Baby Luke is here!!!

At 4:15 am I got a text message from Lauren saying, "Heading to the hospital.  I will call you when I get there, not sure what I'm dialated to." 

I jumped out of bed and into the shower.  I was so excited!  I got another text from Lauren at 4:38 am saying, "Might want to head in, I'm 8cm." 

Turns out Lauren was a couple minutes away from not getting an epidural.  Fortunately, she was able to get good stuff.  Meanwhile, I am racing down I-30 to downtown Fort Worth!  I was not going to miss seeing my nephew being born!  I arrived at Baylor around 5:10 and Luke was born 20 minutes later. 

I was lucky enough to be in the room to see the birth.  I will admit, I was really not sure about being in the room.  However, I'm so glad a got to be a part of Luke's birth.  It wasn't scary or gross... it was amazing... a miracle!  After 3 pushes, Luke was born at 5:30 AM.  He is 8lbs2oz and 20 in. 

I was so proud of my sister!  She was calm, cool, and collected!  She is the best mommy in the whole world and I'm so excited for her and Dave!

 Here are some pictures:

 

 

Funny story: Lauren and Dave got stopped on the way to the hospital! Dave told the officer, "My wife is in labor!" Fortunately, the officer let them go. I'm not sure they would have made it to hospital otherwise!

I don't have a picture of Claire and Luke together.  As soon as I do, I will post it!  :)

Fall Festivities!

This fall is going to be very busy and I CAN'T WAIT!   My sister's baby Luke is due in the middle of October, Andrea is getting married on October 27, our friends- Kyle and Cathy's baby is due at the end of October, and Cindy is getting married on November 17. 

 

I am soooooo excited to meet Baby Luke!  Lauren asked if I would like to be in the room when Luke was being delivered.  Although the birthing process is very intense, I would love to experience this with my sister. 

 

This past weekend we had a baby shower for Lauren at our house.  The shower was great!  Lauren has a great group of friends!  I don't know what I was thinking, but I forgot to take pictures of when there were actual guest at the shower.... :/  I promise there were people there! 

Here are some pictures:

 

 

My mom made the Luke banner-

 

We had more food- it was just in the oven baking. 

My mom, Lauren, and I:

 

 

A few weeks ago Andrea had her bridal shower.  The hostesses were so creative and had the cutest decorations!  This a picture of the bridesmaids, minus Megan.   

A week later was the  bachelorette party! The bachelorette party was in Dallas and we had a blast! I can't wait for Andrea's wedding! She is going to make a beautiful bride! 

 

I am so excited about this fall!  So many milestones for my friends and their families!  I feel lucky to be apart of their special time!

Port A 2012- GO USA!

This summer, we went on our annual Port Aransas beach trip.  As usual, it was fabulous!  We had a great time and our house was amazing!  We went through the same company we usually use- Port Aransas Escapes.  If you ever need to plan a fun family/friend vacation to the beach, I definitely recommend this company.  Here are some pictures of the house:

The Coral Reef:

Living Room/ kitchen table:

Kitchen:

Andrea and Zach's room:

 Kristen and Brady's room:

Me, Jerry, and Cindy's room:

 Megan and JB's room:

We were at the beach during the Olympics.  Most everything was an Olympic theme.  Can you say Fab 5???

This is a picture of Jerry and I trying to do the Micheal Phelps warm up:

Not going to lie, my shoulder was bit sore after doing his arm flap warm up. ha ha

 While at the beach, we enjoyed swimming in the ocean, playing beach volleyball, and just enjoying each others company.  I love just hanging out at the house and beach.  I wish we lived closer together so we could see each other more! 

Of course it wouldn't be Port Aransas without a few dance parties. Typically, the dance party consisted of someone calling out an Olympic sport and you had to dance/ act like you were doing the sport.  I'm thinking the picture below was the basketball dance. 

Love those moves Jerry!

 This years beach shirt.   I love the colors!

 It was a great trip!  I can't wait for next year!

Doggie haircuts gone wrong!

As you may know, I have two dogs- Lucy and Rowdy.  They are both labs and they shed like CRAZY!  It drives me nuts!  I feel like I am constantly sweeping or vacuuming our wood floors.  Side note:  Dogs with light colored hair and dark wood floors do not mix! 

The past few years, Jerry and I have been getting Lucy and Rowdy shaved at Pet's Mart.  The dogs looked ridiculous, but my sanity was worth them looking stupid.  Each time we went it was a huge ordeal and not to mention very expensive.  Enough was enough... I decided to buy my own dog shaver and do it myself.  I got my very own shaver off Amazon's Deal of the Day.  The shaver was usually $100, but I got it for $50. 

Rowdy was up first.  He did pretty well considering it was Rowdy.  Jerry was also able to help me with Rowdy.  Sure, Rowdy might look like he has hives due to the lack of experience in shaving dogs, but who really cares!  Here is a before and after: 

Jerry had to leave to meet his friends for lunch.  So that left me to shave Lucy.  After I shaved Lucy, I decided it was time to nice glass of ice water.  I tried to open the back door and it was LOCKED!  Jerry had accidentally locked me out!


 No biggie right... just use your cell phone to call him..... it's was inside on the kitchen table. 

I know what your thinking.... Go out the gate and use your neighbors phone to call Jerry... Well guess what, there is a huge lock on the gates to our back yard. 

Climb the fence??  I tried... way to high!  Knowing me I would break my ankle. 

Scream for help?  I didn't scream, but I used a loud voice to see if any of my neighbors were around.  No one in sight! 

I even tried to get Rowdy, who was inside, to unlock the door.  No luck. 

I finally came to the conclusion that I was stuck until Jerry came home.  What to do on this awesomely HOT summer afternoon?  I picked up the backyard, which took a total 5 minutes.  Next, I tied string around my rosemary bush, which took a total of 2 minutes.  The rest of the time I just waited with Lucy while rowdy watched us from inside in the AC. 

2 1/2 hours later, Jerry finally came home! His first words were, "You're still out there????" 

I said, "Umm yah, you locked me out!" 

Jerry: "No I didn't"

Carolyn:  "Oh really, because I locked myself out??"

I could see the wheels turning and Jerry realized he accidentally locked me out.  He felt really bad.  It's just natural habit to shut the door and lock it behind you.  I've done the same thing to him, except I was just in the other room. 

It's just one of those things you can laugh about after a couple of hours or so.  Jerry didn't mean to...I hope ;) 

So, in the future, when I decide to shave the dogs, I will be sure to keep my phone outside with me! 

Oh and here is a before and after of Lucy, in case you are interested:

Don't worry, I won't be quiting my day job!

San Antonio

Jerry and I got back from Myrtle Beach on Wednesday and I was back on the road on Friday. My mom flew all of us to San Antonio.  Lauren was a bit nervous because it was Claire's first flight.  However, Lauren was ready!  She had milk, juice, jelly beans, and toys ready to go.  Claire was a complete champ!  She kept on saying, "Here we go!" and "WEEEEE!" 

 We stayed at La Mansion which is right on the River walk.  That night we went to dinner and went on a River walk boat ride. 

 The next morning it was time for Sea World!  I didn't know this but, Sea World has a huge area of Sesame Street rides and activities.  Claire was in heaven! 

 Next up, Elmo Rocks show.  Claire was so cute!  She enjoyed the show, but liked it when Elmo kept his distance. 

I just want to say that Lauren is a GREAT mom!  I love watching her with Claire Bear. 

This is a video of Claire watching the beluga whales and dolphins.  It was more fun watching her reaction to the show than the actual show.  Notice how she signs "more."  She is so smart!

After a long day a Sea World it was time for bed!  Let's just say we slept very well that night, but not before taking a few pictures with Aunt Kayro.

 Claire and I with our blankies... yes I still sleep with my baby blanket... don't judge me

 Smile faces

 Tongues out

 Kissy faces

This was Claire's first of many girl trips!  It was so nice spending time with my mom, sister, and niece!  We had a great time!  Thanks mom for a fab trip! 

Summer Update/ Mytrle Beach

Summer is going by so fast!!!! I can't believe we are already half way through July! 

I am really enjoying this summer!  This is the first summer in two years that I haven't had to worry about intern hours, graduate school, or starting a new position in the fall.  I am still doing summer school... which I LOVE.  I love that I am able to work with elementary students during the school year and high school students in the summer. 

So far this summer, Jerry and I have traveled to Washington DC and Myrtle Beach.  We met Larry, Karen, and Walker in South Carolina and enjoyed several days on the beach.  As Jerry and I were getting onto the plane, we were judging parents of toddlers.  The parents were giving their already hyper children candy as they were about to board.  I know... we don't have kids... we have no right to judge....but seriously who gives their kid sugar right before they get on a plane????  Just as we were saying, "Please God, don't let us be seated next to those people...." the US Airways employee called us over.  God answered our prayers because we got upgraded to first class!!! 

It was our lucky day!  Side note, please don't think we hate children.  We love kids!  I'm sure Jerry and I will be doing the exact same thing when we are parents. 

Myrtle Beach was a blast!  Jerry, Walker, and Larry played golf while Karen and I went to the beach.  Jerry had a record round---he shot a 75!  We also did some damage at the Outlet Mall.  I got some great back to school stuff!  The condo that we stayed in was great.  It had a view that couldn't be beat. 

I don't know how this happened, but I did not take any pictures! I could just kick myself ! 

We had a great time.  Thank you Karen and Larry for an amazing vacation!  We always enjoy spending time with you guys. 

A trip to the Capitol!

Jerry had to go to the Washington DC area for a work conference so we decided to go down a week early and have a little vacation.  We both have been to DC before, but we were both children.  I had forgotten how close everything is.

Day One:
Jerry and I arrived at our hotel around 1ish.  We decided to grab lunch and explore the city.  We just started walking and ended up at Union Station.  Throughout the trip we became very familiar with using the train.  We continued to walk and ended up at the capital. 

The weather was perfect for most of the trip.  Which was nice because we did a lot of walking!  That night we decided to go to a National's game. 

The stadium was really nice.  Something that I found interesting was a party area that was right outside the stadium.  Because most everyone rides the train to the ballpark, there really isn't a way to tailgate.  So when you get off the train, the first thing you see is this party area filled with food trucks, games (corn hole, latter golf)and a band.  It was like a tailgate party without the tailgate.  :)

I also enjoyed the President's race.  It was pretty funny watching these buys on a Seqway. 


Day Two- Bicycle Tour!
We decided to take a Bicycle Tour.  This tour was awesome!  It was just the two of us and  the tour guide. 

 The capital:

 Washington Monument:

 Jefferson Memorial:

 FDR Memorial:

 MLK Memorial:

 World War II Memorial:

 Everything was in walking distance.  This is the view from one side of WWII Memorial:

 Lincoln Memorial:

The water in front of Washington Monument was being worked on.  Can't you just see Jenny from Forest Gump?? 

 After the tour we decided to eat some lunch at a place called Legal Seafood.  It was very yummy! 

That evening we decided to walk to the White House and enjoy the sites at night. 

 This is a picture of WWII Memorial and Lincoln's Memorial in the very back--- beautiful!

 That night we were walking around Washington Monument and President Obama's helicopter flew over us.  It was pretty cool. 

Day 3- Smithsonian's!

We decided to visit the National Museum of American History.  It was very interesting!  My favorite part was seeing all of the First Ladies' Inaugural Gowns.  This was Michelle Obama's--- beautiful!

 After the American History Museum, we decided to go to the Holocaust Memorial Museum.  All I can say is wow.  This museum is incredibly moving and it's hard to imagine this happened. 

After the museum, we decided to take the train to Georgetown.  Prior to the visit, I purchased a Groupon for an hour long boat ride down the Potomac River.  The boat ride was great time rest our very tired feet. 

 After the boat ride we walked around Georgetown.  Georgetown is very cute and has excellent shopping!  We also found Georgetown Cupcakes.  The line was out the door and around the corner... I was so not willing to wait that long for a cupcake!

Day 4- Baltimore

Jerry and I decided to take the Amtrak to Baltimore. When we arrived we went to the Aquarium and saw a dolphin show!  

After the Aquarium, we decided walk around the harbor to grab lunch at a bar called Pickles.  I felt like I was at a Tech football game.  People were everywhere and excited to cheer on the Orioles or Phillie's.  I liked the National's stadium better, but I liked the atmosphere at Camden Yards.  Also, while we were there Tommy Hunter, Chris Davis, Darren O'Day and Endy Chavez (former players of the Rangers) were all playing.  Chris Davis was one of Jerry's favorite players.   

I like how the stadium had the Baltimore skyline in the background. 

After the game we decided to head back to the train station.  Unfortunately, one of the station's power was out and they were not sure when they would be up in running.  The guy said it could be 2 hours or it could be 20.  This was obviously a problem because I had to catch my flight that next morning. 

We decided to split a cab with a guy going DC and got back at a reasonable hour! 

We had a great time on our trip!  I loved seeing the sites and sounds and exploring the city with Jerry.  We walked our tails off-- my feet need a vacation!!!