Sawyer: Four Months

Planting Roots

 We bought a house back in mid March.  If you can believe it, our sellers forgot about the closing and were out of town.  We were able to sign our closing docs but had to wait a few days for the sellers to sign their docs and send them to the title company.  After eight months of apartment living, we were so excited to get into our own home again. We had a few projects we wanted to get done before moving day at the end of March, but I was fifteen eight months pregnant so we didn't waste any time tackling/scheduling the projects and getting moved in.  Moving in the third trimester of pregnancy is interesting.  This control freak did not like sitting back and watching everyone else do the heavy lifting.

I took these pics when we got the keys to the house before any work had been done.  Some of them aren't great, but I wanted to remember what our house looked like on day one and how it has changed/changes as we make it our home.

 Living Room

 Laundry

 Entry

 Dining Room

 Office

 Powder Room

 Living Room & Breakfast Nook

 Breakfast Nook & Kitchen

 Kitchen

 Master Bedroom

 A Texas Size Master Closet

 Master Bathroom

 Master Bathroom

 Future Nursery

 Jack & Jill Bathroom (with 500 doors!)

 Jack & Jill Bathroom

 Big Boy Room

 Theater

 Loft Playroom

 Loft Playroom

Loft Playroom 

 Guest Bedroom

 Guest Bathroom

 Entry from Loft Playroom

 Back Yard

Back Yard

 

We've made several changes and have a large to-do list to get through, but this is where we started.

Caysen: Five Years

 I finally got around to taking Caysen's five year pictures!

 I love this kid so much and I love his five-year-old personality!

 To the moon and back buddy...

To the moon and back.



Rain or Shine

Nine years ago yesterday, it rained sideways on our outdoor wedding rehearsal.  After a stressful day of last minute wedding prep, the thought of a downpour on our wedding day was more than I could handle.  With a crowd of friends and family around us, I turned to Lance, buried my head in his chest, and burst into tears.  On that day, and every day since, he has been strong for both of us when storms have come our way. For this, and many other reasons, nine years ago today, I said "I do" on a perfect Colorado afternoon.  We've had sunny times, and we've certainly had storms, and I am so thankful he is the one I get to walk beside through both.  Happy Anniversary Mr. Kirk!

Sawyer: Three Months

Texas: What I've Learned

After just over a year in the Houston area, this is what I've learned:

People are generally very friendly.

It gets cold here, like really cold!

It's hard to eat healthy. Plenty of yummy (but not good for you) restaurants and a shortage of natural and organic grocers.

Fire ants. Enough said.

Regularly attending church is  the rule, not the exception.

It's so green and lush!

Water boils faster. 

Rush hour is no joke!

Humidity.  My skin likes it.  My hair does not.

Groceries are cheaper.

Snakes and bugs! Ewww!!

People are active.  Boot camp, running and riding clubs, organized classes; the options are endless.

BBQ is a big deal.

It gets hot, but not as hot as I expected.

Everybody has a landscaper!

The swimming pool is usually pretty comfortable.  Sometimes it feels like a bathtub in a sauna.  It's never shock-your-body cold as was often the case in Colorado. 

Gas is cheaper.

The weather is as unpredictable as it was in Colorado!  I think this is true for everywhere, except maybe Southern California.

Fruits and vegetables are very fresh and flavorful, but you better eat them quick before they go bad.

I can't watch the news if I want to sleep.  Then again, I've never been able to watch the news.

Thunderstorms don't get old.

There is always something to do!

The low altitude makes for excellent baking conditions!

So many places to shop, and I do love shopping.  But still, what did we do before Amazon Prime?

It really does rain in sheets!

I love Texas and I love Colorado and right now, we are exactly where we are supposed to be. :)
 

Nine Months

Pregnancy. I didn't love it.  I know saying that is totally against the rules for an infertile, but I can't lie.  I was tired and sick, and then I had complications, and then I couldn't sleep, and I hurt, and I had more complications.  Don't even get me started on the crazy hormones!  Oh. my. word.  
I spent the majority of my pregnancy worrying that something would go wrong.  After so many years without a single pregnancy (nope, not one), I just didn't believe that my body was up for the task.  I couldn't believe that it was really happening.  And because I had complications, I had even more reason to believe it wouldn't end well.
I didn't gain a lot of weight.  In fact, I gained slightly less than the minimum recommended, but my small frame could barely handle it.  And I had an EIGHT pound baby!  Lance and I were both in the six pound range so I'm really not sure how we created such a big guy, but we did!  And it wore me out!
Somehow, in the misery of it all, I felt so incredibly thankful.  Thankful for the little kicks (less thankful for the big kicks, ha!), thankful for his strong heart beat, thankful just knowing that this little life was growing inside of me, that I was blessed to be a part of such a huge miracle!  Even though I was so ready for it to be over, I really tried to be thankful every day.
I knew that I would miss being pregnant, so that didn't come as a surprise.  What I didn't expect was being ready to do the whole pregnancy thing a hundred more times (ok, maybe not quite a hundred) if it meant I could experience that first moment after birth, seeing my sweet boy for the first time, and then the first hours, and those first few days!  It was magical and still is, and I just can't get enough of how yummy a newborn is! 
So yeah, it's confusing, and I don't understand it, but I hated pregnancy, and loved it, and I never want to do it again, but can you please sign me up for another pregnancy, like now?!?