Just dropping in to say, I hope y'all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!

Ours was so nice! This year there was no issue with scheduling (which can be tough when going to more than one house) but everyone agreed on the setup this year and it was easy peasy. Thank goodness. This bodes well for our many Christmases. Here's hoping, at least!

We had lunch with my family first and then we went to Ronnie's sister's for an early dinner. We were full and beyond tired by the end of the day but it was wonderful. There's just never enough time with either of our families!

mi familia = my parents, my brother and his girlfriend and my sister

ronnie's familia = his mom, stepdad, sister, her boyfriend and his daughter

Oh and how could I forget the best news of the day!? Ronnie's sweet sister is now a fiance!! Her boyfriend proposed to her before we sat down to eat!! He made a toast, said a lot of nice things about her, her family and then the surprise! We were totally shocked but so excited. I'm so happy for her, she deserves a good guy like him and I can't wait to help plan the wedding with her!

So that was our Thanksgiving! On to Christmas!
(the most wonderful/my favorite time of the year!!!)

One week of October down.

It's a new month and my goal is to actually keep up with this blog / diary of Violet's life. So to start us off, I'm going to do a quick recap of the last week so that I won't have to do one round-up with 100 pictures of October, that you totally know I won't post until late November! Again, this is used mostly as a personal journal so if you're actually reading through this mumbo jumbo, THANKS :)

So last time I blogged, I left off at Violet being sick. Thank goodness for antibiotics! She started feeling better just a few days in. The night she started to feel a little better (10/2) we went out for a family date for cupcakes and coffee at our favorite adorable place, Bird Bakery. Violet was so excited and knew exactly where we were as soon as we got to the door, where she yelled, "Cupcakes yay!". Melt my heart. We had some mini "Elvis" cupcakes and I had probably the best Sea Salt Caramel latte ever! This place is a must if you're in SA! The next night, Ronnie grilled dinner for us while I introduced Violet to the greatness that is "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". Please tell me you love that movie, too!

Early Saturday, a bit of a Texas cold front came in making the temps only about 80 for the high. You know that's huge around here! So we spent as much time outside as we could this weekend. My sister came into town for the weekend so Saturday night, Violet and I got together with her and my mom for my belated birthday dinner at a favorite diner of ours and then we went to the mall for some shopping. I had a Sephora gift card burning a hole in my pocket so I finally broke down and bought the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette I'd been wanting FOREVER! (Yeah, I'm way late to the Naked party. ha). Per yooj, my mom spoiled Violet and bought her a couple things from the Disney Store. It was her first time in there and she was awestruck as you can imagine. When we walked in she looked around and said "Wooow!" :)

Sunday was a rare treat because Ronnie only had to work a couple hours! Work was slow and he lost out on hours unfortunately but fortunately for us, it meant a weekend day together! It was the BEST. He got to watch the Texans game which made me so happy because since he started working every weekend, he hasn't had one day of watching football and that's his love! While he watched football I got into the garage and started cleaning and getting stuff together to donate. Of course while I did that, Violet was undoing all of my work and taking her donation toys out to play. ha. Ronnie joined in the cleaning fun after the game and it was just a really good day together at home. I'd forgotten how great it is having him with us on the weekend. But this weekend job is only temporary and we can do most anything temporarily! :)

1. Cupcake family date // Chatting with my grilling hubby 

2. Silly Saturday pictures with my girl // "No pictures!" // Dinner with the fam

3. Sistas // Random shot of my favorites // My Sunday view

Septeeeember. My favorite month.

This month:

Violet started preschool. 

She was VERY upset about being dropped off and it broke my heart (and I completely sobbed when I got to the car. Amateur.) But luckily I had the day off with Ronnie so we eased the pain after with a quiet breakfast and day of relaxation together. She came home as happy as could be (when I finally got that "first day of school" picture) and all has been just fine since. She's on a Monday/Wednesday schedule and I'd love to add on a Friday sometime soon. She's thriving there, that's for sure!

I left on my "big work trip".

My annual Vegas work trip of course had to be this month. I left to the airport after dropping Violet off for her second day of school. That broke my heart too but I'm so thankful I was able to switch around flights to at least be there for her first full day of school. It was a good trip, our event went well and I came home with a ton of goodies for Violet but 8-10 day trips are no longer fun when you leave behind a child and a busy with his own schedule husband. But we all survived! And the reunion when I got home was perfect. It's amazing how much I missed just loving on my girl. 

I turned 32!

Not sure why there's an exclamation point up there - I'm not that excited about being this age. Thirty was just fine by me but thirty twooooo. That was a hard pill to swallow. Closer and closer to mid-thirties, y'all! But still no sign of crows feet around my eyes (just bags under them. ha!) so the longer I keep those away, the less old I feel. (Silly, I know.) We didn't do much because we just never do for birthdays but I had a fun dinner with my little family and then another dinner with my mom and sister and got tons of good gifts. Even my co-workers joined together and got me my favorite, an Old Navy gift card! It was a good birthday.

Violet got her first sinus and ear infection. 

It started off as just a runny nose so she went to school that first week but by that Friday (9/26) she got worse so that next Monday we took her to the doctor. She surprised us and actually did WELL for the first time ever at the doctor's office! I think it was the really sweet (new?) nurse who put her at ease and calmed her for the doctor. It was kind of amazing and a HUGE relief for us. Hopefully we can stop dreading those appointments now! *fingers crossed* She was prescribed antibiotics for 10 days and missed school that week but by the end of the week, she started feeling better, right in time for October! 

Notable pictures:
Our new "adult" table from IKEA!
My new favorite blanket ever.
Shared September birthday lunch with coworkers included the yummiest wine. 

August. One Month Later.

I'm getting better at this! I'm actually posting August pictures only a month after the fact! ha 

So, August. It was a fun but ridiculously hot month - isn't it always? We packed a lot of fun stuff in because it was both Ronnie's and Violet's last month of freedom before school started! With Ronnie's new schedule and working all weekend, we didn't do anything major but tried to fit in little family dates whenever we could. I'm so ready for him to be done with school and get his regular full-time job so we can be done with this hectic life! Mostly for Ronnie's sake, of course. He's always so busy and never has time to relax. I hate that for him!

Violet turned 2 1/2 on August 28th and she was already growing so much but I felt like she REALLY grew a lot in this month. She started saying things like "Cool! Wow!", "Baby Jewiss" (baby Jesus ;), "Goodness gracious!", "Open wide!" (which she learned after we played doctor with her 100x in preparation for her doctor's appointment. The prep didn't work. lol), "nice heart!" (another thing we'd tell her after "listening" to her heartbeat. ha). She just really has taken off with the phrases and repeating every.little.thing we say. She's really just a blast, tantrums and all!

1. We discovered a new splash pad by our house, she LOVED it! // I got a wild hair and decided to paint the walls next to our fireplace blue. I love them. // Toys 'R Us shopping trip courtesy of my FIL! // Her first tour of her new school.

2. Our house was packed into 2 rooms while we waited for carpet to be installed. It was cozy :) // Even cozier is our new carpet! I'm totally obsessed with it. (If you have pets and need new carpet, ask me about it!) // A moment of sweetness. Tantrums got way worse this month. // Wine tasting with my honey in Fredericksburg. So fun!!

3. Oh yeah, our kid was there for the wine tasting too :) She did really well! // Her 2 year doctor's appointment at nearly 2.5. She STILL hates going to the doctor. // My momma's birthday celebration! // We spent a lot of weekend mornings at the park even though we melted every time.

4. A random from my mom's birthday. I just love this girl. // I finally found my name(ish) on a Coke Zero! If you know me, you know my addiction so this was exciting. // Just another random cute picture. She pulled off those glasses better than I could have! ha // Another cute one of my two favorites. Notice my blue wall? :)

5. Family selfie! (#felfie?) // Our first Meet The Teacher night before school started. We felt like official parents! ha And then we totally turned it into a date night. // Officially 2.5 and becoming such a big girl but still always wants her mama's hand and I don't want it to end! // We had a mama/daughter brunch date and it melted my heart. I can't wait for more of those!

July. Two Months Later.

This must be my new trend, posting everything two months after the fact! ;) I'm not sure if anyone even still reads this old blog of mine but I find it hard to just let it go. I never kept up with a baby book for Violet (sorry, child of mine!!) so I at love at least having this to look back on. And Instagram, of course. I hope Blogger and Insta never go away!! :(

July was an interesting and busy month! My parents gifted us with money for new flooring and to just fix up our bathrooms and house in general. It was a belated wedding gift and just totally made our life. The focus this month turned into ALL THINGS HOUSE. It was fun but money goes FAST. Not sure if y'all knew that. haha But it was so much fun! We decided on new carpet, bought a bunch of random decor and got our master shower redone. I am forever grateful to my parents for that gift. We've always needed to do some upgrades at the house but with only one full-time income, that just wasn't possible before. We are falling in love again with our little 2 bedroom house and we want to make it work where we can stay here another few years (we've been here almost 3).

1. Celebrating the first day of July in winter fashion. ha. Girl is obsessed with all things cold weather! (Poor thing needs to be moved out of Texas! ha) // That time my parents took us out to dinner and gave us that amazing wedding gift! // We had a laid back 4th at home, and with Mexican food of course. // I started right away on buying things for the house. My little hatchback carries a lot of stuff but this was when I realized I NEED an SUV!

2. I actually bought and wore shorts in public! It had to be noted because I was always so uncomfortable in them. Not anymore! // One of my favorite pictures of her ever! That smile! // I went on a trip to Atlanta with some of the work girls. It was a good time of tradeshow'ing and drinking wine or beer in our beds at night. ha // My first tradeshow with my married name. So mushy and exciting!

3. I loved returning home to this monkey and her "pretty smile" // I think this was the month of trying out new restaurants. We blew a lot of $ this month eating out. Fun but UGH. // My parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary!! // This girl got to know Lowe's REAL well this month. We all did.

4. After I got off work one Friday, we got a wild hair and raced to Round Rock (an hour and a half drive) to hit up IKEA before it closed! That was the quickest, most fun shopping spree ever! // Boss lady bought us all fitbits in preparation for our big event. Plus, she encourages our competitiveness ;) // Our a/c went out this month. Fixing it didn't break the bank but we were told we'd need a new one within a year. UGH. // Upped my water intake a ton this month, thanks to these bad boys!

Coming soon, August! ;) 

June. Two Months Later.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am so grateful for Instagram. It's quick, easy and I can use it from just about anywhere. I can't say the same for blogging, hence my absence this summer! Since I blogged about our month of May, Ronnie has gotten a Saturday/Sunday job working for a courier service. It's surprisingly great money and has helped our one income family a bunch! He still had a ton to do with summer school these past two months though so adding the job has been an adjustment and we both hate that it takes him away from spending time with us on the weekends. 

So having said that, our summer has been stupid hectic. Basically Ronnie's with Violet all day while I'm at work, then I get home and take over so he can study/do homework. The afternoons when he had class, my mom would watch Violet. Then on the weekends, she's all mine while he works. It's been tiring to say the least. We haven't spent much time together as a family this summer but the positive is that we've both gotten a TON of one-on-one time with Violet. I don't get nearly enough of that being a working mama so that alone is worth everything! Ronnie is finally done with summer school and has this week off until he starts back at Texas State next week. Then the week after that, Violet starts school for the first time!! So much to talk about, so little time. That'll come later though. For now, PICTURES.

I have pretty much a crap ton to share so I narrowed it down to just 16 from the month of June. Next post will be dedicated to July and before you know it, I'll have gotten busy again and I'll be making a very late August post. If we're not already Insta-friends, follow me there so you don't ever have to miss out on my exciting life! haha!

1: Her water setup at home. One of the last weekends we had together before Ronnie started working! :( // After a bout with a broken flat iron, I got a new one and was happy to be back to normal! // This was the month of phrases. She started putting two words together and just took off from there. This was "roni cheese" :) // Just a random new beer mama tried. 

2: I hope she doesn't ever need glasses but if she does, at least she'll look cute. // I let her play in the rain and immediately felt guilty and worried that she'd get sick. She didn't. I need to chill. // My mom totally spoiled her with water fun at her house this summer. // "Tinky feeeet". Another new phrase she added and thought was the funniest ever. And oh, the giggles. They are the best ever.

3. Meeting another animal friend, this one was my cousin's cat and SO freaking cute. // Ronnie got the best Father's Day gift ever - a Spurs Championship! // Date night of the month at Gartenfest. German food + beer. Nom! // We went to a baby shower and my child acted like a wild fool and was in everyone's way but she looked sweet and quiet in this picture beforehand. Ah, the truth behind pictures. ha!

4. We've made so many trips to Home Depot and Lowe's this summer, it's ridiculous. // Another trip to HD I believe, this time wearing her favorite hat of the summer. lol // More shopping with my girl. This time, Target. Because mama is always and forever an addict. // A new swimsuit from you guessed it, Target. And more water fun at you guessed it, her spoiler of a grandma's house.

the happs lately...

We had our final Christmas get together this past weekend with Ronnie's dad, stepmom, sister and her boyfriend. It was also the last day I got to enjoy my Christmas decorations!! :( Sadly, I took very few pictures while they were here but probably because we were too busy feeding our faces, drinking way too much wine and opening a ton of gifts from his generous parents. It was fun!

Adorable cookie cake that his stepmom brought // Hanging out by the presents, where else? //
Loving her time with Aunt Krissy // A sad day - taking it all down on Sunday :( 

Also fun is that I haven't had to cook a thing this week because we had so many leftovers! Everyone contributed and all I had to make was a side and a dessert - very nice when you're the one hosting! These are the two things I made and they were so stupid good! They're also some of the easiest recipes around so pin em for the future!

The leftovers are gone now and I'm excited to actually cook up something tonight for Ronnie since he's been gone since Monday! Say what? Yup, Ronnie went on a work trip! Much like all those times I've left him behind during my work trips, this week was my payback ;) He had the first part of job training in Tulsa and will arrive back home tonight. And next week, he'll be gone FIVE days in Dallas. This week, he was technically only gone 2 nights and next week he'll be gone Sunday night and return Friday night. That's gonna be a. long. week. I'm feeling pretty nervous about it!

On the mom side, I just have to say how proud I am of our big girl! She's finally starting to say a bunch of words clearly and she's actually trying to enunciate. One of those words is monkey and one is Daddy which she says so clearly now and Ronnie LOVES it :) This past Saturday she added chip, diaper and sock to her vocab and on Monday she called herself "Hyatt" which has been a looong time coming. We've been trying to teach her her name FOREVER and she's finally catching on ;) Then last night, I'm 98% sure she told me "Luh you, mama" as she was hugging me. Can I tell you how my heart basically exploded right then?

We're about a month and a half away now from her turning 2 and I'm trying not to get all sobby about it. Where has the time gone??! For her 2nd, we've decided to not throw a party. Her first birthday party was a bit much for us considering how big my family alone is and without getting too into it, things happened that now make it awkward to bring our families together sooo we've decided it's easier (and cheaper!) to keep it low key. (Until she's older and starts asking for a party!) I'm happy to have a stress free, fun day just the three of us to celebrate her 2nd and if the grandparents want to celebrate with her on their own, then we'll do that too at some point during the weekend. Just no big parties for a while ;)

kissing on daddy the night before he left  - she always makes him wear her play glasses. ha // new fun stuff! //
loooving this polish! Sinful Colors - Endless Blue // cheesing with my girl

Back to reality...

Well, my two week vacation is over and I'm officially back at work. #coffeeme #andhandmethetissues

The only positive I can see about this is that I actually changed out of pj's and put some makeup on before noon. If that's even a positive, really, because what I wouldn't do to be back home right now with my people. It was honestly the best two weeks ever. We stayed up late, slept in, did whatever we wanted whether that was stay cozy at home all day, play outside, go shopping - whatever. we. wanted. Just having that time to relax and not having one impending deadline looming over me, a bajillion e-mails stressing me out, NOTHING - and it was everything that I thought it could be.

The best part was being able to see the changes in Violet every day, first hand. Sure I see her every day but I don't have full days with her so having that time was truly wonderful and I did a lot of crying and feeling sorry for myself last night because I didn't want it to end. She's growing so. so. fast and I just wish I could be with her as it all happens. My practical side knows that's impossible but my emotional side (probably a good 85% of me) knows that this was my last holiday with my "baby". The baby/toddler that we still can't understand clearly, the one who giggles at eeeeverything we do to make her laugh, the one who's obsessed with animals and making animal sounds - she'll be completely different next year at this time. She'll be going on 3 and yes, she'll still be as cute as ever to us but no longer a baby. I know I'm jumping the gun here...I mean girlfriend still hasn't even turned 2! But I'm so crazy and overly sentimental that I can't help but think of these things. 

I totally slacked on blogging while I was on vacation and I'm ok with that. At some point I might try and post some Christmas pictures and maybe even some of my Christmas decor (because it's still up and might be for another week or so.)...or I may never get around to doing that at all. Lezbihonest. So this mish mash may be the best you get of our life from the past two weeks :) 

1) first teeny bun // her old lady walk // christmas eve love // christmas morning

2) christmas at grammy's // fender bender on christmas evening. ugh. // cutest jam jams ever // first "snow" at sea world

3) coloring's a new fave // sushi with a friend and V // nye nails // "caaaar"

4) bubble necklace wearing // friends to keep a sick girl company // bakery treats // #idontwannatakedownchristmas

Thanksgiving 2013

Even after the insane amount of food I ate on Thanksgiving (at two Thanksgiving lunches, I might add) and after the leftovers I ate on Friday, I'm still not over turkey. Ronnie's already gagging at the thought of it but not me. I'm a true Thanksgiving hog. I just love food. Maybe too much according to my now snug jeans but that's the price you have to pay!

So, this Thanksgiving was spent having an early lunch at my parents' and then a late lunch at Ronnie's mom's and step dad's place. Lots of love to go around but it does make for an exhausting day. Especially now with a toddler! We were beat by lunch and I'm sure you can see it in our faces. I could barely get a good picture of Violet this year, she was just all over the place. In fact, she wouldn't even sit still for lunch at either place! She just wanted to play and run around and come sneak a bite of food every once in a while. Oh, to have just a bit of her energy :)

It was nice to see my sister who was in town from school and of course, the rest of the family :) ha I know my sister was most excited to see Violet. She hadn't seen her since the summer and they had a lot of fun together! I'm glad we finally got some updated family pictures, too and especially thankful we got them before we stuffed ourselves silly. You'll notice my brother and Violet both had wardrobe changes at some point. ha

Then it was on to the next! We were absolutely beat down by this one. SO so tired. On a normal day, we would've crashed out for a family nap at this time. ha But we pressed on and we had a fun time too! I finally got some wine in me and we just sat around drinking and talking while Violet ran around getting into everything basically. She loves being at her Maw's house (this is where she goes when Ronnie has to be at school) and she had the best time there. It was a fun night but we were glad to go home that night and get comfy!

It's funny to see just how many more pictures we got at my mom's compared to Ronnie's family and of course we love them just the same but I blame my mom's obsession with pictures. Ronnie likes to call them her "photo shoots" and he's been forced to grin and bear it through many a shoot. lol. All in all, Thanksgiving was great and I can say now that the exhaustion was worth the fun time we spent with them! Though had you asked us that during the day, we might've responded a little differently. ha

Now, we're getting ready for Christmas around our house! I finally decorated EVERYTHING yesterday and can't wait to show y'all! Nothing fancy but just a lot of cute random decor around the house. After I decorated, I cleaned the house from top to bottom (at oh, around midnight. ugh). My biggest wish is that Santa will bring me a weekly housekeeper... but we're probably years away from that ever happening. ha

.And just because I love a good side-by-side:

Thanksgiving 2012 vs. Thanksgiving 2013

A lot has changed since last year and our girl has grown like crazy! 

Still as feisty though and not into sitting still for pictures, apparently. 

Hope you and your loved ones had a fabulous Thanksgiving too!!

A bit of November.

When I get behind on blogging, I end up bombarding y'all with a ton of pictures at once. So thanks to those few of you who stick with me ;)

November. It's been a busy month. It's not a coincidence that once our weather actually cools down, we feel energized and actually WANT to be out and about. So we've been doing a lot and making tons of memories with our girl. Our girl that has actually hit her terrible twos, oh, about 3 1/2 months before actually turning 2. She is all about the crying, whining and tantrums lately. Full on tantrums. She means business when she's in tantrum mode. Lord, help me. I'd be lying if I didn't say it's been completely exhausting and I miss the girl I had just a few weeks ago who rarely threw a fit...I'm also slightly terrified of what's going to come the older and more strong willed she becomes. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, right? 

This month, we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, visited some with Ronnie's family too and then went to Wurstfest with Ronnie's sis and her boyfriend. So fun!! We hadn't been to Wurstfest since the year before I got pregnant and it was a much needed fun night out!

Then we took this girl to the Zoo for the first time! I'm looking forward to when she's older and able to participate in more things like the museum, water parks, etc. but for now, this was perfect and she had a blast, especially at the Butterfly House! (Disclaimer: By going to places like the Zoo or Sea World, for that matter, I'm not saying we agree with what they're doing. AT ALL. And we feel guilty every time we're there. But sometimes there's not a whole lot of places to take a small toddler and these places just work for us. So no judging, ok? :) 

ANYWHO.

Violet's also become obsessed lately with dress up - particularly with my clothes. She'll find something of mine and bring it to me wanting it on. It's adorable. She's noticing what her clothing looks like too. She'll bend over and stare at her leggings if there's a pattern on them. ha. She talks our heads off and I'm really happy with the progress she's making in that department. Her most recent words include "munk" (monkey), "hoo hoo" (for owls), and our favorite... c-o-c-k. Yup. That stands for clock in her world and we think for truck too. And wouldn't you know, it's one of her most repeated words. Fun :) She's just the best (when she's not throwing a tantrum, of course ;)

We just put up the Christmas tree last night - haven't decorated it yet - and she LOVED it. She even kissed it. ha! I'm so excited for the holidays with her!

Our October

The month of October was so wonderful and I'm in shock at how quickly it came and went! I'm not complaining though because Fall in general is the point in the year that I live for and not because of fall weather (because lezbihonest, we don't really get a true Fall in Texas) but because it's the calm after the storm. It's that point where my work event's done, I got that way-too-long trip out of the way and I can just BREATHE. Work is SO quiet right now and I'm loving every second. Being this care free at work keeps me from "taking work home" and I'm just so carefree when I get there. I actually just chill out with my child, not a care in the world! I wish every day could be like that! It's just been a great time lately.

So, October. What did we do.... We took V to her 2nd ever pumpkin patch! And of course I couldn't narrow down the pictures, there are just too many cute ones! She called every pumpkin "ball" and had the best little time exploring the place. There was a pretty decent crowd but she walked around like she owned the place. Totally her dad. ha! And what a difference from when we took her to her first pumpkin patch last year, when she was a clingy acid reflux baby that wanted none of that having fun stuff. ha!

During the rest of the month...

We had some professional pictures taken of Violet since we hadn't had any taken since her 1st birthday. We've only ever had pro photos taken outdoors but this was a mini session in studio which was different but we're happy with the results!

I dressed her up in my old Raggedy Ann costume from my 2nd Halloween, it was adorable! We were thisclose to dressing her as that for Halloween but decided to do our own thing...

She had her 18 month appointment, two months late. Whoops! With all my craziness at work, we just never got around to it. Plus, she's not a fan of the doctor's office so it's not like I was excited to do it! ha She's still our teeny girl - measuring 31" tall and weighing only 23.8 pounds.

Then, Halloween! We went to Morgan's Wonderland which was absolutely perfect for a kid her age. She had the best time, she got to trick or treat from different tables and we didn't have to fight crowds. And I may be biased but she was the perfect little Snow White!

That was our October!

This month is flying by too (as time seems to do) but we've been having fun! Update on the month so far, coming soon :)

A really late 4th post.

It shouldn't be a surprise to me or anyone else that I'm writing about July 4th on the 17th. I'm known to be a little late to just about everything. I can't help it. I'm a procrastinator to the core. Being a procrastinator also leads to never actually making plans until the last minute. Which is exactly how our 4th went. I woke up excited for a fun celebration! One that I hadn't even planned! Story of my life. So we did a whole lot of nothing for the better part of the day. But honestly it was good. It's nice to just BE. No work, no stress. Just be with my family in our little house.

Finally, I decided we HAD to do something. And it had to be great!

So we Googled firework shows in the area and decided on New Braunfels (45 minutes north of SA). It's around the area where Ronnie grew up so he's always happy to head out the way. We stopped at Cooper's for some BBQ and having decided to go low carb that day (or maybe I was forced into by a fiancé who's tired of hearing me bitch about my weight. Maybe.), this place was perfect. We loaded up on some meat, a little cole slaw (like 3 bites. Boo.) and then I ate my weight in pickles. nom. Violet ate meat AND mac -n- cheese so I hated her a little in that moment. The guy who served us was super friendly and chatted us up about our plans and gave us some tips on where to watch the fireworks since the park where we were headed gets pretty crowded. He was so nice and his tips saved us!

We ended up in a church parking lot with the PERFECT view of the fireworks and minus the park crowd. Violet LOVED it. We loved it. Before the fireworks, she walked around the parking lot a bit and then she was in for the "pa" show of her little life! We're still not sure how or why she says "pa" for "light" but it's adorable and she's pretty much set on it for now. The entire time she kept pointing at the fireworks and then looking at both of us like "Are you seeing this?!". Cutest ever.

Mom of the year forgot her camera. So we have these fabulous phone pics. Ah well.

I just can't believe how quickly she's growing and what a little toddler she is. I looked back on last year's July 4th post and at the end of it, I said "I get in weepy mom mode when I think about how much older and different she'll be next year! :(". I'm amazed at how that "next year" got here so fast. And the same sentiment rings true for next year - we'll have a nearly 2 1/2 year old by then. Insane. (Hold me.)

pictures from July 6th. Same outfit. Because I'm an awesome mom.

Go enter my giveaway!!!

I'm back! :)

 1. Quality time with my girl before I left

2. Ronnie was busy being single dad for a week

3. Meanwhile, mama did a lot of boozing and schmoozing (work, too!)

4. The big girl and the fun mail I came home to.



I'm so happy to be back and back into my regular routine!! I had such a great time and the event was a success but I am worn the hell out. It always takes me a week or so to fully recuperate after every one of our events. It was so so hard being away from V all that time and even worse was coming back to a child who looked like she had changed SO MUCH. Her hair looked longer, she was talking more than ever and she stared at me for a full day as if she was pissed that I'd left her. It wasn't this hard when I left her for 10 days when she was 8 months old - she had NO idea I was gone and I don't feel like she changed nearly as much back then. This time around was tough and really makes me dread my even longer trip this coming October :/ But all complaining aside, it's my job and I have to do it for my family so I'll keep on keeping on! I really am so so grateful for my job.

Ronnie was a champ at holding down the fort while I was gone and I am seriously lucky to have him! They had a great week together but I know he was even more beat than me when I got back on Friday night. So, Saturday I took V to my cousin's baby's 1st birthday party and spent some time with her at the park afterwards (with my parents too) so that he could have a few hours to himself. I know he needed a breather. Then Sunday, Mother's Day (my second one!), Ronnie bought me my favorite breakfast ever (Bill Miller's!) along with their coffee AND sweet tea. Best surprise to wake up to. He left for a few hours of volunteer work so it was just me and the babe and we had fun catching up :) That evening he took her to his mom's and I had the entire evening TO MYSELF. Best gift ever. Funny how it works out that way on Mother's Day.

Monday was a vacation day (thanks to the best bosses ever who knew we needed rest) and we did pretty much nothing. Ronnie's now out of school for the summer (um, until summer school starts) so the three of us just ran errands, grabbed some food, grocery shopped and made another stop at the park. It's pretty much our favorite thing to do nowadays to wear out that child :) Every time we go though, I see just how much she's grown compared to the last time we were at the park and I kinda hate it. I never realized how quickly she'd turn into a toddler and then how at this point, it would fly by faster than EVER. I'm always reminding myself how fleeting these moments are. And many times, I just cry about it. A growing baby is so amazing but can make you feel so sad! Time for baby #2?? ;) (just kidding. not even a chance.)

Hope everyone is well! Thanks again to Rhonda and Kali for your guest posts while I was gone! I hope to get back into some regular blogging soon. I missed you guys!

and this is why I love weekends.

This working mom thing really blows sometimes.

 

But then I do things like take a vacation day and we get a 3-day weekend together and all stress is forgotten.

 

Friday, we took V to her first Fiesta event - Mexican dress and all. I can't even handle the cuteness. The dress was huge on her but it was just so . damn. darling.

 

The parentals got to enjoy some beer (ok, one each.), bratwurst and good conversation while V took in the scenery and did some roaming around. Then the crowd and the freaking humidity showed up so we were out. I'm just glad we finally made it to something for Fiesta!

Saturday was spent lounging around together and then taking V to the park. We stopped at the large park near our house where we had her birthday party, but it was crowded and there were too many unsafe areas for a newbie walker. And for the newbie walker's parents' nerves.

So we headed to the rec center at a nearby neighborhood, pretended like we lived there and had at their playground. (It's not like they asked for proof or anything and hey, it was empty ;) There was a huge open space, a basketball court and a playground so V just had the best flipping time walking around wherever she wanted. Per usual, the swings were a hit :)

Yesterday was the day we finally cleaned house, which I had been neglecting all weekend.

But to be quite honest, I'll sacrifice a clean house any day to have more time with these faces :)

How was your weekend?

her 1st birthday.

So Violet's party was this past Sunday and while I won't call it a FAIL, I have to say it definitely did not go as planned. I was going to talk about it today but since this post ended up being picture heavy enough, I'll wait on the party talk for another post.

For now, let's talk about Thursday - V's actual birthday ;)

I had decorated around the house and she woke up in the BEST MOOD. I think all sadness I had over her turning 1 was gone the moment she smiled at me that morning :) She is a little fool.

After we had some breakfast, we took her to her 12 month appointment and she had her shots (I know, evil parents doing that to her on her birthday but I was already taking the day off and it worked out ok?) so afterwards we sat in the car trying to cheer her up for a bit and it didn't take long for her to knock out. Ronnie and I then ate a fabulously romantic lunch of Panda Express in the car while she napped. When she woke up, she was in the BEST MOOD again. I swear it's like she knew it was her birthday. ha So then we took her for some froyo and she had the best time. Cutest thing ever.

We decided to then take her to the Zoo but got there and decided it was too windy and chilly for it so we just stopped by some nearby antique stores (I'm sure this is exactly how V wanted to celebrate.) and then headed home. The rest of the day was spent being lazy, playing, eating pizza, trying to take some pictures of her. It was such a fun day!

Why yes, the only things that would keep her sitting still were my phone and her baba.
Please tell me how you got your kids off the bottle. Whatever we're doing ain't working.

We didn't do anything crazy special but I think it was the perfect way to spend her day with her. I still can't believe we have a ONE YEAR OLD!! Looking back now, we could've been done with just that day of celebrating - no party necessary. But, we were having a party and still had that to get ready for...More to come on that!

Go enter my giveaway, y'all! Chip & Chisel jewelry is the best and you can win $50 to her shop!

Weekend Picture Overload.

I am such a bitch on Monday mornings and I can't even help myself. After fun weekends with my favorite people, going back to work is basically torture. Ya know?

Saturday, we headed out for breakfast and then for a drive to Ronnie's hometown, Canyon Lake (about 35 miles north of SA), because he hadn't been there in a while and really, we're always looking for an excuse to take a nice drive! It was the perfect day for it too - about 72 degrees and GORGEOUS out. We stopped at the Canyon Lake Dam for the awesome view of the lake and it got us excited about spending time up there this summer with V!  It was also V's first time to Ronnie's hood so I know he was loving that moment :)

We stopped for lunch at our fave little barbecue place, the teeniest most random place (as most are in Canyon Lake) and Ronnie's dad came and met us for lunch. Afterwards we took a drive down River Road, I decided I need to get skinny so I can do more tubing on the river this summer (oh yeah, I say this every year and oh yeah, I still love bad food way too much.) and then we headed home. It was such an awesome day!

1. Being nosey at breakfast // 2. Our fave little BBQ place in // 3. Daddy and his girl
4. Three generations  // 5. Playing at home // 6. Knocked out on the couch at the end of the day!

Sunday, we had plans to go to our friend's Superbowl party but that depended on how V did at a 1st birthday party that afternoon (oh, how times have changed! ha). She woke up from her morning nap like a grump so we were late to the party but when we got there, she was happy as could be. Thank goodness. She had a blast watching the kids play, she LOVED watching some boys kick around a ball and super loved the swing - it was her first time in one. 

1. Waiting for grump to fully wake up to go to the party :) // 2. Cutie at the party
3. Inspecting the swing before she decided to love it // 4. My high school bestie Cristin and her birthday boy, Ayden

I'd taken her to the party alone while Ronnie deep cleaned the house (it needed it bad. Thanks, honey! :) so by the time I got home, we were all kinda worn out and decided against going to the party. So we just ran a couple errands, picked up some Chipotle bowls and then headed home to watch the game. I actually watched the entire thing, go me! (Even if only for the commercials ;)

 How was your weekend?

Weekend in Photos

(warning: picture overload!)

Ronnie went back to school today so his days as a SAHD are no longer! I know he loves V like crazy (and is the BEST dad) but I know he also was ready to go back to "his" life. It had to be tough keeping her 10 hours a day while I was at work!

We had a great last week/weekend before school. Per usual, there were a couple trips to Target. I finally picked up V's dress there for our Fall family pictures - thank you Rhonda for showing it to me a couple weeks ago! Then at work on Friday we were treated to some yum-ass Kona Grill for a co-worker's birthday and had beer thirty at the end of the day. Nice start to the weekend!


1. THE dress! // 2. Cutie and her two teeth // 3. SUSHI! // 4. Girly pomegranate beer.

Saturday we had a "family date" with my sweet friend Elizabeth, her hubby Eric and their cutie Hannah. We met up at the Pearl Brewery for the Farmer's Market, did some shopping there and at some cute nearby stores, then went for brunch. We had such a good time with them! That afternoon, we went to Ronnie's sister's and their dad BBQ'ed for us. We had a lot of fun with them too. It was a pretty long day for us though!

1. Getting the stroller tires filled at the bike shop! ha // 2. Pearl! // 3. Hannah and Violet meet

4. Cute men, cute babies //5. Elizabeth looking lovely as usual // 6. Honey looking cute at the bookstore

6. Chatting girlfriends // 7 Elizabeth loving on V at lunch!

Sunday, V and I went to lunch with my family to celebrate my mom's birthday! I was nervous about how V would behave but she did so awesome. Her only freak out was at nap time. She gets that from her momma I think ;) After lunch we hung out at my parents' for a while and she got tons of attention from them, it was sweet!

Happy birthday today to my Momma!!!

Date Weekend 2012!

This past weekend will officially be known as Date Weekend 2012!

Not because we won't ever have a date again but this was MAJOR. Violet slept over at my MIL's and this was her first time ever sleeping somewhere else.

Saturday started with the drop off. Ignore the scratches on her mirror..but there she was having a blast with her toys and my heart was breaking that we were about to drop her off. But once it was over and I saw how happy and ok she was, we were off!....

To the great city of Austin! :) The usual 1 hour trip took about 1.5 hours. Oy the traffic on 35 is horrendous.

As we were driving into downtown it started pouring so we had to run into our first stop, 24 Diner. It was a really fun way-too-hip-for-us place and I had probably the yummiest turkey breast + goat cheese sandwich ever and Ronnie couldn't stop talking about their coffee. He had FOUR CUPS.

When we left, the sun was out and it was hotter than a mug! But we decided to go do some shopping on Congress like the cool kids do ;) One shop had silver letters and Ronnie grabbed Violet's intials VMC and placed them on the table. It took us a second to realize someone had already placed out the words MISS YOU so it ended up saying MISS YOU VMC. Oh, we are obsessed, sad parents. ha. I even took a picture of the empty back seat when we were leaving Austin. We really did miss her!

We got back to San Antonio around 5pm and stopped by Sprint where Ronnie bought me my early birthday gift, a new HTC EVO. I looove it! Then we went home to let the dogs out, I played on my new phone and Ronnie watched the Texans game. We are so exciting!

Later that night we headed out for a late dinner at one of our fave places, The Cove. We had some yummy burgers and sweet potato fries with their sriracha mayo sauce.. Sooo good!

That night I I may have cried and begged Ronnie for us to go get V..but I'm glad he stopped me. We got the best sleep E-V-E-R! We were both in bed by 11, 1130 and we didn't wake up til nearly 9 am. Apparently we were tired.

We got up and went to breakfast then headed over to the MIL to pick up our girl! We were so.freaking.excited! When we got there she was having her morning nap but I waited around, staring at her (obsessed I tell you!) and when she woke up and saw me, she smiled so big and started kicking like a fool. Guess she kinda loves us back ;)

Then we went and did some shopping with our girl. She was an angel the whole day and we were so happy to have her back with us. The break was much needed and it really does make you appreciate what you have. And I have the best fiance and best little girl around.

OMG, y'all.

It has been a crazy few weeks to say the least. I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged! So you ready for a quick novel?

Remember when I finally found out I had gall stones? Well I had surgery 3 days after I found out!! If you follow me on Twitter, of course you already knew that though :) It's seriously crazy how it happened. The surgeon I was supposed to see couldn't even see me for two weeks which I was bummed about but screw that because I got the hook up! ha! Just two days after I was in the ER, a client stopped by our office and happened to jokingly say that she would trade our services for surgery since her husband is a general surgeon. Of course one of my co-workers said "Hey, Jessica needs her gallbladder taken out!" and literally one hour later, I was sitting in the waiting room of her husband's office. Seriously. When I finally met with him, he said "How's tomorrow for you? We need to get that gallbladder out or you'll keep having these attacks". So by the next day, Friday, I was in the hospital for surgery! Crazy how things work out. 

But what was supposed to be an easy, outpatient surgery turned into two weeks of crappola. Right after they took my gallbladder out they did an x-ray and saw that I had major gallstones still blocking my bile duct so I needed a second procedure, an ERCP, to remove them. And I had to be put under again. Not fun. But I felt OK after all of it and was even annoyed when they wanted to keep me overnight. But I guess that's what I needed because by that night I was the sickest I've ever been in my life. I won't elaborate but it wasn't pretty and I was in so much pain and just so unbearably nauseous. Even hearing my hospital roommate (I had a semi-private room. UGH) crunch on ice chips made me want to vomit. It was hell on earth and about 100x worse than my c-section. By Sunday afternoon I wasn't nearly as sick anymore so I was discharged. 

Over the next couple of days though I started to get sick again and by Thursday I really started to worry about why I was getting random fevers, chills and abdominal pain. I called the surgeon and he said to come in to the ER so a couple of hours later, I was in the ER being rushed around for blood work and then for a CT scan.

Turns out that second procedure I had can cause pancreatitis and as luck would have it, that's what I had. Apparently it had kicked in immediately after surgery too which is what had caused that hellish weekend. Cue being admitted into the hospital again. Granted I wasn't nearly as sick as the previous time I was there but this time wasn't a whole lot of fun either. I was finally discharged on Saturday and told to take yet another week off of work. 

It has been one week since all of that drama and I'm finally feeling better. 

It's obviously not the way I planned the majority of my July to go but I'm getting better every day and I'm so lucky that my amazing rock of a fiance was there to take care of Violet, the house and the pets while I was in the hospital. I know it wasn't easy and I know he was stressed but I am seriously lucky to have him. My mom helped him the weekend I had my surgery and then his mom helped out the second weekend I was in the hospital. SO grateful for them too.

I'll be back Monday to overload y'all with pictures from the past couple of weeks but these are the most recent and my most favorite, taken yesterday.

I love these two!

Now, back to work again on Monday and I'm dreading it. Even being sick, it's been so amazing to spend all this time at home with Violet. Oh how I wish I could be a SAHM.... maybe one day! 

Thank you again for all the sweet texts and tweets. Y'all amaze me with your kindness! <3