Harper's First Ranger Game + Our Weekend

Since Avery and Landon's first Ranger games were when they were 6 weeks and 4 weeks old respectively, we decided that Harper needed to get to a game as a newborn, and we were running out of time!

On Wednesday we packed up the kids (and lots of snacks) and headed to our first game as a family of five.

We saw Jon Daniels as we were walking through the parking lot!

The boy was already tired, as evidenced by the thumb in his mouth.

It was an exciting week to be at the Ballpark since we were in a tight wild card race, and aside from the terrible hot dogs, we had a great time!

We only made it to the 8th inning, but Harper was hungry and the big kids were exhausted. Landon actually asked to go home, so we knew he was serious if he wanted to leave the Rangers!

Friday was Homecoming in our little town, so I took the kids to the afternoon parade. Matt was on the choir float, so we made sure to wave wildly at him! Avery and Landon really weren't into it at first, but once the candy start coming their way, they were sold.  Harper slept the whole time because she's still a little boring.

I took off after bed time and went to craft night at church. I somehow managed to be productive and not spend the whole time talking, so I consider that a success. I'm trying to work on inventory for my Etsy shop so I can do some craft fairs this season, so I'm on a deadline!  Also, I'm completely caught up on orders for the first time in months. That is a very big deal. YAY!

Matt spent all day on Saturday at district choir auditions. And by all day I mean that he left at 6:50 AM and didn't get home until 9:30 PM. It sucked to be him.

Because of some game time changes, I was going to be on my own for Avery's soccer game, so my parents took Landon to the Ranger game with them. They had really great seats, and he had a blast! Avery's game did not go so well, so I guess in this case I'm glad they don't keep score, haha.

Since Landon got to do something special, I let Avery choose where she wanted to eat lunch. I was sure she'd pick Branded Burger, but she picked Chick-fil-a. Sigh. So the girls and I stopped and ate there on the way to my aunt and uncle's house about 45 minutes away. 

Harper was a pretty quiet date!

Since she didn't want a picture at the table, I caught one while she was hiding under it.

Why were we going there? Because by some miracle, a large amount of my extended family were able to get together just because. It wasn't a holiday or anything! My cousin Zach even made it up from Houston; we haven't seen him in almost four years (he's been off at the Citadel and deployed and minor things like that, gosh).

My dad found the blocks!

Amy and baby Margaret sandwiched between Nana and Pop

Brittany, Chelsea, Zach, and Aunt Cristi

Aunt Kay with an extra chunky looking Harper

Um, it was WAY too cold to be swimming.

Staring at Aunt Teresa

The boys! Nick, Aaron, Landon, and Zach

Well, we started a game of Ticket to Ride anyway. We'll have to actually finish one next time. (Also, I'm pretty sure I make the same face as Avery all the time.)

The kids' favorite game: Throw the balls in the pool and scoop them out with a net. They were heavily supervised, haha.

Cousins! And only a week apart!

My kids didn't nap at all on Saturday, so I was sure they'd sleep the whole way home that night. Of course they were awake the entire time. And Harper was screaming. During the whole drive. Fun times.

Sunday brought the promise of a completely unrelaxing day. Matt had to be at church early, so I flew solo again and got the kids dressed and ready and out the door on time. It's the little things.

After church we had a celebratory birthday lunch at Macaroni Grill with my family. My dad and Aaron both have birthdays next week, so we combined them.

Matt and my dad took the kids to my parents' so they could "rest" (ha!) while my mom went grocery shopping with me and Harper. Except that at Sprouts it turned into my mom doing the shopping for me while I took Harper to the car to nurse her. I don't know why she always wants to eat at the most inconvenient times, haha. We made it through Aldi in just enough time to race back to my house to drop off the cold stuff and pick up Avery's AWANA bag while Matt and the kids met us at church, where I got to work with my little Sparkies for the first time this year. I missed them!

After two days in a row of no naps, we shoved some food into the kids and got them in bed tonight early enough for us to catch the season premiere of Revenge. This season looks as intense as the first two! And now I just need to catch the Nashville episode I missed on Wednesday.

Also, I need to find my camera so I can get some decent pictures, and the Rangers need to win tomorrow.

The end.

Life Lately

It's been so long since I've written a real blog post that I don't even know where to start. I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with so I can hopefully write in more manageable increments in the future, but you should probably go grab a snack because this could take awhile.

Things were nuts around our house after we brought Harper home from the hospital. Seriously. I don't know what got into Avery and Landon, but they had a hard time adjusting. Shoot, Landon is still having a hard time, poor guy. We were so blessed by our friends and neighbors who provided meals for our family for two whole weeks. It was a lifesaver not to have to worry about fixing dinner when I couldn't even so much as fix my hair.

If I'm being honest here, I need to mention that our first few weeks home were just really bad. There were more tears, raised voices, and temper tantrums than I'm comfortable admitting. Fortunately, there was also a lot of grace.

We had lots of visitors our first week home! (I'm missing a few pictures, oops.)

Nick and Brittany took Avery and Landon to see Planes and feed the ducks while we took Harper to her first check up. What a great aunt and uncle. :)

My parents took the kids to see the circus when it came to Ft. Worth. They had so much fun that they still talk about it a month later.

Matt's family all came to meet Harper! We're glad Justin and Miriam left Connecticut to move back to Texas because now we can see them more than once a year! The cousins got to play, the grandparents got baby snuggles, and we all got to eat at Fuzzy's to end the relaxing weekend.

The boys spent a day at the lake with my dad and Ral, and the girls hung out with my mom at their house. By "hung out" I mean that I cut and ironed lots and lots of fabric, how fun.

Avery started playing soccer! She's on a U-5 team with six other little girls, and she's loving it. She smiles the whole time she's on the field, and I'm pretty sure she never stops moving. She's a little timid about going after the ball (I don't really blame her since there are no less than five girls bunched up around it at all times), but I can see her actually thinking about what's going on, and she's always engaged in the games and at practice. She's improved a lot since the season started! She even scored her first goal in their second game.

Matt went back to school, and we started getting out of the house right away because I go stir crazy when we're there all day! We went to places like the chiropractor office, the library, the pediatrician's office, Chick-fil-a with friends, UTD for Harper's newborn hearing screen, Nana's house, and Meet the Teacher for Mother's Day Out.

We celebrated Brittany and my mom's birthdays in the same week. We had our usual family dinner at my parents' to celebrate Brittany, and we surprised my mom by planning a dinner at Nick and Brittany's house with ALL of us. I love my family.

Then MDO started! Avery and Landon go two days a week, and I go home and sew like a madwoman so I can actually spend time with Matt in the evenings. Harper sleeps almost the whole time they're gone, but when she's awake I get some special snuggle time. I can't believe this is Avery's preschool year; I'm really trying to make the most of her last year home with us.

We went to the fountains at Uptown Village and played with friends on a Friday morning. Kari, Chelsea, and Kendra met us there with their kids, so that was a fun time. Harper and Ella especially enjoyed themselves.

MOPS started back up also, and I'm really excited about my table this semester! My friend Michelle is the table leader, and my sister-in-law Chelsea is at our table also. And since MOPS is only the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month, I'm starting the Ladies Bible Study at church on the other Wednesdays. I'm really excited to get both the fellowship of MOPS and the accountability of Bible study.

We started cloth diapering! I really, really love it so far. I was so intimidated at first, but it is way, way easier than I thought it would be. Maybe ask me that again after she starts solid foods, but right now we're liking the fluffy booty and diaper savings. I plan on writing a whole post about this later because lots of you have asked me about it.

Matt and I went on a date (we let Harper crash it). We had dinner at Razzoo's (and made it in time for happy hour -- half price appetizers for dinner, score!), went to Target, and got coffee at White Rhino because we know how to live it up.

I took the kids to the Perot Museum with my friend Kendra and her little girl, Cami. Every time we go there it rains! We want to check out Klyde Warren Park soon, but the weather just didn't cooperate that day.

Now that Harper is starting to get in more of a sleeping routine, I've been catching up on Etsy orders and watching Hart of Dixie on Netflix. It is a fantastic girly show, by the way! It's a perfect mix of Sweet Home Alabama and Gilmore Girls, and since it stars Rachel Bilson and a couple of Friday Night Lights alums, I call it a win. Now I just need them to release season two so I can find out what happens with George and Zoe and Wade!

Currently Matt's car is in the shop, our lawn mower died again, and apparently hospitals expect you to pay them, so that's fun. But God has provided for us in the past, and He's already showing us how He's providing for us now, and I'm surprisingly at peace about how "poor" we are right now.

Whew, I'm sure I missed a few things, but that's the gist. Now my goal is to update this thing on a regular basis like a normal person and not the crazy one that I actually am.

I'm not even making sense anymore, so I'm off to bed before Harper wakes me up for our daily pre-dawn party. Later!