The wedding day

Now for the most exciting part of the month which everyone else has already blogged about: Ashley's wedding.  Brandon got home from France the night before and after picking him up from the airport and driving all the way to our apartment, I realized that I had left my keys in Katy and we all had to drive back to get them.  Of course that would happen to me.  And the next morning we were back in Katy again, getting ready for the festivities.  The morning started out with getting our hair done (no that's not my hair, it's my 6-year-old neice who has the hair of an adult):

Having a nutritious breakfast:

Getting makeup done:

And basically just laying around, being good-looking.

 We later headed off to Vargo's for the wedding.  The flower girls all looked beautiful in their dresses.

 The venue was charming.  One of the best things about it was that there were peacocks wandering around everywhere. It of course was fascinating for the little kids and this one developed quite a following.

 Finally the most important moment of the day arrived and Ashley and Landon were married.  I'm not usually the emotional type but I almost bawled.  Luckily I was wearing a ton of makeup and I didn't want my face to melt off, so I held it back.  And being the great photographers we are, we got zero pictures of the bride and groom.  But I'm sure Ashley's photographer did a great job, so we probably won't be lacking.  After the ceremony we went to Pappasitos where Violet practically took a shower in queso.  Best wedding food ever.

Where do I begin?

So much excitement has happened since I last posted that everything in this post is going to be grossly oversimplified.  Oh well.  The Funks came and stayed at my parents' house last week and since I was already staying there, I got to be with them the whole time. Violet was in all her glory having so many cousins to play with.  The Easter bunny brought her some sidewalk chalk, which she applied liberally to her face.

Of course we had to go to 99 cent waffle cone Wednesday while they were here.  Caroline ate hers faster than I ate mine.  That girl can eat. Here she is with a little chocolate still on her face.

 Violet took her sweet time, as usual. At least this time she got strawberry instead of nasty Superman flavor.

 Charlie enjoyed his view from the car seat.  He actually started smiling and laughing when I asked if he wanted some ice cream.  Time to start solids?

 Violet and Graham were two of a kind.  Here they are all bundled up after having a blast at the splash pad.

 Graham was the most intense thing I had ever seen there.  He really got into hitting the water.

Here is Violet with her adopted siblings.

Those kids made me laugh a lot while they were around.  The first night that Violet stayed in the same room as they did (she had never had a sleepover before) she apparently was making too much noise and got kicked out of the room by Graham.  He dragged her in to his parents' room, pointed to her, and said, "Her not sleep. I go bed."  He got used to her, though, the next night when he was going to bed he kept asking for "my Violet" while she was downstairs getting water.

Caroline was hilarious, too.  One night I was in my pajamas and I grabbed my keys, so Caroline asked where I was going. When I told her I was going to the store, she asked, "In those clothes?"  I laughed out loud and soon my sister made her apologize and tell me how nice I looked. 

And Devin made me laugh because he is SO much like my sister was when she was little.  You can't help but love that kid.

I miss them already!

Mental instability

Brandon is gone again. I declined his invitation to go to France with him. Leaving my 2-year-old, travelling internationally with an infant, and being in a hotel all day while he worked in the lab didn't seem worth a $750 ticket, even if it was to France.

Unfortunately, this means that I'm stuck here without him for two weeks. Even with parents just 45 minutes away, things get pretty hairy when he's gone. I got sick the day he left. Aside from the physical discomfort and exhaustion, I'm pretty sure I operate on the mental capacity of a senile ape when I'm sick. As a result, when we went to my parents' house for the weekend, I forgot to bring shoes for Violet and at one point I had no diapers for Charlie. And when we went to pick up the perscription for my sinus infection, I realized that I had also lost my wallet.

Well, no big deal, I'm sure I just left it at the house. And when it didn't turn up there, I was sure that I had just left it at my apartment. But when I drove out to my apartment to look for it today and didn't find it there, either, I was stressed almost to the point of mental instability. I remembered the last place I had used it-- the Ghetto Kroger. I'm not applying that term liberally, either; it really is ghetto. There was a shooting there a few years ago. And on the day that I last had my wallet, I saw a giant cockroach crawl across the checkout belt and disappear under the cash register. The best part was that it wasn't even a Houston cockroach, it had a segmented body like one of those roaches from Madagascar. I kept thinking, "Okay, this store is so dirty that it spawned its own breed of cockroach. THAT is ghetto."

At least that disgusting image was burned so deeply in my mind that I remembered very clearly my last precious moments with my wallet--timidly putting my groceries, purse, and wallet in the bottom of the stroller, and walking home thinking that a giant roach was going to crawl out of one of those bags at any moment. So after searching my house, I drove along the path I had walked a few days earlier, and then went into Ghetto Kroger to see if it was in the lost and found.

Allow me to illustrate what I looked like at that moment. I was sick. I had unwashed hair and no makeup. I was wearing ripped sweat shorts and an old tee-shirt. Violet had snot running down her nose and refused to wear anything but her "Princess dress" which I'm fairly certain is made from an old tee-shirt and a pillowcase. She had no shoes. And I was pushing her and Charlie around in a shopping cart, asking for a wallet. I looked like a homeless woman.

When they told me it wasn't there, I just about lost it. I drove back to my parents' house thinking that I would never again allow Brandon to leave the house. That I would have to mooch off of people for the next two weeks because I had no cash, credit cards, or drivers license. That I wouldn't be able to call our bank and authorize Brandon's use of the credit card in France because I didn't even have our credit card number. That Brandon would be stuck in France without any money.

I called my sister and my mom to vent. I was freaking out. But something that my mom said made me think about checking the trunk of my car and voila... there was my wallet. A small miracle. But I still may never let Brandon leave the house again.

Fun.

Don't worry, we are back in our bedroom.  That mess only lasted a couple of days.  I just haven't been blogging because... well, I've just been having too much fun.  I'll start my recap with St. Patrick's day, since that's when these pictures were taken.  Violet and I made rainbow cupcakes for playgroup.  They were incredibly tedious, but when the batter in your pan looks like this, how can you not be having fun?

 And they really didn't taste that good, but the kids loved them and Violet looked great with green frosting all over her face.

 She is still as sweet as ever with Charlie.  She really enjoys coaching him through tummy time.

 Charlie is getting so big.  He has decided that his fingers are a delicious alternative to his binkie.  He loves watching Violet play and laughs hysterically when she jumps around like a frog, and it is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.

And I have been a single mom, for the most part.  Brandon keeps going on exotic field trips and coming home for a few days at a time.  Good thing I have a mom who lets me stay with her and goes shopping with me all the time.  And friends who invite me to dinner.  I've been looking for a new place to live (maybe with a garage this time?), getting a new outfit for the wedding (yay), and planning new art projects (sweet).  Tons of fun.

Can I scream now?

Good news.  Violet has a room again.

Bad news: we don't.  Unless you count the living room, which I don't.

Hot water is also gone.

We were up till 3 AM soaking up the water in the room.

Our entire closet is now in our hallway.

And I JUST got back into my pre-pregnancy jeans, so I promised myself no emotional eating.

This is gonna be rough.

don't mind the horizontal pictures

Chile, and marshmallow man

Brandon went to Chile for spring break.  It was actually for a class, but that doesn't make much of a difference.  Once he was gone I high-tailed it out to my parents' house and had fun sharing my bed with two kids since neither of them will sleep through the night, completely failing at my diet and exercise goals, and probably scaring Ashley out of ever having children.  Brandon was supposed to get back on Tuesday morning but his flight was cancelled, and he ended up stuck in Lima for the day, where he saw catacombs and had what was apparently the world's best seafood.  After one of the longest days of my life, I finally got him back on Wednesday.

He got splashed by the angry ocean.

He toured the Atacama desert.

He made friends with some llamas/alpacas/vicunas... whatever those were.

He saw the Andes... from a distance.

And he checked out some flamingos.

We have all loved having him back.  I just had to add this picture.  In case you haven't held a chubby naked baby in awhile... you should.  It's great.

Since there's nothing else to blog about...

Someday, maybe I will be able to go on one of Brandon's trips with him.  For now I just get to see the pictures he takes and be happy that at least one of us got to go.  Brandon has a talent for capturing nature at its most beautiful.  And it doesn't get much more beautiful than Belize.  It's been more than a year since this trip and I'm still jealous.

This is kind of turning into a photography blog. Sorry.

I warned you.  I have been doing a LOT of photoshopping.  And yeah, I know there are a lot of black and white here.  It's just an easy way to fix a photo if the colors aren't interesting enough. 

I love Charlie's expression here.  He makes this face all the time.  Mom actually took this picture-- it's not from an angle I would have considered but I like it.

Charlie looks scared for his life, as would I be if I had Violet as a big sister.

This one is Mom's favorite.

Overlooked

I have free reign over Brandon's computer for now, so I have been looking through lots of old pictures for ones to photoshop.  Sometimes I see a picture once but I don't realize for awhile how beautiful it is.  I guess that's the great thing about going through old pics.  

I think this one looks like a painting.  It was a drive-by shot we took while we were in Montana, and the blurriness and crooked horizon may bug some people (I know it bugs Brandon).  But for some reason I love those little imperfections.

Johnston Canyon.  The pictures we took there never seemed to do this place justice, but this one caught a little of the ice blue water and beaming light.

Another drive-by shot.  People think there isn't much in Idaho, and in some parts it's true.  But there is value in simplicity.

Rialto beach.  I was in one heck of a bad mood on the way there, but once I stepped out of the car and saw this beach, even my stubborn pride couldn't keep me from having fun.

Catching up on the cameras

I'm not a very good blogger lately.  I could blame it on having a second child but that actually just gives me more to blog about, so that isn't the reason for my delinquency.  The reason is that whenever I get on my computer, Violet whines and begs me to let her watch videos of herself.  I know, she is just like me.  And when Violet is not whining at me, my computer usually refuses to let me transfer photos from my camera.  And let's face it, without cute pictures of my kids, nobody cares about my posts.

So we shall start the weekly recap with Valentine's day.  Ours was about as romantic as you can get when you're sharing your bedroom with 2 kids.  (Yes, that is still going on.  Is it sad to say that I've just gotten used to it at this point?) But Brandon got me a nice new rug for our living room and he played golf with Violet on it all evening, so it turned out to be a good day.

 

 The next day, Violet decided that she would force me into potty training her.  Yes, the day after I get a brand-new rug.  Perfect timing.  And how did she force me into this?  Turns out, all you have to do to force your mother into potty training you is to take off your pants and diaper every chance you get and run around the house naked.  So I said, "Okay, but you had better go in the potty."  And she did.  I almost took a picture of it when she did.  Yes, a picture of pee.  But it's not just any pee.  It's Violet's first pee on the potty.

On Friday Violet went to her cousin's birthday party at Stephen F. Austin state park in the pouring rain.  It was just about the cutest party I had ever seen.  But what did the kids get excited about?  Running through the mud, obviously.  This is what Violet looked like when she was all done. 

We found some dirt in her ear at church today. 

 Am I forgetting something?  Oh, yes.  I have a second child.  No, really, sometimes I forget. He's that good.  Violet has been really cute with him lately and sometimes she snuggles up with him when he is on the couch and puts her blanket over them both.  She then gives him a stuffed animal and puts his binkie back in his mouth whenever it falls out.  She's a very loving sister.

 Also, she has figured out how to take pictures.  Hehe.

 And this last one is one I found on the camera from when Brandon's family was here.  She got to try a space helmet on at Johnson Space Station. I thought it was pretty cute.

I'm drooling

It was a good week to be a mom.  It started out with Charlie's baby blessing on Sunday and can I just say, I have never seen a more handsome baby boy in a little white outfit.  I practically drooled over it.

 When Charlie sleeps (which is a lot) he keeps us entertained with his little sleep smiles.  They're small and fleeting, but I caught one here.  Again, I drool in adoration.

 Mega drool.  I never want to forget these tiny little rolls.

 Little glimpses of a personality are starting to show through on him.  He can recognize me (or at least I'm convinced that he does).  His eyes follow me (roughly) across the room and when I come and play with him he smiles a lot.  He makes little happy noises and LOVES to cuddle. 

And my other child-- she is fun, too.  I take advantage of every holiday because she gets really excited about celebrating little things.   On Monday she helped me make a little Valentine's box and on Wednesday she went to a party and came back with it overflowing with love and candy. 

 Later that week it was raining so we stayed inside and made a tent in our living room.  I gave her a bowl of Craisins and a pillow and let her watch the Lion King.  She was one happy girl.

My monsters

Whatever happened to my newborn? He turned into a giant chunk of "I take up half the couch." Mmmmm... I love chunks.

And Violet? She is still insane. She convinced me to buy Oreos on Monday and the next day I found her with a bajillion of them on our coffee table, opening them and just licking the cream out. Lately she has been under the impression that I will buy anything she sticks in the cart. Maybe that's because it's true. It doesn't take much to convince me to buy Oreos.

She has been delighted by all the rain here. I can't blame her. I did the same thing when I was little.

Is it bad that I'm jealous of her legs and she's 2 years old? What am I going to do when she's 17?

I'm not sure what to make of this face.

The happy puddle splashing was just the calm before the storm. It's a good thing that I don't mind being stared at, because I've had to carry her to the car screaming quite frequently this week. She REALLY didn't want to leave those puddles.