He's BAAAA-aaaaak!

Last March, Dean and I came to a difficult decision.  Jake was 3 months old, I was about to start work again, and well, we needed help.  So, to make our lives a little more managable, we decided to let our Awesome Dog, Buddy, go visit my parents for a while.  They graciously took him away from us middle of March 2011.  It was really, really sad, and I was not happy about it.  But, a big 75lb dog and a tiny 10lb baby do not mix.  Not that Buddy would do anything on purpose, but that tail alone can knock ME down, let alone a tiny baby.  So, for the good of us and Buddy, he went to live on the Ranch for a while.

This turned out to be for the best since we had some medical stuff happen last year, so we had to have him away from us for a whole year.  We are all find now, and missin our ole Yeller, so we called and said HEY!  Bring him HOME!  So, Buddy came home last week!  And, wouldn't you know it, Jake and Buddy are already best good friends!

My three "men" outside enjoying the weather and the freshly mowed lawn!

Fetch it up Buddy!

Buddy dropped a piece of dog food, so naturally, Jake picked it up...

... and put it in his bowl for him!  Awe, how sweet!  Good Dog Buddy!

It is so nice having our Dog back home!  He had to get used to all the "city noises" for a few days, but lemme tell you, I feel about 100% safer knowing our early alarm system is in the back yard again!  

Blue Jeans and Cowboy Clothes

So, it's HLSR time.  For those of you NOT in Houston and have never been involved with it, that's the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  I grew up going there every spring, great memories of staying in our silly little camper with NO generator in the parking lot in the shadow of the Astrodome, in the camping spots reserved for Committeemen, directors, exhibitors, etc.  We would go to school, drive there after, and then sleep there, and drive to school the next morning!  Let's just say it was a really great time!  I believe just after I graduated from HS they stopped having the campsites in the parking lot due to the lot always filling up.  They don't have to worry about that anymore as they use the old Astroworld site that is now just a big pasture with NOTHING on it as overflow.  (That's a whole different story!)

Anyway, last summer I volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and got paint all over my best good wrangler jeans.  SOOOOO worth it, but now I needed a new pair.  So, that's what I did over lunch today, got some new Wrangler Jeans.  I was SHOCKED and AMAZED that in a store this size...

SOOOO much stuff!  Notice all the pink hats...

There is only ONE jeans booth for, well lets just say "AVERAGE SIZED WOMEN" (just so you konw, the average size of jeans women wear is 14).  Most of the ladies/juniors jeans were sizes like 1/2 or 29 x 34 (tall and skinny models need only apply), AND, some of those were priced over $100!  Yes, they were really cute and OF COURSE I wish I could wear them, but HELLO?  What about the larger mass of women (yes pun intended) that need bigger jeans?  Just asking!

Oh, and also, to all my LUCKY friends who have LITTLE GIRLS, and this I mean with the upmost respect.... YOU SUCK!  Out of that whole store above, there was a half a rack, yes only 1/2 a rack of little baby boy clothes...

Yes, this is it, 1/2 of this rack is baby boy, OOOOOOO!

Which of course My mother has already bought most of it for my son, so to make my husband happy I'm sure, there was nothing new for me to buy for my boy. 

But, the staff there was great and they have EVERY style of boot you can think of there, which makes sence since it IS Cavender's Boot City.  :)  And, the Jeans I got do fit quite well!  Wrangler Aura really really fit me well!  No gap in the back, mid rise (thanks!!!), boot cut (duh!) and sliming.  What more could a girl ask for?  "Pair of jeans that fit just right!"

Anyway, I feel better now, and I'm ready for the Rodeo this weekend! 

THE END

Valentine's Day - Sick!!!

So, Jake decided that after his ear infection the first week of Feburary cleared up, he was going to get another one that was worse the following weekend!  Yes, the weekend of my birthday AND before Valentine's day!  Jake had a fever all weekend and well, that mean no daycare for him on Monday.  He had one on Monday as well (and ironically, so did Dean!!), so he couldn't go on Tuesday, which was Valentine's Day!!  BOO!  I was so sad he had to miss his Valentine's party at Day care!  But, the bonus was I got to spend V-day with my two dudes, as they were BOTH feeling better by then! :)

Anyway, his daycare had a Valentine's box decorating contest (per room) so, being the crafty person I am, took this on as a Challenge!  I did an awesome and beautiful box for him, whacha think?

Now, I know that these kids (between 10 and 18 months roughly) will NOT be doing the boxes themselves, so I went ahead just did my thing.  Then, I thought it would be fun to have Jake do some "accents" with the red paint to ya know, add his personal touch! 

Yeah, it's AWESOME, you can say it! 

Oh, and yes, we did win the contest in his room, well tied for first, but its still a WIN!

Hope you had a Great Valentine's Day!!

Scrapbooking - I LOVE IT!

Had a chance to go to a scrapbooking retreat with awesome friends and my mother a few weekends ago!  SOOOO much fun!  Total Nonstop Scrapbooking from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon!  AWESOME!

And, I got to use my awesome new Cricut Expression 2!!!  And, wow!  Inever understood what the big deal was about Cricut Craft Room, but wow-wee!  AWESOME!  I will find it hard to not use it when I can't access the internet. (http://www.cricut.com/craftroom/default.html)

And, here are some layouts I finished...

I got 48 layouts finished at the retreat!  It was Really Awesome!

2011 Blog Wrap Up - Part 2 - July to December

July - Jake's First Independence Day!! And, 2nd BIGGEST EVENT EVER, second only to Jake's Birth! Jake is officially our baby! Adoption was made final end of July!

August - not much to tell here, we worked, played, had fun!

September - again, not much. I figured that Aug and Sept will have more things once Jake gets older, school, and other activities. These two months have always been slow ones for us. We did get a chance to go to the Beach on Labor Day!  It was WINDY but we had a great time! 

October - FIRST HALLOWEEN!!! So, I figured since he takes his monthly photos with Yoda, he should BE Yoda for Halloween, turned out so cute!!!

November - Daddy's birthday and Jake's First Thanksgiving! We spent the weekend at home just the three of us, and I cooked the smallest thanksgiving turkey I could find, and it was 9lbs! We did finish it in left over sandwiches and turkey noodle soup. Jake at his first all table food meal on Thanksgiving too!

December - Jake is ONE YEAR OLD! What a blessed year we had! He is such a joy and I am so thankful he is in my life! And, Jake enjoyed his 2nd Christmas a little more than last year, he was only 9 days old last year! He loves the ribbon and boxes and paper! And, Elmo was a big hit! More on the big trip to South Texas later!