Thursday, November 30, 2017

Thanksgiving Rewind 2017

We had a great Thanksgiving break - it was so hard to go back to work on Monday, and I'm counting down the days until the kids are out of school for our winter break!

I'll start the recap with Tuesday because the kids had a half day that day. I went to school for a lunch in Drew's and Paige's rooms. My plan was to sneak the food I 'prepared' {I heated up a ham and defrosted green beans} for Paige's class and then go to Drew's lunch first and then bring Drew to Paige's class. Well, Paige spotted me, so she came with me to Drew's lunch. I couldn't get Drew to sit still long enough to take a picture with me, but Paige was so happy to eat TWICE that I got pictures of her stuffing her face. {grin}

This girl LOVES her food.
[Left: in Drew's class Right: in Paige's class]

Trent's class had their feast the Friday before, but Trent missed out on it by getting sent home early for punching a kid in the face. UGH. BUT to be fair, he has had an AMAZING year so far this year - I CANNOT complain! So technically he was supposed to be in class all day Tuesday, but I pulled him out after lunch because I didn't want to have to go back to school 2 hours later to get him.

Wednesday, we started our Christmas decorating and enjoyed a lot of general laziness. Trent got a haircut at a new place in town which was cheap and awesome. He also had therapy in the afternoon.

Thursday, I actually started the day with Orange Theory Fitness! It was a REALLY hard workout, so I was glad to have gone. We went to Brent's Nannie's house for lunch and had a great time. I love her stuffing {dressing?} and Brent's Aunt Sassy's chocolate pie, so I was a happy girl! Paige slept late that morning, so we kept her up through lunch, and then headed to my parents' house to celebrate some more.

Last year at this time we were celebrating our last holiday as a family of 4.
Love LOVE love my complete family!!!
{I bought Drew the cutest pumpkin dress which she REFUSED to wear - we had a huge fight over it, and our compromise was that she would wear it for pictures. Her teen years are going to be so much fun.}

Trying to get a better picture not in so much shade.
Instead we got lots of shadows, ha.

Paige fell asleep in the literal 6 minute drive to my parents' house and then promptly proceeded to refuse to nap and SCREAM her head off, so she didn't end up napping until about 2:30 that afternoon and slept for 1 hour. Boo.

But while she did nap, I took Miles and Trent to the park to play. It was awesome because I sat on a bench and read my book while they played in the creek.


My dad came a little later with Drew, Blair, and my cousin, Dave's, 2 daughters. Drew, of course, fell in the water and drama ensued.

So I got to carry her home and get myself wet too!
But she sure is cute!! And yes, she is wearing a jack o' lantern tee.

And because we like nothing better than to cram lots of activities into a short period of time, we also celebrated my sister's birthday which was the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The BIG 4-0 is quickly approaching for this one!

Friday we got our tree up and finished decorating. YAYAYAYAY!! And please notice all the presents under the tree - I am about 75% done!!


In the evening we went to the lighting of our town square. My MIL went with us and we had so much fun. I hope we continue to do this every year. We did it a few years ago with Patty and David, but this was our first time to go since moving to Georgetown.

The best picture I got. Sigh.

We ate burgers after the lighting at Hat Creek. Yum!


I went to see Lady Bird with Allison Saturday, and Paige took a 4 hour nap!

So happy! {And cute!}

And one of my absolute favorite things about our neighborhood - we have a family that does some INSANE decorating for Christmas as a fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish foundation. We go by it a million times over Christmas, and I just think it is amazing. Santa comes 3 different times, so I hope we make it there for that as well this year!


Writing all that down, man we packed in a lot. But I loved every minute of it!

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Currently: Procrastination Station

Because I am lazy uploading Thanksgiving pictures, how about a round of Currently?

Current Book


Current Song

Taylor Swift New Year's Day

Current TV Show

Finally catching up on season 6!

Current Drink

Today I've had a chai, kombucha, and water. So balancing out the sugar I guess? Ha!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

I can't think of anything right now?!?!

Current Outfit

Tee with a maxi skirt - no one should be shocked by this 'outfit', ha

Current Celebrity Crush

So excited season 5 has started!

Current Mood

IT'S CHRISTMASTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Current Anticipation

Paige's 1st birthday party is this weekend! While I am shocked she's almost one, I sure love a 1st birthday party! I think this one is going to turn out really cute if I do say so myself. {grin}

Current Wishlist

I really wish we could have outside lights on the house, but it's not in the budget this year.

I will just enjoy this house in our neighborhood about 50 times!


Current Film

Allison and I saw this over Thanksgiving.
About 20 minutes into it, she said 'I guess this isn't about the First Lady'. HA!

Current Picture

This is my 'I just ran 3 miles' face - WHICH ACCOMPLISHED A NOVEMBER GOAL!

What are you up to currently?


Monday, November 27, 2017

11 Month Comparisons

As we close in on Paige's 1st birthday...what do you think? How are my babies comparing?


I still think Trent and Paige look the most alike, but I think it's largely due to their round faces while Drew's is longer, but I think Paige and Drew definitely look like sisters. No matter what you think, you can't not think they are just about the cutest kids!!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Grow Baby Grow {Paige} - 11 Months!

So cliche, but I cannot believe Paige is 11 months old today! Her party is in 11 days - this just doesn't seem possible.


Stats:
Weight: 17.5 pounds at a sick visit 2 weeks ago
Clothes: 6-9/9-12 months from Carter's, 6-12 months everywhere else
Diapers: size 3 in disposables, 1 snap down, 2 across in cloth

Paige is so close to walking! She has taken 1-2 steps several times but is crawling 99% of the time. She can stand independently for long periods of time and loves to walk holding our fingers. By this age, Trent and Drew were both almost fully walking - I find that so interesting since Paige crawled first!

Paige is fanatic about food. The high chair is her happy spot, and I can put her there with some snacks most of the time when I have a chore I need to do. The only thing she's tried that she didn't like is pickles, and I finally gave her some carbs this month, although her diet still primarily consists of protein, fruit, veggie at every meal.

There are only 2 things Paige doesn't like: the car {unless she is standing in the front seat holding the steering wheel} and being put in her bed at bedtime. 

I can usually get her into her car seat if I am handing her food, usually raisins, while I strap her in. Our drive consists of me handing her raisins everytime she whines or trying to pass her various toys/rattles. After about 20-30 minutes, she is pretty peeved to still be in the car.

Her sleep routine goes like this: nap 1 - falls asleep nursing and sleeps for 3 hours, nap 2 (if she has one) - never falls asleep nursing, maybe fusses a little but goes to sleep pretty easily and sleeps for 30-45 minutes, bedtime - 75% of the time screams and I have to go back in 1-3 times. Bedtime is still around 7:00. I think she'll transition to 1 nap before too long.

Paige is nursing better than she has been in the past. I was worried she was going to self-wean early, but being sick a couple of times this month has renewed our nursing relationship.

Mostly she loves school but sleeps pretty crappy there. In the last 2 weeks, they started giving her my breastmilk in a cup and she is doing so good with it! She'll drink 5 ounces at a time.

Paige still has 6 teeth - 4 on the top, 2 on the bottom. Her gums are really swollen on the bottom where her molars are. We took her to the pediatrician 2 weeks ago because she was crying all the time and so unhappy and that's the only thing the pediatrician could find.

She had her first ear infection last week. We waited it out, and it cleared up on its own, yay!

We had a record of 6 nights sleeping through the night, but she broke that on Sunday night - ugh.

Paige loves getting into her sleep sack at bedtime {which is so weird how much she fights actually going to bed} and will sign 'milk' and say 'night-night'. It is so cute!

She can say 'da-da' and I think she knows what she's talking about but no 'ma-ma' yet. She signs 'more', 'all done', and 'milk'. She can clap and wave, and we're working on blowing kisses. She will put her mouth on mine if I ask for kisses - LOVE!

Paige LOVES to chew on toothbrushes - especially her siblings'.

We are definitely starting to see tantrums when Paige doesn't get her way. She is very dramatic.

She's not a big book fan. She loves the books that have something to touch, but if I try to read to her...not interested. She will take the book away from me and flip the pages herself.

She loves bathtime and is happy to shower with one of us - she loves to play on the floor of the shower - or take a bath in her bathtub. She loves to splash!

Basically she is the best baby ever, and we are all smitten with her. Trent took one of her school pictures to keep in his room and kisses it every night, Drew wants to play with her and mother her constantly, and Brent and I just this she is the sweetest. I am forever thankful that Brent relented on having another baby because I can't imagine going my whole life without her joy in it.

Monday, November 20, 2017

My Motherhood Gems

Two things have happened in the last week or so that, when connected, define my hopes as a mother.

One morning last week, I went to wake up both of the big kids for school. As I left Drew's room, I looked at Paige's shut door {she gets to sleep in about 10 minutes longer than the bigs}, and it hit me {like it does every once in a while} that I have 3 kids. After almost 11 months of Paige being in our family, I am still in awe that the wish I held for so long was fulfilled. I'm not sure it will ever cease to amaze me. And I never want it to. I never want to take for granted these 3 precious gifts I am blessed to call mine.

I also read the following passage in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The backstory is the main character received some very shocking and upsetting news just as her mother was coming to visit. When her mother gets off the plane, she falls apart.

I feel no pressure to stop crying. I feel no need to explain myself. You don't have to make yourself OK for a good mother; a good mother makes herself OK for you. And my mother has always been a good mother, a great mother.

Isn't that the most simple, yet beautiful, definition of motherhood? When I read that, I could 100% identify my mother in that statement. She is selfless, caring, loving, generous, affectionate, kind...basically amazing. And I hope when my children are adults they feel the same way about me.

And because I suck at figuring out how to end most of my blog posts, how about 1 of the 134 pictures I took trying to get a good shot for Paige's 1st birthday party invitation.

The winner!



Friday, November 17, 2017

Frazzled

It's been one of those weeks...

  • Paige bit me nursing to where I have an actual WOUND
  • Trent has pinworms
  • Drew has pink eye
  • We THOUGHT Paige also had an eye infection
  • But actually, she has an ear infection AND an eye infection
  • My car battery died when I was picking the kids up from school
  • Brent and I both have allergy yuckies that we are trying to keep from turning into sinus infections
  • My iPhone crapped out and I spent 2 days without a phone, spent several hours dealing with customer support, had to go to the Apple store, nothing worked and had to get a new phone and restore a backup from...January...so I lost a TON of stuff
  • Brent left to go hunting, so I'm solo parenting for 3 days
You just kind of have to laugh sometimes when everything seems to fall apart at the same time. Here's hoping there's enough wine and chocolate to get me through the weekend!


Monday, November 13, 2017

Movie Review: A Bad Moms Christmas

We were supposed to have a book club date to see A Bad Moms Christmas, but most of the girls couldn't go - which in itself is evidence for #momlife ha. Susie and I went however and had a great night out!


Plot: As their own moms drop in unexpectedly, our three under-appreciated and over-burdened moms rebel against the challenges and expectations of the Super Bowl for mothers: Christmas.

Review: Susie and I laughed so hard! This was just as funny and over-the-top as the first one. Susie snorted a bunch, and I couldn't breathe and was slapping my leg {and smacking Susie}. The story is again a little bit ridiculous but oh so fun. Kathryn Hahn continues to be just awesome, and her plotline with Ty Swindel is gold. All 3 moms are fantastic and really make the movie something extra special. When it ended, Susie said 'I'm already ready to watch it again!' I concur! Rating: A+!

Thursday, November 9, 2017

San Antonio Getaway

I got a little behind and never posted about our little getaway to San Antonio right after our anniversary. We went up early Saturday morning to get to the bar for the kickoff of Texas' football game. #prioritiesforbrent 

On the way down, this song came on the radio. It's a long-standing joke with my dad because I think it's a terrible song, and he loves it. So I had to take a picture and text it to him.


Conversation:
Allena: What Brent is torturing me with on our drive!
Dad: A classic
Ha!

Brent's cousin, Philip, and his wife, Kristi met us there along with some of Philip's friends who we know really well. {This was actually a trip Philip planned that we got invited to crash.} They came and stayed with us in June, and we had a conversation about how horrible my clutch is. Backstory: I bought it when I went back to work after Trent was born because I was carrying a purse, a lunch, a laptop bag, and a pump. This eliminated carrying a purse because I could stick my clutch in my laptop bag. Well, fast forward 8 years...it's awful. So Kristi brought me a new clutch!


Happy anniversary! Hanging out in the hotel sports bar watching football!

After the game, I needed to pump, so we went back to the hotel room. Afterwards, we went to a piano bar and then to dinner at Rita's on the River.

I took this picture on our walk to dinner.
Guys. Look at the picture I stole off the internet in this post BEFORE our trip.
It is the same view. Crazy right?

For the Astros game, we went to a British pub to watch the game. 

My cutie pie

White Russian selfie

Having fun!

After the Astros hit a home run, Philip bought everyone Fireball shots, eek!

Kristi couldn't hang!

After almost 12 hours of drinking, Brent was ready for bed. It was nice to not be in a bar until 2:00 AM! We got him Whataburger and walked back to the hotel. I pumped and Brent fell asleep watching ESPN. That's what 13 years of marriage is really like!

Our yummy room service Sunday morning!

We ate breakfast and got back on the road to get home to our babies. Such a fun little getaway!

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Dork Level Infinity: 2018 Reading Challenge

Allison and I have done a couple of quarterly reading challenges in the past. We tried to do another one this summer, but we found the prompts too out there - I don't want to spend hours searching for books people! Well, I was perusing Popsugar I came across a year-long reading challenge. Allison accepted the challenge, and the winner buys the loser the first movie ticket and candy of 2019! Anyone else want to play? We could have some virtual prizes?


Lots of prompts, but I don't think anything is too crazy, and it'll make it for sure a challenge to get it all finished. Here's hoping Allison and I make it all the way to the Advanced section!




Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Halloween 2017

I'm a little late getting around to posting these pics, but I still wanted to have them on here for the memories... Well, my memories are putting Paige to bed and giving candy to the less than 10 sets of kids who rang our doorbell, so really these are Brent's memories. {grin}

Paige had been running fever for over 24 hours by this point and was NOT in a good mood, so we put her in her costume, took a picture and took her out. Brent left with the kids {and his friend Manolo and Manolo's mom} while I put Paige to bed.

All the kids! A zombie, Jason, a bunny, a kitty, Peter Pan and Captain Hook

Captain Hook is excited about his loot!





The dads with their version of candy {alcohol in their Yeti cups}


Trent was SO excited that Manolo came to join us. Normally he's A LOT older than the kids we trick or treat with, so this was super fun for him.

And it wouldn't be a good holiday post without some comparison pictures.
All 3 of my babies as the jack 'o lantern. LOVE!



Friday, November 3, 2017

October 2017 Books


Last month was kind of a dud with giving anyone suggestions for stuff worth reading, so I hope I did better this month! {grin}



The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer - 2 people end up renting the same summer cottage by mistake just as their lives are at crisis points - sounds like your typical Hallmark movie, right? It started out that way, and I had a hard time getting into at first. But it got better as it went on, and I found myself really enjoying it by the end. A light, fun read for sure!

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - I think this is my money maker for the month. My mother-in-law gave me this book, and I'm so glad she did. The main character, Victoria, is the product of a broken foster care system and uses flowers to communicate {her one almost successful adoption is where she learned about flowers} and navigate the world after aging out. I couldn't put this book down and loved watching her evolve. Toward the end, something happens that was really uncomfortable for me to read as a mother. It wasn't bad, just hard. I almost couldn't finish it, but I knew my mother-in-law wouldn't have given me something BAD because she knows how sensitive I can be about certain subjects. I put that in there as a disclaimer so I don't blindside anyone {ahem, Emily, with the Oliver storyline in Cancel the Wedding}. With that aside, this book was excellent!

Wool and Shift by Hugh Howey - My most recent dystopian trilogy! The first book, Wool, follows a society that lives in a silo underground and all we know about earth is it is a toxic wasteland that will kill you. People are sent outside to clean the cameras that offer a view of the landscape as a punishment for crimes and their bodies dot the landscape. The silo needs a new sheriff and Juliette uncovers secrets of the silo. In Shift, you find out HOW we got to people living underground in a silo - starting back in 2050 before the disaster - going all the way to where the story left off in Wool. I've really enjoyed this series so far and am looking forward to seeing how it gets tied up. I wouldn't say this one is YA necessarily - it has some plot points I don't think I'd want a pre-teen reading - but it definitely fits that Hunger Games family.

I've got a lot of stuff reserved that I'm really excited about, so here's hoping November turns out great. Happy reading!

Thursday, November 2, 2017

November 2017 Goals

I didn't get to go trick-or-treating because Paige has been running fever since Monday. Brent took the bigs with our friends and one of them has pictures to send, so while I not so patiently wait for them, I thought we'd talk about November goals!

To tide you over until I get all our Halloween pics together! {grin}

October goals:

Let's just start with the fact that I didn't do so good with my October goals. Just putting that out there. {grin}

1. Pumpkin Patch Outing/2. Carve Pumpkins/3. Halloween Stroll - Nope. The Halloween Stroll ended up being the day we baptized Paige, so I have a good excuse for that. The rest just didn't happen.
4. Daily Outside Time - We did better with this but not great. The problem is when we get home from school, I am trying to work a little more, then clean out lunch boxes and bags, pack the next day's lunches, make dinner, and before I know it our opportunity is gone.
5. House Cleaning - I got this done! I wanted to do a handful of things in the mid-point of when our cleaning lady comes. I only vacuumed Paige's room out of the kids' rooms, but I did everything else. I plan to keep this up!
6. Kids' Vitamins - I wanted to get better at giving the kids their vitamins (vitamin D, vitamin C, probiotic, Omega-3). I went from pretty much forgetting most days to being about 50-50. I'm happy with that progress and plan to keep it up!



1. Schedule Family Pictures - We took 1 picture during Paige's newborn photo shoot. It's time to update! I don't want to take them until close to Paige turning 1, but I'd like to get them on the calendar.

2. 3 Miles - Thanks to Orange Theory, I am spending a lot more time on the treadmill and have already seen a lot of improvement in my endurance. But that also means I've stalled out on my Couch to 5K training, but I think I could probably run 3 miles. So I want to hit the streets and prove it!

3. Lots of Christmas Shopping - I already bought 1 Christmas present! And I've been working on my list. So I want to get some stuff purchased this month to spread out the expenses.

4. Order Christmas Cards - Hoping to get these ordered before the end of the month so they can be sent out ASAP for maximum holiday enjoyment.

5. Start Oscar Film Watching - Allison and I agreed to wait and see how the prediction sites looked starting in November. Hopefully we can find something that looks like a promising contender!

6. Daily Walks - I'm planning on this to get us our outdoor time - November is usually a pretty nice time of year in Texas...we really need to do a better job of maximizing the good weather.

I also have Paige's birthday party to plan {ohmygodhowisitalreadytimeforhertobe1}, but I didn't put that as a goal since it won't be hard for me to do. I've already been talking to the lady who makes our invitations - now I need the princess to stop being sick so I can take a picture of her for the invitation!

I'm wondering if I put too much on my plate this month when you add in Thanksgiving plans {including some travel}, lots of days off school, party planning, etc. But it'll be fun to try!