Mia's a Kindergarten Graduate!

Oh yeah that's right. Our precious little Mia Claire graduated from Kindergarten on Thursday. She was so precious...I got teary-eyed. But then again, I am an extremely emotional person and I am pregnant, so that is to be expected I suppose. Here are a few pictures of the cutie:




Her class & teacher

The graduate

Her family












with us













an edited photo


















Now don't her new sunglasses go perfectly with that dress?

Connie had a birthday!

Connie is 31...oops...I mean uh, 29! Hehehe :) I only say this because she tried to convince Mia, who for some reason was not so convinced, that she was 29. Mia said "39?!" To which Connie said "NO! Not 39! 29 Mia! Get it straight! OK, fine, I am 31! Happy?!" or something like that...it just cracked me up :) You've got to be careful what you tell Miss Mia, because now that she has passed through kindergarten she will catch you if you tell her something false or isn't nice. I have pictures from her precious kindergarten graduation this week, but that will come later, I have some playing to do in photoshop first!

Here are a couple of pictures to commemorate Connie's birthday:





The pretty flowers that Levi got for Connie

























Connie and her loves...Levi looks pretty dopey, but that is normal.

Trying something new...

Ok, so during lunch today, Ellie and I were scoping out the strawberries and Ellie was telling me about how she never knew how much she loved chocolate covered strawberries. So...I get this bright idea to dip our strawberries in my chocolate (fat free) pudding. YUMMY!! Well...it is definitely not as good as the actual chocolate coated strawberries, but it is a good compromise and contains a lot less sugar/fat ratio. So, I just thought I would let everyone in on my discovery. Although some of you may have tried this before, so it may actually not be new...but I thought it was yummy, so I thought I would share.

**Side note: I do need to tell you that the pudding does not stick to the strawberry, so you will have to scoop it out and put it on.

The birds, the birds!!

Ok, so last night I get home and I feel completely exhausted and my eyes are so tired and dry they just want to shut. Well I come in, Chris is on the computer, and I go and lay down on the couch. I lay there for about 15 minutes maybe when I start hearing this crazy squawking noise. At first I think it is the ceiling fan and I lay there and wonder, what on earth possessed it to start making that noise? Then I realize Chris hears it too, so it must be as loud as I think it is. We look at each other and say..."it sounds like there are a hundred birds outside of our house...in a panic"

Spencer is outside.

We go to the dining room and look out the window...and what do we see? Oh you know, just like a 100 birds swooping down and pecking at Spencer, he jumps back and then goes back to his chase behind some wood panels leaning up against the fence. We are like...what is going on? Then we see it...a baby bird...in SPENCER'S MOUTH!!! He is terrorizing a baby bird. No wonder the entire bird population of Texas was in our back yard squawking and chirping and going crazy. It was like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" made back in 1963!! The birds were swooping all over, going crazy.

I had to stop the madness!

But you see, I am somewhat terrified of birds, because of the previous mentioned movie. I have seen it several times, even as a child and some birds terrify me with their beady little eyes. The birds that were out to get Spencer were those kinds of birds...not pretty ones, just brown and black birds with beady yellow eyes.

But even in my terror, I HAD to stop Spencer from eating this little baby bird! So I run outside (barefoot by the way) and yell "NO SPENCER, NO!! STOP IT!" All the while trying not to get attacked by the hundreds of birds swooping all over the place. Finally I scare Spencer enough with my mean momma voice and he runs the opposite direction when I dart for him. So he runs from me a couple of more times and I say "Get over here NOW!!" He, with his head down and ears flat on his neck comes toward me and I grab him and say "No, Spencer, we do not attack baby birds...bad dog! Those momma birds would eat you for dinner!" I stow him away in his kennel and attempt to get the pieces of wood off of the fence so the momma can see her baby bird is ok and quit the annoying squawking...Chris advises me against this...he does not want to see me attacked. So he decides to go and remove the wood...he says "now tell me if one of them starts to come after me" I say "ok" and he goes to move the first piece. No harm done, so he goes to move the second piece...this time the momma swoops in and tries to get Chris' head. I said "Whoa, heads up" but it was a little late and I got in trouble b/c he said the bird was right next to his ear. Me, on the other hand as the spectator, can tell you that, no it was not right next to his ear, even though I am sure it sounded that way, he was about a foot from his head. Too close for comfort still. So we decide to go back inside and leave Mr. Spencer in his kennel.

Chris and I were both surprised he went after this bird. Where, he is extremely fast...he is not at all a brave dog, so we are surprised he even went after it. We decided it must have been because the poor baby could not get away as fast as the adult birds.

So all the other birds leave and we are left with one very ticked off momma bird that will NOT stop squawking...Chris is going to get his bee bee gun...I said "you cannot shoot that bird...Spencer attacked her baby. And you cannot shoot a gun into our neighbors yard, you could hit her or one of her dogs!!" He is nuts. So I finally decide we should leave and go out for dinner, otherwise Chris is going to go strangle the momma bird with his bare hands for not shutting up already. We say a short prayer for Spencer as we leave...hoping he does not get malled by the birds when we are gone.

Happy to say, Spencer is alive and well. I think once the momma finally got down with her baby she must have chilled. She paced the top of our brand new fence for like twenty minutes squawking and puffing out her feathers! That I should have captured on film...it was a site to see. Spencer is so dense though, I would be shocked if this same thing doesn't happen again. Maybe next time, during all the fuss I will think to get my camera. It would have been a crazy funny video to see all the hundreds of birds stalking our little chicken Spencer...

16 Weeks 5 Days

So here is a picture of me that I took late on Sunday evening. I know, I am a late poster...

I am going to attempt to get better about posting/taking pictures of my belly. Fully covered of course. I am not a bare belly show-er. I know that some people find those pictures extremely sweet and loving, but I didn't really like the way my stomach looked before I was pregnant so I have a feeling I am not going to really like the way it looks 8 months pregnant either. So all pictures will be a covered belly.

I think I actually felt the baby move yesterday...mid-afternoon I felt a little fluttering in my lower abdomen. It was not something I have ever felt before even with crazy stomach issues I have had, so I assume it was the baby. So for those who have asked me if I felt it, I believe I finally have! Chris didn't believe me, but what does he know? Punk.

Anyways, I am now into my 17th week. I do not fit so well in my "normal" clothes, but yet most maternity clothes look entirely too big. So I am in the transition period. I am ok with that. Chris did get me that wonderful belly band and I am wearing it again today, for the second time. I like the way it works and it is super comfortable. The only thing that bugs me is that it is not particularly made for someone with a large rear, such as myself, because it tends to roll up on me back there! Haha!

I will try to post more pictures soon. Only 2 more weeks until we find out what we are having!! Will it be a boy or girl? I still do not know......

Fence, Grass, Dance, & Tumble

Ok, so I am behind on updating somethings but I am trying to be better. I still do not have a new belly shot. I am thinking I would like to actually look descent and since my skin looks like, well...DISGUSTING because it is ultra sensitive at the moment and extremely pale, it is hard to find a day where I think I look good. But alas, I will post a new picture soon. I am showing. To me. And Chris. No one else seems to notice...unless they are close, close friends and have a photographic memory of what my stomach looked like before...so far, Jennifer is the only one who triumphantly yelled "I see it!" Which by the way, was exciting to me since Chris and I have been the only ones to notice. Haha.

Anyways, Chris with the help of his dad and a few buddies replaced the fence on the sides of our yard this past weekend. It involved a bunch of hauling, nailing, digging, etc. But it looks great! Here are a few pictures of that...oh and notice we finally got grass down where the big sand-lot of a pool used to be...and Chris put up a disc swing for the kiddos.

Thanks to Josh, Scott, Ryan and Ronnie for helping Chris with the fence. If it weren't for these guys I think Chris might have given up.

And now for a VERY cute little red head...Taylor Grace had her first tap/ballet/gymnastics recital!! It was super cute and fun to watch. Chris and Ronnie thought the program lasted for far too long, but considering how MANY performances there were, I thought it went by rather fast. Chris also told me that if we have a girl, she will not be doing these things...um, excuse me...YES SHE WILL, so get over it buddy!! Haha! Anyways, here she is in all her cuteness.

Posing in her outfit

Doing her tap routine




















Gymnastics...













Ballet














Posing with her mommy & daddy













A cute one of her walking...I played with this one obviously



















This is me kissing Ben for being so ornery to me during dinner!















Chris and the grinning Mr. Isaac...hehehe, he is such a cutie!

Mother's Day and Gifts...

So I didn't realize that I would actually be considered a mother this mother's day. My mom-in-law said as long as their is a heartbeat, I am a mother, so here is what I got for mothers day. Several sweet cards from: my mom-in-law, Doug & Frieda, my husband, and Connie and the girls...the last one, Mia wrote my name on the outside of the card and Connie made her sound it out so it was spelled like this: Laxse. Super cute! But she made sure to tell me "Momma made me sound it out, but I know now you spell your name L-E-X-I" She is so cute :)

I received: a book for first time moms from my mom-in-law, a yummy butterfinger crisp from the girlies and a GIANT box of chocolates from Chris. Here is a picture to prove my point:

It is 2.5 pounds of chocolate and takes up almost the entire top of my stove! And I still have not finished it by the way and I have been sharing...anyone in need of some chocolates, just stop by I have plenty :)

On Monday Chris surprised me with dinner ready when I got home...he also had went shopping for me that day and purchased me 3 new outfits from Mimi Maternity, a new pair of flip flops and a new bra. Ok, so maybe you didn't need to know the last gift, but it was just as thoughtful. He is so cute and sweet :) I am lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Here is a picture of some of the stuff he bought me. I tried to take pics wearing the outfits, but I looked like poo, so those will have to come later.

On the left there is a blue shirt, brown capri's, in the middle is one of the new flip flops, a dress and a tummy tube (which I am not even sure how to use or what you do with it...any help/advice is appreciated) and on the right is khaki shorts and a black shirt.

Oh and he also took me out for frozen custard after we ate, at the place we got engaged Woolley's, as he stated "Where it all started..."

Pictures from Last weekend...

Last weekend the girlie girls stayed the night with me on Friday and all day Saturday so their mommy and daddy could get them moved into their HOUSE!! Yay for Connie & Levi! Their new house is in a great neighborhood, has tons of awesome space and a BEAUTIFUL yard! I am SO glad they finally have a home :)

Anyways here are a couple of pictures of the girls in their new sunglasses, that I just HAD to buy them! (Who wouldn't I - I mean they do look super cute, don't they?)



Miss Jules in her new pink and orange sunglasses (and of course a purse to match)




















Mia in her blue sunglasses with white/silver stars on them - it was Mia's idea that they needed purses to match their sunglasses and I couldn't afford to buy them purses too, so we raided my old purses stock that they play with at the house when we got back and found them each one to wear and take home. They were happy - and that's all that matters :)












Little Mr. Isaac was dedicated at church last Sunday. Church lighting is always so difficult to take good pictures in! I guess I need some advice on how to get some good ones (maybe Natalie can give me a hint ;) but it could just be the fact that I don't have a professional camera).




Isaac and Mawmaw


















The family :)

Make that ELEVEN!

Haha, well make it eleven pregnant women I know! I do not know the one that Kari listed (sorry Kari!) but I do know the one that Anjolee mentioned. And then there is a friend of a friend who lives in another state and now, yesterday, my doctor tells me she is pregnant and due a few days from me! She still hopes she delivers my baby...goodness!

Anyways, yesterday's appointment went well. They remodeled the waiting room of my doctor's office and at first I thought I was in the wrong place. I ended up waiting in this newly remodeled room for nearly 50 minutes...all the while listening to a lady talk incessantly about her second pregnancy and how she believes her church is the best because they have no money and they can't figure out how they are going to make it, but there church is there for them, so she knows it will work out. She had some good things to say, but I seriously wish she would have taken a breather at some point...I was exhausted before I went in and she was talking so loudly that you couldn't help but hear every single blessed detail of her life story. I honestly did not need to know all of the details she shared but she just put it all out there!

But back to my 2 minute appointment...I went in, got my self checked and then the Dr came in and listened to the heart beat and that was it! Two minutes with the doctor...approximately 8 minutes waiting in the exam room and bam an hour of my life has passed. The doctor said everything looked/sounded good. My next appointment is on June 4th and that is when we find out the gender...Chris and I cannot wait!!

I have posted a poll on the right, please vote when you get a chance :)

Eight...

I know exactly eight other women who are due within a month of my due date! Craziness, right? And most of these girls I will attend or help with their baby shower, I think ;)

It must be the right time to have babies...

Oh and I definitely have a pooch now...Chris and I decided it really just looks like I am getting fat and does not look like a baby bump...it looks more like a beer gut. And in case you are concerned, no, I DO NOT drink beer, YUCK! Anyways, I have a doctor's appointment today, so we shall see what she has to say about this baby (and me of course).

Birds...

Ok, so Chris and I enjoy watching the birds in our back yard. We have recently purchased two bird feeders and they are often emptied every day!! Craziness! Anyways, we purchased a bird book the other day while we were at Lowe's (I know some of you might think we are dorks, but oh well) and it had a picture of a really colorful bird that I had only ever seen stuffed! I went on and on to Chris about how this crazy colorful bird was so cool and tiny and that it would be awesome if we could see one of them.


What was extremely funny was just yesterday (we purchased the book on Sunday) that little bird was in our yard!! HAHA! Anyways, it is a painted bunting. I don't know how many of you know what those are, but here is a professional picture:





















And here is a picture of the one in our yard

A blue jay













And a cardinal









For those of you who do not know, all of these birds happen to be male...male birds are always the colorful ones whereas the females are a gray/brown variety with accents of the more bold male colors. I don't know why God made them this way, but this is one species where the men are actually prettier :)