Sick Ashley

My poor little girl was sick on Friday after coming home from daycare with a fever.  Not long after we got home she started complaining of a tummy ache and then said it hurt to go potty.  Shortly thereafter, we saw the blueberry smoothie Paul made for her make a reappearance.....all over me.  Paul took her to the urgent care clinic on Saturday morning while I stayed home with Corey.  She got an antibiotic for the UTI and she also had the beginnings of strep throat.  When she got to the clinic, and the nurse took her temp, it was 104!!  Poor baby.  She was such a trooper.  Paul kept her home today from daycare for just one more day of recuperating before our trip.  I am so proud of my little girl. She is one brave kiddo! We are just hoping the rest of us don't get strep.

Zing, Zang, Zoom! The circus came to town!

On Wednesday, June 16th, after Paul's return from Dallas, we went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus that came to town!  We first met Camille, Rob and the kids at EZ's for a quick dinner before heading down to the Alamodome.  It was Ashley's first time at the circus and she loved it. She especially loved the dogs doing tricks and the elephants.  We got her a stuffed animal elephant that had a little baby elephant attached (she likes to sleep with it now).  Corey was so good - he just slept on me in the carrier. I swear, he is so easygoing.  We snacked on popcorn and soda and watched all the talented people do these amazing tricks like the tightrope, acrobatics, tiger taming and shooting out of cannons!  We had a ball! I was so proud of Paul because he has a huge and I mean HUGE fear of clowns, and he did it! Yay for Paul!

The parading elephants

The theme was "Zing, Zang, Zoom!"

Paul and Ash watching the show

San Antonio Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago, Paul and I got a great deal for a year family membership for the San Antonio Children's Museum.  Ashley is at the perfect age to enjoy this now, so we couldn't pass it up.  There are tons of things for her to do from going inside a life size jet and sitting at the control tower to pretending to run a register at a grocery store.  She had a ball and here are some pics from the day. There are more pics and some video on my snapfish album.

We started the day at Mickey D's for some lunch before heading downtown.

Paul and Ashley in the pretend trolley.

Corey along for the ride

In the airplane (she LOVED this)

Learning to milk a cow

Running the register at the grocery store

Blowing bubbles

The Seal travels to Dallas

Paul had a business trip to Dallas last week.  He thought it would be fun for Ashley if he took along a little toy of hers on a "trip" with him. She chose this little plastic seal for him to take.  All throughout the 4 days he was there, he took photos with his camera phone of seal at all the places he went and texted them to me for her to see. Ashley couldn't wait to see where the seal was going to go next!

Here is a photo journey of the seal's trip to Dallas, Texas.

Sunday - just past Austin

Sunday - Potty stop in Waco

Sunday - made it to the hotel in Dallas - checking out the view

Sunday - having a beer and dinner at the hotel bar

Sunday - getting ready for bed

Monday - having breakfast

Monday - having chinese food for lunch

Monday - the big Toy Story 3 billboard outside the hotel

Monday - having dinner at an Italian restaurant

Tuesday - on a tour at Cowboy Stadium

Tuesday - in front of the jumbotron

Tuesday - on the 50 yard line

Tuesday - in class learning

Wednesday - on the way home - passing thru Austin

Wednesday - home

 

Father's Day (weekend)

Paul has two kids this Father's Day! We started the weekend with a stop at Costco to get him his gift - a blu ray DVD player!  He was thrilled and it really is incredible.  We went to see the new Toy Story 3 movie on Saturday and it was absolutely fantastic.  We took Corey too, so technically it was his first movie and he was so good!  Please go see it if you have the chance.  Then we went to an Italian restaurant, Scuzzi's, for dinner. It was super yummy. We never went there before, but we plan on going back again because we were so impressed with the food. On Sunday, we got together with his family for lunch at Gourmet Burger Grill (GBG) and then went to a nearby farmers market where I scored some fabulous zucchini and cherry tomatoes.  It was a very relaxing and wonderful family weekend. I am so blessed with such an amazing husband and father to our children.  I definitely missed my Dad, but I am looking forward to spending time with him while I am home visiting very very soon!  Here are some pics from lunch at GBG. I realized after I took these photos that I never got one with Paul and the kids on Father's Day.  :( Sorry honey!

Papaw with the us gals (Camille, Me, and Aunt Cheryl)

Paul's Dad and Mom with little Vincent

Rob with Claire and Gina

I missed you Dad!

Star Wars in Concert

A couple of weeks ago, we all went to see Star Wars in Concert! What an awesome show.  They have a giant screen which goes through various stories during all the Star Wars movies, and then has a live orchestra in front of it playing music from the movies.  It truly comes to life and coupled with a neat light show, it was quite an experience. We brought Ashley and Corey and shared the night with Aunt Missy, James, The Mendiola's and my friend Heather and her husband Chris.  Ashley and little Josh just had a ball, and Corey was so good - barely made a peep. He was quite comfy in Heather's arms for the second half of the show! ;)

Before the show begins, they have tons of Stars Wars memorabilia and movie props placed all throughout the AT&T Center.  It was really neat to get some photo ops and be up close and personal with a Storm Trooper!  It was a really fun night!

Next to the Queen Amidala constume

Paul, Josh and Gabe

Ashley looking on - she wasn't interested in posing near anything

Sheet music of the score - handwritten


Rosie and Gabe with a storm trooper

Traffic Lights

"He doesn't like the red ones Mom." - Ashley


Anyone who has ever rode in a car with an infant knows the frustration with red lights.

Just had to put this in there. It cracked me up yesterday.

Values

I know that I have so much to update about the kids, our life, etc. but I had to write this post for me - as a reminder to me so that I can look back at it from time to time.

I am really into reading other people's blogs - stranger's blogs. They really inspire me because most of them are christian mothers that are doing their best to live their best life - for themselves, for their kids, for their husbands, etc. Whether it be just a daily peak into their lives or a guide to save the most on groceries or a chronicle of their journey to have a baby or sadly, a daily struggle with caring for a child with severe disabilities or terminal illness. Each of these women inspire me to see the best in every day things and to appreciate what God has given me, and most of all, be happy in my own skin so that I can "wear the many hats" that God has blessed me with. :)

I stumbled across this one blog post today and it was a Mother's Day entry and pretty much sums up how these different women's stories affect me. The statements rung so true to me, and I just had to write it down immediately. I thought I would share it in my blog entry today.

Your value is not determined by what others think of you or even what you think of yourself. Your worth, your VALUE, is determined how God views you....and He loves you more than His own life. You are his precious child, His daughter.

I think about how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my children and how precious they are to me and that I am willing to do anything in the world for them because they mean THAT MUCH TO ME - I love them more than my own life. To know that God loves me EVEN MORE than I could possibly love my children....well, it just spoke to me.

Thank you to all the mothers out there for your shared wisdom and inexplicable strength to do what each of you do every single day to be the best you can be for God.....because that truly is all that matters.

Movie Day

Last week Jorge and Judi were sweet enough to take Ashley and her friend Noah (who used to go to daycare with Judi) to see Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel at the dollar movie theater. Unfortunately because of a bad thunderstorm the night before, the theater's power was still out and the movie would not run. The kids were so excited, and Jorge took pictures of the kids the whole way there, walking in together only to be bummed out that the movie theater was closed. Paul felt terrible about it and couldn't get their sad faces out of his head, so during his lunchbreak that day, he went and picked up the DVD at the store. Ashley was napping when he dropped the movie off at Judi's, so when she woke up, Judi recorded her reaction.




See the videos below:

Going to movie


Ashley and Noah explaining what happened at the theater


This is her enjoying her favorite song from the movie - "Single Ladies" ( I swear she sings this song every day!)


Thank you Judi and Jorge for capturing this little day in pictures and video. You have no idea how much we appreciate it.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice quiet Memorial Day monday at home. Paul cooked up some sausages and grilled veggies and we hung out back with Ashley splashing around in her kiddie pool. Corey spent most of the time inside on his bouncy chair by the back door because of the heat and bugs, but did manage to come outside for a bit with his bouncy covered in a bug net! :)  Ashley just had a ball in her pool and danced to Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley playing on the stereo!  We also ate some watermelon (YUM) and toasted some marshmallows over the grill.  A fun day!

Corey's hiding in there somewhere! :)

In his "bug net"


Dancing away to Led Zeppelin

Over the weekend, my cousin Jeannine, (who I sadly haven't seen in a couple of years) was in town for a conference so we were able to meet up at the Riverwalk for some Mexican food for dinner and also grabbed some ice cream afterward.  We had a great visit and it was nice to have some family in town, even if it was just for an evening. 

Corey's 2 month checkup & Drew and Holly Visit

Corey had his 2 month checkup on June 1st! Hard to believe my boy is 2 months old already! He is super healthy weighing in at 12lbs and is 23.5 inches long. He is in the 59th percentile in weight and 70th percentile in height (length). He got his shots and was such a brave little guy. Paul had to be by his side during the poking because I just can't bear to see his face go from "everything's just dandy" to "yow! what was that!?!".

He was a bit fussy that evening from the shots but a little Tylenol helped him sleep fairly well overnight.

Daddy and Corey at his checkup.

Loving his Daddy.

Corey and Mommy at the doctor's office. (right before the shots) :(

Corey and his pediatrician, Dr. McCray

That night we had Drew and Holly over and they brought over Drew's homemade pizza and salad for dinner. It was a great visit! Paul and Drew did their usual "music listen" and Holly and I caught up and hung out with the kiddos.

Holly and Corey

Paul and Drew catching up on the latest music

Ashley playing her painting game on the TV

The Kennedy's with Corey (we love you both so much!)