the latest news...

So, JR and I are back to debating the idea of a kitten...it's going to happen but we aren't sure when. If it was up to me, I would drive down today and go pick one out! When it comes to animals I tend to be very impulsive, so JR wants to go with me...grrr! I am hoping this will cure my baby fever! LOL

In the past, it has always been JR to bring up the idea of having another child. However, in the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been entertaining the idea. It's kind of strange - there are far more reasons NOT to have another child than there are to have one. I think it has more to do with the fact that Logan is starting pre-K and Landry is about to be 2 than anything else. Sure I miss parts of being pregnant - but again there are more things I dont miss - like the morning sickness, the swelling ankles, the leaky boobs, the hormones...etc. Yes, I miss nursing my baby, I miss holding that sweet little thing in my arms...there is so much I miss about them being so small. After I had Landry, I was very conscious to not take ANYTHING for granted because I was sure that I would be having any more children...and while I was careful not to take it for granted, it doesn't mean I don't miss it. So, maybe we will have another child - but not for several years...and then again maybe we wont. College is expensive and JR and I are still paying his student loans..and probably will be until Logan is in college! Uhh. I have gone from paying $10 over the amount due to $25 over...hopefully it will take off a couple of years, and as JR makes more money, I hope to just keep paying more and more over the minumum payment until its gone.

I don't know if I said this before but JR got a raise back at the beginning of June, so we have been using the extra money on things like that above. $25 over the student loan payment, $25 over the car payment. We started putting an extra $25 on top of what we were putting in the kids college funds. AND we are trying to put a little bit aside for savings. JR and I decided to go on a cruise for our next vacation - and it looks like that will be somewhere in March, April, or May of next year. We thought about going this year in October, but with Landry's birthday and Halloween I don't think it will e the right time, and I am really scared about being in open water during hurricane season...so we will just wait!

Last, my sister posted on her facebook, either monday, or yesterday that she and Amelio got married. Now, whether or not its true, I can't say...maybe she is just trying to get attention. I dont know! I feel like everytime I get over her latest shenanigans, another one rises. It is so frustrating. To sit and wonder if my sister is married or not is a very strange concept. I just dont get it. Part of me wants to send her a message and ask - but the other part of me knows that is what she is wanting. Then I say, well at least if I ask then I have the answer...and then I tell myself not to care! I am just ready for this to end.

new family addition

JR and I are ready to add a new member to the family...we are going to adopt a kitty. JR has been talking about getting a dog for a while now, however; I don't have the time or the patience to potty train a dog. So, I have talked JR into letting us get a cat. We were going to go look today since the Austin Adoption Organization is doing this huge "meet a pet"..and their adoption fee for today only is $25. Regularly it's $125 for cats under 2. But it includes everything, shots, worming, microchip, 30 day pet insurance....But....we may be going out of town next weekend so I don't want to get a cat if we are going to be traveling next weekend. So we have made the decision, but we are going to wait until we will be home. So any of you guys with cats that have any suggestions on what to look for in this adoption process, please share with me. The last thing I want is to bring an animal home with me that my kids and I fall in love with only to have something wrong with it. It would kill me!
Also, Landry's birthday is 11 weeks away and I need to think of something to do for the party. So any suggestions are welcome!
In 5 weeks and 3 days Logan will be starting his first day of school!!! I can't believe it!

She's Baaack!

Well, it turns out that Randi's boyfriend finally got the money to get Randi out of jail. So she was bailed out yesterday. It is so stupid because now that she has been bailed out she wont be able to get a court appointed attorney...she will have to somehow find the money to pay for an attorney because of the felony charges...and yes - she HAS to have an attorney. On top of that, she has a credit card fraud charge that is still being processed, so that warrant will come out sometime within the next couple of weeks...and then BAM - she will get arrested again. She is basically up a creek without a paddle, and there is a 200 ft. waterfall that she will be going over very shortly. She spent 10 days in jail - which breaks my heart, but she really needed to sit for the entire time in order for it to make a difference. I can't wait for Amelio to find out that he spent $435 dollars to get her out only to have her be going back in. AND if she decides to run from the charges and not show up in court...well, she will be looking at more charges and he will be responsible for the entire bond amount which is $4,000. Ughhh - what idiots.
Due to the stress of my sister my eczema or psoriasis...whatever it's called has broken out. Luckily it is only on my feet and my hands are being spared for now...but it is serious torture. The insides and the bottoms of my feet are covered in a rash that itches so very badly. I have been using a hydrocortisone cream on them until I can get back to the doctor (Tuesday) for the steroid cream that they gave me last time. It is so terrible. They are so tender and they itch so badly. The worst part is that during the day I can pretty much keep myself from scratching, but at night I wake myself up from scratching so much. Nothing helps, not the lotion, or socks...tonight I may tie my arms and legs down to keep from scratching...although I dont know how I will get up with the kids...hmmmm - I may need to think that through! LOL

Wonder World Park

ON Sunday, I took the kids and met up with some old friends of mine in San Marcos. We went to a place called Wonder World. It has been there for forever but I have never been. Anyway, the first thing you do is tour the Balclones Fault line cave. I wish I had more pictures, but unfortunately I was carrying a diaper bag and Landry and trying to keep Logan from tumbling to his death! Basically there was a massive earthquake many years ago and the cave is a direct result of it. You can actually see where it was the earth was split apart, except that you are seeing it from below the Earth. Anyway, there were so many neat and interesting little facts, HOWEVER; We went 160 feet below the Earth and then had to go back up. Actually, there was an elevator at the very end that took us to an observation tower, but I am pretty sure that only covers a small amount...because we descended in the cave for a LONG time, and then we CLIMBED for a long time as well. Then we climed FOUR flights of stairs to get to the top of the observation tower, which by the way was 190 feet in the air but the view was beautiful. Then I had to go down the 4 flights of stairs...again, I was carrying Landry, a diaper bag and trying to keep hold of Logan. I was very lucky to have my friends help out with Logan during the cave though. The steps were so steep and some were slippery...I dont think I would have made it. It was a really awesome experience...but not one that I look forward to taking the kids back to, until Landry is Logans age. Logan really did do great...he held on the the hand rail and he was extra careful and went slow...Landry however is a daredevil, and every time we got to a stopping point she wanted to get down and jump off rocks! Ughhhh.
MOving on, we went to the oservation deck...which I already told you about, basically it was built directly on the fault line. When the earthquake hit all those years ago, it changes the landscape of Texas. Everything to the east of the fault line is considered the gulf coastal plains, and everything to the west is the Hill country.
From there we went through the anti-gravity house. #1 It's a house with all these black and white stripes going up and down. #2 the house is at a 30 degree angle...so again I am carrying Landry, and a diaper bag...and the stripes are making me sick! LOL The images of the people walking through the house were really neat. It certainly looked and felt as if we were defying gravity although it was all an optical illusion. It was a really cool thing...just hard having Landry with me.
ANd FINALLY - the train ride through the wild life park. The kids were so excited to get on the train. Then to see the animals. There were rare deer, beautiful peacocks, fainting goats....which are goats that when scared, their legs lock up on them and the fall over in a faint. It only last about 7 seconds, but they ALL do it...too funny. The kids got to pet and feed the deer. There were turkeys, and emu's, and Llamas...it was a really neat experience. I would like to go back with Logan sometime...after I heal! LOL Here are a few pictures I was able to get.

Here's what....

I took the week off last week from blogging - mainly because when something happens I can talk about it for hours! LOL So to save you the time of reading this, I am giving the Short version.
Last Saturday my sister was arrested for theft at the HEB. She tried to steal beer, wine, steaks, sausage, and I dont know what else. Upon her arrest she was searched and found with several drugs in her possession which led to another misdemeanor charge as well as two felony charges for controlled substances. No one will be bailing her out, so she will sit in jail for the next 3-4 weeks awaiting a court date, in which she will most likely be given probation. Being in jail made it easy for the great state of Texas to find her and serve her with papers stating that Luis had filed for full custody of the kids. The hearing was set for Friday, July 15. My mom was called to travel to Granbury to give a deposition, and Luis was granted temporary full custody.
Finally, 2 years ago today, I lost my grandfather. I can't believe it has been this long. I think about him all the time. He was an amazing man and I will always stive to be the type of person he was. He was the best of the best. I wish Landry could have met him in person- he would have loved her curly hair and big blue eyes.
Anyway, that is what is going on in my neck of the woods...tomorrow I will tell you about going to wonder world yesterday!

back to reality..

First, last night, Landry got a hold of my computer and tore off half of the keyboard. How was she able to do this with out being noticed, you ask? I don't know. I left the kids in JR's care while I went to take a shower! Ughhhhh! So if at any time you read this and I am missing a b or a g, or any other letters, I apologize. I put all the keys back on, but there are a few that just dont work so well, the b and the g are the worst.

Second, this was the first weekend that we actually did NOTHING on Saturday or Sunday. I told you we went out Friday night, and we were useless on Saturday, but on Sunday we just laid around doin nothing as well. It was so nice to not have to be anywhere or do anything. I think we needed it. I actually feel somewhat relaxed going into this week!

Third, the kids allergies are BAD. I am havin a hard time understanding it because I dont have alleries, and neither does JR...but they have the green snot, crusty eyes, cough going on. Ughhh I feel like I have to take a warm wash cloth to Landry's face just about every hour to get all the crusties off her face. Poor babies! Obviously, Logan handles it much better than she does.

Fourth, my stomach seems to have gotten better. I had mexican food last night and I was actually able to eat.

Fifth, a few days ago it hit me that Logan will be starting school the first week of Sept. He will only be going Tues. and Thurs. from 9-2...the problem is that Landry's naptime is at 1, and I will need to leave the house at 1:40 to pick him up. So I was debating weather to move her nap time to 12:00 which would mean that she would only sleep for 1 hour 40 minutes or move it back to 2 in which she could take her normal 2.5 hour nap. However, this led to the second half of the dilemma. If I move up her nap time to 12, I will also need to move up her bed time to 7:30 (it's 8:30 now), which will mean that there will be some days that she wont get to see her dad for only 30 minutes. However, the alternative is to let her take the nap at 2:00 and then move her bedtime back to 9:30 - 10:00 which is NOT something I want to do. I WANT to keep her on a regular schedule...in fact, she knows her schedule so well, that for the past 3 days at 12:55, she picks up her puppies and her blanket and takes them to her room and goes to bed...ALL ON HER OWN!!! It's insane. She doesn't do it at bed time, but for her nap she says "night night" then grabs her stuff and goes....it hilarious! So, starting in August, I am going to start the transition for her to take an earlier nap...at the same time, I will be waking Logan up at 8:00 every day to get him used to it as well. Hopefully I can get Landry to sleep at 11:40 so she can at least take a 2 hour nap...the biggest problem with this is going to be the days that I need to run errands and then getting her home in time to take the nap. I guess we will just have to see how it goes.!!!

completely useless!

My parents came over to babysit the kids Friday night. I told them ahead of time we would be stayin out until the bar closed at 2 so we wouldn't be home until around 2:30! We went to midnight rodeo in Austin to celebrate our friend Keith's birthday. OMG we had a blast. I tried like hell to drink some dan water, but apparently it didn't help. I still got drunk. My stomach has been bothering me all week and I just haven't really been able to eat. I am not really hungry at all, but I force myself to eat and then I just sit their gagging after every bite. Although food isn't necessarily my friends right now, I am so bloated, I feel disgusting. It will go away but, ughhh I hate this feeling. I get it just about every 2-3 months, it usually lasts about 10 days - no I am not pregnant...its just something I have had since I was a little girl! Anyway, I think the lack of food may have had somethin to do with me getting so drunk. I had 6 beers from 9:30 to 2:00 and I had three 20 oz. bottled waters. I mean seriously, that is only a little more than a beer per hour plus I had plenty of water. Now, I will say the world wasn't spinning...unless I was on the dance floor with JR....it wasn't like I was SUPER drunk...but all day yesterday I suffered from a massive hang over. I was completely useless. Honestly, this has happened a few time as well...now that I think about it, it's always when I drink draft beer. But seriously, I have gone out and had 3 beers in 2 hours and gotten completely schnokkered! The hang over is always the worst!
Anyway, we had such a good time, I am so glad we dont do things like that very often - I dont think my body could handle it! I will say that dancing with my husband was pretty amazing!

more stuff to show and tell!

I think I am going to continue with the birthday party. First, I told Nikki before we went down there that I was really nervous about taking the kids to a birthday party. It isn't that big of a deal - especially had my husband with me to even the parent to child ratio, but not having JR with me was stressing me out. I knew that Logan would be the oldest kid there and I wanted to be on the look out for him with all the smaller kids, but at the same time Landry is a wild woman and I knew I also had to keep a close eye on her. My idea was to keep them close together, that way I ould keep an eye on both of them at the same time. It partially worked. Logan was really good with the smaller kids. In fact, he was more gentle that Landry. I guess being a big brother pays off a bit. I was really proud of him. Of course, when we went inside for Aiden to open gifts, my panic meter rose a bit...this was the part I was REALLY stressed about. While Logan doesn't play rough, and he is usually good playing with others - His eyes light up when he sees something new. I had already discussed this with Nikki (Aiden's mom), because I wanted her to know that there was a chance he might share all too well once new toys popped into the picture. Anyway, when the presents started being opened, Logan wanted to help Aiden open the gifts....but NO WAY was I even stepping in to that pile! LOL Unfortunately, Landry got side tracked and I was dealing with her when I hear someone get on to Logan - I didn't see what happened - but hey, I know my kid, and I knew Nikki and Travis were right there, and I trust them to discipline my kid. My immediate response was to get Logan by me...the minute I turned my head to look, I saw a train in his hand...and I KNEW exactly what happened, without having seen it. Aiden opened a gift, Logan liked it, Logan grabbed it from Aiden! I got on to Logan and told him that we dont take toys from people...but then it was over and done with, Logan gave back the train. I turned back to Landry who was annoying the hell out of Alexey (who was just so sweet to her), I heard Aiden getting in trouble for not sharing, and the next thing I knew he was in time out! My heart broke for the little guy. I wished Logan could have understood that it was his new toy and he should step away and let Aiden play with it by himself for a while, before trying to play with him. I was wishing he had the concept of knowing how to back off and let someone else enjoy the moment. ANyway...the point of all of this is that while talking to Nikki later that night, it finally hit me...sometimes I think my kids are the only ones that act up - and then I feel like I am a bad mom or like I am not doing them justice. Sometimes I expect so much out of my kids...I want them to behave, and use manners, and sit still, and act like an adult - but that's just it. They are kids, and while my kids are pretty good about using manners - the idea that they can sit still and stay quiet is unrealistic. Nikki helped me to realize that Logan taking a toy from Aiden is normal behavior. Logan was gotten on to and he gave back the toy. Kids are going to do things like that, I can't expect my kids to be adults - when my kids are 4 and almost 2...they aren't mentally capable of being adults. Kids are going to throw toys, they are going to take toys from other kids, heck they are even going to hit each other here and there...it is up to the parents to keep an eye on them, so that if my kids takes a toy from someone else - I can be there to get on to him. Luckily, even though I was there - my attention was focused on Landry - but Nikki and Travis (who are probably the most patient people I know) were able to handle the situation in a loving way instead of over reacting! So if you haven't gotten what I am saying....THANK YOU NIKKI AND TRAVIS FOR BEING SO AMAZING! THANK YOU FOR HOSTING AN AMAZING PARTY, FOR BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO ALLOW SO MANY LITTLE TOTS AROUND YOUR HOUSE. THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME TO RELAX AND REMEMBER THAT KIDS WILL BE KIDS. THANK YOU FOR JUST BEING AWESOME PEOPLE AND MAGNIFICENT PARENTS!
SUNDAY -
The kids got up and we headed home, by the time we got home JR and his friends were floating the river, so we were still on our own for the rest of the day. I was so exhausted, all I wanted to do was sleep, unfortunately - I had two kids that I had to watch, so sleeping wasn't an option. When JR and his friends got home, we ended up going to dinner and coming home to play some card games. I didn't go to bed until 4 in the morning...it was ROUGH!
MONDAY -
We all got up around 10 and headed for the river. I forot my camera, so I dont have any pictures to share...but honestly I dont know if I would have had the energy to lift my arms to take the photos. Afterwards we came home for showers then headed to Trudy's for some famous Mexican Martinis. We were in bed by 10:00. Oh yeah, and we watched some fire works!
TUESDAY -
I overslept...and luckily so did the kids...we slept until 9:15. I was SHOCKED!The problem was that I was supposed to meet Dana at 11:00 to go float the river...I had to push back the time 45 minutes, because there was no way I could get everything loaded up in time. Dana's boyfriend, Edgar and his daughter Katie came down so we all went to float the river! Katie turned two in June...so she and Landry are the same age difference that Dana and I are. Anyway, Logan was on his best behavior - and I guess because Katie and he had never met, they decided to bond. When Katie put on a life jacket...Logan put on one as well - When Logan sat down to wait patiently for us to finish blowing up tubes...Katie sat next to him. Landry was a little hellion as usual...LOL But we all had a good time, and the kids really had fun!

Our very busy weekend plus!

On Friday, I loaded the kids up in the car, along with 90 million other things and headed for Galveston. We stopped for about an hour in Columbus for some food and play time at McDonalds, then loaded up for the second portion of the trip. As soon as we arrived in Galveston, we stopped at Target for a few things, and headed to JR's mom's house to pick her up and go to the beach!

After leaving the beach we went to my grandmother's to eat dinner and spend time with her. We had a really nice time. I love to spend time with my Nanny.

ON SATURDAY -
I went out to Michael Burger to get lunch for myself, my sister, her boyfriend, the kids, and my nanny! Vanessa and Kyle finally showed up after fighting traffic and we went in search of a beach! We got there so late, so I knew I wouldn't have much time to spend there before heading to the birthday party for Aiden.

We left the beach and zoomed over to La Marque for Aiden's birthday party. We were about a half hour late, but we had a blast. We stayed the night at their house, which was great because it gave Nikki and I time to catch up after all the chaos was over. we stayed up until 1:30 talking...poor Travis just slept outside in the chair! Landry woke up at 6:30 the next morning, but luckily she just kind of laid around for a bit. I had plans to get on the road by 9...but we didn't actually get everything packed up and loaded up until 10:30.

I have so many more photos...and so much more to tell - but I will wait until tomorrow since this is already long!