Memorial Day Weekend '12

A lot of people may not know, but I am a hugely patriotic person. Memorial Day, to some, is the kick off of Summer, a day to head out to the lake, grill some food, and party it up. Nothing wrong with these things, as long as they aren't THE FOCUS of this day. So before I tell you about the fun we had that weekend, I would like to thank all the servicemen and women for the sacrifice they make for the freedoms my family and I enjoy. Since it is MEMORIAL day and it more specifically focuses on remembering those who died fighting for these freedoms and they aren't here to thank anymore, I would also like to thank the families left behind for their sacrifice of a loved one. I am truly, deeply grateful for you and sorry for the loss and sorrow you must feel.

In honor of our country and the servicemen and women who defend it, all weekend my family wears red, white, and blue as a silent reminder to ourselves (and others if they happen to notice) of why we have the holiday. Here in Laredo, the holiday seems to be glazed over. The schools don't even recognize it and let the kids out. This really rubs me the wrong way, because let's face it, if you need to eliminate a holiday to get the right number of days, there are others that could go before this particular one that honors the ultimate sacrifice.
(steps off soapbox)


But now on to the fun stuff that we got to do as a family.

Saturday, Eric had to work, but after he got home we took the kids swimming for the first real time. (We took them once before, but the water was too cold, so I didn't get in and Eric just took turns putting the kids in.) The weather was beautiful and the water was bearable. Jetson floated in his little floaty pretty content and Betsy got to where she would swim in her floaty swimsuit from Eric to me without anyone touching her! I really think if we took the time this summer we could have her swimming by the end of it, but finding the time to go to the pool consistently with both of us there is a little tricky... we'll see.

Sunday after church, we grilled out with my brother's family and ate delicious food then took a family walk to the park. We hung out there until it was dark, letting the kids play and climb trees, then fed the ducks, then went back to Josh's house and watched a movie all together and ate some yummy snacks. It was a nice relaxing day!

Monday, Eric and I woke up earlier than would normally be desired on a holiday and drove up to San Antonio (really to a town just north) and met my parents and grandparents at a condo they had rented for the week. We went out to eat lunch with them and then just relaxed at the condo and let the kids rest. That evening we grilled out again and then took some pictures of the four generations that were there, before heading home. It was a short trip up, but was very low key and extremely enjoyable! That weekend was perfect in my book!

These are my Mom's parents and the only living grandparents of either Eric or I.

Another year has come and gone...

So, since I last posted I had my birthday! I am now OLDER than a quarter of a century... yikes! My mom came down to visit on my birthday and stayed the rest of the week. The evening of my birthday was a BYU folk dance festival here, but we decided we would sit this one out and offered to keep any of my nieces and nephews that were too young to appreciate it, so the rest of the family could enjoy the performance. Because we were babysitting and it was midweek, Eric decided we would celebrate my birthday 10 days later. Therefore, my birthday pretty much came and went as any other day. Later in the week, my siblings (read: sisters-in-law) got me a cheesecake (my FAVORITE dessert) and celebrated a little. That weekend was Mother's Day and Eric (being the thoughtful and awesome husband that he is) didn't want to mix the two holidays, so that weekend was specifically for Mother's Day. My mom left that Friday (after sewing all week for the grandkids here, check out the dress she made for Betsy!) and took Betsy with her for the week. Saturday, Eric made me breakfast in bed. Behold the awesomeness:


He's not exactly the most romantic/thoughtful guy, but he has his moments where he sure does shine!
We spent Saturday together running errands. After church Sunday, all the boys got together and grilled out. They even made the sides! It was a HUGE feast and was DELICIOUS!

The following week, was just Jet and I at home during the day. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE AND ADORE my Betsy, but... One kid is SO MUCH easier than two! I was able to get in some quality relaxation and run errands with just my little man. It was nice. Plus anytime I would start to miss Betsy, I would call her on the phone and would immediately be told how she never wanted to come home and she was going to live with Grandma... The little snot. At least I know she is happy, but she could at least pretend, for my benefit, to miss me...

Friday night, Eric finally took me out to celebrate my birthday with dinner at Red Lobster (YUM!) and rented The Vow from Redbox. Josh and Am kept Jetson for us. It was so nice to get out! Have I mentioned how lucky and grateful I am to live close to my awesome family??? Because I am.

Betsy got home Sunday night at 9:30 and was talking 90 miles a minute about EVERYTHING she got to do with Grandma! They went to the zoo at least 3 times and shopping everyday (where she would receive goodies every time), played on the playground outside Grandma's door anytime she wanted, and got to go swimming/splash pad! By the time she was finished, I was pretty sure I wanted to go live with Grandma! ;)

So Monday to keep Betsy from going into a huge depression over being back home, I took her to one of her favorite places in the world... HEB. HEB is a magical place with all the food anybody could ever want... yep, it's a grocery store and Betsy LOVES it. Then after HEB I took her to the Library to pick out some books, then rented her a movie at the Redbox... Take THAT Grandma!

Life is now back to normal and All Is Well. :)

Here's some photos for fun:

I give up control for one week and this is how my mom let's her run around...

The dress my mom made Betsy

Finally snapped a picture of him standing up!

Such a happy boy!

Jetson - 11 months

Also this week, Jetson hit the big 11 months! I can't believe how fast my baby has grown and that is birthday is RIGHT around the corner! Since the blog as skimmed over most of his life, I thought I would take a moment and dedicate a post to my little man.

At 11 months he:

• crawls EVERYWHERE!
• pulls up on things
• has stood up in the middle of the room twice (lasted about 10-15 seconds each, haven't been able to get a picture to prove to his daddy...)
• eats pretty much anything we do
• is breaking from the bottle (he hasn't had one yet today, I plan to replace everything but his night bottle with the sippy cup, then cut out the last one at 1 year. He has not resisted in the least.)
• is generally happy (as long as you don't mess with his schedule)
• takes 2 naps a day
• sleeps on average 12 hours a night
• only has a paci when he's in his crib (or in public and gets fussy)
• wakes up and talks to himself for awhile
• prefers his daddy to his mommy (not fair, Eric has his "daddy's girl". He was supposed to be my "momma's boy".)
• prefers his mommy to strangers (THANK GOODNESS!)
• that said, he's pretty friendly to everyone
• hits his head A LOT!
• has 4 teeth (finally!)
• says very few words (he breaks out an audible word every now and then, but doesn't use them with regularity.)
• laughs at everything
• LOVES his sister

My little stud!

                                   WE LOVE THIS LITTLE GUY!!!