On the way to Nana's...

Nolan cracked me up twice on the way to Nana's house this morning! He and Hudson are obsessed with getting to choose the song we listen to. They fight over what it will be from the second we get in the car until we arrive at our destination!! This morning Nolan wanted me to change it to Jason Aldean's Big Green Tractor and I was driving in heavy traffic and calling my mom to let her know that we were on our way. I told him to hold on for just a second that I couldn't look at the iPod while I was driving and on the phone. He smugly replied under his breath "Well, if you were an octopus you could." How am I supposed to respond to that?!?!
Then about five minutes later (after the tractor song ended and I changed it to Hud's pick of Beat It) we passed a field of goats. They were excited to see the goats. (along with the three windmills and two tractors that we see and talk about EVERYDAY) Anyways, we got stuck behind a big truck and we were watching the goats when one of them jumps up on the back of another goat and goes at it. (by IT, you know what I mean) Nolan giggles and yells out "Momma look, they are playing piggy back rides!" I could have died - it was so funny. I love that my little boy is so big yet still so little.

Urgent - Stellan Needs Prayers!

Please pray for sweet baby Stellan. He is not doing well and is on day three of major heart issues. To read the full details you can click on the button "Praying for Stellan" on the left side of my blog. Thanks!

Game Night

Saturday night we did a game night at our house. It was a last minute thing that turned out to be a lot of people. I just mentioned to Scott that we should invite some peeps over to play Partini (Can you tell I am obsessed with this game right now?) and so I sent out a few texts and everyone showed up! It ended up being a great night. We threw all the kids into Nolan and Hudson's room and bribed Tanner to keep them occupied. Ava and Addi came over first and we let them play in the sprinkler in the backyard for a little while. I made up some dips and the game night was big hit. The adults were able to squeeze in two games of Partini before the kiddos started to meltdown and were beyond ready for bed. I think we should have game night once a month!

Girls Night In

Friday night we had a "girls night in" over at Kimmie's. David took the kiddos to his parents and we just hung out, played a little PARTINI, drank and had a great time. It was pretty funny how the conversations were SO adult. Who knew that we would have a fun night of sitting around talking about credit scores, the cost of health care and concerns of motherhood? Too funny! It was a nice night to hang with my girlies!

The New and Improved Guitar Room...

Still needs window treatments and a few pictures over the couches but it turned out great. It was just what Scott wanted for his 30th b-day, a room with no fluff!

Tough Guy

Nolan asked Scott to put on a tattoo tonight in the funniest place - this was just a little too adult for me. Made me laugh because then he didn't wanna wear his pajama top, like the airplane pj bottoms are okay, but he draws the line at the shirt.




Notice how he is starting to fill out a little. Not just that skinny little kid anymore. We had to go see Dr. Fikkert today because he has swimmers ear and when they weighed him he was 50 pounds!! That just seems huge to me, how could my little baby be 50 pounds now? He was 47 at his 5 year check 6 weeks ago...guess he need to lay off the John Deere fruit snacks!

Quick Post

Hudson walked into the kitchen saying "Here Mommy! I found it!" over and over. I took what he was trying to hand me and then realized it was a booger. Thanks Hud.

The Throw-Up Blow Up!

No pictures with this post! If you have a weak stomach you probably just want to skip this one! :)

I am sure that I have mentioned how the boys have SERIOUS gag reflexes. I have been meaning to post about this subject for a while but just never stopped to write about it. Nolan has been a gagger since he was a little baby. Scott would gag when he would change Nolan's diapers and I guess Nolan caught on and it made him sick too. What baby gags over their own poopy diapers?? Hudson is the same way and has a super strong gag reflex too. Nolan's are typically over gross sights and usually he just gags but rarely actually throws up. Hudson's are usually over strong smells and he always pukes. It is really really weird but just part of daily life around our house! Hudson also seems to choke and throw up on his food about once a week. It happens so often that Nolan refuses to sit by Hud at the table. If and when it happens it of course puts Nolan into a gagging fit as well. All of our friends and family have witnessed their gagging and throw-up and some point. Like I said it's pretty common for us. I thought I would share a few of the most recent puke stories so I that I wont forget them!

A few months ago MiMi took the boys to McDonald's for breakfast. She let them play on the playground for a while and then told them it was time to go. Hud was not ready to go and threw a serious fit - so much so that once she dragged him out and had him buckled in the car he screamed until he threw up. Joni tried to clean him up but of course Nolan then freaked out and started to puke. She said that he really did try not too and just stuck his head out the window but just couldn't help it. She had to just jump in the car and drive them home - there was no way for her to clean them up. She said it had both of them sick the whole way home. Once they were home she had to strip them down, throw them in the bathtub and the clean her car which was awful!! Nolan later was looking over his temporary tattoo on his arm and said to MiMi "Well at least it didn't get on my tattoo." She said she could have choked him. He later referred to the incident as "the throw-up blow up" which was hilarious because it was so true! :)

Most everyone witnessed Nolan gagging at their birthday party when Hudson had icing all over his face. We had to pull Nolan away from the table, get him some water and make him take deep breaths to avoid actual puke. Good Lord! Also I might add that one of Nolan's first full sentences at about 18 months was "Poopy diaper makes me gag!" We have it on video.

Hudson has also puked on two different occasions when entering the pet store - once with me and once with MiMi. And many, many times when he is mad and throwing a fit. Again, we have no idea what causes him to be like this!

The last puke story is from this past Saturday. After rolling in from the New Kids concert at 4:30 I certainly did not take a shower. I just got into bed and conked out! Scott got up with the boys so that I could keep sleeping. About 8:30 Hud came into our room and wanted up on the bed and kept saying "Mommy snuggle". How could I resist? I pulled him up and he instantly smelled me and said "Mommy, what's that smell?" while curling up his nose. At first I thought it was my smokey hair from the bar but after I continued to talk in his face he gagged and threw up a whole sippy cup of milk on me and all over the bed I realized it was my breath. How sad is that??? My killer morning breath caused him to vomit all over me. Nice way to wake up, it all happened in a matter of about 30 seconds I was still half a sleep. I had to jump up strip the sheets and get in the shower. Sick. I am not sure what's funnier - the fact that Hud puked or that it was caused by my breath. Uggh! All in a day at the Mays' household!

New Kids on the Block Concert!

As I mentioned yesterday, I ended up getting to go to the New Kids concert on Friday night since Scott wanted to play softball. It was a super exciting! I LOVED the New Kids when I was a kid. Joey was my first true love. I just knew I was going to marry him. I think it's just something special that everyone can relate too - everyone has one of those bands. They were the songs that you fell in love with, daydreamed over and listen too with your friends. I did it again as a teenager with the Beatles. (Now of course technically that was way after the Beatles craze but it was still that way for me - just 30 years later!) New Kids were a right of passage for all girls who were in the 5th grade in 1990. I remember thinking I was SO old and mentioning to my mom at least once a day that I was a "preteen". Sitting on my clear unisonic phone from Spencer's, listening to my NKOTB tapes and reading my Bop magazines - that is what 5th and 6th grade were all about! Once you have that kind of connection with music, you always have a place for it in your heart. I still love them! I like the new album that they released last summer and of course all the old stuff. Scott doesn't want any part of them but he respects and understands the obsession. Ha ha! Since I bought my ticket a week before the concert I wasn't sitting with anyone I knew because they had all bought them months ago. Luckily I was able to sneak over to where Christi, Tannie and Ashley were sitting so that I wasn't alone. My high school girls were their too but they had lawn tickets so I never saw them. Christi did but I was too scared to leave their section and not be able to get back in so I just stayed put and let them handle the beer runs! :) The concert was great - they played old and new stuff. We even caught a beach ball and of course had to buy t-shirts! Ashley's cousin works at the Ghost Bar and the New Kids were having a post-party there so we were able to go and get in for free! It was so great, we were only about 15 feet from them. I was instantly transformed into a preteen again. Joe is still smokin hot. We shut down the bar and then had a late night Whataburger run. I was the DD (only had a few beers all night!) so I dropped the girls back off in Mansfield and finally made it home about 4:30. I haven't stayed out that late in years. It was a great night!!

Scott's 30th Birthday

It was finally Scott's turn to turn 30! I have been waiting for this day for a few months now so he can quit referring to his 20's! Ha ha! His actual birthday was Friday. He had a softball game on Friday night that he didn't wanna miss since he missed last weekend. The New Kids had a concert on Friday night which I had not planned to attend but once he decided that he was gonna play he said I should go. So we met for lunch but spent the evening apart which was weird but worked out. Nolan and I made him a cake on Thursday night and did birthday on Friday morning before work. I love the picture below of Nolan and Scott. Seriously, isn't Scott such a hottie? I really do think that he is sexier each year, maybe he will age like George Clooney - um, lucky me!! Anyways, back to post... I met up with him and some of his co-workers for lunch. He played his game (they lost - boo!) and then took the boys to McDonalds and Mike came over that night. Saturday we cleaned house, shopped and prepared for the big party! We had a "good old" house party and had a ton of fun. I played bartender for a while and Scott jammed it out in his newly decorated guitar room. (For his birthday present he wanted to spruce up the extra bedroom and make it a full on music room. It turned out great! We painted the walls grey and bought couches and accessories from Ikea.) We stayed up way too late and just hung out with friends. I think he had a great time! I wish I had taken more pictures but i posted the few that I did take. On Sunday he ended his birthday weekend with dinner at his parents house. I even got a great picture of the five generations on his mom's side of the family. It was a great weekend. I love this age - raising our family, enjoying our friends and just living life to the fullest. I love you Scotty. You are an amazing father, you are funny and thoughtful, my soul mate and truly my very best friend. I bought a sign and hung it over our bedroom door that says "Grow old with me - the best is yet to be!" because it is exactly how I feel. The past twelve years have been wonderful, more than anything I could have guessed. I am blessed everyday because of Scott and the life we have built together. Happy Birthday Honey!

More from our vacation...

Okay so it's no secret, I take a ton of pictures. I wanted to post the a few more of my favorites from our trip last week before I move on to all the fun that's happened since we've been home. We went to Dinosaur Valley to see the tracks. Now I must say that I was expecting much more than what we actually saw. I was thinking there would be other activities or something but it's literally just a state park where you walk down to the dry riverbed and look at them. Nolan was a little disappointed too because he really wanted to dig for bones. We shopped on the square and had ice cream at a cute little soda shop. We also had to stop and take a picture with this little van that was seriously the size of a golf cart. It was a real van that I am guessing was from the early 70's. The boys that is was awesome and SO wanted to drive it! At night after the boys were in bed we would play games and have a few drinks. I bought this game Partini and we played it a bunch - it was hilarious! I have very deadly video of Conner doing a strip tease for Scott. But since I am such a good sister-in-law I am not gonna post it! :) The last day we took the boys to the lake swim beach. It was really nice and a perfect way to end the trip. It was really pretty sand and was really better than Galveston (minus the actual ocean and the 6 hour drive to the gulf beach). I plan to take the boys out there again before summer's over - even if we just pack a lunch and go out there for the day. I love Granbury. Scott and I both say that we want to retire out there. I love it most because it is such a part of my childhood and I have so many good memories with my family. I hope that the boys have the same types of memories too!

The Windmill Farm

One of the little places that we went to see on vacation was the Windmill Farm in Tolar. It was the highlight of the trip for the boys. They love windmills. I don't know why but both of them have loved them, pointed them out and talked about them since they were about 18 months old. So funny! Sometimes we have to drive certain ways to places just to see a windmill if they know that we are close by it. This place had a bunch of restored antique windmills. Some of them were even low enough for the boys to touch and spin, which they thought was amazing. Nolan wanted me to take the picture of the gears so that he could study it later - too funny!

Four Dogs + Two Kids = Lots of Work on Vacation!

We took all of our dogs down to the lake with us. Daisy and my mom's dog Benny (aka Benny, Benny, Boo Boo) rode down with me and the boys on Friday day. Shams and Kitty came down with Conner Friday night. It was a funny mix of dogs - that's for sure! All of us have big dogs but with very different personalities. Daisy is of course by far the oldest and most well behaved of the bunch. She had her wild days many years ago and is over running away, jumping on children, begging for food, even barking unless it is something REALLY worth it. Benny is a Wheaten Terror (oops I meant terrier of course) who is a precious little ball of energy! Becca and I just keep telling her that he will be a good dog when he gets past the puppy stage - he is a year old today! I think it takes until they are about two years old for a dog to calm down. Shams is a four year old Chocolate Lab. He was pretty good except for the occasional growl at the other dogs and it was hard to keep him out of the lake! Kitty is Weimereiner (sp?) and is two years old - she is a good girl but likes to run off. Notice all the dogs had to be on leashes when outside except for Daisy? I point out how good she was only because that gives me hope for the boys in the future - she was wild the first few years and turned out to be the best dog ever. Think that the boys will outgrow the "puppy stage"?