San Antonio Zoo at Christmas

My blogging has went down hill but hopefully I am back on track. It has been so busy lately with work (in the ER a lot lately and it has been kicking my butt, ha) and the kiddos. Truthfully, I have been totally exhausted lately and all I want to do is sleep, my mom and Dustin can account for that. But today is going to be my first day off of four and I have a plan, become more  productive and start exercising. Lately I have been in a slump and it is not pretty, but maybe if I put it out there in the universe it will come. 

Well as always I did not pick thru the pics so there are a lot, sorry, I guess I am indecisive. But when we went to SA for Christmas, it was a gorgeous day and we decided to trek onto the zoo. My mom wanted to stay home with Tryst but I made her go and carry the baby of course, ha. We had a good time with lots of exercise for everyone.  

My mom and Tryst, five months. My baby still has blond hair and blue eyes. I love this little guy.

Random, but Dustin took the pics and loved the old trees.

It is hard to see but it is a big hippo underwater, so cool. We were debating if it was fake or not for about five minutes and it finally moved. So cute with the fish and my mom's head, ha.

Photo op of Christina and Parker. He was not having it but we got a few good one's.

We were trying really hard for photos at the end but it wasn't happenin

Harlowe throwing a mini fit because she doesn't want Dustin to take her pic

I am looking a little tub-o-licious, i.e. goal: working out, ha. No, really there is no ha about it.

Harlowe marching

Cactus photo op because Christina and Fred are living in DC right now, so no cacti.

We went on a train ride after the zoo. Harlowe and Parker love trains, Dustin stayed behind. It was a pretty cool ride through the wooded park area. I really love SA and the zoo was a lot better than Houston's.

Everyone, Miss America wave, ha.

At the Different household: Harlowe has started Montessori school and going full time now, which is 0800-1530. It was a rough start, not that bad though. Dustin has been doing all the transporting and he has been her moral support. I am a baby and couldn't do it. It was so funny, she woke up one morning and said, mommy I don't want to go to school, I want to stay at home with you and watch TV. In those exact words, I was trying to do my best to get her dressed and ready for school but she busted out crying and then I busted out crying, so sad. I woke Dustin up and told him she didn't want to go, but I have never seen that man get out of bed so fast, he popped up and said we are going to school. If I didn't have Dustin, I don't know what I would do, maybe home school, ha.

Dustin is such a good husband, he knew it was hard that day so he took a video of her in her classroom before he picked her up. Just fine and dandy without mommy, boo hoo. I think I had a harder time than she did. I really miss her when I am off but I know it is good for everyone all the way around. I told Dustin, when Trystee starts school I am going to want another baby, ha.

Now Harlowe loves school and talks about what she does during the day and her friends. She is doing better on the potty too. Her teacher puts her on the potty every hour or so, hopefully one day, no more diapers.

Trysten is seven months old now and eating us out of house and home, ha. He is a big eater and has eaten pretty much everything we stick in his face. Dustin and I have been whipping up some good food: pureed broccoli, parmesan cheese and cauliflower with cheddar cheese, but the most elegant meal was prime rib and mashed potatoes. We are some gourmet baby making fools, ha.

He is sitting up and can roll over. He still sleeps prone and is sleeping through the night. He is the happiest baby and so calm, unless you put him in the car seat. He is doing better but still hates it. He wakes up with the biggest smile and is not grouchy at all. He is still drooling a lot but no teeth yet.

Christmas at Honey's

WARNING: There are a lot of photo's but I couldn't delete any. My bad habit of posting all photos.

We are at our fav sushi restaurant, Fujiya, in San Antonio. I had not had sushi since Trysten was born and Dustin and I were in need, ha. It was so good!

Harlowe and Parker, so cute!

Everyone, CHEESE, ha!

Get ready for the action photo's. I was just clicking away because Parker did not want anything to do with Harlowe and her kisses, ha.

We had a great Christmas, but we missed my brother who is still in Afghanistan. Pray for our troops, it is a great sacrifice, what they give up to fight for our country. And my sister-in-law will say it is a great sacrifice for her too, I don't know how she does it by herself, lots of wine, ha.

We had a great time just hanging out together with the kids. Parker and Harlowe only get to see each other once a year, but they got along pretty good. We had our traditional seafood dinner for Christmas, crab legs and shrimp, delish. We got a lot of great gifts, personalized books from Fred, Christina and Honey. They are very cute and original. They tell a little story about their name which is so cute and Trysten got a personalized Christmas story.

What can I say, life is moving by so fast, I am just trying to soak it all in.

Harlowe is starting school on Monday, I am kinda sad about it but I know she is so ready. Dustin of course is so excited but every time we talk about it, I have been kinda down. You have to understand, it's my baby. Soon she will be at the age where she won't want me to hug her and kiss her or she will want to be with her friends, not her mom. Boo Hoo, time is going by so fast. Dustin thinks I am crazy of course but I can't help it, I need professional help, ha.

Dustin and I looked at a couple of schools and let me tell you, they aren't cheap. We really wanted her to go to a Montessori school and luckily we found a good one right by our house that we both agree on. But on our quest for schools, one of Dustin's clients suggested a reasonable school, not Montessori of course but a good one she liked. She is a former teacher so Dustin was all for it, the day we toured the school, he asked me if I brought the checks and he was ready to make a deposit. But me, not so much, the crazy person I am had to Sherlock Holmes inspect it, ha.

I hated it, the teachers looked young and some of there undies were hanging out of their pants to say the least. There were only two teachers certified and as I ramble on I guess I sound like a big snob. But Harlowe is our precious little girl who we think is a genius, ha. No really beside the potty training thing, she is pretty smart. Anyway, luckily we found a school we love and they try to serve organic food too, love it!

I am praying for my little girl, but I think I need all the prayers I can get. Dustin is dropping her off because I think I will have a melt down. I was getting teary just touring the school, am I insane or what? Please tell me other people feel the same way, ha.

Trystee, my precious baby boy, what can I say, but I am in love. After Harlowe I really didn't think I could love another person like I love Harlowe, but God just opens your heart so wide, it is amazing. I just love the way he looks at me and smiles so big. I love the way he holds my neck so tight like I am his world. He is so different from Harlowe, he loves anyone and everyone. He loves his daddy and Dustin can make him laugh and giggle. Dustin loves to dance around with him and swing him in circles, he just laughs and laughs. I think he is going to be Daddy's boy.

We started him on solids early, about five months, I know I am a bad nurse. But at least it was by a spoon and not in his breast milk, right? Anyway, he can put some food down, ha!

He loves oatmeal, that is his fave but I am running out of breast milk so I told Dustin to lay off the oatmeal. He mixes five ounces with one bowl and my marshmallow man can down the whole thing in one sitting.

These are the foods we have tried so far: Rice Cereal -constipates him so we are staying away from it

Oatmeal

Peas

Green Beans

Sweet Potato

Bananas

Apples

Pears

Cannellini Beans

Carrots are on the menu today

Christmas Photo Op with the Different's

Harlowe was not having it, taking pics with Great Grandpa Roy.

Family Photo Op

This was Harlowe after we bribed her with candy. Look at that face, she is such a sucker for candy. Where does she get that from, ha. My poor Trystee, he is a trooper. This is their great uncle John.

This girl is such a character, I love her to death but she is a handful.

I know I have the same pictures over and over, but it is so hard for me to pick which picture to post because they are all pretty good. I guess I want Harlowe and Trysten to look back on this blog and not miss out on anything. I am not really big on scrapbooking or making photo albums so this is it. I really love blogging because I really lay it out there and hopefully they can see how happy, overwhelmed, stressed and elated we were having our little family.

My mother always says how good Fred and I were and how she cannot remember anything bad about us when we were younger. Now the teenage years, that's another story, ha. I think she has blocked it out of her mind because having children is hard work. I just want to remember every minute of it because I know my mind is going and I will probably say the same thing when I get older, ha.

I just remember when I was single and even when Dustin and I first got together, not really feeling fulfilled with my life, like something was missing. Until I had children, I feel so blessed that God gave me children and a wonderful husband. I think being a mother is the greatest gift that God has given me. Some days I do feel stressed and overwhelmed, like I need to just bust out and cry, but then I look at Harlowe and Trysten and I am okay again. Days have gone by so fast where I don't take the time to sit down and really thank God for all my blessings. And there have been days where I don't make time for my husband, I am so focused on dinner, groceries, cleaning and tending to the kids, I forget about Dustin. This year I am going to make it my mission to focus on my marriage, because it all started because we fell in love. And everyday I am so thankful for my life and my family.