Mojo

This pic of Morgan was taken after an Easter egg hunt we had with the mom's group we belong to.
The weather was a little warm & getting ready to storm like crazy so I hurried & sat the girls on the curb to take pics. The pic of both the girls didn't turn out so well, but in this one Morgan is actually saying "cheese!" Her bangs are hanging in her face & her little cheeks are red from running, playing & hunting those fun, colorful, plastic, eggs. Her favorite eggs were the one with chocolate inside!!! Mmm!!
I will type this so many times throughout my blog so sorry if you get tired of reading it, but here it goes....
"I can't believe she's getting so big!"
And....
"I can't believe she's growing up so fast!"
My little Mojo is not a baby anymore. And more & more a toddler everyday. She'll be 2 in a few days & I get teary-eyed just thinking about how fast 2 years have flown by.
What a living doll she is :)

Easter 2011

Here are some pics from an Easter egg hunt we had at the club on Saturday.

Something on Sundays

I just woke up from a little nap. You see we've been having storms since about 7pm-ish this evening & about 8pm-ish our electricity went out. At the time Morgan was already in bed asleep & Lily was relaxing with me on the chair. When the power went out Frank opened up a window in the living room to let a nice breeze flow through. I laid down in the couch with Lily laying on my chest and we fell asleep for about an hour. I loved this moment. I cherish the times when Lily falls asleep on my chest. When she was a tiny baby & endured colic every night from 7-10, I often had her laying on my chest. I guess I became so familiar with the feel of something laying on my me I would have Morgan take many naps while laying on my chest & even to this day I fall asleep better on my back with a pillow on my chest. I guess it's my body's way of remembering such a wonderful, comfortable moment of babies falling asleep on my chest.

Today, Easter, has been such a perfect day. We woke up early and met Frank's family at Church for early service. After Church we came back home with everyone so the kids could hunt Easter eggs before brunch. The Easter bunny "hid" (and I use the term "hid" loosely) all the eggs outside and the kiddos had a great time collecting the eggs in their baskets. After the egg hunt we enjoyed brunch at Hurricane Creek Country Club and then came back home so the kids could play outside on the trampoline and swing set. They had so much fun. It's really great watching Lily, Morgan and their cousin play, share, smile, laugh, count, run and experience special time together.
After everyone left, the girls opened up their Easter baskets. Daddy Easter bunny gave the girls their surprise (precious flip-flops & a bathing suit cover-up) earlier in the day so this evening they opened the rest of their Easter presents. The girls received rolling suitcases filled with panties, new PJs and plastic eggs filled with peanut M&Ms. I told Lily she could take her new rolling bag to school and she informed me that her new bag was for vacation & not for school! I guess she's ready to go on vacation again :)

You will have to wait for Easter pics until the morning. My night is all of schedule due to storms and power outage, therefore, I'm going to force myself to go to sleep so I can go workout at 5am. I'm hoping to post pics after workout and before the girls wake up.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as we did ours....Happy Easter from Texas y'all!

This fabulous and most informative email was sent from Natalie's iPhone :)

Something on Sundays

This past week Lily's school hosted a "Wee-lay" for life to raise money for cancer research. Each classroom alternated with 30 minute "Wee-lays". The kids were ushered outside to the roped off circle drive where they ran around the drive while listening to music, laughing, holding hands and enjoying their outside time. They finished the "Wee-lay" with cool popsicles treats.
Morgan and I attended the "Wee-lay" with Lily so she was given a popsicle to enjoy, also.

Lily worked up a thirst while running around the circle drive. 

                       Mojo & her popsicle! 

         Lily & her new favorite color "purple" popsicle! 

Lily's class enjoying their treats! This was probably the only time they were quiet that day!

Ain't that something?

A new favorite

Miss Morgan has found her new favorite breakfast to start her day off just right!....
Honey-nut Cheerios, bananas & strawberries all dipped in Nutella!
"mummy" she says!

Something on Sundays

Today, Sunday April 10, 2011, I accomplished something I've never accomplished before and because I'm so proud of myself I have to blog about "it" or "me", I should say!

So, on this Sunday afternoon some people were following the Master's, others were watching Nascar, while I, along with a few of my bootcamp partners, were conquering "The 2011 DFW Original Mud Run!"  Let me explain the Mud Run....
"The Original Mud Run" is a fundraiser for the National MS Society, The Young Marines and Salute Inc. It is a course of 6.21 (ish) miles to run with at least 15 muddy obstacles, that we knew of (via the registration packet), and a few "suprise" obstacles thrown in just to keep us wondering what is next. The first run is 1.8 miles then an obstacle and for the rest of the race there is an obstacle every 1/2  mile. Here are some of the obstacles...
The Hurdles, The Mud Pit, The Quigley (belly crawl in mud), The Mine Field (low crawl in mud), The Stairway to Heaven (3 story giant "ladder" to climb), The Rope Swing (if you can't swing across you will fall in the mud!), The Wall (take a good run at the wall, put your foot on it & pull yourself up...I had to jump up to reach & grab the top then pull myself up & over!), The Tunnel (crawling thru a tunnel), The English Channel (literally about 30-40 yrds of treading thru waist deep water while your legs are sinking in mud up to your chins), The Low Crawl (42 feet of crawling thru mud & under wire), The Cargo Nets (a climbing task on loose cargo nets), The Over and Unders (you have to take a breath, go under the mud & log, then back up over another log & so on), Leap of Faith (just as it sounds, climb up to a platform about 15-18 feet off the ground then jump into the mud!), and a swim of about 100 meters across the river. There were a couple more obstacles, but this is all I can think of right now.
So here is my background story. I met Pam, my trainer, last summer as she was Lily's swim coach. I found out Pam is, also, a fitness trainer and so I started going the her bootcamp on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays at 5 a.m. Yes, I just typed 5 a.m.! It's literally like working out in the middle of the night for me, but I love it! 5 a.m. is the best time for me to workout, before the kids & the husband wake up, I don't have to find a babysitter or send the girls to a daycare at a gym, plus, when I come home after working out I still have at least an hour to myself to do "whatever" I want! Sometimes I catch up on my DVR, read a book, make my grocery list, cut coupons, clean, start laundry, take a long, hot shower with no one bothering me or sometimes I go back to sleep!  
I love my workout group and have met some awesome people! We are all on different endurance levels, but support each other in every way! And that is how I accomplished the Mud Run! Because I had the support of my bootcamp girls. When we started talking about the run I really wanted to do it, but was afraid to. Afraid that I couldn't "keep-up" or even finish. This is when my supporters said, "Natalie, you can do it!" So I took their word to heart and signed up. And, of course, they wouldn't let me sign up in the "non-competitive" race, only the "competitive" race where we had to wear combat boots & utility/cargo pants! So that's what we did... Dressed up like military and ran our Mud Run. I will have to say there were a few times today when I was thinking to myself, "What have I got myself into?" But I never wanted to quit. The running was the most difficult for me because I'm not a distance runner. I'm good with a 1/2 or full mile so the first almost 2 miles really tired me, but when I came to "the Wall" and used my upper body strength to pull myself up & over, I thought to myself, "I can do this, I am strong & I will push thru!" Oh, and couple of times while running I did think to myself, "I have been thru 29 hours of natural labor, I can finish 2 hours of mud, running & obstacles!"
I won't lie it was hard, but I will do it again & I will beat my time because I will do more running to train for it next year!
The Original Mud Run was the most exciting, agonizing, fun & rewarding Sunday afternoon I have EVER experienced!

Pre-Mud Run pic

During Mud Run

  first pic taken after Mud Run

                                                   fun pic taken in front of Mud Run wall
                                                                    (post race)  

Pam & I getting hosed off by the fire department!!!

unfortunately the fire engine is missing from pic :(

Ain't that something?!

Ain't that Something?

I'm going to start a new something for my blog. It will be called "Ain't that something?" More like a themed day... A little something on Sundays. It may be good, bad, sweet, wonderful or amazing, but it will be a little something. I'm sure most posts will be about baby girl stuff such as PJs, socks, bows or great deals I've found here or there, but I'm looking forward to keeping my blog up to date by this new "themed day" plan.
So my first "Ain't that something" starts today! And the topic is amazing!

My Grandfather's 101st Birthday!

The girls and I just got back home from Oklahoma where we spent the weekend. We attended our Grandpa's Birthday party on Saturday morning and had so much fun. I hate to admit the obvious, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa's friends have all passed away so needless to say there were only family members at the party. Some of my aunts, uncles & cousins I haven't seen in a few years, and for some it was the first time to meet both of my girls. It was such a cherished moment for all of us to be together. Grandpa looked amazing for 101 years old. He told me his knees were giving him trouble so he has to make sure he takes it slow & easy when getting around so he doesn't fall.
We enjoyed fried chicken, beans (of course!), cornbread, different salads, and Birthday cake. Grandpa's cake was decorated with a garden on top because he is a gardener. And has been for as long as I can remember. No wonder his knees are giving out on him!
The girls enjoyed themselves with all their cousins. Running, chasing, screamimg, eating a ton of cake & icing and just having good kid fun! I had an uncle, referring to my girls, say to me, "wow they're wild!"
I said, "Yes, they are!" with a grin on my face. As my girls, who started their day in white tights, a cute purple balloon dress and, as Lily calls them, "her princess shoes", were now wearing no shoes, no tights, bows had been pulled out of their hair and cake was smeared from their toes to the top of their heads!
We, along with many family members,and, of course, Grandpa celebrated an amazing 101 years of his life!
Ain't that something?

This pic is of 4 generations...
My grandpa, my dad, my brother, my sweet baby girls & myself!
(Before my girls went totally wild, took off their tights and smeared chocolate cake all over themselves!)