MeMaw & Paw come visit!

Realizing that we hadn't seen MeMaw & Paw recently, we asked them to come over and visit with us & Clara for a little while. Thankfully they were able to come!

Sweet girls

Smile!

Well hello, Paw!

Silly faces :)

Such wonderful great-grandparents!

A&M BTHO Arkansas

As I mentioned in my previous post, Bryan & 3 friends went to the Aggie game yesterday.

Meanwhile, in Tomball, my parents and our neighbors came over to watch the game in our media room. It was fun! I got a kick out of all the fun interactions with CB :)

Then after the game my parents heade to church, our neighbors ran some errands, and I tried to write some more of my research paper while Clara & I waited for Bryan to get home.

Once Bryan was home our neighbors asked if we wanted to go to Goodman's Cafe for dinner with them. It was so good! We will be back for sure.

Then they came over and we watched the Avengers. Such a good movie. It was a busy, but wonderful, Saturday!

(And the Aggies destroyed Arkansas - whoop!)

Tummy Time Surprise Roll

While Bryan headed to College Station to see the Aggie game with 3 of his friends, Clara, the puppies & I hung out at home.

After some cuddles and a bath, we gave tummy time a go. She was super interested in her new octopus toy (courtesy of Nona) and kept trying to get to it. Once she actually picked up her arm while doing a "push up" and rolled herself over to her back! Surprised both of us! Hasn't done it since, but it was still really exciting :)

Friday Letters

Dear Clara ~

You smile at me all the time now, and I LOVE it! Makes the past rough week completely worth it.

Dear Students ~

Even when you drive me crazy, I love you guys so much. You are hysterical. 

Dear Mom ~

You just gave Bryan & I the gift of one entire night of uninterrupted sleep. It was glorious. 

Dear Aggies ~

We're favored by 13 points over Arkansas. Don't let us down! 

Dear Grading ~

Ahem. I'm working on it! I promise!

~~~Happy Friday~~~

Little lady in pink overalls :)

MOPS

I just realized I forget to tell you guys that I had my first MOPS group meeting today!

(I realize you may not be interested in all these little details of my life, but my blog is my channel to spew, vent, discuss, praise, share adorable pictures, etc, so I just keep going - sorry! And it's been really good for me. It's a "diary" that's public ... kind of an odd concept, but I like it.)

Back to the subject at hand. MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers).

Usually during MOPS the kiddos go to the nursery during the meeting while the mommies meet and do crafts or listen to a speaker. However, for what they call "nursing-aged infants" - or infants under 9 months, they stay in the room. They have "mentor moms" there (moms that already have kids grown and gone but want to volunteer) to help hold babies or bounce them, etc. so the mommies can still enjoy some hands-free time while there. (Yay!)

Ha, they were like "we know first time moms usually don't feel comfortable taking advantage of it, but please feel free..." I looked around and I was the ONLY 1st time mom who immediately handed sweet fussy Clara over. I'm not sure exactly what that says about me, but the lady was right next to me so I could keep a very close eye on the situation. Plus my back was killing me from pacing around the house all morning with her. I'm actually pretty flexible with letting others hold her, as long as I trust them or can see them. Apparently most first time moms aren't. They must be more protective than me. Or maybe not as stressed and tired? Or maybe I'm a broken mommy. Not sure. 

I promise I love her!! Bunches! My back, ears, and emotions just hurt a little bit.

Today we listened to a pastor speak about growing spiritual children when they're little so that they will grow up to be teenagers confident in who they ARE and who they are MEANT TO BE, and not who society wants them to be. There were tips on teaching them to pray, teaching them about conviction, honesty with God, and addressing who God really is with tiny kiddos (meaning: he is not a Zues-like character flying around the sky.)  It was really good and I got some great ideas out of it!

We are divided into 4 groups. The group you sit with on Week 1 is where you sit for the rest of the semester so you really get to know the ladies at your table. There are about 8 of us (I think) + one mentor mom, Fran, who was probably pretty disappointed she was holding my screaming infant instead of one of the sweet cooing ones at the other tables :) haha, she was really sweet about it though and even volunteered to come babysit one evening for us so we could get out of the house! I'm not sure about that yet, but maybe after a couple more meetings where I get to know her better.

(See! I am careful!)

We played 2 truths and a lie - I LOVE that game by the way - and I always manage to stump everyone :) too fun. (I think I've retained my competitive nature despite the raging hormones.)Then we had an opportunity to just visit and get to know each other. It was well planned and managed, yet still managed to be low key. I can tell the ladies who run it are very good coordinators. Plus I was given a shower curtain, towels, a toothbrush holder, soap holder, etc for Clara's bathroom - all wee animals. Super cute, and it goes with what we already have! Yay!

I definitely think the low cost will be worth it for me to do this twice a month! Ahhh, sanity. We will meet again.

IT, ADD Daddy

"This is how we fix Mommy's computer Clara... And this is what's happening on TexAgs today... See? There's an article about Johnny Football. Ohhh, and Christine Michael is now on 3nd string, hmmm .... Oh wait, I'm supposed to be fixing Mommy's email, but we should probably see how Arkansas' QB looked last weekend, right?"

:)

School Year Growing Pains

I've been having a difficult time balancing everything I have going, especially with the drastic lack of sleep I've been experiencing lately. Job, grad school, baby, hubby, dogs, church, Bible Study & MOPS. Plus chores. Add in PPD, and it feels like a lot- and it really is.

Like me, some of my students/parents are having a difficult time adjusting. Please pray that we can work through the growing pains of a new year in a constructive manner. I can't help but take some comments personally when I pour energy into my lesson plans and teaching methods and materials, and feel like I only receive negative feedback. It's been hard and I don't want to regret making the decision to return to work this year so I need to work through this frustration and figure out how to balance everything and better partner with the parents & students. It IS possible!

But it may take a few cries before we get there completely :)

I moose have a hug!

Clara had to model her Halloween costume for Mom & I today :)

Cutest moose ever!
I'll add a bow to one of the antlers later to girly it up a wee bit.

Love, love, love it!

Camo Chica

  I meant to post these photos earlier, but this was Bryan, Mom & I trying to decide what Clara should wear for her 3 month photos. As you know from an earlier post, she ended up with her hat and shorts :) Such a cute little hunter.

With Daddy

Too cute for words

"I wonder what is going on??"

Houston May Moms Meet Up

When I was about 7 weeks pregnant I became very involved with the month board for May 2012 Moms on The Bump which is an online forum for women going through the same stages at the same time as me. Eventually the really active May Moms from The Bump formed a private group on Facebook and I've grown to know and really love this support group. These women hit trimester marks with me, went through births, and now going through nursing, teething, sleeping, working, etc etc etc all with me. It's been such a beautiful support system. Several of these ladies happen to be from the Houston area, and today I got to meet 5 of them!! I was so excited. One of them is from the Tomball area too and we carpooled down to Pearland (which feels like the other side of the planet) together.

Clara's got her party-onesie on :)

Of course we had to get some group pictures of all of the kiddos! I'm going to leave off names to protect privacy. 

The only little lady at a party full of boys:

All 6 kiddos together:

Clara grabbed the ears of both boys next to her. Good to know she's putting boys in their place already :)

 

A big pile of 3-5month olds :)

(Clara is the youngest)

Does it get any cuter than this?

 

Clara didn't feel like we were photographing her at the best angle, so she protested:

 

Trying again hoping to cheer Clara up:

 

Oh well :)

All the Mommas with their babies:

It was great! I'm so glad I went :)
Solidarity at it's best!

The Great Dove Hunt of 2012

 It's that time of year again: dove season! Bryan and I packed up our zoo (one tiny baby and 2 crazy pups) and headed to the Happy M Ranch in Cuero once I was done teaching Friday.

Maverick sitting on his sister on the drive down:

 To say Maverick & Goose were STOKED to see their cousin Murphy would be a complete understatement. They ran and ran and ran all afternoon and evening :) It was so funny, and they were exhausted. You'll have to look closely at this one, but there are 3 happy puppy dogs sprinting through the grass loving the lack of fences :)

Meanwhile, my parents and Meemaw & Papaw were there. Meemaw got to spend some quality time with her first great-grandbaby and took her for a stroll around the barn which Clara enjoyed:

The puppies taking a much needed break from running:

Grady and Goose bonding :)

 While most everyone went out to put a hurt on the doves, CB needed a wee nap that afternoon, so here she is snuggled up to me taking a siesta:

Mav & Murph fighting over a stick. The important things in life.

Love this action shot :)

Bedtime stories after some yummy tacos with the whole Meloy gang! Meemaw, Papaw, my parents, Bryan, Clara, & I, Grady & Marissa, Dwayne & Tricia, Kevin & his girlfriend Kelsey, Kyle, Jana & Keith, Blake, Reed, Regan & Garrett, and don't forget the 3 dogs: Maverick, Goose & Murphy. It was so wonderful to see everyone!

Playing with Daddy! Sill dressed in camo from the afternoon/evening dove hunt. I don't have any pictures because I didn't go. I've got a horrible sinus infection and just couldn't handle standing in sunflowers or breathing in all the ragweed. That's okay - next year :)

 Bathtime in the sink. Not as easy as our usual routine but at least she was clean :) Thanks Mom for bringing the sponge!

I think our dogs may have some entitlement issues :)

Goose is the only member of our family that slept well that night. It was by far the worst night's sleep we've had since the night we brought her home from the hospital. But Goose was cozy and unconcerned :) Poor Mav kept pacing the room trying to figure out what to do to help. Bryan and I just prayed she would finally go to sleep. Oh well.

First attempt to sleep in the Pack'n'Play:

The next morning CB took her first ride in the Limo with Nona, Aunt Jana, Meemaw & Regan. Bryan & I took showers and I played with the pups. So sweet :) And she loved it! So many fun things to look at.

Regan loved on our puppy dogs. Here she is with Murphy:

After getting back from the morning dove hunt:

On a mission to tour the property with Kelsey. Papaw loves to cruise around :)

Loving life at the ranch: 

  Just hanging out:

We visited for a while and Uncle Dwayne & Aunt Tricia prepared hamburgers for lunch. 

Visiting with family:

Meemaw and baby girl:

Napping on Mommy :)

I mentioned my dogs have entitlement issues right? :)

Sweet girl loves her fingers so matter how hard I try to get her to take a paci instead:

A tardy anniversary picture:

My awesome redneck family (so fun!) playing Annie Oakley BBGun & Beer Can style:

Watching:

Relaxed & happy:

Pooped out puppies on the ride home:

As always, thanks for providing such a fun place to get together, Mom & Dad!