All posts by JB

Family

One Perfect Day

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Do you have a day that is so perfect you almost don’t believe it actually happened?  That was July 4th for the Baldwins.

I woke up early and read a little in my book before Ali woke up.  She and I started making pancakes and chicken sausages.  Then Reed and Randy joined us.  Our neighbors came over for a random breakfast party and it was great.  Victor and Margie stayed for a little over an hour and then Randy headed for the gym and I took the kids to the park.  We played at the park (with Duke and YaYa of course) for an hour or so.  Then we came home sweaty, tired and ready for naptime.  The whole family napped for a bit (heaven I tell you).

When we woke up we headed for my parents’ house.  We spent all stinking afternoon playing in the pool and then eating and playing some more.  I have never seen both of my kids play so hard or so long in the pool.  We had a few minor catastrophies, like when Ali decided to take a topple as she helped herself into the pool, and then Reed fell off the step in the hot tub and unexpectedly went underwater.  He got scared and freaked out a little, but I was so proud of him because when he fell off the step he kicked his feet hard enough to get his head above water.  I was super proud of him.

For some reason I just felt like drinking beer yesterday.  So I might have had a lot more than usual.  It was awesome.  I miss drinking too much beer on a random Wednesday afternoon.

Yesterday was also the anniversary of the day Randy proposed.  It made the day just a little bit sweeter once he reminded me.  It’s amazing how much has changed and how much happier I am than I was even on that great day.

All of this is to say…I truly couldn’t have expected to have such a fantastic day.

Family

Update on things around here

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We haven’t posted a new entry in quite a while.  We have been just doing the same old routine the last several weeks.  I started a new job at Tesoro at the start of June so I have been underwater with work stuff the last 5 weeks.  I am finally transitioned out of my old job and into the new one so things are slowing down a little for me.  Unfortunately Randy has a huge website release on July 16th, so now he is the one underwater.  Luckily we weren’t both slammed at the same time!

The kids are growing and changing and doing cute stuff everyday.  This weekend we moved Ali into size 4 diapers.  Yes, she is almost 18 months old.  She also got her first haircut on Sunday.  Randy’s mom just cut off a bunch of the excess scraggly hair off the top.  She looks less messy, but still has those sweet little curls in back.  We are hoping that with shorter hair on top she will stop rubbing everything she eats through her hair since her hair isn’t always in her face 🙂 

 Like I say, not much going on over here.  Just going to work/school, spending time at the pool and making it through the summer!

Oh yeah…and the Aggies are officially in the SEC.  WooHoo!!!

Alison, Reed

Swim Lessons

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Reed took swim lessons for the first time in early June.  He had a 45 minute lesson everyday for 2 weeks (at school).  His teacher and the lifeguard kept telling me he wouldn’t do anything during lessons so I was sad that we wasted our time and money. 

Then we went to a pool with a baby pool and…holy cow.  This boy might not be participating in swim lessons, but he is learning everything they are teaching.  He is jumping in and swimming with his face in the water all the way across the baby pool.  He really is an animal when he can be in the safety of the baby pool.  Needless to say I am pleased with his progress and excited for his next session. 

The only problem is that Ali watches every single thing he does and now she is ALL ABOUT jumping off the side and putting her face in the water.  The child has zero fear or respect for the water and it freaks me out.  She will stand in the baby pool and bend her knees until her head is under the water.  Then she will stand back up and give us the biggest smile.  She’s so proud of herself for going underwater all alone.

Family, Travel

Aggie Baseball Weekend 2012

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This is the baseball weekend that almost wasn’t.  I dropped the ball (big time!) and didn’t realize the first weekend we planned was also Parent’s Weekend.  This meant no hotel rooms and no baseball tickets available.  Instead we made a last minute switch to the Tech series the first weekend of May.  This was not ideal for several reasons: Joe’s birthday, so no Browns :(, same weekend as Cornyval so no parade, we had a 1 day turnaround from New York to College Station.  Thankfully we are all pretty good at this by now and it was still a great time!

Next year I promise to plan a little better 🙂

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Alison

Alison’s 15 & 16 month updates

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Again, I’m a slacker.  Alison is already 16 months old and I never did a 15 month update on her.  Oh well.

As for measurements, she is still a little pipsqueak.  (I have no idea where she gets this.  I was 9 pounds, 8 ounces when I was born).

Length: ****(I have to check the paper) – 50th percentile

Weight: 21lbs – 35th percentile

*This morning I got her dressed and after I got her to school I realized she was wearing size 6-12 month shorts and shirt.  And the scary part is they fit!!

She is finally a very solid nighttime sleeper.  This has been such a life changer for us.  We finally feel rested!  I think we have to take some of the blame for her terrible sleep habits.  When she was a tiny baby we were so worried about her waking Reed up that we didn’t let her cry it out enough.  Course that girl would cry for 45 minutes when we did try.  Not the typical 15 minutes.  Somehow I think we have a diva/drama queen on our hands.

I love this age because her personality is coming out.  She is so much more communicative than Reed was.  She has several words and is able to tell us what she does and doesn’t want very clearly.  Too bad the only sign she knows is ‘more’. 

She is so sassy.  I love it, and hate it at the same time.  She gets so angry when you walk away from her.  She just whines and throws her bossiness around while she is chasing after me.  It is so pitiful that its hilarious.

I am also starting to think she will be ready to potty train MUCH earlier than Reed.  She is already showing the signs of wanting to start.  We aren’t going to push it, but I imagine in the next couple of months she will want to start.  Funny thing is that she is still in size 3 diapers.  I don’t know if she will even make it to size 4s before she is ready to potty train.

She is also all female.  She doesn’t really like to eat meals, instead she prefers to snack all day long.  And given the choice of foods, she will ALWAYS choose carbs and sugar.  Lord help her!

Alison is still a HUGE momma’s girl.  Last night in the pool she flat refused to let anyone else hold her.  Every time I tried to pass her off she squealed and jumped out of their arms and back towards mine.  Speaking of pool…she is a fish.  No fear of the water, but also no respect for it.  Makes me crazy nervous for this summer.

Sorry for the long out dated update, but there you have it!

Holidays, Julie

Mother’s Day 2012

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This Mother’s Day was wonderful.  It started off by Randy sending me flowers to work on Friday.  They weren’t just flowers…they were amazing.  Then on Saturday I spent the entire day alone with my kids.  I’m not going to lie…it wasn’t all puppy dogs and rainbows.  Having these 2 all to myself for the day is a ton of work, but it made me feel like a good mom.  Then on Sunday we went to church, came home for lunch and naps, and then went to my parents house.  We went swimming in the pool and grilled pizzas.  There was nothing special or amazing about it.  It was just the perfect way to spend my mother’s day.  With my mom, relaxing and enjoying all the happiness I have been granted. 

I am truly living my dream.  I couldn’t ask for more than I have at this very moment.

Reed

One day I will be more consistent

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I have come to the conclusion I don’t write enough on this blog because I have this weird idea that all posts must include pictures.  Problem is, I have time to write when I’m at work.  But the pictures are at home.  (Yes, I realize I have said this before).  I have so many stories to tell and things I want to write down…and then I don’t.  And then I forget them.  And then what is the point of having a blog anyway?  So you might see more posts with no photos.  Oh well.  I need to write the stories that happen in our little world.

On saturday we went for a hike with our friends the Swayzes.  It was just the mommies and the kids.  The 3 big kids walked the whole 2 mile hike, and I wore Ali on my back.  This is the first time I have used the Ergo Baby carrier that everyone loves…and let me say I get why you love it!  I wish I had bought myself one a year ago.  Ali fought it at first because she wanted to walk with the big kids, but once we stopped for a snack and I let her run around for a few minutes she was more than happy to get back in the carrier.  I seriously loved that thing.  I will definitely be buying one before we have #3.  (For the record, I’m not pregnant, just planning).

One the way home both kids were obviously tired.  Ali was asleep before we hit the highway.  Reed was a little more awake and so he asked if we could listen to Pink.  (Sorry Randy, he just loves Pink and asks for it all the time).  After a song or two he abruptly said with total seriousness in his voice, ‘Mommy.  Turn off the music. I don’t want to wake up my sister’.  Can you believe how sweet he is?  I just love how protective he is of her.  Don’t get my wrong, he isn’t perfect.  He will push her down with the best of them…but then he is fiercely protective in the next moment.

 

Julie, Randy, Travel

New York!

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**This is an overly long post.  I just needed to document our fantastic trip in all its glory**

Randy needed to attend a management training.  There was a session in New York in April.  We knew we needed a break.  So we booked it.  I wasn’t so excited about New York.  I have been there several times and really wanted to go to Chicago.  Randy won since it was his trip, and we went.  I was wrong.  It was awesome.  It was exactly the break we needed from life and kids and parenting. 

The quick timeline:

Friday night – Zac Brown Band (San Antonio) best.show.ever.  Seriously.  Awesome show, awesome musicians, awesome entertainers.  Go see them.  (It helped that our generous friends invited us to join them in their suite with food, beer and wine, and to ride in the party bus.  Double awesome.  Only way to go to a show in my book)

Saturday morning – wake up early, shower and get ready for airport.  Kiss the babies goodbye and head for the airport.  Make it to the airport and through security in about 12 minutes.  What the heck do we do for the next 90 minutes?  Oh yeah…relax!!  I could already feel the stress melting away.

Saturday evening – totally uneventful trip.  In the best kind of way.  We checked in, took a quick nap and then headed to find dinner.  Ate some Chinese food and walked around Times Square and 30 Rock for 2 hours (our hotel was half a block from Times Square)

Sunday – sleep in.  I know.  Crazy talk.  We rested and took our time getting out of bed.  Crazy.  Finally headed for Grand Central around 9:30.  Hung out and shopped and relaxed some more.  Hopped on the train to Yankee Stadium.  Hopped on the wrong train going the wrong direction.  Oops.  Guess we won’t be watching batting practice.  Made it to the stadium on time.  I do not love the Yankees.  I don’t even like the Yankees.  But man they have a gorgeous ballpark.  Wow.  (Too bad it was FREEZING!!  Should have taken a coat and not just sweaters)

Sunday evening – meet DB (little sister) and Jeff (boyfriend) for dinner.  They brought a little treat…dominoes!  We ate at an overpriced touristy Italian place…but none of us cared.  We just wanted something simple where we could hang out together.  And we did.  Dinner was fine, the company was outstanding.  After dinner we went to the pub across the street from our hotel.  And we played bones for hours.  We had THE BEST TIME EVER!  Isn’t it funny how that happens?  We were just planning to grab dinner and it turned into a super fun night (with a few more drinks than we planned on).  DB and Jeff got on the train heading for New Jersey (and his parents house) at like midnight.  It is another 90 minutes from there.  Yikes!

Monday morning – all 4 of us are moving pretty slow. DB had hoped to catch an early train and spend the day with me in the city while Randy went to training.  She didn’t show up until lunchtime.  No worries!  Just gave me more time to relax.  DB and I spent that afternoon shopping and walking and chatting.  Just a good sister date day.

Monday night – When Randy came home from training DB went to NJ and Randy and I went to dinner.  We ate at “Bar Americain”.  It is one of Bobby Flay’s restaurants, so I knew I would like the style of the food.  I was right.  I ordered fried chicken and it was amazing.  For real.  Who would ever pay $30 for fried chicken?  I guess me 🙂  After the previous night’s alcohol consumption we laid pretty low and just went home on Monday night. 

Tuesday morning – I woke up to the sound of a sound check at 4:45am.  And never went back to sleep.  So much for sleeping in!  Good Morning America had Carrie Underwood on their spring concert series.  The stage was less than a half block from our hotel.  It was raining and I was being lazy.  As Randy was leaving for the day he gave me the little nudge I needed to go down there.  It was pretty cool, I must admit.  The rain kept the crowds away and I was able to get pretty darn close to the stage.  (When we got home we watched the recording of the show.  You can actually see me several times.  Too bad I didn’t put ANY makeup on and was wearing workout clothes…so I was actually hiding from the camera).  It was pretty fun for something that just fell in my lap.

Tuesday afternoon – DB and Jeff came into the city again and this time we went down to Chelsea to the Chelsea Food Market.  This is a super cool place for foodie nerds like me (plus the Food Network offices are upstairs).  We spent some time just walking about the market and buying gifts.  My favorite part was the olive oil and vinegar tasting shop.  Holy moly there was some awesomeness in there.  My favorite was the blood orange oil with dark chocolate vinegar.  It came home with me.  Jeff was born in Brooklyn and is a good Jewish boy…so he wanted to take us to the oldest kinishery in the country.  I had no idea what a knish was or what a kinishery was, but I am totally down for traveling around and seeing non-touristy stuff, so off we went to the lower east side.  This is what a knish is:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knish.  I didn’t LOVE it, but whatever.  I’m glad we went and I’m glad to see a different part of the city.

Tuesday evening – we headed back to the hotel to grab Randy after his training ended.  Then we all headed for Brooklyn.  As you can tell by the content in this post I’m a foodie and a fat kid at heart…and Jeff had been raving about the pizza place he was going to take us for 2 days.  I couldn’t wait!  After a 70 minute train ride we were there.  And it was everything he promised.  Seriously.  Best pizza of my life.  We relaxed some more and chatted and ate delicious pizza and salad and wine and then had spumoni (again, not my favorite thing, but this place was famous for it).  After another long train ride back to the city we said goodbye to DB and Jeff and hit the sack.  We had to wake up at 4:30 for our return flight the next morning.  Yikes!

Wednesday – this was another uneventful trip home…except in Baltimore.  We were sitting at the gate for our next flight to SA when I realized this wasn’t the right flight.  This flight had like 4 stops before San Antonio…and we landed in like 3 hours.  I frantically pulled Randy out of the boarding line and we literally ran through the airport to the right gate.  We ran up and the Southwest lady said the whole flight had already boarded and was ready to leave.  Holy Crap!!  I knew there was no way we were sitting together and apologize profusely…but somehow when we got on the plane there were 2 seats next to each other in the third row.  Thanks for that one God 😉

We got home and took a quick nap before we picked up the kids.  This last part was my favorite part of the entire trip…we opened the door to Randy’s parents’ house…and Reed lunged into my arms.  He full body hugged me and didn’t let go for several minutes.  This is huge coming from my non-hugging boy.  Ali looked at us and when Randy picked her up she couldn’t stop giggling.  She just giggled and giggled and giggled some more.  Then we switched kids and they both did the same thing again.  Wow.  I wish I had it on video because it truly was the highlight of the whole trip for me.  Love those sweet kids so much (but I REALLY loved our extended date!)

Alison

15 Month Update

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I feel like I haven’t actually written a blog post in ages…and I haven’t.  We have had such a busy life the last 3 months.

Alison has hit the big 15 months and boy has her personality blossomed.  She is such a sassy little girl.  It’s hard to put into words the differences between my two kids because they are both such huge personalities and so spirited, but in completely different ways.

We have already talked about how much Ali loves to play in the dirt, which is hilarious and awesome.  But she is also a shoe horse who always chooses her blue sparkly tennis shoes when given the chance.  I have a feeling she will be my little tom boy playing in the dirt, while wearing her best sparkly shoes and tutu.  I let her choose her Easter dress and she chose the super frilly pink and purple one.  All day she kept playing with the skirt and looking at it.  I have no idea what to do with a girly girl who loves sparkles and dresses, but I can probably relate to the part of her that loves to play with her brother and get dirty.

Alison is also in the copycat phase.  She copies everything she is capable of copying…but her favorite subject to copy is Reed.  At dinner time Reed makes sure we stop and say prayers.  As soon as he reminds us to pray she holds her hand toward him.  (Melt my heart)

Reed

Happy Birthday Reed!

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Reed Matthew you are 3 years old today.  I think every year on March 3rd I will start thinking about the day/night you were born.  I will remember the excitement and sheer terror I felt when the doctor told me to go next door and check in to the hospital.  As we were going to sleep last night Randy and I were reminiscing about your birth and that night.  Since you decided I needed a c-section none of your siblings will ever have the birth story you have. 

As for you.  You are quite a fireball.  You dad says that it seems like you have skipped right over being 3 and have gone right to 4 and it is true.  I’m not one to overly brag about you…but you really are smart.  Your teachers have always bragged to us about how intelligent you are and I will take their word for it because they know toddlers much better than I do.  Your vocabulary and sentence structure is incredible.  You also have an incredible memory.  Sometimes you will start recalling a memory out of the blue.  Not only does it crack me up, but it impresses me the things you file away and choose to remember.

I was kind of sad when we took you to the rodeo this year because as we were packing things up I realized the only special thing you need is a car seat.  You don’t need diapers, or sippy-cups, or snacks, or toys, or even a stroller.  All you need is a car seat.  I love this independence but it is a little sad. 

You are also becoming so much more affectionate.  You are in a huge mommy phase (which is probably related to how attached Alison is to me).  You get jealous if she is in my lap reading a book or playing with a toy.  You will immediately grab a book and shove your way into my lap too.  It is sort of inconvenient, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t completely love it.  Speaking of your sister you are so sweet with her.  At time you rip toys out of her hand and we are still working on that, but for the most part you take it as your personal mission to ‘keep Ali safe’.  There are times that you will pick something off the floor and bring it to me.  When you hand it to me you say, ‘this is not a good toy for Ali.  Reed keep her safe’.  I just love how thoughtful you are and how much you love her.

You are totally into “Stoy Story” right now and ask to watch it every.single.day.  Literally.  That is not an exaggeration.  You also love horses and love talking about cowboys.  (However we tried to buy you cowboy boots like 3 times and you won’t even touch them).  Your other favorite past time these days is ‘working on stuff’.  You have a Jeep in the garage.  You refuse to drive it.  Instead, you get in daddy’s toolbox and get ‘tools’.  Then you turn your Aggie hat backwards and tell me you are ‘working on your jeep’.  You get down on the ground and reach under the jeep and mess with everything you can find.  It is truly hilarious.  Maybe I need to find a few projects around the house for you to help Daddy with…

You still take a nap EVERY day.  You are the best sleeper and I just wish Ali was a little more like you in that way.  You love your bed and your room and you usually go to bed without a fight.

You are 100% potty trained and have been for a long time.  Now you use the big potty and can go all by yourself.

Your best friend is Caleb, but you ask about Kate ALL THE TIME!  Randomly when we are driving down the road you will declare that we are ‘going to Kate’s house’.  Cracks me up every time.  I always tell you “soon Reed, soon.”

Your favorite books are the Moon book that Caleb gave you on your first birthday and your bible.  I have been reading the bible this year and mine is literally always with me.  I think that has helped you to want to read your bible every night too. 

It’s hilarious because you know the stories so well that you finish my sentences when I read it to you.  If I try to skip a page you yell at me to go back.  You also have a pattern that you follow when we read the bible.  When I turn a page you put your finger over my mouth and say ‘stop talking mommy’.  Then you point out all the animals etc on the page that you always point out.  (and on the Adam and Eve page you call the giraffe a zebra and then laugh hysterically like its the funniest joke).  Then once you are done with your part you put your hands on my face and say ‘start reading mommy’.  This ritual is one of my favorite parts of my day.  Then you ask me to sing the moon song and twinkle, twinkle.  On a good day we also sing 2 rounds of Jesus Loves Me.  Never one round, always two.

Ah Reed Matthew I think I could write funny stories about you forever.  I wish I could remember every funny thing that happens, but we sure do enjoy them when they do.  I love you sweet boy!