Carly and Phil

This past weekend we were blessed with a visit from two of our all-time favorite people, Carly and Phil Nieri!!  We both moved in to  the neighborhood around the same time, when the houses were just being completed five years ago.  The Nieri's moved to Phoenix about a year ago, and the neighborhood has not been the same ever since.  We have had the pleasure of seeing Phil several times over the past year, as his job has him back in Austin on a regular basis.  However, this is the first time we have seen Carly since they moved.  As Carly noted, it felt like we picked right back up where we left off.  We all enjoyed reminiscing about old times as we sat under the pergola eating Rudy's BBQ with Greg, Sarah, Jeff, and Bryn.  

The next evening, the four of us went to Uchiko for a fantastic feast.   I admit that it was a little hard for me to be there without being able to drink or eat any sushi, but I still had a good time due to the excellent conversation and the awesome cooked items that I was able to eat.  It felt so good to know that we could still enjoy a great friendship despite the distance between us.  We look forward to visiting them in a few weeks, and we talked about future get togethers, possibly at exciting destinations without the kids.  My only regret about Carly and Phil's visit is that I did not take any pictures of people, I only have a picture of the flower arrangement that I made from our garden and put in their room.  I guess I will need to take extra photos when we go to visit Phoenix in a few weeks!

This Pregnancy

I haven't been documenting this pregnancy like I did during the last two.  With Benjamin, Lance took a weekly photo of my belly.  With Evan I kept a journal called the "Belly Book".  This time around I have done nothing. Its never too late to start, right?  Or is that, "better late than never"?  For the most part, this pregnancy has been very similar to the last two.  I got a bit queasy at times in the first trimester, but not really sick.  The second trimester was a breeze, and I felt amused every time someone asked me how I was feeling.  I was feeling so good that it seemed silly when they asked me, as though I should not be feeling well.  Although, every time they asked me, I kept thinking to myself that I will probably be feeling worse in a couple of months.  I suppose my stock response should have been, "Ask me in a couple of months".  


I've felt Sawyer moving since about week 14, and the movements become more pronounced with every week.  It is still the most amazing thing to feel a baby move inside of you and I don't think that ever gets old.  In fact, this is probably the thing I like most about pregnancy.  It feels as though I am never alone, I always have a little companion who reminds me that he's here every few hours.  After dinner he does more than just remind me he's here, he spends a good amount of time trying to entertain me with his antics.  Like his brothers and his mommy, he really seems to enjoy sugar.


I am about to enter the third trimester and, just as predicted, I am beginning to feel less wonderful.  The main symptom is the aching in my feet toward the end of a normal day.  I told Lance last night that I really need a 30 minute foot massage every night before bed, but I don't think that is very realistic.  The other symptoms is shortness of breath, which occurs about once or twice a day and leads me to feel tired.  Of course, all of these symptoms are worth it and I need to remember that I will never be pregnant again.  If I could just focus on the miracle inside of me then the aches and pains would not be so bothersome.  I am working on that.  I really am thankful to God for allowing us to be parents to another precious child.  These next few months couldn't go by any quicker, but I also want them to go by as slowly as possible (if that makes any sense!).

The Rodeo

The boys were in luck when they got their first trip to the rodeo last week.  Although we didn't go to the actual rodeo, which involves calf roping and bull riding, the boys did not know the difference.  Instead, my parents and I showed them around the kiddie area and the carnival. There were several firsts for both of them.  Both boys had their first ride on a pony.  They seemed to enjoy it and it was really way to short.  Later on, Benjamin made a point to say that he and Evan got to ride "real" ponies.  They got to see how a "real" cow gets milked.  This is something I have never seen live.  I was shocked at how quickly the milk is pumped out, filling several gallons in just a couple of minutes.  Next, we entered the petting zoo, which was a little intimidating for Benjamin but we saw a baby goat that had just been born.


After the kiddie area, we decided to head over to the carnival.  On the way, the boys were sidetracked by some tractors that were on display and available for exploration by little boys.  Benjamin was determined to make his way to the ferris wheel as quickly as possible.  I thought it was interesting that he wanted to ride the ferris wheel (which scares me to death) but was afraid of the petting zoo.  Poor Papa had to take him despite his fear of heights.  Amma took Evan on the merry-go-round, which I felt was going much too fast to really be fun.  Thanks to my pregnancy, I got out of having to go on any rides.  Finally, my favorite part of the experience, was a trip to the gourmet area of the fairgrounds.  Benjamin and Papa chose large slabs of pepperoni pizza, Evan chose a corn dog on a stick, I chose a burger, and Amma had a huge sausage with peppers. We capped it all off with dessert.  Although there were many very exciting options, such as deep friend Kool Aid, we went with an ice cream and M & M concoction and chocolate covered frozen bananas.  

I didn't expect to have such a good time, but I did.  I can definitely see us hanging out at the rodeo every year and making many great memories.  I know the boys had a fabulous time and could have been entertained for many more hours.  I hope Lance can come with us next year.

Fish Pond

This weekend Lance got an old whiskey barrel that held Jack Daniels and decided to turn it in to a small fish pond.  I am a little concerned about the maintenance and care that it might need, but he assured me not to worry.  I hope this means that he will take care of it!  There's something about taking on responsibility for extra life forms before a new baby comes that somehow just makes me anxious.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the boys go to Petsmart to buy their first pets (besides Ruthie, who was already here when they were born).  We purchased the lovely little fish, came home and filled the pond with some rocks, then let the little suckers free in their new home.  Evan particularly enjoyed the part where he got to throw rocks into the pond without getting in trouble.  I think Benjamin just enjoyed the concept of having pets to take care of and check in on every day.  We had a huge thunderstorm the night that we got our new pets, and I was quite concerned that they would not make it.  I peered out the window in the morning, fearing that I would see them floating on top or on the ground beside the pond.  To my relief, they were swimming happily.  Thank God, we got them through one day safe and sound, and I hope they will be with us for a long, long time.

Working Weekend

This weekend Lance and I had a bit of a To-Do list for the backyard.  Our good friends Carly and Phil are coming to visit next weekend and we are planning to have a bit of a neighborhood reunion here under our pergola.  We wanted things to look nice and, due to the fact that we are just getting around to spending time outside this year, it was no easy weekend project.  First we decided to create a screen of plants to avoid seeing some of the neighbors' mess.  We were proud that we were able to repurpose some Will Fleming Hollies from the back yard and transplant them to the front.  Lance came up with the idea of placing large pots where the Hollies used to be, which we will soon fill with some kind of gorgeous plant.  It seems like every year we manage to spend most of our extra money at the Natural Gardener, but I try not to feel to bad about it.  As I told Lance, we invest in the beauty of our landscape instead of spending money to travel to beautiful places.  Now that we are expecting number three and unlikely to travel any time soon, it makes even more sense to invest in the beauty of home.

We have always been blessed to have the grandparents to watch the boys when we want to get extra work done.  This weekend was no exception.  I could feel guilty about this, but I try to think about all of the fun that both the boys and the grandparents end up having.  Its also nice for Lance and I to have some time to spend together without the boys.  It reminds me of the days before kids when we would run errands on the weekends, reflecting on the possibilities of the future, and usually just being silly.  The funny thing is, we were both so exhausted after our projects on Saturday.  We were complaining of our bodies being sore and our feet being tired as if we had worked hard for days with no rest.  It made me think that we are truly in a different phase of life, one where we are finally noticing some physical limitations.  But, I am sure, we will still have grand plans and great ideas.  We will still carry out as much as possible, but we will just need much more resting in between.  

Days at Home

Just in the last few months it seems that I am enjoying staying home with the boys more.  I think I have relaxed some of the expectations I had for myself, such as establishing a structured routine and making sure to go on an outing every day.  You see, some days we don't go anywhere.  We might leave the house to go outside, but we never leave our lovely neighborhood.  That used to bother me, as if I had judged that I was not doing enough (being lazy).  These days I am taking the boys out less and enjoying it more.


The last few days have been particularly enjoyable since daylight savings time has created an extra hour of sunlight and the weather has been warm.  We have been walking around the neighborhood and enjoying the beauty of the surrounding greenbelt with its intensely yellow flowers.  The boys have been playing with their bikes in the front yard, and I have been sitting in a chair on the lawn, as we wait for Lance to come home from work.

For the most part, the boys and I have quite a bit of fun in our days.  Sure, there is the ever-present struggle to get a two year-old to have his diaper changed and constant urging the four year-old to put his socks and shoes on, but I have habituated to that now.  Evan is the silliest little boy, and he cracks me up every day.  He toddles around the house making silly noises and saying the funniest things.  I love to watch Benjamin and Evan interact and it brings joy to see how close they are.  They sit side-by-side at the table for breakfast and I even saw them holding hands while eating breakfast!  Today Evan was crying because I told him he could not watch cartoons.  Benjamin said in the most nurturing voice, "Evan, Evan, its okay.  Why are you crying?  You can watch cartoons after your nap".  They then hugged and Evan stopped crying.  Its just amazing to see my first baby playing the nurturer, and being so good at it!  He can make hundreds of perfect football throws, and score goal after goal, but this makes me the proudest.  Yes, we are doing good around here.

What a great weekend we had!  It has rained here the last 3 days in a row and has been completely cloudy, but the sun finally came out today.  We ordered some plants from Sunset Valley and brought them over to Larry and Lea's house to get their lush backyard landscape started.  Everyone pitched in to help and we had about twenty plants in the ground in an hour.  It helped that the ground was nice and moist from all of the rain.  Its amazing how the backyard already looks so much nicer with just these few plants.  It feels great to help my in-laws to have an enjoyable environment to spend their time in.  Pretty soon we will complete their patio and pergola so we can really sit out and enjoy the scenery.  

Family life has been a lot of fun lately with relatively little stress.We went out to enjoy a family dinner at Chuy's followed by ice cream at Austin Scoops.  For the last few weeks, Benjamin had been asking me when we were going to these places, so I thought we would knock them both out on the same night.  I remarked to Lance how easy it is for us now to go out with the two boys and it is even becoming enjoyable.  Leave it to us to feel the need to challenge ourselves once things become manageable.  I'm thinking we should try to enjoy the next three months as much as possible before Sawyer comes along and we adjust all over again to a new challenge when out as a family.  Right now things are about as good as they could get.  Although I know that life will be difficult soon, I have learned to have faith that we will soon adjust again and be back in the groove, a new groove.  I just can't imagine being more blessed in this life.  Thank you, Lord.

Tennis Lessons

 Benjamin had his first tennis lesson yesterday and it was a definite success.  He has always watched tennis and learned about it because I am an avid fan.  Its not that I ever really played in competition, but I LOVE to watch others play.  I love the intensity of the finals of a grand slam, to see the psychological dynamics of the match.  I also just love the shear excitement of the long rallies followed up by a huge winner down the line.  Benjamin has patiently watched some tennis with me over the first four years of his life.  He knows the basic rules, but the scoring is a little too complex for him yet.  We have a tennis racket and he has enjoyed hitting the balls.  We have all noticed that he has quite a knack for hitting (and throwing).  I will say that I gave him a choice of several sports to learn this Spring, and he chose tennis (YES!).  


My parents, Evan and I were all on hand for the first lesson.  The teacher is an older lady with a raspy voice and an enthusiastic manner.  She must be a special lady to have been teaching 4 year-olds tennis for many years.  They played two games to introduce the kids to some basic skills.  I am proud to say that Benjamin won both of the games.  He is such a good listener and seems to focus at a very high level for his age.  I hope we do not put pressure on him just because he is such a natural talent for sports.  I pray that he just learns to have fun and does not put too much pressure on himself to win at everything, but I know his personality (and mine) and it might be difficult.  For now we'll just enjoy these early sports experiences and I can have fun imagining him as the next Rafael Nadal (the tow-headed American version, that is).  

The Greenbelt is back!

Its that time of year again. Everything is turning green, the Mountain Laurel is in bloom with its grape koolaid fragrance, leaves are budding on the trees, and roses are starting to form buds. At the risk of repeating myself incessantly, I will go ahead and say that I LOVE the start of Spring. There is so much anticipation of what is to come, waiting and watching for each different variety of plant to bloom. The smells in the air and the intensity of color in nature just fill my senses and is an ever-present reminder of how much God loves us. Of course, its hard not to mention that Spring also mirrors the process that I am going through with pregnancy, waiting for my baby boy to grow and be born. That, along with the joy of seeing Evan and Benjamin frolic in these beautiful outdoors, makes this Spring about the best one that I can remember. As an added bonus, it came about a month earlier this year than last.

The other day Benjamin asked if we could take a walk out in the greenbelt. I can't believe how green it really is now. This summer it was so dry that we began to call it the "brownbelt". It was just a barren field of dried up weeds. Now, even before the official start of Spring, it is bursting with green. Its amazing how you take things for granted and when they are gone and come back, you appreciate them even more. That's how I think we are all feeling right now. This is a very visible example of God's faithfulness. For me it is another example of how God will make things more beautiful in the aftermath of something painful like the drought that we had last summer. On the other side of the pain is a deeper understanding of God's love and promise to never abandon us.

Today we took a walk in the greenbelt. Benjamin brought his backpack and his butterfly net. He received the net a year ago but caught nothing, as we hardly had any butterflies due to the drought. I am very proud to announce that he caught and released his first butterfly. By the looks of things all around us, he will have many more butterflies to catch this Spring!