Birthday Celebrations

During our trip we celebrated two very important birthdays: my husband Jake's and my sis-in-law Esther's. We got to Louisiana on the 20th which was Esther's b-day. We went to Chevy's for dinner and of course the birthday kiddos got the cool hats, birthday song, and ice cream. I love the picture of Jake dancing. I had to include a picture from 4 years ago of Jake and Esther. When I was pregnant with Elle, we went to Louisiana for Thanksgiving and had birthday dinner at Chevy's. More trip details and pictures to come later. I know you are excited!

Oh Christmas Tree...

I have a lot to post since I have been gone for awhile. We had such a fun trip to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. I have stories, pictures, etc. to share from the trip, but I will save that for another post when it is not so late or when Jake is out of town or something. Anyways, we have been happily decorating our house for Christmas and actually bought real Christmas lights for the house this year. The past two years I have just put up lights around some bushes and had three cute light-up candy canes. So tomorrow will be the big day. Wish us luck! Mya busied herself with coloring on everything today. I guess you just can't stop a budding artist! It's my fault for trusting her alone with crayons. Also, we put ornaments up on the Christmas tree tonight. Jake made some comment when we were done about it looking like a junk yard or something. I know our tree isn't the fanciest with beautiful big matching ornaments and ribbons and all, but I like it because so many of our ornaments are filled with so many memories. I have ornaments from my childhood. My Grandma would give us an ornament every year. And now we have so many ornaments from our married life together. There's one from Notre Dame, Utah, Texas, 2 from Hawaii, one from the Louisiana Christmas Eve bonfires, a gator ornament, ornaments of my kid's first Christmas's, one from Jake's work party last year, etc. etc. So the tree may not fit into a model home, but neither would we with our ghetto couches. To me our tree represents so much of our life, and I like it just the way it is: kind of funky, sort of cute, and full of memories.

The end is a really good thing

So today was our last soccer game. We made it through the season! I have to admit that coaching really was a difficult thing for me. I hate doing things when I don't feel like I am doing a good job or that I don't know really what I am doing. There is a big difference between playing soccer and coaching soccer. I think coaching older kids would have been much easier. But we made it! I survived! I am so happy, but a little sad because Elle really did pick up on the whole soccer playing thing and actually did pretty well. We did have our fair share of tears and falling on the ground when others took the ball from her, but she has come a long way and really learned a lot. I really think that she enjoyed it. So we may sign her up again for Spring, but I definitely won't be accepting the call to coach. It really was hard to have to hold Mya during the games when Jake wasn't there and still try to coach. And I'll have a bigger belly so I'll have a good excuse. Thanks to all my friends, especially Tori, for watching Mya and making the season a little easier. And we made it!

What to drink, what to drink...

So I promise that I don't typically try to be a crazy psycho pregnant lady sending my husband out at all hours of the night to get me strange items that I am craving (ex: beef jerky). But the other night something had to be done. Unfortunately water had become a thing that was basically disgusting to me. And I really like water, too. But you know that post-flu feeling where even water is gross- yeah, that is what I was going through. (I'm happy to say that I am kind of slowly moving past that stage now.) But anyways, at about 10:00 the other night I sent my husband off to the store to get me something to drink. I was so thirsty and had to have something. I told him to just get a bunch of stuff. And he obviously did! If I can't find something in the fridge to drink now, I might as well strap myself up to an IV. So thanks Jake for being so nice- I promise to not make a habit of it! And for inquiring minds, June 19th is the big day.

In case you haven't heard...

I may be sharing my birthday.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

So today is really one of my very favorite days of the whole Christmas season. You may be wondering, "Why would November 13th really have anything to do with Christmas?" Well, my friends, let me tell you. Today is the day that I went to Target, and they had Mint M&M's! These are my absolute most favorite Christmas candy, maybe even my most favorite candy of all time. They only have them at Christmas time, so you can see why today was such a great day. They were on sale at Target for $2 a bag, so I loaded up. You may be thinking that five bags is a lot, but if you understood how many bags of these I personally consume around Christmas time, the thought never would cross your mind. You'd be saying, "Only five?" It really is disgusting the amount I eat, but it's the only time of year I can eat them, so I better stock up for the upcoming year, right??? And of course the top bag is opened already. Did you think I could actually wait until I got home to start eating?

So let's talk about LOST...

Now why would they do this to us? I am a new convert to the show, so is the nice fall break a typical thing? I feel like it just started like a few weeks ago. What were there, like 4 or 5 episodes? Who needs a break? Definitely not me. And I do have to say that I was a little bummed to see Kate pick Sawyer, although their former lives as law breakers probably do bring them together. I'm still secretly pulling for Jack. I was glad that there were no weird hallucinations or black misty fogs of polar bears on this episode. I think the story line with Kate, Jack, and Sawyer is far more interesting. Anyways, until February 17th...

And by the way, I saw a house with icicle Christmas lights up today. I guess it's never too soon to celebrate the season. Pretty soon we'll have to shop for Christmas in March. And also, Mya has decided that, on occasion, nap taking is not really her thing. She's not even 2. The nap can definitely not go away yet. But fighting a nearly 2 year old is often a losing battle.

Two Little Country Bumpkins

As an early birthday/Christmas present for Jake, we went to the "Time Well Wasted" Brad Paisley/Carrie Underwood/Jake Owen concert in the Woodlands on Saturday night. We had such a great time! I love country music and have converted my husband into a true fan. It was so fun to be outside and see some of Texas' "finest" being brought out for the concert. Some of my personal favorites were the couple dressed in their Confederate/Rebel flag attire and the girl with the two flashing guitar pins "strategically" placed on her shirt (get my drift???) It really was a fun night, and we knew our kiddos were in good hands, thanks to Nicole who stepped in as the last minute babysitter when ours cancelled on Friday. So, to Jakie, I say "Happy Birthday" you old man, and "Merry Christmas". It's always fun to give a present that benefits me as well (hehehehe!)