Babies grow up

    So for those of you who don't know, we are done having children. 3 boys is quite enough. But as I do everything for the last time with Brayden, I get a little sad.

    This past Saturday we sold Brayden's crib on Craigslist. Vincent took a little trip to Austin so I had no one to help me take apart the crib and build the new bed. So my good friend, Donovan, came over and helped like a champ. As he finished taking apart the crib, my heart got a little sad. That's the last time I'll ever own a crib. My baby grew up. When did it happen?? I literally felt like I just was pregnant with him. Now he's sleeping in a big boy bed and talking in complete sentences with a mix of 2 year old garble. I am really not ready for this. I mean, part of me wants them to get more independent but a huge part of me is sad to see them needing me a little bit less.

   Also, because Brayden has the new bed, it is the place to be for all the kids right now. Here is a video of them hanging out on the top of Brayden's bed, where they were for a few hours. Please excuse the nakedness of my children- they had just woken up from a nap and Vincent wasn't home to help. Don't judge.

    Vincent went to Austin this past Saturday. He went with his friends to eat at 3 BBQ places and then went to a brewery. His friends picked him up at 4:30am and they got to the first place around 8ish. They're crazy to eat BBQ that early. But they're amazing BBQ places so I think it was worth it for them. So they went to Snow's BBQ, City Meat Market, and Louie Mueller's Barbecue. Then they went to Jester King Brewery.

           Snow's BBQ

Mmmmmmm

 

Jester King Brewery

Beer in a wine glass.......fancy

The yummy beer Vincent brought back for me from the brewery. It's made from strawberries!

   On a side note, I realized how truly Southern I am. I remember kinda being embarrassed about it when I was younger but now I'm proud. I love being Southern. Love, love, love it. And I want to make sure that my kids appreciate that background as well. I found these 3 images that I sent to a friend that definitely sums up a lot. I have also insisted that Vincent buy these frames for our kitchen. I think I just turned into my grandmother. I bet she's in Heaven just beaming with pride. She was the true definition of a Southern Belle. I hope I make her proud.

And the framed pictures I'm getting for our kitchen.......

I'm baaaaaaaaaack

So after a 1 year and 4 month hiatus, I've decided to come back to my true love - writing. My life is usually crazy and I've decided that it's supposed to be shared on a blog rather than told via stories to friends. I mean, there's nothing wrong with sharing stories with friends but I do enjoy writing and also enjoy sharing with friends that I may not have the privilege of sharing these day to day stories with. So, here I go again. Giving it another shot......

Me: I have a long story since the last time I blogged. It includes a real life breakdown and a job change. But all is better now. We have moved to McKinney and sold our other house (phew) in Grand Prairie. I left my old job in McKinney and started my new job in Frisco. Funny story there, I actually started working with my boyfriend from high school (a looooooong time ago), Paxton, whom I haven't seen in like 8 years. Good times. So now I work at Conifer. I am an analyst that is basically IT for the software program that they have. So I work with a bunch of nerds. I feel right at home. I actually do. Everyone I work with is amazing. We make a great team and we get along great. I have connected with the girls so well that it amazes me. It's like I should have always been there. I couldn't be more happy.
I also have the best next door neighbor ever- Angie. She and I connected from the very moment I moved into our new house. She is a mother of 3 and a teacher. She also has a great sense of humor and knows exactly what to say or do to cheer me up. We had crappy neighbors before so to have some that we get along with so great is amazing.
I also want to say that my sister-in-law, Becky, has really been there for me. This last year has been rough- one of the roughest I've ever had but Becky has always been there for me. Sister-in-law relationships are fun because it's experiencing a whole new family member when you're grown up! Becky is definitely the best. I'm so glad that not only did my brother fall in love with her, but so did I  :)

Vincent: Vincent was with Cigna for close to 9 years. Then his good friend/old boss left and joined a smaller insurance company called Guardian. This last October they grabbed Vincent too- offering him tons more pay and benefits. Also a promotion and serious room to grow. We really were blessed with both of our jobs. And he now works 2 exits away from me.
And Vincent has gotten more serious with his home brewing. For those who don't know, this is the art of making beer at home. We have 2 deep freezers, 1 kegerator, and 1 fridge in our garage. He has 3 kegs in his kegerator. He loves it. He posts videos and watches videos on all types of beers. I love it because I'm totally becoming a beer snob.
He also has conquered BBQing. He loves it and is so good at it. So now I'm a beer and BBQ snob. We go to BBQ places and his food is literally better. Except for Hutchins in Mckinney. That is some damn good BBQ.

Tristan: Tristan is now 5 1/2. He started Kindergarten in August and has loved every minute of it. We didn't realize that preschool has now become mandatory at this point so Tristan didn't go. So now his reading is a little bit behind but nothing major. We're working on that nightly. He got a loft bed with a desk and shelves under it when we moved to the new house. He loves it. He's so grown up. It's hard to believe that he's no longer a toddler anymore. My heart breaks.

Caleb: What can I say about Caleb, aka Bubba? Bubba is the child that resembles me the most and also imitates me as a child. He pushes his limits. He also just became potty trained- a couple weeks after his 4th birthday- cause he didn't want to do it before then. He's the funny one but also the one that makes you want to pull your hair out.

Brayden: I have nicknamed him "Baby" and it's stuck. He is definitely the baby of the family and usually gets what he wants. He does tend to get beat up by his brothers a lot but he also knows how to fight back. He gets in trouble a lot at the babysitters because of his temper. But he is also my most cuddliest one. I love it. As we are not having more children, he makes me happy to be the last. He loves him some mommy.

So I think the family has been updated as of now. My goal is to update this blog with anything and everything that happens in the Martinez household since quite a bit happens. Hopefully, at the very least, it's entertaining.

It's happening

I got slammed at work. I mean, slammed. I'm talking working without lunch and not leaving until 8:30 and still having tons of work left for the next day. That's where I'm at. The 4th quarter came early this year, folks. Ugh. So expect lots of time between posts.

First, went to Georgia with my brother and dad. We had a blast. We rented a Toyota Prius and those cars kick butt! We filled up our tank a total of 4 times for the entire trip. If they weren't so awful looking, I'd buy one. But they look like space ships. Anyway, my grandfather was so happy to see us. And really the drive wasn't that bad. My dad is a bum who barely did any driving but we'll skip over that for now  :) We enjoyed some La Fin Du Monde beer while we were there and I have to say that this beer is definitely my fave, when I drink beer. It tastes delish and it's 9% alcohol so you don't have to drink much. If you haven't tried, do it. You won't regret it.

 

David, with his sleep mask for sleeping in the car. Nope, not gay at all.

 

Mmmmmm

 

 

Next, my babysitter's daughter turned 15 a couple of weeks ago so we dressed the boys up for her quinceanera that she had. We had a blast and the boys looked adorable.

 

 

 





FINALLY.......and I'm scared to say it cause I know it's going to somehow jinx us but next week we're putting our house on the market to sell. My seester, Naomi, has found us a realtor that will add our house to the MLS site but we are ultimately doing 'For Sale By Owner'. We did an inventory of our savings and we have enough to get out of the house now but not for the realtor fees for selling our house. We could wait until December (which we might have to do) to save up the realtor fees but we decided to try our luck at the 'For Sale By Owner'. Honestly, it stresses me out a lot but with the right training by Google, we should be fine. Fingers crossed. Double fingers crossed. Seriously everyone say a prayer that we sell this damn house. I want out. Like now. Hopefully the next time I write, we are moving.

I know

I know, it's been awhile. I wish I could say that I have an excuse other than being too busy. But, it is what it is.

First, my sister-in-law, Becky, threw my brother a surprise birthday party for his 30th. We had a great time. But the best is when the 3 cousins - Tristan, Caleb, and Gideon - discovered the photo booth and how to start it and take pictures. They went in there and produced somewhere around 40 strips of pictures. Seriously! I took pictures of some of the strips with my phone but my favorite is the first one where Tristan hits Caleb in the head, Caleb has to pose for the camera with him touching his head, and then for the last picture they crack up. Totally my kids.

Second, me and Tristan went to Kentucky to visit for 4th of July. We had the best time. Morgan's only child, Hunter, and Tristan became best buds. Then Jake watched the kids while me, Morgan, and our friend, Jessica (nicknamed Hips because of the magic she can produce with those things) went out on the town and had the best time. It really was the best time. Now, the 15 hour drive back was not the best but I had a great time with Tristan. He was just old enough to actually appreciate Mommy and Tristan time but not quite old enough for the road trip. He asked "Are we there yet?" at least 487 times. I threatened spankings after that.

  On a side note, we decided to get a rental car because Vincent didn't want the wear and tear on my Lexus and I would sooooooo recommend it. I was gone from Tuesday night till Monday morning and the rental car cost was $117 from Hotwire. Hotwire has the best deals on rental cars.

 

During our trip there we took this pic for Hunter

 

 

Then, next week I go on another road trip. My brother, David, and I are driving to Georgia to visit my grandfather for an extended weekend trip. We got a rental car from Hotwire too and for 4 days, it's only $65. Told ya! The trip was kinda random but we thought my grandpa would enjoy a visit and we wanted another break. For me, work begins 4th quarter in about 1 1/2 months so I'm about to get real busy. I try to squeeze in as many hours as I can before I have to work 50-60 hours per week. Booooooooo.

Summertime

So a couple weeks ago we had our annual Masdon family reunion at my aunt's house in Dallas. My grandpa flew in and we had a swim party with BBQ. It was so much fun. We got float vests on the way over there from Wal-Mart and bought the last 2. Of course, Caleb got a purple one - poor boy. But the vest helped Tristan because he was not afraid of the water at all. He was so proud of himself. He was paddling and putting his head under water. I was so proud. Last summer he was terrified of the water and if anyone let him go, he would flip. Total 180 this year. He now wants to go to the pool every weekend.

He also turned 4 on June 11. It actually makes me super sad to know that he'll be in Kindergarten next year. I can't believe it. I really do feel like I was just taking him home from the hospital not too long ago. On his birthday I wrote my thoughts about it on Facebook and I'll put it here for those of you not on Facebook (ahem, ahem).

4 years ago today, Vincent and I became parents for the first time. Tristan is the best 1st child. He is an amazing big brother. Brayden will never hurt himself because of Tristan. He makes all of us laugh all the time, even when we thought... we were supposed to be angry. He is so smart. Sometimes, I think my iPad already really belongs to him. His memory amazes me, even though, honestly sometimes I wish it wouldn’t. And I didn’t even know that a child could have such compassion but we have stopped to pick up dogs on the side of the road more times than I can count. It’s amazing that in the four years since he came into the world what a little man he has become. I wish I could stop him from growing but I am so happy for who he will become. Happy 4th Birthday to my sweet Tristan!

He had this birthday party this last weekend at JumpMania. He loved it. It's this place with inflatable everything - slides, bounce houses, Velcro wall. He had a blast. His party was Ninja Turtles theme. I got him a Donatello t-shirt and he was in heaven. Then he opened his presents and he got some great ones. He was exhausted when he came home but insisted on sleeping with his ninja turtles. So I had to get them out of the packages and he took them up to bed with him. He's so silly. Of course, Grandma got him a LeapPad 2 and he's in love with the fact that he has his own type of iPad. He's been asking me if I can download more games, like he doesn't have enough already.

Here's some pics from the pool party:

 

 

 And the shirt picture from Tristan's 4th birthday party:

And this is a real picture, taken at night. Caleb was really sleeping under that sheet. He untucked the fitted sheet and crawled in. Maybe I should have lifted up the sheet and got a picture of his sleeping face? I just don't understand. How does he do this?