My birthday

My birthday was Saturday, no I didn't intentionally plan the kids party on my birthday, it just happened to be the day the snake lady was available.  In reality, it was fine.  I think it's harder when you are an adult, birthday's are for kids.  I've had some years where I've had big expectation and been disappointed.  This year, I had a house full of people, and the pressure was off :-)  A few people said Happy Birthday to me, most people didn't even realize it was my birthday and I was perfectly fine with that. 
My phone pretty much died on Thursday, I'd been having trouble with it for months, Matt says I just wear it out using it so much!  Anyways, Matt surprised me with a new phone on Friday night and I was thrilled!  My parents gave me some birthday money, and I bought some rain boots.  I know it's silly, but I love them!  Of course, that means it won't rain for months now!  I have some money left over and I'll most likely use it to get a hair cut since I haven't done that since July of last year!  Heather helped me color my hair Saturday, before the party, to cover my grays.  It's the second time we did it, and I picked the wrong color!  I wanted a dark brown, well I got it, it's practically black!  I'll have to be more careful next time.  Maybe it's time to work my way back to being blond, lol!  Anyways, I'm glad I was able to share my birthday with the kids on their special day.

Snake Party

I decided to do one party to celebrate both kids birthday's, since they are so close together.  Last year we did two parties and it was just SO much work and almost no one showed up to Payton's, I still have no idea why, but I wasn't going to chance going through all that work and have people not show up because that was too many parties to close together.  The theme this year was more for Garrett, until 2 weeks before the party, Payton hadn't show much interest in anything, now she's obsessed with Elmo and we could have done something else, but the snakes worked out great!  We had about 12 kids show up, and that was perfect.  It rained badly that day, so we had to stay inside.  I decided to change up the timing of the party, we'd been to a few parties lately where I noticed people showing up 30-45 minutes late, so I decided to end the party with the snakes instead of start and I think it went really well.
As the kids arrived, they colored on paper pates and we cut them out to look like snakes and hung them up.  A few kids were really into it, a few scribbled real fast and ran off to Garrett's room to play.  After that, we did pin the crown/tongue on the snake.  This was a huge hit!  We blind folded the kids and they were hilarious, they all had a blast, Payton insisted on being blindfolded too!  After that we went right to singing and enjoying dirt cups.  As the kids were eating the snake lady showed up, she set up while they finished eating and then had them all sit in a circle.  She started with a really small lizard and worked up to a really, really big one, then she did turtles, and then the snakes!  I am not a fan of snakes, but I guess knowing they were non venomous helped.  Most of the moms hid out in the kitchen but the dads were right there.  Come to think of it, this may be the first birthday party where the dad's had a lot of fun, lol!!  The kids were able to touch and hold anything they wanted, and they had so much fun!  The grand finale was Peaches, the Boa Constrictor.  At first, she had all the kids line up and all of them held her, then people alternated holding her, I'm pretty sure we had more adults then kids hold Peaches.  My sister and mom did, so I had to, but I'll tell you, from the second that snake touched my neck, I immediately started sweating!  It's head was weaving up my back and I thought I was going to have a heart attack!  It really was so fun though.  Payton was even in there touching everything.  After the snakes went home, the kids opened presents and most people left.  Just a couple of our close friends stayed and the kids opened a couple gifts and played for a couple more hours.
I think, in spite of the rain, it was a great birthday party!!

Payton's 2nd Birthday

My baby is 2!  I can hardly believe it, time does just fly by.  Unfortunately, on her actual birthday (last Thursday, the 16th), Matt and I had to wake up super early and drive to Houston, so we were not with her when she woke up.  But, my parents had flown in on Tuesday, so they were here and Garrett was off school that day, so they sang to her and made her day special.  We got home about 12 and were able to give her lots of hugs and kisses before her nap.  After dinner, we each had a cupcake and sang to her again, she couldn't stop smiling.  For her birthday, we got her an Elmo book, Elmo is her favorite right now, the book was all about the Itsy Bitsy spider, it was a lift-the-flap book and had buttons that made noise, that girl was so excited, it was just precious!

My mom and I took cookies up to her class on Wednesday, so her classmates could sign.  I was going to take balloons too, but it was pouring all day and the idea of getting from the store to the car with balloons just didn't appeal to me at all.  We got to her class in time for lunch, and it was cute watching all the kids eat and stare at us, trying to figure out who we were and why we were there.
 
Payton is such a sweet girl, we'll see what happens as this year progresses, but so far, we've seen very few temper tantrums.  She's extremely active, she just doesn't sit still!  She still sleeps easily and well.  Bedtime is about 8, she wakes about 8 and typically naps anywhere from 2-3 hours.  She is talking a bunch, not a lot of long sentences, but at least 50 words, I'd say.  She just started saying "I love you to the moon and back", it sounds something like "love, moon, back", but we know exactly what she's saying.  She's starting to role play with her dolls a lot and that's a lot of fun to watch.  She loves to read, it took a while, but in the last few months we've seen a major increase in her desire to sit and read with us, of course, it's the same books over and over again, but we love it anyways.  She's showing some signs of readiness to potty train, but I'm not rushing it.  I think she'll do better if we wait until summer, so for now, if she wants to sit on it, I let her, but we don't push it.  She did get some panties for her birthday, but she insists on wearing a diaper under them, lol.  She is still a great eater, I know this will probably change, I remember that Garrett used to be a great eater too, and now he's super picky.  She loves her big brother, she will hug and kiss on him for no reason, he loves it, so that's been fun to watch.  She loves the water, and loves to be outside!  When it rains for a few days and she's stuck inside, she's practically crying about going outside.
We love our little peanut and cannot wait to see what the next year holds for her, although I will miss my baby!!

7 year anniversary

11 years ago, I lived and worked in Michigan, I'd never considered living in Texas and probably had never heard of the city called Bryan, and to be completely honest, I may not have been too aware of Texas A&M either.  Then in Aug of 2001, I moved to Texas, to an area North of Plano.  I ended up getting a job at a retail, sporting goods store, called Galyan's.  Shortly after I started there, a guy named Matt O'Banion got hired.  We were both in relationships at the time, in fact, he was engaged (before you start jumping to conclusions, no we didn't start dating for a while).  I was promoted and eventually was in charge of the department, then the relationship I was in fell apart and a few months later Matt's did too.  Then I went on a blind date, and a few colleagues happened to be at the same bar, the date was a disaster, but Matt happened to be there and actually rescued me that night.  Bought me a few drinks, we played pool, had a great time, but I was his boss.  I refused to get involved with someone I worked with.  Well, he persisted, and soon we were having lunch together and hanging out more and more.  Finally, I caved in and we went on a real date, and never looked back.  I ended up going to my boss, who moved Matt to another department.  We started dating in September of 2002.  In feb 2003, I found a much better job and left Galyan's, shortly after I left, Matt got a job offer to work in Bryan.  so, we tried the long distance thing for awhile, then a job opened, in my company, in Houston.  I told Matt I wouldn't live with him if we weren't engaged :-)  He proposed and we moved to Tomball in April of 2004.  The drive back and forth was hard on Matt, so in September, we moved to Bryan. 

We knew we wanted a winter wedding, I just thought it would be so beautiful and he knew I wanted to be married before I turned 30 (I had mentioned this when we first were friends), so we picked a date of Feb 12, 2005, in Lake Tahoe I'd turn 30 on Feb 18).  Why Lake Tahoe, I have no idea other then we saw some pictures in a magazine and it looked gorgeous.  It was!  We were married at David Wally's Hot Springs Resort.  Sounds weird, I know, but it was breathtaking!  It was cold, but I don't think we even noticed!  We were there for a week, tons of family and friends made it a vacation, so we planned fun little events for the days leading up to the wedding.  Then we flew to Jamaica for our honeymoon. 

After a year, we decided we were ready to be parents, the day we found out I was pregnant was the day we found out the offer we had placed on a house was accepted!  We moved when I was about 8 weeks pregnant, just pregnant enough to be exhausted, lol.  Garrett was born on Feb 1, 2007. When Garrett was 18 months old, we decided we wanted a bigger house so that we could have more children.  We placed on offer on a new house and received an offer on our old house on exactly the same day!  It was truly meant to be.  We moved to our current home on November 1, 2008.  I lost my job on July 14, 2009, I was 8 weeks pregnant.  Payton was born a tad early, on Feb 16, 2010.  Things got real bad at Matt's work, and his bosses ended up declaring bankruptcy, so on January 1, 2011, we opened our own business.

Yesterday, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.  It's amazing how much your life can change in that time!  So, I do thank our friends Will & Lisa who convinced me Matt was a great guy and I shouldn't let a low paying job get in the way of my life.  Imagine if I hadn't listened!!  We have definitely had our ups and downs, but, I did marry me best friend and at the end of the day I'm glad I get to lay in bed with Matt.  I know it won't ever be without ups and downs, I just hope that we can always get through the downs and survive no matter what life throws our way.

Happy Anniversary, Matt.

UTI

We had a bit of a strange Saturday, it started out just fine, Matt headed off to work, the kids and I straightened up the house and then played.  Garrett had a birthday party from 1:30-3:30 and Matt had planned on helping Josh out at the Wounded Warrior event at the Mobley Ranch, so Maryanne was going to stay with Payton while she napped.  Then, about noon, Payton started acting strange, she'd kind of jump, scream, pull at her diaper and yell Poo Poo.  I started to think she was constipated, but she had pooped twice already so I knew that wasn't the case, and when I changed her she was practically dry and had no rash.  I wasn't sure what to think, but after about 30 minutes of this going on, I thought, oh no, she has a bladder infection!  I called her pediatrician who is open 7 days a week, but for some unknown reason they were closed, so I got an after hours nurse, and based on her symptoms, the nurse agreed, and said we needed to have her seen that day.  But, we had the birthday party, so I momentarily panicked, then decided she desperately needed a nap anyways, so I laid her down and Garrett and I took off to the party.  While we were there I called two different urgent care clinics, one was $125, the other $50.  I choose the one that only charged $50.  I was very specific in that she was 2, and was not potty trained, and they said no problem, bring her in.  When we arrived, they said, she has to pee in a cup, uhm, what part of she's not potty trained did you guys not understand?!?!  So, we went back and forth, should I take her to the ER?  Should we wait until morning and hope that UPA could test her?  Finally, the Dr came out and asked if I thought she might possible pee in this hat thing.  They agreed to not charge me and I could stay as long as I wanted, and if we got a sample, then they'd put her in the system.  I had given her a full cup of watered down juice on the way over and we gave her another cup of water and then every 5 minutes we went and sat on the potty, and then it happened!  She peed in the potty!!  All the nurses and even some of the people in the waiting room cheered for her, it was hilarious!  Turns out she did have a urinary tract infection, most likely from bubble bath :-(  With kids, apparently these can get really bad, really fast, so to not take any chances, they gave her a shot as well as an oral antibiotic.  Let me tell you, the shot was horrible!!!  It was this huge, thick shot, they split it into 2 syringes and injected it in both of her legs at the same time, I held down her arms and another nurse her legs and that baby girl SCREAMED.  She was sweating, I was sweating, it was horrifying.  The youngest nurse had tears in her eyes, it was just plain awful.  We had to wait 15 min to make sure she didn't have an allergic reaction and every time she'd get up to walk, she'd cry and grab her leg.  My poor, poor baby! 

Yes, I've thrown all bubble bath away, I do not want her to ever have to endure that again!!

Rain!!

Wow, did we have a crazy rain storm last night!  I heard we got 4 inches of rain in just a couple of hours.  We've been in a severe drought, so 4 inches is amazing, but wow, did it come down hard and fast!!  We decided to go out to eat at On the Border, and it started raining just as we pulled in.  We ate and it was raining harder and harder, we ended up ordering dessert, just because we had no desire to leave!  Matt kept checking on his phone and it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon.  I needed a birthday gift, so we decided to go over to Barnes and Nobles, in the same parking lot.  I parked right in front.  Anyone from B/CS knows that parking lot is bad in the rain!  Well, we'd been there awhile when I heard the hail, big, huge hail.  Then I heard people talking of tornadoes, where was Matt?  Standing outside watching the rain, lol!  The parking lot was literally a river, cars were in the water up past their doors, a few trucks even got flooded out, that's how bad it dips and floods right there.  One employee burst into tears, her car was one that was practically floating away.  I seriously doubt she drove that home last night, it might not run today.  I have no idea how those things work, so it may never be driveable again, I just don't have any idea, but it will definitely have water damage inside!  At 8:00, we decided we needed to get home, Payton was just miserable and the rain still wasn't letting up.  We drove home, pretty slow, not to slow to get stuck but the water was high in some spots.  Thankfully, our house is on a little incline, and we're at the top, but the houses at the end of our street were looking dangerously close to having water damage.  It rained, and thundered and lightened for at least another hour.  We finally got Payton to sleep about 9, in her bed, Matt opted to stay on the couch, for 2 reasons.  One he wanted to be close to Payton in case we did have to take cover, and he wanted to be able to watch the news.  So, Garrett slept with me.  We knew there was a second round coming at 3am, so we were a bit anxious about that.  It hit right at 2:45, a hug clap of thunder woke me up.  Garrett slept through it all!  Payton woke up but never cried, she talked and I heard her playing.  That storm raged on for awhile but I'm honestly not sure how long, I fell asleep and woke up a few times.  I figured everyone would sleep in, but nope, Garrett up at his usual 7, Payton up early at 7!  Driving around today, I saw a lot of damage, lots of trees down and flooding.  I saw quite a few of those emergency crews out, the ones that dry out your house.  I felt for those familes.  There were even a few stop lights still out.  I believe it's passed.  I think we may get more rain this afternoon, but nothing like yesterday!  Oh, I even read that police were rescuing people in boats, in boats!!!  Craziness!

"A whole hand"

Wednesday was Garrett's 5th birthday, he is now "a whole hand" he will tell you.  He was so excited when he woke up.  I had borrowed a mold to make Star Wars pancakes, he was thrilled!  Then he was off to school where they treated him like a king, then I took Dirt Cupcakes up to his class.  Everyone thought they were so fun, it was just oreo's and pudding with a worm coming out of it, but it was fun and different from cupcakes and his teacher loved it because it didn't get all over the place.  Matt was able to meet us at school and then he took Garrett to run a few errands and when they got home, they took the training wheels off his bike!  I think Matt & I are a lot more excited about this then he is, lol.  He'd much rather ride his scooter right now.  For dinner, we went to Gattitown and brought Louden with us, turned out it was Kids Eat Free night, so dinner was pretty inexpensive :-)  They had a blast, and afterwards we opted for $1 sundaes at McD's, which was perfect because neither of the boys ended up finishing theirs.

In the evening I asked Garrett a series of questions, I'm hoping to make a scrapbook out of these and add a picture.  I'd like to ask the same questions every year and see what chanes over time.

Here's the questions I asked him:
How old are you today? 5
How does it feel to be 5? fun
What did you have for breakfast? Star Wars Pancakes
What was the weather like?  Cloudy then hot & sunny (75)
What do you think is the most important thing you've learned in life so far? To be a big boy
How do you think you're different from a year ago? I'm taller
What's your favorite thing about yourself?  my pants
What school do you go to? Spowerports (powersports)
What do you think of school? It's fun
Who is your teacher? Ms MiMi
What is your favorite subject? reading
What do you like learning about? Dinosaurs
What is your favorite color? Green
Who is your best friend? Louden
Tell me about your family. Momma, Daddy & Payton
What do you like most about having a sister? Playing Transformers with her (This was news to me!)
Did we take any vacations this year? Yes, we went to visit Grandma & Grandpa in Michigan
What is your favorite food? pasta with white sauce and cheese
What is your favorite breakfast?  Waffles with icing (Toaster Strudels)
What is your favorite candy? Chocolate chips
What is your favorite snack? chocolate chip cookies
What is your favorite drink?  OJ
What is your favorite dessert? brownies and cake
In the past year, what was your favorite book? Anything with dinosaurs. favorite movie? Dinosaurs (by Disney), favorite music? Rock & Roll
What is your favorite tv show?  Ben 10 (big surprise to me)
If you had a whole day to do what you wanted, what would you do? Play Lego's, watch TV and play at Louden's house
What's your favorite toy to play with?  Ninja Lego's (he doesn't have any, he plays with Louden's)
What's your favorite part of the playground? The slides
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher
Do you think you'll ever get married? giggles, no
If you do get married, how old do you think you'd be?  Pretty old, 8
What have you learned about girls this year? Don't know
Do you like girls? Do you have a girlfriend? Yes, it was Keira, now it's Samantha
Are you scared of anything? Yes, fire burning the house down
What is your favorite outfit? Comfy pants and t-shirts
What is your favorite game? Spider man video game (We don't have this, he plays this at Louden's)
What is your favorite animal? Snakes
What is your favorite thing to do? Go to louden's house
What was your favorite present this year? Lego's
If you had a lot of money, what would you do with it? Buy more Lego's
What is your favorite thing to do with Momma? Arts & Crafts
What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? play with cars
Anything else? No