the Civil Courthouse a couple of blocks over. By 3pm the lawyers FINALLY made a decision on the final 12 jurors {no lunch during any of this :-( } and I got picked. The trial was supposed to last until Friday, possibly Monday. That evening we went to Dave & Busters to celebrate my birthday. We shared an entree and played a few arcade games, using the tickets we won to buy 3 small stuffed animals for the baby's room.

The rest of this week has gone like this....Be downtown every day by 8 (dropping Luke of at work on the way)....trial...leave at 5pm in rush hour to pick Luke up from work and go home. The trial is taking MUCH longer than anticipated. We rejourn on Tuesday (Mondays are set aside for appointments with the Judge). It is probably going to take Tuesday and Wednesday, and at this point maybe even into the week after that :-( We are supposed to fly out Thursday afternoon to Boston for a wedding that is Friday. I'm going to send Luke on ahead and maybe see if I can catch another flight, events pending. I also found out earlier today that THE ultrasound (where we will find out if it's a boy or girl) was scheduled for Tuesday. Had to reschedule that for the following Tuesday (October 6). The trial is boring and aggravating all at the same time. Luke keeps asking if it's at least interesting or a big case---neither. It's stupid and I really can't say anymore than that at this time.

Well, tonight I am going to a concert with a friend so I will probably be in a better mood later. Hope everyone else is doing okay.....sorry you had to put up with my rant.

Late August/Early September catch up

2009-09-14T11:02:00.008-05:00

Hello! We've both been really busy with work and active on the weekends. August 20-23 we had Luke's Aunt, Uncle, cousins, and new baby (Aunt/Uncle's first grandchild) come to stay with us. It was fun and interesting to have a baby around. We got to see how our dogs reacted with the baby and they did pretty good...we're not as worried now.

That following week we had Luke's dad, aunt, and grandmother come visit. It was a very short visit but it was good to see everybody.

We have been crossing off items on our 'to-do' list. Luke repaired the guest bathroom toilet and shower along with our shower. We had a new dishwasher installed and the gutters cleaned. We finally put up the gazebo we bought a year and a half ago. We purchased some patio chairs. I am starting to do gardening again. Luke's truck is in the shop for a couple of months getting a new paint job and some other cosmetic stuff done. It looks like we need to have new siding installed on the house. We are trying to do all the 'house' stuff before the baby arrives. Our dryer this past week decided to stop heating so it just tumbles clothes around. We are thinking it may be a fuse that is blown. In the meantime we have to hang clothes up to dry.

I have decided to try and teach myself to sew and even make some quilts someday. I have started the process of quilting but am still at the planning stages.

I am really starting to show now. I am officially 18 weeks. My next doctor's appointment is tomorrow, which will be mainly blood work. I suspect we will find out the sex of the baby at the October appointment. I haven't felt any movement yet, but from what I have read/been told I should start to feel the first movements in the next 3 weeks!

Yesterday Luke & I celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! We went to the Zoo first. It rained on us for about 20 minutes. I got some pretty good pictures which I will hopefully post tonight. They have TWO jaguars at the zoo! A male and a female. I only saw one tiger and one lion. There was a leopard and a black leopard in one 'cage'. I couldn't see either one very well since they were sleeping on some rock ledges out of sight. The ocelot exhibit was closed but there was a really cute clouded leopard. We spent a little more than 2 hours at the zoo but it really wore me out!

After the zoo we went to a meditteranean restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat and get something to drink. I had a really good gyro. After that we went to the Photography museum which just opened up a new exhibit. There were some really strange photographs in there. There was one artist we ended up really liking. His name is William Lamson and his photographs were pretty funny but the thing we really liked was this video that contained scenes basically depicting how many ways can you pop a balloon. Some were pretty funny! The video was titled 'Actions'.

After that we went to the Menil Collection. It was a really huge building with many exhibits ranging from surrealistic paintings (including picassos!) to sculptures to historic artifacts! It was pretty neat but overwhelming at the same time. I would suggest hitting one section at a time on different days (it's free to visit). I've heard the museum of fine arts has similar stuff which we shall see some day.

We drove around for a little bit before heading to dinner at Sambuca, a live jazz restaurant downtown. We've eaten there before and really love the atmosphere and food. They have remodeled so the leopard print semi-circular (semi-private) booths no longer exist. They did still have a pretty private booth for two that was very romantic! The food was pretty good too.

It was a nice (and busy) anniversary. We even got an ecard from the bed & breakfast we stayed at for our first anniversary! That was so sweet and I would love to stay there again.

We might have a garage sale this weekend to clear out our garage. My birthday is coming up and I just got a jury summons in the mail set for that day! I don't think I'll ever be at work on my birthday. The first year I worked there we were just getting back from our honeymoon so it was a day to rest from the time difference. The next year it was on the weekend and last year we were still dealing with hurricane stuff so I wasn't able to make it all day at work.

October in Chappell Hill is the Scarecrow Festival that we are both REALLY looking forward to. Actually, I've just been looking forward to October for awhile now....it will mean cooler weather! And I really love halloween and the colors, food, and atmosphere it brings at that time of the year. December is my other favorite month for the exact same reason.

Now that I've bored y'all long enough, time to end this. I will try to post an update in the next day or two with pictures and details of tomorrow's appointment.

14 week prenatal appointment

2009-08-18T13:44:00.001-05:00

Luke and I had our next prenatal appointment this morning....we got to listen to the heartbeat!! We each have a recording on our phones (Luke's is better). They were going to do some blood work but since I have to have blood work done to test for several stuff (such as down syndrom, my blood type, nutrients, etc) between 15 and 20 weeks, she decided to hold off on my blood work until my next appointment and do it all at once instead of sticking me multiple times. My next appointment is September 8. My blood pressure was good (122/70) and I haven't gained any weight since my last appointment (apparently I may eat too healthy ;) ). The baby's heartbeat was 153 beats/min. Based on that, we're thinking it's going to be a girl.

Pregnancy, work, relaxing

2009-08-12T10:54:00.003-05:00

Well, I am officially in my second trimester!!! And I'm feeling a lot better. The morning sickness has gone and I'm starting to get my energy back during the day. Let's see, so far I have consistently craved limeade or lime type stuff....even margaritas-just for the lime flavored part (which is weird because I never drank them before). I have been making home made limeade or buying Simply Limeade from the store to satisfy my craving. I find that I like more bitter/sour/plain stuff and don't like sugary stuff as much! That's completely opposite for me! So far I have put on about 5 pounds (as of last week), which is right where I should be. Our next doctor appointment is next Tuesday.

Luke finally finished his project and presented this past Friday. He was finally able to relax this weekend! This week they have given him more work to do and a really short deadline so he's stressed again, but not working the 12-14 hour days he was working.

This past Saturday we went with some friends to see Twelfth Night at the Miller Outdoor Theatre. It was fun and not hot at all! Very nice night and good to do some relaxing. On Sunday we went to church and afterward went with some friends out to lunch at Shogun, a hibachi grill restaurant. We relaxed around the house the rest of the day.

Not much else going on so until next week, God Bless!

My second ultrasound/10 week checkup

2009-07-23T17:04:00.005-05:00

On Tuesday I had my second prenatal appointment. The nausea is also finally getting better! My vitals at the appointment were good....my blood pressure was 118/79 (I tend to be higher at the doctor's office because I'm always nervous). I've gained about 4 lbs---a healthy amount. Some of my co-workers say I'm showing a little bump now but I don't feel it yet. The doctor said to keep doing what I've been doing because both the baby and I are looking really good. My next appointment is Tuesday, August 18 where we will listen to the heartbeat (no ultra sound) and do some lab/blood work. I should be 10 weeks 5 days right now. Doing the measurements, my doc got 9 weeks 6 days but wants to keep my due date as February 11, 2010.

We haven't really done any preparations, just reading tips here and there. I guess we're waiting until the second trimester before we start painting and such. I believe we have picked out a nursery theme and names, but you'll just have to ask if you really want to know ;-) Hope all is good with you and thanks for being a part of our lives.....our mini cooper has a lot of loved ones to meet when that day arrives!

Ultrasound with labels

Original Ultrasound

July 4th

2009-07-15T12:43:00.016-05:00

I haven't been feeling my best lately, which is why I have neglected my blog. I have been really tired and nauseous, though have not thrown up! My next doctor appointment is next Tuesday. There will probably be a blog update sometime soon after that.

Luke has been really stressed about work. He has to complete and present a project as part of his training. They wanted him to present last week but when they looked at the preliminary results, they did not like what they saw. He has been working on his project off and on for a year and a half? They are finally starting to help him with it. It's not him, it's the data he's working with. They finally decided it was just too bad to work with and he is having to start all over from scratch with a different area (different set of data). He worked 16 hours this past weekend and stays late on some days. On the bright side, this set of data is making the process much easier!

The only really exciting thing that has happened lately was that we had a good Independence Day. We went over to Luke's mom's place. We celebrated our niece's 5th birthday and our nephew's 2nd birthday. We also saw the younger niece, who is 7.5 months old and developing a personality of her own! That night, we went to Olsen Field (College Station) to watch the fireworks. They were really awesome! I have lots of pictures from that day (really liking my new camera). Here are a few of them:

Karsyn

Kai

Leilani

Fireworks Finale

If you'd like to see more pictures from that day, you can view the slideshow here: http://family.webshots.com/slideshow/573392447rAjAUt

or you can view the whole album here: http://family.webshots.com/album/573392447rAjAUt?vhost=family

A Mini Cooper!

2009-06-29T09:24:00.002-05:00

Even though we were not shopping, God has ordered us a mini-cooper to arrive February 11, 2010! We don't know yet the expected color (pink or blue), but we do have a rough sketch of the model:

A wedding in Austin

2009-06-23T15:59:00.002-05:00

Luke's job changed a deadline on him last week which forced us to not go to Austin Thursday night as planned. We went on Saturday and hung out at his dad's apartment-took a nap. The wedding was at 6. We ended up being a few minutes late because I-35 was stopped. It was a good wedding. It was outdoors, but there was a nice breeze and the decor was really pretty. At the reception - also outdoors - we sat with all of Luke's friends from high school. It was really nice to see them all again.

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at Kerbey Lane Cafe, a local chain that I really like. They have the best pancakes! We drove around a little bit, then headed back to the apartment to relax. Luke's dad was on a canoeing trip that weekend so we only saw him a few minutes when he got back, just before we headed back to Houston.

I did not feel very well coming back and since then. I'm starting to feel better right now. We have somewhat of a busy week ahead for us. I had a doctor appointment earlier, then tonight is Bunco with the girls. Thursday, Luke and I are going with some friends to a comedy club. Saturday we will have our new marble floor sealed, while I have a Pampered Chef party to go to.

Hope all is well with our readers!

House-warming Party

2009-06-16T17:13:00.004-05:00

Nothing *special* going on here. Friday we had a couple of friends over---we had each other's leftovers for dinner. They helped us move furniture back into the office for the party. I had taken Friday off to clean/prepare the house for the party. Luke and I woke up to stain/seal the deck. He did most of the work, at his wish. Saturday I went to the grocery store and bought some food for the party. I made lots of dips--Salsa Verde, Black Bean Dip, Mango Salsa, Red Salsa, Spinach Dip, and tortilla rolls. Luke did a lot around the house. He worked on the yard a good bit and gave the dogs a bath. The party was pretty fun. We had a handful of people show up, including a few I did not expect! It was a potluck so I guess the party centered on that. Later that night when there was just seven of us, the four guys went outside and played badminton while us girls chatted.

Sunday we went to church and then to the garden center. We bought a bottle-brush tree. We came home and ate some lunch. We watched a little bit of a movie before taking a two and a half hour nap. I hadn't been sleeping much the last few nights so I guess it finally caught up with me then.

We both got this Friday off of work so we'll be heading to Austin then to hang out with some friends before the wedding on Saturday.

May-June, Parties

2009-06-11T11:07:00.002-05:00

After our trip to New Braunfels/San Antonio, we spent our time organizing/cleaning the house in preparation for our first 'party' to host. We were hosting bible study that Sunday and I made spaghetti for dinner (it was really good!). That Saturday, my best friend Charlene graduated from the University of Houston and held a party at her parent's house that evening. The party was great! I got to see just about everyone who was a part of my life growing up and also lots of friends!

During that next week I had Bunco, a dice playing game with some church members. I brought along my other best friend Zamira and Luke's best friend's wife. We found out that she is expecting! Two months along! They had a lot of fun at Bunco. Our three husbands went to Alamo Drafthouse and watched a movie together.

The next weekend was Memorial Day weekend. Zamira and Stephen went to Cancun for a few days for their first vacation since they had gotten married. I checked in on their cats while they were away. That Saturday I went to the post office and applied for my passport! I should have it by the end of June. Saturday evening we went over to my friend Ashley's. She is getting married on December 19, 2009 and I am one of her bridesmaids. Another bridesmaid and the two of us went to the dress shop to try on the dress she had picked out and have our measurements taken. After that, the three of us, and our husbands (and one toddler) went to a crayfish boil. I have never actually been to one, nor eaten crayfish that way. I was pretty good at it! (Didn't suck the head)

Sunday evening we went to Charlene's and had a hot dog dinner. We hung out and played cards.

I believe on Monday we just relaxed a little. I really can't remember what we did that day (probably why I should update this more often).

The next Saturday we had a wine tasting party among our closest friends. Charlene's dad told us when we closed on our house (he was also our realtor) that he wanted to host a wine tasting party for us and bring the wine, once we were settled. I made a main course dinner for everyone and had them bring the sides, desserts, and snacks. It was good to talk with everyone and show them our house.

That Sunday I went to my first pampered chef party. It was fun and of course I bought a few things. My friend Ashley is hosting one at the end of this month.

This past weekend we had marble tile put in the office/formal living room. While the contractors were doing that I went to the Houston Garden Center and bought a bunch of plants. Luke and I cleaned out some of the undergrowth in the flower beds in the backyard and planted the plants. Right now we are cleaning and staining/sealing the deck.

This Saturday we are having a house warming party--potluck style. I took Friday off to prepare for it. Next weekend one of Luke's really good friends is getting married in Austin.

San Antonio/New Braunfels

2009-05-29T14:36:00.020-05:00

Friday, May 8 we got ready for our trip. We were staying at two 'hotels'--timeshare suites. To save money, I decided to grocery shop once we got to New Braunfels so I planned ahead a grocery list and packed some food to bring along. We picked up some sandwiches from "Which Wich", my current favorite restaurant and headed to San Antonio.

As a side note, if you have not tried Which Wich, it is very good. I am not a sandwich person so I rarely eat at subway/quiznos/etc. I love the sandwiches at Which Wich--they have a huge variety and used to have great sweet tea until about 2 weeks ago when they switched out their tea :-(

Anyways, we arrived at our hotel in downtown San Antonio about 4:30pm. I had made dinner reservations at 'Las Canarias', located on the Riverwalk, for 6:30. We got our room and relaxed there a little bit before heading out to dinner. It was 104 degrees there! The hotel was located on a side canal that connected to the main loop of the riverwalk. We took it to the restaurant which took only about 15 minutes.

Riverwalk near hotel

Dinner was quite lovely. The food was really good, our table was right on the riverwalk, and the service was really great, making the whole experience memorable! At the table next to us a lady had a dog in a bag that was just too cute--I had to take a picture!

After dinner we walked around the riverwalk a little bit before heading back to the hotel to go to bed.

On Saturday we checked out of the hotel and walked around downtown for a little bit before heading down to the riverwalk for a late breakfast. It was a beautiful morning but it warmed up quick! We then headed to the Alamo and took an audio tour, which took a couple of hours to complete. After the Alamo we took the riverwalk back to our hotel to pick up our car and head to New Braunfels.

The Alamo

The Riverwalk

For more pictures from our San Antonio stay, visit here: http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/572607598nUyaYF

For more pictures of the Alamo, visit here: http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/572602819JGFoId

Once we arrived in New Braunfels we got our room and unloaded the car. The resort was actually closer to Gruene than New Braunfels. It is also a fairly new resort and our room, which was a two story, two bedroom suite with a complete kitchen was pretty awesome!!! We could live there!

Our Suite, looking from the living room into the dining room/kitchen

We went out to dinner in New Braunfels at a german restaurant that was very good! In fact, I liked it better than the german restaurant we go to here in Houston. After dinner we went grocery shopping. Later that night, being a little bored, we headed to the front office where they had a game room. It was occupied but we ended up having like a 1-2 hour conversation with a couple of the employees, who were married to each other. They had just recently moved to Texas and have lived in Branson, St. Louis, and Kansas.

On Sunday, May 10 we spent the day at Schlitterbahn. It was a lot of fun and was not at all crowded! On the west side (the older part where you carry around a tube) we never had to wait in line. The water was very cold though. On the east side at the blastenhoff, where there are 3 slides originating from the top of a tower, we did have to wait 10-30 minutes for each line but it was fun. I still prefer the west side where you get to float on a tube. We decided that we have to come back next year with some friends and stay at that resort again. We could do Schlitterbahn one day, and float the comal another day! On the way back to the hotel we stopped at this place called "Freddy's Frozen Custard" to get some ice cream. We were also a little hungry so we split a hamburger and fries. The fries were really good, as well was the ice cream! It turns out that they are a chain, but there isn't a location here in Houston. That evening I made dinner for the two of us, with lots of leftovers.

On Monday we spent the morning exploring Gruene, TX. There were a bunch of cute boutiques and antique shops. We went back to the hotel for lunch, and then headed to downtown New Braunfels, which wasn't as impressive. We did find a pretty cool art gallery made of works by local artists. We also found a couple more antique stores. We then headed straight to Austin to have dinner with Luke's dad. When we got to Austin, the three of us went to Goodwill and Salvation Army. Would you believe that after that whole day of shopping we never bought anything! For dinner we had some grilled fillet mignon and some of my leftover dinner from the previous night. We visited a while longer before heading back to New Braunfels.

On Tuesday, we loaded up the car, checked out, and headed to Buffalo to pick up our dogs. It had been 9 days since they had seen us and they were so happy when we arrived! Of course, their sister was just as happy too. Every time I see her I want to take her home, but I also don't want to care for 3 dogs. We visited with Luke's grandmother for about 30 minutes before we had to head back to Houston.

We didn't really take pictures while in New Braunfels, but if you would like to see both of them, you can visit here: http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/572617975PQPVUu

It was a good trip, and was good to be able to get away from it all for a few days.

Big ol' "Fat" Flood

2009-05-21T15:12:00.005-05:00

The reason I did was not able to post the last blog after I wrote it was because Luke called me while I was writing it to say that we probably should head home before the rain gets worse. I had to finish the blog at a later time. I wish I had left earlier than we did because a lot of the roadways had already started to flood. Our trip home that normally takes 20 minutes took one hour and 10 minutes to make. At one point I thought the water would take us away. It rained all night and finally let up the next morning. That next morning we got up to start getting ready for work. I saw on the news how Beltway 8 south of I-10 (in other words, where we work) was closed due to high water. Many parts of Houston, especially the west and northwest side were hit hard. The area where we worked and the area where we lived both received 10 inches of rain while parts of Northwest Houston (Cypress area--where we used to live) received 12+ inches in parts. I called the weather hotline at work and they suggested delaying our commute until about lunch time because the local streets were flooded. I decided to take a walk to the bayou behind our neighborhood. This is what it looked like:

About 10-11 am Luke decided to go into work, even though it didn't seem like it was any better judging by the news and messages I had received from coworkers. He drove his truck. About 1 pm I decided to take my bike to the trails to see the bayou again and go exploring some more. The water had dropped quite a few feet, though I couldn't go far because it flooded the trail. Here's about the same shot 5 hours later:

I ended up taking off the whole day since Luke couldn't come and pick me up and I didn't think it was worth for him to go through the hassle of leaving work, driving home to take me to work when it was already 2pm. I later found out that the water on the street in front of my building was high enough to cover the hood of an F-150 and beside the building where the road dips below WestPark tollway there was 16.5 feet of water.

The next day when we drove the car to work we noticed the brakes making an awful sound. It was due for an oil change anyways (and needed the yearly inspection) so I took it to a place to have all that done. Turns out it was more likely sand on the brakes from when I went through the flood waters on Monday. Otherwise our brakes look brand new!!! The flood waters closed down Highway 6 for at least a week and had Eldridge down to one lane for at least a week.

Saturday (May 2) we drove to Calvert for the annual "First Saturday of May" get together. I call it a family reunion but it's where everyone who has family buried at this cemetery comes together annually to clean up the graves, place fresh flowers, and have a potluck lunch. It's usually when I see all the family. It could have been better. Several close family members commented on how fat I had gotten, which really hurt my feelings. I started running again and felt like I was making some progress. In another prospective, this time last year I had lost a lot of weight in preparation for our Hawaii trip. So, yea, I had gained weight since last year....Stress will do that to you. I brought some clothes to my mom from her storage unit so she went through them to decide what she could and could not fit anymore. There were a few pieces she tried to give me thinking I would fit them. I even put one on to prove that it was too big. She even tried to give me one pair of her old underwear, swearing that I could probably fit it!!! I don't know what size it was but more likely most of the clothes she was trying to give me were a size 18. (FYI, I'm a size 8 and was a 4-6 last year). Ugh! How upsetting!

We drove back to Houston and met Luke's dad at our house. He was in town for a concert but was not able to spend the night. We smelled gas when we walked in so we called the gas company to have them come out and make sure there was not a leak. No leak! We drove to Pearland to have dinner with some friends. We celebrated the fact that we are officially done with Hurricane stuff! Another friend celebrated the fact that she passed the CPA and was officially certified! And another friend celebrated the fact that she was offered a job at Exxon.

In the next week we were planning on a vacation so Luke's dad (thankfully) took our dogs to Buffalo (Texas, where Luke's grandmother is). It was strange to not have the dogs around.

I'll post another blog about that vacation we took. It was relaxing!

We can stop cleaning up the past, Finally!

2009-04-27T17:27:00.005-05:00

Note: I originally wrote this Monday, April 27 but never actually published it....sorry.

Ok, so a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. Currently it is pouring outside and there are several tornado warnings in the area! I haven't heard any in my immediate area, but I am a little more concerned than usual. Luke and I seem to have the strangest luck so a tornado or lightning striking our new house is possible, which is why I'm really concerned at the moment. Maybe I have developed a new fear of extreme weather. Lightning/Thunder is one of my biggest fears....I'm okay when I'm inside but I freak out if I'm outside in it. At the same time I have a big passion for weather. Normally I get really excited when the weather changes, even updated my coworkers constantly about watches/warnings, and hurricanes. I've had a few people tell me I should be a meteorologist. Funny, but weird.

Ok, so now on to Life's happenings. On Wednesday, April 15 we got our furniture back from the restoration company. It looks good! We had our antique sofa and chair reupholstered with a maroon velvet fabric! If you'd like to see them, here is the link to the picture in my photo album: http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2640355640027323941AMzEpo?vhost=good-times

On Thursday, I attended a pasta dinner given by the Schlumberger Cycling Club. I wasn't able to get home until about 10:30 that night.

Friday we closed on our lot! A couple about our age bought it and plan on building a small one story home on it. The husband owns a roofing company (probably made a lot of money recently repairing hurricane damaged roofs). Because of that we are officially done with all hurricane related stuff!!!! Yay!!!! After that we brought dinner to a couple from church who recently had a baby. A storm moved through as we were doing that so we didn't stay for long. We went home and watched some tv where we learned that they had cancelled the first day of the MS150! La Grange had received 11 inches of rain Friday and more was expected to fall on Saturday. The fairgrounds there were flooded with the Schlumberger tent having 6 inches of standing water in it.

Saturday we woke up about 5am to drive to Brenham to run the Blue Bell Fun Run 5K with Luke's sister Kelli. It was raining really hard and thundering/lightning. They ended up delaying the race an hour and a half. We walked/ran in the pouring rain and thunder. I really don't know our time but I would guess it was between 45-60 minutes. Neither one of our chips worked :-( I had some free blue bell ice cream afterwards. Our original plan was to go to the bluebonnet festival afterwards.....you can guess we didn't do that because of the weather. Instead we went home and had some friends over that evening.

Sunday I woke up at 5am and drove to Bastrop. Luke stayed home to work around the house/relax. I had volunteered as a lunch stop hostess for the MS150 in Bastrop. It was a gorgeous day, though it was a pretty strong north wind. I somehow forgot my wallet at home and started running low on gas on the way back to Houston. I slowed down to about 60mph to conserve gas and with the strong tail wind pushing me I was able to make it home just in time. In fact, with the combination of the tail wind and going slower, I was able to get a gas mileage of 65mpg!!!!! Usually we average 40-45 on the highway (45-50 in the city). (We drive a Prius-hybrid).

After two days of getting up at 5am, I was glad when Monday rolled around and I could sleep in!

This past weekend we went to I-Fest (International Festival) on Saturday with some friends. The theme this year was Ireland. We saw some irish dancing, music (including the St. Thomas Episcopal Pipe Band), and they had some irish food, along with other ethnic foods. I had some really good empanadas and a thai tea. It was a really fun day, even though it rained lightly on and off.

Sunday I believe we just relaxed and tidied up the house a little bit.

A Busy Spring!

2009-04-07T17:06:00.014-05:00

So, I realize it has been a couple of months since I have posted. I will try to make this worthwhile then! I bought a new camera a month ago....my first digital! (ha ha, yes I have been using film this whole time!). We've kept busy on the weekends working on the house and such. I painted the inside of our food pantry. We bought some tile to redo the office floor. I planted some seeds in the garden a couple of weeks ago (I have zucchini sprouts!).

Luke's mom is doing ok. She has her last chemo treatment on the current medicine this Thursday and then she switches to a less rough one. The current medicine has been making her really sick so she is not looking forward to the treatment itself, but will be glad when it is over with. Please continue to pray for her.

My family, especially my parents, have been going through some rough times for a couple of years now. It looks like it's gonna get worse before it gets better. It's a bit too personal for me to share any details...even my best friends don't know the whole story. But if you can, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers in that the situation improves.

I've had pretty bad allergies this year and had the flu for a couple of weeks. I haven't been able to exercise like I should. Luke bought a bike so one Saturday (the first one in March) we took our bikes to Terry Hershey Park and did about 15 miles. The bluebonnets had started to come out and it was the first real spring feeling type of day!

Pam with bike at Terry Hershey Park

Luke with bike at Terry Hershey Park

Bluebonnets at Terry Hershey Park

On March 11 we went to the rodeo and saw Reba. We enjoyed walking around and good food.

At one point we finally went by the old house and I took a few pictures. It had been raining and it was nearing sunset so I don't have the best pictures, but this is how our lot looks now.

Also, one day Luke's sister and family came down. We went out to lunch and showed them the new house. Below is a picture of Karsyn and Kai 'gardening'.

Since I've had my new camera I've taken some neat pictures. My absolute favorite one so far is of the rose that bloomed by our front door:

This past weekend I volunteered as a rest stop host for the cycling club's ride. That is, Luke and I passed out food and drinks. The ride was in Bastrop State Park. My grandmother told me that her older brother belonged to the Tree Army and they built the stone wall that surrounds the park! After the ride was over we drove into Austin and stayed with Luke's dad. That evening we went to dinner at a barbecue joint where I was able to capture some breathtaking sunset pictures!

You can look at the rest of the pictures from that weekend here: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/570863096IfEMjV?vhost=outdoors

On Sunday we drove to College Station and took Luke's mom out to lunch. It was a nice lunch and we visited awhile. We arrived into Houston late afternoon/early evening and just relaxed the rest of the night.

So, going back a week we do have some big news! Last weekend we met the furniture guy at the storage unit for him to refurnish. We should get the furniture back this coming weekend. We emptied out the storage unit and turned in the keys. On Monday we put our lot up for sale, not expecting to be able to sell it for a long time. On Tuesday we handed in the keys to our apartment. On Friday we got an offer on the lot!!! We signed the paperwork with a tentative closing date around April 17! So in one week we went from having a house, a lot, an apartment, and a storage unit to just a house!!! This is fantastic! It looks like our lives are finally starting to become normal again!

layoffs, a move, and a shower

2009-02-09T11:36:00.005-06:00

It has been an interesting few days. Our company (we both work for the same company, different locations) has been doing layoffs. On Thursday Luke's building had their layoffs - about 72 people in all. Luke survived! On Friday my building had its layoffs - 9 people there. I survived! Thank goodness! We both had heart attacks practically, especially when I had heard my department head and project head were both laid off.

On Saturday we decided to move from the apartment into the house. We are just tired of the apartment and ready to be living in a house again. A couple of friends came over and helped us move our stuff. Then we went to a movie that night - Underworld. If you're a fan of the first movie than I would recommend this one as well since it is a prequel. After the movie we went back to the apartment to sleep....we were exhausted.

We did not have gas at the house until about an hour ago so we had no hot water or stove. So, our bathroom and kitchen stuff is still at the apartment, as is our mattress.

On Sunday I helped to host a baby shower. It was beautiful and the mom-to-be was so excited by everything....it was really cute! After that I grabbed the last of our stuff we had at two of our friend's houses and brought it all back to the house. Now we are just down to 2 places, wait, make that 3 (including storage unit) places containing our stuff. OH! We had a furniture restoration guy give us a quote on restoring the damaged furniture (all that is left in the storage unit now). $4500!!!! Yikes! But the insurance is supposed to cover that, so that is good. It's all antique stuff so there is no option personally to take the money and buy new stuff. I think they are even going to reupholster the queen anne chair and couch. It was this gold brocade type of fabric before. I wonder what color we should do now?

I called the phone company to transfer our phone and internet. We had to get a new phone number (again!). But I kinda got to pick it this time and I really like it....the last four digits is our anniversary date!! If you would like our new address and phone number, let me know. I don't want to publically post that info.

One Tough Month

2009-02-02T12:28:00.015-06:00

I'm sorry it's been awhile....We've had a pretty tough month which has made me dread writing a post. Just a sum, the house was demolished, Luke's mom has breast cancer and had surgery, I lost two family members, I had a personal health scare (which may or may not be over), Luke is really stressed about his job and even considered quitting, we've had some apartment issues, billing issues (we technically have 3 places of residence), and our company is laying off people.

The weekend after christmas Luke's dad and grandmother came down and helped us salvage stuff out of the old house. We have filled up the garage of our new home with stuff we salvaged from the old place, including the front door! Now we have the task of cleaning everything and either finding a place for it or garage sale it. While we were salvaging, I did take some pictures.

digger used to demolish house.

front door gone and replaced with moving blanket!

Luke tying off last load from house.

In the meantime we have been unpacking and slowly moving stuff into the new house. One day I went around and took pictures (since we had none). Pardon the 'stuff' since we are still finding places to put it.

Our new home

The dining room: We recently bought the furniture at an auction. The dining room floor is marble!

The living room (looks a lot better now that we bought some bookshelves!)

The backyard--we actually have a yard! And it has tropical landscaping which is what I was slowly doing to the old house!

Our lease is not up in the apartment until March 31 so we were planning on moving in March. But, we are starting to get really tired of the apartment so I think we may be moving this weekend, depending on how much help we can get.

Next Monday is the anniversary we used to celebrate before we got married....the day we met, 7 years ago! In some ways it doesn't seem that long, and in some ways it does.

Christmas

2008-12-30T13:54:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, December 20 we drove to College Station to celebrate Christmas with Luke's Mom's side. It was at her home and gathered together for a good feast and talked with relatives we hadn't seen in awhile. We received our candle we ordered last Christmas and were able to return some jackets left last Christmas (and saved from our house!). We did a gift exchange which consisted of wrapping something you no longer wanted from your house. We had a little trouble with this since we just left what we didn't want in our old house. But we did manage to scrounge up a couple of gifts.

We have started moving stuff slowly into the new house. Whenever we are in the Cypress area we either grab a carload from my friend's garage (she let us store a lot of our stuff in her garage) or the storage unit. We have until the end of March to move so we have decided to take it slowly.

On Christmas Eve we drove up to my cousin's and had a late lunch. She purchased a house a little over a year ago and we finally got to see it. She called us up the week before and invited us over--It was very sweet of her and it was really good to talk with her and her kids (ages 15 & 14). We had to cut our visit short so we could attend Christmas eve service at our church. It was a candlelight service where we sang a few songs and watched a play of "The Gift". The theme for the night was forgiveness. I once heard that forgiveness is not saying you are ok with what the person did but forgiveness is a way of you letting go in order to move on. They reiterated that that night which I'm very glad.

On Christmas Day we had planned to drive to Buffalo to visit with Luke's dad, Jesse, and grandmother, Mama Jean. Then we were going to drive to Calvert to visit my mom and grandmother. Luke had started not feeling well Christmas eve and still did not feel well that morning....he thinks it may have been some mild food poisoning. He started feeling better that afternoon, however he had decided not to make the travels. Jesse and Mama Jean were planning on coming to Houston on Friday anyway so we decided to celebrate Christmas then. I told my mom and grandmother we would come up Saturday.

Luke gave me a Texas A&M football jersey and plans on buying me a jewelry armoire. I bought Luke a couple of gadgets, Texas A&M dominoes, and a "Saw 'em Off" dart board. We went to the new house and did some cleaning. We were back at work on Friday.

A Very Busy Weekend (Dec 12-14) of Christmas Parties and such

2008-12-30T09:37:00.002-06:00

Friday, the 12th, we were invited to two christmas parties so we had to choose which one to go to....we went to one that a couple of friends from college hosted. We got to see a lot of college classmates we hadn't seen in awhile and met a lot of new interesting people. It was a lot of fun but we knew we had to get up early the next day so we couldn't stay out too late.

Saturday was probably one of my busiest days ever....so busy I had no time to eat lunch! We got up that morning and met an ADT security salesperson at our new house to set up the alarm system. When we finally finished with that we ran a couple of errands and went back to the apartment where I had to get ready and leave immediately for a bicycle safety class in Sugarland. I was told horror stories about the MS150 and I myself in the class got my first injury since I bought my new bike. I tripped off my bike and suffered several cuts to the back of my calf (caused by the wheel that holds the chain). Three of them were pretty deep and I had been wearing bandaids over them for about a week until the bandaids ripped some skin off. I haven't rode my bike since....honestly I'm a little scared to and training is supposed to start Jan 3. I've tried getting on the bike and teaching myself to clip the shoes into the pedals and I just can't do it. I think I'm going to change the pedals.

After the class I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for a salad I had to make and bring for the party that evening. I came home, made the salad, and we drove out to almost Navasota for the annual couples BUNCO night. It was fun and interesting. We couldn't spend the night since we have the dogs at the apartment.

Sunday we went to church and that evening was the last Life group (bible study) meeting of the year. We were having a dinner get together and gift exchange. It was really fun and I already miss our group and can't wait until it starts up again in the coming weeks.

2008-12-10T16:49:00.002-06:00

We finally closed on our new house last Thursday!! It may be awhile before we move in but that gives us time to do any 'remodeling'.

Saturday we went to an auction and ended up buying a 9 piece dining room set that matches our living room furniture. We spent part of monday renting a truck and picking that up.

While we were out with the truck we witnessed an accident. Hundreds of people flocked to the scene so it seemed there was enough help. All I saw was smoke (I was driving and concentrating on that). Luke said he saw a car flip. We found out later that a car had run a red light and the flipped car hit 6 other cars, including one of our church friends. She's ok, but sore.

I finally bought my bike for the MS150. I also got some gear to go with it.

And right now it is snowing!!!!!!! This really makes me excited....2nd time i've ever seen it snow! It happened while I was in a meeting about 2 hours ago--I wanted so bad to go outside and feel it. The first time I saw it snow was on christmas eve 2004 when I was working at the movie theatre....I did the box office shift that night so I at least got to watch it but not go out in it. It just started snowing again and I just went outside....the flakes really are 6 sided!! Amazing!

Bird is the Word

2008-12-01T10:43:00.002-06:00

Last night's "Family Guy" episode featured Peter singing "Bird is the Word" over and over again. Well when I was getting ready for bed I had that song stuck in my head so I grabbed a magazine to read. When I opened to my bookmark, the title of the article in the mag was "Bird is the Word" (it was a Thanksgiving article).

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving (or Bird Day) went well! We really enjoyed ours. Thursday we drove to College Station and had Thanksgiving lunch at Luke's mom's. We got to meet our new niece, Leilani. That evening we drove to my mom and grandma's and had dinner with them. We spent the night and the next day we drove them with us to Luke's grandma's and had Thanksgiving lunch there. Luke's dad, aunt, and older niece were there too. The two families seem to get along pretty well, especially our grandmothers! My mom pulled me aside at one point and asked if I was pregnant (which I'm not!). She seems to be looking forward to a grandchild which really floored me! We need to wait until at least April before we can try because I have the MS-150 to do.

We drove them back home that evening and left for Houston. We had a weekend to ourselves which was very nice. Saturday we finally got a christmas tree....we've been looking around for an unlit white christmas tree---they don't exist unless you get them online. We finally settled on an iridescent pre-lit one at Target. The reason we wanted an unlit one was because our old tree was unlit and we added blue lights. We'll just add the blue lights to the clear lights already on there. That night we played a board game we recently bought called 'Stratego'. It reminds me of a cross between chess and capture the flag.

Sunday we went to church and went by the house afterwards to check the mail (yes, we are forwarding our mail but not all of it gets forwarded). It looks like the roof collapsed above the movie room and slid a couple more feet out. Also, the tarp is no longer completely attached to the roof anymore and there are a few holes in it too.

Tomorrow we are supposed to close on the new house. We are going by there during our lunch hour today to do a final inspection of the repairs.

Anniversaries and New Things

2008-11-18T13:52:00.004-06:00

Did you know that oak trees do not produce acorns until they are at least 50 years old?! That confirms that the oak trees around our old house were at least 50. No news on the new house btw for those wondering.

Friday marked the 3rd anniversary of my first day at my current job. I really wanted to celebrate so Luke and I went out to lunch together at Le Peep. It was pretty good.

Well, this weekend Luke and I did a little shopping. We bought a tv finally. I ordered a cheap laptop online...may have it by the end of the week. We have been sharing Luke's laptop but that can be hard sometimes so I decided to order a cheap laptop to get me by.

Sunday we went to the Symphony to see Tchaikovsky's Second. After the symphony we met up with one of Luke's coworkers (who attended the symphony too) and the four of us went to dinner at Sambuca's. We had a very nice dinner chatting and watching a live performance by a local artist. In a way we finally celebrated our Second wedding anniversary. We celebrated our first anniversary by going to Sambuca's and I gave Luke 2 tickets to the Houston Orchestra/Glenn Miller as a gift. So, in a way we celebrated our second anniversary the same way but with a couple of friends.

Monday I started training on a new job. I am transferring groups/managers/jobs at work. It is essentially the same project but another part of the project. I have been very busy with that and finishing up my work with my old projects. We also found out that there is a new addition in the family! Luke's sister gave birth to a baby girl! She was born on Monday, November 17 at 3:50pm. She weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and measured 19.75 in. Her name is Leilani Rose Moore.

So, the last few days have been a really good blessing for us!

we may or may not have a new home

2008-11-10T16:33:00.002-06:00

I'm a little nervous about the closing process. We are waiting for a check from our mortgage company to arrive to use as down payment on the new house. Problem with depositing large checks is that banks want to put extended holds on them (11 business days for our bank). We have also heard from a few people that banks are being really stingy with loans and often postponing closing dates for weeks, if you even get a loan. The sellers have put the pressure on us to make December 9 the last possible day because they leave the country on December 10. And if we can't get the loan approved/sorted out by then than they have another set of buyers who have cash for the whole amount who are willing to buy.

Argh, I want to quit this day and start it over!

2008-11-06T15:30:00.002-06:00

Nothing wants to work for me today!

GRRR...I'm having one of those days where little things keep going wrong and I'm getting really annoyed! My hotmail account decided to redo it's inbox so now my contact list no longer lists contact names. I've tried downloading this course through my company and it won't work. I tried logging onto our software program only to find my login link was gone! And the icing on the cake...I had a page emailed to me from the realtor that needed my husband's and mine signature. Instead of faxing it I figured I could scan it onto the computer and email it. Well, the scanner ate my paper so I tried shredding what was left because of the personal info on it....the shredder stopped working half way through. I reprinted the page and tried scanning again but this time the scanner froze and stopped working! I gave up and decided to fax. I walked all the way to the other side of the building before I realized I left the fax number on my desk. Went back, got it and tried to fax it....the fax wasn't able to go through! grrrr.....I noticed that there was a scanner there too so I tried it and it worked! I want to quit this day!

On another note, after a few counter-offers on that house I mentioned in the last blog, we will be tentatively closing on it December 9.

a good weekend

2008-10-28T16:26:00.003-05:00

We had a pretty good weekend! Friday we went to a halloween store and to Michael's where we bought some halloween decor.

Saturday we met our realtor and looked at 5 houses, all in the same neighborhood. We went back to the apartment then I went back out and bought some towels. We then drove to our church and helped out with the hayride for the fall festival our church hosted. It was really busy and a lot of the community came out to enjoy the festival. We stopped by Jennifer and Mike's. While Mike and Luke were working on the fish tank, Jennifer gave me some tips about bike riding, the MS150, and showed me their bike gear. After we left their house, we ate dinner at Maui Tacos and went home.

Sunday morning I made cookies from scratch for bible study that night. I got the last of my costume at Party City, and then we met a couple of friends at the Gem & Jewelry show. I learned that there is a difference between a Gem & Jewelry show and a Gem & Mineral Show. I prefer the latter. We didn't buy anything there (yay!) and went to bible study.

Today we got the insurance money so we deposited it in the bank at lunch time. We also submitted a low-ball offer on the house we liked most we had looked at on Saturday. Friday we have reserved the movie theatre at our apartment. A friend has rented "Stranger" so we will be watching that Halloween. Saturday there is a large group of us going to Renaissance Festival.

That's all the news I got so far.

October so far

2008-10-17T16:28:00.002-05:00

Well, we're pretty much moved and set up in our apartment now. This weekend will be the first weekend that we don't have to go back to the house! We have a new house phone number and address but I ask that you email me if you would like it.

On October 6 we had a little get-together with the TAMU geology department....got to see some old friends.

We had some friends over at the apartment last weekend. We also bought a cheap dining set that will be our future breakfast area set.

We've been talking with the insurance adjuster about our claim....his manager had to get involved and apparently a lot of higher ups got involved with our case since it was such a large claim. We just found out yesterday that we are getting the maximum of our policy. We are also in charge of demolition of the property, so if you have an referrals or recommendations, please let us know! We plan on demolishing the house, selling the lot, and looking for a home somewhere else, closer to work. We'd like to be close to Terry Hershey Park, around Dairy Ashford and Briar Forest. We might attend an open house or two this weekend, maybe drive around the area.

Luke and I also found out last week that we are both getting raises!

I signed up for the MS-150 in the spring! That is the 2 day bike ride from Houston to Austin. I am riding with the Schlumberger Cycling team and training starts in January. I still have to buy a bike. The event raises money for Multiple Sclerosis. Visit my fundraising page at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=5891130&pg=personal&fr_id=10222

Hope all is well with everyone and I hope people still read this blog!

Shooting Star

2008-10-01T17:31:00.003-05:00

After work on Monday we went to Jennifer and Mike's, had dinner, loaded the car up with some stuff-including the dogs, and went back to the apartment. The dogs were excited to go (I think more because they missed us). They did really well on the ride and took to the apartment pretty well. I think they are starting to get used to moving around so much.

We took Tuesday off. We slept in. When we got up I called the phone company with a couple of issues. Turns out they were not able to transfer my telephone number so now I have a new number to memorize :-( They also did not submit my order for a new modem/router (since the old one got smashed). So, it looks like we'll be without the internet a few more days :-(

I then went to the business center to check my email....hadn't done so in several days! Luke had decided to check out the movie theatre and watch a movie. I had lunch, took the dogs out, then headed to Walmart to get a few things. Luke came back just after I left for walmart and took a nap since he had a headache. When I returned from Walmart he headed to a couple of home theatre stores to check out speakers. I did some laundry and more dishes.

That evening we walked around the complex a little. The hot tub looked enticing so we went back to the apartment to change into our swimsuits. We sat in the hot tub for about 15 minutes and relaxed. This was one of the few times, if not the first in almost 3 weeks that I've been able to relax and not think about anything else. After sitting there a couple of minutes I looked up into the sky and saw a shooting star! I couldn't believe it, and it was probably the prettiest one I've ever seen. It wasn't one of those small streaky white ones you see way up in the sky. It was huge, bright gold and sparkly, like a sparkler you light at new years. I hope it was a good sign of things to come.

Today was back to (mostly) normal routine. Went to work, had lunch with coworkers, and went to the apartment during the lunch hour to take the dogs outside. Hmm....it's like I stepped back in time 2 years.

Monday, so far

2008-09-29T18:19:00.003-05:00

At Luke's office building they are having a shareholder's meeting and have put a lot of restrictions on the employees as a result. At my office today we had a retirement party for one of my coworkers. I have also been really busy trying to get a project completed by the end of the day. We've had no internet at home so it wasn't until 5pm today that I was finally able to check my personal email and update my blog. We hope to pick up the dogs today. We still need to go mattress shopping. We also have more stuff to collect from our neighbors. We have 3 different neighbors who have some of our stuff. I am also thinking about going back to Ashley's and getting the dining room set I saw there....it could be a future breakfast area set. Our dining room table is a bit big to put in an apartment. Luke decided to take tomorrow off so he could finally relax. I'm going to take it off too, though I want to get stuff done. Hopefully we can get internet soon at the apartment.

Sunday 2 - time with friends w/ more moving

2008-09-29T18:10:00.002-05:00

After church we went to Jennifer and Mike's. They fixed us a really good lunch of ravioli. After lunch we headed to our house. Jennifer and I loaded our car up with house stuff and plants while Luke and Mike went to the storage unit to load Mike's truck up with some furniture and knick knacks for our apartment. We met back at the apartment. Jennifer and I got there first and unloaded the car. I then gave her a tour of the complex. When we got back to the apartment, Luke and Mike had arrived and were unloading the truck. Luke then took Mike on a quick tour of the complex. They left to go to bible study. We unpacked a few things, then went to Tuesday morning and got a couple of things. We then went to Big Lots and got some more things. We went back to the apartment and had dinner....turkey lunchmeat sandwiches. After dinner I went to Target and got a few things.

Now picture this: Instead of a couch we decided to use our theatre chairs to sit in. There are three of them, leather, that recline and have cup holders. We have our coffee table in the corner to hold our future tv. The theatre chairs are in a semi-circle facing the table. Here's the kicker.....we have 3 very nice theatre chairs and the only tv we have is a portable 2" one! Seriously though, Jennifer and Mike said we could borrow their 13" one though. Woohoo...we're getting a big tv!

Sunday 1 - my feelings come out

2008-09-29T17:53:00.004-05:00

We went to church that morning. After about the second song we sang I started thinking more about our house. We had some church friends ask us about our house and we told them we got word that we were probably going to demolish it. I started thinking about the memories we had had in it and the plans we had made for it and the future holidays we were supposed to have. My parents always rented while I was growing up. And it always seemed that it was temporary until we could find a better place. So, when Luke and I had finally bought our first home, I felt like I could finally have a permanent place to stay and call home. Luke and I purposely bought a slightly bigger home so that we could have a family and raise them there, and even spend our empty nest years in. We were so proud of our first home and both of our parents were so proud that we were able to make this great purchase. Now I feel like all of this has been crushed (literally by 2 trees). I feel bad for this house who has been loved by a young couple who chose to maintain and keep it up as best as possible. It sits there right now in a dying state, its outside severely wounded while its exposed insides continue to decay. Now it seems that the life of this 25 year old house will come to an end soon when it has to be demolished.

All of this went through my head as we sang during church (it didn't help that EVERY song had a sad tone to it). I finally started crying and leaned into Luke's shoulder. After the communion I excused myself and went to the bathroom....I couldn't take the sad music and needed to blow my nose. Several minutes later I returned to the service when the preacher had started his sermon.

Saturday - Furniture shopping/moving

2008-09-29T17:40:00.004-05:00

By the time we woke up, had our showers, and were ready to go, it was 11am....to late to get real breakfast so we had brunch at Chick-Fil-A. We decided to try and rent furniture at Corts, despite the long wait for delivery. We learned that because they have such a high demand for their rental furniture, you didn't get to choose which set to rent, only a price range and whatever was left in the warehouse in that price range would be what got delivered. They said they could deliver furniture that evening if we bought it instead and we could actually pick out our furniture that way too (they used a contractor to deliver bought furniture which is the reason they could deliver the same day). We looked at their furniture and found a bedroom set we liked but decided to think on it. Fingers is going out of business and has their furniture on sale at 50% off. We did find a nice bedroom set at a great price. However, I wasn't dead set on getting it and it came with a king frame (we would rather have a queen). We decided that the set we saw earlier at Cort's was much cheaper and could become our future guest room furniture but would work for now. We called up Corts and had them put a 'sold' sign on it until we got there to sign the paperwork.

In the meantime we went to the storage unit and grabbed our kitchen stuff. We then went to the house and grabbed a few more things out of there, moving most of it into the garage since we couldn't fit much more into the car. Our house had been tarped in the last couple of days. We went by Jennifer and Mike's (needed a couple of things there). We said hi to the dogs and left. They have been keeping our dogs for us until we can get the apartment settled enough to bring them in. We got to Corts, paid for the furniture, and went back to the apartment to unload the car. Luke went to Kroger to get some dishwasher soap so I could start washing dishes. He ended up buying some basic groceries and household stuff (but forgot the dishwashing soap!). We ate some leftovers for dinner. We walked around the complex to check out some of the ammenties. The complex is like a resort...Luke says he feels like he's on vacation which is awesome that we will be there the next 6 months. The delivery men finally came with our new bedroom set....too bad we still need to shop for a mattress.

Friday - A day of Firsts

2008-09-29T17:29:00.002-05:00

I say this because it was the First full day of work since September 10 and it was our First night spent in the new apartment. Work was ok, nothing out of the ordinary. We had a slightly longer lunch to go to Hoffer furniture and look at their stuff to rent. They had a closer delivery date of October 3 but had expensive rental fees. We then went back to the apartment to fill out the move-in checklist and turn it in.

That evening we went 'home' and did a few things around the apartment. We went to a Mediterranean restaurant not too far away and got some food to go. The presidential debate was on too and I had wanted to see that but we had no tv, until I remembered the 2" portable tv in my desk.

So this is how our apartment is right now....we have no dishes so we had to make sure the restaurant gave us forks to eat our food, we have no chairs to sit on so we sat on our bedroom floor - the only spot with carpet, to watch the presidential debate on a 2" tv.

OH! and this afternoon Luke had talked with the insurance adjuster who said that the structural engineer had recommended that the house was unrepairable. This basically means that the house needs to be demolished. The details of this is still unknown....we still have yet to hear from the insurance company on their decision about the whole thing. But, it looks like we no longer have a house (and will probably not rebuild) so in the next 6 months we will be house hunting all over again.

Thursday--a day off, met w/ Structural Engineer

2008-09-29T17:17:00.002-05:00

We woke up Thursday not feeling so well....pretty congested. Luke was really lagging and I asked him if he needed to call in sick. He asked can we? So we did, plus it is really hard to concentrate at work when we have so much to deal with outside of work right now. We spent a good 2 hours working on our itemization list. We finally decided to leave about 11:30 to head to the furniture rental place. Just as we were leaving the structural engineer called us and asked if we could meet now since he was only 10 minutes away (which we were too). We met him at the house. He was from Tennessee and was pulled out of retirement to come to the Houston area (as is a lot of insurance related people). He also has a background in environmental assessments and told us that the mold inside wasn't as bad and that it didn't look like the bad kind of mold. He opened a few windows and the doors to let it air out inside then suggested that we could grab more stuff if we wanted. After his assessment he was going to give a verbal report to our insurance adjuster and a written report to our insurance company within a couple of days. He wasn't allowed to reveal to us his findings.

We left the house about 1:30 to head to the furniture rental place. They were booked on deliveries until October 8!! That's a long time to wait for furniture. They also sold furniture and said they could deliver that by the weekend. We looked around a little but didn't see much that we liked. We headed to Big Lots to check out their furniture. They've been getting good furniture this past year but right now the store didn't have much that we liked. We had been planning on going to Rudy Lechner's to have a drink, some soup, and relax. By the time we got there (after our errands) it was already 5:30 so we decided to have dinner. We called up our friends Stephen & Zamira to meet us so that we could also show them our apartment (they live in the apartment complex down the street). Zamira was in Chicago in a training class but Stephen came and had dinner with us. Afterwards we showed him our apartment. He had to get home and do some stuff. About that time it was almost 7 so we headed to Ashley Furniture to look at their furniture. The only thing that really stuck out was this small dining room set. We went back to Jennifer and Mike's and spent the night.

a new apartment

2008-09-25T07:52:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to work for a few hours. About 2:30 we left work to sign the apartment lease, get our keys, and take a tour with the maintenance guy who showed us the appliances in the apartment and how to use them. That took about 2 hours. We then drove to the furniture store to pick out our furniture to rent--they were closed! They had a phone number on their door to call for information so we did. They are reopening today for the first time since the hurricane. So we'll be doing that at some point today. It took us an hour and a half to get home from the furniture store because of the traffic. We stopped by the grocery store and picked up some food for dinner, went to Mike & Jennifer's, and cooked them dinner--Apricot-Glazed Pork Tenderloin. After dinner, Luke and I sat down and began itemizing stuff we lost in the house and attaching a price tag. There is some expensive stuff we are realizing. We hope to finish this list today so we can send it to the insurance company.

a birthday and the removal of trees

2008-09-23T22:24:00.004-05:00

No, our week has not gotten any less busier. Yesterday we went to work, with really horrible traffic. There are still a lot of stoplights out making the feeders and side streets hard to manage. Also, the toll roads are free right now and the HOV lanes are closed. We got to work and I unpacked a lot of my stuff from being packed away for the hurricane. We went out to lunch at the Red Robin....it was my birthday so I splurged and got a milk shake. While there I ran into an old college friend! (Cristine). After lunch Luke called and said he had a list of apartments and wanted to look at them. So we left work and visited the complexes (3 in all). We were looking for furnished apartments. The first complex we visited said they don't offer furnished, only corporate ones set up by the employer. But they also told us that furnished apartments cost 3 times more than unfurnished and that we would be better off (cheaper) by getting an unfurnished apartment and renting furniture. We ended up filling out an application (i.e. getting an apartment) at the third location we visited. We officially sign the papers tomorrow. We are signing a 6 month lease at the Ventura Lofts http://www.venturalofts-houston.com/ floor plan 'B'. They are located off of Gessner just north of Westheimer, near our office. They are actually down the street from our old apartment before we bought the house. They are brand new apartments that just started leasing in April. They have some really nice amenities such as a movie theatre on site, a lap pool, a 2 story fitness center, resident activities like cooking classes and wine tastings, a sauna, and a hot tub. The apartment is 1 bedroom with granite counter tops and wood flooring.

We got a call from the tree guys that they needed Luke's truck moved out of the driveway to get the crane in. They weren't supposed to start until Tuesday but wanted to get a head start. We drove to Mike & Jennifer's to pick up the keys and then to our house to move the truck. Our neighborhood finally got power back about 4pm. The tree guys started cutting the trees by working limb by limb. They got two limbs done when the crane busted a hose. It was also getting pretty dark by then so they called it quits for the next day.

Luke and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, a vietnamese restaurant. It was my birthday and they gave me a traditional vietnamese dessert made of coconut milk and tapioca? It was alright. Dinner was good. We then headed home, fed the dogs, and went to bed.

My birthday was pretty good over all! Luke gave me a tanzanite and diamond necklace and earring set that match the ring I already had. I also got a birthday card from Jennifer. My coworkers had cake and bought me lunch. Both of Luke's parents sang happy birthday to me. I got an ecard from a couple of friends and my dad. And my mom and grandma called me.

We took Tuesday (today) off work to watch the trees guys. It was to be an all day job. We got up early and to the house about 8:30. They hadn't arrived yet so we went to the bank and CVS to drop off some film I had been carrying around. We got a call that they had arrived so we drove back to our house. It turns out that there were two companies working together to get the trees off our roof, one from Maryland and one from North Carolina. They worked on it limb by limb until they got to the trunks. The better part of the morning was spent on the top limbs. When it came to the trunks, they brought the equipment in through our back neighbor's yard to reach the trees from the back of the house. We went to Kroger and got some water for the crew and some food for ourselves. The crew took a quick lunch break so we made some phone calls. Luke had to call the apartment complex about a question, the mortgage company, and insurance company. I called the phone and electric company to have the utilities transferred.

The tree guys got to the trunks and we watched them cut the trunk up into sections and let them fall before removing them with a tree crane. The guest bedroom wasn't as badly damaged as we thought-the tree was through the side of the room and resting above the doorway to the guest room. The other side of the room was fine and dry. There is no wall left and a lot of roof missing now. After the tree guys left, Luke got a ladder and with the neighbor's help salvaged some stuff from the guest room. We were able to recover Luke's baby pictures, my film negatives, our wedding cards, my arts and crafts, my memory bins, and....all my jaguar stuffed animals! I asked Luke how the guest bathroom looked out of curiosity. He opened the door and let out a loud 'wow' and quickly closed the door. He said half of the ceiling had fallen and the plastic found above the insulation was filled with water and hanging down into the room--about 5 feet in diameter and a few feet into the room! That's a lot of water!! Looking through the kitchen windows the ceilings are covered in mold now and the ceiling fan blades are hanging really low from the humidity. A structural engineer is supposed to come out on Thursday.

On the way back to Mike & Jennifer's we stopped by CVS so I could pick up my developed pictures and drop off the pictures I took of the tree guys. I then took a shower and Jennifer hosted our monthly BUNCO tonight. It was fun. While we were playing bunco, Luke and Mike went out to eat and to Best Buy. I also had Luke pick up my pictures that I took today and have posted all those pictures in the Hurricane Ike album. I have a "before" and "after" picture, plus a few more located at the very beginning of the album. The tree cutting pictures start on page 8 of the album and go until the end. Here is a link to the album: http://community.webshots.com/album/566897250wHvWmO?vhost=community&start=0

very busy weekend

2008-09-21T21:44:00.001-05:00

This will be long, so bare with me.

Saturday I woke up, had breakfast, and started packing my washed clothes into plastic bins to store at Charlene's house while we are getting settled. I also packed up stuff we had laying around in preparation to go over to the apartment. I spent a little time online too. About noon Luke and I loaded the car with 3 bins of clothes. My stomach was starting to really hurt so I lied down instead of going with him. I fell asleep for about 20 minutes. Mike and Jennifer had gone to the grocery store. They gave me some medicine for my stomach ache with made me feel better so ate some lunch. The aggie football game came on at 2pm so we watched that. Kevin and Charlene came over and joined us for the game. They were still without power but received a generator the previous night. During the game I hung around, packed a little more, and did more email checking. We had some other friends who came over from near Clear Lake. They were still without power too and decided to spend the night. Kevin and Charlene went home after the football game, then we all had dinner. After dinner we loaded the car with a load of stuff to take to the apartment. We had planned on spending the night there, but leaving the dogs at Jennifer and Mike's for the night. We were going to church the next morning and spending the day at their house. Then we were going to load the car up with the rest of our stuff, including dogs, and head back to the apartment. About 9:30 that night Luke and I went to feed the dogs before leaving. Jake hadn't been eating the last 3 days and when Luke went to feel his belly Jake let out a scream. We rushed him to the emergency vet thinking he might have an intestinal blockage. The vet there didn't feel any protrusions and wanted to run a blood test. He suggested we do that and from there decide to take xrays. The blood tests came back fine. Jake has been acting normal other than not eating. He was even playing earlier in the day with Sam. We decided that he may just be really stressed from the moving around we've been doing lately (and he might be feeding off of our stress). We decided to try wet food with him and see how he is doing by Monday morning, then possibly take him to the regular vet. We didn't get home until 12:30 so we decided to stay the night again.

Sunday we woke early to go to early church service. We had a lot planned for the day so we skipped class. As soon as we walked out of the building the insurance adjuster called. He was on his way to our house. We met him there and he was impressed with the damage. More of the size of the trees on our house. He said it was the worst house he had seen yet. He went inside (against our advise because of the mold). He said he would talk with his manager and things will go on from there. He also wanted to assess the damage once the tree was off the house. There was a chance that might have happened today since we had heard from the tree guys yesterday so the insurance adjuster wanted to know when that was going to happen. Oh, the tree guys. They called yesterday, had just come in from North Carolina and our name was at the top of their list in red! They said they would get to us this weekend. The insurance adjuster gave us a check to cover our living expenses for now and said that the insurance company would probably pay for an apartment lease for up to 12 months. We're gonna call them tomorrow to get more details about that. The tree guys called us around lunch time and said they drove by the house to assess what equipment would be needed. They were shocked. They said it was the worst house they had seen yet (hmmm, after the mold guys and insurance adjuster, that's the third time we've heard that). They said it would be an all day job with a full crew and a crane, plus it would be very dangerous considering the layout of the trees and houses and very costly. They recommended a bulldozer if the insurance company decides on demolishing rather than rebuilding. We relayed this to the insurance adjuster and have decided to have a big pow-wow meeting with the insurance adjuster, the tree guys, and a structural engineer to decide how to handle our situation. This may happen tomorrow, or a little later but sooner than later.

After the meeting with the insurance adjuster after church, we drove to the apartment to unload our car. It was up on the third floor, which is a lot of stairs to carry stuff. We checked out the apartment in detail. It is used by field crew who work offshore, while they are onshore for a couple of weeks. The apartment was very much lived in. The closets had stuff in them and the apartment wasn't the cleanest. It was very much a guy's apartment. It was a temporary place to help us get back on our feet. We did not feel comfortable there and did not want to lug all our stuff up there only to take it back down in possibly just a couple of days. We decided that since our insurance company was going to provide an apartment, we will just stay at Jennifer & Mike's until we find an apartment, preferably furnished. So, we headed back to Jennifer and Mike's.

We had lunch, then Jennifer and I went to a baby shower for one of our church friends. After the shower we went back 'home' and I looked online at a couple of apartments. I didn't get far before Luke and I had to leave for bible study. It was good to see our bible study group and really get to talk with them. After that we all went to dinner at Fuddruckers, then Luke and I went to Walmart. We are back at Jennifer and Mike's, have unloaded most of the car back into their house, and now here I sit typing, while Luke is almost finished setting up his fish tank.

Tomorrow we go back to work. There's a possibility we might take off early if the pow-wow happens. Once we have a list of apartments to look at, we'll probably take an afternoon off later in the week. Tomorrow is also my birthday and Luke and I plan on going out to dinner. Not completely sure where yet.

I hope the blogs start to get shorter this week as I hope things start slowing down.

storage unit filled

2008-09-20T08:42:00.004-05:00

We woke early yesterday to meet Jason, a friend from church, at our house. He had a pickup and helped us take boxes over to the storage unit. We got it in three trips. Afterward we went to the library--I had one book to renew and one book that got destroyed by the tree. The library waived the damaged book since it was due to Ike. We then went to the bank to deposit some money and came back to Jennifer and Mike's. We took showers, ate lunch, and relaxed a little. Mike went duck hunting and came home with a duck.

In the late afternoon we made a run to Walmart. I really needed my Scottie Dryer to hang my delicate garments on. My old one was ruined by a ceiling. They were out! We bought some pillows to sleep on, some medicine (our medicine cabinet was in the guest bathroom), and a weight scale (i'm in a challenge online where I weigh in weekly but had to skip last week).

I realized this afternoon that my college diploma was still in the house. :( The mold is getting pretty bad too. Luke called the insurance company who said they would pay for the treatment of mold and to call the adjuster. He called the adjuster who gave us the number to a mold guy and said He won't come out and do the adjustment if it's filled with mold (well why didn't you come out a week ago then?????). We had the mold guy who came over, walked into the house, 5 seconds later walked out and said "You have problems!" (you think?!). He said he won't do anything until the tree is out of the house. We haven't heard anything yet about when this crane is coming. Anyways, the mold guy is supposed to tell the adjuster how bad our place is and the adjuster may be out this weekend instead of late next week.

By the evening I had finished the laundry! We had dinner and not to long after that we all went to bed....we were all pretty tired.

more pictures

2008-09-19T18:54:00.002-05:00

I uploaded the pictures Luke took on his phone. I rearranged the picture album so they are intermixed with the older pictures.

here is the link for the photos: http://news.webshots.com/album/566897250wHvWmO?start=0

more packing

2008-09-19T06:42:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday Jennifer helped us out. We went to our house mid-morning and packed a few boxes, then ran out. We went back to her house to grab more boxes and ate lunch. We then went to the storage unit and reorganized for the boxes to come. We went back to the house and packed more. We're pretty much done with packing now. We decided to do the loading today. We went back to Jennifer's where I ended up taking a 2 hour nap. I wasn't feeling very well and felt kinda off the rest of the night. I think stress and exhaustion is finally taking its toll.

We had a good dinner and all sat down to watch a movie, "Dan in Real Life". It has Steve Carrel, but not typical Steve Carrel. It was really good and pretty funny. I got some more laundry done throughout the day....almost finished!

This morning we are meeting Jason & Jenny, friends from church, at our house. They are going to help us load the boxes and take them to the storage unit. We then plan on gathering our stuff and heading over to the apartment where me might spend our first night tonight.

packing

2008-09-17T23:04:00.002-05:00

This morning we got up and headed to home depot to buy some packing supplies and mold masks. We then headed to Target next door and got a couple of things. Target was running by generator so it was pretty dark inside....really strange. Luke was hungry after that (it was about 11) so we headed down the road looking for a place that was open. We found a taco and burger joint and happened to run into some of our neighbors who came there because they were open. We sat down and had lunch with them. It was an interesting and fun lunch. Luke got a hold of the mortgage company and we just need to wait for the insurance adjuster to show up and pass along his opinions to the mortgage company. We still haven't seen an insurance adjuster or a crane show up at the house. It's their fault that our house continues to rot and get worse.

We packed for a couple of hours....dishes, holiday decor, odds and ends. The guy from work giving us the apartment gave us a call so we drove into town to get the keys. I got mixed up about where the street was and we ended up in the wrong area making us late in meeting with the guy. We got the keys but had a very quick tour of the apartment so I couldn't really see what it had in it. It is on the 3rd floor and we'll find out more details later about how long we'll be able to stay and any payments, bills, etc. The apartment is rented out by Schlumberger for field employees who usually work offshore and use the apartments when they are onshore. Apparently the apartment usually rents for $3000/mo.

Since we were in the area we stopped by Luke's work so he could pick up his phone wire. We should now be able to post some of the pictures from his phone....hopefully I'll have that up tomorrow.

We headed back to Jennifer and Mike's to relax a little. Jennifer was home early and decided to paint a wall, something she had been meaning to do lately. We went back to the house and packed a couple more boxes. I checked the mail (something we hadn't done in almost a week). We got an anniversary card from my grandma and mom, and a very sweet card from my sister--it made me cry! She wrote something like despite the hard times you are going through I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and a happy anniversary. She also included a check that said since I can't be there consider this taking y'all out to dinner.

Luke grabbed some salt for his fish tank. We went back to Jennifer & Mike's. Luke started working on his fish tank while I did more laundry and chatted with the Dykes. We had dinner and started to play Settlers. We only have the original game now (we took it with us when we went to Austin to pass time). All of our expansion packs and other board games were upstairs. So christmas gifts---board games!

Just as we were about to start Charlene called. Her fish were starting to die and needed to borrow Luke's air pump. They were still without power and her fish tanks were not doing well. The air pump was at the house so Luke met Charlene there to give it to her.

Our neighborhood finally got water last night but is still without power.

We have decided to take the rest of the week off from work to concentrate on packing and moving stuff into the storage unit. I noticed to day that there was a draft coming from the attic above the garage. We believe that the attic there is next to the guest bathroom and may be exposed as a result of the tree. This means that if it rains again, we could see water in the garage. This then means we really need to finish moving stuff out of the garage so that's what we'll be doing the next couple of days.

While packing this morning we heard the phone ringing inside. Our phone works! Too bad we can't answer it. We figured it might have been a telemarketer but it kept ringing for about 20 minutes! Seems like someone was desperately trying to get a hold of us.

Well, I'm pretty tired now but wanted to get this post written before heading to bed.