Progress!

I am thrilled to report that we have an appointment on the calendar to see Dr. Arthur Krisgman in Austin on Monday, April 11th at 10:30! This has been a six month journey in the making. The testing required to see this doctor says enough - I am believing this will be a great path. If nothing else, it will finally shut my mouth because I have been hard-headed and determined to see this doctor. He is a pediatric GI specialist with a focus in ASD due to GI disorders. I am hopeful and praying he is the man. He offices out of New York but comes to Austin three days a month...and we happened to snag the last slot in April. Did I mention Nathan is working at the Whole Foods client site in Austin starting next week? God's timing...love it!

Pray, cross your fingers, stand on your head...whatever it takes, just be rooting for us please!

Alex + Music + Mirror = ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUbIYVQVlwY

Valentine's Day - Kindergarten Party

I was sooo excited to be a part of Alex's fun day. I volunteered to throw Alex's Valentine's Day party at Coyote Ridge. Linda, the class mom, was a rock star and did so much to make the party perfect. It's so hard letting go - I mean, she's away more than she is home now. I always want to go and peek in at her and see how her day is going...so being there and throwing the party was so much fun as you can imagine. How could 20 kids + pounds of sugar + a sundae bar + arts and crafts + games + prizes = anything other than amazing fun?!

First of all, it was the fastest two hours of my life. We crammed so much in to the party! That was good planning because 20 kids hyped up on sugar-crack can get out of hand in a flash, so having an agenda was essential. We played bingo, box-in-a-box, made take home crafts for the parents, and had a fully supplied sundae bar. At one point I saw a child just flailing about - they had so much candy they literally couldn't control their body at all. I wasn't responsible for the food. If you know me at all, I avoid sugar like the plague with Alex, so this was a lot for Mommy to process. Hey, it was a party...you gotta let them be kids!

Alex was a very proud kiddo - she loved introducing me to all of her friends. She made sure I met each and every person. I enjoyed getting the scoop on each friend. It was adorable. I really do wish I could be there everyday. It was so much fun to be a part of kindergarten for just a day. Here are a few pics. I wasn't able to take many because my hands were full the entire time.

Our sweet little Valentine - she had a t-shirt made that says "Alex"

Kiddos prepping the crafts

Linda helps the blue table make heart pendants Alex was diligent and wanted to make Mommy a very special gift

Finished product - nice work, Alex

The girls helped set up the sundae bar

Alex was trying to quiet the class - shocker! Too funny!

Box-in-a-box game

Alex was chosen to unwrap one of the layers. Check out that cuteness.

Mommy made a picture!

Alex, thank you for making every single day of my life fun. I am your biggest fan!

This is how we roll...

So, I'm in the kitchen cooking and Alex shouts from the playroom, "Mommy, can I have a picnic with a few animal friends?" Of course I say yes. This is what I turn around and see: Our girl is such a trip! And the birds...are we ever going to stop loving birds? I think not. She's quite a hostess, don't you think?

Dancing Diva - February 2011

Our little dancing queen is back at it again! She loved ballet so much last year and has been telling us that she really wants to start classes again. We already have her taking gymnastics on Tuesdays and she isn't willing to give it up, so what do we do...cave and sign her up for both! Did you expect anything less from me, really? I would take her everyday if I could! I love dance, cheer and gymnastics so much - it was such a huge part of my childhood. I am thrilled that Alex is enjoying it like her mama. And can I just say wow, thank you, to my mom and dad?! It's not cheap! Once again I am learning to appreciate my mom and dad from becoming a parent. What an investment. This year, we signed her up at Diane Cole Johnson again, but this time she is taking tap, ballet and tumbling. It's a one hour class. I still think her favorite part is dressing up though. I had so much fun watching her put on tap shoes for the very first time. Priceless entertainment. She gets the "sass" face going and puts on quite a show for me, the dogs, the wall - really, anyone or anything that will watch. Mark the calendar for June 20th: Alex's big recital. So far, so great! Here are two pictures before her first class:

Brrrrr in D-town: February Snow Days

Wow have we had our share of snow this winter. We've missed a record 5 school days in February due to the massive arctic tundra that is known as 1833 Boyd Court, Carrollton, Texas.

I found this article and thought it would be cool to note: This past weekend, Dallas got its largest snow day ever as 9.8 inches of snow was recorded to have fallen on Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as of 10:00pm Dallas time and it's still coming down. That is the most snow in Dallas ever, at least since it started collecting weather data 111 years ago. The previous record was 7.8 inches in one day set in 1917 and again in 1964.

Unreal, huh? Here's the kicker...Dallas wasn't prepared at all. Over 150,000 residents lost power. And of course, we are ALWAYS a statistic. Um yeah, we lost our HEAT! Super fun! If you can imagine a 2-year-old and 5-year-old stuck in a small living room with a fireplace and space heaters for 72 hours, you can imagine it was GOOD TIMES. The kids handled it pretty darn well considering, but seriously, I can vouch: it was misery!

Poor Nathan was camped out in the office - shivering and trying to work. I was whipping up as many batches of homemade baked potato soup as possible and trying to stay sane and warm. I don't think I did so well on that goal, but we did survive! We finally got the heat working again, and then we were able to have some FUN! It was simply too cold to want to play in the snow when the heater was non-existant, but as soon as we warmed up, we piled on as many layers as humanly possible and headed out. Here are pictures from our awesome snow-filled adventure in Oakwood Springs (our 'hood):

Our cutie trying to accessorize even in the "arctic conditions"

Our backyard - day one

Prepping for snow ice cream

Cute snow bunny

"Baby on the Loose" - B on the L as we say

He loved the snow

Our little Eskimo was all over the place

Snow angels

Carson is scoping out Daddy's Jeep

Alex was in heaven

Our casa - pretty with the snow

C is headed for trouble

"Pee-a-boo" as Carson says

Darby sandwich

Yum!

C's favorite activity by a mile - splashing over and over again in the water

Fun times with Daddy

My 2 favorite men

Seeing this melts my heart

Interesting snow lady

Precious snow bunny

My loves. Aww, I want to freeze this moment in time.

Alex's 100th Day of Kindergarten

Alex was assigned a project to represent her 100th day of kindergarten. She did such a great job decorating her t-shirt with exactly 100 stickers. She did the entire project herself and was oh so proud of her masterpiece.