Busterhymes Batsche

Busterhymes Batsche...aka Buster...aka Busty Lu Hu Batsche was a great dog. He had a rough life and I hope that his last few years made up for all the bad that had happened to him before he became part of our family. We acquired Buster after Zach's boss's wife said he had to get rid of the dog. At first I was against the idea, but after meeting Buster I didn't want him to end up in the ditch or in another shelter so I told Zach we could take him. We were at least Buster's third family from what we could understand. He had his issues and was a thorn in our side some days, but I wouldn't take back my decision to add him to the family. He helped Daisy calm down and stopped her from getting into too much trouble and he let me cuddle with him when Daisy would walk away. Sure he had his stinky breath and whine when Zach left the room, but he was a great dog. When the kids came around he put up with them too.

We knew his time was quickly approaching, but didn't expect it to happen so quickly. We had boarded the dogs on our vacation for a few days before Zach's parents took them and during that time Buster had passed in his sleep. The lady from the kennel called us balling to tell us he had passed in his sleep. She was there petting him and sitting with him and really giving him some good attention before he passed. As hard as it was not to be there with him on his last day and feeling like he was "alone" I knew he wasn't alone because the people at the kennel knew his health and kept a close watch on him, catering to whatever he needed. Just as we told Chloe when she asked, he is up living at Jesus' house playing in the big big yard and being loved on. 

Busty Lu Hu Batsche you will are greatly missed...

What's a Tornado Warning?

I have always loved springtime. I love the warmer weather where it isn't too hot yet, the longer days of sun and just getting out and playing outside again after the winter. What I don't like is this Texas spring. One day it is cold the next really hot and humid. Then there are the storms. I love a good thunderstorm, but not these kinds of storms. They have tornadoes here...its a common thing...I'm pretty sure Zach didn't tell me how frequent they were. About a week ago we were sitting in our family room, which has 7 large windows that line the room, and the tornado siren goes off and the TV flashes with the weather alert. It kept saying tornado warning. Now I'm not from Texas I don't know the difference between a watch and a warning. My logical thinking was that a watch is where it says "hey, watch out there may be a tornado coming." and then the tornado warning would be where it says "hey, this is your warning a tornado was spotted." So while I watched the TV flash every 5-10 minutes with the Tornado watch information we sat there. I asked Zach to look up and confirm that was the correct meaning for the watch/warning weather alerts. He said that it was the opposite from what I thought...so we sat there. Wind howling and rain coming down in our window filled room.

The next day I go into work and everyone is telling their tornado stories. I then asked why were people getting in their safe spots when it was just a watch. They looked at my funny and so I clarified what I thought a watch meant. Then I realized, my so wonderful husband let me believe the opposite in efforts not to freak me out. Sweat gesture, but come on we need a plan in place. So now I am well aware of the difference. Trying to figure out this Texas weather and trying to remind myself why we left a place that the only natural disaster was dust storms...

A New Member of the Family

We've had a great month or so. The kids are changing and growing like weeds. We also added a new four legged member to the family member. So a quick update. Chloe is in her big girl bed, going to pre-school at our church next fall, using full sentences, and being as goofy as every. Levi is now running, eating everything in sight, using actual words and cheesing it for any photo opportunity. That was a quick update below are some fun photos from the spring.

Chloe is trying out Levi's T-ball set. She can actually hit pretty good when she wants to.

Bringing our new dog, Maggie a four month old Black and Tan Coonhound home.

Levi and Mommy swinging on the hammock on Mother's Day

Chloe and Mommy swinging on the hammock on Mother's Day

Chloe trying Dip n Dots for the first time. She was a little confused as she was expecting normal ice cream rather than frozen ice cream balls.

Levi enjoying so spaghetti o's on the table

First boat trip of the year

Levi doesn't just eat his food, he becomes his food.

Chloe had fallen asleep laying in her room at the door. Yes, she is wearing shoes. We often find her with shoes on when we wake her up from her nap.

Chloe LOVES corn on the cob.

Chloe catching Grumpy on the slide.

Levi doesn't last long on the hammock, he falls right to sleep.

Meet Levi's Baby. He loves his baby.

Daisy playing with her new sister.

Cookie Face!

I can't wait for this summer. We have a big road trip planned to Disney and the beach. And at the beach will be my family, which will be a lot of fun. Not so much ready for the humidity, but I guess it comes with the territory. Welcome back curly hair, it was a nice 6 years that I didn't have to deal with you, but now you are back.

Adventures with Mama and Papa

My parents came to visit for a five days over Levi's birthday. The time just flew by us. Chloe was very excited and whenever we would talk about Levi's birthday she would remind us that Mama and Papa...well really just Mama was coming. My mom had told her over her last visit she would be back over Levi's birthday and I guess that just stuck with her. 

I had a lot of things that I wanted to do, but the weather didn't always cooperate. We are in Texas now so I can't assume that the weather will be a certain way because it never is consistent. Even though the weather didn't always cooperate we still had a great time and were able to do a lot of fun things.

They came in on a Wednesday so we took it easy as it was rainy outside and then we went over to the mall after nap time for a quick cruise around the mall, some dinner and of course the round and round up and down. That is a must stop for the kids. On Thursday it was still a little rainy outside and chilly so we went to one of those bounce houses. It was basically a big room that had over 10 inflatable slides, obstacle courses, jumpers. I wasn't sure how the kids would like it, but they loved it. Levi really liked bouncing around and going down the slides and Chloe was just running from one to the next or when she was on one she liked, such as the slide, she would just go up and down the slide. It was a great way to get the kids energy out and there was hardly anyone else there so that was nice. Friday was the first nice day and of course that happened to be the golf day because there is no way that golf plans would be ruined by the weather. So the guys met up with Zach's dad and went to play golf while mom and I took the kids on a stroll to McDonald's for some lunch and then headed back for some outside play. Then after golf and the kids nap we met up with the guys and Zach's mom for some dinner at Texas Roadhouse for Levi's birthday. He did not however ride on the saddle because someone a few tables down had a birthday and he cried while they were doing the whole birthday thing because of how loud it was. So we passed on that. 

Chloe using the phones while we were waiting at the airport for Mama and Papa

Levi and Papa on the Mall Carousel

Sliding down one of the big inflatable slides

Chloe of course riding the Tiger

Saturday was going to be a busy day and probably the day I was looking forward to the most. We had tickets to Disney on Ice in the morning and then it was Levi's birthday party in the evening. The day started off great. We had a big yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs and pancakes and then we were off to the show. Chloe had been pretty stuffed up, but no fever or anything so she was good to go. We were about half way to Dallas and then she started screaming and here it came...first just a bunch of mucus out her mouth and then there were the chunks. I told Zach to pull over so we could assess the damage and get cleaned up. She was a mess...the car seat was a mess and the truck stunk! She was crying and confused and we were trying to clean her up with wipes, a burp rag and some water. We spent about 10 minutes trying to clean her up and then realized that we would need to go and get her a new outfit if we had any intentions on on going to Disney on Ice still. So I grabbed my phone and looked up where the nearest Target was, only about 3 miles away. I knew I could run in and out really quick. So we loaded the truck back up and headed to Target. We soon realized that this "Target" was no longer and it was now a hair and beauty store...we were in Dallas so it made sense. So we knew that there was a mall near by and so my dad and I ran into the mall while Zach and my mom continued to clean up Chloe and the truck. After what felt like forever we finally found two outfits for Chloe just in case it happened again and booked it out of the store. We got Chloe fixed back up and made our way to Disney on Ice. 

I was so excited for Disney on Ice because that was something that we always did when we were younger as a family so I was happy to be able to have my kids experience that as well. This Disney on Ice really focused on Beauty and the Beast, which is one of Chole's favorites and it also had a lot of Tangled (Rapunzel) and The Little Mermaid, which are also favorites of Chloe's. So by the time we go there we only missed one song of the opening. We got there just in time and Chloe had perked up to her old self. We aren't sure what made her get sick, but it must have been just an upset stomach. At intermission my mom went and got Chloe a snow cone, which was also my favorite part when I was younger because of the cool souvenir cup it would come in. Chloe of course chose a Belle cup. My mom wasn't sure how the sugary snow cone would fare on Chloe's stomach, but we had to try. After probably a good 30 minutes or so that snow cone was gone and Chloe and my mom's legs were both soaked from the spill-over. Levi also had a great time. While Chloe stayed glued to my mom's lap, Levi bounced around from me, Zach and my dad. He liked the lights and singing and the second half after he had some lunch he really perked up jumping around and clapping and laughing and dancing. It was a hit for both kids. 

The family enjoying Disney on Ice

Chloe enjoying her snow cone at Disney on Ice

As you can see Levi enjoyed the show too!

Sunday was our last day and it was halfway nice so we made the trip out to the zoo. Chloe had to pull Levi in the wagon pretty much the entire time and most of the time only Mama could help her, if anyone was allowed to help her at all! She pulled that wagon around and around the zoo and hardly would let go. 

Chloe was taking a break from pulling Levi and let Papa pull for a bit. Levi was talking about which way to go.

The trip wasn't all about the kids. My family is all about games. We love to play games, card games especially, but this trip Zach and I taught my parents Mexican Train Dominoes. We would play every night after the kids went down to sleep. The first night I dominated, but then surprisingly enough Zach won every other time. My mom said it was a game that you didn't need strategy and I told her that is why she never won :) 

It it always hard to say good-bye, but that time always comes. Even though we were going to see them again in about 8 weeks it was still hard to see them go. We are always grateful for the time that we are able to spend together and we always look forward to the next time. It was a great visit. About a week after they left Chloe informed me that Mama was coming to sleep at her house in 3 sleeps. She was a little off, but she can hope I guess.

Levi's 1st Birthday!

This year has flown by so fast! I would probably say that every year, but this year just seemed to fly by. I can't believe that a year ago we were in the hospital having the absolute worst time I could have ever imagined. Maybe it was my clouded judgment or something, but I can remember Chloe's birth and in my head it was like roses and butterflies the way that we were taken care of. Not with Levi...in my mind and how I will always remember it is that it was the worst hospital experience I've ever had and I don't want to experience that again. Don't get me wrong they took great care of Levi in the NICU, but for Zach and I it was like we were in the dark forgotten red headed step-children area. No matter how bad it was, it was worth it. At the end of the day, and after a few days after that we were able to bring home Levi our little red headed bundle of joy. 

He has just grown so much and I can't believe how much of a little boy he is. He loves to be outside and play in the dirt, putting everything in his mouth. He loves to chase his sister and do pretty much anything and everything that Chloe does. He is a talker. He jibber jabbers all day long and "reads" books to himself. We took him to the doctor on his birthday (I know we are the best parents for that) and he is just over 19lbs and just over 29 inches long. He is only in the 10th percentile for weight, 59th percentile for height and 90th percentile for head size. So as our doctor said...he is top heavy so prepare for a lot of bumps on his head. At the doctor he was also given the go ahead for whole milk and regular table food. So we let him have at it. He is going to be an eater...or at least until he gets tired of regular food. Levi has taken to whole milk and regular food much better than Chloe did, or maybe we just know what to do this time around.

Believe it or not this is one of my favorite first photos of Levi...I still remember the sterile smell of the NICU and how oddly comforting it was.

And here he is now...what a face!

Just like his daddy...all boy

Quite a little daredevil

Besides going to the doctor we kind of took it easy. The weather was nice so we played outside and took a walk to my favorite place...McDonalds for lunch. Then my dad and Zach met up with Zach's dad for a round of golf and we all met up with Zach's mom for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Levi of course had to partake in some yummy rolls, which he enjoyed. No saddle this year for him, as when a table a few away from us had a birthday Levi screamed because of how loud it was. Maybe next year. We had Levi's birthday party on Saturday. It was really laid back just a small little party with family. Levi was showing off all his talents and really dove into his cupcake. 

We had a great little birthday celebration with him and I'm hoping that he continues to be a good eater and I'm very thankful that after two and a half years I can officially say we are a house without formula. There's an extra $50 in our pocket...now if only we can get the kids out of diapers...

 

 

 

Don't worry Daisy got some cupcake too...

The Bunny Hop...Hop...Hop

Easter 2013 was much different than Easter 2012. Last year we spent Easter in visiting Levi in the hospital and I was an emotional wreck as I was visiting my son in the NICU and missing all the Easter traditions with Chloe. This year it was much more laid back and relaxed. 

We woke up in the morning and went to church then came home and while Levi took a little nap, Chloe and I made some Easter cookies. Chloe really likes to decorate the cookies. She would sprinkle all the sprinkles, normally in one place on the cookie, and constantly line up the sprinkle containers putting the lids on and off. After we made two trays and were waiting for them to bake I thought it would be a good idea to pre-cut some cookies out of the dough so we could just put them on the cookie sheet and they would be ready for her to decorate. Chloe, however, had another idea. She decided she was going to roll out the dough and cut some cookies herself. No big deal...right...I gave her our little roller and gave her some dough. I showed her how to use the rolling pin and she watched me as I floured the pin and dusted teh dough with flour. She then decided the dough needed more flour...and then some more...and then some more. As I was taking the cookies out of the oven and letting them cool she had flour EVERYWHERE! She has very pale skin and the flour just made it even whiter...if that is even possible. She had fun and that's all that mattered. Once she found the flour and the rolling pins the sprinkles and decorating went out the window. She just wanted to play. So I let her. 

Chloe excited for her Minnie Mouse sucker ring

Chloe after playing in the flour..the dress was bright orange

Chloe and her rolling pin

After we had some lunch we played outside and then both kids took a nap and we went over to Zach's parents' house. We had a little Easter egg hunt, which Chloe was very excited for and Levi could really care less about. Chloe was excited to find all the eggs and Levi was excited for the few eggs he "found", but more excited about the Swedish Fish and Sour Gummy Worms he had in his eggs to eat. After all the eggs were found Chloe would still walk around the yard in the same areas that she had previously found eggs and would ask "more eggs?" She had a great time and this was the first year she actually understood and enjoyed the egg hunt. We then had a great dinner and time visiting with the family and spending a lot of time enjoying the nice evening outside.

Ready for the hunt

Yep...he walked right past that little green egg

Yummy plastic egg