Sunday Pictures

For some reason my last post would not let me add these pictures, so here they are.  These are from our lazy Sunday afternoon in the backyard.

I love the weekends.

So last Friday we all went to our last graduation ceremony! Well, the last one for a long while anyway.  My sister graduated with a master's in social work from University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work.  Yeah, try saying all of those words a few times.  It was really great to watch her walk across the stage knowing how hard she has worked the last couple of years.  My little sister is going to change the world and I am so proud of her accomplishments so far and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her.  As I was watching the ceremony I thought about the fact that both my brother and my sister have chosen to go into service-oriented jobs/careers and I feel an immense pride knowing what they are doing on a daily basis is more than just a job.

Enough with the mushy stuff I guess...after the ceremony we met Michael's family and some of Kim's friends at Cafe Adobe for an extended happy hour!  It was so much fun and we got to meet a celebrity!  When I say "we" met a celebrity, I mean Michael (my sister's fiancee) and Kim, sort of.  Monica Potter was at Cafe Adobe w/her husband and when she walked in, Luke knew it right away.  He is always saying doesn't so-and-so look just like so-and-so, and a majority of the time he is so way wrong, so I didn't believe him.  He kept insisting so all of the men went outside to check it out.  They didn't come back, so I went to investigate - yes it was definitely her and yes, she definitely saw me being a weird/creepy/stalker fan.  Michael was the only one w/the guts to introduce himself and he got a picture and an autograph and she was so super nice.  Later on she walked back into the upstairs bar and said hi to Michael again, he told her we were all there celebrating his fiancee's graduation, so Monica Potter congratulated Kim, how cool is that!  Anyway, it was a really fun evening with a large amount of appetizers, beer, margaritas, and even some tequila for a few folks.  Here are some pictures.....

Saturday was kind of a bummer because it rained all day long.  Lately the meterologists have been getting the weather totally wrong, so I didn't believe them eitehr when they said it was going to rain all weekend.  I should have listened.  It was actually really nice having a forced lazy day inside with my boys! 

About 5pm we dropped Colin off w/my parents for a night out with friends.  Don't feel too bad for Colin, he got to go eat pizza and hang out with Uncle Doug too so he had a night out too.  Anyway, our friends Ryan & Kandace are having a baby in about a month and we are so super excited!  A group of us went out to dinner to celebrate baby Kirsten's impending arrival and we had so much fun.  Here are a couple pictures from the night:

Sunday was amazing.  We were sinners and skipped church but we did clean out the garage so at least the time wasn't totally wasted, right?  I know, I am stretching here.  Luke pulled Colin's baby pool out of the garage and set it up and we spent the afternoon in the pool, the sprinkler, eating popsicles and enjoying the finally sunny weather.  Colin is gettting big for his little pool so I am trying to convince Luke that he needs a new one, we'll see how far I get with that.  My parents and brother came over for our weekly dinner and we got to hang out on the deck until the mosquitos forced us inside - all in all, it was a great day.  As usual I am counting down the days until next weekend begins.  I get so spoiled on the weekends, having so much time to spend with my loves, it's hard to re-adjust every Monday, so instead I just look forward to the next weekend!

Mother's Day Weekend 2010

The weekend started with a free night’s stay at South Shore Harbor with my love.  We unexpectedly got to leave work early for the afternoon and made our way down to League City. By 3:30 we were sipping drinks at the pool – a pretty great way to start the weekend if you ask me! We went to a new (to us) restaurant under the Kemah bridge, Outriggers. It was amazing and we cannot wait to go back. It was one of those perfect moments - good food, good drinks, beautiful view, perfect weather…I could go on and on. Anyhow, the next morning after we checked out of the hotel we stopped at the Kemah Farmer’s Market – so fun! I have been wanting to go to a real farmers market forever, not one that just sells crafty stuff (there are plenty of those), but one with actual vegetables and food to buy. We loved it and are already planning to go back next weekend with little man.

Saturday night we went to my parent’s house for a crawfish boil (and ribs and macaroni and too much food!) and got to hang out with the whole family. It was such a relaxing way to end the day and the crawfish were tasty, even if I don’t have the heart to peel them myself. I even felt bad eating them, but not for long because they were tasty! Colin had a couple too and he was a big fan – he had fun petting the live crawfish as well. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of any of this. I was in a way relaxed mood and the camera was the last thing on my mind.

Sunday was even better than Friday and Saturday! My sweet husband surprised me with a gift card for a “Mom’s Escape” at a spa/massage parlor and I cannot wait to book my appointment. He knows me well and got me the perfect gift. We had breakfast just the three of us and then started getting ready for my family to come over for lunch to celebrate with my mom. Before they got there I got another surprise, this time from little man (with some help from his Dada). I have turned into such a mushy baby with little man around, but I teared up and got so emotional when he gave me 'his' gift.  It is a framed art project and is the best gift I've ever received and is currently hanging on the wall in my living room.

This is what Mother’s Day is all about and I feel so lucky to be his mom. Being a mom is waking up everyday excited to see what new things Colin will learn/say/do and begging him for hugs and kisses when all he really wants to do is play with sticks and dog food in the backyard. But, he is such a sweet little boy already – most times if I ask for a kiss he will oblige, though sometimes with a sigh (already!) before running off to slide, chase the dogs, play with the water hose, etc.

I saw this quote the other day and for me it is absolutely true:

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.

A Lot to Look Forward To...

I was looking at my calendar today and realized I have a lot to look forward to in the coming months!  I remember in college we would count down the days to any kind of break: winter break, spring break, summer break, and now as an adult, there aren't anymore 'breaks' to look towards.  But I have stuff coming up that is way better than a few days off! 

• Luke and I have a night to ourselves at a hotel this weekend, thanks to my sister in law for giving us a gift certificate.  Colin will hang w/Grammie and Pappy and we will do whatever we want, whenever we want.  :)  At least for about 20 hours!
• My sister's graduation is next Friday - woo hoo for her almost being done w/grad school!
• Mini vacation over Memorial Day weekend (5 nights, no so mini to me!) at the beach with my family!
• Our friends are having a baby in June and we can't wait to meet Miss Kirsten!!!!
• A baby shower to celebrate my friend Bailey and her sweet little Jack, who will also hopefully being saying goodbye to the NICU and hello to his forever home w/his mom and dad!  He hit a couple of speed bumps today but all will be well - he is the cutest and is growing like a weed! 
• My birthday, even though I am getting entirely too old for my own taste.
• Wedding showers for my sister!
• Trip to Portland for my cousin's wedding!
• Trip to Victoria for my cousin's wedding!
• My 4-year anniversary w/hubby
• My sister's wedding!

Ok, I think that is enough excitement for now....seriously, I can't wait for all of it.  This is going to be a GREAT summer!!!!  And because I can't seem to post anything without a picture, here is one of my little family from our church picnic last weekend.  No, I am not pregnant - it's just the style of the dress, just want to put that out there. 

Joining us at the table

I have been wanting to get Colin a booster chair for some time now.  The high chair was great for a good long time but he is big enough to sit at the table with us now.  I finally went to Babies R Us today and found one for cheap, came home, took it out of the box and Colin started playing with it right away.  We got it set up in one of chairs at the table, and for the first time Colin sat at the table with us for dinner. It was so nice and he really loved it.  I made spinach lasagna rolls for dinner and while they were not his new favorite (yet) he sat still without throwing a fit for a long time, laughing and 'talking' with us. Then he started to get silly...see what I mean?

This is one of his new 'things'....he found another hole where he can stick his fingers.  If that is not bad enough, every time we tell him not to do it, he does it more and longer and he thinks it's absolutely hilarious.  Bet he won't think it's so funny when I pull out these pictures in another 15 years.