Us

We often update you on the kids but I thought an update from us would be nice.

Elizabeth - I am still at home with the boys. I was very happy last month to bring back my design skills when a lady called me to design a logo for her. A bride that I designed wedding invitations for two years ago referred her to me. It still amazes me how well 'word of mouth' advertising works. She owns a dog training business in Austin called Praise Your Dog. It was a lot of fun. I am also trying to find a part time evening or weekend job, at least until the baby comes. The boys get to be a handful and I just really need an outlet, but also the extra income will pay for my prenatal care and hospital bills. I am hoping by some miracle we can afford to put the boys in Mother's Day Out in the Fall, so each week I will have that time I can look forward to and know I can get stuff done and rest.

I am so excited about having a girl! We aren't really into pink or lace or ruffles. I am looking forward to ponytails and her first prom dress. Her room will probably be purple with butterflies. I'm glad we don't have to worry about changing the circumcision pads in the hospital. We can just change her diaper quickly and go back to sleep.

Despite the heat I am trying to stay active, walking every morning, doing a pregnancy workout video twice a week, and just started Zumba. It is great cardio. The church I went to for MOPS offers a free class. Of course I am careful not to jump or do any ab exercises. I cannot believe I will be 30 in September. I just know after mine and Hallister's birthdays November is going to be here quick. One of my best friend's recently came to visit. She cooked amazing meals and we played games.....Electronic Battleship! It really filled my "love tank" since my love language is Quality Time.

Jonathan - He is still not enjoying his job. It is hard when his love language is Words of Encouragement to hear negativity all day, and be told he is constantly doing things wrong. He is going to apply for a few jobs in Waco, and even hopes to maybe find something indoors, so he isn't in the heat all day. Amarillo is still an option. We are just waiting for the Lord to open the right door. We have been fixing up the house in case we do move. Jonathan just did an amazing job getting into our attic and filling it with insulation. I was wondering why our thermostat was set at 76 but the temperature kept showing 82. Come to find out there was a huge gash in the air duct between Hall and Preston's rooms. We have just been wasting cold air blowing it into the attic. Thankfully that is fixed now and we will hopefully start seeing a break in our electric bill. We can already feel the difference inside. I feel so blessed to be married to such a talented man!













Us - We will be trying to sell our '99 Toyota Rav soon and use the money from that to purchase an SUV that will carry three car seats. We are thinking of an Expedition or Tahoe possibly. I am excited about getting to use the Dave Ramsey tactics we learned in our Financial Peace class and walking into a dealership (or up to an owner) to buy our first vehicle with cash. We are going to show them the money! If you know of anyone needing a small SUV that works great, since Jonathan has maintained it so well, or someone selling a used SUV, please let us know!

Almost Three

Our big boy Hallister will be three in September. He loves cars right now, and carries them around like they are treasures, especially when he gets a new one. He still likes trains and plays with his train table. We got a hand-me-down bunk bed from GiGi and Grandpa for his room. Eventually Preston will move into his room and sleep on the bottom bunk. Hallister really enjoys it and sleeps on the bottom without the rail now. (Wriley likes it as well.)

He is learning to share toys with Preston and not to be rough with him. It is cute when they wrestle and we have caught Hallister a few times climbing into Preston's crib and both of them jumping.....so sweet.

Hallister's favorite breakfast is pancakes with cool whip and strawberries. For lunch he likes to have a nutri-grain bar, cheetos, and a grilled cheese sandwich (no crust). His favorite supper is chicken nuggets and fries....but he doesn't have it that often.

I've noticed his love language is Quality Time since Preston arrived. He wants one-on-one attention with someone, to play trains, wrestle with, or chase after. When he doesn't get this he acts up and will misbehave so that he does get attention. He loves water and really enjoyed going to the Spray Park in Hewitt. He loves to be outdoors, but that is hard since it is so hot. We get out for our morning walk and then occasionally go to a McDonalds or Burger King to play on the play-scape inside.

He can communicate very well what he wants or needs. He has learned to politely ask, "May I have (whatever he wants) please?" and most of the time says it without prompting. We are working on potty training. He had four days with a dry pull up but is still timid about going #2 in the potty. He naps from 12:30-3pm every day. He is 3 feet tall and weighs 28 pounds. He sometimes talks in third person which is funny......Hallister needs to go to the store. Hallister wants to sit in the truck. Hallister loves to give daddy kisses before he leaves for work. His newest phrase is, "What's going on?"

Hallister is a handful, full of energy, and keeps us on our toes. His strong willed nature will help him develop into being a strong leader.

20 Weeks

I am now 20 weeks pregnant with our baby GIRL. After our sonogram last Wednesday we spoke with Dr. Manning, the only female doctor in my clinic. We discussed the risks of trying for a VBAC and decided there were too many things that could go wrong and it would be selfish to try. There is no point in possibly endangering mine or the baby's life. Instead of having my midwife Christy I decided to stick with Dr. Manning, since Christy would not be able to perform the c-section anyway. I don't like the thought of scheduling my baby's birthday, but that is the safest route to take. Who knows, perhaps that morning we go to the hospital, or even before I will have contractions or my water will break, so she will end up picking her own birthday. For now we have the choice of either November 22nd or 23rd. A scheduled c-section has to occur at 39 weeks so there is less chance I will go into labor. The benefits are I will be well rested and we can go ahead and arrange assistance with Hallister and Preston. This will be the best Thanksgiving ever. In the sonogram picture the fluffy stuff next to her face is my placenta. She stayed real close to it so it was hard to get a good picture of her face.

Baby Girl is doing great, measures right on track, and all her tests came back with no abnormalities, Praise God!

And no, sorry to disappoint, we are not naming her Ambercrombie!

Preston is ONE!

Our baby Preston is 1! WOW, his first year flew by. He is a charmer with those blue/green eyes. His smile and laugh are contagious. He weighs 19.6 pounds and is 30 inches long. He is starting to take steps, but mainly enjoys pushing his toys that he can walk with up and down the hall. He sleeps from 7:30 pm to 6:30/6:45ish am. He has 8 teeth, top 4 and bottom 4. For snacks he enjoys mum mums and apple wagons. He naps from 9-10am and 12:30-2pm. He drinks an 8oz bottle of organic whole milk four times a day. He still eats organic baby food. I am proud to say he ate my homemade organic sweet potato baby food! We have tried regular mashed potatoes but he wasn't really into those. He is independent and likes to do things without assistance. The only time he is snuggly is after his afternoon nap or when waking up in the morning. Everything he touches goes into the mouth. He loves to have screaming matches with Hallister, and man can he scream. His favorite area to play is next to Hallister's train table. He pulls out the letter and numbers from the floor and chews on them (see pic below). He is getting fussy we put him in his high chair with a spoon and pan. He loves to bang them. He cracks up at the beginning of Ice Age 3 with Scrat. It is so funny to watch him. He likes when you sing If You're Happy and You Know It..... and we just discovered he likes This Little Light Of Mine. He laughs hysterically when I sing Hide It Under a Bush, Oh No! His love language is Words of Encouragement. He loves being told good job and when someone is clapping with him. We mainly do this when he signs something or when he takes a step.

We had a fun construction themed first birthday party. We were able to beat the heat with canopies that provided shade. There was a demolition zone set up so the kids could swing a black ball and knock over a "brick" wall. There were two wet zones, one for smaller children, and a dig are that had trucks and a pile of dirt. The kids had a blast. Preston was getting sleeping and wasn't too excited about the weird orange thing in front of him called cake. He did have a great time playing in the water. Preston got a neat car ramp, a puzzle, shape sorter ball, discover book, awesome picnic table (thanks talented Uncle Daniel!), snacks, legos, and a splash rocket that Jonathan immediately grabbed up and took outside to launch. You hook it up to the water hose and blast it into the sky. It actually goes pretty high. We were so thankful for family and friends that were able to celebrate Preston turning ONE with us.

Gender Reveal Party

We decided to do something fun for finding out if we were having a boy or girl on July 6th. At 1:30pm was our appointment with the sonologist. We told her right away we wanted to do something different. We gave her an envelope to write down the gender in. We then dropped the sealed envelope off at the HEB Bakery. I called the day before to fill them in on what we were doing. They would either make blue or pink cupcakes, depending on what was written in the envelope, then seal them in a box and we'd pick them up later. Well when we arrived with the envelope the baker lady already had 36 pink and 36 blue cupcakes ready. She said just hand me the envelope, walk away, and we will box up the right color.

We picked up the cupcakes and then headed to the park where we were meeting family and friends for supper, and then having the reveal. The anticipation was felt in the air. I kept a close eye on the box so that no one peeked. After everyone arrived we gathered around the box. It was so fun to see everyone's reaction and we were absolutely thrilled. We feel very blessed to have two healthy boys, and see now why God gave us boys first, to be protectors of our little girl. Our hearts' desire was to have a girl and we are so thankful it is actually happening! Enjoy these pictures:

House Updates

On the July 4th weekend we decided to celebrate our 6 year anniversary early (since Preston's birthday party was on our actual anniversary the 9th) and stay in Waco. We took the kids to Jonathan's parents early on the 2nd and headed out to our favorite breakfast place, IHOP. We enjoyed uninterrupted conversation and talked about all the updates we were going to do on the house. The master bathroom cabinet had been a big project that was almost complete. We also wanted to tackle the flower beds, or lack there of. I am so proud of Jonathan for teaching himself about plumbing and turning our gross cabinet and single sink into a spa like atmosphere with double sink.

Bathroom:


Flower beds:


Now we just need to pick out what bushes and flowers we want.

New York

Earlier this year my sister contacted me saying she would be visiting the states (her vacation from the Dominican Republic), she wanted to go to New York, and asked if I wanted to come. Well, OF COURSE, I was all over that idea. So on June 3rd I headed to New York. It is nice to have parents that are teachers, so they were able to keep the boys since they were off for the summer.

Although we made it to our hotel late on the 3rd we still ventured out to Times Square. It was already hustle and bustle, so many people, and lots of honking taxis in a hurry. Getting back to our hotel, which was really a hostel, we found out that even though we signed up for an all girls room, there was a guy in one of the 6 beds in the room (3 bunk beds). This was disappointing. I tried switching us to a different room and even called other hotels but everything was booked. We decided to persevere, since we only slept there. We did meet some interesting people, from England, California, and Germany.

Bekah had the whole trip well planned out so we hit all the attractions that were close to each other the same day. On the 4th we left in the morning for Central Park, many blocks away from the hotel, but we still walked.....and walked.....and finally arrived. It was interesting seeing so much grass after only being surrounded by streets and buildings. Many people tried to rent us bicycles. We walked through the park and next went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art....well, the steps of the building. We ate our first New York hot dog and then took the subway back to the hotel so we could get ready for Phantom of the Opera!

I was loving the weather, it's great pregnancy weather there. I carried around, and sometimes wore, a light jacket. Phantom was superb! We had great seats in the orchestra. We walked from the Majestic Theatre to see the Hard Rock Cafe. We then changed at the hotel, grabbed some New York pizza, and went to see Madison Square Garden.

On the 5th we ate at an interesting breakfast place called Speedy's. We paid for our breakfast by it being weighed and paid $9.50/lb. We then headed to Rockefeller Center. We decided not to pay $20 to ride the elevator. Next we went to Grand Central Station. (All we wanted to find was the big clock that Melman got his head stuck in, in Madagascar.) We saw the New York Public Library, but it was closed since it was Sunday. It was Philippine Independence Day so we got to watch a parade and saw some great bands. We finished the evening off with candy from a Candy Bar and a nice meal at Serendipity.

On the 6th we left early in the morning to ride the subway down to catch the ferry that would take us to the Statue of Liberty. It was a lot of fun to learn all about her, but too much to put in this update. Next we went to Wall Street where we saw the New York Stock Exchange and the Trump Building. We then went to the 9/11 Memorial. That was emotional. They have a video playing of 911 emergency dispatchers, firefighters, and policemen recalling the events of that day. The memorial is supposed to be complete on the 10 year anniversary, this year, on September 11th. Large pools will have waterfalls that cascade into the footprints of where the towers were. And our last attraction was the Brooklyn Bridge. We did a lot of walking this day, especially on that bridge.

On the 7th we just relaxed, played cards, saw the Empire State Building, and made sure we had all the souvenirs we wanted. Early on the morning of the 8th we caught a bus to the airport. Finally by 12:30 we arrived in Texas.....and went to eat Mexican food! (I was told not to eat it in New York.) I was so happy to see the boys and then head to Waco to see Jonathan. We had a great time!