Daddy's Girls

We actually got home about 5:00 Thursday night but, to be honest, it’s been kind of stressful around here so it’s been hard for me to get to this post. Now I realize it’s only been 4.5 days since surgery but Matt is in way more pain that we expected. I think we confused this surgery being not dangerous (as far as not cutting on vital organs) to not painful/quick recovery. We have quickly realized that’s not the case. The doc said he will be sore about a month and based on how he’s moving I think he’s right. He’s restricted to not lifting over 10 lbs and not lifting his arm over his head during that time but other than that it’s up to how he feels. As far as me, I was feeling overwhelmed and feeling like I’d never get caught up at work and around the house. Despite all that, I can’t tell you how nice it was to walk in to our girls! We miss them so much when we’re gone. Yaya also had the house picked up and enough food on the stove to last all weekend.  The girls were obviously the best

It definitely takes a village.... Matt and I are back in Houston this week for his defibrillator implant yesterday. We left Sunday to spend the night with Shanon and Alex before all of the appointments started Monday morning.  Shanon cooked an amazing dinner but the best part was loving on Logan for an afternoon.  As nice as that was, it was over quickly because we were out the door at 6:30 Monday morning to see 3 doctors to get cleared for surgery. That was a long day but luckily we were at the hotel connected to the hospital so we had a place to go for the afternoon between appointments and got a good nights sleep. Which was a very good thing because Tuesday was one of the longest days of my life. We saw Dr. Schurmann at 7:30 that morning for a surgery arrival at 11:00. There were some emergency cases that took the operating rooms for most of the day so at 7:15 p.m. he was finally being rolled back for surgery. And at 9:00 I was hearing that everything went well. Spending 10 hours in

Today is May 19th and school isn’t out until the 24th... but we’re OVER it. Apollo had their end of the year AR (accelerated reader) party (for kids that made the goal all year) on Thursday. Lilli got to wear her bathing suit and cover-up to school which made it the coolest day ever!  And Friday was the last day of the grading period. She told me as she answered the last question of her test she teared up. She realized she would never have this teacher and this same class again and she’s loved 2 grade.  It was also Donuts with Dad at First Friends and (possibly) Katie’s last day. I told Yaya to send her while we’re in Houston but Katie says she’s telling her she doesn’t want to go so we’ll see. I snapped a pic just in case. ;)  We celebrated no more tests by meeting friends at the park yesterday afternoon and spent almost 3 hours there.  The Mamas are friends of mine so that’s the longest we’ve gotten to catch up in forever. We decided to get together at least once a week all summer so

Well she did it. KatieJane graduated from First Friends today. The last day of school is not technically until the 24th but she doesn’t have to go anymore. Nothing but fun days from here on out. She will go Thursday and Friday and then will be up to Yaya if she goes next week. It is definitely a milestone and she was a proud girl today.  The program started with songs before they went back and changed into their robes. She was into that except for the one silly song that she had no part of. We finished up with a reception in her classroom where I got a book of samples of her schoolwork from this year. And then we went to “the restaurant with the big chair” (Chimi V) with Daddy and Yaya to celebrate. Lilli even got to skip school so she could be a part of it.  It’s really hard to believe that in a couple of days I will no longer have any kids at First Friends. It’s been a wonderful seven years and I could have not asked for a better school for them to get them ready for kindergarten. An

My baby graduates preschool Wednesday so of course I had to get prepared for the million pictures I’m going to take. At 5 years old she finally got her first haircut. Poor baby is cursed with my slow growing hair. She was totally bald until she was probably 8 months.                            This is her at 6 months.  Plus she had the bad habit of twisting it as she fell asleep and on several occasions I had to cut knots out of it. You can see how uneven it was in this one  So today at we went down to my friend/hairdresser’s house and got her first trim. She was not happy at first because she so badly wants long hair but by the end of it she was OK and it is so super cute. I can’t wait to wash it and see it with her curls. Now we need to go get nails and toes painted and she’ll be ready for her big day on Wednesday.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mama’s in our lives. They all hold a special place in our hearts that no one else can fill. We count on you for friendship, wisdom and mostly love. And can’t thank you enough for all you do. Even the Mamas in heaven that probably help everyday even when we don’t know it.  My day was perfect. I woke up to this Plus a clean kitchen and laundry done. Matt knows just what I want!  We put up the girls pool That they played in at least 3 hours after the four of us got back from church. My other present was also a massage that was followed by a bath Made even better by my gift from Yaya. Homemade bath salts complete with a piece from her Mama’s China. How cool is that?!! And the day was finished off with a delicious meal cooked solely by my sweet husband. And he cleaned up after! I couldn’t ask for a better day. Thank you Matt. For all you do and for these beautiful girls that made me a Mama. 

It’s been a busy week for me. I’ve got one deal closing next week plus another that just went under contract. I’ve been coordinating with Houston Methodist for Matt’s follow up and surgery so I’ve spent about 90 hours on the phone with them. (Ok... maybe that’s a SLIGHT exaggeration ;) Plus I’ve been busy with end of the year stuff at school. Apollo PTL does it big for our teachers and staff because we know they work so hard every day. Everyone from the janitors and lunch ladies to the principal get treated equally. We serve them a hot breakfast and lunch. (And I really mean serve. They sit down at the table and we fix a plate and bring it to them. Plus clean up after them.) And we have lots of extra treats. We had a masseuse in Monday and Tuesday giving free mini massages. They play a trivia game to win door prizes with questions ranging from things from movies to how many trash cans are in the school. It’s a lot of fun but definitely exhausting. I was up there at least four hours eve

We’ve been trying to get together with the Kittler‘s for weeks. We had plans that Saturday Matt ended up in the hospital so obviously that was out. Then they asked us to get together last weekend but the girls didn’t want to leave their Daddy’s side. So we finally met up in Tyler today for a morning at the zoo. Probably the prettiest Saturday we’ve had all year and it was a great way to spend it! I had to get home in time to meet a deadline on a contract but the fun didn’t stop there. We went to Layoco to some frozen yogurt before spending the rest of the evening at Brownlee Park. They played while I enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and negotiated a contract.  I’m so happy I made the decision to get my license. I get to work from a park bench while my kids play. And it’s so exciting to be able to tell my client, The house is pending! 

Katie definitely felt her birthday was the best ever with her Daddy coming home. But she’s still only 5 so I wanted her to have her afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese that’s she’s been wanting and to get to pick dinner. So Yaya came to get her to pick Lilli up in car line (something so fun about Yaya’s car!) and I met them there after school.  They loved playing with her and racking up as many tickets as they could for all the prizes. :) We picked up Johnny’s pizza and went home to eat with Daddy who had all of the new birthday toys from Yaya and Capn ready to be played with.  (Which was especially sweet considering how this medicine makes him feel and I was fully prepared to walk in to this project)  I think she was happy with this 2nd birthday too.  And on a different note... I’m going to miss Lilli’s teacher so much. I definitely have mixed emotions that there are only 15 more school days. I got pictures from their field trip to Art Expo today. (No parents allowed this time) I’ve never ha