Spring has sprung!

After the most horrific summer, I was expecting to be completely blown out of the water with the nastiness of winter. I was prepared for snow days, ice, and endless amout of cold weather. I should not have put my expectations so high, after all, this IS Texas. After a grand total of maybe 3 days that snuck below freezing, spring is HERE. All the trees are putting out their green leaves (along with their horrid pollen) and the flowers are blooming. Guess no one told the weather that we'd like a bit longer before we start inching closer and closer to 100 degree weather. I can be thankful that I'm not pregnant this summer, maybe I'll enjoy it a little more! My sister in law, however, can NOT say this seeing as that she is 21 weeks pregnant with my fabulous nephew! There's really nothing that one can do to prepare for the discomfort of pregnancy and when coupled with a Texas summer, it's all about survival! Thankfully, at the end, you come out with a prize! :)

It's been fun and games as always around our house! The boys had spring break last week and were able to spend a few days with us towards the beginning. We played outside in the lovely weather, went to the shooting range, and the boys and I went on a mall adventure. Nope, I'd never taken 3 kids to the mall before...what an experience! The main reason we went was to get a birthday present for their dad! I found a great groupon to have the kids pictures taken, so we headed off to the mall to do that! Pictures with a 6 month old are always a gamble, but we did get some pictures that turned out great! Olivia smiles best for her bubbas, so it was hard to get her to focus on someone taking her picture with her bubbas next to her. At least she didn't cry! :) When gingers cry, we get blotchy red eyebrows and faces...not a pretty sight. The boys looked great and even picked out Olivia's outfit (Um, Stephanie, she needs to wear the pink one. She's girly.).

Jason had a class for his job last week, so Miss Olivia got to go to her new babysitter for the first time in an extended time away from mom and dad. She'd been watched by family and the church nursery, but this was the longest she'd been away from either of us. We are blessed to have such a happy baby, and she did amazing. Of course, God provided the most amazing woman to watch her. Olivia comes home well rested, well fed, with all her clothes washed and a hand written schedule (to the minute) of what she did during the day. Wow! This precious woman goes above and beyond when caring for our little girl and we are so very thankful.

This past weekend was Jason's birthday! The boys came over on Friday night for some birthday fabulousness. On Saturday, we all had "lazy day" and slept in! I even made green egg sandwiches in honor of St. Patrick's day! We ended up spending the day getting fishing gear so that Jason could take the boys fishing next weekend. After they picked out their rods and reels, we went over to Jason's dad's house to get it all set up. Once that was done, we headed home for family movie night. Sunday, (Jason's actual birthday), we had birthday donuts for breakfast and headed out to church. After church, we went back to Jason's dad's house for birthday burgers and hot dogs on the grill! Jason took the two boys to the lake around the corner to practice with their new poles. They'd both been fishing before but had never caught a fish. Olivia and I stayed behind to nap and have our latest teethign fit (poor girl!). The boys came home jubilant as BOTH of them had caught something! Jason didn't have the opportunity to catch anything, but the joy of hearing and seeing the boys catch their first fish was enough! It was the BEST birthday present!

Miss Olivia continues to be the world's cutest baby (in our humble opinion!). She's learning new things every day and continues to amaze me. She now will sit up to play, continues to roll literally ALL over the house, and squawk when she's not fed quickly enough. I'm starting to notice that she prefers her food to have some texture and is liking pureed things less and less. She's started in on the protein party and is NUTS about salmon and turkey. Her biggest issue right now is the fact that she's starting to have teething fits where she just becomes inconsolable at a moment's notice. She doesn't have any pearly buds yet, just lots of gum pain. Most of the day, she's absolutely fine.

Next weekend, Jason is taking the boys to the lake for a true fishing experience. I'm not sure what Olivia and I will be up to, but I'm thinking maybe spring cleaning? Wait, this is me after all...perhaps just spring straightening. I'm certain that my cleaning will be taking a back seat (even more than it normally does) when our daughter becomes more mobile than she already is. For now, I'll just clean around her rolling party and wait anxiously for the day when she's chasing the dog around! I'm sure it will not be that far away.

Thanks for stopping by!