A very Merry Christmas

I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. We have learned in the past that less is more. We didn't go overboard with gifts, we didn't travel, we spent less and donated more. We are truly blessed. I tell myself that everyday. I don't know what I did to deserve the wonderful life I have. I am so grateful each and everyday. I hope you took some time to reflect on the blessings you have in your life this Christmas season.

Happy 17th Birthday Ashley

I know it's a little late but hey LATE is my middle name. We celebrated Ashley's 17th birthday on Saturday October 29th (her actual birthday) by taking her and 3 friends out to dinner to Taste of Texas. It's pretty much the best steak house aside from Ruth's Chris which is way too expensive for that many people. Myself, Aaron, my mom, Ashley and her friends had a wonderful time. I can't believe she is 17. She has so many plans for the future. She made honor roll the first 6 weeks of school. Which is amazing since she had a rough few years. She is doing so well though and really has her life on track. She is making plans to go to culinary school, although she doesn't know where yet. She is touring U of H in December but would love to go to Le Cordon Bleu in Austin. I personally would love for her to go to U of H but the decision is ultimately up to her. Her plan is to go to culinary school, get a job then go back to get a restaurant management degree. The great thing is she has a plan and has goals.

14 weeks

Yesterday I hit the 14 week mark. I have an appt Tuesday and I'm sure everything will be moving right along. This pregnancy is so different than my other 2. With Ashley I was 16 and well don't remember much from that far back. With the twins I was high risk and at the Dr all the time. It seems strange that I only go to the Dr every 4 weeks.
We have been a busy family lately. Preston is playing baseball with Aaron being his coach and me being team mom. My business is going extremely well. We had the twins farm birthday party last Saturday. With oh about 25 kids here at the house, family and friends. It was a great, chaotic time. Then the yearly tradition of going to the air show. Ashley will be celebrating her birthday this Saturday. We are taking her and 3 of her friends out to a fancy restaurant. Yesterday Ashley & Aaron went to buzzfest in the Woodlands and I took the twins to the pumpkin patch. It seems like as soon as the weather gets cool our schedule gets busy busy.

Exciting News!

Aaron and I decided in March that we would do the frozen embryo transfer pretty soon. I mean what were we waiting for the baby has been frozen for 4 years. (see our prior blog for IVF details) I started on BC pills in April and we were to do the transfer in May. That's when we got the news about my dad so we decided to postpone until fall, until after the kids went back to school, until daddy got better and until there wasn't so much stress. Well daddy didn't get better but he knew were going through with this and he told me it would work and that we would have a boy. I started back on BC pills in July and did the frozen embryo transfer on August 2nd. One little 5 day blast (google it for those have no clue about the infertility terminology)
The next part......... wait
wait wait........ wait 2 weeks before a pregnancy test at the Dr. Luckily I know someone on the inside ;) and she got me in 9 days past. I tested positive on day 9 and on day 13. I am officially pregnant. My due date is April 21,2012, 7 days after my brother's wedding :\ Hopefully i'll either have given birth by then or I will be HUGE!
August 31st- Ultrasound to hear heartbeat. Heartbeat has been heard, ready to share the news.

Summer is OVER!

I am happy and sad that summer is over. Happy because we might finally get some cooler weather in the next month. Happy because we will finally get back to a schedule and a routine. Maybe my house will remain clean for longer than 2.5 minutes.
Sad because tomorrow my daughter, my baby, my girl starts her junior year. Where did the time go. She is already talking about homecoming which will be in a few weeks. Next thing I know it will be her senior year. Time sure does fly by.

Q & A Wednesday

Follow up- These will be on Friday normally.
Jenn asked: What's one thing from your past you wish you would have never done/said? Describe the perfect date night with Aaron...your choices not his!

Answer- I try not to have regrets but I do wish I would have said/did alot of things with my dad and grandpa while they were alive. Now they are gone I often think of things I want to tell my dad but can't. I can't recall anything I wish I never said or did though.
Every date night we have is perfect because we are alone. I do love going to watch live music. I would love to go to Gruene, eat at the Gristmill and end the night dancing at Gruene Hall.

Ask your questions, i'll be back FRIDAY to aswer them. 2 questions per person please.

Q & A Wednesday {Thursday}

Well crap I forgot yesterday was Wednesday. We spent the morning and afternoon at the Blue Bell Creamery then went to the Blue Bell Aquatic center so by the time I got home I was exhausted and totally forgot about my promise to bring back Q & A Wednesday. Forgive me? SO here we are on Thursday......... ask away! Limited to 2 questions per person. Ask me anything seriously anything. I'll answer I'm not shy!

Future Chef

Ashley has said for years she wants to be a chef. Lately she has been cooking and making grocery lists and looking up recipes. Aaron and I are taking her to a cooking class Friday night. We can't wait. It's a 3 course meal starting with leek and chick pea soup, chicken wellington as the main course and warm apple crumble for dessert. YUM, can't wait!!!

Hey there

So I know it's been a while. I was reading through my blog last and really love that I have a written diary of some of the most important events in my life. It got me thinking that I really need to keep it up for the sake of my kids at least. With Facebook it's so easy to go in and write a status and move on but those aren't saved in one database for years. So here I am. I am going to start back up the Q & A Wednesdays and Follow Up Fridays. Reading back through some of those questions and answers was great. So get your questions ready for Wednesday.

Here is my latest venture:
Lily Lou Designs on Facebook

Father's Day

On this day Father's Day means something different. I have always taken for granted that my daddy would always be there even when "I" got old and grey. Well I am not old or grey. I am sure I still have at least 50 more years to live. Those years will be filled with a hole in my heart only my Daddy can fill. My dad lost his battle with cancer yesterday. He was with me when I took my first breath and I was there when took his last. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer on May 15, 2011. No that's not a typo. He was diagnosed a month ago. His doctors think it started in his colon and spread throughout his main organs to his liver, kidneys, stomach and gastrointestinal tract. He passed with all 3 of his kids and all 6 of his grandkids at 2:30 yesterday afternoon. His death comes way too soon as he was only 63.

I will miss you deeply everyday, Happy Father's Day!

Wow

Stop this roller coaster I am on. I love how in October I said I was going to pay more attention to he blog. Yea so that didn't happen and I won't say that again. We have had the best and worst year. We have had lots of peaks and valleys but are back on top and hope to stay there. Aaron is still traveling back and forth to Calgary for work but comes home and stays for a few days to a week at a time. Soon (not sure when) he will be back in Houston for good. The company has made the announcement that he is coming back, I know I saw the letter. ;)
Ashley had a great first semester in 10th grade. She made a 90 for her 3rd six weeks in Geometry and an 81 in Chemistry, smart girl. She has showed quit a bit of interest in being a chef and going to culinary school. She can do whatever she wants and has the smarts to make it happen. She has been fighting a battle of her own but she is a strong, wonderful girl that has the 100% support of her family and we are determined to not give up.
Preston and Lily are tornadoes taking on every corner of their tiny world. The are both completely potty trained, except at night. Lily has been trained since September and was super easy. Preston has gone back and forth from underwear to diapers for months until New Year's we figured we were confusing him and decided to totally do diapers during the day. We have had a few accidents but mostly........ success!
3 is well............ good and bad. They are very determined and difficult at times but then they are sweet as can be. Because of this we now have "house rules" all painted on canvas hanging on the wall so they can see. We don't do warnings for rules that are posted, we have gone through them, they know what they are and know they will sit in time out if they are broken. Mainly it's to keep the peace: no hitting, be nice, use your inside voice, no climbing, use your words (the whining is driving me nuts) Things are easier at 3 but then comes the independent Lily wanting to buckle her own car seat and will NOT let you shut the door because SHE CAN DO IT. All while your already running 10 mins late. They are still in preschool on Tuesdays and Thursday's and this is when I run errands, eat lunch with my friends, get my nails did or just come home and enjoy the silence.

Speaking of being late........ we have started the year off by trying to turn things around when we moved back from Canada I knew I was giving up my simple life there but had no idea how busy and chaotic my world here would be. So I am trying to get back to that. I know I am late to almost every single thing I go to and it's mainly because I think I have more time than I do. Instead of getting in the car I think I have time to check my email or clean up real quick or heaven forbid, go to the bathroom.

So that's the family, what about Staci you ask? Well I am still Associate Director of Cypress Calling Ministries, the non profit ministry I founded with my BFF and a few other girl friends back in March 2008. I took a back seat role on the board while in Canada and still attended board meetings by Skype but now I am back. My role as Associate Director is to maintain the database, website, outreach, newsletter, volunteer coordinator, advertising, and make sure the donation checks are deposited into our account. This ministry is very dear to my heart because mentoring to teen mom's is something I always saw myself doing. Being a mom at 16 changed me and helped grow into the person I am today. I am so happy to share that with others who have lost hope. We run exclusively on monetary and item donations from the public. We are a volunteer based group and I am so proud of how far we have come. We have showered over 100 girls with our baby showers and our support group is up to 13 girls.
I also started my own business in June 2010 with the official launch in September. Lily Lou Designs (Lily being form Lily's name and Lou being from Ashley's middle name, Louise) an embroidery and appliqueing company that was initially a hobby. One thing led to another and I got a DBA, tax id and a bank account. Now that I am all legit the orders started to roll in. Boy did they roll in. I did not prepare myself for how busy I was at Christmas but I am grateful to be doing something I love. Now it's Valentines and Rodeo season.
Aaron and I with our friends Jenn and Kevin started a wine group. We meet once a month and taste wine from different regions. Who wouldn't want to do that. Every month we get a baby sitter and hang out with adults, I look forward to this.
Well that's our life as we start the new year. here's to 2011 and I hope it brings you lots of happiness.