Whew.

Act II of Little Women is exhausting. Well, let me clarify. The whole show just wears me out, but the first act is physically taxing because I have to have ungodly amounts of energy while singing, whereas the second is like an emotional roller coaster that makes you want to puke the second you get off. Ugh. Consider yourself warned though: if you come to the show, bring some Kleenex for the second half of it. You'll want it, I promise.

Anyway, blogging hasn't been a priority as of late. We open TWO WEEKS from tomorrow, so after cleaning my house, chasing and playing with Avery, getting Avery down for her naps, running errands, and trying to find time to shower and eat, computer time is just not a priority.

But get ready. Somebody's turning 1 on Saturday. Guess who!

Summer school, decks, rehearsal, and AT&T.

Well since I've been on the phone with AT&T tech support for over an HOUR now, I figured I might as well use my time wisely and update the ol' blog.

Summer is supposed to be RELAXING! Not this hectic, time-sucking, run-all-over-town, rehearsal-every-night season that it's been the past couple of weeks.

Matt and I both subbed for summer school this week. Matt worked four days and I worked three. The money will be more than welcome because it's going straight to the deck Matt will be tediously slaving over constructing in the very near future. But whew, let me just tell ya, there's a reason those kids are in summer school, bless their little hearts. I was exhausted after 4 hours with them each day! 

And in case you were worried (ha!), Avery got some good Grandma time in while we were at school in the mornings. The poor thing has had to be a super-trooper these past couple of weeks. She's had five different babysitters during that time period (between rehearsals, summer school, and the Idina concert). I'm just hoping she remembers who her mommy is after the show is over!

Only two more weeks to go! We're almost halfway through rehearsals, and things are actually starting to come together. After tonight, the entire show will be blocked, and next week we start running entire acts. Eek! I'm so excited. And nervous. And overwhelmed.

Allison and I could not get through our tear-jerker scene without bawling our eyes out, so Kendra (the director) made fun of us. 

And now I'm finally off the phone with tech non-support, but alas, my issue is not resolved, which means I am not a "very satisfied customer" as they keep telling me they want me to be. Please. So now I just get to wait until they call me back and this whole mess starts again. For the record, it's now been an hour and a half. Ugh, if it didn't mean I'd lose my email address, I'd totally be switching DSL providers right about now.

But Avery's still napping, which means I need to spend some quality time with my script. I'm out.

Happy Father's Day!

I know everybody says their dad is the best, but fortunately for me, mine really is. He's goofy. He has an incredibly dry sense of humor that is enriched by an unmistakable West Texas drawl. He always, always made time for me and my siblings growing up, whether it was to become his alter-ego, Tickle Monster, or to go on bike rides through the neighborhood. I don't know what I would've done in high school without his math tutoring sessions in the kitchen or car maintenance tutorials in the garage. He is a man of integrity and has always been an example of discipline; I remember walking into the kitchen many mornings to find him sitting at the table eating his cereal not in front of the TV, but his Bible. He has dedicated his life to serving others without expecting any recognition and leads with quiet strength. How he has put up with my smart mouth and strong will for 26 years I will never know, but I'm thankful that he has.

I love you, Dad.

I also happen to be blessed with the world's best Baby Daddy. This past year has been such a fun chapter in our lives as we met our sweet Avery and embarked on this adventure called Parenthood. I have loved loved loved seeing Matt as a daddy. His little girl just adores him (and his fuzzy beard, hehe). He is the most patient man I know, and I love him more than I could ever express in one single blog entry. Happy first Father's Day, Baby.

I love you, Matty!

Playing Catch Up

The worst part of being a bad blogger is the catch-up post that seems necessary after going on a twelve day hiatus. Here's the rundown as summarized as I can make it:

School ended. After five years, three classrooms, two subjects, and roughly 1,000 students, my teaching career came to a halt. Maybe for now, maybe forever. People keep asking me how it feels to be a stay-at-home mom, but I honestly don't know yet. It just feels like summer right now. Ask me in August when my husband and friends are all going back to school and I'm at home with a cute little one-year-old.

We went to the drive-in with Carlos and Kendra. Nothing says summer like sitting outside on lawn chairs, eating buttery popcorn, and watching a movie. Well, except when you go on the only cool evening in June. We didn't even have blankets! I wussed out halfway through Shrek, sat in the car, and promptly fell asleep, which was a bummer because I actually enjoyed the movie. Kendra joined me for the second movie though because, really, was a sequel to Iron Man necessary? Snooze.

Avery got her eye fixed. We hope. The pediatric ophthalmologist's office was in North Dallas, so we made the 45-minute trek on Wednesday morning and arrived right at the appointment time (why can't we be early for anything?!?). There were so many people in the waiting room because one of the doctors was running two hours behind schedule. TWO HOURS. How does that even happen? Fortunately it wasn't ours, and we were in and out of the office in twenty minutes. Keep in mind that when I made the appointment they told me to expect a 1-2 hour visit. This was a nice surprise. And Avery did surprisingly well. She loved the toys in the exam room. "Loved" is actually not a strong enough word. She was so excited she didn't know what to do with herself. It was hilarious! She even let them put that yellow numbing junk in her eye and then went right back to playing. The only time she fussed was when they literally tied her town to do the actual procedure. I couldn't watch, but as soon as they were done she was back to her happy self. Success. We scheduled an appointment to go back in a month to make sure it worked. It has a 90-95% success rate, but I'm starting to think we're in the 5% bracket. If so, we'll have to have the procedure done again.

We celebrated the quick visit by having quesadillas at Cafe Brazil, one of my very favorite eateries. After we got home from the doctor, packed, and got the dogs settled, we got in the car for the four hour trip to...

...Baytown to see Matt's family. It was just a short visit this time, but we got to watch recording of their musical revue, play on the water slide, eat at a yummy hibachi/buffet place, and have a dance competition (I totally won. Just saying.). We were supposed to go to my college roommate Tiffany's house for the rest of the weekend to meet up with our other roommate and all our families for some beach time and Tiff's baby shower, but a family emergency for Tiff meant that the shower was postponed and so was our visit. We were sad that we couldn't see Tiff, but we went with Plan B and...

...drove to Austin to see Candie, Ricky and Jake. Jake is Avery's future husband, and we were very thankful to be able to spend some quality time with some of our favorite friends. We had fajitas, watched Avatar (and I have yet to understand why it was so acclaimed, but whatever), went to the pool, and shopped at the Round Rock Outlets. We left on Saturday night to make it back for church on Sunday...

...except Avery got sick. She started running a fever on Saturday and was just generally puny. She'd been having some symptoms for about a week and a half, but I attributed them all to teething (she has like four teeth about to break the gums any day now). Her fever was high and she wasn't eating or really sleeping, so I stayed home with her on Sunday while Matt took care of my duties in the children's wing. (Have I mentioned how amazing my husband is??) p.s. When I took Avery to the doctor on Monday, we found out she has strep and an ear infection. No wonder she was so miserable. In more positive news though, our dog Sadie's ear infection is totally gone!

My cousin Amy came over on Sunday afternoon because we hadn't seen each other since Easter. We seriously just chilled at the house and then took a little excursion to Charming Charlie since she'd never been. We finished off the lazy day by picking up pizza for dinner and halfway watching the Tony Awards.

Little Women rehearsals started Monday. Please someone tell me how I'm going to memorize lines, blocking, and songs in four weeks. The first blocking/music rehearsal was fantastic, but I'm a tad overwhelmed. Just a tad. It is, however, going to be a fantastic show, so mark your calendars for July 15-17!

Whew! That about does it for now. Now I'm off to work on lines. This could take awhile.

11 Month Update

Avery, you are 11 months old TODAY! I seriously can't believe it's been almost a year since you were born because time has just flown by. It's cliche, but ohmygoodness it's so true. So here's what you're up to:

You're pretty much just eating table food now, but we still send jars with you to daycare. (Except now the only way you'll let someone feed you is if you have your own finger foods in front of you so you can share in the feeding responsibility.)

You love Cheerios more than anything. You even know where we keep them, so you point to them anytime you feel you should have them.

You're not a picky eater though; we put it in front of you, you eat it.

You're wearing 12-18 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

You still have just two bottom teeth, and your top two teeth are trying their darnedest to come in, but they are stubborn. Just like you! They'll probably break the gums any day now.

One of your favorite things to do is to lean toward someone, have them lean in a little toward you, and then bump heads. It's so stinkin cute! I have no idea where it came from.

You crawl fast. You're not walking on your own, but you love to walk holding onto our hands or the furniture.

Your favorite phrase is "uh oh," and you love it when we play peekaboo. You play "How big is Avery?" and pat-a-cake, and you love to dig and play in your big toy box. (Oh, and Grandma and Granddaddy taught you to moo at your toy cow. Haha!)

You apparently value good hygiene as well. You hate to get out of the bath, and you throw a fit when I take away your toothbrush. On a better note, you thoroughly enjoy both activities during the fact.

You really love your sippy cups. Pretty soon you won't be using a bottle at all anymore! (Or formula-- yay!)

 Your clogged tear duct didn't ever fix itself (your left eye did, but the right one is still pretty bad), so we're taking you next week to get that fixed. I'm already dreading the procedure, but your eye will be so much better!

 This month has been relatively uneventful as far as milestones go, but your little personality is totally coming out! You love exploring and testing the boundaries. You love your puppies and us. You've gotten super clingy over the past few weeks (especially when you're around other people), but you still love to do things yourself. I can't believe in one more month you'll be a year old! Better get planning that party!

We love you!
Mommy and Daddy

Wedding Wordless (sort of) Wednesday

I know it's supposed to be wordless Wednesday, but I just want to give a quick disclaimer. My good friend Kendra got married on Saturday, and it was such a special event to be a part of. And go ahead and consider this Part 2 of my weekend update. Anyway, there are lots of things I could say about this special day and even more special couple, but I'll just blog the pictures and inform you that you have to read their wedding story. If you don't tear up (at least a little), there is something wrong with you. I'm just saying. And now I'm not saying any. more.