we have a mama.

cole has said his first word....mama.  yea!  we all thought that it was going to be dada because he has said the 'd' sound for a long time but he surprised us by crawling over to me (3 different times!) and saying mama as he did so.  i cannot believe that he is starting to talk!

on another note, he is also pulling himself up now....on everything!

the coffee table

the chair

his mother

and then there have been some not so successful attempts....

and this is just cute!

plum pickin.

In this part of the country, there is a fruit indigenous to this area called sandplums.  they are the size of cherry but lighter in color.  they make delicious jelly.  i got up at 5:30 and went out with my cousins and picked these little sandplums off of their very thorny bushes amongst bees, wasps, grasshoppers, spiders and locusts (it really wasn’t as bad as it sounds) for 4 hours.  as a result, we have 51 lbs of sandplums.  totally worth the scratches on my hands as i will enjoy yummy jelly for the next year.  i will let you know how it goes when i make the jelly (it will be my first time without my grandma by my side!)

me in all my plum-picken glory.

becoming jemima.

so yesterday i made pancake syrup from scratch.  I have wanted to try it for a while now since I heard it was really easy to make, and a lot more cost effective than buying syrup.  I like the pure maple syrup but brenner prefers aunt jemima.  so I decided to take on aunt jemima and make my own syrup.  here is the recipe that I followed:

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup water

¼ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp maple extract

mix all of the ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 

the recipe said that this would produce a nice think syrup.  our did not get nice and thick, even after letting it simmer for a little longer than it recommended.  so while the flavor was not bad, it was not thick like the aunt’s.  next time I make it I will try to add a little less water and let it boil for a minute or so before reducing the heat to see if that will thicken it a little.  but all in all, it was a success.  If you can get it to thicken up, let me know!  

doggies.

here are a couple of photos of my other sweet babies. 

scooby-doo.

jake.

haircut.

i cut brenner’s hair for the first time last night.  No more paying $13 for a haircut.  For $20, we bought a hair cutting kit.  i was a little intimidated at first.  I have only cut men’s’ hair once before (brenner’s brother) and things did not go so well (a total buzzing of the head was the result).  today, i had much better success.  what do you think?

this is us pre-cut...brenner looks excited doesn't he?

the after shot

the encounter.

chewy met a porcupine.  things did not go well.  after a pair of needle nose pliers and the first 100 spikes being pulled out of his face, we took him to the vet to get the other hundred (that were even in his mouth and on his tongue!)  these were the only shots that i could get since he was going crazy (and i felt guilty trying to get too many pics!)  he is fine. a little swollen, but fine.  

poor baby.

oklahoma.

we have arrived in oklahoma.  northwest oklahoma.  middle of nowhere oklahoma to be exact and I love it here!  this is where my grandparents and my dad grew up (I am related to ¼ of the town in some form or another!) and I spent every summer growing up out here. 

we have some houses on some of our land all together and we call it the compound (probably not the best thing to call it being from waco, a place famous for our compounds).  We will devise a better name.  anyway, we are here for a couple of weeks to work on getting our house in order, like installing appliances (goodbye hand-washing dishes and laundromat visits!) and setting up the rest of the furniture (for all those friends of ours clamoring to get up here and visit the metropolis of shattuck, ok). 

this is our house!

but like I said…I love it here!  some of my best childhood memories are from here with my family and my grandparents.  once you get use to the burrs, the millions of grasshoppers, the ticks, the 100+ degree heat, the crazy winds and the lack of internet other than at the public library (where I am right now) then the place grows on you.  i mean shattuck has a pizza hut AND a subway now….we are big time.  but the small town and a break from the craziness of our fast pace life is really nice.  so my blogs will be fewer as it is hard to get here!

photo session.

while i was in va i had the use of my dad's great camera and took a few (ok, a ton) of photos of little man.  here are some of my favorites.

boating adventure.

this weekend we took out our boat for the first time this summer.  this was cole's first time on the boat and he really enjoyed it.  i was shocked considering that he could barely move with his lifejacket on.  

he just laid there and floated in the water...i think he was so happy just to cool off!

can you see me in the reflection of his glasses?

note chewy getting cozy on the life jackets next to me

what? i'm comfy

b, cole and huntley taking a dip

  2 very successful trips out on the boat.  as fun as it was, i did get a little sad that we don't have the lake house any more and can't do this all summer long...a miss it!  ok. pity party over.  no one NEEDS a lake house, or a boat for that matter, and we are BLESSED to be able to have fun and enjoy our beautiful (albeit hot) weekend as a family.

our week in play

playing with puppy

playing with kitchen utensils (who needs fancy toys?)

playing with the redskins hog...i don't see any cowboys toys around here!

playing with self...always fun!

playing with Jesus (my mom's doll of Jesus that she uses with her children's class) cole loved Jesus!

playing in the pool 

playing in my cool new shirt...S.T.U.D.

cupcakes.

i love cupcakes.  and ever since sister got me fabulous georgetown cupcakes for my baby shower, i have been even more obsessed.  everyday on facebook (or every day that i get on) i am taunted by georgetown cupcakes by being their fan.  each day they announce their secret flavor of the day at 10 am, of which they only make 100.  and the first 100 people to their store that ask for that flavor, get it for free.  i was determined to get one of their free cupcakes one day during my trip here and this morning i went.  

today's flavor? chocolate salted caramel.  it was delish.  oh yeah, they are about to start a show tomorrow on tlc (hence the decoration on my cupcake!)

and while i was there, i of course had to order way too many cupcakes to bring home.   red velvet (which i also enjoyed today) is their most popular and so i got one for everyone here and two to take home to brenner (if they make it that far!)

and of course here is little man waiting patiently while his crazy cupcake-obsessed mother drags him around georgetown!

today was a two cupcake day....it was good.  i anticipate tomorrow being the same :)

happy anniversary.

today is our anniversary.  brenner and i have been married for 9 years.  yes, that's right...9.  i cannot believe that it has been that long!  wow was i a baby when i got married!  so in honor of our anniversary, i thought that i would recount (quickly) how we met, our engagement and our wedding day.




how we met:
it was my first real day at baylor in august of 1999 and the first day of freshman orientation known as welcome week.  brenner had been roped into helping out by a friend even though he could only be there about half the time since he was on the football team.  the leaders were telling the freshman about some of the different churches in the area and brenner thought that i raised my hand to go to the catholic church (not a lot of catholics go to baylor) and so he said, in his usual sensitive and charming way, "you catholic girl, i'll go to church with you".  so that was the first thing he said to me....needless to say it was not love at first sight.  we became friends after i began hanging out with his roommates and we started dating in november after he wooed me with lots of cherry vanilla dr. peppers from sonic.  this love story won't be made into a movie any time soon.


our engagement:
it was our 1 year anniversary since we had started dating. it was also homecoming weekend at baylor and i was not only in pigskin (baylor's singing/dancing competition for greek clubs) but i was also float chair for the homecoming parade for pi phi.  so it goes without saying that the weekend was insane.  brenner wanted to take me out for our anniversary saturday after the last pigskin performance so we went for a nice dinner.  then he said we were going to meet up with some of his fraternity brothers at damon's grill, which happens to be across from the brazos river and waco's famous suspension bridge.  while we were waiting for the guys to get there (or so i thought) brenner wanted to walk down below the suspension bridge along the river.  when we got down there, there was an alcove full of lit candles and a card.  while i was reading the card, he got on his knee and proposed.  after i said yes and cried, he told me that his frat brothers were on the suspension bridge videotaping us.  we went up and met them and then they all serenaded me with a well-rehearsed version of 'i get carried away' by george straight.  pretty sweet.


our wedding day:

just a few highlights from this day nine years ago....it was 105 degrees in dallas texas.  that is hot even by texas standards.  we temporarily could not find the marriage license.  we left two bridesmaids at the hotel...ashley and laura.  the reception sight threw out the rest of our wedding cake without asking anybody while brenner and i were being sent off.....it was the best cake i had ever had and my mom and i still discuss this with bitterness.  our first dance was to 'i get carried away' by george straight.  ashley caught her dress on fire with sparklers.  all the flowers were amazing (and we had a lot of them!)  brenner threw granny panties into the crowd instead of a garter (long story...call me if you want to hear it). i spilled wax on my hand while lighting the unity candle.  brenner and i saw each other before the wedding while alone....it was really special.  it was a great wedding and one of the best (and craziest) days of my life.   

shopping.

today i went shopping.  i hate to admit it but i truly do love to shop.  i wish that i didn't love it.....but i do.  so today was fun.  i found a small kids consignment store in reston, va and i got cole two shirts and a jacket.  all are in great shape.  i have become a consignment store shopper almost exclusively for cole.  i have found amazing deals (many with the original tags still on) and have decided that it is crazy to buy new children's clothes unless you need something really specific.  i am amazed at what i have found and what i have got for what i paid.  today's find:

a gap jacket for the fall/winter that is waterproof and two polo shirts.  total price? $8.00

while i was driving home, i discovered a vegetable stand where i bought a bunch of beets and an eggplant to roast for dinner tonight. how cute is this little place?

and then i decided to stop by my favorite store....anthropologie.  i. love. that. store.  i shouldn't have gone...way too tempting.  i walked away with two things, a pair of pants and a little sweater....not bad considering i tried on 19 things. next on my list from this little place that i love? 

   

think of all the fabulous things that i could whip up in this apron?  this would totally make me a better cook...not to mention a cuter one :).  take note husband.  

all in all, this was a good day.