Prayers for General Tso's

Connor has to be the world's pickiest eater.  He doesn't try new things, won't eat a vegetable, won't eat anything if it has another piece of food touching it and he won't try food if he doesn't like the way it looks.  Tonight Michael and I had Chinese takeout for dinner and buy did I get a surprise.  Connor asked to try a bite of my General Tso's Chicken which isn't that attractive of a food.  He ended up loving it and eating several pieces!  Tonight when we were saying our prayers Connor choose his prayer to be for General Tso's chicken.  His prayers always amuse me, I really got a giggle out of him being thankful for Chinese chicken.

Coldplay, 31, Furniture and Magical Margaritas

I celebrated turning 31 by going to the Coldplay concert Tuesday night with Michael.  The concert was AMAZING, probably the most interactive concert I've ever been to.  I haven't seen Coldplay since I was in college and they had just released their second album so it was a lot of fun to see them again.

My mom was sweet enough to volunteer to come down Tuesday night and watch the kids while we went to dinner and the concert.  She stayed the night with us and on Wednesday morning (which was my birthday) we headed into the city with Allie to do some shopping.

Now my orginial plan a few weeks ago was to go shopping at the Galleria.  I've been wanting a new purse and of course I always want new clothes.  But we made a change of plans.  Instead of clothes and accesories shopping we went furniture browsing.  For my birthday I'm getting a house!  

We signed a contract last week to build a home in the village of Creekside Park where we are currently renting.  We really love the layout of Creekside and how family oriented it is and I know it's going to be the perfect place to raise Connor and Allie.  So onto the house, we start construction next month and it should be ready in December, which means I'm also getting a house for Christmas.

I'm really hung up on the kitchen right now, I've always wanted a white kitchen but now that I have the option to build I'm obsessed with finding the right combination of counters, cabinets and back splash.  I thought this was going to be easy to choose everything but boy was I wrong!  I went and bought about five magazines on home and kitchen design today to help me put everything together.  My obsession with the kitchen has now forced me to become obsessed with the house decor, especially in the living room.  I've been wanting a grey couch for years; so now I'm trying to look for styles of couches, chairs, rugs, and on and on an on.  So my mom and I spent the day in funiture stores, which of course only confused me more.  My friend Heather told me about High Fashion Home in midtown which I think has to be the mecca for stylish furniture in Texas.   

My S.I.L. Shannon has phenomanal taste so I think I'm going to hit her up and have her be my interior designer if she's up for the challenge.  Shannon and Chad met us at the model house which is actually the floor plan we are building.  I picked her brain about colors and furniture and she already gave me some great ideas.  After  our design consultation Shannon, Chad, Michael and I headed to Mi Cocinia for dinner.  Shannon and I think they have magical margaritas so it seemed like the perfect spot to me to "celebrate" getting older.

I need to thank my mom again, who stayed at our house for another night and watched the kids while we went to dinner.  My mom also treated me to lunch for my birthday and took me to Sprinkles Cupcakes.  My favorite part of the day was helping Allie eat her very own cupcake which she really enjoyed.

It was a fabolous day and thanks to everyone who helped to make it so special for me.  I'll being giving updates on the progression of the house so stay tuned.

Back to CC

We made our first journey back to Corpus seven weeks after moving away.  Both Michael and I had work to do in CC and more importantly we had to celebrate Hank Nuse turning one!    We stayed with the Nuse family during our visit, they have a garage apartment which is a perfect setup for guests and will be our home away from home whenever we are in CC.

Wednesday night we enjoyed a fun party for Hank with many of our old Corpus friends.  It was great catching up with the adults and watching Connor and Allie play with all of their old buddies.  And of course helping Hank ring in his first year was the icing on the cake.

Thursday it rained all day which really put a damper on our plans.  Sarah and I had wanted to take the kids to the neighborhood park and meet up with some of our old friends and neighbors but that had to be canceled.  So we just hung out at the house all day with the kids while Adam and Michael worked.  It was such a perfect way to spend the day, watching the kids play like they've done a thousand times before.  And of course chatting with Sarah is one of my favorite activities.

Here is Connor playing dress up.  I guess this is bound to happen when two of your very best friends are girls and their mom owns a dance company.

 We did manage to get out of the house for a little while on Thursday.  I took the kids by Little Roos, their old school to see their friends and teachers.  I teared up watching Connor get tackled by all of his old friends who were over the moon to see him.  His teacher Mrs. Dayna gave Connor the biggest bear hug which melted my heart.  Allie also had a nice reunion with Ms. Terri and Ms. Bree and a few of her old buddies.  They were shocked to see how long Allie's hair had gotten and how much she is walking.  

Thursday night our buddies the Butcher's came over to eat, drink and watch basketball.  Sarah, Heather and I even managed to find the time to make shark and surfboard cake pops!  Sarah is throwing Hank a second party in Oklahoma with her family and friends so we made a test batch for his next party.  I have to say for no instructions and just winging it they turned out pretty good.

This was Connor passed out on the couch after a non stop day of playing with Lucy and Lola!

Friday we headed home early and are counting down the days until we reunite again with the Nuse family.

Lunch Date

Allie and I enjoyed a fun little date day today while Connor was at school.  We were out running errands when we ended up needing to kill a little extra time before going home.  Which meant we had to eat lunch out.  I think this may have been our first dinning out experience with just the two of us.  We ate at a burger restaurant on Market Street called The Counter.  It's a build your own burger concept which Michael would have appreciated much more than Allie and I.  However, I must say that the grilled cheese Allie had for lunch was insane.  I think if we ever go back I may just order the kids meal grilled cheese.

Since my lunch date with Allie was so much fun and was going so well I decided that we needed to enjoy a little frozen yogurt.  Lucky for us their was a self serve frozen yogurt shop next door.  Allie and I shared a pineapple yogurt with strawberries, yum!

And of course no mother daughter outing is complete with out a fun little shopping excursion.  So Allie and I made a stop by Marshalls/Homegoods before heading home.  

It was quite the perfect lunch date with my little girl.

Spaghetti

Guess who was a fan of spaghetti.  Without a doubt this is the best looking spaghetti face I've ever seen.

 And this is the face Allie gives you when their is no more spaghetti for her.

Father's Day

We are so lucky to have so many wonderful father's in our family that we are able to celebrate.  Of course it goes without saying that Michael is the best dad on the planet.  He has such patience with Connor and Allie.  He loves to play with them and spoil them in just the right way.  Their is nothing on earth that he wouldn't do for those two.  It's amazing to see how he lights up when he sees them for the first time in the morning and when he arrives home from work.  Those are two lucky kids to have Michael Milam for a dad, and of course he's a lucky guy to have Connor and Allie as his children.

It goes without saying that Connor and Allie have been blessed with the three most amazing grandfather's.  Grumpa, G.G. and Papaw all love them more than words can ever describe.  My father (Grumpa) is such a giver who has done so much for me and my brother over the years.  Papaw has more pride in Connor and Allie then any one could possibly imagine and loves playing with them both.  And G.G. is so patient and sweet and giving to all six of his grandchildren, he is well known for taking the best naps with his grandkids.  We are so fortunate to have these remarkable men as grandfather's to Allie and Connor.

NowI can't forget about the two Papaw's.  Both Michael and I have a Papaw, so the kids have two great grandfather's.  Now that we are in The Woodlands we have been able to see a lot more of my Papaw who is 92.  The kids and I go every other week to Huntsville to have lunch with Papaw and visit.  He loves seeing the kids and holding Allie, in fact every time he sees her he says "let me hold that little girl".  And Michael's Papaw is the sharpest and quickest great grand papaw out there.  He tells the most wonderful stories and is always up to date and full of knowledge on the happenings of the world and is always so fun to talk to.

I truly don't think we could be any luckier to have these special men as part of our family.

Happy father's day to all.

A Week In a Post

I know I've been bad about posting lately, but I have a good excuse - we've been busy!

Monday - Both Allie and Connor had their second day of gymnastics at Flips.  They both love it, Allie is in the diaper daredevil class which really means that parents are also enrolled in gymnastic class.  Allie and I have done the trampoline together, the foam pit and a lot of other things that are both fun and humiliating for me.  After gymnastics Monday morning we drove to Huntsville to meet my family for lunch with my Papaw.  We headed right back home after lunch to take a short break before heading to the splash pad to meet my friend Ashley and her two little girls Morgan and Hallie.

Tuesday - Connor had his second week of school.  Allie and I had a pretty relaxed day until about 3:00.  I had a quick meeting then I was headed to pick Connor up from school.  Since we were going to be gone such a short amount of time I just took my purse.  Literally as soon as I picked Connor up from school the sky turned black and a massive storm hit.  I was scared to drive between the rain pouring down and all the trees swaying and snapping.  I decided we were best off going home since Allie was scared and crying.  Well as soon as I pulled in the driveway I realized the power was out when the garage door wouldn't open.  Since Michael was out of town for the week and I have not yet put a house key on my key chain this presented a "little bit" of a problem.  Luckily my amazing neighbor (also named Ashley) was home and let us come over for shelter.  We ended up staying for about an hour and a half then headed to my sister-in-law, Shannon's house.  The power wasn't scheduled to come back on at our house until early the next morning so we ended up crashing with Chad and Shannon.  This was heaven on earth for Allie and Connor, getting to hang out with their cousins Maddox, Crew and Grayson.  Connor ended up wearing one of Crew's t-shirts as a night shirt and wearing one of Grayson's old princess pull ups.  Luckily I had two diapers for Allie stashed in my purse.  Allie slept in Grayson's pajamas who is 3 1/2, they were just a little too big.

Wednesday - We made it home!  It took us all morning to recover from the night before.  We met my neighbor Ashley with her two kids Cooper and Campbelle at Safari Stop in the afternoon.  Safari Stop is a huge indoor playground with a special area for babies.  Connor had been asking to go for over a week so I finally caved.  After Safari Stop we were all exhausted - we went home and called it a day.

Thursday - We woke up extra early to head to Round Rock for work.  I met Nana with the kids for lunch and a trade off then headed to work.  That night at Nana's house I received a phone call at about 9:00 p.m. from my brother-in-law Chad.  Michael was out with Chad and Shannon at Mi Cocinia eating and drinking kid free!  Can you believe they all had a night out together without me.  It was clear they were enjoying themselves; we had a few fun conversations over the phone.

Friday - We headed back from Round Rock and drove straight to Chick-fil-A in The Woodlands.  We met Shannon and the cousins there for lunch then headed to see Madagascar 3.  I'll refer to it as Madagascar the Disaster.  All the kids were great except Allie.  She made it the first 10 minutes then fell apart.  She kicked over my large coke, screamed, wiggled and kept knocking popcorn everywhere.  Allie and I spent a good hour or so walking the halls of the movie theater while the other kids enjoyed their movie.  That night Uncle Wade came by to watch the kids so Michael and I could go out kids free!

Saturday - We hung out most of the morning at the house which was nice to relax and be low key.  I drove to Huntsville for a baby shower for one of my oldest and dearest friends Lori who is expecting baby Olivia on July 4th.  I headed home, enjoyed a frozen pizza for dinner and a quick trip to the grocery store and called it a night.
  

Best Day Ever

Saturday was the best day ever!  We started out by heading to the pool at our gym right at 10:00 when it opened.  They have a great kids play area in the water with slides and water guns, Connor had a blast playing in it.  Allie and I just sat in the beach entry of the pool and watched Michael and Connor play.  The best part about the pool at the gym is that they have food and drink service, which means Michael and I each enjoyed a few pina coladas and daiquiriss!

We left the pool right at noon. For lunch we had leftover Chinese takeout from the night before; in my opinion leftover Chinese food is the best!  The kids both crashed so Michael and I each were able to enjoy a nap which is pretty much unheard of around here.

We all finally woke up around 4:00, Michael and I got ready for a date night and then headed to the gym to drop the kids off at parent's night out.  Michael and I decided to go the waterway where we had a fun and relaxing dinner.  After that we enjoyed a few drinks at the wine bar.  Of course we had to make a stop for frozen yogurt before we could pick the kids up.

Connor and Allie both had a lot of fun at the gym which made our night even better.  They had a pirate theme, Connor made a pirate hat which he talked about non stop and wore all day today.

Hands down it was the best day ever!

Walking

Allie has been officially walking for a good week or so.  She is walking almost everywhere now, she's still a little shaky and pretty slow but she's doing it.  She is also walking more and more each day replacing crawling as her main means of transportation.  She's so proud of herself when she walks.  When she gets from point A to point B she looks back with a grin waiting for us to clap and cheer; she has quite the cheering squad.

Summer School

On Tuesday Connor started the summer program at his new school, The Woodlands Young Learners Academy.  During the summer he will be attending twice a week and in the fall will he will be enrolled full time.  Connor's first two days of school were great!  Connor came home happy both days and on Thursday he was excited to go back.  His teachers have been so sweet and informative and we couldn't be happier to have in back in school where he can thrive.  Now if you ask Connor what his favorite part of school is it would be the snack for the drive home.  Everyday they have "to go" snacks out for the car ride, he and Allie both love choosing their snacks.  I wonder if the playground will ever prevail as the favorite.

This is the actual first day of school picture, it was the only one I got - Connor refused to take a picture.

 Round two and day two with pictures.  He was a little more willing to pose but of course he stuck his tongue out.

 Okay, this one is slightly better.

Joan Rivers

We saw Joan Rivers!!!!!!!!  She was amazing, she did not disappoint in anyway and it's amazing that she is 79 years young both in the way she acts and looks.  I've been wanting to see Joan for quite sometime, so when I found out she was playing in Bossier City, LA a few days after our anniversary I thought it would be a fun anniversary trip.  Of course Bossier City and Joan Rivers weren't exactly what Michael would consider a good time but he was such a trooper.  We had so much fun spending time with just the two of us.  And we had front row tickets for Joan which made the show all the better.

Thanks Michael for going to Joan (b.t.w. - he enjoyed the show).