A trip to Galveston

Okay so I know this blog update is a little old, but since I have such cute photos of our trip, I wanted to post a short entry. On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, we took Elena to the beach. This was her second trip to the beach, but she was only about one and half when she first went. She had a grand time playing in the sand. We need to take her back soon. Here are the photos.

The First Dip in 2009!

Houston sure has warmed up quickly this year. It is so warm that the swimming pool is actually at a comfortable temperature already. I remember that it took a little longer last year to be warm enough to swim. So a couple of weekends we opened up the pool for business. Elena is really enjoying the pool much more now that she is a little older. Here is a photo of her taking her first dip of the year. Cute isn't she :-)

Welcome to the Family!

Okay so we know we have enough pets, but ever since losing our beloved Java, Millie and I have been waiting for the opportunity to find the right dog to join our family. Millie has been so depressed ever since Java passed and it really hurt me to see her so sad. I needed time before I could welcome a new dog into our home. At first I was thinking that I might want a large breed dog, but last week at Landon's birthday party, a surprise happened. One of Matt's co-workers was at the party and his wife overheard me talking to Annie about possibly wanting a new dog. She said that she had two dogs that they were taking care of and were wanting to find new homes. She said they had a Jack Russell and a Chihuahua. My ears perked up at hearing Jack Russell and I said sure I would love to meet her, but I was not expecting much cause I really have to take to a dog before I can take it home. So later on in the day they brought her by and well, it was love as soon as she looked deep into my eyes with her deep brown eyes. They reminded me so much of my sweet Java. From the moment I saw her though I knew she was not a full-blooded Jack Russell because her ears were different. The more I look at her I think she is all Toy Fox Terrier or a Toy Fox Terrier/Jack Russell mix. I was not too caught in her breed though and she was so very sweet. So we decided to take her home. She did great on the four hour ride home and now she is officially part of the family. I cannot believe that the family she was rescued from abused and starved her and then they were going to shoot her. Thankfully Matt's co-worker was able to rescue her and then just happen upon us. Here are a couple of photos. They really do not do her justice, but I will post more when I get some better ones. Oh and Millie is getting along great with her and she is so much happier now that she has a doggie companion in the house!

Easter Photos

I know it has been a couple of weeks since Easter, but I am just now getting around to uploading all my photos. The past two weeks have been jam-packed busy with work. We had a wonderful Easter. We went to East Texas to spend some time with family up there. Elena loved her Easter Egg hunt and she could barely wait to hunt them down. What is funny is the week before Easter she practiced finding eggs. She would have Sam hide them in the house. What is really priceless is that after Nana and Annie hid the eggs, she went out the house and started calling "Eggs....where are you?" Yes kids say the darndest things.

On Sunday we managed to make it back to Houston in time to spend some time with the Cardenas and Solomon family. Elena loved seeing her cousin Victoria. The girls had fun hunting eggs in the house. It was too wet and yucky outside that the girls did inside hunting. Victoria was definitely the egg hunt champion. Elena was too busy stopping and eating the candy out of the eggs that she did not look for new ones. Victoria did a great job. Overall it was a wonderful Easter because we were able to spend it with family. Here are a few of the cutest photos.

New tile floor!

It has been a long week of home improvements. We have been wanting to get rid of the carpet in our house for some time now. We started with the floor in the living room and kitchen/dining area. We choose a really pretty colored tile that looks great. The whole week the house has been a wreck, but it is back in shape and looks great. Here are a few pics of how it turned out.

A trip to the Houston Rodeo and Zoo!

Spring has definitely arrived in Houston. While I am never anxious for warm weather to arrive again, I am excited about some of these beautiful days we have been having around here. A little over a week ago Sam and I took a couple of days off work just to have some fun days with Elena. We took her to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and she had a grand time. All she could talk about for days was seeing the animals (or aminals as Elena would say it) and riding the pony and the pink elephant ride. She was such a brave little girl trying new things while we were there. Here is a photo of her taking a pony ride, she loved it!

This past weekend Laura and I took her to the zoo. Saturday was the premiere of the new red panda at the zoo. It was a really cold day when we arrived, but once it warmed up we had a really good time. As always she loved the petting zoo and seeing all the animals. Here are a couple of cute photos from the trip.

Three Days Till Spring

Spring officially begins on Friday, March 20. It seems like it has already been Spring in Houston for a few weeks now. I really missed not having a very cold Winter but at least it did snow for one day, that was a lot of fun and definitely not expected.

All is well on this side. Sam and I are staying busy with work and trying to figure out what renovations we want to do to the house. We are still waiting on contractors to get to work on our roof and other Ike-related damage. Hopefully they get started on that soon. We are also looking for new flooring since we both hate carpet and carpet is very hard to keep clean when you have 6 cats and a dog.

In addition to work and home duties, we are still working on our diets. I am happy to announce that Sam has lost a total of 30 pounds as of today! I am so proud of him. My weight has plateaued a little so I am trying to stick to the plan until I start losing again. I am sure it will happen, it just can be a little frustrating when you are trying hard and you do not see the scale move. I am working hard on being positive though.

We are taking the next couple of days off work to spend time with Elena and just enjoy a brief break. Work for both of us is a little slow this week since several people are out for Spring Break. We plan to take Elena to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo tomorrow so she can see all the animals, by far her very favorite activity.

Speaking of Spring, last week Elena and Victoria helped to plant some grass at my parents house. They had a ton of fun, mostly watering the grass. Well in point of fact, they had the most fun watering each other. Here a few cute pictures that Angie took.

Back to the Blog!

Our family has been really busy lately so I am sorry for not posting any updates as of late. On January 29th I started a new journey in weight loss by having Lap Band surgery. It was a hard decision to make, but it was a step that I had to take in order to get my weight down. After having Elena I was able to lose all my gained pregnancy weight, however within her first year I gained it all back and then some. I stated having problems controlling my blood sugar and my blood pressure started to rise. I have struggled with weight issues all my life and I have never been able to successfully keep off any weight I lost in past attempts. I had to have the surgery for Elena's sake. She is only two and I want to be more active with her and more importantly be around for her for many years to come.

Adjusting to life after Lap Band has not been too hard. The first week after surgery was miserable and I was questioning why I ever did it, but now that the pain is gone I am happy that I took that step for my health. I am still learning what I can and cannot eat as well as how much I can eat. Since the start of 2009 I have lost 38 pounds and counting! It is slow progress now, about 1-2 pounds a week from here on out, but as long as I can keep up that pace I will be happy.

Sam has been wonderful in supporting me in this journey. In fact, he has been dieting and doing a wonderful job at losing some weight. He is now down 24 pounds since the start of 2009. His help and motivation have been so important in this process.

Elena is doing great lately. I was home with her for three weeks after surgery and I loved having so much time with my little girl. It was so hard to get back to work. But she is happy to be back with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, and Victoria during the work day. She still loves the Wonder Pets and she is slowly starting to warm up to other shows like Word World and Martha Speaks. Below is a great sleepy photo of her in her Wonder Pets pajamas!

I hope all is well with everyone and I will work on posting more regularly as well as getting some more photos up. Wishing you all the best till next time!

Happy New Year All!

I cannot believe that 2009 is upon us already, but here it is. 2008 was a great year for us though and I am thankful for our many blessings.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, celebrating both in Houston and Hallsville. The best part of the celebration was being with family and watching Elena open all her gifts and be so happy to play with all her new toys. She is truly our joy and we would not be a complete family without her. Here are a couple of Christmas photos.

We were able to take 12 days off from work for the Christmas holiday and it was great to have time to relax and just be a family. We made a short trip up to San Antonio to go to the McNay Art Museum to see a Nightmare Before Christmas Exhibit. It was a lot of fun and was Elena's first trip up there. We need to go back before it heats up again cause we want to take her to SeaWorld and the San Antonio Zoo. Then we returned to Houston on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year at my parents house. It was a good gathering and amazingly Elena made it to midnight and stayed awake the whole ride home. Here is a photo of her with the party supplies!