So I should be sleeping right now because 4:30am comes oh so early but for whatever reason I can't. So I figured I'd blog since it's been about, oh, forever, since I've blogged.
First off, this weekend I went down to my friend Lauren's mom's house in The Woodlands (north of Houston). I had a blast and we really didn't do a whole lot. Saturday Lauren got her hair did (looks awesome!) and then we went shopping and then we went to see New Moon. Now I know that everyone and their mom loves these movies right now but I was a little hesitant. I am a book person. I have never liked the movie that is based on a book because it just doesn't do my imagination justice. Obviously no movie can match each person's vision of the story but I know some movies get pretty close. Well when Twilight came out, I avoided it like the plague. Which is strange to some people since I loved the book so much. But I didn't want to be disappointed. I didn't actually watch it until it came out on video. And I actually liked it. Sure, I definitely wouldn't have chosen Kristen Stewart to play Bella but that's just my opinion. But it wasn't too far from what I pictured. It was a really good movie. So with New Moon I became hesitant once again but Lauren really, really loved it and assured me that it was 10 times better than Twilight. So I took the plunge. I saw it and LOVED it!! It doesn't match the book perfectly but it came pretty close. I never got the longing for Edward to come back to Bella like I did when I read the book but then again the book was 547 pages so it's probably pretty hard to drag that out in a 2 1/2 hour movie. And let me just say for the record, I am neither Team Jacob nor Team Edward. I like them both. And I dislike them both at times as well. So for that, I won't choose sides :)
In other news Tristan is growing up so fast. I wish I had pictures that I have taken recently but we've been super busy to even think about taking pictures. He is holding his head up completely and trying his best to sit up on his own. We just entered a new stage and I have fondly named it "Hell". It started about a week ago. Before a week ago Tristan was sleeping 11-12 hours a night ever since he was 2 months old. Ahhhh, wonderful. A girl could and definitely did get used to that. Then, last week, he decided he didn't want to go to bed at his normal bed time. He would screech (1 level past a scream) until we came up to his room. Longest amount of screeching- 30 minutes. As soon as we go into his room he would calm down a little bit and then stop completely when we picked him up. Then he would start giggling and smiling. It is like he just figured out that life goes on when he goes to bed and he doesn't want to miss it. I hate it. Vincent and I have decided to extend his bedtime a little bit but once he goes to bed, we're not going in there again. That becomes a dangerous habit that I'm just not willing to start now.
Oh and did I mention that I started my online classes a few weeks ago?? And that online classes are loads harder than regular classes? I feel like Tristan timed his new phase a little too perfectly. Needless to say I have been exhausted during the week as I try to study and put him to bed so I can study. Yuck. Not fun.
Other than school, work and our newly formed social schedule, nothing else is going on. I am super excited because this year we are taking Tristan to Georgia for Christmas. I love going to Georgia and since most of my relatives live there and I hardly get to see them, it'll be awesome for everyone to meet Tristan!!
Oh and I just remembered my new project that I am super excited about. I thought of a great Christmas gift that I will be giving to my friends and family that is AWESOME! It's completely home made and super crafty. If I can do this and it turns out good, I will be so impressed with myself. And the best part about it is that I thought of it all by myself!! Anyone that knows me knows that I never think of artsy craft ideas by myself- I have to bum them off of other people :) But this was all me with some technical help from the Internet. I am pumped and will definitely share pics when I'm done!!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Family Ties
So recently our family has gone under some drama (really, who doesn't have drama in their family???). It's really not that big of a deal but it did get me thinking of the importance the role of family takes in a person's life.
The idea of family seems easy enough. You're born and there you have it, family. Voila. A lot of people think that's all there is to it. All you do is live and they're always there and they never seem to go away. Nope. That's not all there is to it. Family is practice for marriage. And then marriage is practice for having your own family. And the cycle continues on and on. If you're married and reading this then you know it takes work. A lot of work. It's not easy. So why would family not be the same? Why do you think that you would be a member and not have to do any work? You have to build on those relationships the same as you build on your marriage. You have to make time to build these relationships. You have to make an effort to remember the stupid stuff that you don't want to remember about each person. You have to make an effort to drive whatever distance is needed to meet up with your family to chat, even though it seems pointless and dumb. You have to make an effort to answer their phone calls even though you know they're going to drone on and on about subjects that you'd rather not hear about. You have to make an effort to deal with family gossip because you know it will always exist because family has nothing better to do. You do these things because you're family and you're stuck with each other but you also do these things because you love them.
Some families don't have the value of family at all because they never knew it. They lived not as a family but as individuals stuck together under 1 roof so they don't know what a good family is. No one in these families talks to each other about anything except to say "Pass the potatoes". Everyone in these families says obligatory things to each other as they pass through life but as they grow older the "family" connection becomes more and more faint. There is no reason to talk to each other about the important things in life let alone stay in touch. They have no desire to carry on this tradition of family and with good reason. But that's what other relationships and friendships are for. To learn about other people and learn from each other. We're supposed to try and make things better.
There are also some individuals that want to change their own families, and more than likely, with good reason. So instead of trying to work things out with their own family, they create what they see as the ideal type of family but with perfect strangers. The only thing is, these people are not their family. They won't accept everything that is wrong with them and love them nonetheless. So these individuals go through relationships/friendships like some of us go through milk. They can't seem to understand why they can't find that "perfect" friend/relationship either. Most of the time, and I definitely don't mean all the time, their own families are the ones that need the focus. If these people focused the same amount of energy on their own family as they did trying to turn perfect strangers into their family, they'd have amazing family relationships.
Here's the thing, like relationships, family is only as good as you make it. If you put absolutely no effort into building your family relationships, then you will have a crappy family. If you invest tons of time and effort towards your family, you will have a loving support system in return. But there is one thing you can't do- invest nothing in your family but expect a loving support system in return. Your family will always love you unconditionally but they may not always be there for you when you need them because you weren't there for them when they needed you. And why would you expect differently? If you don't like your family ties (pun intended) then change the amount you invest in it. The more you invest the more you get for your return.
The thing is the family unit was created for a reason. I'm not going to argue the various religious reasons the family unit is around because it doesn't matter. The idea of family has been around for quite some time. So obviously we're supposed to have some sort of connection with family. We're supposed to learn something from it. And we're definitely supposed to try and coexist even when it seems impossible. I look at family like a puzzle. Different families create different pictures when complete. Each piece of each family puzzle is different and you may not like the individual piece each person is whether it be: the Snob, the Quiet One, the Different One, the Funny One, the Instigator or the Outsider one. Whatever the piece is it completes the picture that makes your family.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no matter what piece you end up being, you accept who you are. After that, you make yourself clear on what your piece is because the rest of the family may not know it. So instead of quitting the picture to try and find another picture, you should work on the your own family puzzle and figure out which part of the picture you fit best in. You might just be in the wrong part of the puzzle and not actually the wrong puzzle.
The idea of family seems easy enough. You're born and there you have it, family. Voila. A lot of people think that's all there is to it. All you do is live and they're always there and they never seem to go away. Nope. That's not all there is to it. Family is practice for marriage. And then marriage is practice for having your own family. And the cycle continues on and on. If you're married and reading this then you know it takes work. A lot of work. It's not easy. So why would family not be the same? Why do you think that you would be a member and not have to do any work? You have to build on those relationships the same as you build on your marriage. You have to make time to build these relationships. You have to make an effort to remember the stupid stuff that you don't want to remember about each person. You have to make an effort to drive whatever distance is needed to meet up with your family to chat, even though it seems pointless and dumb. You have to make an effort to answer their phone calls even though you know they're going to drone on and on about subjects that you'd rather not hear about. You have to make an effort to deal with family gossip because you know it will always exist because family has nothing better to do. You do these things because you're family and you're stuck with each other but you also do these things because you love them.
Some families don't have the value of family at all because they never knew it. They lived not as a family but as individuals stuck together under 1 roof so they don't know what a good family is. No one in these families talks to each other about anything except to say "Pass the potatoes". Everyone in these families says obligatory things to each other as they pass through life but as they grow older the "family" connection becomes more and more faint. There is no reason to talk to each other about the important things in life let alone stay in touch. They have no desire to carry on this tradition of family and with good reason. But that's what other relationships and friendships are for. To learn about other people and learn from each other. We're supposed to try and make things better.
There are also some individuals that want to change their own families, and more than likely, with good reason. So instead of trying to work things out with their own family, they create what they see as the ideal type of family but with perfect strangers. The only thing is, these people are not their family. They won't accept everything that is wrong with them and love them nonetheless. So these individuals go through relationships/friendships like some of us go through milk. They can't seem to understand why they can't find that "perfect" friend/relationship either. Most of the time, and I definitely don't mean all the time, their own families are the ones that need the focus. If these people focused the same amount of energy on their own family as they did trying to turn perfect strangers into their family, they'd have amazing family relationships.
Here's the thing, like relationships, family is only as good as you make it. If you put absolutely no effort into building your family relationships, then you will have a crappy family. If you invest tons of time and effort towards your family, you will have a loving support system in return. But there is one thing you can't do- invest nothing in your family but expect a loving support system in return. Your family will always love you unconditionally but they may not always be there for you when you need them because you weren't there for them when they needed you. And why would you expect differently? If you don't like your family ties (pun intended) then change the amount you invest in it. The more you invest the more you get for your return.
The thing is the family unit was created for a reason. I'm not going to argue the various religious reasons the family unit is around because it doesn't matter. The idea of family has been around for quite some time. So obviously we're supposed to have some sort of connection with family. We're supposed to learn something from it. And we're definitely supposed to try and coexist even when it seems impossible. I look at family like a puzzle. Different families create different pictures when complete. Each piece of each family puzzle is different and you may not like the individual piece each person is whether it be: the Snob, the Quiet One, the Different One, the Funny One, the Instigator or the Outsider one. Whatever the piece is it completes the picture that makes your family.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no matter what piece you end up being, you accept who you are. After that, you make yourself clear on what your piece is because the rest of the family may not know it. So instead of quitting the picture to try and find another picture, you should work on the your own family puzzle and figure out which part of the picture you fit best in. You might just be in the wrong part of the puzzle and not actually the wrong puzzle.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Just in case you're not on Facebook......
Here's our family portraits and pictures of Tristan. Thanks again to Heather Lingafelter who did an AMAZING job :)
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Date Night!!
So on Saturday Vincent and I went to the Gary Allan concert. It was awesome!! First Justin Moore played, then The Eli Young Band, Stoney Larue, then Gary Allen. It was a great line up. Although Gary did seem a little drunk. He was dragging his microphone stand around with him all over the stage awkwardly and at one point pointed to someone on the side of the stage who brought him a huge bottle of Jack Daniels. Then he took a swig for about 10 seconds. I mean, he was good but he seemed just a tad off.
We got there super early because our tickets said 4pm and we thought that the bands started at 4pm. Nope. The gates opened at 4pm, concert at 6pm. So we had a lot of time to kill. We did this by taking lots of pictures. There’s a lot of them of us- sorry :)
I got a pedicure right before the concert......yep I was that bored :)
The only picture I got of the stage.....the Eli Young band
The white trash couple near us that decided to try and get as close as possible to having sex while dancing. Everyone was taking pictures of them.
We got there super early because our tickets said 4pm and we thought that the bands started at 4pm. Nope. The gates opened at 4pm, concert at 6pm. So we had a lot of time to kill. We did this by taking lots of pictures. There’s a lot of them of us- sorry :)
I got a pedicure right before the concert......yep I was that bored :)
The only picture I got of the stage.....the Eli Young band
The white trash couple near us that decided to try and get as close as possible to having sex while dancing. Everyone was taking pictures of them.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Statistics and other updates....
I have so much to say because so much has gone on. I really have never been this busy in my life. And when I'm not busy, I'm asleep. In my bed. At 7:00 PM. Yeah, we're totally cool.
First, Tristan. A few weeks ago- lucky for me- right before we got our family portraits taken, Tristan started being REALLY fussy. We called the doctor and he said Tristan was probably teething. Well, we got all the medicine we could to help but it still didn't seem to help. During feeding, his favorite time, he would scream in between 2-3 gulps of food. I mean, the poor guy was crying ALL the time. I really thoughtTristan was becoming a bad baby. Well, this last week Tristan had his 4 month appointment. Yeah, the doctor and I talked about everything Tristan has been going through and then he said- "Oh yeah, that's acid reflux". So he gave us this really expensive prescription that's supposed to last us all of 2 weeks to make it go away and guess what??? It worked!! I have a happy baby again!! No more crying and no more fussiness!! We should be good to go on the rest of the pictures, Heather. I'm just sorry that we didn't figure this out before family portraits :(
Also at the doctor, he told us Tristan's weight, height, and head circumference (<--don't care). Well, Tristan weighs 15 pounds now. But the height is most important. He is almost 27 inches!! He is 90% percentile!! As the doctor said... "That's going to be a tall boy". His weight and head-- average. I'm just impressed because I'm absolutely certain that my mom and dad never experienced this kind of news for themselves :) Never heard of a tall Irish :)
I just want to say how much I enjoy new clothes. We moved to a brand new, built just for us, office building for work. Well, since we moved there, our dress code changed. We used to be able to wear jeans whenever we didn't have guests in the building. Not anymore. We have to dress up every day. I don't have a problem with this if I have options. Well Vincent told me I could go shopping because we got the check from Pulte Homes for our ridiculously high energy bill a few months back so that money became my "get new clothes" money. Of course, I don't actually enjoy the process of shopping and that's why I take along my friends :) Lauren helped me this time and I enjoyed every minute of that!! And I am also enjoying a whole new wardrobe of clothes!! YAY!!
Also, I am trying to be a good wife again. I say this because my wife duties slacked tremendously during my pregnancy. And by tremendously, I mean they were non-existent. I stopped cleaning, cooking, laundry---basically I just sucked the life out of the TV. I wasn't embarrassed by my behavior during my pregnancy. I mean, I was making life, right?? But I have become extremely embarrassed after the pregnancy. I mean, it's pretty sad. I do take care of the baby a lot but when Tristan goes to bed, I sit comfortably (and kinda obese-like) on the couch and watch Vincent do everything. Well I decided to snap out of it starting this last Sunday. I did 7 loads of laundry but instead of just taking the laundry out of the machine and setting it on the couch for Vincent to do, I actually folded everything and put it all away. And then I have made dinner each night, starting with my favorite- Sesame Chicken Salad- yummy!! And I have kept the kitchen clean and made up the bed every morning. I'm kinda glad that I snapped out of it because now that I'm back, it's actually not bad. I just can't let myself get that bad again :)
And lastly, my parents came over Saturday and picked Tristan up and took him to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens- giving me a much needed and deserved break! My dad is obsessed with his tripod so they were taking all sorts of pictures of themselves. They're pretty funny. My favorite is Tristan with his sunglasses on. He LOVES them!! He got pooped out from taking so many pictures, I guess, because he came home exhausted. Then, he slept 11 1/2 hours that night!! Yeah, that's right- 11 1/2!!
First, Tristan. A few weeks ago- lucky for me- right before we got our family portraits taken, Tristan started being REALLY fussy. We called the doctor and he said Tristan was probably teething. Well, we got all the medicine we could to help but it still didn't seem to help. During feeding, his favorite time, he would scream in between 2-3 gulps of food. I mean, the poor guy was crying ALL the time. I really thoughtTristan was becoming a bad baby. Well, this last week Tristan had his 4 month appointment. Yeah, the doctor and I talked about everything Tristan has been going through and then he said- "Oh yeah, that's acid reflux". So he gave us this really expensive prescription that's supposed to last us all of 2 weeks to make it go away and guess what??? It worked!! I have a happy baby again!! No more crying and no more fussiness!! We should be good to go on the rest of the pictures, Heather. I'm just sorry that we didn't figure this out before family portraits :(
Also at the doctor, he told us Tristan's weight, height, and head circumference (<--don't care). Well, Tristan weighs 15 pounds now. But the height is most important. He is almost 27 inches!! He is 90% percentile!! As the doctor said... "That's going to be a tall boy". His weight and head-- average. I'm just impressed because I'm absolutely certain that my mom and dad never experienced this kind of news for themselves :) Never heard of a tall Irish :)
I just want to say how much I enjoy new clothes. We moved to a brand new, built just for us, office building for work. Well, since we moved there, our dress code changed. We used to be able to wear jeans whenever we didn't have guests in the building. Not anymore. We have to dress up every day. I don't have a problem with this if I have options. Well Vincent told me I could go shopping because we got the check from Pulte Homes for our ridiculously high energy bill a few months back so that money became my "get new clothes" money. Of course, I don't actually enjoy the process of shopping and that's why I take along my friends :) Lauren helped me this time and I enjoyed every minute of that!! And I am also enjoying a whole new wardrobe of clothes!! YAY!!
Also, I am trying to be a good wife again. I say this because my wife duties slacked tremendously during my pregnancy. And by tremendously, I mean they were non-existent. I stopped cleaning, cooking, laundry---basically I just sucked the life out of the TV. I wasn't embarrassed by my behavior during my pregnancy. I mean, I was making life, right?? But I have become extremely embarrassed after the pregnancy. I mean, it's pretty sad. I do take care of the baby a lot but when Tristan goes to bed, I sit comfortably (and kinda obese-like) on the couch and watch Vincent do everything. Well I decided to snap out of it starting this last Sunday. I did 7 loads of laundry but instead of just taking the laundry out of the machine and setting it on the couch for Vincent to do, I actually folded everything and put it all away. And then I have made dinner each night, starting with my favorite- Sesame Chicken Salad- yummy!! And I have kept the kitchen clean and made up the bed every morning. I'm kinda glad that I snapped out of it because now that I'm back, it's actually not bad. I just can't let myself get that bad again :)
And lastly, my parents came over Saturday and picked Tristan up and took him to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens- giving me a much needed and deserved break! My dad is obsessed with his tripod so they were taking all sorts of pictures of themselves. They're pretty funny. My favorite is Tristan with his sunglasses on. He LOVES them!! He got pooped out from taking so many pictures, I guess, because he came home exhausted. Then, he slept 11 1/2 hours that night!! Yeah, that's right- 11 1/2!!
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