Vacation Time in Vegas

The first week in August, Eric and I took a trip to Vegas with several of our friends. The trip was actually a surprise birthday trip for our good friend Grant's 30th bday. Im pretty sure Sommer started planning this a year ago, and way back then we said we were IN! We left on Wednesday evening, and after surprising Grant at the airport, we made it to Vegas late that evening. Im not sure he was surprised for the destination, or the fact that there was a group of us going, but the surprises just kept on coming throughout the evening. :) 

Sommer and I waiting...delayed! 

Our limo driver surprising Grant in Vegas

The crew

Thursday, Eric golfed with the guys, while all of us girls spent the day at the Mirage's beautiful pool! Later in the afternoon, I ran into Gavin's good buddy, Elmo! Then that evening we went to dinner and out with everyone. Most nights we gambled at Harrahs, and had such a blast! 

Friday we spent the day at the pool again, then Eric and I headed downtown to spend the day together. We zip-lined down Fremont Street, which was so scary but fun! Later that evening, Eric and I had a date night with dinner and a show called "La Reve" at the Wynn. It was so beautiful! 

We ziplined from here...

to HERE! 

Ready to go! 

La Reve

Overall we had a fabulous trip! We missed our babies so much, but they were in the very capable hands of their grandparents! Im sure they got more kisses and snacks than should be legal, and we are lucky to have such great caretakers of our munchkins! 

Until next time Vegas...

Crew Bear is 5 Months

Crew Baby Bear: 

Another month has flown by and I feel luckier every day to be the mom of two wonderful baby boys. Your smile is SOOOOO contagious, and more often than not, you flash your big toothless grin for anyone to see. It hypnotizing...truly hypnotizing when you lock eyes with me (or anyone for that matter). I seriously can't look away! You are such a happy baby, and make it so fun to be your mommy. You are still pretty "anti-NOISE", but we try to be loud so you get used to it. You know exactly what time is naptime, and you never fight me on it. I still swaddle you, with both arms, because when I tried to leave an arm out, you were waking up 3 and 4 times a night! This mommy needs her beauty sleep. :) We'll work on leaving an arm out this month, especially since you like to move around at night. You roll all over the place, but mostly from stomach to back. And you are so interested in Lexi and anyone or anything around you. Since we started food, you drink a lot less formula, going more like 4 hours in between each bottle. I think you would prefer to have food any day. So far, you are not a fan of my homemade food. :( You like the Gerber food way better. You like Green beans, bananas, and apples ALOT! The rest we are still working on you warming up to. We are also working on sitting up, which you do a pretty good job of...for about 15 seconds! Don't worry little one, we'll get there. Im in absolutely no hurry for you to start crawling bc I am already so overwhelmed with you two! Overwhelmed in a good way, I might add! Keep overwhelming my love, I love you more than words can express. 

At Age 5 Months, you: 

- wear size 2 (we're switching to 3) diapers

- Size 3-6 onesies still, barely

- Size 9 month carters pajamas and onesies 

- Size 9 months clothes easily

- Size 2/3 shoes. We don't wear shoes very often. 

- You sleep 7:30 to 6 or 6:30 every night

- You love to gurgle when you are on your back! Its so funny and cute! 

- You eat 5 oz bottles about every 4 hours (5 a day) and eat twice a day. 

- You take 3 naps a day, one around 9, around 1, and then around 4 or 5. 

- You watch whatever is on TV bc you love the colors and sound. Mostly we watch Lion King bc your brother is obsessed! 

I love that you already love your brother so much. He is so happy to see you all the time, and is NEVER mean to you. He always wants to give you toys, feed you, hold you, and talk to you. Its amazing how well you both interact! Love you my bear bear. :) 

All Giggles at almost 5 months!

6 Year Anniversary Surprise

Have I said this before??...I have an amazing husband. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G...I tell you. He planned our anniversary date several months ago, and has been looking forward to this day since then. But before I talk about our day, I think I need to harp on my amazing husband for just a minute...

I can't believe that 6 years ago, we stood before so many of our family and friends and GOD and decided to spend the rest of our lives together. Did you hear that? The REST of our lives!!!!! I feel so strongly about the absolute-ness of marriage that I know Eric and I will spend the rest of our lives together. I know that I love this man so much, and, if it's possible, he loves me even more. And I know that we will spend every day doing everything possible to make the other one happy. Dr Laura (yes i listen to Dr Laura) says that a good marriage comes from both parties "waking up every day asking themselves "What can I do to make my spouse happy?"".  I feel this way, and I truly feel that Eric is this person to me. He is the sole "bread-winner" of our family, and has a very stressful job. Yet he comes home every day and hardly takes a moment for himself before he jumps into full "Daddy Mode!" He immediately starts wrestling with Gavin, then snuggles with Crew, then changes the closest diaper, helps with dinner, occupies another so I can clean up dinner, and starts bathtime with Gav until I bring in Crew. We are a true team, and know how to have a great family night every night until both boys are down. Some may say we shut out the world in order to make our family work, but they're not in our shoes! We know that we have 2 BABIES, and these babies need an extreme amount of attention. And we wouldn't ever want either to feel that they didn't get special attention every day. So we go the extra mile...if that can ever make sense to you...we pride ourselves on being great parents. We live our lives around these 2 boys, but isn't that the way it's supposed to be? Both of our sets of parents have taught us this, so we know what we're doing. And I thank God every day for this amazing husband who blows me away with his thoughtfulness, selflessness, and genuine love for his family. Our anniversaries are no longer about the two of us, they are about the accomplishments of the 4 of us. They are about the values and lessons we teach these 2 boys for the next 80+ years. When I look at Gavin and Crew, I know we've been doing something right these last 6 years...

Back to our special day: 

Eric planned our anniversary date, which started after our Color Me Rad race. We got home from the race and rinsed, scrubbed, exfoliated (you name it) the paint off of us. Once we got ready, Eric made me close my eyes and walk to the car. We immediately drove to the place where our love story started...OU's campus. More importantly, the library. I can't count the hours that Eric and I spent in the library "studying." Our kind of studying mostly meant flirting while taking some quiet time to skim through a chapter...

He brought me to the place where we first fell "in love." Where we first truly acknowledged that we loved each other. It was very special to both of us! 

Next we headed to Tulsa, where we shopped and spent our afternoon at Utica Square. Then we headed to our hotel, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. We got ready and spent the evening gambling, having a wonderful dinner, and enjoying each other! 

Dinner at McGills on 19

Our little getaway was the perfect way to spend our annivesary...PERFECT! 

And I just wanna say...our little ones were in amazing hands! Grandma (Manma) took such great care of both Gav and Crew for us, and had so much fun with her! They also got to spend some quality time with their Great Aunts Sharon and Cindy. :)

Snuggling with Grandma

Watering her "Matos"

4Emery :)

I dont run, people...I mean it. Well, I used to, but that was before I had kids that I chase all over the house and wherever else I go. When I went to my dr the other day, I had to fill out a form that asked how many days a week and for how long I exercise. Im pretty sure I laughed out loud bc I wanted to list 7 days a week, for at least 12 hours a day. Just sayin...

Back to the point! 

We heard about an awesome 5k opportunity a few months ago, called "Color Me Rad." Its a run where you are sprayed with paint the whole run, and you wear white, so that you are colorful at the end! Its so much fun, and at first I was a little apprehensive about doing it, only bc I dont run. Turns out, the organization is very charitable and chose the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation as their benefiting charity. For those of you who don't know, this organizing has recently become very near and dear to my family's hearts. My little niece Emery was born in May and we found out she has CF. All that any of us can ask for in life since then is for a CURE to be found, and for a great/normal life for Emery Grace. So the apprehension of doing a run when none of us are runners immediately faded into the background. Now we were running for a cause, and to hopefully save lives. It's funny how much more it means to me now...

In honor of Baby Emery, we all made shirts with her name on them! Below is a pic of both of the teams of all our friends and family that ran together! It was such a fun way to run/walk/jog, and we were all very colorful at the end!

Ryan, Amy, me, and Eric PRE-Race

Cindy and I jogging it out!

We know we look good! 

POST RACE PICS

WE LOVE YOU EMERY

Celebrating the 4th!

We had such a great time celebrating the 4th of July this year! We had to give up all our travelling traditions this year (the lake and Florida) because it's way too stressful going pretty much ANYWHERE with these two babies! While it was hard to miss Florida and the lake, we still made it a pretty great weekend. :) Eric had lots of time off, so we went swimming several times at my Dads, as well as set off some fireworks with our friends. Happy 4th! 

My little Fischies!! Gav LOVES the water! 

Crew is a fan too

Mimi and Emmy

My happy guy

Kyler, Liam, Gav and Max

Watching the fireworks

Holding hands with his gf Kyler

Crew 4 Months and FOOOOOOD!

Crew Baby Bear - 

Is it possible for me to be MORE obsessed with you??? I dont think so! I probably kiss you 200 times a day! I also spend a good part of my day trying to get you to laugh as good as your Daddy can. He'll be glad to know he still wins! Eric and I have had so many conversations about whether 2 kids is all we will have...and more days than not, we say that our family is complete. So that means I have to cherish every second of the baby moments. My favorite part of the day is when you first wake up...you are a little snuggly, but so alert. We walk and find Daddy, and your eyes get so big and you crack the biggest smile, it seriously makes our day! You are getting to the point where you don't want to be alone at all. Gone are the days where you don't see me in your pereferral (sp?) vision. You lock eyes no matter where I am, and if Im not walking TOWARDS you, you get MAD! You love to be talked to, love to watch your brother do anything, and love to be standing. You have been rolling for a little over a month now. I believe the first day you rolled over was May 24th. Now you roll almost anytime I put you on your tummy. You love to talk to me, and sadly, are a little bit of a scaredy-cat! The slightest noise might make you jump and cry, and your bottom lip shoots out so quick I dont even have time to react before you start crying! I learned the hard way that you are no longer a fan of the hair dryer! LOL

You have now officially had your first taste of FOOD! We tried cereal for the first time, and you are definitely a fan. You try to eat your bib the majority of the time, but still manage to end up eating quite a bit. :) We had to switch to oatmeal bc Rice Cereal doesn't sit well with you. 

At age 4 months, you: 

- Wear size 2 diapers

- Wear 3-6 Gap, 6 & 9 Month carters, and 9 month pajamas. Size 2 shoes. Most of what you wear is onesies and bibs. 

- Sleep 7:30 to 6:00, eat then back to sleep til about 7:30. You have decided to wake up several times in between so I will come put your binky back in, but Im just about to let you cry it out instead! :) 

- We still swaddle both arms, but you break out most nights, so Im working towards just swaddling one arm. 

- Eat 5 oz every 3 hours still, plus 2 tbs of cereal once a day

- Love to hear yourself scream! 

- Gavin feeds you your bottle, and gives you your Bink! It so cute! 

- Takes 3-4 naps of about 30 min a day. We usually get 1 hr long nap, but no promises! Most naps happen in your bed or carrier

Here you are at your 4 month check-up on July 5th, 

Stats: 

Weight: 16lbs 4oz (60%)

Length: 25 3/4" (95%)

Head: 17" (85%)

Love you baby bear...