flashback friday

i feel a little embarrassed about posting this picture on the world wide web, BUT it does have great memories.  this was taken after the dallas white rock half marathon in 2000.  we are with our friends tara and isaac, who are now married...and who we are still very close to.  charlie and i really started our relationship running together.  it is one of the first things we started doing together and it has continued to this day.  we started training for this before we were really 'officially' dating, but by this picture...we were pretty well together.  on a side note...love charlie's hair here..there is so much of it..i think he would hate running with that much hair these days.  we did not run the race together, i let him go ahead because i knew he wanted to go faster.  it is funny, because now, after more years together, i would probably want him to run with me...because we train together, etc. But, back then, being at the first of our relationship, i just wanted to seem so independent :)  since then, we have run a marathon together, many more halfs, and completed an adventure race together.  this is one of my favorite things about us, together...hopefully many more races to come! (if i ever stop being pregnant)

baby 2 update

i went in for a sonogram on the 14th to check the size of this new guy.  i was 31 weeks along that day and he was weighing about 4lbs. 5oz., which puts him in the 75th percentile.  i was surprised as i was expecting him to be bigger.  doctor said we will do another sono at about 36 weeks to see him again.  during the sonogram, the tech commented about how much hair #2 has.  i just laughed because i assume he does....smith was born with a head FULL of black hair. he looked sweet, but did not care for the camera..just as smith was in utero.  speaking of smith and 2 at the same time:  here is a cute video of smith and the belly.  he is into all bellies right now, not just my large one.  his sitti (my mom) taught him about kissing the belly and now he likes to see everyone's and show his as well.

charlie's 31st and Valentine's day

charlie celebrated his 31st on february 13...we had a date night that was delightful and i made his traditional strawberry cake (which also doubles as his v-day gift--sometimes i feel bad about this, but he couldn't eat 2 cakes, right?)  charlie surprised me with a delicious home-cooked meal (served after the little man was in bed) of filet mignon with a cream/wine/mushroom sauce, balsamic glazed veggies, and yukon/sweet potatoes au gratin.  for desert, he had a chocolate fondue.  it was excellent.  it was no surprise as charlie has been quite a good cook as long as i have known him.  however, it was a super night, very sweet.

this photo was taken before the melting of the fondue

flashback friday

ahhhh, yes...the days of FLASH pictures and sorority functions.  these are some of my best friends from college.  the only one missing is our other best friend, kelly.  our sorority had a 'christmas in salado' party every year with a cowboy theme.  good times for sure.  this particular year, charlie had just gotten home from a semester in the pacific northwest NOLS course.  we had missed each other so much, but that semester oddly brought us closer together and closer to engagement.  it was a great semester (senior year) for me to spend with my girlfriends!  love these girls and all the fun memories i have with them from college!

videos of Smith being Smith

digging in the dirt

splashing in a puddle

watching football with Doc

climbing and sliding

flashback friday

in love, with the same hair-do....hahaha!  this was on one of our trips to katy (charlie's hometown).  i remember charlie took me on a fun date to the museum of natural science and we got a $250 ticket for parking in a handicap spot.  honestly, neither of us saw the very obvious sign in front of the parking spot...too in love i guess.  

booty business

smith changed over to the 'large' size of cloth diapers about 3 weeks ago.  the problem is, there is a 'small' size and 'large' size..and that is it.  i assume you could make your own, in various sizes, and i don't think it would be a bad idea.  in fact, i should consider it when i am not in my lazy third trimester.  anyhow, this large size gives smith a relatively large booty as well as waist area.  it is obvious and funny looking.  here are a few pictures of the difference of him wearing a disposable diaper and then his cloth.  the pictures do not really do it justice, but it is the best i can do with a very fast moving boy.  he is going to be ticked someday when he shows up to senior slideshow with big booty pictures.  but, hey...at least he started doing his part for the environment at a tender, young age ;)

disposable

cloth

flashback friday (on saturday..oops)

i want to start posting a 'flashback friday' post every friday to give a little love to our life before children.  or sometimes...even before eachother.  i feel like when smith gets old enough to see the blog book, he may like to see what we were up to before the good days when he came along.

this was one of the very first dates that charlie and i went on.  pictured with us is one of my college roomies and best friends, stephanie and her date chris.  chris was an outdoor rec major along with charlie, so i thought it would make him a little more comfortable...seeing how he really knew NONE of my friends.  this was the chi omega casual spring of 2000.  charlie and i had hung out like 2-3 times before this date and basically, i had talked or asked questions the whole time.  i always joke that if he hadn't (still is) been so hot, we would have never made it past these first dates.  he was so extremely shy.  we didn't dance at this function because of his shyness, i am sure.  and, little did i know that the boy had skills on the dance floor.  i found that out later and it was just an added bonus.  

outdoor days

smith and i try to make it outside as often as possible.  first of all, he LOVES it and secondly, it is nice for me b/c he is always happy outside...no need to redirect from many "off limit" items.  winter has made this a little more difficult, but thankfully we live in a place with EVER changing weather with some really mild winter days.  we may have some wind, but that never keeps us down.

catch up, again (dallas visit, christmas)

i am really bad at blogging, and mostly it comes from knowing i should do it...but, i wait, and wait...and then, there is just too much to talk about.  charlie comes home FOR GOOD in about a week and a half.  he will motivate me.  basically, i have learned in our marriage..i am so much better at getting things done when he is around.  loneliness brings laziness in me.

so after smith's first birthday came a trip to temple (for an interview) and then on to dallas where we were able to see two of my best friends and their children.  we were very bad and did not take many pictures, but it was one short night and LOTS of kids.  this LOTS is going to turn into more, i realize, but we will be more used to it as more children come our way. 

this is smith checking out the new addition, laura and matt's matthew

kelly's hubby, jarrett with their sweet one, aaron

charlie and matt chilling (kinda)

sadly, no pictures of the actual reason we were all hanging out (us three girls), but we had a great time and ate some yummy tacos in between child craziness.

charlie left soon after that trip to go back to virginia for more hospital rotations.  we celebrated a small Christmas with my family (minus charlie, shelby, and bo).  smith is still not yet at the age of 'getting' Christmas...or even presents for that matter, but we had fun.  

uncle shad helping smith with the toy that he (and aunt shaynna) bought him AND put together for him.  smith loves it now even more..it is his first 'starter' bike with many more to come if his daddy has anything to do with it.

i made grace and george lapdesks...with this tutorial (modified a bit)

and i made them something to hold their colors from this tutorial.  both were fairly easy and i loved the results...i just wish i had better pictures to share with you.

this was our year to be with charlie's family at Christmas...so smith and i flew from home and met with charlie (who flew from virginia) for a good time with his family.  we had lots of yummy food and good time seeing everyone!

smith in his new boots and john deere shirt at his papa and gigi's house

smith licking the ice cream off his fingers that papa is already spoiling him with.  it won't take much to get this boy hooked...he comes from a long line of MAJOR ice cream lovers!

playing with a new present Christmas morning

playing with cousin london in her BIG play room

holding onto one of his favorite toys..."ball"...this is also among the short list of words that smith says very clearly.  

playing on cousin london's slide with mema and daddy