TTT: Season 2, Episode 41

1. New Babies
My very first niece was born this week! Yay! After five consecutive boys (on my side of the family) we finally have a girl. My brother Mike, who just returned home from Afghanistan, and his wife, Casey welcomed little Kennedy Olivia yesterday morning. It will probably be Christmas time before we get to meet her, but man, I can't wait to get my hands on a fluffy little girl! And we also found out this week that another brother, Andy, and his wife Abby are definitely having another boy! Baby Will is due to be born in February and we can't wait to meet him either. If he's anywhere as sweet as our godson/his big brother, John, I know we're going to love him. So of the seven grandkids on the Hefferly side, it will be 6-1. We should have known with my parents having four boys and one girl that it's obviously in the genes! With Kolbe's fourth birthday approaching in just a few weeks, I asked my mom if she ever imagined that in a span of roughly four years she'd have seven grandbabies. Of course she said no way! But it's definitely so much fun and oh so exciting. Lots of children means lots of love. Sure, they're lots of work and sacrifice, but the love we all get back in return as a big family is worth all of that and more.

2. Finding a Routine
I'm happy to say that things are starting to feel somewhat normal around here for me. I even ran into someone I knew at Target the other day. I know that sounds so minimal, but up until this point, I haven't "known" people here outside of my parents, their neighbors, or our neighbors. And the boys and I have finally established somewhat of a routine. Like every Tuesday we go to the library for story time. On Thursday mornings we go to my little book study group with a few other Catholic moms. The only part that is still lacking...and I want to remedy...is our Sunday mass. There are two big Catholic churches in The Woodlands. So far we feel most at home at St. Anthony's, but my parents go to Sts. Simon and Jude. The problem right now lies in Mark's call schedule. Of course we want to go to mass as a family. But when Mark is on call, he usually has to be rounding on patients during the mass we'd like to attend...which is 9am at St. Anthony's. So what usually ends up happening is that I go to my parents' mass so that I can have help with the three boys and Mark goes to the Sunday night 6pm mass. Technically we could all go to this mass together, but it's a very lengthy mass at a not-so-opportune time for toddlers. So right now it's just a mess. And back in Lubbock, going to our regular mass at St. E's was one of the constants in the week that I loved so much and felt so comfortable with. Hopefully we'll be able to figure out something soon. At least everything else seems to be balancing out. Finally.

3. Random
- The weather finally cooled down this week. Like seventies in the day and lows in the forties. Hooray!
- But with the weather change, now I feel like I might be getting a sinus infection. Boo.
- And now I face the dubious task of switching out all the summer clothes for the winter ones. Not fun.
- I got the boys' Halloween costumes made this week. They look adorable! Pictures to come next week.
- Mark has been on call for two weeks. Two weeks straight. His call is the thing I hate the most about his job. It's really not good. At all. Especially for a family with young children.
- Flights were finally booked this week for Mark's parents to come spend Thanksgiving with us. We haven't had guests in several months and we can't wait!
- Grant's four month appointment is next week. After the insanity that was his two month appointment, I'm dreading it! Maybe his extra chubby thighs will make shots more bearable this time around. I'm hoping.
- Can you believe Christmas is just two months away!?! Just typing that makes my anxiety level go up. I've got a lot to do between now and then.

Our new niece!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....(aka: Lubbock)
This picture was taken from my brother, Dave's apartment during one of the biggest dust storms Lubbock has ever seen. Definitely don't miss this part of Lubbock!

Grant has finally taken a liking to "the baby in the mirror"
He smiles and flirts with him no-stop!

Yes, this is a picture of a picture on a computer monitor.
We all keep wondering who Grant looks like. When he's asleep he looks like Kolbe. But this looks exactly like him too. And it's actually Reagan at the same age.

Yesterday my dad came and picked the boys up so they could go to his house and watch as some dead trees were cut down in their backyard. They were definitely fascinated by the brave guys that climbed "way, way, way, way up there!"

And in the mean time, Mama got a nice break and got to spend some time with her favorite little baby!

Root, root, root for the Astros!

I know we're a little late and the Astros are most definitely out of contention for the World Series title, but I just thought I'd share some of our pictures from our two trips to see the Astros this season. (I'm only three blog posts behind on chronicling all of the fun events we've had recently...trying to get caught up!) Back in September the boys, Pinkie, Pa and I all took in an afternoon game between the Astros and the Phillies. We sat way up in the rafters which turned out to be a great idea. We had plenty of room to roam! Our second trip was just a few weeks later and was the Astros vs. the Cardinals...Pa's team. Pinkie stayed behind because she wasn't feeling well but Mark got to come because it was a night game. We had much closer seats, but that meant lots of people to climb over for the bajillion times we had to get up. Regardless, we had a blast on both trips. Probably the best part was getting to watch Kolbe fall in love with baseball! He was so fascinated by the game and literally sat still and watched each pitch. He's a future All Star in the making! We can't wait to go back next season. Until then we'll just have to cheer for either Pa's Cardinals or the Texas Rangers. That may be hard though if they end up playing against each other in the World Series!

Outside of the Park on our first trip

Playing imaginary baseball

Pa with Grant...looks like he might be inheriting Pa's pretty eyes!

Kolbe learning the ropes of baseball from Pa

You've never seen a more excited kiddo to sit up in the $1 seats!

Go Astros!

Grant had more fun flirting with his grandparents than watching the game.

On our second trip...who to cheer for? Astros? Cardinals? Kolbs brought both hats and cheered for both teams!

And Kolbe has officially entered that goofy boy stage where he has to sneak in on other peoples' pictures.

Dada teaching the boys how to stare down the batter.

Three of my favorite boys!

TTT: Season 2, Episode 40

1. As previously mentioned, we broke down and bought a new minivan back in June, just a few weeks before Grant was born. Our previous rides were a 2004 Camry and a 2004 Altima. Despite the Camry's better condition, we opted to keep Mark's Altima because we knew we'd get a better trade for the Camry and also because the Altima's windows already have a dark tint. Since Mark is parked outside in the constant Houston heat and drives quite a bit for his job, he thought it would be better to just keep driving his same car. Considering it's now 2011, we knew it would only be a matter of time before we started having car issues, but we hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Unfortunately, "later" came "sooner" and the Altima took a turn for the worse this past week. Let's just say that overall I'm not a big fan of the car repair industry. I'm convince that they know that most of us have no idea what we're doing when it comes to car repairs, so they get the privilege of pulling the wool over our ignorant eyes. We took the car up to the Firestone shop that's near our house and thirty minutes later they had a print out (that cost us $100) with over $1,900 in recommended repairs. And of course when we tried to pin them down as to what really needed to be done, they were extremely vague and non-direct. I suppose they are hoping for some fools to just say Oh well, I guess I don't really have a choice...just do it all. Luckily, I've got an awesome dad who knows a little bit about just about everything. He convinced us to let him do a few of the items on the Firestone list, and sure enough, the car was up and running fine within a few days. Still, the whole thing has left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. For example, they planned on charging us $29 each for four spark plugs plus the labor to install them. Mark went to Walmart and bought all four spark plugs for $20 total. They wanted to charge us $130 for a new battery and installation. Our old one still had a warranty on it so we got an $80 replacement battery for $40 and had Pa install it. And really, an ape could change out a car battery. Did they really need to charge us $50 to loosen a few bolts and then tighten them on a new battery? Ugh. I mean, I know they have to make their money somewhere, but come on! Anyway, there's still a few lingering repairs that will need to be done, but at least for now the car is running well and we're only out about $300 instead of $1,900 or whatever. Thank God for Pa's free labor!!!

2. There's many little things about having a new baby that are easy to forget as the months/years go by. And they only pop back up into your memory when they start happening again with the next baby. Case in point would be the massive amount of shedding I've been doing over the past few weeks. I'm sure you've heard everyone rave about how when you're pregnant, your hair and nails thicken up, your skin glows, etc. Well all of a sudden, after the baby is born, all of that seems to just give up and call it quits. Usually around three to four months post partum. It happened to me with both Kolbe and Reagan but with each of them I had short hair, so it didn't seem that noticeable. This time around I have long hair. And it's everywhere! Like after witnessing the massive hairball that forms after shampooing in the shower, I can't help but glance in the mirror to make sure there's not a bald spot somewhere. And my nails keep peeling like crazy. Apparently no amount of prenatal vitamins, water drinking, etc can stop it. Really, it's just a minor annoyance, but with long hair it just seems to be more major. 'Cause man, don't you hate that feeling when you have a hair on your arm or something and it feels like a spider is on you!?! (hopefully that's not just me. I'm not crazy, am I?!?)

Dear Self,

If given the opportunity again in the future, never take full, radiant pregnant-mama locks or strong, shiny pregnant-mama nails for granted ever again. It's your only shot to have these things, 'cause you know good and well that normally your hair is thin, stringy, and bland and your nails are short, brittle, and transparent.

Signed, Self

3. Kolbe is just two years away from being "kindergarten age" and Reagan is three years away. Considering Reagan is still two-years-old and Kolbe is almost four and closer to starting school, I tend to spend more time working with Kolbe on educational type things. Not that I totally neglect Reagan or anything, it's just that he rarely seems interested and tends to be in his own little world when we're working on school stuff. But after this week, I'm starting to think that it's probably less about his interest in learning, and more about his learning style. Kolbe is easy, because he's so much like me. I simply have to put it the way I'd want it explained to me and he seems to get it. But Reagan totally blew me away a few days ago. Kolbe was pointing letters out to me on the computer keyboard and feeling very proud of himself for knowing where they all were. Just for fun I pointed to the "R" and asked Reagan what letter it was. He immediately responded with "R." I briefly cheered for him and then assumed he got the right answer simply because his name starts with that letter and we write his name quite a bit. Especially since I haven't formally started teaching letters to him. So I tried a few more letters and nearly fell off my chair when he responded correctly to letter after letter. Now by no means did he get all of them right, (I'd give him about 75%) but he certainly knew far more than I ever suspected. And he's somehow managed to pick it all up simply by listening and observing the repetition of Kolbe and me working on the alphabet. There's a lot more going on behind those big brown eyes than we'd ever know! Guess I need to pick my jaw up off the floor, accept the fact that sometimes it's going to be my children teaching me, and get moving with this smart little guy too!

Roomies for life...or at least until Kolb leaves for college...

Crazy teeth! Some times it's the simple things...our little family had a blast the other night goofing off with crazy teeth and fake mustaches. Remarkably, this guy's mouth is big enough for the adult size crazy teeth to fit perfectly.

Mama and Grant workin' the mustache!

Crazy teeth #2

A few days ago I was having the boys try on a few winter items to see what we needed for the upcoming cold season. (it is coming still, right???) Rudy was thrilled to find out that he gets to wear the Air Force jacket this year! And he's pretty much willing to wear it all the time. Even when it's ninety degrees outside. He definitely looks the part!

As of this week we've definitely got a thumb-sucker on our hands! I knew it was coming...heck, he was trying to suck his thumb in every single sonogram I had! And he's been working at it for the past few months, but this week he finally figured it out. And now there's no stopping it! I know I'll probably take this back when I can't get him to stop at the age of twelve, but right now it's just so cute!

Labor Day Weekend in Lubbock

Eek! I'm horribly embarrassed that it has taken over a month for me to finally get this post up. I'm being 100% honest when I say that I've had the pictures load up to the blog post for a few weeks now and just have not managed to get in here and add captions to them all. Every time I get started the phone rings, a baby wakes up, the dryer buzzes, etc. But alas, it's finally done. We had our first return visit to Lubbock over Labor Day weekend to celebrate both Grant's baptism as well as Jacob's baptism. (He's our adorable godson!) We had a fantastic time! There were really only two downsides...1-the trip flew by and wasn't long enough and 2-the car ride portions were absolutely miserable! Let it suffice to say that next time we will go back to driving at night instead of during the day. Complete caged-animal-insanity aside, we're so glad we had the opportunity to take this trip and can't wait to go back around Christmas time.

Tech had their first home game while we were there so we had to go up to campus and check out the Will Rogers statue. The boys were fascinated, of course!

Three brothers!

A rare family-of-five pic...I think this might have been our very first one! Since Grant was in the NICU we failed miserably to get any when he was born.

Mark's brother Brian and our sister-in-law Cristi served as Grant's godparents

When Uncle Dave showed up he was an immediate magnet for the boys. They LOVE Uncle Dave.

At our old beloved parish, St. Elizabeth's...where we met, got married, and our other boys were baptized too!

Grant's baptism

Jacob's baptism

Our newest little Catholic! (with Brian and Cristi Asmussen)

And our second little godson, Jacob Cole Johnson with our dear friends Ben and Erin Johnson

The whole group with Deacon Dick

The Asmussen group (with Mark's parents and my mom)

Our sweet godson, Jacob. He definitely has Grant beat in the hair department!

I think at least nine hundred versions of this picture were taken and I've yet to see one where all five of us look normal! Such is life in pictures with three boys three and under.

My sweet baby

And what would a celebration in Lubbock be without a cake from Keri!?! The BEST!

We had a fun fajita reception at Ruby Tequila's after the baptism.

Despite many years of spending time at G-ma's house, we had never actually spent the night there until this trip since we always lived just a few miles away. Needless to say, the boys were thrilled to get to do their favorite past time (jumping on G-ma's cushions...an activity ONLY allowed at G-ma's!) all night, every night 

Oh! The thrills!

They would get so excited that they'd have to stop and hug each other out of sheer joy! Ha!

Two brothers!

On Sunday after mass we went over to my Aunt Lulu's for pizza. The boys had a ball playing with cousins John, Shelby, and Kinsey.

And then on Sunday night Miss Lora hosted a cook out at her house where there was more shenanigans and cousinly fun. (here with Asmussen side cousins Adan and Hayden)

Playing with the ice bucket (Adan, Hayden, Kinsey, Shelby and the boys)

Despite the fact that I've included tons of pictures, I'm realizing that I did a horrible job as the photographer on this trip! I failed to get pictures of the boys riding their new bikes at G-ma's house, failed to send the camera with G-ma and Papa Jeep when they took the boys to the beloved "castle park," and failed to get any good pictures at all of all the down time spent visiting and the boys cuddling with G-ma and Papa Jeep. Believe me, lots of that went on too! And next time I'll be better with the camera. In my defense, I've got a newborn in my arms most of the time!

TTT: Season 2, Episode 39

1. Do you ever have one of those weeks where no matter how much you plan, things just don't seem to go smoothly? That's how this past week has been for me. As professed many times over, I'm an ultimate list maker. Something about having that sheet of paper dictating everything that I hope to achieve in a week/day/naptime makes me feel so in control. And oh, the satisfaction of scratching something off! (and yes, I still continue add things to the list even after they're completed just so I can scratch them off. You know, just so I can remind myself when looking at the list at the end of the day that I somehow achieved all of that!) But every now and then I'll have a string of days where I'll literally get to the end of the day and have maybe two of twelve things crossed off. Not for lack of effort, but just because everything has gone completely opposite of "the plan." Something pops up, an "issue" arises, and the whole day is off track. The problem that I have isn't so much that things that I wanted to do didn't get done. It's the way I let the whole derailment affect me. Why should I have anxiety when I get to the end of the day and my to-do list is just as long as it was when the day started? I've literally caught myself feeling like the world might come to end because menial tasks are starting to pile up. It's something I really want to work on within myself. And it takes me back to Philippians 4:6:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." I need to let go of the idea that things have to run smoothly, and simply be thankful that I have "things to run" in the first place. I'm far more blessed than I give God thanks for.

2. As a mom, I'm constantly torn between wanting to be there for my family 100% of the time and the need to take a break. It's that feeling when Mark takes the boys to do something and I'm left all alone and all I think about is them. Really, it's just the discerning process of whether I should go one way or the other that gets me some times. Case in point, this past weekend we had a wonderful opportunity to go out into the country and spend some time at my uncle's ranch near Leona, TX. The original plan was for Mark to take the boys and for me to stay behind with Grant. It would have racked me up about six or seven hours to spend alone and with my baby. I even had grand aspirations of painting the boys' bathroom while Grant slept. But something about the dynamic within our family on Saturday morning left me feeling like I needed to go with them. So I did. And man, was I so glad that I made that choice. We had a wonderful time together. Spending time in nature, listening to silence, just being away from the hustle and bustle of the real world. Something about being out in nature...where you can't see any form of civilization at all...makes me feel like it's just me and God. Even if only for a few moments. It's like you're able to let go everything else that's clouding your mind (like the aforementioned to-do lists) and just be. And there's something spectacular about watching the children enjoy it too. Witnessing their little cheeks get dirty. Cheering as they reel in a fish. Seeing their fascination as horses eat grass from their hands. I know we're by no means country-folk, but I wouldn't say we're big city people either. But having a little bit of both sure is nice. And finding God in places other than church and prayer never disappoints either! Somehow, the break that I sacrificed to be with my family ended up being just the break I needed.

3. Is it getting cooler where you are? I skipped across the news this morning and saw massive snow storms up north. Still ninety here. I will admit that it has been a little bit cooler. A little bit. Like the AC kicks on at nine instead of running through the night. And we've even had a few mornings in the fifties. (by "morning" I mean prior to seven a.m.) I'm still looking forward to warm (ok, light-weight) sweaters, cute boots, and trendy scarves without breaking out in a full on sweat. Maybe by this time next month? With the slightly lower temps it has been nice to be able to get outside in the afternoon and evenings and finally mingle with some of our neighbors. When we first moved in (just as the temperatures were heading north), all of our new neighbors greeted us with promises of block parties, loads of kids riding bikes and playing in the streets, and friendly conversations till the sun went down. With the summer we've had, absolutely none of that has taken place in the four months we've lived here. Even walking down to the mailbox has been cause for a shower. But now we're finally starting to see it. The bus stops by around four and from then on there's bound to be someone out and about. Just how we hoped it would be when we moved to this neighborhood.

Little Grant turned 100 days old this week! We have a little family tradition where my Mom makes them a card filled with 100 decorations to celebrate each day. And for my kids, who are born about a month early, I think it's an extra special celebration because it's roughly one year from when their life actually began.

Doesn't Grant's face crack you up!?! "Get me outta here!" Sorry, kiddo, you're stuck with the these two for life!



Fishing with Uncle Kirk and Aunt Cathy



Nice catch!

Nothing beats a Texas sunset

Yikes! (shopping at Walmart with Dada...couldn't pass up the Halloween wigs!)