Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we continued celebrating Aaron's birthday.  Like I've said before, birthdays are big deals in our family. 

On Saturday afternoon, my parents watched J, again!!! Yep.  They're amazing!!!

This gave Aaron and I sometime to do our own things.  I ran errands, and Aaron chose to go for a run.  The weather has been beautiful, so he decided to take advantage while little old me decided to go to Babies 'R Us and Target to get some more things for Baby Bennett. 

I had made reservations at Bob's Chop and Steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth.  We had never been to this place before, but it was Aaron's choice.

I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was.

 

Birthday Boy!!!

 

Our amazing dessert- Peanut Butter Brownie Sundae!!!

It was too die for!!!

 

On Sunday after church, my mom had us over for lunch to celebrate Aaron's birthday as well.  She made him a delicious shrimp and rice dish with asparagus.   It was so good!!!  Then, for something different she went to Nothing Bundt Cakes and got Aaron a cake.  She got the cake of the month that had caramel and pecans in it.  Pretty appropriate seeing as Aaron's other favorite dessert flavor besides strawberries is caramel. 

 

I love how Nothing Bundt cakes decorate their cakes!!!

 Blowing out the candles!!!

 



 

J is really getting into the whole birthday thing!!!  He loves blowing out candles.  We had some leftover cake last night, and he thought we needed more candles.  I guess he has a point.  It is a birthday cake. 

 

We finished off our weekend with our Financial Peace University class at church.  My parent again watch J, so we can attend.  After our class, we headed back to my parents to get J.  My dad had gotten Subway sandwiches, so we stayed and ate.  And as usual, J cried when we had to leave.  He loves RaRa and GPa's.  What's not to love!!!  It's his Nirvana!!! 

 

 

Babymoon

This past weekend Aaron and I had our babymoon.  I think we did one before we had J, but I honestly don't remember.  It's weird how more meaningful these times together are once you have children.

Because Aaron tutors every Saturday morning now, we opted to have our weekend start after lunch on Saturday.  We met my parents for lunch and J went home with them. 

After running a few errands, Aaron and I went and saw the movie, American Sniper.  I don't get to many movies anymore, but I am so glad I made it to this one.  It was amazing!!!

After the movie, we went to dinner and then went home to watch some more Friday Night Lights.

 

Aaron and I started this series a few weeks ago on Netflix, and we are kind of addicted to it.  We are already through Season 1 and into Season 2.

 

 

On Sunday morning, we slept in a bit and went to church close by.

 

 

 

Then, we headed to Dallas to stay the night at the W Hotel in Victory Plaza.  We used some of our credit card points to stay the night.

 

 

 

 

We relaxed the hotel lounge before walking to dinner.  I don't know if this counts as a craving, but I have been craving soft drinks like Coke.  I know they are horrible for you, and I don't usually drink them all that often (maybe a couple of times a week), but lately I have wanted one every single day.  Anyway, I had a Coke and snacked on some of their spicy popcorn.

 

 

 

We had pizza at this place just down from the hotel.  Supposedly, USA Today said it was the best pizza in Texas.  NOT!!!  It was okay but not spectacular.   Then, we went back to the room and rented a movie and ordered room service desserts.  It was fabulous!!!

 

 

 

The hotel had this mat at the entrance to the elevators.  They change them out throughout the day to say Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening.  How fun!!!

This is the only pic we got of the two of us. 

 

And here I am at 35 weeks!!!  Where has the time gone?  We will be meeting Bennett before we know it!

 

After hotel breakfast, we headed back to reality.  My parents brought J home around 1:30, which gave us time to get home and get a few things done- like laundry and a pot of chili on the stove.  It was such a nice weekend!!!  Knowing J was having a great time with RaRa and GPa made it so much easier, too.  Anytime J is with them, I don't worry one bit.  If he can't be with me, the next best thing is my parents!!!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









January so far...

This month is flying by...
I am in full on panic mode.  As of Sunday, I am 35 weeks.  For most that would mean I would have 5 weeks.  Because J came at 38.5 weeks, I have 3 weeks, but after the last two nights I am thinking it could be any day.  Seriously, I feel like I could pop!!!

Here's what we've been up to...

The first Saturday of the month we went to the mall to do our Christmas returns.  J entertained himself in front of the mirror while Aaron returned some items at Macy's.

 

Then, we headed to Dillard's for Aaron to exchange something else.  J and I wandered around again.  We came upon some Texas Longhorn apparel.  As soon as J saw it, he said, "Longhorns Hook 'em"  I sent my dad this pic and told him he would be proud that his teaching is rubbing off on J.

 

Of course, before leaving the mall, we had to get a Great American cookie.  And yes, J picked the cookie with the bright fluorescent pink icing!!!

 

Later on after J's nap, we headed out to use a gift card for dinner at one of our favs, Mijo's.  We arrived at the location by our house to find it closed.  We were so sad!!!  Before J, we went to Mijo's once a week for dinner.  Because we had a gift card and were craving it, we headed to the location about 15 minutes away instead.

We finished our evening with yogurt at our favorite place, Yummilicious.  Again, we hadn't been there in forever.  It was so good!!!

 

I honestly haven't taken that many pictures this month, but we have definitely been busy.  I have been in full on get ready for Baby Brother mode.  His room is finally cleaned out.  I have been organizing like crazy and planning J's 3rd birthday party.  I still don't feel ready for him to make his debut yet.  I still have too much to do.  With a 2 year old, it's hard to get everything done sometimes.  Thankfully, my parents are amazing and help me out so much!!! I seriously couldn't do it without them.  They take J off my hands some here and there so I can get some much needed things done.

 

 

This is Bennett's room.  A blank canvas.  I already have his bedding from Pottery Barn.  Since I took this picture, I bought a rug at Target, and my mom ordered curtains I had seen at Pottery Barn.  It will be far from completed when Bennett arrives, but I have a vision.  I am super excited about the look I am going for with this room. 

 

 

I have also really been soaking up my time with my boy.  Just when I think Jackson can't get any sweeter, he does just that.  He gets sweeter.  I am more positive than ever that he is going to be the best big brother.  Right now, he is constantly kissing my belly.  He talks about what he's going to teach him.  He will say Baby Bennett will like playing with...  It really is the sweetest thing.

 

Here's a pic of me at 32 weeks.  I really have been horrible at taking bump pics.

 

 

 

 

A Weekend for Walking and other things

Back in May, Aaron and I walked in an event called Walk4Water hosted by a church in our area.  We were encouraged by a member at our church to join him on the walk to raise money for water. At the time, I didn't really get the big deal because it was an event at another local congregation, and we hadn't been educated on what the walk was really for.  I just remember thinking 4 miles didn't seem that long.  Let me tell you- 4 miles is a LONG walk!!!

Well, this past weekend our church hosted this same walk.  Only now I have been educated.  It wasn't just a walk anymore.  Several weeks ago we had a man from the organization, Healing Hands, come and speak to us about Walk4Water and the impact this water has not only physically but also spiritually.  Wow!!!  What a story!!!

Walk 4 Water helps people in countries like Africa get fresh water wells, so they can have access to clean water.  Typically, people in Africa walk at least 4 miles to get water, and most of the time it's dirty and contaminated.  People are dying from drinking this water, but because it's all they have, they drink it anyway. With clean water wells, these people can walk for their water and know they are getting clean water.  But the greater thing is this.  Where there is water there is life.  This water becomes a place for people of the community to congregate and learn about God's word, too.  So now this life giving water is more than just a physical thirst quencher but a life saving one, too.  How amazing is that!!!  The ability to reach people's needs both physically and spiritually in teaching them the Good News about Jesus Christ!!!

This weekend our church raised money for water wells.  As a church, we far exceeded our goals and raised over $30,000 which is equivalent to 6 1/2 water wells.   Pretty cool!!!

If you have an interest in donating to this amazing charity.  Check out Woodland West's Walk4Water page.

Here are some pics I took from the walk--

 

J was feeling much better, but you can still see that he was not his usual peppy self.

 

With sis-in-law, Holly

 Just under 200 members from our church attended to support the walk

After 3 days cooped up in the house with the stomach bug, my parents offered to watch J so we could go to dinner on Saturday night.  It was nice to be out of the house and looking at food other than white rice or toast.  We went all out and had chips, salsa, and fajitas!!!

Today was our church's 55th Anniversary.  Unfortunately, I took no pictures.  It was a packed house with tons of previous members back visiting.  Aaron has been going to WWCC since birth, and I have now been a member for 10 years.  Crazy!!!  Instead of going to the church wide barbeque after services, we opted for a safer choice for J's tummy.  I am one of those crazy mamas that thinks giving your kid fried foods and barbeque is probably not the best idea just 48 hours after a bug.  We decided to go get fried rice at one of our favorites, Lotus Cafe.  They seriously have the best fried rice around!!!  J has been eating a lot of rice since Friday, so when we ordered he kept saying, "Rice time!"

 Isn't he the cutest???

 A selfie always gets him to smile!!! 

I told you I wasn't the greatest at taking bump pictures.  Since it has been 5 weeks, I thought another one was long over due.  I am 21 weeks today.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

Our Weekend- A Date Night!!!

We had a pretty great weekend!  Nothing big but it was still great!

Friday night my parents kept J overnight, so we could have a date night.  It's been a little over a month since our last date, so it was so nice!!!  It also helps that I am feeling so much better.  The last couple of date nights my parents have given us I was still in that sickly pregnancy stage, so we didn't do much.  Just sat around the house and ordered pizza.  Nothing wrong with that, but it was nice to feel good enough to go out and have a real dinner out kind of a date.

Aaron suggested we go to OlenJack's.  We haven't been to dinner there in FOREVER.  In fact, we probably haven't had dinner there since before we had J.  I honestly forget about that place, and I always wonder why.  Because seriously, it's some of the best food around!!!

 

Besides having an actual conversation with Aaron, we decided the best part of the date was the dessert.  Oh my!!! We got the Chocolate Meringue Butterscotch Cream pie.  Wow!!! Was it good!  I mean how can a graham cracker crust butterscotch cream filling topped with chocolate meringue not be good!!!  To make it even better there were these big homemade Heath bar chunks surrounding the pie.  Heavenly is all I have to say.  And maybe I should get my own piece next time!!!

 

We are such party animals!!!  We were in bed by 10:45, and I slept until 8:15 the next morning, which was so fabulous!!!

 

And then, we decided to tackle our office/man cave/junk room.  Well, we didn't exactly tackle the room.  I just decided we should move the bookcase with all the books into our room.  I figure if we do it little by little we will soon have it all cleared out and ready for the new baby. 

 

We went and got J from my parents around 2 pm, and then just lounged for the rest of the day. 

 

Sunday was the usual morning Bible class and worship service.  Lunch. And then, we met for our second small group of the year in the evening.  Plus, the Cowboys won!!!  I know Aaron was super psyched and in a good mood about that!  And then, to add an extra layer of goodness, it decided to be fall this weekend.  It was nice to pull out a long sleeve tee and a scarf. 

 

Hope your weekend was wonderful, too!!!

 

 



Weekend Recap

We had a pretty great weekend over here.  Saturday was busy!!!  We haven't had many of those lately, so it was a fun change of pace to have plans.

We started out our morning with Meet the Teacher at Jackson's school. 
I am so in love with the school J is going to this year.  If you remember we tried a Mother's Day out program in January that I only took him to twice.  Let's just say I wasn't feeling it.  Plus, J got super sick with RSV after his second time, so that just kind of sealed the deal for me.  We won't speak of that little hiccup and move on to saying this is J's first time to go to school.  Because in all honesty it is.
If you have to go to school, this would be the place.

Every where you look it is happy and totally decked out!!! I love that!!!  To me, having bulletin boards up and brightly colored signs lining the halls say I am a school.    This is the hallway leading up to the 2 year olds class.  I had to take a pic of Jackson's jersey.  His teachers theme this year is being a an All Star on the team. That would be why he is wearing his Texas Rangers gear.  She asked her students to wear their favorite jerseys or sports team shirt for Meet the Teacher.

 

J's teacher, Mrs. Rickel, had their names on the table with bubbles for them to take with them.  J made himself at home pretty quick pulling cars off the shelves and playing on the rug.  I was so relieved because I wanted him to play for a while and get used to the classroom.  In fact, he really didn't want to leave, but because the whole campus was open, we wanted to take Daddy on a tour. 

 

 

First stop was the Nature Center and petting zoo.  J and his class will go here as a class once a week and get a lesson.  Let's stop for a second and think about that.  How cool is that!!!  Real live animals?  Yep.  They have goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, pigs, a turkey, and a llama.  Inside the nature center there are turtles, fish and a rabbit.

The elementary kids plant gardens and watch them grow.  This is that garden.

J loved the gym!!!  He was pulling balls out and throwing them around.  He will have gym once a week, too!

This is a little courtyard in the middle of the campus, and of course J went straight for the cars!!!

 

We ended our tour with a visit by his class again.  J's idea!!!  Again, I want him to want to go in and explore, so we went back in for a few more minutes.  It was nice because all the other kids had cleared out, and we were able to talk to his teacher some more.

I can't tell you how good I feel about this decision to put him in school.  I am so excited for him to go and learn.  I think two days a week is going to be a perfect start into going to school. 

 

Tuesday is his first day, and I am nervous because I think there will be tears when I leave.  I just hope that he learns to love it so much that in a week or two he will be dragging me to his classroom.

 

After Meet the Teacher, we headed with my parents to Dallas for lunch with my aunt and cousin for my aunt's birthday.  We haven't gotten together since April, so it was nice to spend some time together as a family.

 

 

We had lunch at Uncle Julio's, and it was soooooo good!!!  Seriously, there chips and salsa and enchiladas are the best!!!

 

We got home around 5, and we just spent the rest of the day being lazy watching TV.  It really was a great Saturday!!!

 

Sunday was pretty typical with church, lunch, and a lazy afternoon.  We are savoring these last few Sundays before our small group starts meeting again, and we have a gatherings in the evenings for Bible study and fellowship.

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend, too!!!