Blessings

When I attended their wedding almost two years ago I thought to myself  "This couple is blessed!"  So many friends and family, so much love and happiness.  From the start you could tell that Deepali and Nihar were meant for one another.  They are true best friends who can easily laugh with each other and have in such a short time built a strong and beautiful life and home together.  Well today at 11 this morning they were blessed with the ultimate gift that a couple in love can receive, a beautiful and healthy baby boy named Kartik.  We are so excited for them and especially excited for little Kartik who will  grow up with such wonderful smart and loving parents.  They have an abundance of love to provide this child as do all of those many friends and family members that witnessed in person and in spirit the uniting of these amazing people only a couple of years ago.  Kartik, your arrival is long anticipated!  Welcome to the World little guy!  We look forward to watching you grow up in the many years to come!

PS- Isnt that the most gorgeous Mehndi?  See if you can find Nihar's name in the design.  So cool!

Glimpse of Soul

My friend Eliza has been hard at work cultivating her natural talent as a photographer.  Yesterday I was honored to have her photograph Cami in one of her portfolio shoots.  As usual Cami started off a little shy but Eliza had her chatting and acting like her REAL self in no time!  Cami had so much fun walking and talking with Miss Eliza about everything from Kindergarten to Cooper's birthday.  She ate up the attention AND the GIANT lollipop Eliza had for her.  On the ride home she said "I had so much fun I think my head will explode!"...In the language of 5 year olds Im pretty sure that translates to a good time.  Thank you Eliza!  

Check out Eliza's blogsite to see more of her beautiful work!  

http://www.glimpseofsoulphoto.com/blog/

And Off He Goes!

Today was Aidan's first day of school! He was so excited this morning, putting on his back pack and riding to school. When we pulled in the parking lot he about jumped out of his skin giggling and clapping. He hopped out of the car and grabbed Cami's hand as he walked from the parking lot to the sidewalk. The first person he saw was Mrs. Pace standing in the carpool lane. He had seen her the night before in the ice cream section at HEB so he recognized her right away. He turned around and waved at her and said "I goin to school Pace!" then off he marched holding Cami's hand. When he walked in Miss. Jenny and Miss. Gauri were at the front desk. They said "Good morning Aidan" and he said "I go to big boy school!" and off he marched down the hall to his classroom. Then the skip in his step came to a screeching halt as he stood in front of the classroom door. Miss Linda came out and said "Good morning!"...Aidan hid behind my leg. After trying to gently coax him into the room I finally gave up and picked him up and carried him in. Once inside he seemed to calm down...seems that crossing the threshhold was a huge source of anxiety but the classroom itself he found to be quite friendly and inviting. So I put him down... and he let go. He let go and took the teachers hand and off he went to new adventures all his own. He took a seat at a table nearby and chose a puzzle. I watched as my little boy sat in his chair smiling and ready for school. Two little girls came and sat down next to him and he never looked back.

When I went to pick him up he was sitting in the line ready to walk outside to the carpool. He looked a little sad and when I asked if he was ready to go he stuck his bottom lip out and said "NO!" I was a little upset but then he said "Lunch!" The kids that were staying for a longer day were having lunch at the tables and Aidan was afraid he was missing out. I reminded him that I had lunch waiting for him in his Spider Man lunch box and that seemed to do the trick. He happily said goodbye to Miss Linda and Miss Sophia.

The teacher said that he had a great day playing with friends, playing in the sand box, doing puzzles and playing legos. She said that he was well behaved and followed directions. Aidan reports that he ate bananas, played with friends and that he "Loves Miss. Linda and Miss. Sophia." He had a great day and I feel much better knowing that he is at a school where he is happy for the three and a half hours that we are apart.

My Girl

Dinosaurs, snails and pink puppy dog tails...thats what my little girl is made of!  Cami is not your typical girly girl.  Sure she loves to play with babies and barbies but she definitely holds her own as a T-Rex on the playground.  She loves covering herself in faux jewels and sporting more than her fair share of lipgloss, but I always joke that she's the girl carrying the pink fuzzy purse stuffed with rocks, plastic bugs and a couple of Lip Smackers.  

Late this afternoon, she and I took a walk around the lake.  We attended church earlier in the day and low and behold she wore that dress all day long.  It was so much fun to see her spin and twirl and release the girly girl within, but true to form she was barefoot in the dirt all the while.  I love that she is so strong willed and sure of herself and at the same time can be soft, sweet, caring and kind...she really is the best of all things that I wish for her.  I hope that she will always carry herself with grace and confidence and know that she can hold her own under any circumstance.  I admire that she is true to herself and unafraid to be a little different.  Although I will admit that her willfulness and stubborn streak can be trying at times, I hope that with time these facets of her personality can be fine tuned to serve her well in life and help her to achieve all that she dreams of achieving.  

Our Very Own Gold Medal Moments

My baby boy has been "swimming" for a while now.  He loves the water and is quite the little fish.  He gets super excited when he sees the swim bag come out and he gets to go and pick a "swimmin soup" out of his drawer...he knows its time to swim with Mr.Rudy.  Its so funny to watch him walk into Swim Club with such big boy purpose and ready himself for major feats of toddler athleticism.  Some days he does so well that I can almost flash forward and see how these 30 minute sessions of row-rows, water glides and ring dives will someday transform this little 3 foot person into and tall broad shouldered water athlete...or not.  Whatever the case may be and wherever his talents, natural or acquired, may lead he will always be my little super star.  And for now a chocolate Dum Dum after a hard day at the pool is as coveted as a gold medal.

How Far We've Come

As I was putting Cami's piercing earrings away I came across these old photo booth pictures in the bottom of a jewelry box.  Ian and I took these in a photo booth at Astroworld in the summer of 1990...18 years ago!  As completely "in love" as I was then...as much as a 15 year old girl can be in love...I never in a million years could have imagined the flash forward to today.  We have grown up together, built a life together and will grow old together and through it all have remained each others best friend.  I know that we are rare among love stories and I sometimes envy those that lived a hundred lives before settling down with that one special someone. However, I count myself as one of the lucky ones that didn't have to kiss all those frogs to find her prince.  It is so wonderfully exciting to share past memories and milestone moments with my husband because he shares the same memories and moments from his own perspective...its as though we have the blessing of remembering our past in a multidimensional high definition crispness...where he fills in the blanks for me and I for him to create this detailed tapestry of life that we have woven together.  So even though the photos may fade as these have our memories are as vivid as the day they were made.

The Crib

So I really think that the crib is to the nursery what the wedding gown is to the wedding...it completely sets the tone!  For Aislyn we were originally going to go with white delicate frilly furniture...but then we saw this crib and just fell in love.  We've decided on Espresso colored furniture and pink and chocolate bedding (yet to arrive, but coming soon).  All three of the kids have very different furniture going on!  Cami had the light wood girly crib with lots of curves, scrolls and swirls, Aidan's crib was heavy and dark with clean elegant lines.  Aislyn's crib is somewhere in between...clean lined but curvey,  strong but still feminine.  Now that its here, and sitting in an otherwise empty room,  Im so ready to get the rest of it going!  The next big decision is paint- it needs to be pink but not too pink!  My friend Carol's daughter has the perfect shade...I think she said it was Sherwin Williams Satin Slipper at 75%...but I need to get her to write that down to be sure!  Oh and we are still on the prowl for dressers and book cases...I often find that traditional nursery furniture is too small and I really want something that will last, be solid and a good size...so the hunt continues...

She's Perfect!

So heres the update!  Everything looks GREAT!!!  The placenta has moved away from my cervix and my c-section scar.  It is of course still anterior but very near the top and out of harms way YAY!  Aislyn is looking good too.  She is measuring about 1 lb and is right on target growth wise.  She was all stretched out today (head up and feet down) pushing and kicking throughout our ultrasound exam.  She is VERY active and despite the anterior placenta I can feel every kick and flip.  The kids are both so excited.  Cami has been talking about all of the things she will show and teach Aislyn and Aidan just likes to hug my belly and say that Aislyn is sleeping or "playing with toys in mommy's tummy".  

Ian picked up the crib today...a beautiful little piece of furniture made by Baby Appleseed.  Im so excited about the nursery and will post pictures of its progress over the next few weeks as furniture and bedding slowly arrives.  Stay Tuned!!!

Enjoying a Cold One!

Just about 60 miles west of us lies a little patch of Heaven where sweet dreams are made by the half gallon 5 days a week at The Little Creamery in Brenham.  We took a short ride out to Blue Bell today to see where and how the magic happens and it was glorious!  The tour started with a short movie about Blue Bell's beginnings followed by a walking tour of the factory.  We saw where the fresh cream is stored and then mixed with other yummy ingredients to create the wide array of flavors that BB has to offer.  Some are produced year round, such as #1 seller Homemade Vanilla.  Others are produced quarterly, like this summer's hit Southern Blackberry Cobbler.  Only about six flavors are produced on the line daily, as well as ice cream sandwiches and other frozen novelties.  Just past the storage and mixing tanks lie a maze of pipes that deliver the ice cream to the famous half gallon buckets that spin and fill about 50 half gallons per minute, all hand inspected and packaged.  Then on the conveyor belt and out tho the refrigerated trucks they go to be delivered to your favorite store.

Ah well thats all fine and great...we learned a little something today!  The best part, however was the end of the tour where we were ushered into a little ice cream cubby to enjoy some of the freshest Blue Bell Ice Cream to ever swim across my taste buds!  Aidan went "classic" opting for Dutch Chocolate, Cami and I went "neo classic" with Cookies and Cream and Ian went wild with Carmel Turtle Fudge.  MMMMM...today was definitely one to add to our little treasure box of everyday moments to remember.