Our Little Black Book

FOUR MONTHS!

2009-06-10T16:22:00.003-05:00

You would think I should have posted when Jackson was four months, but this title suggests how long it has been since I have blogged. Where does the time go? I have been so busy lately and kind of annoyed with blogger (it is 10x's easier to upload pictures on Facebook), but I will update lots soon. I didn't think it really mattered but my dad got on to me this weekend and I realized it's probably time to catch up. (another problem, too far behind=do not want to try and catch up). Jackson is actually 7 MONTHS this weekend. Holy cow! He is so adorable. We love him so much. But, another reason for my slacking, he is so interested in everything around him that he has decided that he doesn't like to miss out on anything and is NOT a good sleeper. I used to think that such a characteristic was due to the mother's lack of effort in enforcing a schedule, etc. but I have been humbled! It's a good thing he's so cute to make up for it.

This was at the zoo yesterday (I forgot a bib hence the nakedness!). I LOVE that I have a chubby baby this time around. It is so exciting to have a child that is actually on the charts. He is definitely a boy and is soooo active! Madison loves him to death and has to be a part of everything he does. This was a few weeks ago when we were giving Jackson a quick bath in the sink and Madison insisted on geting in after taking all her clothes off. I fear that they will look like twins soon with the way he is growing!

So, just a beginning to what we have been up to. I'll try to get everything up soon! Thanks for still checking dad!

Jackson's Blessing

2009-02-09T21:06:00.000-06:00

On the 4th of January we blessed Jackson here in San Antonio. We appreciated everyone who drove up for it and missed my family (my grandpa passed away early that morning and they had to leave town). Brian gave a beautiful blessing and we loved the outfit his aunt Heather and grandma Jo gave him. After sacrament we went home and enjoyed a big lunch and visiting!

Madison and Eric are the cutest cousins! I love watching them play together-they love being with each other! They wanted to share the same chair and eat together.

And then they decided to dance together on the table!

In Loving Memory

2009-02-03T21:05:00.005-06:00

Our holidays were a roller coaster this year as we received the news that my Grandmother Jane had passed away on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day my grandfather was placed in ICU and they did not think he would make it through the day. We immediately planned to make the drive to Lubbock that weekend and although we felt sympathy for my grandfather, part of me prayed that he would be able to join her quickly. He ended up beating the odds and seemed to improve slowly. We felt so blessed to be able to see him and that he was able to meet his first great-grandson. Arrangements were made and we attended grandma's funeral that Monday and headed home the next day. Grandpa then followed about a week and a half later and I made the trip a second time to attend his funeral. Losing someone is so difficult yet there was such peace in the fact that they were together. I'll always remember them and cherish the summers I stayed with them while going to basketball camp.

Jane Curlee (Nov. 19, 1921-Dec. 24, 2008) & Clyde Curlee, Sr. (Dec. 6, 1923-Jan. 4, 2009)

It is sweet seeing them side by side once again.

The one good thing was being able to see family and reflecting on memories together.

The Siblings and spouses:
Our family:

My cousing Leah and her boyfriend Scotty:

Mom and Dad:

My bro:

And the Lermons even came and supported:

The experience really made me appreciate the gospel in my life and it also made me reflect on what is important and what I should be focusing on. I love this poem and shared something similar at my grandfather's funeral:

Suppose today were your last day on earth
The last mile of the journey you've trod;
After all of your struggles how much are you worth,
How much can you take home to God?

Oh, don't count as your possessions your silver and gold
For tomorrow you leave these behind.
All that is yours to have and to hold
Is the service you've rendered mankind.

More December Catch Up!

2009-01-12T16:17:00.011-06:00

THE LAND

After Christmas we went down to the Waller Property and had a blast shooting bows & skeet (spelling?), riding 4 wheelers, eating yummy food made in the dutch oven, playing volleyball, swinging, etc.

Jackson was such a trooper and even let Madison push him around in her umbrella stroller.

She used to be scared to death of the 4 wheeler but she LOVED it this trip. We couldn't get her off it.

Even when we weren't riding it she still wanted to sit on it and pretend to drive.

PEACH COBBLER!!!!!

Grandma Jo and Jackson (hiding in the Baby Bjorn).

THE NATIVITY

Brittani, one of the most talented people I know, was assigned to be the director of the annual Nativity play this Christmas Eve. She did such an amazing job, acted in the play herself, and even made a program listing the parts, script, and even listed all the actors with a humorous bio. Madison and Aunt Jamie were angels:

The Smith boys were wise men but poor Eric was tired and retired early.

The Shepherds: Brent and Brittani

Joseph and Mary:

The whole cast: (minus Eric of course)

Jackson was baby Jesus and although he had been so content the trip thus far of course he screamed bloody murder pretty much the whole time! Murphy's law!

Another couple in their ward, also The Smith's came over and shared their professional singing talents with us and we sang carols for awhile after. Madison LOVES to sing now and demonstrated her talent as well:

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve and I love their tradition of doing the play every year. The one (and probably only in my opinion) good thing about having a baby this time of year is that I feel so much more grateful for Mary and the trials she endured as she became a mother.

May we all remember the Savior and make more "room" for him throughout the year!

December catch up

2009-01-12T15:40:00.004-06:00

December is a crazy month in our household and if I have any say in it-we are not having another winter baby! This past month we celebrated Madison's 2nd birthday, Brian's 27th birthday, and our 3rd wedding anniversary-crazy! With a one month old baby the celebrations were very low key but fun! As soon as Brian finished school we headed to Hempstead and enjoyed time with family:

Madison loved hanging out with Eric-they both love being outside and had a blast!

Brian loved having a break from school and getting lots of time with Madison. He is definitely loving playing with her-I keep trying to get him to spend more time with Jackson but he claims that he is in the "boring phase!"

Welcome 2009!

2009-01-12T14:36:00.004-06:00

The past two months have flown by and have been very busy. I am going to attempt to catch everything up so be prepared for many posts! We are loving having Jackson in our lives-he is such an angel. I have really enjoyed the whole experience a lot more this time-maybe because with the second you realize how quickly they grow up and learn to treasure every day more and it also helps that I wasn't as scared or traumatized this time knowing what to expect. Here are a couple more pictures from the hospital:

Jackson's Here!

2008-11-20T19:25:00.002-06:00

Jackson Read Black was born Friday, November 14th at 1:45 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long. We are so excited he is finally here and he really is a good baby. I am recovering a little slower than I'd like but such is life with a c-section. Everything went really well though-Jackson had to spend awhile in the nursery with breathing problems and I was going crazy wanting to see him-finally almost 8 hours later they brought him to me. Madison thinks he is cute but I still don't think she really comprehends it all. Unfortunately we have had to keep Jackson away from her since she was diagnosed with hand, mouth, foot disease the morning before he was born. She is healing though and gets really excited when she sees him-I think she is going to be great with him. Luckily Brian's mom, Jolynne is here and she is saving my life! Here are a couple pictures and I will try to put more up soon-I know these aren't the best!

Part IV: Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

2008-11-01T20:52:00.007-05:00

PUMPKIN PATCH

Before my Mom left, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out the perfect pumpkin (which we didn't even carve) and Madison was such a doll!

Isn't this the cutest pose!

Grandma and Madison with Madison's selection of the perfect pumpkin.

I love this next picture, it looks like she is playing hide-n-seek with someone!

We couldn't decide at first on the perfect pumpkin and Madison seemed just as undecisive.

TRUNK OR TREAT

Since we missed our ward's trunk or treat, we decided to hit up the Leon Valley's party and enjoyed visiting with everyone we don't always see. Madison was such a cute witch and Brian put a lot of time and effort into his costume!

Trying to get a pose-it is so difficult catching her before she runs off somewhere. I was so excited at first because it seemed like she didn't mind her hat.

But she let me know rather quickly that it would not be worm all night-in fact she would be taking it off very soon!

It was fun handing candy out to the kids but Madison didn't really get into it very much. Once she went to one car and realized she had obtained candy-she was done and ready to indulge.
She also figured that it wasn't worth working for it when we had a huge bowl in the back of the jeep-so she remained there the rest of the night!

TRICK-OR-TREATING!

Friday night we decided to take Madison to the houses in our neighborhood-hoping she would participate and not stop at the first sign of candy. Luckily, Clayton showed up and they were both immediately excited.

We waited around for awhile waiting for signs of other trick-or-treaters and thought we would let the kids get warmed up with a piece of candy. Madison was all for relaxing and eating chocolate while we waited.

She even wanted to share her spoils with little Lucy who was the cutest lady bug!

I think we got impatient and eventually started the night for the whole neighborhood-luckily others joined along very quickly. Brittani and Matt handed out candy while we went! There was one house that was decked out with decorations and had a scary skeleton by the front door that would of a sudden start talking. It kinda scared me at first but Madison and Clayton loved it and kept laughing at it!

They were so cute together and would hold hands from house to house-unfortunately I could not get a decent picture of this Kodak moment but here is the cutest thing I was able to capture.

It was such a fun night and being our first year not in an apartment, I loved getting to hand candy out and seeing all the different costumes. Madison did really well although her stomach was not used to the sweets and she exploded during the night and now has the rawest, blistered bum which made today a lot of FUN! Poor girl. Hope everyone had a great Halloween and I can't believe it is NOVEMBER!

Part III: Girl's Weekend

2008-10-31T14:31:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I was able to be apart of something amazing: a whole weekend of no kids, no cooking, no cleaning, etc. Brian's mom put us all up in a hotel on the Riverwalk while we attended the Life Seminar and Time Out for Women all day Friday and Saturday-it was so much fun. There were amazing speakers and artists and I especially enjoyed hearing from Sheri Dew and Wayne Nelson on Friday. Here we are eating on the Riverwalk at Landry's.

And again at Chili's

Besides the amazing nourishment (physically and spiritually!), we had a lot of fun just hanging out at the hotel. Heather brought us all these cute denim hats she got at a boutique.

Did I mention how nice it was to get a break, this picture pretty much summarizes how I felt:

Saturday night we surprised Brittani for her 22nd birthday and had a bunch of her friends and family meet at Acenar on the Riverwalk for dinner and cake. My mom even came to San Antonio since her sister Ilene was here from Utah working at the Time Out for Women.

I think Madison already forgot who I was!

The birthday girl and her new BF Matt-for details on how we feel about Matt-see Jamie's blog!

The yummy cake! (don't know why it turned out sideways-sorry!)

Then Sunday we all got together again after church to celebrate Brent's 17th birthday.

I'm sure he'd hate it, but I loved his grin in this picture!

All the siblings-Brian really comes from an amazing family and I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

His parents have been an amazing example of how we want to raise our family and I am so grateful for all that they have done and continue to do for us.

All in all, it was a much needed break and I feel like it was a perfect getaway before the baby comes. It was so much fun to hang out with my aunt Ilene from Utah and my mom stayed Sunday night as well! Monday she helped me get everything ready for the big day and it feels so good to have everything in order-thanks for all your help mom.

. . . . . .More to come

Part II: Baby Shower

2008-10-31T13:50:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday I went to the cutest boy baby shower ever! and how awesome that it was for me! I have some amazing friends and they went all out-it was so much fun. They did a cowboy theme and when we first walked in we each got a sheriff badge to pin on our shirt (the basket of bags was the party favors!)

The food was also amazing and labeled with western titles.

Even the drinks were tied into the theme.

The cake was phenomenal as well-little did I know that Hillery was also an amazing cake designer/decorator. It was so cute!

Here we are playing "guess what baby item is in the paper sack." I had never seen this game before and I couldn't believe how hard some of the items were-in fact noone got them all right.

The rest of the pictures are just some shots of everyone who attended.

Jamie and my mother-in-law Jolynne were even able to come and it was so fun to have them there!

It was amazing going from feeling like I still needed so much to prepare for this baby to having everything! Thanks so much to those who planned it as well as everyone who came and helped prepare our family for a new baby! After the shower we picked up Brian's oldest sister Heather from the airport and started our girls weekend! Details to come in the next post!

October in Review! Part I

2008-10-31T08:34:00.008-05:00

Thanks to Rachel, I finally was able to get pictures to load-so beware there are tons. Here is a catch up of the past month and all the fun things we have been able to do:

PIE NIGHT & CONFERENCE WEEKEND

The Smith's decided to come visit for the weekend and we were so excited to meet little Owen for the first time. The highlight of the weekend was probably the famous pie night the Konkle's hosted again this year-they were sooo yummy! It was so fun visiting with everyone.

During Priesthood, we got the girls together to hang out and visit with Jamie. It was a lot of fun and yet again-more yummy food!

Conference was amazing as usual, although you just don't seem to get as much out of it when kids are in the picture. I decided not to stress about getting to fully enjoy it and just watch it later in the week on the church's website (amazing!). Brian also took the relaxed approach:

This picture sure brought back memories. I can't believe it has been almost two years since we had Madison and soon we will be going through it all over again!

OWEN'S BLESSING

The following weekend we were able to go to Hempstead and visit with family. I went to the Waller Ward's super saturday that Brian's mom organized (with 34 projects offered-HOLY COW) while he went wakeboarding with Brent. On Sunday we headed down to Kingwood for little Owen's blessing.

The family who were able to come

Enjoying a delicious fajita dinner!

Owen is so adorable! I hope Jackson turns out just as cute. The bar has been set pretty high in our family with adorable nephews!

FAMILY REUNION

The next weekend we were so lucky to be able to go to the Heber-Davis family reunion and celebrate Grandpa Jack's 90th birthday. It just so happened that it fell on the same weekend as the TDA convention here in San Antonio, so Brian had Thursday and Friday off from school. We flew into Las Vegas Thursday night and drove to Mesquite where everything was held. Here we are enjoying a delicious buffet at our hotel (can you tell I am pregnant and LOVE food? Well Dr. Cherney sure could when I weighed in after all our vacations-oh well right!)

All the girls with the birthday boy!

The whole family! I couldn't believe that there were over 150 people that showed up from all over. (Just kidding I accidentally just deleted that picture) so here is the Black family:

And another picture that was supposed to be at the top of this section-oh well please forgive the sloppiness of this post!

Overall, it was a lot of fun and it was so nice to get away for the weekend. We are so grateful for The Black's and everything they did to let us be apart of the reunion.

So, more to come in a little while!

Technical Difficulties

2008-10-30T13:56:00.003-05:00

I literally have like 10 things to post but everytime I try to upload pictures it has problems. So-there are exciting things to come if blogger will allow! So hopefully there will be new posts soon!

Bastrop Visit

2008-10-02T22:17:00.004-05:00

This past weekend we went to Bastrop to visit my family and grandparents. We were so excited to see them-especially since this was their first trip to Texas. The last time I saw them was at our wedding almost three years ago so they were so excited to meet Madison and visit. The best part about my parents house is being out in the country. Madison loved playing outside and especially loved the hose!

The other great part is the fact that my parents do catering on the side and so we eat like kings and queens everytime we visit. Here is my dad roasting corn, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and mushrooms on their huge roaster.

Can you tell that I am to the very uncomfortable phase? It was nice to sit back and relax for a while though-only six more weeks now-I hope Jackson comes early-but with my luck and history-probably NOT!

When we tell Madison to say cheese now she tells us "No" and points her finger at us. She is becoming quite the sassy girl.

My adorable grandma and grandpa Morgan!

A group shot minus my brother who always seems to disappear around this time. We had so much fun and loved seeing everyone!

I was so excited to get a swing for Jackson this week. Luckily Madison thought it was interesting but didn't try to climb in it or anything at first. I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with her wanting to be in it- yet I turn around for one minute and Brian thought it was so cute to let her swing in it. Luckily she is a tiny girl so I know that she won't break it but I don't want her climbing in on Jackson so I tried to teach her that it was for babies.

But everytime I turn around now she has climbed into it and is swinging side to side. I don't know what I am going to do!

She is such a doll though and I can't wait for her to be a big sister-I think she will do great!

Growing Belly and Chuck E. Cheese!

2008-09-16T21:29:00.004-05:00

For those of you far away who have received the misconception that I am not very big or showing very much I thought I'd post a picture of my rapidly growing belly. Only 8 more weeks and I am counting every day!

Our first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's

In order to keep busy and make time fly-I have been trying to come up with new fun things for us to do. Recently we decided to try out Chuck E. Cheese and brought the Martin's and Jarvis' along. Madison absolutely loved it-I think it was the most fun she has ever had. Most of the time she wanted to ride in all the moving cars and trucks.

As soon as they would stop she'd yell at Brian to put another token in to get it moving again.

Scoping out the other options while enjoying a ride.

During the presentations when all the characters would sing, she would go crazy and dance on the table. I couldn't believe how much she got into it.

Of course we enjoyed the tokens and played games for awhile. Brandon and Linsay donated their tickets to Madison as well and she loved feeding them into the counter.

What did we get with our winnings? I think Brian spent about 200 of the points and left the last 60 for Madison so she got a sucker and insect toy. Here she is enjoying her spoils!

We had a blast and I really want to go every couple of months. Life is good-just praying for an early baby and enjoying some cooler weather this week!

2008-08-19T09:23:00.008-05:00

Since I haven't posted in forever, this will probably be a little lengthy but here is a little summary of what we have been up to the past two months.

Weekend in Kingwood

Most recently, we went down to visit the Smith's and see their new home and office. Talk about beautiful! I can't wait to be beyond the schooling phase! In their subdivision, they had a really fun pool and water area. Madison had a blast-I think being in the water is one of her favorite things!

Eric has grown up so much and it was so fun to see him again!

We had a lot of fun eating out, playing the Wii, and hanging out with family. I still can't believe Madison now has a new cousin-we can't wait to meet Owen.

Amber's Shower
We are all so excited for David and Amber to have a little girl and had a lot of fun throwing a shower. To go along with some of the stuff Amber has in the nursery-we did a flower theme and Linsay made an amazing cake.

Gotta love Lyssa's cricut machine-I am really going to have to get one-it made decorating so easy!
There were so many people there! I don't think my house has ever been that full before! It was so fun to hang out and visit with everyone.

Jill did an amazing job selling baby items for "The Price is Right."

Little girls are so much fun to dress and I think Amber is set on cute outfits!

Sea World
Since Brian was busy studying for the boards most of the summer, I broke down and bought a Sea World pass. We have had a lot of fun going and here are some random pics.

I couldn't believe how much she enjoys the shows and that she sits through the whole thing!

Madison and Nathan getting in the water.

Children's Museum
After seeing how fun this looked on a couple of other people's blogs-I really wanted to take Madison downtown and check it out. They had so much neat stuff and she loved everything!

Of course all good things must come to an end!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-16T19:58:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day. We enjoyed hanging out with my parents in Bastrop and had a nice relaxing day. We are so grateful for Brian and the wonderful father he is.

He does such a great job with Madison and we are so excited to see him more the next two years. It is so crazy to think that we will be having another one in just a few months. Today we had our ultrasound and now Brian feels like it is actually real. This was a 3D sonogram that looks kinda cool but the baby kept getting too close to the placenta to get a great picture.

Brian's favorite Father's Day gift didn't come until today: finding out that we are having a BOY!

I couldn't believe how clearly you could see his parts! Brian is so excited and already calling him Jackson. We haven't decided on a middle name yet so feel free to throw out some ideas. I can't wait to see how Madison will respond to a little brother-I think she'll be amazing. I'm hoping the hugging and kissing phase will last that long. I was also very excited but thought that it was a girl. Now thinking about it, this really is nice having one of each already! We are thrilled!

Girl's Weekend!

2008-06-02T16:17:00.005-05:00

When Mommy is away, Daddy will play . . . . with three kids that is! I was so excited to leave Thursday night knowing that Brian would have to take care of all three kiddos the next day and then Madison Saturday and most of Sunday! Don't get me wrong-I didn't hope for disaster for him-I just knew the loads of appreciation that would follow. Sure enough-he survived but was indeed in awe of the amount of patience, time, planning, energy, etc. that goes into an ordinary day with kids. I on the other hand got to experience a weekend of paradise in Spicewood, TX with Jamie, Brittani, Jolynne, and The Eckersley's (they live in a beautiful home on Lake Travis). Our first activity occured at their styrofoam business. I cannot believe everything that can and is made out of styrofoam including a lot of architecture on buildings. Here we are in the back of the shop getting ready to create our own masterpieces.

Here are some of the crafts they make

We got to choose a pattern and then glue our kid's name on and paint them. These are some of the finished products. We used a dolphin for Madison and only did a base coat-I'm going to let Brian get creative with it.

That afternoon we ate at a delicious little restaurant called "Tealicious" and later headed to The Oasis for dinner. I hadn't been since the rebuilding and it is huge. One worker told us that it could seat 3,000 people. It was so beautiful eating right on Lake Travis and watching the sun set. Here is a portion of the restaurant from a lower floor.

Bruce was such a good sport putting up with all of us all weekend-although I think he looks like he is enjoying himself as well!

The food was delicious but nothing compared to the view!

I think I have watched Finding Nemo way too many times with Madison and got really excited about this picture outside the restaurant!
On Saturday we all loaded up on Bruce & Marilyn's beautiful boat and toured the lake.

We were living it up on the boat-they even had a bean bag chair to lay out on-Brittani is living it up in this picture-little does she know that in about 24 hours we would all pay for our fun in the sun!

Swimming in the lake-it was really nice-cold at first but so refreshing in the heat. We mainly just lounged on life jackets and tried not to get too far from the boat-I couldn't believe there was actually a current (or so I think that is what was dragging us around)!

That night we went back and played games-my favorite being red neck golf. Brittani was on my team and did a great job contributing her point at the end of the game!

The object of the game was to throw the golf balls (attached by a swing) at the opposite three tiered pipes and wrap them around one of the levels in order to get points. It was so different but so much fun!

Me and the "Black Beauties!"

We had so much fun and it was so nice to get away from everything for a couple days. Thanks so much Jolynne for planning and also to the Eckersley's for creating paradise for us!

Catch Up!

2008-05-24T10:09:00.016-05:00

Although my lack of posting would suggest that nothing exciting has happened in our lives for over a month, there has actually been a lot of highlights-I have just been sooo exhausted this pregnancy. What was the most exciting part of the last month? VISITORS! Jaime Blaisdell flew in from Idaho and the Smith's stayed with us during the Texas Dental Meeting. We even got to meet the infamous Katie-Lyssa's sister who came in for a visit as well-and she was such a blast. The good times started that week with baby showers, a head band party, a dental school carnival, and dinner at Rudy's.

(You would never guess that Lyssa and I don't have boys-we showed extreme talent during this "aiming" game)

Fun headbands we got at Kari Dawn's party.
This wall was a lot of fun-it was velcro! The kiddos enjoyed jumping in it.

And the best part was getting to dunk Brian-it was so cute though because Madison would cry every time he fell in!
Eric, Madison, and Dylan having fun at the playground area-They were hilarious and kept wanting to swing round and round. Madison eventually kind of passed out from being so dizzy-it was crazy!

This was only my second time eating at Rudy's-it was yummy but I don't think I'll go back til' after the pregnancy is over :) And the main event: The Twilight Party. It was so amazing and I couldn't believe how everything turned out.
Hillery and Jazmin came up with the most beautiful table setting!

Christine was the mastermind behind the delicious dinner and it was fabulous! I could not stop eating!

Lyssa, Katie, and Jaime
Hillery, Jill, and Jazmin
Amber, me, Jamie, and Christine
A group shot!

For decor, Lyssa made these very creative signs that had quotes from the book hung on the walls-this was one of everyone's favorites!
Jaime Blaisdell made these cute goodie bags with items that referred to details of the books. (Hillery also made an awesome CD with the author's favorite songs and some of her favorites).
Next came the Jeopardy game that Christine also made and she was an amazing host-I couldn't believe all the cool questions she came up with.
The finalists-Brian was no longer convinced that I wasn't addicted to the books when he found out I made it to the finals (Thanks again for your help Jamie!). Overall, it was such a fun night, probably one of the most memorable nights of my life-but it is easy to have such a good time when you are surrounded by amazing people!

The next day we went to a delicious bakery in the morning and headed to the Riverwalk-Paul was such a sport and watched Madison for me even though she was feeling sick-Thanks again!

Here we are on the boat tour!
I have enjoyed this many times but have never been in a group that was told to be quite by the "narrative driver." We all got a good laugh out of that.
The famous Alamo picture.
We all ate at Cafe Rio's which was very yummy!
After all that walking our feet needed some pampering so a few of us headed to get pedicures!

Little did Jamie and Jaime know, it was mainly a diversion to keep them busy while Lyssa and Jazmin decorated our house for a baby shower.

We all pitched in money for them so they wouldn't have to try and haul a bunch of gifts.
Jazmin, Chrissy, and Christine

Jill and Courtney
Jami, Jaime, and Jamie (so fun! I am sad to be the last one in San Antonio)
Rachel and Hillery.

That night the girls made cards and were creative and I watched! Then we watched the previous week's episode of "The Office" and chowed down on popcorn. It was such a fun weekend and I am so greatful for the friends I have made in San Antonio!
This past weekend we headed down to Hempstead to hang out with the family and I went to my high school friend Ashley's wedding in Brenham. It was so beautiful and a lot of fun to see a few friends from High School. Congrats Ashley and Josh!
Madison was so excited to hang out with Brian! I hope she enjoyed it because what looked like summer at the end of the semester has turned into longer hours than school due to studying for the boards! Poor guy-I don't know how he does it.

Madison loved hanging out with Eric and as shown above, when he would cough she would run over and pat his back-it was so adorable!
One of the greatest talents Madison has learned from Eric-his dancing moves! We love her "up and down bob" she does when dancing.
Isn't this the cutest picture of Eric!
The best part about summer-swimming! Madison loves the water and we go outside and play in the pool almost every afternoon! (I loved this model pose she gave)
Well, that is most what we have been up to over the past month-I will never do a post this long again I promise (definitely a pain!) Hope everyone is healthy and happy!

Exciting Times!

2008-04-17T22:09:00.003-05:00

I am usually horrible about being a consistent blogger but I like to think that moving is my main excuse for the absence over the past few weeks (as well as the fact that the kids lost one of our memory chips and the other somehow got bent in the move so I finally picked up a new one at Costco today). We are so excited to be in a house-after 5+ years in an apartment it was well overdue! What are some of the best parts about our new casa:

Our recently purchased flat screen TV. Don't be fooled-big spenders we are NOT. Our 19" that I've had since I was 16 broke down a few months ago and we have used the computer for any movie watching desires and when we moved I finally used some of my babysitting money and purchased a real TV. You should have seen the kids eyes the first time we watched a movie on it!

The next best thing is having a back yard. It is nothing special but children crave having open terrain every once in a while. The kids have absolutely loved it and it has been one of my favorite things about the house.

And finally, we now have a 3rd bedroom to make room for a new baby! We are so excited to be expecting and Brian is already trying to brainwash my belly to make it a boy! Everything is going great and the due date is November 16th.

That is all the exciting news for now, we are so excited that Brian's 2nd year is almost done which will be another exciting upcoming event!

Easter!

2008-03-24T12:47:00.004-05:00

Friday we did an easter egg hunt for the girls at Raymond Rimkus park and had a lot of fun. Teigan did really well but the younger girls weren't as ambitious! Here is Teigan cheesing for the camera.

Maddie had no desire to find more than a couple eggs-what was the point; taking the few in and out was a lot more fun!

Madison started out a little slow but once she picked up on the object she was going for all the eggs- we had to take some out of her basket and keep hiding them to keep her occupied!

This is not a great picture-but it was the only one with our eyes mostly open and smiles from most of us!

Madison was so adorable-I loved purple on her! She actually wore pig tails for a little while at church too!

After church Joy called and said that they had made a few eggs and wanted us to come outside and hunt for a few minutes! This next picture is so hilarious-Brian and I joked around saying that it looks like we made her go outside early and hatch the eggs !!!!!

She seemed to have it down this time and she kept double checking everywhere to make sure she wasn't overlooking an egg!

Maddie did a great job too, although once she realized there were toys in some of the eggs and FROGS she was satisfied-Chuck finally had to take them away so she would attempt to hunt again.

AAAAHHHH! A sweet moment with my hubby!

And one with Madison too-as you can tell by her facial expression-she isn't as cuddly as she used to be-I usually get pushed away now!

Madison attention diverted quickly from eggs to ACORNS! She loved picking them up and thanks to Brian's demonstration . . . .

trying to eat them. I think you can tell by my look how pleased I am with this new hobby!

Overall, it was a lot of fun and we loved being able to watch the girls have a good time! Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Weekend Adventures!

2008-03-20T08:16:00.004-05:00

We had a lot of fun this past weekend attending my friend's wedding and reception here in San Antonio. Madison loved staring at Kristen's dress and could not take her eyes off of her. In fact, even during the couple's first dance she kept running out on the dance floor so she could stare at her!

I can't believe it has already begun. Boys are officially chasing my little girl! It was so funny because he would not leave her alone.

He kept putting his arms on her shoulder and following her around everywhere. She even started trying to push him off but luckily Grandma Curlee was there and made sure that the little boy gave her some space! We had so much fun and Linsay even came and helped decorate the night before and followed Madison around at the reception. We had lots of fun hanging out while Brandon was in Kansas!

Once Brian had a break, we went to the park to let Madison run around. She is always kind of weary at first but then we can't get her to slow down once she gets going.

She loved playing with these chimes!

She looks so adorable on the slide-it is so funny watching her the first couple of times being so cautious and then she ends up trying to dive off of them.

Our favorite part of the weekend: GRANDMA! It was so much fun spending time with my mom and we had so much fun shopping and playing!

Madison's favorite part is always the swing-she will chill in there all day if I would let her!

And it isn't an adventure outside if we don't try to eat some of our surroundings!

Brian keeps hassling me about her hair and teasing me that he is going to cut her mullet off. I guess I didn't realize how long it was getting til' I saw this picture! It is so cute though and I even bought little rubber bands but it isn't thick enough to do little pig tails yet.

She really is a doll and I am enjoying how interactive she is becoming-we have so much fun together!

Three generations of women! Thanks so much for spending time with us this weekend Mom-come back soon!

Under Construction!

2008-03-17T12:49:00.001-05:00

I am trying to figure out how to change everything and be creative but I have to find time to finish up so please excuse the chaos!

Pump it UP!

2008-03-10T22:35:00.005-05:00

Last Monday was Maddie's 2nd birthday and we celebrated at Pump it UP-an amazing blow up paradise! The bad thing was that Maddie got sick that morning and wasn't even able to play :( These are some pictures of the different areas to play.

My favorite was the huge slides in each room. They were so much fun!
It sure wasn't some average slide though-the little ones held on for dear life when riding with their parent (although I think the parent may have been more nervous making sure they would actually slow down at some point and not send their child flying!) Seija looks so cute in this picture holding on to Tilane.

Matthew and Brooklyn got the hang of it pretty quickly!

Isn't this the sweetest picture? Brian didn't have class that morning so he decided to come and play!

And the person who made it all possible-Joy! Thanks so much for planning everything!

This picture was also so cute seeing all the kiddos climbing up the slide.

In some cases I think that the parents had just as much or even more fun than the kiddos! Jazmin definitely looks like she is enjoying bouncing around while Olivia looks a little unsure of everything.

After playing in the three different rooms, we headed to the party room and were excited to see that Maddie had shown up for the end of the party! What a cute headband!

Joy had an amazing balloon guy come and make cool balloons for all the kids. Afterwards we enjoyed yummy cake and ice cream.

Here was the little kids table! I can't believe that Sadie looks like she is almost as big as Madison!

And in the background is Chelsea standing by Brinley. She was so amazing-coming with her less than three week old little girl and I even saw her going down slides and climbing over obstacle courses!

And here is Madeleine sitting in the royal chair opening her presents-don't you just love little Madison trying to climb up and take over!

And she was still in good spirits! I was so excited to see her smiling even though she had just been throwing up. Happy Birthday Maddie-you are such a sweet heart! Thanks so much Chuck and Joy for making such fun memories for all of us!

Weekend Getaway!

2008-03-07T14:00:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we were able to go to Hempstead to visit with family. It was initially supposed to be a girls weekend but the guys talked their way into being apart of the fun. Madison's favorite part was seeing Eric again-it had been way too long!

The festivities began Friday night with delicious homemade pizza that Jolynne made! It was soooo yummy!

Brittani gave the suggestion for homemade ice cream with our pizookies which sounded great until we realized her machine was broken and we'd have to do it manually. We each took turns and it ended up taking about an hour. For some reason, Brian is not pictured-he usually finds other things he "needs" to do, but he sure did enjoy the fruits of our labor!

I think Jamie was trying to convince me that it was my turn again in this picture- Ha!

We were all so excited that Heather flew down from Utah with her newest little boy Joshua.

Grandpa Hal couldn't figure out how to get Madison to want to come to him but quickly learned that just like her mom, the quickest way to heart heart was sweets. He spoiled her with lots of ice cream.

Saturday we attended the Stake Relief Society Enrichment Activity where we all spoke as part of the introduction of the event for a few minutes on the theme, "Home is Where the Heart Is." It was an amazing experience and I felt so blessed to be represented as part of such an amazing family. After speaking, we attended three different classes of our choice.

After the activity, Jolynne treated us to Red Robin which was delicious!

Then we went shopping and then to the drive in showing of "Spiderwick." It was a fun movie and was so much fun (it was my first time at a drive in).

Truly it was an awesome day being able to hang out with the girls-I am so grateful that Jolynne plans these kinds of events, especially since both Madison and Eric were teething and everytime we heard from the guys the kids were screaming in the background!

Sunday we went to church with the whole family and then Brian took Heather and Joshua to the airport and the Smith's took off. We already miss everyone like crazy!

Thanks so much Jolynne for everything you do! We had so much fun and appreciate the memories you create for our family!

Mischievous Madison!

2008-02-29T11:28:00.005-06:00

Don't you love it when you give your child something to entertain them for a moment thinking "Oh, she'll just enjoy shaking these sprinkles and it will keep her entertained while I finish the cupcakes" and then you realize that she has been quiet for way too long and something is not right. This is how I find her hiding in the corner eating the sprinkles that I still do not know how she was able to manage getting it open. It was so cute!

The cupcakes were for Jolynne's birthday who was able to visit us for a few hours for us to celebrate!

On another note, I have actually been really productive lately on Madison's scrapbook and thought I would show some of the progress!

Last weekend I threw a bridal shower for an amazing friend of mine, Kristen McCarty, in College Station and it was so much fun! It was quite an adjustment though because I have only been to baby showers for the past two years!

Of course there were lots of yummy food and can you believe that cake!

That's right: Linsay did an amazing job AGAIN. I was so excited to have one of her masterpieces that I transported it all the way in the car-really wasn't too hard though. I am sure she is excited that I don't have any events planned for awhile.

The guests! I was so excited to see some of our friends from the singles ward! It sure was a lot of fun! (and Linsay did the board also!) We are so excited for you Kristen!

Update!

2008-02-08T14:09:00.001-06:00

I have decided to admit that maybe I should face the fact that I am going to be a once-twice a month blogger! So, here is a summary of our lives for the past few weeks! The most exciting news being that Madison has been walking for a couple weeks now and it is crazy how she is taking off! These pictures probably don't capture it very well-but they were all I had!

I am also excited to say that I am scrapbooking again and my goal is to finish it before we move at the end of March. Here was yesterday's creation:

I have also learned that I am addicted to Craigslist. I have been trying to start organizing parts of our apartment and selling things in the process. What will I do with SO much more money? It is going into the new TV and bed fund (our old TV broke and I am ready to upgrade from a full bed!) that we are hoping to purchase when we move. I love looking at all the posts though and have ideas of things I'd like to get once we move.

My mother was so sweet to come stay with us a couple of weekends ago and babysit Madison while Brian and I got to go out! We went to the Stake Dinner and Dance and it was a lot of fun! Most of the people our age either didn't come or left after dinner but we really enjoyed the dancing (mainly ME) and time alone.

Probably the biggest event recently was Chelsea's shower! I know what you are thinking-me throw a shower-well Jaime and Jamie were the reigning queens of planning and throwing parties and now they are BOTH gone :( so I figured I should step it up and start planning events myself. But I can't really take all the credit-Lyssa did A LOT and things are always easier when you are friends with an amazing cake decorator-thanks again Linsay! It was a lot of fun and we are so excited for Chelsea! Here are some pictures of guests, decorations, and food!

Thanks again to everyone who helped!

Amazing Christmas Tree!

2008-01-17T13:57:00.000-06:00

The huge Christmas tree in the middle of Silver Dollar City had an amazing light show at night. Here is a quick clip of how it lit up in so many ways and to the music! (Sorry-I am learning how to do videos and this was supposed to be at the end of the last post so look at it first!)

Christmas!

2008-01-17T13:33:00.000-06:00

So, this is very late but I am proud of myself to accomplish a post before a month has passed! We mostly enjoyed being able to spend time with family and friends and the time seemed to fly by! We began the break by visiting my family and exchanging gifts (thanks for spoiling us as usual!) and then we went to Brian's parent's house in Hempstead and began the 12 hour trek to Branson, Missouri. How do you accomplish this with a 12 month old? Thank goodness for technology-Madison loved watching movies and Veggie Tales on the trip.

We arrived late on the night of the 23rd and Madison was so excited to get there she didn't want to go back to sleep. We all had our own way of dealing with the lack of sleep the next day and Brian's approach was very humorous!

One of the best parts about vacation with family for a mom= A BREAK! I was very lucky that Uncle Brent immediately began helping and became Madison's favorite very quickly.

Brittani also helped out tons-I loved this picture of the two working away on their computers!

Here we are Christmas morning opening up presents and enjoying family time! We had lots of fun and the girls got to go see National Treasure 2-which was very good!

Madison came down with RSV and required extra work for some of the trip. Then I became sick and passed something to Brittani and then to Brian. It was lucky that we had the extra time to recooperate-so even though we were in a new, exciting town- some of the time was spent just laying around.

Don't worry-we weren't too sick! We still enjoyed a lot of the attractions. I loved the shows and wished we could have stayed for a couple weeks and saw them all. The first one we went to was called Amazing Pets and it was really amazing what these animals could do-Madison loved watching their tricks!

We also went to the Jim Stafford Show and Brian and the boys enjoyed "57 Heaven" which had an amazing collection of classic cars. The most amazing was the Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede-but unfortunately no cameras were allowed. As far as talent goes, I was amazed at the show "Six" which had six brothers who sang acapella and were able to make the sounds of the instruments for their songs with their voices! They were very entertaining.

Our last day there, Hal and Jolynne watched Madison while we went to Silver Dollar City which was similar to an amusement park with shows and shops galore! Unfortunately a lot of the roller coasters were closed because it was too cold but we still enjoyed ourselves. I loved this Christmas tree!

After dark there was a parade that went through the little streets. The little city was covered in christmas lights and it was so amazing!

All in all, we had an amazing time and wished that all of our family could have been there. We are so greatful to The Black's for making such an amazing vacation possible. We mostly enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on the Savior's birth and the many blessings that have been bestowed upon our family.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-01-15T11:11:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been way too long! A lot has happened in the last month and my goal is to blog an event every day for the next couple of days. Dec. 17th Brian and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. It was a lot of fun to spend time with him alone (thanks to Jamie Smith!) and we had a blast! I would give more details, but Brian wanted this post to be short and sweet and he revoked my bragging rights! Anyways, I am very lucky to be married to such an amazing person and I look forward to many more anniversaries in the future!

Speaking of the future: tomorrow I'll be posting Christmas!

Madison's Birthday. . .and Brian had one too!

2007-12-18T08:32:00.000-06:00

The highlight of the month so far has definitely been Madison's 1st birthday party. We held it at our home on Monday the 10th and combined it with playgroup. Aunt Brittani came over early that morning and set up a lot of the decorations!

Brian brought some butcher paper home from school for the kids to draw on. It was a big hit until we realized most of the kids were eating the crayons!

Linsay made another impressive masterpiece! The flower cake matched her decorations perfectly and everyone loved it! (Linsay I think you may have some business coming your way!)

I love the next few pictures demonstrating her stages of emotion during the present opening portion of the party. Here she is very excited and clapping at the sight of all the presents!

Realizing all the kids swarming to help with the process, she soon became very possessive! I can't believe how evil she looks here.

Like most children, her attention span does not last very long and soon she was tired of opening presents. She must be crazy-presents are the best!

Here are a few pictures of all the guests:

After lots of fun with all the kids and opening presents, Madison's favorite part arrived: Cake and ice cream. At first she had to scope it out and make sure this was really happening-I never let her eat a whole tray of sweets!

As soon as the realization sunk in, she was in heaven!

And the best part: Grandma came and played with me for four days!

And the day before we celebrated Brian's 26th birthday! Now just because his portion of the post is only two pictures doesn't mean that we weren't super excited but Brian hates having the spotlight and a dinner was all that I was allowed to do. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed having a lot of our family there and awesome friends and neighbors-Marcie and Jamis! (We miss you tons!)

Brian enjoyed helping Madison practice for the big party except we let her go to town on fruit salad instead of sweets!

Family Pictures!

2007-12-05T10:04:00.000-06:00

We FINALLY got in to do family pictures this weekend. They turned out pretty good. Here was one of the pictures we liked.

We ended up choosing this one!

And that was about all Madison was in the mood for. This was the closest thing to a smile we could get, so we'll be going back in a week or two for her one year pictures.

Thanksgiving!

2007-12-04T17:10:00.000-06:00

I figured I should probably go ahead and post our Thanksgiving vacation before Christmas arrives, so here is a quick recap of our trip to the Ranch!

Madison and I had some bonding time on the trip down. It was good practice for our 13 hour drive we'll be making for Christmas.

The kids were great sports and endured the cold better than I expected. Some of their activities included:

Madison practicing walking (more my idea than hers-it just seemed like more fun than crawling and eating dirt).

Eric and Madison loved the rocking horse Grandma has down at the ranch. (I think Eric preferred the four wheelers though!)

We bundled them up in a wagon and they loved the bumpy ride. Both were constantly trying to dance as well as jump out!

We kept pretty busy keeping them entertained while the men were busy hunting and working on different feeders and cooking the acquired game!

Here Brian demonstrates the precision used in hunting with a bow

His form paid off and I was impressed to learn that he killed an 8 point buck with his bow. He also shot two turkeys and a pig with his rifle.

Here we are cleaning the turkeys. I agreed to help pluck the feathers but that was about as far as my service was extended!

And then we feasted! Harold deep-fried a delicious turkey and we also ate some of the pig that grandpa cooked in a pit underground. It was so tender!

And the best part about Thanksgiving was that it was also Jamie's birthday! It was so much fun driving around the ranch following the scavenger hunt Paul planned with her gifts.

Jolynne brought a yummy cake and Jamie opened all her gifts. She is demonstrating her delight of finding several dollar bills in a box [one of my favorite gifts if anyone feels like being generous :) ]

On a more serious note though, this vacation was so much fun because we truly got to be surrounded by nature and ponder all the wonderful blessings that we have.

And here are two of the greatest blessings in my life. I am so thankful for Brian and the extremely caring and considerate husband he is. I am so grateful for Madison and the blessings as well as patience that I have gained from being a mother. They are so amazing!

And we are so thankful for our FAMILY! We sure did miss seeing my parents and are very thankful for them. The Black's and Smith's are also amazing and it was so much fun making memories with them as well as being uplifted by each of them. I was especially grateful for the devotional that Jamie and Paul gave on changing our lives by pondering the decisions we make. I have been blessed this past week as I have tried to change my choices from just good and better to best and have already noticed a change in my attitude and overall happiness! Thanks also to Jolynne and Hal for making everything possible-you are so very generous to our family and we are so thankful for all you do!

Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and may we each remember the Lord's hand in our lives!

Our Little Lady Bug!

2007-10-30T13:00:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday was so crazy! We started the day by going to the gun show (I go for the yummy jerky) and looked at all the booths, including jewelry! Jamie and I went to Rachel Bassett's baby shower after that and had a lot of fun, Christine did an awesome job. Then we headed to the Halloween Party at church. There was lots of yummy soup and so many awesome costumes!

Madison and I are posing with our neighbors Chuck and Madi (she is the cutie that I babysit).

Marcie is so awesome with all the kids, she always hauls Madison around for me (not to mention she made the adorable lady bug costume Madison is wearing!) I couldn't believe how Daniel looks like he is the same age or older than Madison-I love big babies!

After the party, we went over to Brittani's to celebrate her birthday. Madison had fun posing in front of the pumpkins.

This is my favorite picture. I just picture her saying "Life is easy when you are young and beautiful!"

And here is the birthday girl! I can't believe that you are 21 now Brittani! We are so excited about her getting into nursing school so she'll be here with us through dental school. After her party, we stopped by the Konkle's pie night which was also a blast. I ate way too much pie but who could pass up having 10 different selections? It was so fun hanging out around the fire and enjoying everyone's company. Overall, a very fun day but I don't think I want to be that busy again for awhile!

Murder Mystery Party

2007-10-29T16:23:00.001-05:00

Friday night we went to our first Murder Mystery Party. Marcie and Jamis Charles hosted it at their apartment and did an amazing job organizing everything. The setting dated back to 1940 as WWII was approaching and each of the characters were invited to escape Paris on a government train heading to Southern France. Everyone showed up dressed to impress as we began four rounds of accusing and denying each other's clues. Between each round was a course of food-my favorite part! and then there was a final accusations round where everyone guessed who the murderer was. And the criminal was. . . . . . . . .ME! I didn't find out until the fourth round and was excited to learn that I am better at hiding emotions and deceiving than I thought. It was tons of fun-thanks so much Marcie and Jamis-I think I may have to host one some day.

Brian and I played the parts of Capt. Wey (a pilot of renown) and Idelle (princess of the ancient and noble Chattre family).

Melissa and Aaron Wood played the characters of Mal (a soldier of fortune) and Mary (a journalist for a newspaper)

Quintin and Jill played the parts of Khover (A worldly businessman) and Belinda (a famous designer).

And the wonderful hosts acted the parts of Duke Klare (a military leader of a small nation) and Barbra (a rich and spoiled daughter of a French perfume king).

Daddy-Mommy Time!

2007-10-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

Brian and I went away for our first night alone together without Madison last week. We went up to his family's ranch near Rock Springs and watched the animals come in for the evening hunt (Brian went for the morning as well but I stayed in bed). We initially went up to try and find Brent's deer that he shot last weekend that they never found but had no luck as well. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the time together. I was a little disappointed that Brian didn't shoot anything, but he had to get back for school. Thanks again Jamie for watching Madison!

Daddy-Daughter Time

2007-10-29T07:55:00.000-05:00

I love this picture of Madison and Brian. Brian has done an amazing job at finding time to help out lately-I'm so greatful for him and everything he does for our family. Here they are cuddling at Brittani's house.

More Daddy time also means more messes for me to clean up. It is so amazing to me how messy she gets when he feeds her. I think her expression says it all! Mess or no mess-it sure is nice to get a break every once in a while. Thanks for all your help lately Brian!

Halloween Fun!

2007-10-25T18:03:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to the Bassett's to carve pumpkins and see their beautiful new home (I am so jealous-I love your kitchen Rachel). Here I am carving the pumpkin! It really wasn't as tedious as I thought it would be (then again I chose like the easiest design there was)!

Here are a few of the finished products. Mine is the furthest on the right. I had to blog this once I read a comment Jaime posted about it reminding her of Edward and Bella-that is right Jaime. Once I saw it I immediately thought of my latest addiction and had to have something in my house to remind me of EDWARD!

Here is a picture of it in the light-it looks a little more clear (I think?).

And here is the whole crew that came out for the fun. Thanks for having us over Rachel & Jed! We really had a lot of fun and enjoyed all the yummy snacks! (P.S. I wanted to give a shout out to Jamie S. for the pictures-I didn't have my camera so this post is made possible because of her & Lyssa. Thanks again).

Happy Birthday Brandon!

2007-10-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Brandon's Birthday a couple Sundays ago (the actual day was Oct. 10th). Here he is blowing out 23 candles on the beautiful (and delicious) german chocolate cake Linsay made.

We had two games of Settlers going-one table with all the girls and one with the guys. The men seemed very excited about this arrangement claiming they could actually play without worrying about upseting their wives. The games were very close but at the end of the night, Jamis dominated the boys' game and I won the girl's (I think I am starting to get the hang of it!). We had a lot of fun and enjoyed celebrating-hope you had a great birthday Brandon!

Men at Priesthood = Women Party

2007-10-09T08:34:00.000-05:00

During Priesthood, Krista was nice enough to invite everyone over for food and fun! Krista had fun things going on in every room. The women enjoyed playing games and here Bretta was acting out a wrestler, exclaiming "I'm going to smash your head to pieces!"

The karaoke machine was definitely a hit and we especially enjoyed the amazing talent of Jazmin and Jill.

Upstairs, there was a theatre room set up for the kids and here they are watching Toy Story and eating popcorn! I wanted to stay and hang out but I kept getting dirty looks!

Kate is quite the popular new girl. Madison got acquainted with her at Eric's party and told Olivia to check her out. Here she is getting a closer look!

And my favorite part was the coming out of Hillery and the newest addition-SADIE! She is such a beautiful little girl and I love all of her hair! She slept the whole time I was there and looked like a little angel.

All in all, it was a lot of fun-thanks for opening your home to us Krista! By the way, I think I was still worn out from that morning and took one wrong shoe home. It is a dark blue Old Navy flip flop if anyone is missing it. Sorry! I don't know how I got it confused with a brown one!

STILL ALIVE!

2007-10-08T21:43:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning Jenni, Jamie and I competed in the Longhorn Sprint Triathlon in Austin. Here we are pre-race, still smiling-Jamie and I still unaware of the long road ahead of us. I can't believe how dark it was outside. We got there three hours early to make sure we were totally prepared, so this was taken a little before 6 AM! Around 9 is when we began the .5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run.

Here I am meters away from finishing the race. No my strides are not usually this long (I wish), I just really picked up the pace when the end was in sight!

AND we survived. Here we are standing in front of the finish line. I finished 322nd out of 740 with a time of 1:34:50 (a little over an hour and a half in case I wrote that wrong). It was definitely a satisfying experience-in fact the MOST EXPENSIVE experience I think I've ever had, but I think I might go at it again next year! I'm just so glad that I didn't have to do it on my own- I think it would have been so much scarier and not as much fun if Jamie and Jenni weren't there- Thanks for the help and support (and for the pictures Mason)!

The Beauty of Babysitting

2007-10-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

To ensure that I will in fact be ready for another child one day, I thought it would be fun to get a glimpse of what it is like to have two kiddos running (and crawling) around. I watch the beautiful Madeleine Ross about 4 days a week and it has been a lot of fun. This is her adorable picture she took a few weeks ago before we started watching her.

And this is her now! I thought Madison wore me out, but it seems like Madi can't keep up either. She usually ends up this way every afternoon during lunch. Madison is usually climbing on her high chair wondering why she is no longer talking back or moving!

9 MONTH PICTURES

2007-10-04T17:26:00.000-05:00

We finally got our pictures taken (I am such a bad mom-we never even took 6 month pictures), but in my defense I was waiting on a convenient time for Brian so we could take family pictures the same day but he decided to buzz his hair two days before our appointment. I was frustrated at the time but it is starting to grow on me more! Anyways, Madison is a doll and I am so jealous that she is photogenic and I am not-where did she get it from? Maybe Brian has some hidden talent that I am unaware of .

SAN ANTONIO ZOO

2007-09-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

Madison was immediately excited when we got there. I think she was so excited that Mommy finally took her somewhere besides the grocery store and on errands!

Madison stares in awe at the birds dressed so similar!

A beautiful Madison Butterfly- the most rare and unique species!

She loved staring down at the jumping fish and tried really hard to dive over and join them!

Here she was on the ledge looking over at huge goldfish and large pelican birds. We are having so much fun!

The petting zoo was one of my favorites although it took her awhile to decide that they were okay to touch.

This animal had just arrived and was new on exhibit!

Overall it was a very fun day. If you haven't been to the zoo here, we highly recommend it. Especially if you have older kids. They had all kinds of activites and play areas for them. Thanks for taking the day off and spending time with us Brian!

Black Fun Family Facts

2007-09-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

So I am always like a month late responding to tags-sorry Lyssa, but here goes!

Brian
*Born in Conroe, TX
*2nd to oldest with 3 sisters and one brother
*Was on the cover of the New Era in High School for the story his Mom sent in about him converting and baptizing his baseball coach
*He was voted "Most Likely to be a Model" in his senior class superlatives
*He loves sports, especially basketball and still tries to play as much as possible
*Graduated Valedictorian at Hempstead High School
*Studied at Blinn College, BYU Idaho, and finally graduated from Texas A&M in Spanish
*He is class president of his dental class (although I think he is known more as a clown!)

Jami
*Born in Austin, TX
*Oldest with one younger brother
*Also love sports and participated in Cross Country, Volleyball, Basketball, Track, and Softball in high school
*Placed 5th in state in News Writing my junior year (I love to write although don't have time for it anymore)
*Voted "Class Favorite" in senior class superlatives
*Graduated 4th in my class at Smithville High School
*Haven't finished college (and will I?) but started out majoring in Civil Engineering. If I go back, I think I'd finish in business since it would be more practical in helping Brian run his dental practice.

Madison Avery
*Born in San Antonio, TX
*Born four days before our one year anniversary (we pretty much forgot about it since I didn't get home til' the night before)
*Loves to be around other kids (& Eric has taught her to be pretty aggressive)
*Hates dogs! She literally starts shaking, tries to climb even higher up mommy or daddy and sometimes acts like she is hyperventilating.
*I think she would rather eat her toys than play with them!
*We think she now wants to be a swimmer-all she does now is try and dive everywhere (and has acquired several bruises doing so)
*Her newest way to drive mommy crazy is grinding her teeth! I hate that sound!

Weekend in Bastrop!

2007-09-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

We went to Bastrop this weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday. Madison and I had a good time hanging out in the country. She loves walking around and looking at all the scenery as well as grabbing at leaves and trying to eat them!

While there, I met with my favorite teacher from high school who does triathlons and he gave me some advice and let me borrow his bike for the race on October 6th! I am so nervous and excited at the same time. Now I have to find somewhere around here where there isn't a lot of traffic to go riding!

DADDY!

2007-09-09T19:10:00.000-05:00

My Dad complained that I don't have any pictures of Brian on our blog- and we actually got to see him for a couple hours before he went to the ranch so I made sure to take a quick picture. Madison was excited to get out and show off her new sunglasses (their still a little big though!)

GROWING UP!

2007-08-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

It is official! Madison is trying to crawl-still struggling but making progress getting on her knees, etc. Her favorite thing to do is stand up holding on to something. We are also getting at least two more teeth in and have a few very short little curls (on the back of her head because that is where the hair is the longest). She is growing up so fast (tear, tear)!

4 Things About Me

2007-08-24T13:31:00.000-05:00

So nothing really exciting this week. I am babysitting my neighbors girl and babysat two other days this week. So I figured I wanted to put something on my blog-so here is a response to being tagged about a month ago on this topic! Sorry I'm catching up slowly!

4 Jobs I've Had:
1. Dental Assistant for an endodontist
2. Head Lifeguard at a State Park pool
3. Waitress at "Wings N' More"
4. Clerical worker at Source Net Inc.

4 Movies I Can Watch Anytime:
1. One Fine Day
2. How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
3. Mulan
4. The Best Two Years

4 Places I Have Lived:
1. Austin, TX
2. Smithville, TX
3. College Station, TX
4. San Antonio, TX

4 TV Shows I Love: (I don't really watch TV-we don't have cable)
1. The Office-Brian always brings the episodes home on his laptop
2. Alias- I watched it while making file folders
3. Baby TV! Our neighbor Joy records it for us
4. and I am open for suggestions

4 Favorite Foods:
1. Chocolate! It is my weakness
2. Any kind of fruit
3. Strawberry Spinach salad
4. Mexican!

4 Places I'd Rather Be:
1. Anywhere with my hubby! (since I see him soooo little these days)
2. Anywhere tropical.
3. Snowboarding in the mountains
4. Shopping (especially if I had the money to do so!)

4 Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Gmail
2. Yahoo
3. Blogs
4. Craigslist

And I think I'll stop there. I would tag people but I'm pretty sure everyone has done it by now.

7 FACTS ABOUT ME!

2007-08-14T20:33:00.000-05:00

I got tagged by Jamie for several things so I figures I should reply to at least one. I had no idea what to put so these may be totally crazy!

1. I love Disney movies
2. I hate the feeling of socks-they give me goose bumps. (I got them just now thinking about the cottony scratchy feeling)
3. I love playing basketball and volleyball
4. I am totally accident prone (or just dumb I can't decide which one) and have been in the hospital more than anyone I know! The stories would take way too long to explain!
5. I only have one brother and always wanted sisters. He let me dress him up for a couple years but it always involved money.
6. I am dying to travel. I have only been to Utah and Mexico once when I was like 10.
7. I was homecoming queen and prom queen my senior year (the counting got messed up or something).

8 MONTHS OLD!

2007-08-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Madison's 8 month birthday and she is growing like crazy.

Four teeth are almost completely in and she has a sharp bite! She still rolls everywhere and I don't know when crawling will come.

A BLOG!

2007-08-14T18:24:00.000-05:00

Finally! I have caught up with the times and created a blog (with a lot of help from Amber). I am still learning everything so it is kind of short now but it will get there.

ROAD TRIP

2007-08-14T18:14:00.000-05:00

This weekend we went to Lubbock to visit my grandparents. It was a long drive but they loved meeting their first great granddaughter. We made a poster to brighten her nursing home room and left some flowers!