Ryan's Old Lady

On October 4th I turned 21.  (Haaaaaa.)  I know, I know- exciting milestone!  My sweet hubs and friends ensured that I didn't let this occasion go without notice by planning a joint fiesta for myself and my fellow October compadres.  Between kids, travel (not us clearly), and busy social calendars (also not us) - it's tough to get everyone together so this was perfection.

Melanie, Brendan and Ryan planned - ok, let's be honest- Melanie planned with minimal text interference from Brendan and Ryan- for us all to have dinner at El Tiempo.  Never ones to disappoint the wait staff, we ate more than our fair share of fajitas and downed more than half our side of the restaurant's share of skinny marg pitchers.

Afterwards we all headed over to Melanie and Jonathan's to have cake, more wine and supervise the men so that no one tried to jump over any pools or off any ledges.  I'm happy to report it was a success.  No injuries were sustained in this year's celebration.  Does this mean we're adults?  Or that Obamacare is making us think twice about how much these decisions cost us in dignity AND currency?  Hard to say.

Either way- thank you to all participants.  I love you so very much and am grateful for the temporary distraction from crying to myself while watching LTN thinking of how old I'm getting.  Smooches to you all!

Not good at selfies.

Very good at consuming desserts.

Jen's new boyfran.

The most delicious, and heaviest, cake I think HEB has ever made.

October 4th, 5th & 16th.

 This series of pictures is epic.  #nocaptionneeded

And in case you were worried that the adults were having all the fun, here's a few pictures of what Emmy Poo was busy doing with Grandma & PawPaw Martin.  

Just sitting like a big girl at the fire pit.

Apparently she was really into burning them.  Jen, maybe she's your's?

Home Sweet Home Reno: Month One

As mentioned previously, Ryan and I started (literally) living THE (ok, my) dream when we closed on a house we had grand visions of renovating on August 21st.  We all know that if a dream falls in the forest and there's no one there to blog about it... it's not really a dream, right?  So my plan is to post a monthly update on our progress.  I'm already nearly 3 months behind but better late than never, right?

Here we go.  On September 21st we were officially 1 month into our project.  This is approximately 2/3rds through the way of any good Property Brothers undertaking and we accomplished about 0.5% of what they do.  So there you have it folks- HGTV is a liar!  Not that this will dissuade me from watching it on loop in the future... but good to know.

Accomplishments:

• Prepared & solicited a request for proposal
• Selected a contractor
• Installed the pool cleaner

Purchases:

• Outdoor sconces
• Pool cleaner

In the Pipeline:

• All the things.  Seriously- everything.

I'll try to pepper you all with the anecdotes that you know exist in this undertaking.  The main one for the first month was what I'll refer to as W&C Day (wine and cookie day).  What does this have to do with home renovating?  Oh, everything.   Let me enlighten you.

My incredible father spent an enormous amount of time preparing a perfect RFP (request for proposal) for us to send to a few select contractors to invite them to bid for the work.  If you know my Dad you know that this thing was air tight.  It included a contract, floor plans, a detailed quote sheet for them to complete, pictures, a suggested schedule, etc.  If it's any indication to you - it was too large to send via email, so we had to put it on Google Drive.  Fact.

So throughout the course of submitting this RFP to contractors (4 in fact), we determined that one in particular seemed the most apt to work well with our level of attention to detail and timeliness.  On September 18th the bids were due.  At 7 am on said day Ryan received an email from the contractor who basically had the job that said he declined to bid due to being busy.  This came completely out of left field as he had helped us during the option period to determine the overall scope of work.  I had just been out walking the house and chatting with him the Friday before.  At no point did he make it seem he was anything but super eager to do the work.  I did not even know what to do with myself.  Except for go home after work and immediately eat copious amounts of break and bake cookies and a healthy portion of a bottle of wine.  W&C Day.

Coincidentally that weekend my Dad heard about a Home & Garden show and he convinced Ryan & I that we should go as maybe we would run into some people that could recommend contractors.  Again, if you know my Dad, you should know how this story ends.  Ryan and I arrived a little later than my parents and found him excitedly darting around from booth to booth making new friends.  He legit was telling us so much about the cabinets at one booth that the guy offered to hire him.  At another booth he broke a cabinet drawer.  At a third booth he decided to "test" the PVC floor with a huge knife.  Suffice it to say that by the end of the day he suggested the idea of contracting the job ourselves with himself acting as the General Contractor.

From my perspective, this was a win-win-win situation.  1) It means my parents spend more time in Hosuton (WOOOHOOO!), 2) It means we trust our contractor implicitly, 3) It means we get to learn much more in the process and 4) It surely means good stories/memories for the blog.  Spoiler alert- we're now nearly 3 months deep in this adventure and we have not regretted our decision for a single second of a single day.  Don't ask our GC this question though.  ;c)  Stay tuned, my friends.

We are really good at pools.  Psych.

We fired the pool guy and somehow hired a pool dog.

Brynn Tracker: Ten Months

Author's Note:  Ugh, I really have to stop getting so far behind!  Precious Brynn Brynn, I hope you understand that my delinquency in posting these days is a by product of how busy our lives are as opposed to a disinterest in documenting, or cherishing, all you're up to lately.  I promise to keep after it- hopefully my tenacity at least counts for something.

The Story
On September 18th the Boo Boo hit 10 months.  I have said it before and I'll say it again- I just adore this age.  Such a perfect blend of starting to understand and interact with the world around them without having too many opinions to assert.  Discovering the world through an infant's eye is truly so much fun.  Particularly this one who laughs uncontrollably and prefers to discover it upside down.

I'm a biased Mama and all that jazz, I know, but isn't she beautiful?

So let's see- honestly this month was more of the previous.  If there were a speed crawling medal in some sort of Infant Olympics, this kid would take the gold.  I am sure I should be ashamed to admit this- but there are times when I have to dash after her so quickly that I nearly break into a sweat.  She also crawls like Penguin (anyone watch Gotham?!) walks.

She continued to loooooove food.  Oddly, she's not much for fruit.  Bananas are about the only ones I can get her to eat at home.  She started eating the school lunch this month and appears to be doing very well.  See the school stuff category below for more detail.  Her love of food doesn't end at human food.  This child has made it her personal mission in life to eat Lola's food.  Thanks to the miracle of being a second child- she's come close on multiple occasions.  One day I had to shove nearly my whole hand down her throat to get it out.  Her response?  She just laughed.  We are in trouble.

Sister, I think it's pretty cool how you're scaling those huge tubs of clothes and it's going totally un-noticed while Mom and Dad are distracted with me.  Teach me your ways.

I always struggle to capture her personality accurately.  She's actually hilarious but in a much different way than Emery.  The best way I can describe her is contagious.  When she laughs- you can't help but laugh.  When she smiles- you can't help but smile.  When she tears off across a room- you can't help but want to follow her.  She makes a lot of noise.  A looooot.  Happy coos.  Excited shrieks.  Machine gun sounding laughter.  You nearly always know where she is because she's rarely quiet.  If she is, it means she got to Lola's food and you better run.

Brynn is such an awesome juxtaposition between being observant (she's constantly craning her neck to see who's behind her) and being in her own little world (she's completely not bothered in the least by even category 5 Emery fits).  She's very good at playing by or entertaining herself- a trait this busy Mama is overwhelmingly appreciative of.

So if I crinkle it all up, I wonder if they'll keep taking pics?  I'm going to try it in 3...2..1...

She is my little cuddle bug.  My heart will break more than a little when she starts refusing to let me squeeze her on average every 2 minutes.  She still sucks her thumb at night and when she's really tired.  I secretly find it incredibly adorable.  I probably won't as much when she's 16 but hey- that's a bridge to cross later, huh?

I could go on and on but seeing as I'm 2 months behind I suppose I should go ahead and call this one so I have some things to share in the 11 month post, right?  We love you so much it hurts little B!

The School Stuff
So the main story for the month regarding Brynn and school is - wait for it- her eating.  Sound familiar?  When we first started letting her have school meals, the cook talked to us specifically to let us know the fruit we initially approved was not going to cut it because our child was hungry.  Brynn's actual teacher echoed those sentiments by letting us know "that baby needs to eat!"  I have a feeling when I take her to the doctor in a couple of weeks on her birthday her pediatrician may tell me we need to dial it down.

Nope... They just laid me down.  That backfired but gosh I'm hilarious!

The other day Ryan and I happened to be together at pick up time so we double teamed the kiddos.  Brynn's teacher was sooooo proud to tell us that she ate TWO who pancakes (insert size of pancake wild gesturing here).  She also informed us she wasn't supposed to let her have another pancake but "that baby needs to eat!'  Heaven help us.

The Stats

• Height: 28.25"
• Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz
• Head: Yup, still there
• Diaper Size: 3
• Clothes: 9-12 months
• Feeding: A 6 oz bottle about every 3 hours, breakfast, lunch and dinner (that baby needs to eat!)
• Sleeping:  Our little booger has a very strict internal schedule.  You best be moving her towards bed at 7:15 pm or you are going to hear about it.  She still wants you to just put her down and get out.  She generally wakes up around 7:00 am but will sometimes fall back asleep until 8:00 or so.  On school days we wake her around 6:30.
• Favorite Songs/Games:  She loves chasing or being chased.  She also loves being bounced around, held upside down or jumping.  Basically all the things that make my head hurt just thinking about.
• Other Notables:  I didn't mention it above but she's still easily cruising and pulling up.  Her teachers, Ryan and I have all seen her stand multiple times but as soon as she realizes it's happening she plops down.  I don't think she'll walk any time soon because her level of interest is pretty low.

Like her father, she's learned that if she starts making cheesy, ridiculous faces the camera disappears.

i(Phone) Spy: Month Ten - Brynn

On September 18th our little Boo Boo turned 10 months old.  As in- double digits people.  I really need to clear up some space on my phone because I don't take nearly enough pics of this little jelly bean.  Here's a visual snippet of life with the happiest infant I know.

Nonnie!  Are you there?!  Bring puffs.

Mom.  Are you cheating on me?  Who is that other baby you are holding?!

Clearly a longhorn.  She's posing as one, obviously.

Hurricane Brynn plots her next move leaving 1980s Little People destruction in her wake.

This was the first time I tried to feed her cheese.  She was unimpressed.  There's at least one of my genes in there!

Tell me you don't want to just kiss this child?

This was the face she made when I told her I was going to catch up on the blog.  (Haaaaa.)

Emery Tracker: 2.5 Years

The Story

Alright, alright- I give up.  I had been holding off typing this post until I got some pictures but CLEARLY that has been a major hurdle.  So I'm going to go ahead and write the post and if we're all lucky you'll get some pictures added later.  Maybe.

On September 6th our elder angel turned 2.5 years old but if you deal with her on a daily basis you might confuse her for 16.  I'll do my best to capture all the hilarity and nuances of living with Emery at this age but trust me when I say I know I won't do it justice.

First let's go over some of the milestone-y stuff she is up to, huh?  In the past 6 months she has nailed her colors.  I was pretty concerned that she had zero interest and would call everything red for the rest of her life, but luckily she's proven me wrong.  Pink appears to be her favorite.  When asked what color tile she wanted for her new bathroom she demanded pink.   I like to believe her 15 year old self will thank me for not indulging that request.

She can count to at least 10, most days 20.  Don't ask her to tell you how many there are of something though- there are always 2.  If you ask her to count something she starts at 4 so there usually wind up being about 7.  Her mother has never been a superstar at mental math though, so I'm going to count this as a victory.

She's starting to get some letters down- namely "E," "B," "M," and "D."  Why those?  B for Brynnie, M for Mama and D for Daddy.  If you ask her to identify an E she will say "E for MEEEEE!"  It's really stinking cute.

Another exciting milestone-y thing, for me anyway, is that she has started referring to people as her "friend".  Until this point nearly every day on the way home from school I would ask her what she did and if she played with her friends.  Usually met with silence (thanks Dad for those genes).  Then I would ask, "Is *insert name of classmate* your friend?"  Her response?  "No."  So I was pretty sure I was raising a narcissist.  Everyone can call off the dogs because some people ARE her friend according to her now.

The MOST exciting hurdle we passed in the last 6 months?  Ladies and Gentleman... drumroll please... she will now give kisses or hugs on demand.  When I say "on demand" I mean when she's in a good mood.  Sometimes.  But it's a VAST improvement.  Let's not get the PDA confetti out just yet though because when you say "I love you Em," her response is "Ok."  Again- thank you Daddy.

Personality wise she continues to be pretty feisty and strong-willed.  Not sure where that comes from?!  We have regular stand offs regarding saying sorry, bed time, getting in the bath... basically anything you can name.  It's exhausting, hilarious and exactly the karma my parents probably hoped for me. She likes to be in charge.  The easiest/quickest way to get her to do something is to make her think it was her idea or her choice.

She loves to help.  "I be a helper" is a common refrain around our house.  I hope she always loves to lend a helping hand because there's nothing more endearing than watching Ryan walk by with a load of laundry (yes- we each still do our own laundry thanks to a laundry dispute about 2 weeks into marriage) with his little helper in tow carrying a smaller load behind him.

She's also turned into quite the hostess.  She can be found in the fridge quite regularly "getting a deer" (beer) for our guests.  Sometimes the "deer" is a Sprite so you need to be color specific if requesting one.

My very favorite thing about this child is how much she loves her sister.  Knowing Emery's personality I was very concerned about how she would handle being a sibling and if she would warm up to it.  She has exceeded all of my expectations.  Em loves to make her sister happy, doesn't like when she's crying and is actually PRETTY good about sharing with her.  Watching the two of them run around after eachother turns me into the biggest pile of mush.

I could clearly go on forever and ever about how much fun Emery is at this age, but I suppose I should wrap it up.  Just know, sweet lovebug of mine, that you are the light of Daddy, Brynnie and I's lives and we can't imagine our family without you.  You make us laugh, pull our hair out and keep us on our toes.  We are all so, so, so proud to call you our's!

The School Stuff
Emmy Poo Pots moved up to Early Pre-School II (EPS II) when the new school year started in August.  This was the first transition in class since she started that I don't think she missed a beat.  Her teachers did such a great job of preparing her to move up.  We all talked about it for about a week beforehand and she was so excited to move up to her new class with new toys.

So as I've stated before Em likes to be organized and in charge.  One thing that 3 separate parents (yes, 3) have mentioned to me without prompting is that Emery will help their child either put their backpack up upon arrival in the morning or get their backpack for them to go home in the evening when she sees their parent walk in the door.

The Stats

• Height: ??  
• Weight: 32 pounds (if you ask her, for reasons I can't understand, she will tell you she was 245)
• Diaper: Size 5 pull ups and night time diapers (some day I'll get my butt in gear for potty training)
• Shoe size: Size 7s holding strong
• Clothes:  Size 2Ts and 3Ts