Happy Friday

Feeling happy today...yesterday Davis told me I was his best friend. Though when asked a second time (just to double check) he said "Whitening McQueen".

Oh well, I'll take it. That's still pretty high up there.

Also- I've lost four pounds in the last two weeks with Weight Watchers- which is awesome. I feel great about it. Yes, it's not totally awesome to track points all the time, but actually it's better than thinking about losing weight (or not losing weight) all the time.

Holden also had a great night last night. She seems to be back to her groove...at least for a little while. Can't believe she is almost six months.

Enjoy your weekend! Here are some pics:

Ooh, is he smitten with her...he calls her "princess".

He's in a "heap of trouble" as Doc Hudson would say. 

What a great smile, right? Ha. This is a lunch date we had at Chick-a-way with Carrie and Davis' girlfriend, Mary Mae. Okay, speaking of girlfriends...I always ask Davis who he played with at school. He almost always says "Noah" or "Max". Yesterday, he said "Paz"...this is the adorable little girl we pretend is his girlfriend. Then he went on to say: "I sit by Paz. And hug her and help her put her shoes on." I almost died. LOVE.

 

I asked Davis to give me his scariest face...this is what he gave. HA.

Happy Friday friends!

Two Against One

That's what it felt like last night- two against one. Something is up with Holden, maybe she's teething, maybe she's got an earache, maybe it's something I've never even thought of, or maybe she's just testing me, but regardless...she doesn't go to bed easily.

It takes forever to feed her and I have to do it in her room in the quiet, dark space, so I set Davis up in the living room with "Whitening McQueen" and he usually just plays and eats his dinner for a little bit until I can get her to sleep...or actually, without fail, he walks right in just as she is closing her eyes and says "What you doing, mommy?" She wakes up, and I have to start right over.

Last night, I finally had to let her lay there crying while I played with Davis, rocked him, and put him to sleep. Then I went back in to help her. And then when I laid her down, finally, he would cry again.

"I need more mulk (milk) mommy." (So I get him milk)

Then she wakes up, I go in to help her try to fall asleep again and just when I think she's out, he's crying again.

"I need more mulk mommy. BIG mulk." (And I try to tell him there is no more milk. He actually drank it all and I can't get to the store while Bennett is out of town.) So he says:

"Water?" (And I explain to him that if he drinks anything more, he will pee the bed...) And he then tells me:

"I don't pee the bed, mommy. I need water..." (All the while, Holden is screaming her brains out in her room)

And so it goes...until about 9:30 last night. It's like they know when Bennett is gone and they really give me the business. URGH.

Separately- some exciting things in my world:

1) Got my first Greenling local box yesterday- basically this is a community supported agriculture program and the local box includes random fresh produce and fruits. It was really fun to open it and see what was inside. Sort of like christmas. I already enjoyed many cherry tomatoes and I'm excited to try the summer squash.

2) We have our annual family poker tournament this weekend, where I hope to win the coveted John Wayne trophy for a third time. I am currently the only person who has won twice, so I at least need to protect my status there.

3) We have a big blowout 30th birthday party Saturday, which I'm really excited about. We've been looking forward to it, it's a high school style pool party, and I can't wait to spend the day outside.

4) I think we decided to keep our house another year or two. It's not really what we WANT to do, but it's what we know we SHOULD do. If we can keep our house and rent it when we buy a new one, that would be such a good long-term move. We're such grown ups these days. So the fun news is that we're still doing updates around the house- things we've sort of put off because we figured we'd move. So, I've enlisted the help of my sister, the fabulous interior designer to help me freshen up the inside, and Bennett is working on the backyard. Yahoo! I will do before and after photos...

5) I'm working on finding dresses for Nikki and Courtney's weddings- which is so fun. One needs to be gold/champagne and one black- and I get to pick both- which is hard to beat!

So that's all for now. More later. Happy Wednesday. I almost said "hump day" but I hate it when people say that. Eww.

Too Hot to the Handle

104? Really? Yes really, for all my international readers, that's how hot it is in Texas right now, so we can't help but go to the YMCA almost every day we get a chance. This weekend we went Thursday after work, Friday after work and then again on Sunday. We really needed it on Sunday because on Saturday we were just driving along, minding our own business, when the AC in the Jeep just turned off. Just turned off. No sound, no hot air blowing, just turned off.

We were mid drive on the way over to Carrie's house- which is not really close. We're pretty much on the opposite sides of Austin. It was 100 degrees and if you know Davis at all, you know that he has been so intolerant of the heat, ever since he was little. I had both Davis and Holden in the back of the car- so I panicked for a moment- then realized that none of us would die from the heat, (although it felt like we could) so I rolled down the windows, and kept driving.

I made a big deal out of what happened so Davis would understand...I kept saying things like "Oh no! The air conditioner broke. It's going to get SOOO hot, but we can take it, we're strong! We won't cry about it, NO!" And he got really into it, flexing his muscles, and repeating that "we don't cry! we big boy!" until about 5 minutes went by and then he said "Mommy it's too hot. It's too hot to the handle."

I just died laughing. Where did he hear that? And he said it so seriously, like "mom- this is really getting serious in here. we gotta do something." I kept saying "You know what- it's okay- we're almost there and when we get there it's going to be so nice and cool..." and then he would say "It's going to be COLD and COLD and COLD at Porter's house."

They are such troopers. It's unreal. There we are in 100+ heat, driving down the highway with the windows down, and neither of them cried or whined. We're pretty lucky.

Tonight, my good friend, Katie Brewerton is in town from Colorado. I'm about to go meet her for a bit. Yay for friendships that are fun, meaningful, easy and lasting. Love her.

That's Tricky!

Davis' school is having a major power outage- something about a power cable breaking or a flux capacitator or something...so no school today and no school tomorrow. I went in to work today, but left early so Bennett could get some things done too. Since I got home a little early, I took Davis to the Y to swim.

There is a little slide there- it sits in the shallow end in about a foot of water. All the little kids sit on their bottoms and slide right down. Davis included. Until today. First he decided to lie on his belly and slide face first into the water. He did this about 15 times, and each time he would jump up with a smile on his face and say "That's tricky!" I laughed because I'm not sure where he picked that up.

Anyway- about 15 slides in- I see him try to go down the slide standing up. Of course I tried to stop him, but after about the third effort, I left him fall (gently) so he would bonk his head and learn his lesson. It worked...but two minutes later I saw him sitting down, going down the slide backwards.

DAREDEVIL alert.

We also swam out in the deep end, me pretty much carrying him since he didn't have his monster man floatie on. This was fine for a while until he started to tell me he needed his space. I kept telling him he would sink to the bottom- but he was convinced. So again, I let his head slide under the water...and I thought he would come up gasping and a little freaked out. NOPE. He came out with the biggest sly grin.

Oh LAWD have mercy. He's tricky.

Little Bitty

Bennett and I call Holden "Little Bitty" because she is just so tiny. It was so fun to hold her and feed her last night when I got home. And I peeked into Davis' room as he was falling asleep and he was so excited to see me, it made me feel like a million bucks. He literally said "I miss my mommy. Mommy not go on airplane today..." So many hugs and kisses and giggling our brains out about me saying "Eww" in a funny way. It's the little things.

So here are some pics of our little bitty, a couple of Davis, and then a list of funny things Davis is saying these days. That kid. Cracks. me. up.

Davisisms:

What's that noisy? (said "noy-c")
There them are!
Yeah!
I want to watch 'Highway-o'! (what he calls the "life is a highway" part of Cars)
We need to play, mommy. We need to.

Hello, Old Friend

So I started weight watchers online again. Signed up yesterday and I'm feeling very invigorated already. I have posted once since having Holden about my weight and fitness, and as I noted, I'm in a much better spot than I was after having Davis...however the truth is, I've hit a plateau and I have about 20 pounds left that I want to lose. And I'm sick of it taking so long. I'm sick of thinking about losing it.

And I think it's really been that I've sort of given myself a pass on being very focused- I've sort of been like "Well I just had a baby 3 months ago..." but it's been 5 months now and I think my grace period (with myself) is about over. So, tracking points and things will help me feel free to eat the things I like- but be disciplined enough to lose the weight fairly quickly. So I might be posting my weekly results on the blog here and there so I feel more accountable.

If I was really brave, I'd do a before and after. In a spandex bodysuit. But I'll spare everyone.

Oh guess which uber professional advertising executive almost slept right through her meeting this morning? ME! DAMN YOU BLACKOUT CURTAINS! I quite literally woke up 15 minutes before the meeting was supposed to start...called my colleagues and said "I will be down in 10. Wait for me." And we arrived only a few minutes late and the client was tied up on a call anyway. Thank you God for that internal alarm clock that went off at 9:45 this morning.

Truth is, I didn't sleep very well until I fell asleep again around 8:15 this morning. I kept thinking I heard Holden or Davis waking up- or I would wake up in a panic that I hadn't heard them wake up...

Anyway- thank goodness I get ready really quickly.
Is this week over yet?

The Windy City

Is there a better city than Chicago in the summer? I don't know that there is. It's just beautiful here. And I love the midwest. You sneeze and about fourteen people turn around to say "bless you!" Salt of the earth, that's what midwesterners are.

My hotel room:

View from the window:

And Oprah:

Separately- I feel so busy and behind. I have about a bazillion phone calls to return...and I hate how that feels (both to me and to the person I need, and want, to call back). And I miss Katie. I want to go see her soon. Like tomorrow.

Wish I could just pop over from the windy city. Sigh.

Au revoir for now. Going to sleep in a giant bed. In the hotel robe- which happens to be a very sassy animal print. Spread out as far as I can be. Because I can.

Good night.

Night and Day

So out of the blue, our realtor called us last week and told us there was a house that was going on the market the next day that we had to see. She knows we've been casually looking for the last couple years, but that we are waiting a while since we just had Holden, etc.

We went to see it, we fell in love, we made an offer, we found out there were 4 other bids, we sadly, sadly ended up backing out (they had a cash offer), all within 24 hours. We are sort of heartbroken. It was hands down the best house we've seen in all our of looking. Mid-century modern, bamboo floors, all windows, amazingly huge lot, pool in the back, the works. BUT it didn't work out and I keep telling myself that probably some wackadoo lives across the street or surely the foundation has a crack in it or something...just to make myself feel less sad.

So now we're in house fixing mode. We're either going to put it on the market this summer or wait until March. Within another 24 hours, we've stained the porch, laid granite stone, trimmed the trees, painted the doors, potted plants, re-worked the front landscaping, etc. And in the next couple weeks we're having some people come do some other stuff around the place. Of course right when it starts looking amazing, we're probably going to sell it. BUT, today we were talking about our greatest accomplishments, because Bennett has to give a talk about them in his leadership class...and when he asked me mine I said "Writing the book. Becoming head of my department. And really- I guess the next one would be making our backyard grow grass." And I was serious. We've sodded that thing like three times.

Anyway- the whole thing is crazy because our house will probably sell within days, but it could be another year before we find something we really want. This is the Austin real estate market. URGH. BLECH. BOO.

So this weekend was great. We had many celebrations- honestly I feel a little too self indulgent today...but to tell you about them...Friday we went to Olive & June with some of our friends from Austin and a couple who used to live in Austin and now lives in Midland. Saturday we went out for our anniversary to Perla's- think oysters, shrimp cocktail, fried green tomatoes...then today I made Bennett breakfast in bed for Father's Day, we worked like dogs outside for some hours, and then I took him to pick out some goodies for being such a good dad. He really is the best dad. Davis and Holden are lucky.

I got some adorable pics of Holden today while Davis was sleeping- I'll post them soon. Davis is being a little toot lately. He had his first meltdown at Target on Friday- and at first I just laughed and realized that while the college kid parked next to me was for sure deciding never to have kids- this is just sort of what happens. Then I started to get SOOOO angry. I've never really been angry with him before but I couldn't help it. He had just picked out two little trucks and was throwing a tantrum because we weren't going back to the car aisle a second time. I mean, really??

I'm worried he skipped the terrible twos and is going to really give it to me as he approches 3. URGH. BLECH. BOO. Still love him though. He is so cute these days- a little sly, a little daring...just not when he's lying on the floor at Target kicking and screaming. HA.

So I'm going to Chicago tomorrow for work. I'll be back Tuesday. I LOVE CHICAGO. I am bummed that I won't have any time to hit up some of my favorite places...but I am going with two fun guys from work, so we'll definitely grab dinner somewhere great.

Hope you had a good weekend. Here's to all the great fathers! And the mothers that played both roles!

Chatterbox

Davis has talked for a long time...he has had a great vocabulary...but has always been on the quiet side of things. Lately, maybe even overnight this weekend, he became a chatterbox. The guy has something to say about everything. He just jibber jabbers about things ALL DAY LONG. Right now it's still fun because well, it's new, and also because he has said some funny things lately.

1) Friday we went to see my grandparents in Fred and as we were driving, I got pulled over. Davis loves cop cars, but even so, I could tell he was a little nervous about what was going on. The cop walked up to the passenger side of the car, peeked in to see two kids in the back, and ended up writing me a warning for an expired inspection. Anyway- we drove off and Davis said "The cop not come here anymore..." And I said "Yep, you're right. The cop went the other way." He paused for about two minutes and then said "Mommy got in trouble with the cop."

2) Saturday we drove across Austin to our friend, Ella's, birthday party. As we were driving, we were talking about how it is Ella's birthday in June and Davis' in November. Davis didn't like this, he kept saying "My birthday in dune (June)" and I kept explaining that actually it's not. It's in November. Anyway, as we chatted, I took a wrong turn and we ended up getting a bit lost. I said "Shoot! We took the wrong road. We took the wrong road, Davis."

He started to repeat me saying "We took the wong woad..." Then he looked at me and said "It's okay. It happens." HA! I say that to him all the time when he gets worked up about something that isn't worth being upset about. It was so funny to hear him say it back.

3) Davis loves to sleep, but lately he's been fighting the idea of going to bed, as he doesn't want to stop playing cars and trucks. So yesterday, while we were getting ready for his nap, he looked at me and said "We don't have to go nigh nigh. We not tired, mommy."

Also, sometimes in the morning he will say "I not cry at bed, mommy." And I'll say "That's not true, you DID cry at bed last night. But mommy likes it when you don't cry, so tonight- no crying..." And he'll repeat "No crying..."

So last night, before bed, I was telling him a story and of course it was about a little boy named Davis who liked cars and trucks and pretzels and how he liked to read before bed and when it was bed time he just laid down quietly and went to bed. Because he was a big boy and big boys don't cry before bed. Babies cry before bed.

Five minutes later, as it was time for him to go to bed, of course he started to cry and protest. And I reminded him "Davis- you're a big boy. You're not a baby. Big boys don't cry at bedtime."

He looked at me through tears and started to shout "I A BABY! I A BABY MOMMY." I tried not to giggle too hard because it was so clever.

4) Yesterday I asked him to talk to Holden for a minute while I was in the other room...I overheard him saying "I love you Holden. I love you more." So sweet. He just adores her. She was lying on her little playmat while he and I played cars and watched Lightning McQueen and every once in a while he would just stop what he was doing, kneel down and kiss her. And if she was looking off to the side- he would grab her chin- turn it to him- lay one on her- and then go back to playing.

5) The other day at HEB, Davis saw this fuzzy monkey stuffed animal. He NEEDED to grab it, hold it, squeeze it, love it. This was kind of unusual because he isn't usually that into stuffed animals other than his doggie, Bean-o. So because he couldn't live without it- I bought him the $5 stuffed monkey from HEB. And Davis has loved that thing so much that the monkey actually gets to join the ranks of Doggie and the aptly named "Pillow" who sleep in his bed.

So anyway- I asked him what the monkey's name was. He came up with some awesome ones...first "Bean-o" until I explained that he already had a doggie named Bean-o. Then Donny. I have no idea where he got that name. It cracked me up. And then he finally landed on "Mame." Yes. I said "What's his name?" And Davis said "His name is Mame." Ha. Bean-o, Donny and Mame. Amazing names if you ask me.

Kids are so funny.

SEVEN YEARS

Holy cow- seven years ago today, Bennett and I were married in a little white stone chapel in Fredericksburg, Texas, where we first met and fell in love in sixth grade. Okay, we didn't really fall in love then. I wouldn't even hold his hand. But I was his girlfriend and he did carry my trumpet for me after middle school every day.

It's gone both fast and slow. It's been both amazing and unbelievably hard. We've both grown in different and similar ways. We've been young and fancy free together. We've become parents to two babies together. We've traveled together, we've stayed home together a lot more after having those babies. We've been both chubby and thin together. We've been happy and sad together.

And through all those differences- I'm just glad to say that he is still my best friend, I think I am his, and I love him more year over year. So here's to seven years and seven things I love about Davis:

1) The guy is funny. Really funny. From the get-go we could both see that we enjoy the same silly things and love to laugh together. He is always cracking me up...and you know what they say "the couple that laughs together..."

2) He's unique. He's seen a lot in his life and he's an interesting person because of it. He's traveled all over, he's been to boarding school. He's gone to military college and yet he is also the messiest person I know. He's athletic, but he also loves music. Everything about him is interesting- and I love that I keep peeling back layers to find out more.

3) He's loyal. Unbelievably loyal. Bennett has his faults like everyone, but being flakey isn't one of them. If he says he will be there for you- he will be there for you. If he marries you and says he is going to love you forever- he will. He's a good friend. He's a great dad. He's an awesome husband. He sticks with his team.

4) He is HOT. Okay. Davis has always been hot- but how is it that in the last year or two he's gotten even hotter? He is a lean mean atomic athlete machine. I love his muscles. I love his short hair and his facial hair. I love his bootie!

5) He has great style. In clothes. In home stuff. In everything. He isn't a guy that doesn't recognize great design. He gets it and that's why I always consult him in those situations.

6) He has become more and more a man of God. When I first met him- he wasn't sure about it all. He didn't have a christian background and so it was new to him. It's awesome now that 12 years later, I see him pursuing God on his own. Valuing Godliness on his own. It's really so refreshing and it makes my heart happy to know that our family will always work to embody Christianity.

7) He's a great dad. The way Davis says Bennett is silly- and the way he is starting to love to do guy stuff with him- like mow the yard or watch Lightning McQueen or play monster is just awesome. And Holden knows who her daddy is. She gets a sweet little grin every time he holds her.

Yay for 7 years! We'll be celebrating this weekend!
I love you Davis Bennett.

The Beans

Nikki calls Holden and Davis "the Beans", which I love. So, here are some pictures of the Beans with a few notes at the bottom. Yes, a lot of the pictures of Holden look the same, but I'm sure you want to look at tons of pictures of my baby, right? RIGHT? I'm sure you do.

Cool guy wearing Tony's (Toneee!) shades. 

It looks like he is pumping a keg. Am I right? Just got a snapshot of his college years.

Why I oughtta!

Could she be any cuter? I'm sort of falling in love with her right now. That may sound weird, but I was telling Nikki the other day that I realized (again) now that Holden is about 5 months, this is when it really starts to get fun for me. She is smiling and interacting and you can see her personality come through. I have always loved her- but I LOVE this age and up. I have a hard time just sitting still holding babies. They're sweet, but I find it kind of boring...so this is more up my alley. :)

Last night I was feeding her and sometimes if my arm is sore from working out, while holding her, I will turn her facing forward in the chair and she leans against the middle of my body while she eats. She usually loves it and falls right asleep. Last night, she kept STRAINING her head to see me. It melted my heart, so I turned her back the normal way and we just GAZED at each other.

There is a pool going in across the street- so Davis is really into that. There have been dump trucks, skid steers and men "working SO hard". So every day we walk over and see what they're up to and Davis points to the different trucks and says "That mommy's truck." Guess he would like it if I drove a dump truck.

He also is the sweetest little gem- I have to note. I can step on something and say "ouch" or just trip a little- most things a 2 year old wouldn't notice, and right away, every time he will say "YOU OKAY MOMMY?" with a distressed look on his face. So much love, I could drown. :)

I Wide Awake

Bennett got a last minute opportunity to go to a conference he's been trying to attend- so he headed out last night for that. Meanwhile, back at home, little Davis was having a very hard time sleeping. He isn't SICK, but he doesn't feel great. He can't stop coughing or sneezing and his little nose is running like a faucet. During the day he's fine, but at night, he wakes up and cries a lot.

Last night, around 11:00, I couldn't get him to calm down, so I said he could come sleep with me. He was so excited and climbed in bed, we watched one little truck video on YouTube, and then had to lay down and go to sleep. It had been 10 minutes, and all was quiet, but I felt I needed to call Bennett to make sure he was safe on the road. I called and said "Are you wide awake?" And before Bennett could answer, Davis quickly said "I wide awake." I giggled and said "Hey- I wasn't talking to you!" He giggled and then we snuggled for a bit.

About 20 minutes later he asked to go back to his bed. He always does this- just likes to sleep in his bed. This morning, unfortunately, he woke up at 6:00 a.m. and I had just gone back to bed at 5:00 after feeding Holden. It's going to be a long day. I NOT wide awake. :)

They're Getting Big

It's hard to go back to work after a really great weekend. We celebrated my mom's birthday this weekend and we all had such a great time. We stayed at The Westin at The Domain and spent Saturday afternoon at their pool and ALL DAY SUNDAY too. We went to La Condesa Saturday night- which I LOVE- and just drank skinny margaritas, pretty much 24/2.

And man, Davis and Holden were such a joy. I mean, really. Davis had on his little floatie and can basically float around by himself in the pool as long as someone is within a few feet of him. I couldn't believe how self sufficient he was in the water. Last summer, it was so frustrating because we would go to the pool, he would swim for about 5 seconds and then he would walk around the pool, trying to dig through people's bags to see what cool stuff they brought. So, as you can imagine, there was no relaxing.

This year, he just LOVES to swim. He's like a little fish, and he has no fear, so he has learned to balance in his floatie, which we call his "monster man" (there is a happy monster face on the front) and just float and swim around all day. He doesn't hang on anyone, he doesn't whine, he just floats and plays on the steps. He doesn't need toys- he just entertains himself or talks to whoever is in the pool with him. It's so awesome. We can actually relax and enjoy the pool again. The only conflict is when we try to get him OUT of the pool. He could stay in all day.

And what about Holden? She might be even easier. She literally just hung out in her car seat, or laid on the recliners and slept or played, or just relaxed. I mean, it's ridiculous, she's so chill. Davis would have never just fallen asleep in that scenario. She loved the water too. We brought her in in her little suit and hat and she just enjoyed it. Here are a couple pictures, and I'll post more later...nothing cuter than little people in suits.

Holden and the birthday girl. Sure got a lot of space on the top of this picture. Nice photography, Sam.

Holden, hanging out poolside.

So I'm wearing my aunt Mikki's hat, what's it to ya?

So really- it was so fun and relaxing and I think we all just had a great time and felt really thankful...but it also made me realize that they are getting BIG really fast. Especially Davis. Yes it's fun that he can be pretty self sufficient- but it also means that he will continue to need us/want us less and less the older he gets...which brings a big old bubble to my chest just thinking about it. ZOINKS.

Bittersweet. That's what motherhood is.