Goodbye March !

It's been a busy month-We had a great Easter ( minus my hubby who was working the weekend shift all of March :( We went to Mimi and Pop Pops in Bastrop for Easter egg hunting and church with my mom. Everyone at her church loved getting to see the kiddos and how much they have grown,as my mom talks about them quite frequently. When Kels was a lot younger, before Kurt and I were married, we used to visit out there quite a bit but a lot of them hadn't seen Kelsey since she was really little and had never seen Houston. They had all prayed for Houston when I was pregnant with him so they couldn't believe this was the baby they had all prayed for and how big and handsome he was. It was great for me to get to see them and thank them for all of their prayers as well. But I digress.....I also got to see one of oldest and dearest friends Lisa and her new house (which is gorgeous) I am SO GLAD to have her and her family back in Texas !!! Hopefully they never leave the Lone Star State again! We also welcomed 2 new babies into the world on March 17th- Kurt's cousin Scott and his wife Laura had their daughter Makinley Kate and a couple of hours later our dear friends Chris & Dana had their little girl Parker Leigh...both girls are absolutely gorgeous and remind us of how fast they change and grow up. We are so grateful that God got them here safely. Kurt's other cousin Kimberly is due in a couple of weeks and we are praying all goes well with her delivery and can't wait to meet their son Carter.

Here are some pics from Easter, one of Houston looking cute in his Paw Paw's cowboy hat, and the last is one of my new haircut- It's not a great pic of me so just look at the hair :) I have had long hair for a while now so this was a big change for me but I love it.



This one is funny to me because Houston just had a major fit 2 seconds before and I was trying to hurry and get a picture of the three of us before he did it again

Happy Belated New Year and Birthday's!!!!

Daddy and H with Elmo at Sesame Live

Kels and H riding the wave runner at Gattiland



Houston on the firetruck at G-land




2008 started off great with us moving into our new home in Georgetown-thanks to all of the wonderful family and friends we had helping us, we were moved in and unpacked fairly quickly (however, the walls are still bare so anyone that is good with a stud finder and leveler is welcome to come help hang things :) A few days after moving Kels celebrated her 14th b-day on Jan 2nd and we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. A few weeks after that Kurt had a birthday as well and we went out just the two of us for an awesome Mexican food dinner ( notice the food theme here- pay attention b/c it continues)Our plan was to go to dinner and a movie but the 7:00 that we wanted to see was sold out and we knew that after eating we would never make it awake through a 10:00 movie on a full stomach..YES we are old !!!! Houston's birthday followed a few weeks later and he turned 2 on February 13th. We went to Gattiland the night of his birthday for pizza and games and then to Sesame Street Live the following weekend. He LOVES Sesame Street and can name all his "buddies" Gro, Kie ( Cookie) , Elmo, Zoes, Bert, Ernie, Osc and Teets (Rosita) so it was a blast to watch him get excited every time they came on stage. Hope everyone is doing good- maybe I will post again before everyone in my family has another birthday :)Enjoy the pics - they aren't in the exact format I was going for but hey what more do you want - I did update !!





Houston and daddy enjoying guy time on the slide

You looking at me ?

Yes I am handsome aren't I

Welcome Fall !!

Here are some pics of us from last night Trick or Treating, at Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls last weekend and at the Pumpkin Patch in Georgetown a few weeks ago. Sorry I havent posted in ages, but those of you who know me know that I am not a consistent blogger-I feel good if I can get a post up every couple of months or so...I am going to try and do better- I always say that but I really mean it...who am I kidding- I will try my best to get Thanksgiving pics up before X-mas :) Hope everyone is doing good-

I've Been Tagged !!

I was tagged by my cousin in law Tiff to give 8 random facts about myself- I'll admit at first I was a bit intimidated and didnt think I would be able to think of 8 things interesting enough about me to blog....however with the help of my wonderful daughter Kelsey I have managed to come up with some things not made public to everyone (until now :)


Here are the rules:


1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.

2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (if you don’t have a blog, email me)

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.



8 random facts about me you never knew, maybe didnt want to know, but regardless now you know !



1. I have a freakish sense of smell-really- ask my husband...it drives him nuts-I can smell things dogs and sharks probably dont...smell is the one thing that will gross me out more than just about anything. I am obsessive about how my house smells. There are candles and plug ins everywhere and I vacuum almost daily-If I dont think it smells good I will hunt down the source and not stop until I am rid of it !


2. I dont know if this next one is a result from being a mom for 13 years ( although there was 12 years in between babies ) but I sway when I am standing- ALWAYS...anywhere...in line at the grocery store, in church when singing or praying, while waiting to buy tickets at the movies...you get the idea..I have tried to stop but to no avail the swaying continues.


3. this next one kind of reminded me of Tiff and her peanut butter and chocolate- I cannot stand peanut butter out of the jar or on sandwiches but I love Nutter Butter cookies and Reeses Pieces! go figure


4. Any money in my wallet ( on the rare occasion that there is any ) must always be turned face up and going the same direction as well as in denomination order from largest to smallest with smallest always being in front.

5. I make my bed everyday- yes, every day, no exceptions !! If I leave the house and my hubby is still in the bed, be guaranteed it is the first thing I will do upon returning home ( second only to a dirty diaper or hungry baby ) I will and have been late to work because I was making my bed- may seem strange but if the bed is made the whole room seems cleaner.

6. All of the clothes in my closet are arranged by season and color- with tank tops being first, followed by t-shirts, short sleeved shirts, long sleeved shirts, and finally sweaters ( pants and skirts are on a separate rod alltogether). I have tried to incorporate this method on my husband's side of the closet but much to my dismay he seems to have no appreciation for the system !

7. I have this weird habit of touching a water bottle to my teeth before I drink it- I dont notice it with other drinks only water bottles ??? doesnt have to be any certain number of times but I do it each time I take a drink- If I pause from drinking and then resume again I have to retouch.

8. Finally, the pantry has to be arranged according to food items- snack foods and cereals at the bottom where there is more room for large bags and boxes...pasta and sauces conveniently placed near one another and all canned goods arranged by flavor ..i.e. vegetables together with green beans stacked together, soups together, as well as rotel and tomato based items near each other. Green beans will never be stacked with peas..if there is only one can of green beans left then they will be solo until the next trip to the grocery store.


I now realize how strange I am after writing all of this down but at least I havent been pooped on by birds 7 times ( sorry Kim :) I am tagging..... Dana, Shan, Lisa, Mom, Karen, Kelley, Joey, and Kels.



Iwill update with pics as soon as I get the camera program loaded to the laptop-

Am I getting paid for this ?

I know, dont fall over -two posts within two days- I just thought this was too cute to not share right away- I guess Houston decided that I needed help unloading the dishwasher :) what a sweet boy !!

Catch Up Time !

Give me the Oreo and no one gets hurt !!
More sand please !
Who can resist that grin- Watch out ladies !
Daddy all dressed up for work

Houston catching some zzzzz's with 2 of his favortie buddies
Kelsey and Kelsey at Camp Koinonia

Kels and Houston the night of her induction to the NJHS- way to go Kels !

Ok I knew it had been a while since I last posted but I had no idea it had been 6 months !! where has the time gone- It's been so long since I've posted Im not sure where to begin- I guess I will just play catch up this time and then try to be better about posting. In my defense I got new computers for work and the way the new system is set up now, I have not been able to figure out how to upload my pictures or e-mail them. I am using Kels' laptop to update now and will most likely continue to use it to update. The beginning of the year was busy and has not slowed down yet- Kelsey turned 13 in January and Houston turned 1 in February. With a teenager and a toddler in the house we are not lacking for entertainment or drama. I have to brag though,they are both such awesome kids....Kels is wonderful with H-man and he in turn adores his big sis !! Kurt accepted a new position with the Homicide unit in May so we have not seen much of him lately-He has been working seemingly nonstop with all of the recent activity here in Austin and we are both looking forward to some quality family time at the annual Smith family reunion next week. We have also been preoccupied with getting our house ready to put on the market- so if you know anyone looking for a 3bedroom/2Bath in Round Rock let me know :) We painted the entire outside and storage shed last weekend with the help of Kurt's brothers, dad and nephew...A very big thank you to Kevin, Keith, Paw-Paw and Josh for all of their time and help !! As for me I have been busy adjusting to working at home with a very active toddler- he's very good at entertaining himself but Sesame Street and Elmo's World do have to help out from time to time. I just feel so blessed that I am able to be with him every day- they grow up too quickly ! Houston took his first trip to the beach in June to celebrate mine and Mimi's ( my mom) birthday's. He loved playing in the sand with his shovel and pail- so much in fact that I found sand for days in the strangest places :) I hope eveyone is having a safe, fun summer and more pics to come soon !

Turkey Please !

I decided I finally just had to sit down and make time to write about Thanksgiving since it is already time to post X-mas pics !!! We have been insanely busy with the holidays but loving every minute of it- We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and Houston had his first taste of turkey. He has acquired quite a taste for anything that doesn't come from a jar and so far seems to like anything we give him. I will try very hard to get our X-mas pics up before Valentine's Day :)






Houston and his buddy Big Bird






Who Me ??? Houston decided the dresser drawers needed some rearranging ( and believe me they did ) !!

Monkey Business !

The past two weeks have been packed with Halloween,festivals, birthday parties, choir contests, babysitting jobs ( yes, Kelsey is officially open for business and taking appointments ) and kleenex- lots of kleenex !!! Halloween was great- we went trick or treating with Chris, Dana & Faith (I think Faith got a little of the chocolate before her daddy ate it all :) Houston attended his first trunk-n-treat at the church and had a blast riding the choo choo train and socializing with his bible class buddies..he has much more of a social calendar than I do !


Kels, Houston and I attended the first birthday party of one of his friends and Kels actually managed to get a picture with Faith and Houston in a good mood at the same time...which, if you have little ones, you know that is a great accomplishment !!
While Houston did take time out for a few photo ops, his favorite thing at the party was definitely the cake !!

Kels has been busy as usual with school and just attended her first choir concert last weekend- we dont have the official score but Im sure she did great- she truly has the voice of an angel ( if any of you have ever heard me sing you know she did not inherit her voice from her mother :) The same weekend she went on her first babysitting assignment... she only called a couple of times and there was no police involvement at any point so I consider it a success ! Now enter the Kleenex- and lots of them as I said. Somehow we all contracted colds but I of course managed to get it the worst..Shouldn't there be some kind of law that says mom's cant get sick...after all who takes care of us when we dont feel good ?? As the rest of you mom's out there know all too well, there are no such things as sick days for mommy's !!

We figured with all the birthday cake and candy from Halloween we should probably get Houston started on a good teeth brushing regimen ( he's got 2 :) Here he is brushing his own teeth- ok, ok, so it's not exactly the right end of the toothbrush but he's got the right idea !! Hope everyone has a great week and Happy Brushing !

Push Me Higher !!

We had a big time of first's at the Thomas household this past week. Houston had his first swing at the park on the big boy swing and I had my first night away from him this past weekend. Im not sure which one to be more proud of...the fact that my son was squealing with delight each time I tentatively pushed him higher and higher, or that I managed two nights away without one tear ! Now granted I did shed a few the day we left as I fed him lunch, thinking that I wouldnt feed him again until Sunday night or say his prayers with him that night, but all in all the weekend was a success with much needed alone time for mom and dad and a fun weekend with Mimi for the kids. A special thanks to my mom for taking such great care of our most precious kiddos while we were away. Truthfully though, I think she had the most fun of anyone !!

Not so pregnant anymore !

I figured it was finally time to post another entry since in my last one I was still pregnant. Not to offer excuses but it has taken me a while to find the time to sit down and figure out how all of this blogging works. I am going to try and be better about posting on a regular basis so my next entry isnt about Houston starting kindergarten.
We are all doing great, enjoying football season and life with a now 8 month old who keeps us laughing daily ( and as you can see is as much a longhorn fan as his daddy ) He said his first word about 2 weeks ago and I really thought it was going to be Hook 'Em but turns out it was da-da- da- da.... Kelsey had her first school dance last week- how time flies !I cant believe she is already old enough for dances- we visited the pumpkin patch this past weekend and had a good time letting Houston pick a pumpkin- hope everyone is doing great !!

Still pregnant !

We are still waiting for Houston to decide to make his appearance- if he's not here by Monday morning we are going to the hospital at 6:00 am to be induced.