He's coming home!

We just received word today - my brother will be flown off his air craft carrier on October 1! After all the necessary travel, he should be stateside October 2 and then will have a couple weeks on base (paperwork I think). And then, THEN, his Naval enlistment is officially OVER!

In late October, Kev is coming to Texas for a long weekend. We're going to celebrate with a Houston Texans game! A "homecoming game" if you will. We are all SO excited!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

We spent the past weekend in Houston to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday and my Dad's 60th birthday. These landmark birthdays were extra special because Carly, my sister-in-law visited from California for them. Cade and I hadn't seen her since last January and Ross hadn't seen her since she and Kevin got married in May 2013.

Saturday we arrived in town and had a family dinner at my parents' house. After dinner Melissa joined us, only fitting since she is basically family. She just received a promotion at work so we had a bottle of bubbly to celebrate that too.

On Sunday we spent the morning playing and then after nap headed to the big 90th birthday party at my aunt and uncle's house. I think we had 12 adults and 3 kiddos so a pretty good crowd. Of the folks who could not join, the Alabama crew visits next weekend and hopefully Kevin will have a trip to Houston sometime after his deployment. Not sure when Alan makes it back to town but he's pretty good about visiting so I'm sure Grandma will see him soon.

For much of the weekend Cade practiced singing "Happy Birthday Great Grandma" which ended up sounding a lot more like "Happy Birthday Great Mama" and frankly, that is even cuter. In addition to singing at her party, he stood in his chair at the dinner table, in just his shorts, and showed everyone his muscles. "Grrr I big boy Cade" he said while flexing. As Robin said "I didn't know Grandma's party included a gun show." Ha!

Did I take any pictures? No. But thankfully my cousin Megan got this great one of the birthday Grandma looking her birthday best. Happy birthday Grandma!

Ele-pants Ea'ing

Sheesh! It's been weeks! We've been busy busy bees. Most notably Cade and I spent two nights in Houston and had QT with my parents, my grandma and Brenda. I also got QT with Melissa while he was hanging out with Grandma and "Pa-pa."

Afternoon playtime with Pa-pa and Great Grandma

 On our Houston trip he really showed off his every expanding vocabulary. He started calling my dad "Pa-pa" and throughout the drive there would tell me "Pa-pa 'ouse" yes, little boy, we were going to Grandpa's house. Very good! Once we arrived he also said "TV" for the first time (that I heard anyways) so that was new.

It was a quick trip, Thursday night to Saturday afternoon. It worked out really well though. We got to see everyone we wanted to visit and had a solid amount of weekend time at home, especially since Monday was a holiday for me.

On our way out of Houston Saturday we went to the zoo with my mom. He was very excited about the elephants and kept pointing and saying "ele'pant." As the post title implies, he saw them eating. For days afterward he would tell anyone who would listen "ooo ele'pant ea'ing" as in "At the zoo, the elephants were eating."

Ele-pants Ea'ing

Telling narratives and answering questions with more complex responses than "yes" and "no" is new this month and so so so so much fun. We love it!

Just monkey-ing around at the Zoo on Valentine's Day

Our Houston weekend kicked off 2 months of very very very busy times for our family. Tomorrow I'm working at my company's customer conference, Thursday Ross has his promotional ceremony and in just a couple short weeks the Cade-man turns two. I also have some exceptionally big projects going on at work in March including a conference in 2 weeks and a business trip to Dallas at the end of the month. We're selling our old house (had an offer today but ultimately turned it down for a long list of complicated reasons) and starting a health kick in March too. Because you know, a strict exercise and workout routine during major work craziness and a home sell is totally a good idea.

Then April hits with Easter, Ross' birthday, the end of my work craziness and finally, blessedly, four nights in Mexico. Some time in all that we'll also file our taxes, add steps to the back porch addition, get my eyes examined, take Cade to his 2 year pediatrician's appointment, meeting sweet baby Carys (Jon & Erin's soon-to-arrive-bundle) and a host of mundane every day things like shower and eat. Needless to say, by the time we board that flight to Cancun and hop down the coast to Tulum, we are going to be highly in need of some R&R.

And some cocktails.

A Most Special Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We took a one-night trip to Seabrook to see the Lowe family. It was a quick trip but we had one mission in mind: to bring together all four great grandbabies with their Great Grandma for a holiday dinner.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

All 5 kiddos, their "Lowe" parent and Great Grandma

Woohoo! We had 23 people spanning for generations at our crazy Thanksgiving dinner. Ages 9 months to 89 years. It was an extra special holiday for sure.

Our Thanksgiving adventure we realized upon arriving, was also our first family vacation together. Since Cade was born he and I have taken trips but Ross' schedule hasn't worked for him to join before. This was the first time we all (Lexi included) headed out of town together.

So from our little traveling family to yours - Happy Thanksgiving!

A coastal holiday for the Black family

Houston Baby

Last weekend Cade and I went to Houston to visit my family. He had QT with so many people! On Friday my Dad took over the role as Chief Baby Entertainer while I worked at the kitchen counter.



On Saturday my Mom and I took him Target shopping and then we spent a hour or so at Grandma's house and met Uncle Larry, Aunt Sandy, Megan and Rhoda.



After lunch Mom and I took his new shark stroller for a whirl and then his Auntie Melissa visited.





Cade spent dinner time and the evening with his grandparents while Melissa and I had an impromptu Girls' Night Out in Seabrook (burgers at Tookie's, baby grocery shopping at Kroger and wine at the waterfront Chelsea Wine Bar).



Good weekend!

Not Too Bad, Especially for a Monday

Yesterday was pretty good, especially for a Monday.

The daytime was normal - work, chores, playdate with Ms. Erin & Rowan. But in the evening we had Frito pie for dinner, a baby dance party, baby napping and Monday Night Football.

MNF was made even better by Tuesday morning when we saw that the Texans pulled it off. (Nobody in our house was able to stay up late enough to watch it live. Silly west coast games..)

Mama's Little Texan

He grabbed a hold of this pacifier like it was the last one on the planet. And while he was enjoying it to pieces, he sat on my lap, in his little froggie PJs and we read two books from Great Grandma.

A perfect baby bedtime with my little Texan.

Onesie Wars Begin

Two hours with Nana and my kid is cheering for the other team.



We'll see about that Nana. Cade is a native Texan, with Houston roots. None of this Chicago bologna. This is exactly the kinda stuff that stresses working moms out - that they'll come home to a brainwashed baby.

GO TEXANS!

Over the Hills and Through the Woods

Over the hills and through the woods to grandmother's (and grandfather's) house we go!

Friday I loaded Cade up into the car and we took our first road trip. He was a very good road-tripper but nonetheless, it was a bit more of an adventure than I anticipated. What is normally a 3.5 hour drive took us no less than six hours. We had to stop in Brenham to feed and do a diaper change. Make that two diaper changes since mid-feeding seemed to be the best time to do his dirty business. Then we hit traffic in Houston - parking lot like conditions on 610 - and I just knew we wouldn't make it all the way home before the next feeding was necessary. And a hungry baby Cade equals angry screaming which I just wasn't feeling to keen on. So since we were only a few exit's from Mom's office, we stopped in there, showed off a baby, changed a diaper (just once this time) and enjoyed a bottle. THEN we got on the road and ended up at our final destination. Six hours later.

Our visit was pretty good. Cade was a bit fussier than usual but in retrospect I think that was from over stimulation with all the visitors. Once it was just us, Mom and Dad, he was much calmer. Granted Mom and Dad didn't think he was that fussy, just normal new baby fussy. Maybe this means I have it really good and I don't know it?

The drive home was much quicker - a mere four hours! I think this can be attributed to

1. Having an extra set of hands to get ready. Mom fed him a bottle while I loaded the car and got myself ready. This meant that from feeding time to leaving time was 15 minutes shorter.
2. Cade got an extra big bottle before we left so he could go a little longer between feedings.
3. Sunday driving meant no traffic.
4. We only went through one diaper at our stop and he ate like a champ. Our stop was only 35 minutes instead of 45 minutes like on the way down.

Enjoy the pics of the wee baby Cade, Grandma Caro, Grandpa and Great Grandma!

It's a (Baby) Jungle Out There

On Saturday the loveliest ladies in all of Houston hosted a baby shower for me and Baby Cade. Like my bridal shower a few years ago, this was hosted at Brenda and Bryanna's house and with Mom's help.

They did AWESOME! Bryanna set up a "photo-booth" with a backdrop and animal ears for all of us to wear. I love that now when some of my favorite people call, it's a picture of them in animal ears that shows up on my phone.

The snacks were tasty and pretty. Especially the mini-cupcakes Mom found with fondant bottles and onsies on them. Oh and the fluffy, cream-cheesey fruit dip Brenda and Bryanna made. YUM.

We of course played shower games - because really what is a shower without some games. Mom even found personalized game cards which I just loved!

My cousin Robin was uncannily good at these games, especially the pop-culture ones. I'm convinced she doesn't actually practice law but spends full days watching ET and reading TMZ. That's the only thing that explains it.

We also played the "guest how big mommy's belly is" game. Melissa came out on top for that one. Twenty years of BFF-ness and she can guess my fatness like a champ.

Finally there were of course awesome baby presents. We especially stocked up on clothes, notably including pants which I had been a little distressed about my kid not having up until that point. (I know it will be warm when he's born and Texas and he probably won't need pants that often but I feel that having the option to wear pants is important. And now he has that option.) We also received some very practical things like a UV shade for the car, Pedialyte, diapers, blankets and from Mom and Dad, our stroller.

We're very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family and I was so happy to see so many from the Houston side of the house (including Mandi and even Zach who served as her chauffeur and was a very happy surprise to see for a few minutes).

Thanks y'all for hostessing such a wonderful, jungle-fabulous baby shower for us!

Merry Christmases!

Merry Christmases!

It's Christmas evening and me and my little family are back home unwinding from a full long weekend of Christmases. They were all lovely!

On Saturday we had Ross' family Christmas at my in-laws' house. Ross had already received all his big gifts (laptop from me, recliner from his folks) but he still managed to get a pair of underwear or two. Me and our new house scored big time with a Dyson from Nancy and Jack. Now I (and whoever I can bribe to help) can clean this big house in no time!

Cade's very special Gramma sweater

The most special, super awesome gift of all, bar none, though was a baby sweater for Cade that Gramma knitted before she passed away two years ago. She knitted one in blue and another in pink because as a grandmother, she knew to be ready for anything when it comes to babies. Neither of us knew such a treasure existed and we feel very lucky to have it for our little bundle of bouncing baby boy.

Then yesterday on Christmas Eve we loaded up the car and drove to Houston for my family Christmas, complete with little brother Kevin and his fiance Carly! It was Carly's first adventure to Texas and Kevin's first trip home since relocating to San Diego last year. It was a full and crazy house with 6 adults (and of course, one being prego) and 4 dogs but it was really nice to have us all under one roof.

Breaking from Lowe family tradition a smidge we had a big Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. As it turns out, that may have allowed more people to come so a win in general.

Then today Kevin and Carly caught a jetliner back to Cali; Mike, Brenda and Bryanna stopped by for some holiday cheer and about mid-afternoon the Blacks of Round Rock loaded the car back up, with presents received instead of presents to give, and headed home.

On said drive home I received the most fabulous of text messages - a picture of a big sparkly diamond ring on the left ring finger of one of my dearest friends! I don't think she's quite told everyone yet so I won't reveal her identity here (yet) but if you are 1 of the 10 people who read this, there is also a pretty good chance you were 1 of the 7 people on that big beautiful group text message. Oh how I love an Engagemas :)

Now we're in for a relaxing night of bubble baths (Ross), Christmas movies (me) and leftover pizza (everyone).

From our little-but-growing family to yours - Merry Christmas y'all!

Lexi's Life Is So Rough

After a day of playing with her puppy cousin Sweetie, eating people food snacks from my dad, eye-spying ducks, Lexi was just plum tuckered.

As her puppy expression clearly says "Oh my life is so rough. I can't find where to put my head while I sleep in the car and sit on your suitcase (even though there is tons of empty backseat available) so the back of your seat will have to do."

Better Luck Next Year

Well the Texans loss to the Ravens was a bit of a heartbreaker. Between Jacoby Jones making a laughing stock of the special teams and TJ Yates throwing not one, not two but three interceptions...sigh. Our defense played great; if only the offense could have matched it.

However Mom & I decided there is a small consolation prize in losing today: we don't have to travel to New England to be demolished. I've seen the Pats play and I had no dreams of the Texans beating them, especially outside, in January in New England. So it would have just been one more game to risk injuries and possibly end the season with an unnecessarily disheartening massacre.

So on our first year ever in the play-offs, winning one and going out with a (frustrating game but) respectable score ain't so bad. Until next year Texans...

Latest Addiction

In high school I read Friday Night Lights and it quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. (Summary: small town loves high school football and goes to the extreme to support it [Interesting note, our friend Stacy grew up out there in West Texas. He and even more so his older brother, were high school students at that school during the time the book takes place.]) I was stoked in college when they made a movie of it but was sorely disappointed when I saw it. Such gratuitous teenage sex, drinking, drugs, etc and they totally changed the ending, I mean as dramatic as making the Titanic not sink. I was so disappointed in fact that when they made a TV series, I didn't even bother. I figured it was the same characters from the movie in a "what happens next" sequel style series.

Fast forward many moons to this holiday season. Our new BluRay player is smart and thus we can stream in Netflix. Totally awesome. The Friday Night Lights TV series was filmed here in Austin so locally it's discussed often and many people I know, with varying entertainment interests, have raved about the series. Rave reviews, filmed in my (new) hometown and now free on-demand via Netflix. What the hell. I'll give it a shot.

Well that was three days and 12 episodes ago.

First, the TV series is not an extension of the movie. It's just loosely based around the same familiar story of a small Texas town infatuated with its high school football team and the holy grail of winning state.

Second, the characters are so loveable. The coach with his guidance counselor wife and their daughter who is so over football. The unlucky start QB who suffers a major injury. Then the self-conscious second string QB forced to step up as an underclassmen and who develops a crush on the coach's daughter. It's wonderfully cheesey, dramatic and wholesome.

And finally, the oh-so-familiar scenes. It's like looking into my life at times. In some ways, literally: the game scenes were filmed about a mile from the house at Pflugerville High, which I just confirmed via Wikipedia but which I ran across the house to tell Ross when I recognized the district office building in the back of one game scene. (This makes living in a town with such an absurd name a little better. The realtor should have told us this back in 2009; I would have felt a lot cooler moving to P-ville if she had.) I also recognized the shopping center across from our house with the ridiculous ice cream sundae shaped building. You can't fake that kind of ridiculousness folks. And according to Wikipedia, there's one future episode filmed in Boston, including a segment at BU.

But beyond the neighborhood scenery, the plot has some crazy familiarity. Like the scene where the football players dress in drag as cheerleaders for a pep rally. Oh Friday Night Lights, that was so CLHS circa every year 1999-2003. Or the CheerAmerica Classic which I'm pretty sure I competed at and won my division in back in sophomore year of high school. And while we thankfully didn't have any injuries as severe as the starting QB in this series does, my sophomore homecoming date, starting QB Michael, did break his femur one week before the dance.

So basically take my new home, plus my high school years and add in a little more drama and scandal and you've got Friday Night Lights. It's no wonder I'm addicted. The only thing standing between me and all five seasons is the inability of our internet to stream both Netflix video and Ross' new online computer game addiction.

Christmas Part 3

Christmas morning I loaded the car with presents and cake balls, made the mandatory stop at Starbucks, doubled back to the house for my flat iron and then hit the road to Houston!

I arrived at about 11:30a which gave me plenty of time to change into my holiday clothes (complete with new jewelry from the hubs) and help Mom and Dad with a little set-up (though they really had it covered). It also gave us time to open the Christmas box from Kevin which he instructed us to open early. When I saw our gifts I knew just why - crystal drinkware engraved with "World's Best Sister" and Mom and Dad respectively. FANTASTIC. We drank from those all day.

We had 13 people at the Lowe Family Christmas this year and it must have been the year of the prime rib because that was a part of the menu just like at Nancy's.

I hung out with family, got the latest scoop from everyone and ate lots of good food. For our gift exchange this year, we traded photos, mostly old, which sparked a lot of fun conversations about different family stories. My Uncle Larry also brought an old home video of my third birthday party which was HILARIOUS. My favorite three parts in that video were...

• 5 year old Robin jumping out of the sandbox, running to her mom and yelling "A dime! I found a dime!" Ah, if only life were that simple today.
• Uncles pushing/throwing the cousins down the slip-and-slide. We got way more slide and did way less work.
• Mom, 8 months pregnant with Kevin and wearing her 1980s pregnant lady swimsuit, eating a piece of cake and telling the camera "getting fatter with every bite." Awesome.

After the whole clan left it was just three. We FaceTimed Ross in for some present opening, specifically when I opened the brand spankin' new Blu-Ray player from Mom and Dad and when they opened the Houston Symphony tickets we gifted them with. Other present highlights include many new pairs of shoes for me, some of our fav movies on Blu-Ray from Kev and one of my favs, Dad got Mom a book of bed-and-breakfasts from which she gets to pick their 2012 vacation. The book even came with a voucher for one night free at any B&B listed. So cool!

For a final Christmas highlight, here's a video of Lexi playing with the new puppy blankie Kevin and his girlfriend, Carley, sent her. We're not sure if she thinks its a chew toy or a blanket but either way, she loves it.

Texans!

You probably already know but just in case...

The Texans are going to the play-offs!

I'm not one to blog on current events too much but ladies and gentlemen, this is not just a current event. This is a Black family milestone. The Houston Texans are the only team in all of sports that Ross and I agree one. The only team we can both sit down and cheer for. Texans games in our home are an event.

Yesterday we whipped up some homemade mushroom cheeseburgers, fries, guacamole and margaritas (tell me that doesn't say Texas all over it) and settled in for a nice winter's football game.

We cheered, we cursed, we jumped up and down, we scared the bejeezus outta Lexi and then with a comfortable two seconds to spare, WE WON.

Houston Texans, AFC South Champions. Has a nice ring to it huh?

Thankful XXX

Friends.

I've been blessed by having some of the best friends a girl could ever wish for. There's the Deltas, my old high school friends, new-ish Austin friends and the occasional plus one from different spots along the way. Between us there's babies, spouses, new chapters in life, a slew of career choices and different adventures every day. I love not only having the support and goodwill of my friends, but being a part of whatever chapter they are experiencing.

I couldn't be happier to call them all my friends. So thank you friends, for being you.

Smattering of fun friend photos


 

Thankful XXIII

My big, happy family.

Part of me felt like I should save this one until tomorrow when I get to see all of them but ya know what - I'm excited about it today. Tomorrow morning Ross and I will throw Lexi into the car and hit SH 290 east to Houston. We'll be Thanksgiving dinner bound. There will be fifteen Lowe family members there to greet us, fight over green bean casserole with and squeeze in next to at the dinner table(s). And if I know us, there will be almost as many dogs in the yard as people in the house.

Lowe Family Thanksgiving, 2007

Having always had big boisterous family holidays, they are the only way for me. Growing up there were eight grandkids within ten years of each other - that's a lot of toys, coloring books and Popsicles. Recently we upgraded to nine grandkids which means we're back to having a kiddo at holidays. (Hurray! Holidays really are all about kids after all.)

I love smooshing everyone into the same house, dressing up card tables with fancy tablecloths, having a smorgasbord of over-sized family-famous dishes and seeing which uncle gets relegated to the Kids' Table this year (my bet is on Larry). The ever-consistent menu, football in the background and declaration of "whoever eats the fastest gets the mostest" is what I look forward to every year.

Right now my designated contribution of "a chocolate something" is baking in the oven and I'm starting to feel pretty darn Thanksgiving-y. I can't wait to see my parents, Grandma, aunts, uncles and cousins all squeezed around the table tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

A few days post-Christmas and I finally have a second to share our holiday with you.

Christmas Eve we slept in late and were lazy around the house. Then out of seemingly nowhere, a tsunami arrived in Pflugerville. We were going to wait until later in the afternoon to head down to Westlake but when Ross checked the radar it appeared that this tsunami would be hanging around for a while so we decided to head out before roads flooded. (Since it hasn't rained here in months, the ground was too dry to actually soak up the rain hence a little bigger chance of minor flooding.) We spent the afternoon and evening in Westlake with Ross' side of the family and enjoyed opening many many gifts. If there's one thing the Turner/Black clan can do, it's buy gifts!

Nancy and Jack got Ross a PSP among other things. I got him a new wallet and games for the PSP. He got me a new digital camera (but you knew that) and earrings to match the necklace he gave me for our anniversary.

Christmas Day  I packed up the car and myself and drove to Houston. Since Ross had to work at 7 a.m. the following morning, he stayed in Austin with Lexi to hold down the fort. I started my drive by visiting my favorite barista, Chantal. She usually works at the Starbucks at the entrance to our neighborhood but this being Christmas, she was helping cover shifts at one of the few open locations a little further into Pflugerville. I love her - she usually has my drink order ready before I can even pay - so I made a point of visiting her and giving her a small Christmas gift (wine).

I made it to Houston by 12:30 and while I wasn't the first to Mom & Dad's house, not far behind either. A quick clean up and change of clothes and I was ready to let the holiday begin! We had a good crowd - Mom, Dad, Kev, me, Mike, Brenda (though they had to cattch a flight and could only stay for a brief time), Bryanna, Uncle Larry, Aunt Sandy, Megan, Rhoda, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Fran, Uncle Bob, Isaak and of course, Grandma. I think that makes 16 in all throughout the course of the afternoon. And as we've done for the past few years, we had a themed gift exchange. This year's theme was board games so everyone brought one and then we traded. Ross and I got Farkle, which I've never played but will be trying soon.

After the big Lowe family shin-dig we had small family Christmas. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I'll be going on a shopping spree in the next couple weeks.

That about wraps up the holidays. I also saw Melissa while I was in Houston and had brunch with Grandma. I got to see Kevin off to the airport this morning, fully decked out in his dress blues. Today begins about five months of A School training (ie Navy techy training) for him in Pensacola.

All in all, a super holiday(s) and looking forward to two weeks of relaxation now.

Drive Up a Mountain

If I've ever emailed you from my personal account, then you've seen this quote in my signature:

Once you drive up a mountain, you can't back down.

Once in the past few years, I was lovingly teased about this by an old high school friend. She recognized it because its a line from our senior musical, Footloose (of course I suppose Footloose was something before it was the CLHS class of 2003 musical).

I started blogging about something else today and it made me think of that quote so instead I thought I would explain it.

Like I said, that was a line, a chorus really, from Footloose. And that year I took the hardest damn English class ever. Senior AP English with Mr. Parks. I actually got an 8 on one of his tests; I never have reconciled with The Canterbury Tales. Despite having always taken PreAP or AP English, I really considered downgrading to regular English after that less than stellar grade.

But I didn't. I don't remember why but I'm guessing it wasn't some noble, admirable reason like wanting to meet the challenge. It was probably too much paperwork or would have interfered with my off periods or something like that.

Stuck in this impossible class - the man had "Abandon hope all ye who enter" tacked above the door - I needed motivation. Large doses of motivation. When rehearsals began and the boys sang "Mama Says" with some of the most provocative dance this 17 year old had ever seen, I started paying attention and quickly learned the words, including the line "once you drive up a mountain, you can't back down."

It resonated. I had gone three years and something months of AP English, damn it. I was on the other side of the proverbial mountain top. I could not back down. Maybe it sounds a little dramatic but that piece of advice from someone's not-entirely-there-upstairs fictional mother made me determined to finish out my high school years of AP English.

(I feel it necessary to interject here that Mr. Parks turned out to be one of the best teachers I ever had, partly because he was hard as hell, and I really liked him. He had multiple masters degrees and still taught public school English. In addition to the "abandon hope all ye who enter" above the classroom door, he had notes tacked to the ceiling that said "you aren't listening" that brought you back to reality every time you spaced out. He challenged the crap outta us...until about the end of February. He knew after that would be spring break and college acceptance letters and none of us would care about anything besides prom dresses. He crammed all the work he wanted from us into August-February. And then he read Hank the Cowdog to us for the remainder of the year. God bless him.)

Now whenever I'm in something sticky I tell myself "you've gotten this far" and that it is no time to start backing down the mountain. It isn't the Dali Lama or George Washington, but for seven or eight years now it has been my inspirational quote.

I hope next time I email you and you see that fun quote you think

1. "I can do it!"
2. and tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose. Kick off your Sunday shoes...